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Time runs out County considers penalty for on all of us non-permitted driveways
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. Mark Twain Received a phone call from a person from my past recently. It was a woman. Said she tracked me down by getting my cell number from a kinfolk of mine. Reason for the call, she allowed, was that the Class of 62 would be celebrating its 50th reunion next year. Wanted to give me a heads Jim Cunningham up on making plans to be there. Though we hadnt had any contact for 49 years, in the short conversation, there was little we bothered to catch up on. But her reminder of my Jim Cunningham is a former longtime in the halls of good ol time Gonzales newsman and the former interim publisher of the Rosebud High School did Gonzales Cannon. spark a chain reaction of thoughts. Short circuiting a couple of neurons in the gray matter. Pulsating a rhythm that had me beating down a door that led me back into the halcyon days of my youth. Let me regress. You see, the term teenager was coined in the 1950s. And in the Fabulous Fifties, I was one of those teenagers. It was also in this decade that my contemporaries and our parents were to be dubbed The Generation Gap. A Generation Gap, I feel, exists in how schools operated then and how they are steered today. Consider the start date. Back when I was young we heard the first school bell of the year on the day after Labor Day. School today begins in mid-August. And football, well, in my hey-day, no such thing as twoa-days. Because Rosebud was a small farming community. Defined by cotton and corn and watermelons and cattle. And when the call was sounded for those coming out for football, probably 15 to 16 of the 20 or so players suiting up were farm-reared. And they were expected to do chores and work the fields til sunset. So a practice session wasnt set until 8 p.m. Under lights. On a field that was apt to have more grass burrs than common Bermuda. Fellow with the whistle around his neck overseeing a staff of maybe two other coaches was not only a head coach. He also taught sixth grade geography, seventh grade science, freshmen history, and drivers ed. Multi-tasking in the teaching department was the norm and not the exception. As just about every teacher back then taught multiple subjects. Today, there is an Athletic Director plus a dozen coaches for practically every sport. In my day, it was football, basketball, baseball and track. Tennis was secondary. There were no volleyball, soccer or softball as competitive sports. Buses catered only to rural students. A few students and teachers did motor to school to park on the side streets. Too limited to merit having a parking lot. Townies walked to school and rushed home for lunch. And the parents at the time also shared lasting mutual I dos. Not those uncertain I dos of today. The divorce rate was low back then and for a reason I wished I could explain a couple in wedlock could work through their problems. So marriage was basically for forever. Forever in many marriages of today is about six months. I digress. Once I capped and gowned it and was graduated from RHS in 19 and 62, it didnt take a Falls County minute for me to realize that there was gonna be a life after high school. In the ensuing years I found it hard to quantify the education I received there. Because the pragmatic approach I embraced in living and almost dying in the ensuing five decades has been an education in itself. I put little stock or truck in what that commencement speaker preached on a Friday night in late May of 62. Such a pace, 12 years of public school education, well, I just noodled through it the best I could. In the interim, my classmates and I married and divorced. Became parents and grandparents. Some of us enjoyed walking in high cotton and some of us adapted to budget dinners. Others would take a little trip to a strange little country and a strange little war Vietnam. College and careers followed. As did trade labor and clerking. Cancer would strike and take some of us. Car accidents claimed a few, too. I suspect there are a few success stories also. Its expected in any group, controlled or at random. However, I can only comment on whats transpired in my own time waltzing through this wonderful world. Through the good times and the bad. I have been blessed. And when not, I have only myself to blame. Prompting me to possess enough sense to realize that time is indifferent. Down the road, it runs out on all of us.

Region
By NIKKI MAXWELL
newseditor@gonzalescannon.com

Pre-Owned Vehicles Daily Rentals 830-303-4546 Repair Body Shop www.soechtingmotors.net

2011 GMC Acadia

The Gonzales Cannon Thursday, August 18, 2011

Scratch Pad

The message is clear: Before you build a driveway in Gonzales County you better have a permit. During a special called meeting Monday, the Gonzales County Commissioners Court discussed penalties for people who more forward with driveway plans without going through the proper channels. There is currently no such penalty in the law books for Gonzales County. Harris County is the only one that has all this written into their statute, because they went before the legislature and got it done, said Gonzales County Judge David Bird. Everyone else is on their own. He explained it would be a contempt of a court order to not do a driveway permit as required by the

county. Gonzales County Attorney Paul Watkins explained how the county could use a show cause hearing for these cases. The court always has the authority to enforce an order that you pass, and anyone who is in violation of that you can issue a show cause order and have them come explain themselves, Watkins said. If they have a legally permissible excuse for why they didnt do it, fine, but if not then you can punish them. He said that the court would have options on what to do if it is determined that they have violated the order. The penalty may be money, it may be self-help, we might remove it, or tie it to the septic permit, Watkins said. Our hope is that by getting the word out we wont have anyone violating this. Your

permit is not so onerous that somebody should try to skip that, because the consequences could be substantial. He said he wants Gonzales County to be a good place to do business, but not to be taken advantage of. The permits are to ensure culverts and driveways are installed correctly. The county permits that and assists with installing them. The property owner or drilling company must come before commissioners and explain why they did not follow our rules. The court tabled a decision on the penalty, while they examine what punishments other counties are applying to violators. In other business, the court set two dates for public hearings regarding the 2011 tax rate, Aug. 29 and Sept. 1. The next scheduled Commissioners meeting is Monday, Aug. 29 at 9 a.m.

Two artists, one studio

Hal Shipley and Jan Meeks have combined their talents at the new On Track Arts in Harwood. (Photo by Nikki Maxwell)

On Track Arts Where quality art meets handpicked vintage

By NIKKI MAXWELL
newseditor@gonzalescannon.com

Pay attention, you might miss it if you arent looking. But dont be fooled by the aged wood, pealed paint and weathered roof. There is new life inside the big, red two story building in downtown Harwood. The building is home to a new retail store On Track Arts, a combination of Windfall Designs and Shipley Stained Glass Studio. Artists and business partners, Hal Shipley and Jan Meeks have taken their passion for their art and combined it with their love of antiques to create a unique store with something for everyone. The retail location allows them to showcase their stained glass, costume jewelry, chimes and other handmade art, while also selling hundreds of their handpicked vintage treasures. Hal and I have reached the point of opening our doors for our first sift opening, Meeks said. This will allow

us the opportunity to gain important feedback from friends, neighbors and customers before the grand opening this Fall. She said in the beginning On Track will be open only one or two

weekends per month, to allow them valuable studio time. The Big Red Building The home for On Track Arts was built in the 1920s. Through the years it has hosted many different businesses, including a fancy candy store, general merchandise, and hardware store downstairs, while upstairs was the Leaky Roof Dance Hall and even a roller rink. A pair of roller skates hanging inside the entryway pay tribute to the buildings legacy. Meeks and Shipley said they are committed to saving the building and embracing its past. Weve enjoyed learning more about the buildings history, and the more we discover about it, the more we realize this is where we are meant to be, Meeks said. The couple moved out of Austin and bought a house in Harwood ten years ago. They have had their eyes ARTISTS, Page B5

Train searched for sex assault suspect

By NIKKI MAXWELL
newseditor@gonzalescannon.com

LULINGIf you were in Luling Thursday morning, you may have noticed some flashing lights and commotion around the railroad tracks. According to the Colorado County

Sheriff s Office (CCSO), authorities were searching for a sexual assault suspect who was possibly hiding out on a cargo train running through town. He (the suspect) wasnt on the train, but we wanted to make sure and check it anyway, said Lt. Troy Neisner of the CCSO.

DPS and five officers from the Luling Police Department responded to the call and assisted in the search. Neisner said the reported assault occurred Thursday morning outside of Weimar. Details about the case and a description of the suspect are not being released at this time.