Another week with not too many calls, that sure is nice. Officers handled 47 calls for service and conducted 88 traffic stops. Those 88 stops resulted in 79 citations and 9 warnings. Officers made one arrest last week. Sgt. Hanson and Ofc. Pena responded to a domestic disturbance on N. Benton St. and arrested a male for assault causing bodily injury to a family member. Only three property crimes were reported to us. #1 – H.E.B. Plus reported a theft that occurred on a prior day. An unknown female was observed on camera leaving the store with $9 worth of unpaid merchandise. All I can say is that they have some rather good cameras up there, $9 doesn’t buy much these days …. maybe you could hide that in the palm of your hand. # 2 – H.E.B. Plus reported another theft, a male left the store with a rotisserie chicken and an adult beverage. I’m not sure which flavor rotisserie chicken he got but if I were going to steal one it would be the lemon pepper, it’s good. #3 – A complainant reported that somebody got their new debit card and set up a pin and “went to town”. They charged about $600 before the card was shut down. In another case, a complainant who reported his handgun as stolen back in 2020 said he found it. We removed it from the system as stolen. I misplace stuff all the time, never done that with a gun though. In another case: A gentleman found a wallet and turned it into the PD, it was full of cash. I thanked him and told him that most people take the cash out before they turn it in. We were able to locate the owner and reunite him with his wallet and cash within the hour. Mark your calendars for the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. We will be hosting our first National Night Out event since 2019. The event will be held at the Lytle Community Center, so the heat or rain won’t ruin our event. If your group or business is interested in setting up a booth, please email me. I am sure we will be providing food, drinks, and snacks. It should be a fun night. I would have a celebrity show up, but I don’t have those kinds of connections.
I was scrolling news online last Wednesday night when I stumbled across an article about my book “Hello from the Great Blue Sea” on Yahoo News! It came as a total surprise. An article about our book was published on the front page of the Corpus Christi Caller Times last Monday, July 11, and I noticed that article was written by a journalist who is part of the USA Today Network. So Yahoo News apparently picked it up sometime after that. The book is illustrated by Chad Wildoner, an inspiring young man who battles the same disease as my little niece, but he won’t let this disease stop him from living life to the fullest. He’s gone skydiving, horseback riding, kayaking, you name it–and now he has illustrated a children’s book that made National news! I wrote this children’s book for my niece Audrey (after she was diagnosed with A-T) to help show her that she too, can do anything she wants to do and go anywhere she wants to go, wheelchair or not. Chad and I are donating all book sales profits to a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for A-T, the A-T Children’s Project. Because A-T is such a rare disease, the A-T Children’s Project is the driving force behind most of the research that’s being done. So our family has connected with Chad’s family, over 2,000 miles away in California, in our mission to help raise funds for a cure. You can buy our book on Amazon by typing the title into the search bar: “Hello from the Great Blue Sea”. The theme of the book is how the world’s oceans connect us all, so how appropriate it is to be a fundraiser for a condition so rare that it only affects 1 in 40,000-100,000 people, but to see so many people come together to help us in so many ways. Small acts of kindness can go such a long way, like the sweet lady, Mrs. Ann, who is the director of the condo at the beach, who agreed to sell our books in her little gift store in Port Aransas. Because of that, the Corpus Christi Caller did a story on our book, because the book is sold at a local store. Then the story ends up on Yahoo News. Pretty cool. A direct link is as follows on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Hello-Great-Blue-Sea-Wonders/dp/B0B5KXGSYW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2NTAACF3YETO8&keywords=hello+from+great+blue+sea&qid=1658175708&sprefix=hello+from+great+blue+se%2Caps%2C136&sr=8-1 Hello from the Great Blue Sea is a non-fiction picture book with sea animals including a starfish, shark, sea turtle, dolphin, whales, and fun facts along the way. A short 5-minute read. At the back of the book, are a “behind the scenes” story and pictures showing the illustrator as he drew the pictures and telling the story of how he continues to overcome his disabilities.
I recently wrote a Tale about a Cattle Trading trip with my Grand Dad Rosenauer when I was a young boy. Because some days you can say Good Morning to me at Sunrise and I am stuck for an answer till Noon, it caught me by surprise when this Tale came to mind while right in the middle of writing the first one. So, I figured I better put it to paper right quick before it “melted away” into that dark empty crevice called My Brain, to be lost forever. I mentioned how my Grand Dad would “meander around” a while before coming up with an amount to buy or sell something. My Dad was the exact opposite most of the time. He had enough of the livestock business growing up in La Brasada, and never owned a cow or horse in his life as an adult. But besides his family and hunting, he sure did love to “mess with guns”. My Dad would tinker and work with a gun and reload for it, until it shot as good as the rifle possibly could. Then he would lose interest in it and go to the next one. My Momma said it was a good thing he did not have the same attitude about his Wife and Kids! As an adult I came to realize Dad had about 6 or 8 “gun nuts buddies” (his words not mine) who shared this passion. I don’t think they ever made much money on their many trades, but they sure did “swap” a lot of guns around. Please keep in mind that was a VERY different point in time and all those men know each other very well. I guess a few “outside sales” did occur every once in a while. But mostly they simply traded among themselves. I distinctly remember one time Dad had a sweet rifle that fit me, and I shot it really well. I told him not to sell it, and about the 3rd or 4th time it came back into his gun cabinet I asked how much he wanted for that gun. He told me and I wrote him a check for it on the spot. I clearly and somewhat strongly said it was now mine. But he could keep and use it. Just don’t ever sell it again. I believe he shot that gun for 11 more years before sending it “Home” with me. And I used it till the barrel wore slap dab out! My Dad’s negotiating techniques were somewhat limited in style and format. His words were almost the same: “I dont’ have to seel this gun and don’t owe no money on it. My family is gonna eat whether it sells or not. So, pay me $XXX or let’s forget about trading and talk about something else.” As a reasonably successful marketing teacher, speaker, writer, and sales practitioner, I was always trying to point out other strategies or options to them. Grand Dad would “wander around in the desert” with his approach and Dad was a “take it or leave it” kind of a guy. Far be it from me to question the integrity or character of these two significant role models for me and others. But is sure does seem like having a few more “sales tools in your selling portfolio” was a good thing. But then what does an old backwoods south Texas Aggie Doc know about much anyway? After all I am still trying to come up with a prompt response to Good Morning!
All I can say about our weather is: Hot, hotter and hottest. With all the days with triple digit temperatures, it’s definitely a heat wave. A local friend of mine commented that the Devine area was having even more heat than we are. She had been watching a weathercast on the news and they mentioned it. My week was not too busy, just two half-days in the gift shop, but my weekend was wonderful. It started out that two of my daughters were coming to visit, my youngest and my eldest. It went down to just one coming in, and we had talked about shopping rather than crafting. We had a supper Friday night of one of her favorite dishes, fried catfish, with a salad and some French fries, cleaned up the kitchen and then we mostly sat and visited afterwards and played a couple games of Rummikub. She also did some chores that have gotten a little difficult for me, and then before we knew it, bedtime was upon us. Since she had worked all day and then driven for several hours, she was worn out. Saturday morning, we were both up, having breakfast, and deciding what we were going to do, and the shopping trip was looking great! She has not been here in a while and thought about maybe Ross and a couple of other places. As we were sitting with our coffee and talking, I turned around at a sound behind me and there was my eldest daughter! Talk about a surprise, it turned out that some plans changed, and she was able to be with us after all, and yes, the daughter who came in on Friday knew all about it, so the surprise was for me. We sat and visited and drank coffee most of the morning, then decided that with the heat, and because the daughter who had just come in had an injured foot, that we just needed to stay cool, so that is what we did. We took a short drive to town to get a couple of things, and then came home for the day, had a quick lunch (that my daughter brought in with her), and then spent the rest of the day playing Rummikub, in front of the AC and a fan, nice and cool! Since my older daughter wasn’t staying overnight, she left to go back home and the other one checked out a couple of electronic problems I was having, had a supper of boiled shrimp and some leftovers from Friday, played a few more games of Rummikub and called it a night. I got up early Sunday morning for church, and came home, to find she had already dried the sheets we put in the washer late Saturday evening and had her bed stripped and these sheets washed and dried. We had breakfast and then decided to go to the next town to Wal-Mart for some things she needed, for a totally fun morning. We had an early lunch and by 1:00 p.m. she was on the road to home. And, it goes without saying, she left the kitchen spotless and the whole house neatened up! Here are a couple cool desserts using lemons. These desserts are always so cool and tasty, especially in this hot weather. Luscious Lemon Dessert 1 can fruit cocktail 1 can sliced peaches, (cut into smaller pieces) 1 can Mandarin oranges, drained 1 box instant lemon pudding mix Pour fruit cocktail and peaches with their liquid into serving bowl, add drained Mandarin oranges, stir in pudding mix. Stir well. Chill before serving. Can be served with whipped topping if desired. Lemon Pie in a Bowl 1 box instant lemon pudding and pie filling 1 carton (8-oz) whipped topping, thawed Mix the pudding according to directions on box. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then stir in the whipped topping. Serve in bowls. With this dessert, the first time I made it, I had baked a pie shell and it broke, so instead of putting the filling in the shell, I mixed the whipped topping into the pudding, poured it into a bowl and broke the pie shell into pieces and stuck them into the mixture. As my daughter always says; “When you get hold of a lemon, make lemonade”. Cooking flops are not always that simple to fix, but many times with a little imagination, you can salvage what you have messed up and fix it! Dewey Lemon Salad 2 packages (3-oz size) sugar-free lemon gelatin 1 can (16-oz size) crushed pineapple 1 can (21-oz size) lemon pie filling 2 bananas, sliced 2 cups hot water 2 cups pineapple juice 2 cups miniature marshmallows 1 cup Cool Whip Dissolve gelatin in hot water. Add pineapple juice and cool until it begins to set. Fold in fruits and marshmallows, then place in either a 9×13 pan or a 9×9-inch dish. Chill until firm. Combine pie filling and Cool Whip, then spread over gelatin. Chill. Yield: 10 servings.
Think I might need to replace my rain gauge. Dang thing hasn’t been used in so long, I think it quit working or the battery died or something. Then, the rain was sent and I found out that it still worked. Got 4.2 inches on Thursday. We canceled the Budget Meeting for Thursday evening and rescheduled it for Tuesday at 9 AM. Hope some got the message on Facebook cuz this comes out after the meeting. Went to my Appraisal protest hearing. Shoulda stayed home. They don’t care what you present, the number is set. When I asked for a comparable sale in the area, the District could not produce one. I believe that Johnette Dixon took offense to me printing a story about her raise. Guess she didn’t want to advertise it. I would sure like to be on the Appraisal Board once I retire from this job on January 1st next year. I sure hope some of you have contacted your Commissioner and explained how tough times are now. According to the news stations, it costs the average family over $450 more a month to maintain their level of existence without increasing their income. Inflation is over 9%, people are selling off their cattle cause the cost of feeding them is too high, fertilizer to put on crops is outrageous and it’s almost too late to plant anything that could produce in a timely manner. We need to do something about taxes soon….mid-term elections is a good place to start. Term limits is another place to start. Concerning property taxes, if you have a 7 or 8 figure bank account, a couple hunnerd dollars don’t affect you. But, this happens EVERY year and it mounts up. If you are living on Social Security and a fixed income, it is a big burden. Sometimes, it’s pay your bills and skip eating or eat and let the electricity get cut off. I have asked our County Judge and our Tax Assessor/Collector to look into the possibility of County taxpayers getting a break. Why can’t we (County) offer the 65 and over crowd a break like the Schools do? Why can’t we freeze their taxes too? Just my opinion but, I think the school system needs an overhaul as well… This year is my last and my focus is not on improving the financial status of a couple hunnerd employees without taking into consideration the 50,000+ taxpayers of our County that fund this endeavor that some call a circus. Nowadays, if you have a job that is a blessing. I am fixing to be one of those living on a fixed income. Hopefully, my retirement checks and my Social Security check will suffice enough so that we don’t have to deplete our savings accounts. Hope that I don’t have to find a job after retiring a second time. If I could make a living on the advice given by Bubba Hanson and Mike Schott on Wednesday mornings at Las Palmas, I would try but, that advice ain’t useful at all….colorful but not useful. Heard that rain falls on the just and the unjust so, just in case, keep praying for rain even though some of us got some…
We got a little reprieve last week; we only had 38 calls for service! Officers had some extra time on their hands and conducted 110 traffic stops. Of those traffic stops, 94 resulted in a citation and 16 were warnings. There is not much to report this week, so brace yourself for boredom. We only had one property crime: #1 – The Animal Control Director reported a possible burglary at Diamond S Buildings (19650 IH-35 Access Rd.). We discovered that someone pushed out a window AC unit and made entry. The owner reported 2 Takamine acoustic guitars were missing; they were valued at $350 each. Somewhere, some crooks are strumming on those guitars. If you happened to hear them, give us a call. Officers made two arrests this past week: #1 – Officer S. Pena observed a Hondo ATV being operated on a public roadway. He attempted to make a traffic stop but the ATV rider opted to “run.” A pursuit ensued and with the help of Ofc. J. Cortez and ACSO Deputy E. Lopez the suspect was taken into custody. He was booked on a felony charge of evading arrests. #2 – Officer J. Cortez (assisted by Ofc. Pena) conducted a traffic stop on Main St. at Bank. A female was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia and a handgun was seized (the serial number had been altered). More charges are pending. What else is happening around town? To put it simply; lots of growth. The city has three new subdivisions in various stages. Saddle Ridge Estates (which got out of the gate first) is building strong, by Halloween that will be some prime “Trick or Treat” territory. The 7-Eleven / Stripes is getting close to completion. They were hoping to open in early August, but it looks like it will be a little later. The old Days Inn (originally the El Cid) hotel is long gone, replaced by fuel pumps and Slurpee machines. I can’t believe it, but school starts in less than a month! August 11th will be the first day back for students at Lytle I.S.D. This year, like all the years in the past, the Lytle P.D. will do our part to get this school year started on a good note. Please take notice of the school zones and be understanding of the heavy congestion that comes along with the first few days of school. After the first few days it becomes just moderate congestion.
Your Lytle PD officers kept busy this past week. For the 7-day period that ended on July 10 we had a total of 63 calls for service. That period also included 87 traffic stops with 80 of those resulting in citations and 7 resulting in warnings. Only two property crimes were reported last week. #1 – A 2014 Nissan Sentra was reported stolen. The owner had parked the car at John Lott Park (Adams St. side). #2 – A Bruce St. resident reported that her car was “keyed”. Arrests for the last week: #1 – (Ofc. Diaz & Sgt. Hanson) A motorist stopped for speeding on Main St. was determined to be DWI. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #2 & #3 – (Ofc. Diaz) Traffic stop at 2:40 AM resulted in two juveniles being cited for curfew violation, they were released to guardians. #4 – (Ofc. A. Lopez & Capt. Reyes) Officers responded to a trespasser in the 18000 Blk. of FM 2790 (by the Animal Control Facility). A male was arrested for trespassing and booked into the Medina Co. Jail. #5, #6, & #7 (!) – (Ofc. Cortez & Ofc. Pena) Officers responded to the Whataburger for a disturbance. The end result was one person arrested for DWI and a warrant for DWI, a passenger was arrested for a warrant out of Kendal Co. (marijuana possession), and another person was arrested for public intoxication. Three arrests for the price of one. They were all booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. This is the kind of stuff our officers deal with at 4:42 AM when most of us are home sleeping. Crime of the Week: Aggravated Robbery – On Thursday July 7th at approx. 12:13 AM Sgt. Hanson was on routine patrol. He turned off of Wisdom Rd. onto Ball Rd. and observed a robbery in progress. Two victims were lying face down on the roadway, the suspects jumped into their vehicle and fled. Sgt. Hanson pursued them and they crashed out at Greenwood Rd. and Old Pearsall Rd. The suspects escaped on foot, and we are working to get them identified. It appears our suspect(s) impersonated law enforcement during the robbery. This case is under investigation. The 4th of July Fireworks show was a blast! A bunch of people showed up and endured the heat for a good time. It would appear that the food trucks were a huge hit; I saw long lines and some ran out of product. I got that one wrong, I figured they wouldn’t do that well. My thought process was that people would be cooking out all day and the last thing on their mind would be food trucks. I stand corrected, this makes about the 6th or 7th time I have been wrong on something….so write it down. I talked to a lot of people and they all had positive comments about the event. I stepped outside my comfort zone last week and was a youth camp sponsor for our church. I headed up to Highland Lakes Camp in Spicewood the morning following the fireworks show, my son and two other young men were in my care. I spent three nights in a bunkhouse we shared with about 40 kids and adults from La Vernia FBC, they were awesome. I’m not sure what they feed those boys over there, it looked more like a college football team. I was lucky and had two mattresses; I believe both of them were WWII surplus. Everyone said the food was really good for “camp food”, I didn’t miss any meals. There was a zip line, a pool, a banana boat (there was still enough water in Lake Travis, I’m not sure for how long), awesome speakers and worship music. Like most places these days they were short staffed, but they made do. By Friday morning I was wore out. If I was running that thing the schedule would include nap time.
We had our big family reunion last weekend, and there were cousins galore. We must have three dozen little hooligans between all of us. Family reunions are a little complicated to plan, but it sure is nice to get to actually talk to your cousins, nieces and nephews, aunts, and uncles. Even though many of us live in the same town, we are all busy with other stuff and seldom take that time. This weekend, I learned that one of our little cousins is going to be a veterinarian, surgeon, or doctor, so that’s good to know. She’s only in the fourth grade, but I have no doubt she will be exactly one of those things. I missed the sand volleyball game this year for fear of collapsing after I chased Tucker back and forth between every cousin’s cabin a million times. That resort is lots of fun, but there are A LOT of hills and stairs. It seems that everywhere you go is uphill, both ways. Every day we had a huge buffet of home cooked food and casseroles to choose from, but I am sure we worked it off on those hills. Yes a family reunion is a lot of planning and organization, but it’s well worth it.
The month of July seems to be flying by, doesn’t it? By the time some of you read this it will be within days of being half over. My week has been nice and quiet, no meetings and doing whatever crafts or sewing that I wanted to. It has been very enjoyable, with a little visiting, an evening with a friend playing a board game until all hours and a shopping trip to Victoria. Now, the fun begins with Pokeno on Monday, a funeral and then a meeting on Tuesday and who knows what else the rest of the week! This week, I decided to tell you a little bit about garlic. It seems to be in the forefront in articles that your read telling you that it helps control heart problems and cholesterol, etc. They have even come out with pills so you don’t have “garlic breath” if you follow a regimen to help with any illnesses. When I went into the search mode on my computer, I quickly found that there were nearly 30-million sites concerning garlic. Parts of this article are from United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, parts are from About.com:Home Cooking and some is from Cookbook:Garlic – Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks. Garlic is a member of the lily family, as are onions, leeks and chives. The scientific name for garlic is allium sativum. Unlike onions, leeks and chives, garlic is generally used as a spice or a seasoning rather than as a vegetable due to its extremely strong flavor. The word garlic comes from Old English garleac, which means, “spear leek”. Garlic was referred to in the Old World, Egyptian and Indian cultures 5,000 years ago, and there is historical evidence of it being used by the Babylonians 4,500 years ago, and by the Chinese over 2,000 years ago. Until the first quarter of the twentieth century, garlic was not very popular in the United States and was found mostly in ethnic dishes in working-class neighborhoods. But, by 1940, America finally recognized the value of garlic, not only as a seasoning, but also as a major ingredient in recipes Egyptians worshipped garlic and placed clay models of garlic bulbs in the tomb of Tutankhamen. It was so highly prized, that it was used as currency. An old folklore belief was that garlic repelled vampires and protected against the Evil Eye, as well as numerous other beliefs. It grows wild only in Central Asia today. Garlic grew wild over a much larger region, and wild garlic may have occurred in an area from China to India to Egypt to the Ukraine. This is considered its “center of origin”, as this is the geographic region where the crop originated and the only place where it grew wild. Many cooks make the mistake of thinking that the large bulb of garlic you buy is a clove of garlic. This is not true by any means. The whole garlic is called a “head” or a “knob”. Each segment is called a “clove” of garlic. In other words, if a recipe calls for three cloves of garlic, you would use three of the separate segments. Garlic will keep a long time if the heads are stored in a cool dark place. If you keep them in the fridge, they will sprout and taste bitter. Cookbook:Garlic states that garlic heads can be frozen, without ill-effect, or they can simply be stored in a dark cupboard away from moisture. If you buy the garlic braids, they should be hung up to prevent bruising of the cloves. It also states that if you want to store garlic gloves individually and ready for use, the garlic must be either dried or processed. A good way to freeze prepared garlic is to crush or mince it in a food processor and mix it with a little water, then freeze it in an ice cube tray, so that the cubes can be used as needed. It also can be frozen in olive oil, or frozen whole. You should never under any circumstances should you leave garlic in olive oil at room temperature or leave garlic in oil to sit on the counter. Since garlic is grown in the ground, it can be contaminated with botulism spores, which are almost impossible to remove. The spores are generally harmless in their normal state, but because they are anaerobic bacteria, they will grow if the conditions are right – that is, submersed in oil and stored at room temperature. These spores cannot grow in the cold, so freeze or refrigerate it, or store the garlic in vodka, wine or vinegar rather than oil. In this day and age, we no longer really have to use fresh garlic and have our hands and cutting boards smelling of garlic. We can simply use a bottle of garlic from the grocery store. It keeps indefinitely in the refrigerator and the garlic odor does not penetrate the glass, so your fridge does not smell of garlic. You may not believe this, but in one of the sites, there was even a recipe for garlic ice cream! No thank you not for this lady! Most of us just use garlic when we make spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread to go with the dish and in the seasoning of our chili and beans. Spicy Garlic Chicken Skewers Ingredients: Water, for soaking skewers 1 dozen 10-inch bamboo skewers 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 2 tablespoons honey 4 tablespoons ketchup 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons English or Dijon mustard 2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into thin strips Instructions: Soak 12 bamboo skewers in water for at least 20 minutes Meanwhile, in a non-reactive bowl (i.e. glass), mix together the garlic, honey, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Toss in the chicken strips and stir until well combined. Cover and marinate 20 to 30 minutes or overnight. Prepare outdoor grill or preheat broiler to high. Thread marinated chicken onto skewers. Cook over the hot cools of an outdoor grill 5 to 6 minutes. Or, arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil 6 to 7 minutes, turning occasionally until well browned and cooked through. Yield: 4 servings. Garlic Broiled Shrimp 2 pounds large shrimp, shelled and deveined, with tails left on ½ cup butter 3 cloves garlic, minced finely Salt and pepper to taste if desired Place cleaned, seasoned shrimp on a foil-lined baking sheet. Melt butter with minced garlic over a low heat and cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Brush shrimp with butter mixture, place under broiler and broil for 3 minutes. Brush shrimp again and turn over. Brush this side and continue cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp are pink. Serve with red sauce, if desired. When my grandchildren were small, my daughter gave me the recipe for this bubble stuff. It would not be long before there would be ten or more children in my yard chasing bubbles. Everyone loved it, and now my great-grandchildren love it also! Super Duper Bubbles 6 cups tap water 2 cups dishwashing liquid (I usually use Dawn®, because that is what I have on hand, but Joy® works really well also) ¾ cup white corn syrup (this makes the bubbles last longer, but can be omitted if you don’t have any) Mix all ingredients in a clean 1-gallon water, milk or juice jug. Stir to mix thoroughly. Pour some of the mixture in a shallow pan on a flat surface outdoors. One of the 8-inch or 9-inch clay or plastic pans (that are used under a flowerpot) works great. An aluminum pie tin works well, but tips over easily! Dip wand into mixture and wave gently through the air. If too many bubbles form on top, blow excess off. This happens if you stir it too much while using it. This mixture can be poured back into the container to use again another day. The best bubble wands for this are the new larger ones that are now on the market at most of the dollar stores. Have fun.
No rain. No rain. Sounds like the crowd chant at Woodstock. Times were simpler back in the late 60’s. Nowadays, with runaway inflation, a President that don’t know what’s going on (and don’t care) and an ineffective Congress we are at the mercy of price gouging and a deflated dollar. I heard it was pride month last month…I’m proud of being an American, proud of my kids and grandkids, proud of where I am in life, proud of my accomplishments, proud of my wife…don’t believe I left anything out. It’s Budget season all over and the taxing entities are going through the process of preparing for the next fiscal year. All of them are waiting on the final numbers from the Appraisal District. That means waiting until all of the 4,200 protests have been heard and resolved. Once that happens, tax rates can be set by these entities based on this Tax Base…the total value of all the properties in Medina County. THEN…you get the bill to fund them and keep these operating in the manner that they have decided on. But first…the Appraisal District. The Appraisal Board is made up of common folk selected from various parts of the County and make the decisions that the Appraiser follows. Medina County has a representative on the Board (Melissa Lutz, our Tax Assessor/Collector) BUT, she has no vote on issues that come before the Board. The Chairman is Tim Hardt from the Castroville area, Vice Chairman is Jody Jacobs from Hondo, Secretary is Mamie Navarro from the Devine area, Cindy Segovia is from the Natalia area and Clay Bell is from the D’Hanis area. Medina County pays approximately 25% of the cost of running this operation with the rest spread out among the other taxing entities. Their total Budget is $1,559,155 with $1,021,855 going to salaries and benefits. The Appraisal Board voted to give the Appraisal District employees a 7% pay raise this coming year. Don’t sound like much but….that means that Johnette Dixon, the Chief Appraiser, will be getting a $609.58 a month raise in pay bringing her annual salary to $111,815 (that figures out to be $53.75 per hour). The least paid employee in this Office will only get a $169.17 per month raise. I do not believe that the Chief Appraiser will have any problems paying for her increase in Appraisal with this kind of raise. I do not know (yet) if the increased Appraisals affected them like it has affected the rest of us. I believe that anyone can sit there and say “we’re going up 10% on appraisals” every year. My Appraisal went up $56,490 from last year. The only thing that I have done to improve my residence is mow the grass and Sandy does that. This is absurd and downright criminal. My protest hearing is on July 8th. I believe that it is time to take a stand. There has been an organization formed recently called the Medina County Taxpayers Association and I intend to be an active member. There is a way to be heard without marching in the streets, burning businesses or vandalism. These elected folks will listen when it comes election time and this includes State level Candidates. The time to sit back on your gluteus maximus and complain among friends has passed. Change needs to occur and why not start in Medina County America? Commissioners Court is also in Budget mode. We have been listening to Department Heads presenting their ideas to us…some of them are wishful thinking and some are justified. When we get the final numbers, then we can set our tax rate. I am going to push for the Effective Tax Rate (a rate that brings in the same amount of money as the previous year). More on this later..running outta space. Your Pct 4 crew is busy re-paving roads and trying to maintain the roadways during this heat. So, if you see them sitting in the truck taking a break, give em a little slack…its hotter’n the hinges of Hades out there. Helped Butch Morgan (the bowling ball man) move some furniture that was too big for Eddie Hutzler’s room at the nursing home. Eddie has not lost a step…recognized me with a mask on. Butch, you are a good man and a better Christian. We had a short discussion on life and such with more to come. Mawmaw (Johnnie Faye Evans) turned 89 the other day and she ain’t lost a step neither. Sorry we missed your birthday celebration…
