Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 13, 2004 Page: 1 of 20
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Thursday, May 13, 2004
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ELLIS MEMORIAL LIBRARY
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Port Aransas
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Vol. 34 No. 20
On Mustang Island, Texas
Moment of truth
Inside
THIS EDITION
Election
Island Focus
Big Air Dog champ!
Morgan, a black Labrador
retriever owned by Chris
Winter of West Point, was
the champion of the Big Air
Dog competition during the
Redfish Cup Tournament.
Page 1B
Opinion_
Rude drivers
It’s time to “vent.” For two
hours Saturday, in the pour-
ing rain with an umbrella
and a sign (No Wake We’re
Flooded - Slow Down), I
stood outside my trailer
house pleading with motor-
ists out sightseeing, only to
get laughed at.
Dorothy Womble
Port Aransas
Keep watch
. . .Parents need to be re-
sponsible and know where
the children are, and to ac-
cept responsibility for their
actions...
Neighbors, know what’s
happening around you and
let’s all watch out for each
other.
Diane L. Anderson
Port Aransas
Letters to the editor
Page 3A
II LOWBANC
Wo Find; You Wir
■
CITGO
»
Staff photo by Murray Judson
James Koller of Jacksonville, Fla., and Manny Perez of Buford, Sunday. However, Mike Friday and Matt McLean of Naples, Fla.,
Ga., standing at right, hold out hope for winning first in the Port pulled off the win in dramatic fashion as ESPN2 TV personality
Aransas leg of the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup Tournament on Fish Fishburn gave a play-by-play of the weigh in.
Anglers battle elernents
By Mary Judson
South Jetty editor
The second Oh Boy! Oberto Red-
fish Cup Tournament played to rave
reviews in spite of stormy weather
last weekend.
Through pouring rain, howling
wind and flashing lightning, anglers
found the fishing was good on the
first two days of the tournament.
On Sunday, the weather outlook
was brighter, but the fishing pros-
pects dimmed.
Five area anglers were among the
top five teams.
The winning team was a Florida
duo, Mike Friday and Matt McLean,
both of Naples, who reeled in a to-
tal of 29.20 pounds of fish on Fri-
day and Saturday, and a 15.05
stringer on Sunday that put them
in first place.
In second place, with 28.23
pounds of fish for Friday and Sat-
urday and a 9.01 pound catch on
Sunday, was the team of James
Koller of Jacksonville, Fla. and
Manny Perez of Buford, Ga.
With 28.45 pounds of fish for the
first two days and 6.48 pounds for
day three, the team of Jimmy Holcomb
and Rick Hillin, both of Corpus
Christi, finished in third place.
Steve Reupke and John
Mendleski, both of Corpus Christi,
caught 29.10 pounds of redfish over
the first two days and 4.43 pounds
the third day for a fourth place fin-
ish.
The fifth place team, Joey Lara
of Robstown and Eric Mannino of
Oviedo, Fla., reeled in a 28.10-
pound catch over two days, and 3.32
pounds on the third and final day.
In addition to the fishing, the
tournament featured a free Tailgate
Party at Roberts Point Park featur-
ing the Big Air Dog and All Around
Sportsman competitions amid ven-
dors of food, beverages and mer-
chandise.
Rain did little to dampen spirits
of the participants, and Sunday’s
Walk for Mom to benefit the Ameri-
can Cancer Society, a new feature
of the event sponsored by the Port
Aransas Chamber of Commerce-
Tourist Bureau, was deemed a suc-
cess thanks in part to sunny skies.
Please see ‘REDFISH/ Page 11A
%INM
Races up
for grabs
Saturday
If early voting is any indication,
and history says it is, Saturday’s turn-
out for the City Council election will
be a record breaker.
When early voting ended Tuesday,
the total stood at 656 or 654. Early
voting judges Maudina and Joe
Bomarito came up with different
totals and will recount the votes.
Last year, 432 voted early.
City Secretary Esther Arzola said
that, coupled with ballots that have
been mailed in, the total ballots cast
stood at 674 or 672.
Arzola said she had more than
twice as many requests for mailed
ballots this year. Of the 27 requested,
18 had been returned by Tuesday.
Last year, 926 ballots were cast,
including early votes, election day
votes and mailed ballots. That was a
turnout of about 30 percent of the
registered voters.
The May 2004 voter registration
list totals 3,220, so with early voting
already well over last year’s total, the
overall turnout should be “real good,”
according to Arzola, who has been
watching Port Aransas election re-
turns for more than 25 years.
Maudina Bomarito, early voting
election judge, said the pace had
picked up Tuesday, the last day of
early voting. By 1 p.m., about 75 vot-
ers already had cast ballots that day,
she said. Her expectations that the
total would be 600 or more before
the polls closed at 5 p.m. were ex-
ceeded.
Voting Saturday will be from 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m. at the Community Center.
Results will be available at the South
Jetty office, 141 W. Cotter, or by call-
ing the newspaper office at 749-5131.
Please see ‘VOTING/ Page 11A
Coast Guard on BRAC hit list
By Phil Reynolds
South Jetty reporter
A Coast Guard spokesman last
week vehemently denied published
reports that the service was about to
move all its assets from Port Aransas
to Naval Station Ingleside.
“We have no intention whatsoever
of moving the (Coast Guard) Sta-
tion,” said Chief Warrant Officer
Adam Wine, who is in charge of the
Coast Guard’s public affairs office in
Galveston.
Wine said he had no idea how the
reports started.
However, Port Aransas Mayor
Glenn Martin learned this week that
while the Coast Guard may have no
plans to close the station, the Base
Realignment and Closure Commis-
sion (BRAC) has the Coast Guard
on its hit list.
Martin said Wednesday that he
would meet with area politicians and
military committee members to see
what action, if any, could be taken to
keep the Coast Guard here.
Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus
Christi, has introduced a bill to post-
pone BRAC actions from the pro-
posed 2005 date. Base closures at this
point would seriously affect home-
land security, Ortiz argued.
Wine said the Coast Guard has
been in Port Aransas since 1878 and
has no plans to leave now.
In its Thursday edition (May 6)
the Corpus Christi Caller-Times
quoted Coast Guard Commandant
Adm. Thomas Collins as saying the
service would move “the whole con-
tingent to Ingleside because of the
assets there.”
Wine said Collins’ statement was
taken out of context.
“We aren’t planning to move any-
thing” from Port Aransas except the
Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead, he
said.
Plans to move the Steelhead to
Ingleside were announced last
month, along with plans to move the
sister ship USCGC Brant from Coast
Guard Depot Corpus Christi. A third
cutter, the Manatee, scheduled for
completion next year, would also be
stationed at Ingleside, the Coast
Guard said.
The major reason for that move is
to put the three cutters together to
simplify maintenance and personnel
matters, a Coast Guard spokesman
said at the time.
The six other vessels would remain
at Port Aransas, Wine said. Those
include two 25-foot homeland secu-
rity boats, an 18-foot open boat, a
24-foot boat, a 41-foot search and
rescue boat and a 43-foot motor life-
boat.
Wine pointed out that construc-
tion has just begun on a new boat-
house at Station Port Aransas. The
old one was demolished earlier this
year.
“It wouldn’t make sense to move
the crews and boats away,” he said.
Following the terrorist attacks of
9/11, the Coast Guard’s budget was
increased to give it more control of
U.S. maritime borders. The Coast
Guard has long been the guardian
of American shores, as well as per-
forming marine search and rescue
missions and maritime law enforce-
ment tasks.
Those increased responsibilities
have more than doubled the number
of people stationed at Port Aransas.
Movement of the Steelhead to
Ingleside would, among other things,
relieve some of the lack of space in
mi
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* ‘ / wr-w-;
Port Aransas.
The Steelhead carries a crew of 18:
a commanding officer and 17 enlisted
crew members. Its combined operat-
ing budget and payroll total more
than $500,000 a year, the Coast
Guard spokesman said.
■ 1
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__- i *5 1 iti ii t -
In jeopardy
Staff photo by Phil Reynolds
Coast Guard Station Port Aransas has been targeted by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission
(BRAC) to be moved to NAS Ingleside. Coast Guard officials have said it is not their intention to move the
station out of Port Aransas.
Island Life
SandFest top photos
« Mft
‘.Winners of the photo
contest held during the
Texas Sand Sculpture
Festival in April have been
announced.
Page 11A
Outdoors
Reelin’ in reds
Anglers of all ages have
been reeling in the redfish.
Page 8-9A
Index
Church............................4A
Classifieds..................4-8B
Editorial........................3A
Education notes..............6A
Fishing report.................8A
Island agenda................. 2A
Island observer...............9A
Law enforcement.............2B
My view...........................3B
Obituary..........................4 A
On the town....................4A
Pastor’s pen....................4A
School menus.................6A
Sports..........................10A
Tides...............................8A
Weather.........................,8A
Youth..........................6-7A
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Judson, Mary. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 13, 2004, newspaper, May 13, 2004; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth825477/m1/1/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.