WILLOW CITY — After several attempts to launch two rockets a mile high, a group of Marble Falls High School students came close to hitting the mark with successful blastoffs over the Hill Country.

“They were getting a little frustrated after so many attempts, but they never gave up,” said aeroscience teacher Randy Guffey. Though the two craft didn’t reach the target altitude of a full mile at the SystemsGo 2012 launch May 4, the efforts are still considered successes, the teacher said.

For several months the students had worked on the rockets to carry a 1-pound payload a mile high, or 5,280 feet. 

SystemsGo is a Fredericksburg-based nonprofit organization that created an educational rocket program now used in about 50 Texas high schools. The launches involving several schools and groups held May 3-6 were endorsed by NASA. 

About 4 p.m. May 4, with all the other rockets having launched or fired off, the second of the two Marble Falls classes headed back to the launch pad one more time. 

The mission was a go — everything worked just as planned, Guffey said.

“It turned out to be the best launch of the day,” the teacher said. “It went to about 4,800 feet, which is about a football field away from the mile mark. But it flew straight.”

Earlier the same day about 1 p.m., the other group also made a successful launch. Their rocket reached 4,400 feet, but flew straight, Guffey said.

It was all-or-nothing.

“It’s fairly simple to try and get a rocket to fly as high as it can,” Guffey said. “It’s much more challenging to design one to hit a certain height. There’s a lot of physics and other things that go into doing that.”

Guffey and teacher David Smith accompanied 55 students to the site. The teachers stepped back to let the students handle the launch and any problems.

Inspectors told students they needed to revamp a fuel vent. Later, as the students watched a SystemsGo crew fuel their rocket, the nose cone popped off. 

A manufacturer’s defect was to blame, but it took several stops and starts to determine the problem originated in the engine housing. 

“The staff there commented on how the students didn’t give up and despite being frustrated, didn’t let it show,” Guffey said. “I was extremely proud of them.”

The students also had to stage a successful recovery of both rockets after the parachutes deployed, Guffey said.

The idea was to make a close recovery, the teacher said.

“Brett Williams — the director of the project — commented to the kids on how proud he was of them for sticking with it and getting great recoveries as well,” Guffey said.

The students will review data from the launch during class.

daniel@thepicayune.com

LLANO — The 911 system for Llano County is back online about a day after a powerful storm knocked out emergency communications, officials said.

"As of 3:40 p.m. (May 8), we are back operational," said Llano County Judge Wayne Brascom.

The storm blew through the Highland Lakes after 5 p.m. May 7, bringing with it heavy rains, high winds, power outages and fallen trees.

Llano County Sheriff Office’s officials said the weather knocked out the agency’s 911 system. Calls were still being routed through the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office as of mid-morning May 8 until the system was reactivated in the afternoon.

Although the weather added 1-2 inches of rain to precipitation totals, it still isn’t enough to offset the drought that has gripped the Highland Lakes since October 2010, officials said.

Still, almost 3 inches of rain fell at the Llano River from 3 p.m. May 7 to 3 p.m. May 8, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s hydrologic report.

In Marble Falls, the rain gauge at Backbone Creek reported just over 1 inch during the same period.

Finley deGraffenreid, Llano’s city manager, said the storm didn’t cause any significant damage, but did knock out power to about one-third of residents for 40 minutes.

A few of the city streets were flooded, but most  re-opened by the morning of May 8, he said.

The storm didn’t cause too much damage in Burnet County, said Pedernales Electric Cooperative spokewoman Anne Harvey.

PEC crews in Marble Falls dealt with fewer than 30 meters without power during the storm, she said.

Officials in both Burnet and Llano counties reported fallen trees and limbs on roads, but crews had most of the debris removed by May 8.

A light rain continued through most of May 8. It was enough for the National Weather Service to keep a Flash Flood Watch in place until 4 p.m.

According to the weather service, the rain chances drop off to about 20 percent May 9, but increase starting May 10.

Forecasters estimated chances for rain at 60 percent May 11, but that tapers off again in time for the weekend.

editor@thepicayune.com

COTTONWOOD SHORES — A new ordinance giving city officials more authority to inspect restaurants has left some eatery representatives with a bad taste in their mouths.

The City Council passed the measure May 3 during a regular meeting. Afterwards, many restaurant employees left feeling angry, saying they already answer to state guidelines.

COTTONWOOD SHORES — A new ordinance giving city officials more authority to inspect restaurants has left some eatery representatives with a bad taste in their mouths.

The City Council passed the measure May 3 during a regular meeting. Afterwards, many restaurant employees left feeling angry, saying they already answer to state guidelines.

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BERTRAM — The next City Council meeting won’t be Pat Turner’s first, but it will be her first as an alderman.

Turner defeated Allen Rodgers for the city’s Place 1 seat to fill an unexpired term May 12. She received 58 percent of the vote.

Turner said she couldn’t believe she won in her first political race.

“I hope I can do what needs to be done for our city,” Turner said. “I’m looking forward to the term to get some cohesiveness back to the City Council and to do what’s right for the city and our citizens.”

Turner said she has attended several meetings as a resident.

“I’ve been going to them for a while so that’s what made me decide to run,” Turner said. 

Bertram Mayor Winnette Morris ran for re-election without opposition.

Place 2 candidate Cynthia Anderson and Place 4 candidate John Mandigo also faced no opposition.

The council’s next scheduled meeting is May 22.

jared@thepicayune.com

OAKRIDGE — Residents will have to wait at least a half hour longer for a firefighting truck to arrive at their homes after property owners opted out of a more than $60,000 annual fire service contract with the City of Horseshoe Bay, officials said.

Effective May 1, Oakridge residents will rely on response from volunteer firefighters from Kingsland, located about 30 miles away, because of a handful of residents refusing to pay into a voluntary fire protection fund, according to property owners association President Dale Hoffman.

MARBLE FALLS — The cost of a new visitor center proposed at the corner of Second Street and U.S. 281 in Marble Falls came in almost $200,000 over the estimate, but city officials found ways to cut the cost while locating additional money for the structure.

The council voted to award the project to Mike McClung Builders, who bid $1.44 million. It was the “lowest, best bid” of three submitted, but City Manager Ralph Hendricks pointed out it still was more than the $1.2 million budgeted through bonds for the 4,400-square-foot structure. But the council added the caveat that the project cost be reigned in a bit.

MARBLE FALLS — The Grim Reaper will be walking the halls of Marble Falls High School during class May 4, looking for students to join him for the day.

After the reaper makes its selections, a law enforcement officer will go to the student’s home and notify his or her parents that their child is “deceased.”

“We’re really trying to make an impact on the kids to the dangers of drinking and driving,” Marble Falls High School teacher Jackie Crowley said.

Crowley is coordinating the high school’s “Shattered Dreams” program. The anti-drinking-and-driving event was created by the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission to curtail that type of behavior among teen drivers. Though it’s no longer a part of the TABC, Texas high schools still use it to open students’ eyes.

HORSESHOE BAY — The Lower Colorado River Authority and Fluor Corp. are holding open houses May 3 and 10 for the public to learn more about construction of LCRA’s new power plant.

The come-and-go open houses are 5-8 p.m. May 3 at Quail Point Community Center, 107 Twilight Lane, and May 10 at Lakeside Pavilion, 307 Buena Vista Drive in Marble Falls.

LCRA is replacing its 37-year-old Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant with a natural gas-fired one.

Artist renderings of the new plant and other displays will be on view at the open houses. LCRA and Fluor staff members also will be available to answer questions from the public.

Fluor began preconstruction activities in the spring. The project schedule includes a two-year construction phase to bring the new power plant on-line in 2014.