Opinion

From the opening of the article “A proposed RV resort with 201 sites and 30 cabins on the north side of the Wimberley Valley has filed an application requesting a permit for up to 4.5 million gallons of water per year from the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. Two local property owners are protesting the application.”

Three people were arrested last week by federal authorities in connection with a human smuggling incident that left 53 migrants dead.

Governor Abbott submitted a call to the Texas Education Agency to make schools safer after 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. In this call, he requested that school districts a) identify actions to make the campuses more secure prior to the new school year; b) to conduct weekly inspections of exterior doors to verify they are secure during school hours; and c) develop strategies to encourage school districts to increase the presence of trained law enforcement officers and school marshals on campuses.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade effectively ends all legal abortions in Texas within the next 30 days, many news media outlets reported.

State Comptroller Glenn Hegar last week released his agency’s plan to support the expansion of broadband internet access to areas with limited or no access. Hegar and his agency’s Broadband Development Office received feedback through a series of town halls, virtual discussions and more than 16,000 responses to a survey.

Anti-gun violence protests were held in multiple cities across the state over the weekend, while the state has imposed additional measures designed to strengthen school security.

This is part of an eight part op-ed series produced by the Hill Country Alliance. To read the rest of the op-eds, visit ourtxhillcountry.org/#blogs

In helping a client with a tax issue involving Travis and Hays County, I was surprised to learn how much higher property taxes are in Hays County for the same value home. Some may think it’s because of skyrocketing tax appraisals, but that is not true. Hays County homeowners’ taxes are higher than necessary (and higher than those in Travis County) because your Hays officials, especially the Commissioners Court and School Boards have not adopted the 20% homestead exemption authorized by Texas Tax Code section 11.13(n). By comparison, Travis County, the City of Austin, and Lake Travis ISD have adopted it.

Just recently have I become aware of the worrisome extent of a proposed R.V. park to be built just north of Wimberley. Although some growth in our lovely area is to be expected, we all have hoped it would be graceful and maintain the natural beauty of the region, without damaging our shared environment.

I read, with great interest, your article about the Groundwater District declaring drought conditions in the May 12 issue of The View. In light of this, there is a New Operating Permit Application being considered by the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District at this time requesting approval to pump 14 acre feet, or 4,561,914 from the Lower Trinity aquifer/year.

Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Education Agency to ensure school facilities are made safer in the wake of the killing of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.

The gunman who killed 21 people inside a Uvalde elementary school walked into the unlocked building unopposed, the Department of Public Safety said in a revised statement, as reported by the Austin American-Statesman and other media sources.

Firefighters are looking to the skies for much-needed rain this week as crews continue battling wildfires across the state. Fires reported Sunday by the Texas A&M Forest Service were being fought in Brown, Taylor, Wilbarger, Llano, Schleicher and San Saba counties.