Posted on by Nina Davis

March 1, 2025 My March 1 blog covers Lakeway’s fun, civic and useful events AND debuts a NEW SECTION on the May 3 LOCAL ELECTION, plus cool space news and images, women’s rights update, new deer photos, current Covid status, and more.

For the last 3 years and as long as it takes.   

Here is what is happening in Lakeway.   

The NEW section on our LOCAL ELECTION is just below, after the newsy items and the Council meeting report.

Sunday Concert Series–SungEun Park on Piano

On Sunday, March 2, 4PM, pianist SungEun Park performs at Lakeway Activity Center (105 Cross Creek).  She has extensively performed as a solo pianist and chamber musician throughout Korea, Italy and the United States.  FREE event!

Public Education Advocacy Workshop

Wednesday, March 5, 3:30-4:45PM, Travis County Democratic Party along with LT Dems will host a workshop centered on public education in Texas.  Location is Lake Travis Community Library (1938 Lohmans Crossing).  Each participant will craft a personalized, written message to members of the Texas House Committee on Education, which meets soon to consider school funding and vouchers. Examples and targeted goals will be suggested. Links will be provided so participants can send an email to every member of the Education Committee, using the official Texas.gov email system. Bring a cell phone and/or a computer to the event.  More info and sign-up link here: https://mobilize.us/s/p6x9Tl

DELAYS continue on Lohman’s Crossing near library/police station

Construction continues on the JOVI II project (the several super-tall boxes of apartments) the second phase of Tuscan Village in City Center), requiring closing one lane of Lohmans Crossing, through March. 

Puzzle Exchange at the library  

On Saturday, March 8, 10:30-11:30, drop by Lake Travis Community Library (1938 Lohmans Crossing) and swap out your jigsaw puzzles with ones that will be new to you.  (All puzzles must be in good condition, well-packaged and include all pieces.)

GIVE BLOOD at Lakeway Activity Center.

The next blood drive at LAC is on Saturday, March 8, 8am-noon.  The event is well organized, clean and friendly.  You will be done and out the door in under 30 minutes. It is an important cause and helps countless people right here in the Texas Hill Country. Plus—FREE JUICE AND COOKIES! While walk-ins are welcome (up until 11AM), those with appointments have priority. You can see upcoming dates and make an appointment to donate by entering your zip code here:  https://weareblood.org/donor/schedule/

Art at the library

During March, a juried exhibit of work by local photographers, Women in Photography 2025, is on display in the meeting room at Lake Travis Community Library (1938 Lohmans Crossing.)  Stop by for the Opening Reception, on Saturday, March 8, 1:30-3PM. 

Daylight Savings Time

When you wake up on Sunday, March 9, you’ll be short 1 hour of sleep.  Texas and nearly all of the country will “spring forward” the night before, for Daylight Savings Time. 

Lakeway is HIRING

Open positions include office manager, swim instructor, lifeguard, bailiff, 911 dispatcher, and police officer. Go here for info and to apply: https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/124/Current-Job-Openings

Garage Sale at LAC on March 15

Go shopping at Lakeway’s first community garage sale of the year, on Saturday, March 15, 8AM-noon, at Lakeway Activity Center, which will host over 30 local sellers. (Sorry, booths are sold out.)  As always, canned and non-perishable food items (for people and for pets) will be accepted in the LAC lobby, to be donated to local food banks and charities.

LAKEWAY SINGS!

LAC members can buy tickets starting March 18 for the Lakeway Sings! (formerly Lakeway Singalong)spring show, “Getting to Know You.”  The show runs April 25-26, 6-9PM, at Lakeway Activity Center. More info here:  https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/1455/Lakeway-Sings

Spring Shred & Recycle Event Coming Up

NOW is the time to organize and declutter, before this FREE opportunity to drop off papers for shredding, plus hard-to-recycle items. On Tuesday, March 18, 9-11 AM, LT Senior Services will sponsor a shredding and recycle station in the parking lot of Lakeway Aquatic Physical Therapy Parking Lot, (by Reid’s Cleaners and the Brazilian Steak House, in Lakeway Commons, 900 RR 620 S, corner of 620 and Lakeway Blvd.).  Recycling items which will be accepted include plastic bags/wrap, batteries, empty ink cartridges, styrofoam, paint and household chemicals (limit 5 gallons/person).

Household Hazardous Drop Off

FREE drop-off of household hazardous waste on Wednesday March 19, 9:30AM to 12:30PM at Lake Travis Regional Reuse & Recycling Center (3207 Neidhardt Dr.). This is ONLY for residents of Lakeway, Bee Cave, and The Hills, as well as customers of WCID 17, Hurst Creek MUD, and Lakeway MUD.  Bring a photo ID or water bill to show proof of residency.  Reservations are REQUIRED.  Items MUST be in original labeled containers (so they can be disposed of safely.) The maximum amount of paint per household is a total of 30-gallon containers (whether partly empty or full). Go here for lists of what is allowed and NOT allowed (NO LIGHTBULBS, AMMO or ELECTRONICS, for instance) and to sign up for your reserved drop-off time: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C44ACA728A1F4C07-55234542-household#/

West Library GRAND OPENING

On Saturday, March 22, 1PM-3PM, head out to Spicewood for the GRAND OPENING of West, Lake Travis Community Library’s new branch. Located on 71 (21209 State Hwy. 71 W, Spicewood 78669), events include opening remarks and a ribbon cutting ceremony, live music from jazz duo Tommy Howard and Chris Jones, crafts, therapy dogs, cake, tours, and a visit from H-E-Buddy.

Lake Travis Democrats Club  

 

  • Monthly Meeting: Monday, March 24, 6PM at Lakeway Activity Center (105 Cross Creek).  (NOTE: Monthly meetings have MOVED to the 4th Monday of the month.)  The speaker is Mara Richards Bim who will explain how evangelicals are infiltrating politics into Christian Churches throughout Texas. Ms. Bim is a writer, spiritual director and candidate for ordination; she is also a Clemons Fellow at Baptist News Global, where she writes on the intersection of religion and politics.
  • Banned Book Club: Tuesday, March 25, 6:30PM at Lake Travis Community Library (1938 Lohmans Crossing). The book is James by Percival Everett.  It is a NYTimes bestseller and National Book Award winner, as well as an action-packed re-imagining of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
  • Watch for events and notices on the club’s website: https://www.laketravisdemocrats.com/

Wilderness Run 5K

Runners, walkers, and anyone else who wants to participate can SIGN UP for the 5K Wilderness Run taking place Saturday, March 29 at 9AM at the Lakeway Justice Complex (104 Cross Creek, across from the Activity Center).  This FREE event is sponsored by Lakeway Friends of the Parks and the City of Lakeway.  Participants will run, walk or stroll through the Hamilton Greenbelt, in a picturesque trail activity designed for all levels of fitness (though there are rocky areas and elevation changes).  https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/2230/Wilderness-Run

Heritage Trail Bus Tours

Reserve your spot now for the next FREE historical bus tours taking place Friday, March 28 at 10 AM, noon, and 2 PM. Tours begin and end at Lakeway City Hall.  Start with a tour of the historic Liebelt Cabin, before boarding a bus (featuring restrooms).  Tours covering around 20 historical locations are narrated by a member of the Lakeway Heritage Committee, in about an hour.  More info here: https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/1171/Heritage-Trail

Summer Camp Kickoff at Lakeway Activity Center

On Saturday, March 29, 10AM-noon, head over to LAC with the family to meet the summer camp instructors.  Find out what camps are offered and when, as well as enjoying a petting zoo, face painting, balloon twisting, and more.

EGGstravaganza at City Park

Hop over to City Park (502 Hurst Creek Rd.) on Saturday, April 5, noon to 2PM, for Lakeway’s annual EGGstravaganza, with multi-age group egg hunts plus food vendors, a petting zoo, a bubble station, chalk art, face painting, and lots more.  FREE event!  More info here: https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/717/Eggstravaganza

Austin Symphony Orchestra comes to Lakeway.

Treat yourself to “A Night with the Austin Symphony Orchestra” right here in Lakeway on Sunday, April 6, at 4PM.  Location is the Lake Travis Performing Arts Center (3324 Ranch Rd 620 South). This will be Lakeway’s 5th annual collaborative concert experience featuring members of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and talented musicians with the Lake Travis High School Band and Orchestra. Info and tickets here: https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/1960/A-Night-with-the-Austin-Symphony-Orchest

Teen Scholarship Opportunities

Lakeway City Council met Feb. 18.

RESULTS: Six members attended the meeting, all in person. Council Member Forton was absent. 

–ITEM 10 (within the Consent Agenda):  Approving replacement of 2 park bridges, the Hamilton Greenbelt Bridge and the Smith Greenbelt Bridge, for a total cost of $194,950. The winning bid was from Alinea Construction Corporation, and the amount was included in the 2025 budget.

APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY (as part of the Consent Agenda).

–ITEM 12: Financial Report.

Looking at revenues and expenses (setting aside the FEMA reimbursement) compared to budgeted amounts, the city is $240,000 to the good.

–ITEM 14:  Discussion of an ordinance establishing a Hotel Occupancy Tax Group to promote business, specifically providing Lakeway hotels assistance in winning over group meeting and event business against non-Lakeway properties.  Funds would come from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax Fund, with the group having $200,000 in HOT funds for the first year of operation.

After discussion, Council asked staff to incorporate minor modifications, so the proposal can be reviewed and likely approved at the March regular meeting.

–ITEM 15: Presentation by the city’s internal AI Committee regarding an Artificial Intelligence usage policy.

The Communications Director discussed the policy’s tenets (transparency–including a stated disclaimer when AI is used; confidentiality–no personal info; and accuracy–a human checking work done by AI).  He also showed AI-produced text, videos, games and podcasts—all currently in use at this time via ChatGPT, SORA, Claude and NotebookLM. 

APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY (after extremely limited questions or discussion), but the item is to be reviewed in 6 months.

NOTE: So, be ready for faked photos, videos, podcasts and more coming from your city government.  Go to 46:40 on the video linked below to see examples; the fake deer leaping over the fake bluebonnets were bad enough; the fake podcast with fake pundits joking about fake city policy was cringe-worthy.  What could go wrong there…. 

–ITEM 16: Discussion on changing the structure of the city’s PUD Development Committee (which provides early-stage feedback to developers on potential projects, currently in meetings closed to the public and attended by just a few elected officials) as to committee members and opening meetings to the public.

After considerable discussion that was predictably defensive as to the way PUD Dev now works and dismissive of any need for change, Council Member Vance moved to leave PUD Dev as is (but creating a city webpage with mention the committee exists and asking the City Attorney to brief members on what type of report, if any, the committee can make to Council on each meeting).  This PASSED 5/1 (Sherman).

NOTE: At least the public will be nominally aware this committee exists, though its meetings with developers remain secret and closed to the public AND to 4 of the 7 Council Members.  Baby steps, I guess….

–ITEM 17: Discussion of how to use the $1,418,299 in FEMA funds (being federal reimbursement of 75% of the $1.8MIL the city spent on debris management and emergency services for Winter Storm Mara recovery in 2023).  Suggested options include: 1) Leave it in the General Fund, here the money came from in 2023; 2)  Use some or all of the funds to bolster future Emergency (purchase of equipment and vehicles, additional software, wildfire and flood mitigation, enhanced emergency planning, etc.);  3)  Use some or all of the funds to create a dedicated Emergency Fund to handle future emergencies; or 4) Fund the new Capital Improvement Plan, designed to cover major projects over the next several years.

The City manager indicated that 4 Council members let him know since the last meeting when this was discussed that they preferred putting some or all the funds back in the General Fund, using it for Capital Improvements, or spreading the money among various areas.  NO ACTION NEEDED.  (Input will be used during upcoming Budget discussions.)

–ITEMS 18, 19, 20: Executive Sessions on: West Austin Business Park legal intervention; legal issues related to City Center; and the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property (Rebel Park and Sailfish Park).

As to West Austin Business Park, PASSED UNANIMOUSLY that City of Lakeway will enter into a Joint Legal Representation Agreement with City of Bee Cave.

As to City Center, NO ACTION.

As to Rebel and Sailfish Parks, Mayor Kilgore reported that efforts were made to cure long-ago deed and conveyance errors via deed modifications with the donor, Lakeway Civic Corporation/LCC.  These efforts have failed.  Instead, LCC intends to take back the property, change its designation from park to residential, and sell the land for development, for LCC’s financial gain.  Before that happens, the city will endeavor to segregate the property and sell the submerged portion of the parks to adjacent landowners who have constructed docks there, with the required voter approval sought at the next general election.  UNANIMOUSLY PASSED (with staff instructed to handle the necessary public education for the matter). YIKES–nightmare result all around.

ADJOURNED at 8:40PM.

View the Agenda, Meeting Packet, and/or Presentation (scrolling down to City Council documents) here: https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/archive.aspx  Go here to watch the Council meeting online:  https://lakewaytx.new.swagit.com/videos/335183

May 3 LOCAL ELECTION  

              

Lakeway has a local election coming up.  DATES to know include:

  • Election Day: Saturday, May 3.
  • Early Voting: April 22-29.
  • Last Day to REGISTER TO VOTE: April 3.
  • Ballot by Mail Application DEADLINE: Must be RECEIVED by April 22.

WHERE can I vote? 

Lakeway Activity Center (105 Cross Creek) will be the closest polling place, for early voting and election day.  Travis County Elections will announce other area locations soon. You can vote at any polling place in Travis County.

There is no election for Mayor or Council in Lakeway this year.

MAYOR: No one filed to run against Mayor Tom Kilgore, so he will serve his third and last term.

COUNCIL: There were 3 Council seats open, and only 3 people filed to run.  So, Chris Forton and Kent O’Brien will serve their second terms.  Gretchen Vance has already served 6 consecutive years on Council, so she is term-limited.  Louis Mastrangelo, who served 6 years and sat out the past year, filed again so he will serve his fourth (non-consecutive) term.

So, what’s on the ballot? 

Propositions, LOTS of propositions, are on the Lakeway ballot.  Plus, 3 LTISD Board positions. NOTE: Ballots differ depending on exactly where you live.  If you live outside of Lakeway (in Bee Cave, The Hills, Hudson Bend, Briarcliff, plain old Travis County, etc.) your ballot will vary.

Lakeway residents will vote on SEVEN propositions. 

They are named with alphabetical letters, A through G.  Prop A deals with sales tax.  Props B-G are all proposed changes to Lakeway’s City Charter.  

If you are in a hurry, here is my advice on the 7 Props: Prop A is OK. Keep Lakeway the Best–VOTE NO on the Rest.  If you want more info, here you go….

Propositions mean a lot of reading and trying to make sense of convoluted legal language that may seem designed to fool us.  As a poll worker, I know that voters often get frustrated trying to figure out propositions at the polling place, sometimes giving up and not voting on propositions. 

Please, VOTE on these propositions.  Leaving the boxes blank does nothing. But, DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFOREHAND so you know what is a YES for you and what is a NO for you when you head out to vote.

City of Lakeway has a page on the seven propositions.  It gives the legal language of each one.  For the 6 Charter changes, there is also an explanation (that may or may not help….).  The info is in both English and Spanish.  https://www.lakeway-tx.gov/2231/May-3-2025-Special-Election

Council has been discussing and hashing out these propositions for months now, and I have followed it closely.  I’ll give my take on these below, hitting the highlights while giving some background where important.

PROP A: Reauthorize sales tax of one fourth of one percent (1/4%) for maintenance of Lakeway’s streets.

This is the EASY one—VOTE YES.  It is nothing new; this use of a tiny portion of sales tax has been in place for many, many years and helps Lakeway keep its streets repaired, which is good for all of us.  As noted above: Prop A is OK. 

If you want more info on Prop A, here is a recent article on the road sales tax.  Bee Cave and Lakeway voters to decide on approval of city road taxes in May 2/21/25 https://communityimpact.com/austin/lake-travis-westlake/government/2025/02/21/bee-cave-and-lakeway-voters-to-decide-on-approval-of-city-road-taxes-in-may/

Now we are at the 6 proposed Charter changes.  And noted above, my advice is: VOTE NO on ALL 6 of them.

Props B, C, D, E, F, and G are all proposed changes to Lakeway’s City Charter that Council (often by a vote as narrow as 4:3) put on the ballot.  In my view, and having sat through MANY meetings on this, the 6 suggested changes range from dumb to dangerous.  Two of the changes FAILED to pass back in 2020, but Council is trying AGAIN to shove them down our throats. 

But, one change is even worse than that.  Prop F is to eliminate Lakeway’s Board of Ethics.  Not change its members or how it functions—ELIMINATE it, by deleting all reference to it from the City Charter that has served Lakeway well for decades.  Because Lakeway suddenly doesn’t need ethical rules or a Board to enforce them?  Really???  Council says it will come up with an ethics ordinance later. Well, given how split and dysfunctional Council is as a whole, I fear all it will do is refer to State of Texas’ rules, which are the bare minimum.  So much for “Lakeway values.”  A proposed Charter change this bad tells me that NONE of the other changes can be trusted.  But, here are details for them all.

PROP B: Revising the Residency Requirement for City Manager

Shall Section 4.01(a) be amended to require the City Manager to reside within the boundaries of the Lake Travis Independent School District, instead of within the City limits?

This is one of the changes where residents already voted NO, back in 2020.  Council added the “within LTISD boundaries” language to try to slip it through this time. The argument for the change is that it can be pricey to live in Lakeway, so the City has to pay more for a local City Manager.  Well, there are many rental options here, as well as an ever-increasing number of new housing developments Council is approving these days that are said to be priced mid-range.  The fact is, the City Manager has immense power in Lakeway government, and I’m not comfortable having a non-resident wielding that power.  For instance, the City Manager sets the annual budget and proposes a property tax rate to finance it, for Council’s review.  I want the City Manager who is doing that to PAY LAKEWAY TAXES.  I also want the City Manager to deal with LAKEWAY TRAFFIC and abide by LAKEWAY ORDINANCES.  Someone living in Bee Cave, Hudson Bend, Spicewood, Dripping Springs, Briarcliff, etc. has none of those concerns.  This is a NO for me.

PROP C: Eliminating the Office of City Treasurer

Shall Section 4.06 be deleted, thereby eliminating the volunteer office of City Treasurer, and other Charter provisions be amended as necessary to remove references to the City Treasurer?

Maybe current city staff can handle Treasurer functions, but this is one of several changes that are just too petty to go on the ballot.  Plus, residents voted this change DOWN in 2020, and Council should respect that.  So, for me, this is another NO.

PROP D: Changing the Approval Process for Police Department Policies and Procedures

Shall Section 4.07 be amended so that the policies and procedures adopted or changed by the Chief of Police for the Police Department shall be approved by the City Manager and reported to the Council at least annually, instead of having the City Council approve them when adopted by the Chief of Police?

This one is complicated, but it boils down to power and accountability, and shifting that from Council to the City Manager.  Police Department oversight is too important to slide onto the City Manager’s plate, and giving Council a look at things on an annual basis only is ridiculous.  For me—NO.

PROP E: Changing the Process for Appointing Members of City Boards and Commissions and Changing the Terms of Office of Each Member of a Board or Commission

Shall Section 7.01 be amended to change the process for appointing members of City Boards and Commissions so that the Mayor and each Council member shall nominate a person for a one-year appointment to each Board or Commission, subject to Council approval?

Sorry, but his one has a long and ugly backstory.  First, this ONLY applies to ZAPCO (zoning and planning).  Forget the bunk about standardizing all the Boards; other Props eliminate CBC and Ethics, leaving ZAPCO and Board of Adjustment as the ONLY Boards left.  And, Board of Adjustment is regulated by State law, including requiring 2-year terms.  So, this change ONLY applies to ZAPCO.

Also, the Charter says the Mayor appoints ZAPCO members, subject to Council approval, and that has worked well for decades.  Council unanimously approved ALL the members now serving on ZAPCO (including me). The Mayor reviews credentials of those in the volunteer pool and puts qualified people on ZAPCO, with differing views yet creating a balanced group.  Instead, certain Council members desperately want to be able to put their pals or their political allies on ZAPCO, who will vote their way on development issues.  If appointments are doled out among all the Council Members, the results will be unqualified ZAPCO members, bad committee results, and a disrespected volunteer pool.

Plus, those Council Members have a grudge against some ZAPCO members (definitely including me) due to past development votes or past elections.  A short exchange on the dais at a recent Council meeting summed this up.  One member asked: “What problem are we solving here?”  Another answered (in disgust): “We are not solving a problem; we are settling a score.”  THAT is not good government. 

So, yet again, this is a hard NO for me.

PROP F: Eliminating the Board of Ethics 

Shall Section 7.05 be deleted in its entirety, thereby eliminating the Board of Ethics?
If approved, Section 7.05 would be deleted in its entirety and the reference to the Board of Ethics in Section 11.05 would also be deleted. Council would still be required to adopt a City Ethics Ordinance, which applies to all City officials, employees, and members of City Boards, Commissioners, or Committees.

As discussed above, for me this is a definite NO.  Lakeway should have a robust Ethics Code and a Board to enforce it, not a passing reference to state law with enforcement in county court.  That is the only way to preserve our Lakeway values. And, for the record, it was these 4 Council Members who voted to put this Charter change on the ballot: Kent O’Brien, Chris Forton, Jennifer Szimanski and Kelly Brynteson.

PROP G: Eliminating the City Building Commission

Shall Section 7.06 be deleted in its entirety, thereby eliminating the City Building Commission, which is responsible under the City’s development ordinances for determining whether to grant certain variances and waivers; and to transfer those functions to other City Boards or Commissions, or to City staff, as determined by Council?

Maybe CBC doesn’t have much to do now, but something like this is too petty to be put on the ballot.  So, for me—this is a NO.

Council had several meetings on these Charter changes, but the one where final votes were cast and true colors shown was on Jan. 27. Go here to watch the video (click on Item 23): https://lakewaytx.new.swagit.com/videos/326844

Remember—leaving the ballot box blank does nothing.  Only YES and NO votes are counted.

So, this is how I’m voting on Lakeway’s 7 Propositions: Prop A is OK.  Keep Lakeway the BEST–VOTE NO on the REST. Feel free to pass it along!

Lake Travis ISD   

There are 3 school board races this year, for Place 3, Place 4 and Place 5 on the LTISD Board of Trustees. 

My next blog will detail these 3 races.

Daring Mighty Things    

 APOD on Feb. 16 featured a 2-minute video with gorgeous footage of Jupiter as seen by Juno, NASA’s robot spacecraft, during a close flyby in 2018.  (Image credit: NASA.)  Go here for the video: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250216.html

NASA says, as of Feb. 24, that Earth is safe from a killer asteroid strike in 2032.  (The above image is an illustration created by Robert Lea, via Canva.)  Over the past month, official odds of an upcoming doomsday impact from the asteroid known as 2024 YR4 have careened up and down rather alarmingly.  Now, experts say that new data allows better calculation of the asteroid’s trajectory.  Also, the rock now appears to be smaller than previously estimated.  So, the chance of impact is now said to be close to zero. However, experts note there is a chance the asteroid will strike our moon….  Earth safe from ‘city-killer’ asteroid 2024 YR4 ‘That’s impact probability zero folks!’ 2/24/25 https://www.space.com/the-universe/asteroids/earth-safe-from-city-killer-asteroid-2024-yr4-thats-impact-probability-zero-folks

Speaking of erratic proclamations, Elon Musk says the International Space Station should be ditched within 2 years.  “It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let’s go to Mars.” NASA and its partners on the ISS project — the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Russia’s space agency/Roscosmos — began building the orbiting lab in 1998. ISS has hosted rotating astronaut crews continuously since late 2000. The partners plan to bring the station down in a controlled fashion in 2030, using a deorbit vehicle provided by SpaceX. (Image credit: NASA/Roscosmos.)  The ISS should be deorbited ‘as soon as possible,’ Elon Musk says: ‘Let’s go to Mars’ 2/20/25 https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/the-iss-should-be-deorbited-as-soon-as-possible-elon-musk-says-lets-go-to-mars


Another dangerous failure for SpaceX.  On Feb. 19, a SpaceX rocket stage fell to Earth leaving a trail of fire through European skies, as shown above.  (Image credit: Bennett Theile.)  The flaming debris was part of the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched 22 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites. The Falcon 9 upper stage is expendable, but it is designed to be brought down in a controlled fashion shortly after launch.  Instead, a chunk of rocket weighing about 4 tons landed in a commercial district of Poznań, a city in western Poland.  A similar object was discovered in the forest near Wiry Village, about 19 miles from the first debris-landing site.  SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket debris creates dramatic fireball over Europe, crashes in Poland 2/20/25 https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-debris-creates-dramatic-fireball-over-europe-crashes-in-poland

SpaceX has repeatedly scheduled then postponed launch of the 8th unmanned test flight for its Starship from South Texas.  The latest date is March 3.  Test flight 7 managed to catch Starship’s booster, known as Super Heavy, with the “chopstick” arms of the launch tower; however, Starship itself suffered a propellant leak and exploded over the Atlantic. (Image credit: SpaceX.)  SpaceX delays Flight 8 of Starship megarocket to March 3 2/26/25 https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/spacex-delays-flight-8-of-starship-megarocket-to-march-3

With liberty and justice for all … except women.  

ProPublica investigates the rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss in Texas after the state banned abortion in 2021. The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester, ProPublica found. (See their chart above.)  The surge in this life-threatening condition, caused by infection, was most pronounced for patients whose fetus may still have had a heartbeat when they arrived at the hospital. After the state banned abortion, dozens more pregnant and postpartum women died in Texas hospitals than had in pre-pandemic years (which ProPublica used as a baseline to avoid COVID-19-related distortions).  As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, it rose substantially in Texas. The state’s abortion ban is leading to dangerous delays in care, and women are dying as a result. Texas law threatens up to 99 years in prison for providing an abortion. Though the ban includes an exception for a “medical emergency,” the definition of what constitutes an emergency has been subject to confusion and debate.  Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. 2/10/25 https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-sepsis-maternal-mortality-analysis

June marks the 10-year anniversary of the SCOTUS opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, which ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry and that states cannot prohibit them.  Don’t count on hitting year 11.  This article details how conservatives are working to get SCOTUS to “reconsider” that ruling, despite same-sex marriage being supported by nearly 70% of the US population. Conservatives Push to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage: ‘Just a Matter of When’ 2/21/25 https://www.newsweek.com/conservatives-push-overturn-same-sex-marriage-2034733

Back to me….                                       

I will never forget something that happened, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. President Zelenskyy was targeted for assassination by the Kremlin, but he refused to leave his country.  He just asked for help fighting Putin right there in Kyiv: “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”  That is the infinitely better man who Trump and Vance ambushed in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, demanding he accept their Russia-fawning peace terms, offer up Ukraine’s mineral rights as tribute, and thank them for the privilege of being betrayed on live TV.  America has never been so deeply or publicly shamed by its elected leaders.

On all fronts, national politics went from depressing to alarming, in record time.  Closer to home, my HVAC system is on the blink.  Proving that life does indeed suck, two of my precious kitty girls are sick.

The only good news that comes to mind is that I’m starting a new project.  AND—it has NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS.  Refreshing….  More on this project soon, but here’s a hint: There is no “red or blue” here.  Actually—it is ALL RED.

Here are some photos I look recently of our deer herd.

Coronavirus Update                                            

Covid-19 activity continues to fall.  On data updated as of Feb. 22 positive testing, ER visits and deaths decreased.  Hospitalizations (as of Feb. 15) also fell.  https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home

As of Feb. 22, national wastewater viral activity decreased.  Nationally, levels improved, moving from High to MODERATE.  But, Texas as a state worsened, going from MODERATE to HIGH.   https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/index.html

error: Content is protected !!