Dirty Al's early morning fire - update

An early morning fire at Dirty Al’s restaurant caused damage to the kitchen and roof area of the building. A small group of employees had arrived and were working inside the building, but it was a county park employee who saw the smoke rising from the vents on the roof.

The county park employee then alerted the men inside and called the fire department.

When firemen arrived at the scene, they donned their protective equipment and put out the fire within a short period of time. No one was injured in the fire.

The new fire chief of South Padre Island, Burney Baskett, said he was told that employees opening the back door to go to work discovered smoke and called the fire department.

Baskett was impressed with the efficiency and professionalism of his new crew, he said.

“There’s a lot of smoke damage, and water damage, too—but they got that fire under control in just minutes,” he said.

As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday Cameron County Emergency Manager Johnny Cavazos had little to add.

“My fire marshal just walked in the door [in Brownsville],” he said. “He’s been down there all day.”

He added that no one can be sure yet, but it appears that electrical wiring in the attic crawl space may have shorted and ignited the cooking-grease saturated wood there.

“That’s a very preliminary guess,” he said. “We’re going back tomorrow. Our investigation is far from complete. Our guess could be ‘way off the mark. We just don’t know at this point.”

He added that an individual from the state fire marshal’s office just happened to be vacationing on the Island, and had offered his services in the investigation.

“They brought a salvaged computer hard drive in with them,” he said. “We don’t know yet whether that’s going to tell us anything or not.”

No dollar estimates of damage are available at this time as the fire is still under investigation.

Loggerhead turtle released

A 200-pound loggerhead turtle named Manken made her way back into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday afternoon after a period of rehabilitation at Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island.

Several months ago, in much cooler temperatures, she had been seen struggling to swim in the strong currents of the ship channel near Dolphin Cove and Children’s Beach.
A dolphin watch boat was in the area and assisted in the rescue while workers from Sea Turtle, Inc. were on their way to get the turtle.

She was underweight and was having trouble getting to the surface for air when she was found. After a few months of being fed a healthy diet of greens and fresh fish, she had gained over 30 pounds and was ready to get back into the gulf.

She constantly ‘swam’ in her container, facing east toward the beach, as if she instinctively knew where she was supposed to be living.

Jeff George of Sea Turtle Inc. made the decision that her health had improved enough to return her to the open water.

“Her blood tests are strong and her hormone levels show that she is ready to breed and nest” George said. “We hope she comes straight back here to nest when her clutch of eggs are ready to be laid.”

The turtle was put into a protective harness before being lifted from her container, and carried to the back of a waiting truck. Members of Sea Turtle Inc. rode in the back of the truck on the trip to the beach near the jetties.

As soon as she was let down to the sand, she began moving her large body toward the surf. When she had reached the first small waves, she moved a bit faster toward the water.

With a few more pushes forward of her big front flippers, she was safely being carried out by the current. A crowd of locals and visitors gathered around her, taking pictures. In her release, she was assisted by the couple who had helped with the original rescue at Children’s Beach.

Later in the same evening as Manken’s release, as the release crew was returning, another nesting turtle was seen coming ashore just south of Town Beach Access 17. The eggs were carefully gathered and taken to the safety of the turtle next corral on the south end of the island.

Adopt-a-Nest story with nest corral photo

South Padre Island beaches are becoming a booming nursery for nesting turtles this season. Since the first nest was found on April 12, and as of press time there have been 13 nests total found in the area, including 2 nests found on Boca Chica beach.

The egg count is already over half the number of those found in all of last year and it is only 3 weeks into nesting season, known on the island as “Turtle Days”.

If the trend continues, it looks like we will be having a bumper crop of turtle hatchlings this summer. Usually, nesting season lasts thru June but could go a bit longer if there are stragglers who arrive late. Last year an Atlantic Green nested in late summer.

Letter to the Editor

Editor:

Last year, I wrote a letter to the editor encouraging citizens to really know each candidate before casting their vote.  Sadly, most did not take the time to do this as is evident in the actions of the BOA during this past year.  Again, I encourage every voter to take time and learn the facts for themselves about each candidate before casting your ballot.

Over the past year, Phillip Money, along with Kirk Mills and Tara Rios, acted with total disregard for the best interests of the Island and its citizens.  Some of their actions they would have taken if it had not been for public pressure include:

- Blocking the Birding Center
- Abolishing the successful Convention and Visitors’ Authority
- Purchasing property at an exorbitant price based on a questionable appraisal

They spread mis-information about the CVA and how the Birding Center would be funded in an attempt to get rid of these entities.  They voted to proceed with the purchase the land next to the Birding Center based on a flawed appraisal and without citizen input.  Despite his relationship with the owner of the land, Phillip did not recluse himself from the vote.  This proposed purchase resulted in a lawsuit against the Town that will cost the City money that could be used toward improvements.  Only after intense public pressure did they change their minds to give the citizens the ability to vote on how this purchase will be funded.

What they DID was pass a flawed parking policy that will have negative impacts on residents, tourists and businesses.  The only ones it will benefit are their developer friends.

Maybe they have learned that you can only push people so far, and they start to push back.  Citizen protests in Town meetings increased as these three aldermen became more blatant in their behavior.  It seems these three work-out deals behind the scenes before they come to the meetings.  Closed door government is a thing of the past.  It is not acceptable today, in fact, it is illegal under Texas law.

Kirk Mills once told residents if they don’t like it here they can move.  That attitude does not demonstrate leadership ability or any concern for residents.  It doesn’t demonstrate understanding of the value of SPI having a good image as a place to live. That hurts realtors.  It does not demonstrate problem solving skills, and it certainly doesn’t demonstrate the characteristics of a potential mayor or even a mayor pro-tem.

There has been much talk about special and single interests driving local policy.  It seems people have influenced the Board of Aldermen in order to improve their opportunities for financial gain.  Voters need to be aware of this on-going effort and encourage your candidate to resist it.

I believe we, as voters, owe it to ourselves and our fellow residents to go into this election aware of what each candidate stands for and then vote for whomever we believe can set the policy to achieve our goals.

John Gieseking
South Padre Island

Buckle Up

Motorists driving in to South Padre Island on Friday were greeted with more than just the city’s customary entrance sign. 

The Texas Department of Transportation work crews unveiled a huge inflatable buckled safety belt and a banner emblazoned with its annual campaign slogan, Click It or Ticket, in both English and in Spanish.

This unique installation will be captured in video and still photography at the entrance to the island, where it was hung from palm trees, behind the “South Padre Island, Texas” sign. Workers removed the banner late Friday. 

The photos and video footage will be used as elements in the statewide safety belt enforcement campaign that is set to launch on May 8.  

The campaign will feature unusual, larger-than-life Click It or Ticket and Abroche o Pague messages adjoining eight other Texas iconic landmarks around the state.

Alderman involved in neighborhood dispute

Alderman Phillip Money was served with a summons to appear in South Padre Island Municipal Court on May 14 to respond to a formal complaint of assault, Type C, filed by a neighbor, attorney Richard Roth.

A clerk of the court confirmed that a citation had been mailed to Money, and Money admitted receipt of the citation.

About noon Friday a report about the incident that had been posted on www.spiforum.org had been removed from the site, but rumors continued to fly around town concerning what had happened.

Disregarding the rumors, the facts are these: Roth and Money each accuse the other of mischief making and worse.

Duplicating county park passes not a good idea

Anyone using a duplicate Cameron County Parks gate pass for access to Andy Bowie or Isla Blanca Parks may want to think twice about it.

That was the word on Wednesday from Lieutenant Arnold Flores of the parks police force.
“Someone told us people were copying our valid passes and either selling them or loaning them to friends to get into the parks,” he said. “We alerted our gate guards to be on the lookout.”

Protesting the tatters

Ray Wolfe spent a couple of hours Tuesday morning picketing the Cameron County Courthouse Annex in Port Isabel.

“This is the third time I’ve had to call their attention to how disrespectful it is to fly a tattered old ragged flag,” he said.

“They just don’t care,” he said. “They shouldn’t have to be pressured into doing the right thing.”

Laguna Vista’s commercial plans

“Quality of life is not an automatic byproduct of the free market,” a Commercial Development Task Force reported to Laguna Vista aldermen. “You don’t just get it—you have to plan for it. You have to care for it.”

The possibility of a business community in Laguna Vista was the subject of a presentation by the town’s Task Force on Tuesday, April 15, at the regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen.

The task force was one of five subcommittees formed back in October at the conclusion of an all-day strategic planning workshop. Participants at the workshop had named commercial development as their number one priority.

Laguna Vista Alderman candidates debate

Candidates for alderman in Laguna Vista met in a public forum last Tuesday, April 22, at a fellowship hall in Christ’s Harbor Church to answer questions about their platforms.

Present were incumbents Terri Galloway, Rita Garcia and Richard Hinojosa and challengers Margaret Ingle, James Johnston and Charlotte Roman. John Taylor was absent due to a previous commitment, but his wife read his opening and closing statements.