MARBLE FALLS — Though named this week as the incoming assistant superintendent of academic programs, Janice Mauldin is not new to the Marble Falls Independent School District.

Trustees during the board meeting Jan. 23 voted to hire Mauldin for the spot being vacated in March by Amy Jacobs, who is leaving to take over as superintendent of Coahoma ISD near Midland.

Mauldin, however, has been working at Marble Falls High School since August as the “grant shepherd” for the Texas Title 1 Priority Schools funding. She has been helping with an academic “redesign” of the campus ever since the Texas Education Agency awarded the multimillion-dollar grant.

PHOTO 1: Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Rob O’Connor (right) welcomes Janice Mauldin as the district’s new assistant superintendent of academic programs during the Jan. 23 School Board meeting. She will replace Amy Jacobs, who is leaving in March to take the Coahoma ISD superintendent position. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton

MARBLE FALLS — A comprehensive overhaul of the city’s animal-control ordinance now has the teeth authorities need to make the community safer for pets and residents, officials said.

The revisions, which address issues ranging from dangerous dogs to keeping bees and livestock, have been needed for years, said City Manager Ralph Hendricks. They include new guidelines for citations and fines.

“We believe the changes will make a safer community for our citizens and their pets,” Hendricks said

BURNET — Justin Roberts’ mother stood 15 feet away in a courtroom from the man who killed her son in a boating collision and addressed him, almost a decade after the tragic day that forever changed her family’s life.

Yet while the pain will never fade, Donna Roberts told defendant Travis Marburger the family is not seeking vengeance.

“There are choices to be made here today,” Roberts said in 33rd state District Judge Guilford “Gil” Jones’ courtoom. “My family has a choice today — we can chose to be better or we can chose to be bitter. We chose better. We chose forgiveness.”

Marburger, 37, pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to failing to stop and render aid in a boat collision involving death or serious injury.

As part of a plea deal, he remains on probation the next 10 years  and must spend at least 100 days in the Burnet County Jail.

PHOTO: Travis Marburger of Bertram waits in the courtroom of 33rd state District Judge Guilford ‘Gil’ Jones Jan. 20 before entering a guilty plea in a 2002 Lake Buchanan boating hit-and-run accident. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton

MARBLE FALLS — A rash of cases involving debit-card numbers stolen from residents  whose bank accounts start shrinking has police sounding a warning.

Even a law officer has become a victim.

“Since Friday (Jan. 20), we’ve had several reports of debit card numbers being used without the owners’ permission or knowledge. And one of them was mine,” said police Capt. Glenn Hanson. “The cards were from different banks. Two of the numbers were used in Florida and one was used outside the United States.”

MARBLE FALLS — Todd Dodge, who guided Southlake Carroll to four state championships in five seasons, will assume the duties of head football coach and athletic director at Marble Falls Independent School District.

The board of trustees approved his hire during the regular meeting Jan. 23.

Dodge, a native of Port Arthur, said he looks forward to the challenges of leading the Marble Falls athletic department and a football program that only has one playoff appearance in the past 12 seasons. His first day is Feb. 1.

“Many years ago when I played at the University of Texas, I always had a real desire to coach in the Hill Country,” he said with a smile. “I’ve had so many texts, ‘You’re finally getting to the Hill Country.’ Frankly I’m just thrilled.”

Dodge was the quarterbacks coach at the University of Pittsburgh this past season.

He said as he and his wife, Elizabeth, toured the school’s facilities, including the fieldhouse, Mustang Stadium and Marble Falls Middle School, he could see the community’s commitment, and he knew Marble Falls was a place he wanted to be.

“I looked at it as an opportunity for all of us,” he said. “I’m thrilled to be back in high school. Frankly, it’s my passion. I want to be a high school coach in the state of Texas in a high school town. I think you really get a chance to make a difference, more so in the high school level.”

Superintendent Rob O’Connor said he looks forward to working with Dodge and seeing a tradition deepen.

“We’re very blessed to have him here at Marble Falls,” he said. “He had plenty of opportunities, so we’re fortunate to have the right pieces.”

Dodge is credited with changing the style of Texas high school football with his “Air-Raid offense,” a system that uses a lot of no-huddles and spreads the field with at least three wide receivers, a tight end or an H-back. Dodge’s Southlake Carroll teams had the ability to both run and pass the football.

When the Dragons won the 2002 state title, they ran 85 offensive plays. Of that number, 72 were plays the athletes had run since the seventh grade.

“I’ve purposefully not done the research on the (Marble Falls) players,” Dodge said. “They get a fair shake in my evaluation. The thing I’m looking forward to is instilling the program I believe in.”

In some ways, Marble Falls and Southlake Carroll have many similarities.

Carroll had been very successful in Class 3A, winning state championships in 1988, 1992 and 1993. But it moved up to Class 4A six years before Dodge was hired.

He remembers going to Southlake in 1999 and thinking he hadn’t seen a worse looking bunch of athletes in a long time.

“But I learned a valuable lesson,” he said. “Don’t be making a bunch of judgments on the freshmen and sophomores.”

In his first season in 2000, the Dragons lost their first three games but advanced to the playoffs. The season ended in the quarterfinals with a 9-5 record.

The following year, Carroll went 10-5 and advanced to the state semifinals.

But during the winter, the University Interscholastic League moved the Dragons up to Class 5A.

The move turned out well for the Dragons as they captured the first of their four state titles and went 79-1 in a five-year span. Their only loss was to Katy 16-15 in the 2003 state championship.

Dodge plans a busy semester. He said he will take over planning the schedule, will evaluate the coaches throughout the department and will make recommendations to the school board in March.

“I will assemble my own staff,” he said. “I’ll take my time on it and get to know coaches. I look forward to getting to know all the coaches and them getting to know me.”

He plans on meeting with each one and performing an evaluation, adding that many coaches across the state have reached out to him to inquire about openings, including coaches from Carroll, Aledo and Stephenville.

“Many championship rings,” he said of those coaches.

Dodge’s former players and coaches remember a two-week period before spring break when Dodge put the athletes through boot camp called “Dragon Maker.”

The athletes would go through an intense form of strength and conditioning complete with mat drills. Dodge also is known to line up his players on the track where they run multiple 200-meter dashes.

“It’s a very intense part of offseason,” he said. “We’ll have something real special for that.”

Dodge and Elizabeth, who has been living in Southlake to allow their daughter Molly to finish her senior year, have already found a house in the area.

“We’ve never lived close to my parents,” said Elizabeth, the daughter of former Austin Westlake coach and athletic director Ebbie Neptune.

Their son Riley is finishing his degree at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., and will attend several coaches schools to look for a job.

“That’s what’s in his blood,” Dodge said. “We may have the opportunity to have him here someday.”

Dodge said he plans to continue the home-and-home series with the Burnet Bulldogs, assuming the two teams are not in the same district next season.

“I think that’s one of those rivalries that high school football is all about,” he said. “I know a little bit about it. Something like that is important to a people around here.”

He said he looks forward to getting to know his players.

“I want to build a program that gets to the point where you say you’re reloading, not rebuilding,” he said. “It’ll take hard work by 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds. I had a chance to go to Class 5A jobs, but I really want to be in Marble Falls, Texas. I want to be a part of a community where we can get here and build where everybody is a Mustang and everyone is purple and gold.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com

Staff writer Daniel Clifton contributed to this story.

MARBLE FALLS — To help promote a milestone birthday for the city in July, City Council has agreed to help The Falls on the Colorado Museum prepare for the annual Founders’ Day bash.

The council Jan. 17 agreed to waive rental and deposit fees for the museum to celebrate the 125th anniversary July 14 at Lakeside Pavilion, 307 Buena Vista Drive.

In addition, the council will dip into its training budget to pay a $350 cleaning fee.

“This is a great opportunity to celebrate the city,” Mayor George Russell said.

Founders’ Day featuring dance, food and music is 9 a.m.-9 p.m. at the pavilion, said Frances McSpadden, the museum secretary.

In another matter related to local history, City Manager Ralph Hendricks said the city could take over a roadside park at the western edge of Marble Falls the Texas Department of Transportation plans to close.

The city could maintain the park and a nearby historical marker, he added.

TxDOT owns the park, which offers a view of Granite Mountain, a rock formation more than a billion years old.

“The site does have significance for tourists,” Hendricks said. “We (city) don’t think it would need a great deal of upkeep.”

TxDOT also plans to close a roadside park on U.S. 281 south of the Lake Marble Falls bridge, Hendricks said. The park no longer offers a good view of the lake, he added.

A stone marker at the site dedicated to composer Oscar Fox can be relocated.

Also during the meeting, the council approved a rezoning plan for the new Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce visitors center on 281 at Second Street. The zoning changed from general commercial to Main Street District.

Construction could begin in 12 months.

Concerns also surfaced during the meeting about too many residents parking autos, boats and trailers on grass instead of driveways. The council agreed to look at new parking codes during an upcoming workshop. No time or date has been set.

Before the meeting ended, the council ordered a city election for May 12. Candidates can start filing for office Feb. 6.

The council seats held by Lewis, John Packer and Allan Garrett are up election. Garrett, however, has announced his candidacy for the 33rd state District Court bench.

raymond@thepicayune.com

For more on this story, pick up a copy of the Jan. 22 River Cities Sunday Tribune

MARBLE FALLS — Todd Dodge, considered one of Texas’ most successful high school coaches, is being wooed as a top candidate for athletic director and head football coach of the Marble Falls school district, officials have confirmed.

Dodge Jan. 18 met with different staff members and toured school facilities.

Cord Woerner, the Marble Falls Independent School District’s head football coach and athletic director for eight years, was transferred two weeks ago to a desk job in central administration.

“The primary purpose of this evaluation is to allow (Dodge and his family) to see if this is the place they want to be,” said Bruce Peckover, a school district spokesman.

Dodge won four Class 5A state titles while he was at Southlake Carroll from 2002-2006. He became the head coach at North Texas in 2007-2010. Last season, he was the quarterbacks coach at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dodge also has a reputation for turning around ailing football programs.

The job is posted until Jan. 23.

School Superintendent Rob O’Connor introduced Dodge as a top candidate to members of the Marble Falls Athletic Booster Club the morning of Jan. 18, according to booster club media representative Galyn Woerner.

“Until the job posting closes on Monday, the job is open to all candidates until next Monday (Jan. 23),” Peckover said. “I understand it’s big news to have a candidate like this in town.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — A woman and her two daughters went to the hospital after their vehicle rolled over on RR 1431 near Mustang Drive during a wet, foggy morning.

The accident occurred about 7 a.m. Jan. 17, officials said.

Police Capt. Glenn Hanson said Sandra Longoria was turning right onto RR 1431 from Mustang Drive when her 1996 Isuzu Trooper slid, possibly due to wet pavement, and left the roadway.

The vehicle hit the unimproved shoulder, causing it to flip over at least two times, the captain said. It landed off the road and came to rest upright.

The woman and her two daughters, ages 9 and 13,  were rushed to Seton Highland Lakes Hospital in Burnet with non life-threatening injuries.

One of the girls may have had a broken collarbone, Hanson added.

Foggy conditions also were reported at the time of the mishap.

daniel@thepicayune.com

HORSESHOE BAY — A familiar face is returning to City Hall to fill a City Council seat vacated by Cynthia Clinesmith, who stepped down last  month to become a school superintendent in South Texas.

The council Jan. 17 appointed Dick Rantzow to replace Clinesmith. She resigned Dec. 27, 2011, to become the Pleasanton Independent School District superintendent.

Rantzow was an alderman from November 2006 to November 2008.

He will will serve until Clinesmith’s term expires in November.