While Child Protective Services repeatedly insisted (and the media largely regurgitated this insistence) that the agency had no choice but to pull children from the Yearning For Zion ranch, that it was acting out of extreme concern for the safety and well-being of those individuals, two Alpine legal aid attorneys representing some FLDS mothers found the actions of the state in the ensuing weeks “unbelievably horrible.” by Marlys Hersey    more »

In a first for the state of Texas, the Gazette has confirmed that the General Land Office is selling land with the state reserving solar energy rights to the property. The GLO has long reserved other rights such as mineral, geothermal; more recently wind rights and now solar energy. by John Waters    more »

Granted, my visit was on Memorial Day weekend, so a vibe was to be expected, but with the temperature at 102, the number of guests moving around was impressive. Impressive too was that people were still outside, on the patio, imbibing cold beverages, seemingly unbothered by the heat. For the first time in my living near and reporting on Lajitas in nearly five years, the place had a buzz. Could Lajitas be rising like a phoenix out of the ashes? by John Waters    more »

With the new council seated (and former Mayor Clouse in attendance as citizen), the May 20 meeting was dominated by an update on the “Solid Waste Project” by Grant Jackson of Naismith Engineering, Inc., who shared the latest findings from a study, to be completed this August, to help “recommend to you a menu of options available” for when Alpine’s landfill reaches its maximum holding capacity. by Marlys Hersey    more »

A large portion of Wellman’s talk ended up being about, well, preventing Big Bend NP from becoming another Organ Pipe NM in Arizona, where Wellman was Superintendent when the tides turned, so to speak, and within just a few years, the park was ravaged by illegal immigration. Organ Pipe became, Wellman told the group, “a war zone between two drug lord factions.” The “hundreds of miles of illegal roads in the park” and some 200,000 migrants coming though a park half the size of Big Bend took a huge toll on the park’s natural and human resources and forced the closure of 90% of the park to public access. by Marlys Hersey    more »

Who knew? It turns out that the big ol’ yucca (left) at the southeast corner of the Alpine Civic Center on W. Holland Avenue is the “Largest of its species growing in the United States.” The National Register of Big Trees informed the city of this distinction on May 5.   more »

In response to Congressional pressure, the Department of the Interior is proposing new regulations allowing park visitors to carry guns in areas managed by the National Park Service and/or the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuges. While there has been no groundswell of park goers seeking a right to carry concealed weapons in those management areas, the new regulations in this election year would allow concealed weapons. by Fran Sage    more »

Alpine’s four candidates for mayor recently sat down with Dallas Baxter to discuss their reasons for running and what they think they can do as mayor of the Tri-counties’ largest city. Alpine’s mayoral election is held May 10. Early voting has already begun, and ends May 6. by Dallas Baxter    more »

Instead of sending organic materials to landfills and paying the city for the service, compost your yard clippings and kitchen vegetable scraps. As much as 1/3 of city waste comes from yard clean-ups and 1/10 from kitchen garbage. Composting is nature's way of building soil. by Sandra Harper    more »

Now, I’m a born romantic. I cannot help it. After such a touching remark communicating my overall appreciation of her beauty even in her present unkempt state, I figured she would swoon into my arms, and favor me with a kiss. Instead, I got an icy stare and a cold shoulder. by Smokey Briggs    more »

exas General Land Office Commissioner Jerry Patterson has responded to the National Park Service’s proposal to acquire the Christmas Mountains in Brewster County. His answer: No guns, no deal: create a National Preserve and we can talk. by John Waters    more »

It is absolutely amazing to me how much people spend on herbal remedies and supplements over the counter, when they can barely meet their bills. Some folks cannot afford prescription medications even at Wal-Mart prices of $4 a month for most generics, but will pay good money for moderate- to high-priced supplements. Maybe it’s the idea of making one’s own decisions about what to take for each ailment, but sometimes... by JoAnn Lister    more »

While the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) affirms in its mission statement that it “strives to protect our state’s human and natural resources,” that protection has a qualifier: “consistent with sustainable economic development.” In any showdown between profit and health, profit usually wins out. In Texas, the regulatory agency for the environment is open for business. Following are four recent examples in which business interests were dominant over public and environmental health.... by Fran Sage    more »

To make a long story short, it turns out he decided to buy a couple of the new gasoline cans, found a supplier on the Internet, and ordered them – only to receive an email informing him that the company could not legally sell him the cans because they were not CARB compliant, and Texas was now a CARB state. What is CARB? by Smokey Briggs    more »

Last spring, while browsing on eBay, I found and bid on a solar oven. I secretly hoped I would not win the item, but I did. Upon first inspection when it arrived, it seemed well built and was portable. Included were directions for how to prepare whole wheat bread, millet cake, beans, potatoes, onions, sweet corn, chicken, meat, fish, vegetables, and cheeseburger pie, whatever that is. It seemed that you could cook just about anything in the solar oven. I was skeptical yet optimistic. by George Pitlik    more »

When a friend from North Texas told her how great the hiking was around Alpine, his home town, Manning came out to hike the Big Bend and, as has happened to so many before and after her, the desert cast its spell. “I wanted to learn all about the desert,” Manning said. by Dallas Baxter    more »

Lupita sighed as she stood to greet them. She’d already made a large batch of dough for tortillas and had instructed her oldest daughter to start a big pot of soup. Hadn’t Carlos told her after the last visit that he was bringing five men? Five at 150 pesos a day for two days would have meant a good increase in the stash of money she had set aside for the trip to Chihuahua to have the baptism. The baby was already a year old and still without a name. by Jackie Siglin    more »

On a stunningly clear mid-January afternoon Texas General Land Office Commissioner Jerry Patterson pilots his 90-horsepower Citabria aircraft from San Marcos to land at Terlingua Ranch’s 4,000-foot dirt runway, at 1:30 pm. On board with Patterson is a chilled Sam Gwynne, writer from Texas Monthly, who has endured the three-hour flight in the back of the small aircraft, sitting behind Patterson where the aircraft’s heat does not reach. Patterson is in Brewster County to explore the Christmas Mountains and Big Bend National Park by air, foot, truck and all-terrain vehicle. by John Waters    more »

Attendance was notably lower than at some other annual meetings, and the number of ballots cast for new directors decreased from last year’s elections, perhaps more fallout from a lawsuit that has hobbled the association for a year and half. The lawsuit, instigiated by a collection of property owners against others on the board at the time the legal petition was filed, stems from the core allegation that... by Marlys Hersey    more »