News

After five months plus one day, Dona (71) and Ken (75) Kimmons moved back into their home, flooded out on the October 30 flood. Living in a donated trailer, they’ll finally be able and sleep in their own bedroom, with the help of many volunteers, groups and individuals. Ken is the voice of Brookshire Bros., which never fails to put a smile on customers’ faces with his booming voice and Texas accent.

Crisis Bread Basket (CBB) is the Wimberley community’s best hope in fending off the need for food within the Wimberley ISD boundaries and they have been doing it for the past 30 years as a non-profit, all-volunteer organization. 

They do not receive any funds from any government organization, which includes not receiving any money from the Hays County Food Bank or the Capital Area Food Bank. Donations to the Hays County Food Bank help to feed the hungry in San Marcos and elsewhere in Hays County, but not here in Wimberley where there is a need, too.

Wimberley’s Crisis Food Bank receives help and donations from the Wimberley community, individual residents, organizations and churches that go directly to those in need, locally. Many clients depend on it as the main source of food.

Three people were pronounced dead at the scene of a two-car accident near Hugo Road on Ranch Road 12 Tuesday morning.

Authorities said a brown Dodge pickup truck, driven by Pablo Ramirez, was traveling westbound around 11 a.m. when, according to witnesses, it passed in a “no passing” zone and hit an eastbound Toyota Camry in the Camry's lane.

Patsy Polzin, 79, of San Marcos, and Douglas Polzin, 58, of San Marcos, were in the Camry. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.  Both were wearing their seat belt at the time of the crash.

Ramirez, the driver of the truck, was also pronounced dead at the scene. Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Robbie Barerra said they did not know his age or hometown at the time of this report.

Dalton Sweat

Wimberley View Editor

Three people were pronounced dead at the scene of a two-car accident near the Junction on Ranch Road 12 Wednesday morning.

Authorities said a brown Dodge pickup truck was traveling westbound around 11 a.m. when, according to witnesses, it passed in a “no passing” zone and hit a eastbound Toyota Camry in the Camry's lane.

The dead were two occupants of the Toyota described as an elderly couple. Their car was registered in San Marcos, though that doesn't necessarily mean they lived in the city.

The popular Blue Hole Nature Camps are back this summer and better than ever! Blue Hole Regional Park will be host to even more summer fun for local youth with the expansion of the Blue Hole Nature Camps from 4 weeks to 6 weeks this summer. The City of Wimberley is hosting the environmental education themed camps beginning in June and ending in July for kids aged 6 - 12. Fun activities are planned to teach youth about water conservation, the region’s aquifers, native Texas plants and wildlife, outdoor camping skills, and much more. Traditional camp games and skits, creative art projects, exciting hikes, and fun with new friends are all part of the curriculum.

2016 Camp dates and weekly themes are as follows:

June 13 – 17 Birds, Bats, Bees Bonanza!

June 20 – 24 Outdoor Adventures

Editor’s Note: This question and answer session was submitted to the Wimberley View by the U.S. Navy in honor of Women’s History Month. It is an interview with Rear Adm. Mary Jackson of Wimberley.

Q: Why did you decide to join the Navy? 

A: I was looking for something different than a traditional college experience, and I wanted to study oceanography.

I confess that I knew very little about the Navy and the Naval Academy, but my father was convinced I could not get in. At the time, I was much more focused on the adventure and a degree than I was on the Navy. I have been on a bow wave, along with a few other women, over the past 25 years as more and more opportunities have been open to women at sea and in our Navy. 

Alexa Ura & Lauren Flannery

The Texas Tribune

Texas’ suburban population continues to surge, with growth in some suburban counties outpacing the state’s biggest cities, new census figures show. 

Texas gained almost half a million new residents in a year, and the state’s most rapid growth was clustered in Central Texas suburbs, the greater Houston area and West Texas oil towns, according to population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

The estimates, which track population increases from July 2014 to July 2015, also ranked a handful of the state’s counties and metropolitan areas among the fastest-growing areas in the country. 

A $99,000 study commissioned by Hays County to study the situation at the county jail and recommend fixes to current overcrowding suggested the most cost-efficient path to the future would be to build a new jail at an estimated cost of $52 million.

The firm of Griffith, Moseley Johnson & Associates made their presentation on Tuesday to county commissioners and Judge Bert Cobb. The study included both a review of documents and a week-long on-site tour of the jail on Uhland Road, explained Natacha Wagner, project manager.

The speed of change between 2015-16 has been swift. The usual new buildings and other developments pop up, but one “Old Wimberley” business will be closing for the last time on this Thursday, March 31. B&E Auto Service has been THE place to get your auto fixed since 1978.

Butch Sr. was a construction manager and living in Wimberley and working to build Woodcreek when the shop was up for sale and the Watts bought it. When Butch Sr. and wife Evelyn opened the place, it was a full service gas station, with a couple of Exxon pumps and a full service garage.

Grabbing a snow cone from the Snocone Dude has essentially been a right of passage in Wimberley for nearly 30 years. It’s a tradition that is going to change now that Scott Owens, the Snocone Dude at Wimberley Shave Ice, has put the business up for sale after facing health problems the last few months.

Owens has diabetes, which has caused neuropathy in his legs. Because of that, he has lost much of the feeling in his legs, which caused him to let a wound fester resulting in a 19-day hospital stay. 

The business is still open sporadically on weekends and high times like Market Days, but in order to live up to it’s history, Owens said it’s time to step away and let someone else take over.

Now he’s got to find time to take care of himself.