Inside the Moon Family Photos Raise Funds A2 Moon on a Spoon A5 Art Contest Winners A9 Fishing A11 Lollygaggers A16 Issue 834 The 27° 37' 0.5952'' N | 97° 13' 21.4068'' W Photo by Debbie Noble Island Free The voiceMoon of The Island since 1996 April 9, 2020 Weekly www.islandmoon.com FREE Around The Seashore Supporters Turn Area Beaches Island Closed to Traffic By Dale Rankin for Easter So how is everybody doing during Lemons Into Lemonade Life in the Time of Coronavirus? Weekend First we have a couple of items from Some good news when we can all use some the Glass Half Full Department this Set to reopen week. By Mary Craft Many of the SLC Our Island crime rate, which was Sarah Greaud is a Seashore Learning families participated Monday never very high anyway, is now Center parent and board member who including some of By Dale Rankin about as close to zero as crime rates started the Front Porch Project as a the school’s teachers. Island beaches and beach access could ever be. One knucklehead or fundraiser for the school. The school Sarah stated “The roads will be closed to traffic for knuckleheads hit a couple of houses lost their largest annual fundraiser response to the five the Easter weekend, city and county in the 15200 block of Cartagena “Whoop it Up” to the coronavirus minute front porch officials announced late Wednesday. this week but other than that we and to try to replace some of that portraits blew up and I might have the most bored police revenue, Sarah has donated her enlisted Photographer Nueces County Judge Barbara officers in the city. Islanders staying time and photographic creativeness Niki Viersen (also an Canales announced in a late home means a lot of eyes on Island to promote donations to the Island SLC parent) to help.” Wednesday afternoon press conference that beaches in Nueces streets and that’s bad news for sneak Foundation. They have created 70 thieves. There have been a few County, from Port Aransas south Sarah follows other photographers family portraits taken through Kleberg County and on more Disturbance calls for reasons from a safe distance we won’t speculate on, and more online and one she follows in Kailua, to Padre Island National Seashore Hawaii was taking family front porch and have raised more will be closed to vehicular traffic Suspicious Person calls as Islanders than $4000 so far. She keep an eye on things. You can’t help photos to raise money for a local beginning at 6 a.m. Friday, April 10 charity. After researching she found says the numbers have through 6 a.m. Monday, April 13 but notice as you wander Around started dwindling so The Island that there are a lot more others across the country doing the when they will be reopened. same since the virus kept families we hope the spread of joggers, bike riders, walkers, golf- the photos in the Moon carters, surfers, and beach-goers than home bound. Sarah said “ I thought it Beaches cont. on A4 would be a fun and cool document of will change that. After you would normally see this time of the session, families year. Islanders are adapting and more this weird season of life we are living through." can give a good faith City Bans than a few remembering why they donation to the Island moved here in the first place. The Island families enjoyed the Foundation through Short-Term Surfers had a couple of Cranking opportunity and used their “stay the school's PayPal The Levandowski family front porch. days this week as surf conditions home” time to do a creative family link or when school Photo by Sarah Greaud Photography. were about as good as they get around project together, and Sarah added reopens they can put More photos on A2. Residential here. Our beaches continue to be our “They get to make something fun out a check in the drop off release during these homebound times of the situation.” During Life in the box at the Seashore Middle School family has lived on the Island for Rentals and when the weather is passable Time of Coronavirus we learned that Academy. five years. To set up a session call or By Greg Smith Islanders have not lost their sense of text her at 225-588-0975 or Niki (NL Islanders hit the beach at respectable Sarah is from Louisiana but her Council District 4 social distancing intervals. We say humor. Viersen Photography) at 443-7174. again, if you are going to be have to The Corpus Christi City Council stay close to home our little sandbar on Tuesday expanded its Emergency ain’t a bad place to do it. Order regarding restrictions due to the Covid-19 virus to include a ban Glass half empty Waves Resort Signs Come Down on short-term rentals in residences through April 30. In the Glass Half Empty Department the Suspicious Person calls may Information on the Corona virus is be related to the higher number of changing daily; here is an update on homeless people that are moving what is going on at the City of Corpus Around The Island right now. Judging Christi in our efforts to combat from the look of the gear they haul Covid-19. Council met in a special around it appears many of them were session Tuesday and took two actions likely living on the beach before the concerning the Covid-19 virus. The beaches started closing at 8 p.m. They emergency order that was in place and seem to like bus benches and talking due to expire on April 8 was extended to themselves but for the most part to April 30. This keeps the order date keep to themselves. We will survive. close to the extended Nueces County and State declarations. Visitors still coming The Corpus Christi order was We are still seeing a lot of visitors expanded to ban non-essential stays finding their way to our shores. A less than 30 days at residences. check of Island boat ramps finds Council also appropriated two dealer tags from all over the state and million dollars to fund a loan license plates from states afar. If you Crews removed the signs identifying Waves Resort Corpus Christi on Wednesday leaving only their frames behind. Short-term cont. on A4 can’t work you might as well hang Calls to the park’s owners were not returned by press time. Park owners announced in March that the park will out Around The Island but that’s not a remain closed until summer 2021. good idea right now. The Rio Grande Valley is stopping cars to enforce their Flour Bluff ISD stay at home order, and boat ramps in Kleberg County are now being A little Island history to Live Stream monitored by law enforcement to keep out of towners from launching. Board Meeting The city order this week to stop Spanish Settlement Begins to Arrive short-term rentals in homes and April 28 to mark condos will likely help here but a look at the statistics shows that travel Explorers strike the Nueces River near Calallen, name the bay first time meeting is the most common way for the virus San Miguel Arcangel to spread and short of dropping the can be viewed from bridge halting overnight stay is the Editor’s Note: When Padre Island called entradas entered Texas best way to limit movement from National Seashore was established by land. Led by Alonso de home OTB. in the 1960s the National Park Leon, entradas took place from By Dale Rankin Service as part of the due diligence 1686 to 1689. The last was The April meeting of the Flour Bluff Help is on the way did an historical study of the area. successful in finding Fort Louis, Independent School District Board of It began back when the only Island only to discover that it had been We still have at least three weeks Trustees will mark the first time in the inhabitants were Native Americans abandoned and its occupants of staying at home, and that could organization’s history that the event and ends in the early 1960’s either had fled, been killed be extended, and it is starting to put will be live streamed so that parents when Island dwellers were either by the Karankawas, or were stress on our older Islanders who have and taxpayers can see it live without ranchers or beach dwellers who captured. The first two of these to leave home to buy food so a group going to the district headquarters in lived a hard scrabble existence on entradas came near Padre Island of less-older Islanders is putting a Flour Bluff. plan together to do something about Island beaches. and the first might have actually FBISD Superintendent Dr. David it. It’s too early to go into details but This portion of the study picks up visited the island. In 1686 de Freeman said Monday the details suffice to say things are moving. The at the point where Spanish ships Leon advanced to the mouth of are not yet set but will be in the days idea is to deliver food from Island were moving up and down The the Rio Grande and explored leading up to the April 30 meeting. restaurants to those who are stuck Island looking for the settlement the coast for a distance of eight at home and a group of restaurant called Fort Louis founded by leagues.