Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 28, 2008 Page: 1 of 25
twenty five pages : ill. ; page 23 x 14 in. Scanned from physical pages.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
*' # *# % % * % t % * % % t % % % C A R - RI L 0 T * 4 R 0 0 3
2769 04-29-09 0067D00 136P 39S
L11 i s i'l e ffl o r :i. a 1 !... i b r a r y
700 W AVENUE A
PORT ARANSAS TX 78373-4128
m
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Vol. 38 No. 35 USPS 946-202
THIS EDITION
School’s in for fall
School is back in session
in Port Aransas. Check
out the first day in
photos.
Page 1B
Keep natives
Plants around the home
of Cameron and Rick
Pratt are native species,
something Rick Pratt
hopes to promote while
eliminating species
that are invasive. The
Pratts’ landscape is
a designated Texas
Wildscape.
Page 12A
Chef’s holiday
Chefs from around the
state gathered at the
Sandia ranch of Port
Aransas resident Loncito
Cartwright for some
friendly competition.
Page 3B
Index
Church
Church directory........
.....4A
Pastor’s pen................
......4A
Island Life
Columnists
• Tony Amos.................
....11A
• Rachel Pearson........
.....2B
• For the birds.............
.....6B
Island agenda..............
.....2A
Law enforcement........
.....4B
Youth
New teachers..............
.....7A
Sports
Kiwanis golf tourney ...
.....8A
Cross country............
.....4B
Opinion
Dave McNeely.............
.....3A
Steve Martaindale.......
.....3A
Mary Henkel Judson....
.....3A
Letters to the editor...
.....3A
Outdoors
Fishing report.............
... 10A
Tides & Weather..........
... 10A
Classified
Classified ads..............
7-12B
iSOUTH JETTY NEWSPAPER PLU#|
Labor Day is final
big tourist weekend
for local businesses
While Port Aransas will host many
enjoying the Labor Day holiday
this weekend, some offices in Port
Aransas will join the fun by taking
the day off Monday, Sept. 1.
City hall employees will have the
day off, but law enforcement and
emergency medical services person-
nel will be on duty.
The holiday will not interrupt trash
or recycling collections.
Classes will be dismissed for stu-
dents and teachers in the Port Aransas
school district.
ValueBank Texas and Prosperity
Bank will take the day off. American
Bank’s lobby will be closed, but the
drive through will be open from 9
a.m. to 1 p.m.
The South Jetty newspaper office
will be closed Sept. 1, but the only
deadline affected will be for letters
to the editor. Letters must be received
by noon, Friday, Aug. 29. The usual c • c • m
deadline is 10 a.m. Monday. OlinriSC VlcW
Courtesy photo by Kent Taylor
Deadline for news and advertising
remains noon on Tuesday, Sept. 2.
Labor Day holiday visitors to Port Aransas may have a chance to see scenes such as this, as a tanker
makes its way into the Aransas Pass Channel at sunrise on Monday, Aug. 25.
Supporters express satisfaction with mayor
By Phil Reynolds
South Jetty reporter
Supporters of Mayor Claude Brown lined up at
the lectern at the city council meeting on Thursday,
Aug. 21, to speak in liis behalf.
Rick Miller said he supported Brown in bringing
police department issues before the council because
the mayor has an open door policy.
“If the (police) chief doesn’t know what’s going
on, how can he correct it?” Miller asked.
He added that he hasn’t seen much improvement
in the police department in the slightly more than
two years Sam Russell has been police chief.
Bo Perry related a tale of trying to get grass cut
in a yard on Station Street. He said he went to the
city’s code enforcement office several times and
finally spoke to Brown about the matter.
“I had to go to the mayor over a small issue,
and it was cut within a week, which I don’t think
is the proper way to run a city like Port Aransas,”
Miller said.
Bill Sims told the council that the South Jetty is
doing a “hatchet job” on the mayor.
“I’ve known (Brown) since he was bom. The
headline mayor out of control -1 know that to be
not true,” he said.
(Note: The headline in the Aug. 7 issue of the
South Jetty read, “Chief has beef with Brown, steps
down.” There was nothing in the headline about
Brown’s being out of control, although the story
that followed quoted Police Chief Sam Russell’s
letter of resignation as saying, “I am unable to con-
tinue working in a city where
the Mayor is out of control and
lacks integrity or ethics.”)
Sims then went on to quote
the South Jetty as his authority:
“I read in the paper that Brown
said numerous complaints were
brought to him - either those
residents were lying or the
mayor was. 1 believe many
people here talk to the mayor Claude Brown
and may not talk to you because--
you may not be as available.”
“It appears he’s getting a hatchet job from the
paper,” Sims repeated,” and I hope you (city council
members) don’t go along with it.”
“I’m not at all happy with the negativity shown
by the newspaper,” he said. “I believe you’ve been
misled. You need to talk to some of the citizens who
have had problems. Do what’s right for the com-
munity and what’s right for the citizens and you’ll
be blessed for it.”
Sims was followed by Paul Page, who agreed,
“Like Bill Sims, I felt Mayor Brown has been do-
ing a good job.”
Page told the council that as president of the
Airport and Channel Corporation, which is re-
sponsible for keeping Piper Channel open to the
Island Moorings marina, he sought help in stopping
people’s shooting out of navigation lights on pilings
in the channel.
“This was not only very costly, it could have
resulted in a boat running aground and having an
accident,” he explained.
Page said he called city hall for help and was told
to call the police chief.
“I called the chief,” he reported. “One week, two
weeks, three weeks, nobody calls me back.
“I go to Mayor Brown and explain the problem.
He said, ‘... My first suggestion is to offer a reward,
I think that would be the most expedient thing to
do.’ “
Page said the reward was offered through Nueces
County Precinct 4 Constable Bobby Sherwood’s
office.
“We used Bobby Sherwood as the recipient of any
calls,” he said. “We didn’t expect any and didn’t
get any, but so far we haven’t had any more lights
shot out. My point is that I’m one of those unsub-
stantiated complaints that went to the mayor when
I couldn’t get any help from your police chief, and
I’ve never had any luck with your police chief. My
personal opinion is that you should take the money
and give it to Bobby.”
Page did not mention an article and photo that
appeared in the South Jetty (May 8) urging anyone
who knew about the incidents to report them.
However, he, like Sims, used the newspaper as
an authority, and urged the council to concentrate
on getting streets fixed.
“Like Bill Sims, I get my information from the
paper, and it seems that you’re going in seven dif-
See, ‘MAYOR’S,’Page 4A
Council hashes out police woes
Constable to sit in on police chief interviews
By Phil Reynolds
South Jetty reporter
Having taken city council members
behind closed doors for nearly an
hour on Thursday, Aug. 21, to discuss
“police department staffing and ser-
vice/operational issues,” Councilman
Charles Bujan emerged with what he
said were two questions: First, he said,
was whether the Port Aransas police
department has problems that affect
its ability to get the job done. Having
apparently answered that question to
his own satisfaction, Bujan said the
second question was what could be
done to correct the problems.
“Several meetings ago, the mayor
summarized some problems he saw
with the police department, including
the chief’s use of compensatory time,
a morale problem, losing officers to
the (Nueces County Precinct 4) con-
stable’s office, tension between the
police department and the constable’s
office, and police personnel not work-
ing up to expectations,” Bujan said.
After waiting a few minutes for
repairs to one of the cameras used
to send the council sessions out over
cable TV, Bujan continued:
“(The mayor) pointed out there
were times when police presence was
nonexistent, he felt response times
aren’t good and he felt organizational
structures aren’t good.
“The chief (Sam Russell) answered
each of those items (at a June 19 city
council meeting) from his perspec-
tive, providing us with a manual.
“At that time, the council chose not
See, ‘COUNCIL’Page 9A
liiiiiiil
0 00000 09809 °
Golf coming to Port Aransas STAFF FH0T0 BV MuR"AT JUD80“
Come Thursday, Sept. 4, golfers will be able to enjoy their sport in Port Aransas. The Newport Golf Club
is scheduled to open its 18-hole Arnold Palmer Signature course on that day. The following weekend the
course will host its first tournament, a Kiwanis Club benefit to raise scholarship funds for Port Aransas
High School seniors. See story inside on Page 12A.
Wayne Johnson
Johnson tapped
as temporary
chief at PAISD
By Dan Parker
South Jetty reporter
The Port
Aransas Inde-
pendent School
District Board
of Trustees has
hired Wayne
Johnson to be
the district’s
interim super-
intendent.
Johnson is
the former su-
perintendent of
the Aransas County Independent
School District, which includes
Rockport and Fulton.
Meeting on Thursday, Aug. 21,
trustees voted 6-0 to offer the job
to Johnson. Trustee Ken Dunton,
a research scientist, was absent,
visiting Alaska on a research ex-
pedition.
Trustees earlier narrowed their
search for an interim superinten-
dent to two candidates: Johnson
and Harold “Skipper” Lister, who
retired from PAISD in 2004 after
26 years working in the district.
Lister’s roles included serving as
principal of each of the district’s
three campuses and twice as in-
terim superintendent.
Johnson was employed for 18
See, ‘JOHNSON’Page 4A
Blood drive
Give blood, get a shirt, grab
a bite and maybe win a prize.
Put all that on your to-do list
for today.
The Coastal Bend Blood
Center is holding a blood
drive in Port Aransas today,
Thursday, Aug. 28.
Page 2A
Pier repairs on
tap
Anglers, rejoice.
The fishing pier at Charlie’s
Pasture should be back in
operation soon.
City council members on
Thursday, Aug. 21, approved
a resolution authorizing City
Manager Michael Kovacs to
sign a contract with Texas
Docks and Decks, of Corpus
Christi, for the pier’s repair.
Page 8A
New offerings at
PAHS
Port Aransas High School
students are in luck if they want
to learn more about marketing,
geometry, physics, human
anatomy and working behind
the scenes in theater.
Page 7A
Labor Day
Splash
Splish and splash for half
price at the Community Park
pool on Monday, Sept. 1.
The pool, normally closed
on Mondays, will open for the
annual Labor Day Splash.
Page 2A
Online edition: www.portasouthjetty.com
Shorter trolley
route
Over objections from some
residents of Gulf Waters RV
Park, city council members
voted on Thursday, Aug. 21, to
go ahead with plans to shorten
the city’s trolley route by
eliminating the park.
Page 6B
Get out the
dictionary
City council members
didn’t exactly agree on what
“micromanagement” is on
Thursday, Aug. 21, but they did
agree on some things it is not.
The discussion was put on
the agenda by Councilman
Mike Hall.
Page 8A
www.portasouthjetty.com
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Judson, Mary Henkel. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 28, 2008, newspaper, August 28, 2008; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth496611/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.