highlander-community service lcra coverage

The Lower Colorado River Authority will host a “come and go” open house for cus-tomers of the Spicewood Beach Regional Water Sys-tem on Tuesday, Feb.28.

Customers can visit with LCRA representatives about the Spicewood Beach sys-tem, conserving water dur-ing this extreme drought, and the future water supply for Spicewood Beach. Cus-tomer service representa-

tives will be available to dis-cuss accounts, offer tips on how to monitor daily water use, and ensure LCRA has up-to-date contact informa-tion for customers.

The open house will be at the Spicewood Beach Recreation Hall, 207 Golf Course Drive, in Spicewood Beach from 5 to 8 p.m.

Spicewood Beach re-mains under Stage 4 emer-gency drought restric-tions. Outdoor water use is banned and residents are encouraged to eliminate all but essential water use.

Page 8A Weekend Edition, February 24 - 27, 2012 The Highlander Marble Falls, Texas

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LCRA: OKs new water planFrom Page 1A From staFF reports

A Spicewood resident has been arrested on a warrant for possession of marijuana, according to information from the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).

Acting on a Crime Stop-pers tip, investigators with the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit executed a search war-rant Feb. 17 at 501 Want-A-Hideaway Dr. in Spicewood. The search resulted in the sei-zure of 61 marijuana plants and the arrest of Uzziel Fer-nandez, 34, for possession of marijuana, not less than five but no more than 50 pounds, a third-degree felony.

Fernandez posted bond and was released from the Burnet County Jail Tuesday, with bond set at $7,500, ac-cording to Smith.

“It’s hard to compare this with other busts in the coun-ty, although the quantity seized was significant for us,” BCSO Special Operations Unit (SOU) Capt. Dwight Hardin said.

The investigation of Fer-nandez began two months ago after the SOU received the tip from the Austin Police Department.

The information alleged

that Fernandez was growing marijuana at the residence, and the tipster indicated Fer-nandez had a sophisticated indoor growing operation complete with an elaborate venting system and grow lights on timers that traveled across the ceilings on tracks, according to information from the BCSO.

SOU investigators were able to corroborate the infor-mation from the tip and de-veloped additional informa-tion, which led investigators to stop a vehicle occupied by Fernandez as he was leaving his residence last Friday.

Fernandez was also ar-rested on outstanding traffic warrants and was found to be in possession of marijuana at the time of his arrest. Investi-gators obtained a search war-rant for the residence, and upon entering, they discov-ered the marijuana growing in two inside rooms and in a shed behind the residence.

Most of the plants were between six to eight feet tall, and according to Hardin, each plant could harvest be-tween one to two pounds with an estimated street value of $1,000 per pound.

Investigators also recov-ered two handguns at the residence; however, Fernan-

dez has not been charged for possession of the weapons at this time.

“It was definitely a year-round operation,” Hardin said. State law requires some-one be charged by the weight of the marijuana, and the plants have to be processed to determine weight.

Hardin said no local con-nection has been made re-garding distribution from Fer-nandez’s alleged operation.

“Our investigation indi-cated that he was dealing primarily to people he knew in the Austin area,” Hardin said.

Burnet County Sheriff W.T. Smith said the investi-gation into the case is ongo-ing and other charges are possible.

BCSO makes substantial pot bust

From the mother of John Boy Garcia

We would like to say thank you for everything that was done during the loss of a son, brother, uncle, and friend. A very special thanks goes to my son-in law who, with-out him, it couldn’t of hap-pened. And to the people who made a donation, Thank You! We will miss you always. We love you.

-John’s mother, Nell Garcia and family.

John Boy Garcia

Uzziel Fernandez

LCRA hosts SpicewoodBeach open house

Spicewood : VoiceFrom Page 1A

Also, their voices can be trained more eas-ily when they are older, she said.

March 8, the choir will perform for par-ents at Spicewood’s Open House. On March 31, they will travel to Round Rock to per-form “God Bless Amer-ica” at the Texas Star’s hockey game. The game begins at 7 p.m. and they will sing at intermission.

David Schafer, an-other fifth grader in the

choir, said he loves go-ing on the field trips and singing in a group.

May 16, they will compete in a choir festi-val in Austin. Last year, they performed so well in the festival that they received a large trophy for their excellence.

“We got all 1s at con-test last year so we got the big trophy,” Lane laughed.

May 19, the choir will make its last perfor-mance of the year at the local Buzzard Bump in Spicewood.

Judge Donna Klaeger said.Wharton County’s Scott

Arbuckle proposed an amendment that would have eased impacts on rice farmers, but it was voted down, 9-6.

Lakes interests were dis-appointed by some of the changes to the stakeholders committee plan and some behind the scenes maneu-vering that brought them about, but acknowledged the new plan better protects the lakes and the Highland Lakes water supply in times of extreme drought.

“I’m happy it’s over,” said Jo Karr Tedder, an East Lake Buchanan resident who was a member of the stakehold-ers advisory committee and the president of the Central Texas Water Coalition. “Now it’s time to move on and find new water supply resources. That’s what it’s going to take to solve the problem we face and I assure you the lakes interests will definitely be involved in the process.”

Among the changes in the plan that lakes interests stakeholders said would be beneficial to the Highland Lakes region:

• Using two trigger points during the year to determine

how much stored water from the lakes is available for rice farmers. One trigger point, Jan. 1, would be used for the first rice crop and a second, June 1, would be used for the second crop. The current plan contains only a Jan. 1 trigger point.

• Eliminating open sup-ply, which is the practice of making unlimited water from the Highland Lakes available for downstream agriculture when the lakes are above a defined trig-ger point. In the future, the amount of stored water available from the lakes for downstream agricultural operations would have an upper limit at all times.

• Asking firm water cus-tomers, mostly cities and industry, to reduce water use consistent with their drought plans only after in-terruptible water from the Highland Lakes for agricul-ture is restricted. Current practice can result in LCRA requesting firm customers implement voluntary con-servation before agricultural water is restricted. Firm customers pay considerably more for their water than farmers and other “inter-ruptible” customers.

Wednesday’s vote in-dicates the devastation of

lakes Buchanan and Travis, with the resulting fallout on residents and business owners and their employ-ees during the months-long dry spell that is the worst in centuries, was not lost on the directors.

“We have never been at this juncture before,” LCRA board Chairman Timothy Timmerman said. “We have always been able to serve all of our customers. Under the present water manage-ment plan we are not set up to handle this kind of a drought.

“This is one of the most important decisions we will make this year and may-be in our careers at board members.”

Rice farmer backers on the board voted against the changes and took the loss hard.

“I believe this water man-agement plan is not adap-tive enough and it is too re-strictive and is too difficult to understand and operate,” said board member John Dickerson from Matagorda County, who voted against it. “The water management plan is about managing firm and interruptible water sup-ply and is not about protect-ing recreational water sup-ply on the reservoirs.”

By AdAm TroxTell

HigHlAnd lAkes newspApers

The Parks and Recreation Com-mission is asking Marble Falls City Council to consider information in a sports complex feasibility study based only on local needs and not on the ability to attract out-of-towners.

The study, which began last spring, will now go before council members, who will make the ulti-mate decision of whether or not to move ahead with constructing a sports complex. The commissioners said while they believe the feasibility study was comprehensive and they don’t completely oppose building any kind of new recreational facility, some questioned the exact figures regarding how much money would

come to the city by hosting soccer or baseball tournaments.

“The study is thorough and very optimistic,” commissioner Bob Fal-lis said. “I don’t trust those figures. I don’t believe we can put on that many tournaments in a year. If we’re looking to satisfy our own needs, our needs are not that great. As far as numbers go, I’m willing to accept most, but not all, of the feasibility study.”

The results from surveying com-pany Baker-Aicklen and Associ-ates’ feasibility study showed just the first two phases of the sports complex project – which includes building baseball, soccer and tennis playing surfaces – would cost close to $10 million and produce between $41,000 and $56,000 of net income by 2014, but only under optimal

conditions. This includes hosting 26 camps or clinics, as well as tourna-ments that would bring in tourists.

The study also estimates the in-flux of out-of-towners would help pump between $291 to $393 mil-lion into the local economy. Com-missioners are skeptical about that many people being drawn to Marble Falls, and instead want to focus on the recreational needs for the community.

“It should be phased in such a manner that the immediate needs of local recreational activities are met,” Fallis said.

Commissioner Steve Manley, who made the motion to recommend council use the feasibility study with local needs in mind, has favored the

MARBLE FALLS’ PAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1959 • SERVING THE HIGHLAND LAKES REGION • w w w . H i g h l a n d e r N e w s . c o m

Index Calendar........................ 5AClassified........................7AObituaries.................4,.13AOpinion.......................... 6ARecords........................ 14ASports........................... 15ATV.Listings.....................11A

TuesdayNovember 6, 2012

Volume 54, Number 89 1 Section, 16 Pages

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Study ... see Page 5A

Sports complex study: Local needs come first

Show-n-Shine Car ShowClassic cars lined Marble Falls’ Main Street on Saturday for the Lions Club Show-n-Shine car show. All proceeds from the show will go to charitable organizations, and 80 percent will stay with local organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes, Meals on Wheels, the Helping Center and the Highland Lakes Family Crisis Center.

Staff Photo by adam troxtell

Sam Oatman

By AdAm TroxTell


The pull of business to Marble Falls is strong, so much that James “Rocky” Reese decided to move his hotel chain company here and opened up a new at-traction designed to solidify the town’s destination hub atmosphere.

The Riverbend Con-ference Center sits right next to the Hampton Inn On the Lake, which Reese owns through his company Live Oak Lodging. Since early October, it’s already hosted three business re-treats, bringing people to the Hampton and, subse-quently, to the local shops and restaurants. Its grand opening and ribbon cutting is today, Nov. 6, at 4:30 p.m. followed by an Election Day watch party.

“We think it’s going to work really well,” Reese said. “One of the things we didn’t have is a conference space for hotel guests. We would market the Hampton and Marble Falls, and come up short. These people are [staying] for two nights, and they’re downtown. So, when they take a break, they go shopping or eat” locally.

The conference center,

which used to be River-bend Art Gallery, has three meeting rooms, the biggest of which is the Guadalupe room. The grand opening watch party will be held, mainly, within its 2,167 square feet of space, with results streaming in on one of the major news net-works projected onto a large screen.

The Frio room is the me-dium sized room, with 421 suare feet and the ability to seat up to 50 people. Flat screen televisions with cable access sit in both this room and the San Saba room, which is designed more like a business meeting space with a long table and eight chairs at its center.

For Reese, adding a con-ference center to Marble Falls goes beyond bringing in more hotel customers. Reese has high expectations for the town economically, citing its prime location and friendly business climate. For that reason, and to cut down on employees’ drive times, Reese moved Live Oak Lodging to Marble Falls from Horseshoe Bay in March.

“Marble Falls is differ-ent from a lot of cities,” Re-ese said. “There’s the water feature, there’s proximity to large cities. You don’t have to live in Austin or San Antonio to access them. The pace of life here is more desirable.”

Reese also noted two ma-jor economic contributors

Conference center shows business boom, owner says

Center ... see Page 13A

By AdAm TroxTell


A San Antonio judge appointed to hear a felony assault charge against a former state Republican leader has removed Dis-trict Attorney Sam Oatman from the case and will ap-point a special prosecutor.

Judge Robert Richard-son – who was appointed to the case after 33rd Dis-trict Judge Guilford Jones recused himself – granted defense attorney Rich-ard Davis’s motion to dis-qualify Oatman based on past statements the DA made and the “speed in

which the defendant was indicted.”

Former state Republi-can committeeman John-nie B. Rogers is accused of assaulting a Burnet Bulletin reporter in front of a number of witnesses, including Burnet Police Chief Paul Nelson, at a primary watch party at the Burnet County Republi-can headquarters.

Oatman was not pres-ent at the Monday morn-ing meeting, but was rep-resented by Assistant DA Gary Bunyard.

“Our wish is not to agree with the merit of the motion,” Bunyard said.

“We think it is outrageous, but to ensure things go forward, we do not oppose the decision.”

Last Friday, Oatman’s office asked the State At-torney General’s office to take over prosecuting du-ties, but they declined.

The trial was set to be-gin Dec. 10, but that could change. Richardson said once a special prosecutor was brought in, all parties would meet to determine whether or not that date is acceptable. The only qualification for a special prosecutor is they be an attorney with a license to practice law in Texas.

Once appointed, the spe-cial prosecutor will work the case to its conclusion.

DA removed from Rogers case

Rogers ... see Page 13A

From sTAFF reporTs

Early voting totals in Bur-net County came in slightly un-der 2008 numbers, while Llano County officials are anticipating a record turnout of voters for the general election.

Llano recorded 7,072 early vot-ers, up from 6,421 in 2008. That represents half of the county’s electorate, with just over 14,000 registered to vote there. Election Administrator Cindy Ware is ex-pecting a busy Election Day and for the amount of voters in Llano County to exceed 10,000, setting a new record.

In Burnet County, early vot-ing numbers came in just under the 2008 mark. The county re-corded 9,554 ballots at the end of the day on Friday. Last election, 9,938 made it to the polls early.

In addition to the presidential and state elections, communities in both Llano and Burnet coun-ties have unique items on the ballot.

Two charter amendments are up for a vote in Horseshoe Bay, both of which deal with the city’s ability and freedom regarding the local airport. Deerhaven and the Llano County Municipal Utilities District have put bonds up for a vote, and Oak Ridge Estates resi-dents will be asked if they wish to create an emergency services district, making it easier for them to receive fire protection.

In addition to the presidential and state campaigns, Burnet City Council also holds importance for that city’s voters.

The four-way race pits for-mer council member Pat Rid-dell against Mary Jane Shanes, Michelle Devaney and George Banks to fill a seat vacated ear-lier this year.

The polling hours on Election Day are 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Burnet County polls:

first lutheran Church, 133 apollo dr., burnet

main Courthouse, 220 S. Pierce, burnet

Grace United methodist Church, 4007 Valley View, Granite Shoals

Spicewood Community Center, 7901 Cr 404, Spicewood

Silver Creek fire hall and Commu-nity Center, 101 Cr 128, burnet

Smithwick Community Center, 10800 e. fm 1431, marble falls

Cassie Subdivision Community Center, 3920 fm 690, burnet

hoover Valley Volunteer fire de-partment, 303 Sherwood dr., burnet

highland haven Community Cen-ter, 118 blackbird dr., burnet

Iglesia bautista emanuel Church fellowship hall, 4000 W. fm 243, bertram

Naruna Church building, 9170 fm 1478, burnet

Joann Cole mitte memorial library, 170 N. Gabriel St., bertram

ambassadors for Christ Church, 4030 e. Sh 29, bertram

lake Victor Community Center, 200 lake ave., burnet (lake Victor)

briggs Schoolhouse, 215 loop 308, briggs

oakalla Schoolhouse, 29011 fm 963, oakalla

burnet North annex, 1701 e. Polk, burnet

Voters ... see Page 5A

Turnout mixedas voters head to polls today

By JAmes wAlker


Stakeholders and propo-nents of preserving the wa-ter in the Highland Lakes are gearing up for another fight with downstream rice farmers and their powerful backers on the Lower Colorado River Au-thority board of directors.

The LCRA Water Operations Committee meets Nov. 13 and the full board of directors Nov. 14 in Fredericksburg and the board is likely to have to rule on an expected plan setting forth how much, if any, wa-ter will be sent downstream to the farmers next year.

An Emergency Drought Order that has been in place most of this year ends Dec. 31 and the rice farmers and their allies on the board are expected to push for a re-turn to LCRA’s present Water Management Plan as the ba-sis for managing the water in the Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis reservoirs.

Highland Lakes stakehold-ers are expecting a large con-tingent of supporters at the two meetings and plan to urge board members to not only keep the emergency order in place, but to strengthen it.

The LCRA staff, which said last month it did not recom-

mend seeking emergency re-lief from the Water Manage-ment Plan at that time, said in a news release Friday af-ternoon that since then con-ditions have not improved and forecasts call for drier conditions.

Accordingly, the staff will recommend the board con-sider seeking emergency relief from the Texas Commission on Environmental Qual-ity (TCEQ), the LCRA release said.

It is expected the staff will recommend an emergency or-der based on the new Water

Water skirmish brewing

LCRA ... see Page 13A

tuesday night election results will be posted online

at highlandernews.com, burnetbulletin.com and llanocj.com and in the burnet bulletin

and llano County Journal Wednesday morning in the

marble falls h-e-b and Wal-mart stores.

Get the results:

higlandernews

Line

A Tuesday, November 6, 2012 The Highlander Marble Falls, Texas

Opinion

Marble Falls’ Newspaper of Record Since 1959

Serving the Highland Lakes RegionThe Highlander is published twice weekly at 304 A Gateway Loop, Marble Falls, TX 78654, by Highland Lakes Newspapers, Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Marble Falls, TX, 78654, USPS 579-180. ISSN 1084-5410. Member of Texas Press Assoc., South Texas Press Assoc., Gulf Coast Press Assoc., West Texas Newspaper Assoc., and Suburban Newspapers of America.

POSTMASTERSend address changes toThe HighlanderP. O. Box 1000Marble Falls, Texas 78654

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PUZZLES

Find today’s

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12a

The LCRA Staff has recom-mended that the LCRA Board NOT renew the Emergency Drought Or-der. Central Texas Water Coalition is asking the LCRA Board to sup-port the renewal or re-authorization of the Emergency Drought Order so we do not further jeopardize the drinking water and likelihoods of Central Texas businesses, indus-tries, residences, tourism, and local and state revenues on the Highland Lakes.

Why is this so important? Here are the Facts:

Lake Travis level is at 634 feet, 32 feet below average this time of year, Lake Buchanan is at 993 feet, or 18 below average.

If the LCRA releases up to 209,000 acre feet (AF) of water to the “interruptible” rice industry (183,000 AF diverted and an ad-ditional 36,000 AF with evaporation +), or 68 million gallons, enough for 500,000 households for a year, Lake Travis could drop 16-20 more

feet, and Lake Buchanan 2-4 more feet, down to BELOW 600,000 AF, triggering a mandatory 20 percent curtailment of water usage, and effectively bankrupting many area businesses and negatively impact-ing municipalities.

By LCRA estimates, if the 25 percent chance of a drought worse that the drought of record occurs, and the 183,000/209,000 AF is re-leased for the rice industry, the two lakes could contain less than 12 months of water supply for the 1.5 million people who rely on the lakes for water. Is this a prudent gamble?

The rice industry pays on aver-age $6.50 per “acre foot” of water, everyone else pays $151. Where is the incentive for the rice farmers to conserve water?

In 2011, the four rice industry districts poured four to six feet of water on land that Ron Gertson (rice farmer and spokesman for the Big 4 Rice Districts/Corporations) recently described on national tele-vision as a “barren wasteland.”

Texas agricultural irrigation av-erages less than 18 inches per acre annually (a figure that includes the rice farmers 48-60 inches), and central pivot sprinklers are used on 80 percent of Texas irrigated acres. There are opportunities for contin-ued improvements in Ag water use efficiency through drought-tolerant crop varieties, and updated irriga-tion techniques, instead of flooding to kill weeds.

Lake Buchanan has not been full since June 2007. The High-land Lakes region suffered greatly in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, and continues to do so. Hundreds of jobs have been lost, hundreds of millions in revenue and property values have been lost, and many

service, hospitality, marina, resort, fishing guides, and restaurant busi-nesses are bankrupt, and will not reopen. “Alternating” water between the lakes and the rice industry is flawed reasoning and a lack of fidu-ciary responsibility.

The idea that reservoir drink-ing water should be “alternated” between the rice industry and Central Texas residents and busi-nesses is also counter to the 1989 Adjudication Order concerning the LCRA: “The supply of stored water pursuant to non-firm, interruptible commitments should be interrupt-ed or curtailed to the extent neces-sary to allow the LCRA to satisfy all existing and projected demands for stored water pursuant to all firm uninterruptible commitments.”

The Big 4 Rice Districts/Corpo-rations have received billions of dol-lars in government subsides over the last decade, and they have crop insurance. Even LCRA has paid

Dear Editor:

“We’re under attack.” The State Department received Ambassador Stevens’ cry for help at 4 p.m., on 9/11/12. By 4:20 p.m. Secretary of State Clinton had been informed. She reportedly then moved to the Operations Center to maintain communications with the Tripoli Embassy by video conference until midnight, over 7 hours later. By then the US Diplomatic Mission had been destroyed and the ambas-sador and three other American heroes were dead.

As a minimum, it would ap-pear, some person or persons were negligent for failing to respond ap-propriately to Ambassador Stevens repeated requests for additional security, for months preceding the attack. If so, the person or persons must be held accountable for the entirely avoidable deaths of the four Americans. Further, it would appear that there was a flagrant, avoidable failure to assist/rescue the besieged ambassador and his personnel at the Mission build-

ing and then later at the CIA Safe House, once the attack became known in real time in Washington DC.

The Wall St. Journal reports (10/25/12) that since the Beng-hazi catastrophe, the President and Secretary of State confer daily and are “on the phone daily with his national security advisor, Tom Donilon, to review embassy secu-rity at vulnerable countries.” Is this to manage damage control or is it simply a classic closing of the barn doors after the cow got out?

An objective group of media representatives should be allowed to observe and participate in the Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) hearings (scheduled to begin Nov. 15) to question officials and super-visors from the State Dept, CIA, DOD and White House who were on duty at the time of the Benghazi attacks to determine exactly how those agencies responded to the at-tack reports and how that informa-

tion was communicated up their respective chains of command.

The media participation in the hearings would allow the American people to confidently understand: 1) What was the timeline for each attack related communication received, along with who and how each communication was handled? 2) Was any communication delayed in being routed to the next appro-priate authority, and if so, why? 3) Were any emergency conditions/alerts initiated due to the attacks and which authorities were notified and when? 4) When were the Secre-tary of State, CIA Director, Secre-tary of Defense and the President personally informed of the develop-ing situation and what were their subsequent actions? 5) What assets were available to assist the besieged site within a three hour time frame and how and why were those assets utilized/not utilized? 6) Was there any request from the attack site for assistance or fire support and if so, how was each handled and why? 7) When were post attack investiga-tions ordered and teams dispatched

to secure the attack site? 8) Who approved and who coordinated the administration’s post attack infor-mation releases and why was the information incorrect and mislead-ing? 9) What role, if any, did politi-cal damage control play in the post attack misinformation and slow attack scene investigation?

The SIC investigation should be conducted as a possible criminal investigation because lives were lost due to actions taken or not taken by persons in positions of responsibility. Whether intentional or not, any dereliction of duty must be punished and victims and their families compensated appropri-ately. Likewise, any cover up, intentional public misinformation, or attempts to deflect and defer the facts until after the 2012 elections, must be punished. If there is any indication of managed damage control by the SIC, an independent prosecutor investigation should be required.

Trevor DupuyHorseshoe Bay

Benghazi, Libya catastrophe needs to be probed

Water for drinking and thriving, not fightingJo Karr Tedder, President

Central Texas Water CoalitionGuest Column

Letter to the Editor

Water ... see Page 13A

higlandernews

Line

With its vote to fill the bottomless trough of the rice industry with water from the ever-shrinking Highland Lakes, the LCRA cleared up any misunderstanding about exactly what its acronym represents.

It is not the Lower Colorado River Author-ity. It is the Lower Colorado Rice Authority.

Helped along by the weaselly votes of three upstream directors who turned their backs on the people they pretend to rep-resent, the “rice farmers” – as these down-stream water welfare recipients like to call themselves – narrowly killed a compromise that would have given them a little less than what they wanted.

But traditions die hard, and pouring dirt-cheap water onto a crop that apparently can’t be raised in Texas without a flood of government assistance has been an unques-tioned entitlement for nearly a century.

Only eight months ago, the LCRA de-clared that the storage capacity of Lakes Bu-chanan and Travis had fallen so alarmingly low that emergency measures were needed to help them recover. For the first time in the history of the organization, its directors ad-opted a plan that actually interrupted water supplies to the rice hogs, though they have paid next to nothing for 80 years because their service could be interrupted.

So what changed between March and November? Did the “storage buckets” – as a rice industry lawyer likes to call the lakes – fill up?

Nope. Lake Buchanan was at 41 percent of capacity then. It’s at 43 percent now. We’ve put 12,000 acre feet in the bank over the past eight months. Meanwhile, the drought is digging in again, forecasters see no improvement near, and we’re losing wa-ter at the rate of 1,000 acre feet per day.

What changed is that the “rice farmers” – mostly a collection of agribusinesses and large landowners who are used to running governors and legislators like cattle – fired up their jets, headed for Austin, revved up their political pals and whipped their LCRA houseboys into line. A few closed door meetings later, the Rice Authority board was back on the leash.

When the day of decision arrived, few of the “farmers” troubled themselves to attend the director’s meeting in Fredericksburg, apparently assured they had the votes to end the board’s short but pesky flirtation with science and common sense.

The crucial vote came on a compromise offered by Burnet County director John Franklin, who clearly saw the industry’s political thresher bearing down on the lakes. His plan would have set a trigger

for the release of irrigation water halfway between the current emergency level of 850,000 acre feet in storage and the LCRA staff recommendation of 750,000. Equally important, it would have allowed only one measurement date to determine whether ir-rigation water would be released in 2013.

Three upstream directors – Rice Author-ity chairman Tim Timmerman of Austin; Scott Spears, also of Austin, and Michael McHenry of San Saba, an oddly reliable sycophant for the “rice farmers,” provided the margin necessary to swiftly kill the measure. Franklin, Jett Johnson of Mills County, and Ray Gill and Buddy Schrader, both of Llano County, were then the only opponents of dropping the threshold an-other 25,000 acre feet and giving the rice interests two shots at qualification.

While Gov. Rick Perry has denied in-volvement in the decision, it surpasses credulity to believe the prints of his cloven hooves are not on a supremely sensitive political vote involving one of Austin’s most powerful lobbies and the 15 mem-bers he’s appointed to the LCRA’s 15-member board.

The bottom line is that the Rice Au-thority decided to gamble with the abil-ity to provide adequate water supplies to people, animals and diversified business and industry in one of the state’s most populous and robust economies in favor of subsidizing special interests producing a crop that can’t stand on its own.

This is how we see it: • The “rice farmers” will pay about

$729,000 for their expected entitlement next year.

• Upstream cities like Marble Falls, Burnet and Austin would pay $18.3 mil-lion for the same amount of water.

• In 2011, the single worst drought

year in recorded Texas history, more than three times the water required by the entire City of Austin was poured on the four down-stream rice districts. As legendary Texas businessman and rancher Red McCombs observed recently, “These rice farmers har-vested a bumper crop while the rest of Tex-as suffered the brunt of the devastation.”

• This year, “farmers” who were un-able to produce just turned from subsidized water to federal crop insurance payments to cover their losses.

• Besides giveaway water, “Rice farm-ers” in Wharton, Matagorda and Colorado counties apparently need plenty of help from the federal government to grow a crop that’s less than ideal for the place and time. Between 1995 and 2000, they took over $700 million from 17 different Washington subsidy programs for their crop.

With government clamoring to support the Texas rice industry by every available means it certainly must be the most impor-tant agricultural product springing from the farms and ranches of South Texas, right?

No, not even in downstream Wharton County – the state’s top place for rice farm-ing. In fact, it ranks number four there, falling behind livestock, corn, cotton and sorghum, all of which manage to survive without monstrous quantities of subsi-dized water and some with a fraction of the government programs available for rice growing.

As conservatives, we have a hard time understanding why the government and upstream consumers should support an industry that would rather rely on others rather than adapt. If their supposedly inter-ruptible supplies were realistically priced, would they begin to plant more water ef-ficient crops or drill their own wells?

The Legislature should review the wis-dom of providing preferential treatment to this special interest and – at a minimum – require reasonable compensation from those who now squander a precious re-source vital to the future of Texas. Perhaps that will encourage them, like the rest of us, to deal with the economic realities of capitalism.

Meanwhile, should you come across those two Travis County directors at a spot favored by Austin lounge lizards and lobby-ists, please send them a glass of water and tell them to drink up now. It might all be gone next summer.

Roy E. BodePresident and Publisher

Page 6A Tuesday, November 20, 2012 The Highlander Marble Falls, Texas

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A Weekend Edition, December 7 - 10, 2012 The Highlander Marble Falls, Texas

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Pres. Barack Hussein ObamaWhite House1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Washington, DC 20500E-mail: [email protected]: 202.456.2461

Gov. Rick PerryP.O. Box 12428Austin, TX 78711Phone: 512.463.2000Fax: 512.463.1849

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison 284 Russell Senate Office Bldg.Washington, DC 20510Phone: 202.224.5922Fax: 202.224.0776 Or961 Federal Bldg.300 E. Eighth St.Austin, TX 78701Phone: 512.916.5834Fax: 512.916.5839

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn 517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.Washington, DC 20510Phone: 202.224.2934Fax: 202.228.2856 OrChase Tower221 W. Sixth St.Austin, TX 78701Phone: 512.469.6034Fax: 512.469.6020

U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway511 Cannon House Office Bldg.Washington, DC 20515Phone: 202.225.3605Email: [email protected] OrLlano Regional Office104 W. SandstoneLlano, TX 78643Phone: 325.247.2826Fax: 325.247.2676

State Sen. Troy FraserP.O. Box 12068, Capitol StationAustin, TX 78711Phone: 512.463.0124 Or101 US 281 N., Suite 203Marble Falls, TX 78654Phone: 830.693.9900Fax: 830.693.9603

State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran125 Lehrmann DriveKerrville, TX 78028Phone: 830.257.2333Fax: 830.792.4289E-mail: [email protected]

State Rep. Jimmie Don AycockRoom EXT E2.506P.O. Box 2910Austin, TX 78768Phone: 512.463.0684

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w w w . h i g h l a n d e r n e w s . c o m Dear Editor:

It is important to understand that President Obama personally played a pivotal role in Egypt’s “Arab Spring” revolution in 2010. When the anti-President Mubarak protests broke out, Obama publicly called for the Egyptian dictator to step down.

Mubarak, for all his many de-fects, had been receiving American aide because of his cooperation in guaranteeing the Arab peace with Israel and thus providing a modi-cum of stability in the strategic, but volatile, Middle East.

In 2011, as Mubarak was on his way out and the Muslim Brother-hood (MB) was increasing its role in the revolution, U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper testified to Congress that the MB is, “[a] largely secular [group], which has eschewed violence and has

decried al-Qaida as a perversion of Islam. They have pursued social ends, betterment of the political or-der in Egypt,” etc. At the time many pointed out, this doesn’t square with the Brotherhood’s slogan, “Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Koran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the path of Allah is our highest hope.”

This contradiction is more glar-ing today as we witness the recent seizure of dictatorial powers by Brotherhood leader and new Egyp-tian President, Mohammed Morsi.

While the Brotherhood’s mask slips, the White House is currently planning a $1 billion debt forgive-ness for Egypt and is leading an effort for the IMF to loan the coun-try nearly $5 billion – all without

conditions.Morsi’s recent role in broker-

ing a cease-fire in Gaza may have earned him praise by some, but if past history repeats, it’s nothing more than the Brotherhood buying time to consolidate its own power before facilitating a coordinated attack to eliminate Israel and the pursuit of a United Arab Caliphate.

By any objective criteria, the Obama Administration has simply mishandled the situation in Egypt and the Middle East. The Muslim Brotherhood is, and has always been, clear about its goal to impose Sharia Law and eliminate Israel.

The most charitable excuse is unintentional incompetence – the same incompetence that caused the White House to turn its back on Iranian protestors in 2009; fail to slow Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weap-ons; declare Syria’s murderous dic-tator a “reformer” and then support

rebels trying to oust him; facilitate Muslim Brotherhood advances area-wide; fail to secure a “Status of Forces” agreement with Iraq; call for impossible to defend borders for Israel; and, finally, ignore the pleas for help from our people before and during the murderous attacks in Libya.

In his first term, President Obama said he should be judged on his results after four years. Let’s evaluate. He visited a relatively stable Egypt and Middle East a few years ago speaking of justice, progress, tolerance and human dignity. Now, after four years of his policies, an exploding Middle East has less of each and Americans are more uniformly mistrusted, hated and at risk in the Arab world and worldwide.

Trevor DupuyHorseshoe Bay

Dear Editor:

It seems that LCRA intends to release water to the rice farmers next year. Not really a surprise. I halfway expected it.

I had heard earlier in the year that the utility companies were con-sidering cancellation of their con-tracts with LCRA. Today KBEY an-nounced that LCRA was going to take the utility companies to court to recoup loses (I wonder what will come out in court if everyone has to tell the truth?). As a result, LCRA’s credit rating has taken a hit (down-graded by Standard & Poors).

I am sure that the utility compa-nies have recognized that there isn’t enough water for LCRA to fulfill their contract and probably want to secure the power elsewhere while they still can. They are being realistic about the lake levels.

It’s pretty obvious that LCRA is starting to feel the financial loss due to not being able to generate this year. Another year of no generation of electricity may be enough to put a monkey wrench in their works. I am pretty sure they have gigan-tic outflow of cash with not enough

coming in to sustain them. Grandpa would say they have gotten too big for their britches. Not enough income to sustain the outgo! When the outgo exceeds the income, the upkeep be-comes the downfall.

LCRA will do anything it can to generate electricity and keep and ful-fill those contracts. They can not release water solely for the purpose of generation of electricity except in an emergency. Like I have said from the beginning. They have been releasing water solely for the purpose of gen-erating electricity for decades. The rice farmers are only a feeble excuse which allows them to release water.

The lakes have not recovered enough for the release of any water to interruptable customers. Every one knows that. LCRA just doesn’t care much if there is not enough water to go around. A self-serving organization should not control a life-sustaining water supply. They answer to no one. Something has to change. Looks like they will not stop until they go broke and no one has enough water.

Wayne Nehring, PresidentCassie Community Association

Dear Editor:

Rice farmers vs. LCRA vs. county commission-ers, and senators are in conflict over dwindling Lake Buchanan water. Who will win? I couldn’t speculate, but the un-said losers probably are the property taxpayers.

An example is the land value of an acre on the lake (currently a wet weather mud puddle) is assessed in excess of $100,000. Water view lots also have “value added tax.” Other prop-erties are also over-val-ued just by being in the area.

However, this over taxation is based on the lake being full and the touristas dropping their dollars here. Since the lake has been half full the last 3-4 years (cur-rently, 44 percent full or 56 percent empty) should not the assessed

tax valuation of the land be adjusted down-ward by say 56 percent so that the $100,000 lot now be valued at $44,000?

I call on the tax over-lords to address this over-taxation in these pages. Please join me in an appeal for interven-tion to raise the water level of Lake Buchanan to “The One” that con-trols all human destiny, can raise or lower sea levels (can walk on wa-ter) has an unspeakable name (or two) and is your “guiding light.”

Say it with me now!Obama Claus, Obama

Claus, Obama Claus, Obama Claus, Obama Claus.

You are now between a “Barack and a hard place.”

Congratulations, Y’all!

Nick SoikaBurnet

Casualties of water warLCRA water release tied to electricity

We have a Middle East ObamanationLetters to the Editor

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Going over the fiscal cliff on Jan. 1 would mean huge income tax increases for all Americans and across-the-board cuts in most federal programs (except Social Se-curity). I believe Congress and the White House will do all that must be done to avoid such a shock to our economy.

But the reason for the fiscal cliff – an exploding national debt – won’t go away until Congress and the White House reach agreement on a long-term deficit-reduction solution. Although there are dif-ferences over the details, there is broad agreement in Washington that this should consist of compre-hensive, pro-growth tax reform and common-sense spending reforms that include shoring up the fi-nances of Social Security and other entitlement programs.

More than 60 percent of current federal spending goes to entitle-ment programs, mostly Social Security and Medicare. To put that in perspective, if we elimi-nated all federal spending except entitlements – that is, if we spent no money on highways, national defense, medical research, food safety, etc. – this year’s federal budget would be just barely bal-anced and would not affect the debt at all.

In a few more years, eliminat-ing all non-entitlement spending wouldn’t be enough to balance the budget. That’s because both Social Security and Medicare costs will grow faster than our economy for the next several decades, as the largest generation in our nation’s history gets ready to retire. At the same time, there are fewer Ameri-cans in the workforce to contrib-ute payroll taxes to cover those benefits.

Some have pointed out that both programs are financed by payroll taxes and have accumulat-ed surpluses in previous decades (essentially IOUs from the U.S. Treasury). But payroll taxes no longer cover the costs of benefits, and surpluses are dwindling. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) currently

estimates a payroll tax shortfall in Social Security of $59 billion in 2012, $76 billion in 2013, and $86 billion for both 2014 and 2015.

Social Security’s situation is on course to run out of money for full retirement benefits in 2033. Al-though that seems a long way off, waiting until then to address Social Security’s finances probably would require a big payroll tax increase or a cut in benefits – or both. But modest, incremental changes over the next few years will protect benefits for current retirees and for those who are about to retire, as well as preserving Social Security for the next generation.

I have put forth a plan, the De-fend and Save Social Security Act, to preserve and strengthen Social Security. My approach is sensible, fair, and easy to implement.

First, as Americans live longer, it makes sense to increase the retirement age gradually – without impacting those who are about to retire. Under my bill, anyone who is currently 59 years or older would not be affected.

For everyone else, both the normal retirement age and early retirement age would increase by three months each year, starting in 2016. That means the normal retirement age would reach 67 by

2019, 68 by 2023, 69 by 2027, and 70 by 2031. The early retire-ment age would also be gradually increased to 63 by 2019 and 64 by 2023.

Second, the annual cost-of-liv-ing adjustment, or COLA, would be computed as it is under current law. However, my bill would shave off 1 percent of the COLA in any year it exceeded 1 percent. (If an annual COLA adjustment is less than 1 percent, there would be no change.)

Social Security’s Chief Actu-ary calculates that my legislation would ensure full retirement ben-efits for at least 50 years – as well as reducing deficits by $631 billion over the next 10 years.

In its current form, Social Security is headed for insolvency. The question isn’t whether to act, it’s when. I believe it is better to act now, while there is time to gradu-ally implement changes, over the course of several years, rather than suffering a massive disruption to the program all at once. By doing this, there would be no cuts in Social Security’s core benefits and no payroll tax increase on workers today.

Hutchison, a Republican, is the senior U.S. senator from Texas.

Page 6A Tuesday, December 18, 2012 The Highlander Marble Falls, Texas

Opinion

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LCRA needs an official watchdogDear Editor:

Last week the opinion that I sent in for consideration was pub-lished. It dealt with Lower Colorado River Authority using the release of water for the rice farmers as a feeble excuse to generate electricity with that same water. LCRA is not supposed to release water solely for the purpose of the generation of electricity except in an emergency.

Recently, the news media has been covering contracts between LCRA and utility companies. The question that comes to mind is: “How can LCRA enter into con-tracts to generate electricity if they have no way of knowing whether or not there will be enough water

in the lakes to fulfill those con-tracts?” Hydroelectric obviously pays a huge role in the supply of electricity from LCRA. One must question the wisdom of whoever made this decision. Either these decision makers think they have Devine powers or they do not care how much water is in the lakes. LCRA appears to be only con-cerned with taking care of LCRA. They have contracts to fulfill. It is quite obvious that the rules LCRA is obligated to follow are being ignored. At the very least, the rules are being severely bent and twisted to serve LCRA’s purposes.

I’m not exactly sure who may be in the best position to force LCRA to follow the rules? They have no one watching over them. Maybe the Governor, Attorney General, our legislators, or all of them? It appears many of these people are asleep at the wheel. Our loyal watchdogs who are trying to solve the problem need the rest of the pack to join in. Take note of elected officials who are active in correcting this travesty and sup-port them. The rest of them are replaceable if they don’t wake up. We need to rattle their cage.

Wayne NehringPresident, Cassie

Community Association

Letter to the Editor

A better way to protect Social Security

Kay BaileyHutchison

U.S. Senator

Letter policyThe Highlander welcomes and en-

courages letters from readers. Please sign your letter and include your address and telephone number for verification of authorship.

Letters should not exceed 300 words. The Highlander reserves the right to edit let-ters for style, brevity and clarity and to limit publication to one letter per author per 30-day period. Longer letters that involve com-plicated topics will be considered. Guest columns of 500 words from those with a particular area of expertise are welcomed. Anonymous letters will not be published.

Letters endorsing or opposing political candidates are political advertising and should be taken to the advertising depart-ment. Letters of complaint about private businesses will be forwarded to the busi-ness and will not be published.

Address your letter to: The Highlander, Letter to the Editor, PO Box 1000, Marble Falls, TX 78654.

Letters can be accepted by e-mail and must also include an address and tele-phone number. E-mail us at: [email protected].

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A Weekend Edition, December 28 - 31, 2012 The Highlander Marble Falls, Texas

Opinion

Pres. Barack Hussein ObamaWhite House1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Washington, DC 20500E-mail: [email protected]: 202.456.2461

Gov. Rick PerryP.O. Box 12428Austin, TX 78711Phone: 512.463.2000Fax: 512.463.1849

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison 284 Russell Senate Office Bldg.Washington, DC 20510Phone: 202.224.5922Fax: 202.224.0776 Or961 Federal Bldg.300 E. Eighth St.Austin, TX 78701Phone: 512.916.5834Fax: 512.916.5839

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn 517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.Washington, DC 20510Phone: 202.224.2934Fax: 202.228.2856 OrChase Tower221 W. Sixth St.Austin, TX 78701Phone: 512.469.6034Fax: 512.469.6020

U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway511 Cannon House Office Bldg.Washington, DC 20515Phone: 202.225.3605Email: [email protected] OrLlano Regional Office104 W. SandstoneLlano, TX 78643Phone: 325.247.2826Fax: 325.247.2676

State Sen. Troy FraserP.O. Box 12068, Capitol StationAustin, TX 78711Phone: 512.463.0124 Or101 US 281 N., Suite 203Marble Falls, TX 78654Phone: 830.693.9900Fax: 830.693.9603

State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran125 Lehrmann DriveKerrville, TX 78028Phone: 830.257.2333Fax: 830.792.4289E-mail: [email protected]

State Rep. Jimmie Don AycockRoom EXT E2.506P.O. Box 2910Austin, TX 78768Phone: 512.463.0684

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w w w . h i g h l a n d e r n e w s . c o mDear Editor:

Kay Bailey Hutchison has done more for the average Texan than Sen. John Cornyn; but her last two letters to your newspaper leave a lot to be desired.

In her comments about re-forming the American tax system, she wrote about our economy growing when income tax and capital gains tax rates were dramatically reduced; but this was done on the backs of senior citizens.

Those receiving Social Secu-rity income benefits had to start paying income taxes on some of these benefits even after they had already paid income taxes on their contributions into Social Security and Medicare.

And Congress implemented the Government Pension Offset program which reduced Social Security income by no less than 60 percent if seniors had another pension. It didn’t matter if they were fully qualified to receive Social Security. I know this as it happened to me.

Hutchison also wrote the 2003 Bush tax cuts were fol-lowed by 52 consecutive months

of healthy economic growth but failed to mention that the govern-ment went from healthy budget surpluses to massive budget deficits. She went on to add that most Americans understand that raising taxes is bad for economic growth. Well, my dear, so is add-ing to the Federal Debt!

She left out the part that eliminating the 17,000 pages of loopholes written by her and her cohorts in the IRS Tax Code would add at least $1.2 tril-lion to the Federal Budget every year. She left out the part about giving $4 billion of subsidies to the oil companies every year. She left out the part about giving cor-porations the opportunity to establish offshore offices to avoid paying income taxes which is used by over 60 percent of Amer-ican corporations today. When citizens try to do this, guess what? They end up in jail for tax evasion.

And then her com-ments about protecting Social

Security are all wrong. She wants to raise the eligible age to 67 and to reduce cost-of-living raises for senior citizens. She stated do-ing this would reduce deficits by $631 billion over 10 years, which amounts to only $6.31 billion per year. Again, what she didn’t mention was making all people, regardless of annual income, to pay into Social Security would eliminate any future deficits in the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. However, she has always protected the rich by help-ing them to opt out of any man-datory obligations.

She was in office when Con-gress decided, over the public’s objection, to place the incomes derived from Social Security and Medicare in the Federal Budget and to call the benefits “entitlements.” Entitlements, my foot! Congress did this to make their deficits not look so bad.

Social Security and Medicare contributions are paid sepa-rately by the average American and should be placed back in their respective trust funds and not touched by Congress. But I admit that I made a terrible mistake during the Reagan years

when I recommended that Con-gress borrow these funds and pay them back with interest. Oh, yes, I did.

I thought it was a win-win situation. Not only would this help with President Reagan’s “voodoo economics” but al-low these funds to grow even more. What I didn’t see coming was Congress decided that they would have to pay these funds back someday and “with inter-est.” So, to get out of paying, they did what they did the un-thinkable and called the benefits from Social Security and Medi-care “entitlements.”

Well, my friends and my dear Senator Lady, Social Security and Medicare benefits are NOT entitlements. Welfare benefits are entitlements, and there are big differences.

I like it when politicians state their opinions; but they should be held to the same obligation as when one take the witness’ stand to tell “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Edward Lindsay Fort Worth

Reduced tax rates came on backs of senior citizensLetters

to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Consider this: LCRA has a huge amount of income from the produc-tion of electrical power.

Hydro electric fuel (the water in Lakes Buchanan and Travis) is basi-cally free.

LCRA is prohibited from releas-ing water solely for the production of electricity, except in an emergency.

Rice farmers (interruptible cus-tomers) pay barely over $5 an acre foot for the same water that non interruptible customers pay over $160.

Rice farmers received well over 400,000 acre feet of water during the recent drought of record, which is not over.

LCRA recently presented a water management plan to TCEQ that, if approved, will almost certainly guarantee that the rice farmers will

receive water for a crop in 2013. The lakes will be very much lower than they were at their most recent lowest level.

Non interruptible customers re-quired to conserve water due to the low lake levels. More of the water re-leased to rice farmers is lost in route to rice farmers than the amount of water conserved by non interruptible customers. Rice farmers use several times the amount of water that non interruptible customers use. Is this an oxymoron or what?

People with rice farming con-nections serve on the LCRA board of directors while past employees of electric power and light, telephone or utility companies are not allowed. Apparently it would be considered a conflict of interest if these companies served on the board since they are customers of LCRA. Are not the rice farmers considered customers since

they purchase water from LCRA?Certain members of the LCRA

board of directors have already confirmed that they usually follow the recommendations of LCRA staff. LCRA staff historically favors the rice farmers with little regards for the lake area and non interruptible cus-tomers, consistently requiring non interruptible customers to conserve.

LCRA has rice farming inter-ests and thereby a customer of itself. Several board members have business connections amongst themselves.

Can you imagine what would happen if our judges and juries were allowed to conduct business in the same manner?

Wayne NehringPresident, Cassie Community

Association

LCRA, conflicts of interest — you be the judge? Letter policyThe Highlander welcomes and

encourages letters from readers. Please sign your letter and include your address and telephone number for verification of authorship.

Letters should not exceed 300 words. The Highlander reserves the right to edit letters for style, brevity and clarity and to limit publication to one letter per author per 30-day period. Longer letters that involve complicated topics will be considered. Guest col-umns of 500 words from those with a particular area of expertise are wel-comed. Anonymous letters will not be published.

Letters endorsing or opposing political candidates are political adver-tising and should be taken to the ad-vertising department. Letters of com-plaint about private businesses will be forwarded to the business and will not be published.

Address your letter to: The High-lander, Letter to the Editor, PO Box 1000, Marble Falls, TX 78654.

Letters can be accepted by e-mail and must also include an address and telephone number. E-mail us at: [email protected].

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