Reasons to love our credit card? • ZERO transfer fee Think Twice • ZERO annual fee Water just TWO DESIGNATED DAYS per week, before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m. • 0% APR intro rate* Odd Addresses Even Addresses waterthriftycedarpark.org *Intro rate for first six months and first-time Velocity cardholders. Rate subject to change; other restrictions apply. on Wednesday and Saturday on Thursday and Sunday (Commercial addresses on Tuesday and Friday) HIILLLL COOUNTUNTRY NEEWSWS Volume 49, Issue 26 • 16 pages Serving Cedar Park, Leander and Northwest Austin since 1968 • HillCountryNews.com Thursday, June 29, 2017 • 50 cents No buzz? Challengers No problem. race to fill Drunk driving Carter’s seat enforcement to in Congress increase during By RICHARD LEGGITT July 4 holiday 20 Hill Country News By RICHARD LEGGITT 4th Three substantive Demo- Hill Country News crat candidates are already campaigning hard for the Cedar Park police will be of 31st District Congressional increasing patrols on major seat held by longtime Re- roadways for DWI enforce- publican incumbent John ment this week. Rice Carter. The Cedar Park Police De- But their chances of suc- partment is continuing its cess in next year’s elections, successful Selective Traffic as well as Carter’s, may Enforcement Program (STEP) hinge on whether a war her- this week through July 4th oine, author or champion of in an effort to discourage women’s equality gets into drunk driving and make lo- the race. cal roads and highways saf- JULY Christine Eady Mann, er. 17 a Cedar “Impaired driving, wheth- Park fam- er due to alcohol, illegal ily physi- drugs or prescription medi- cian; Mike cation, has the potential to Clark, a forever damage and end lives geospa- – often those of innocent vic- THE ROCKETS’ RED GLARE tial engi- tims,” said Cedar Park Police neer from Chief Sean Mannix. ”We all George- Clark have a responsibility when BEST SPOTS TO CATCH FIREWORKS AND MORE town; and we get behind the wheel to Kent Les- be alert and present and to ter, a for- prioritize the safety of our- BByy NNICKICK BBROTHERSROTHERS | HHCNCN MManaginganaging EEditorditor mer U.S. selves and those around us. Army of- If people choose not to do tt’s’s tthathat wwonderful,onderful, hhot-as-heckot-as-heck ttimeime ooncence aagaingain iinn oourur ffairair aandnd ffreeree ccountry.ountry. ficer and that this Fourth of July, we former will be there to enforce the IIt’st’s ttimeime ttoo fi rree uupp tthathat ggrill,rill, ccrackrack oopenpen ssomeome ccoldold oones,nes, iinflatenflate tthosehose ppoolool ttoysoys educator consequences.” aandnd sstocktock uupp oonn tthehe mmotherother ooff aallll ppersonalersonal fi rreworkseworks ddisplaysisplays llikeike tthere’shere’s nnoo who lives Police Media and Com- I in Ce- Lester ttomorrow.omorrow. IIt’st’s tthehe ffourthourth ooff JJuly.uly. HHappyappy 2241th41th bbirthday,irthday, AAmerica.merica. NNoo pproperroper munications Specialist Tara dar Park; Long said until Wednesday, ffourthourth ooff JJulyuly ccelebrationelebration iiss ccompleteomplete wwithoutithout a pprofessionalrofessional fi rreworkseworks ddisplay,isplay, all have July 5, ssurroundedurrounded bbyy yyourour ffriendsriends aandnd nneighbors.eighbors. SSoo hhere’sere’s yyourour gguideuide ttoo tthehe bbestest set their the Cedar Park Police De- fi rreworkework ddisplaysisplays aandnd ppartiesarties iinn oourur aarea:rea: sights on partment will increase patrol winning presence on local roadways CCEDAREDAR PPARKARK the March to discourage and monitor 6, 2018 impaired driving violations Democrat- FFOURTHOURTH OOFF JJULYULY PPARADEARADE & CCELEBRATIONELEBRATION ttournament,ournament, aairir ccastles,astles, ffreeree wwatermelonatermelon aandnd a as part of the ongoing re- ic primary WWHEN:HEN: TTuesday,uesday, JJulyuly 44,, pparadearade sstartstarts aatt 1100 aa.m.,.m., fi rreworkseworks ddisplay.isplay. HHowever,owever, ffeesees aapplypply fforor ffoodood Mann gional STEP Initiative. ccelebrationelebration aatt 4 pp.m..m. - 1100 pp.m..m. cconcessions,oncessions, ffaceace ppainting,ainting, aandnd ccarnivalarnival ggamesames for the “We had two STEP DWI WWHERE:HERE: EElizabethlizabeth MMilburnilburn PPark,ark, 11901901 SSunun CChasehase aandnd rrides.ides. TThere’shere’s aalsolso tthehe MMilburnilburn PPoolool wwherehere right to arrests over Memorial Day,” BBlvd.lvd. yyouou ccanan ccoolool ooffff . IIt’st’s oopenpen ffromrom 1 pp.m..m. ttoo 8 pp.m..m. oppose Carter in next year’s Long said. “There were other FFIREWORKS:IREWORKS: 99:15:15 pp.m..m. aandnd ddailyaily aadmissiondmission rratesates aapply.pply. AAttendeesttendees aarere general election. DWI arrests made during TThehe CCityity ooff CCedaredar PPark’sark’s ffourthourth aannualnnual FFourthourth ooff eencouragedncouraged ttoo pparkark aatt CCedaredar PParkark HHighigh SSchoolchool oorr Local Democrat activists that period, just not by pa- JJulyuly pparadearade wwillill ttakeake pplacelace aalonglong DDiscoveryiscovery bblvd.lvd. AAustinustin CCommunityommunity CCollege.ollege. FForor mmoreore iinformation,nformation, are excited about the current trol units working the STEP ffromrom tthehe HHEBEB CCenterenter ttoo tthehe rrecreationecreation ccenter.enter. BBee ccallall ((512)512) 4401-5500.01-5500. candidates and their chances program. Last year, we made ssureure ttoo bbringring sseatseats iiff yyouou wwantant tthem.hem. AAtt tthehe ccel-el- of upsetting Representative SSeeee FFOURTH,OURTH, pg.pg. 3 13 STEP DWI arrests over the eebration,bration, ttherehere wwillill bbee lliveive mmusic,usic, bbingo,ingo, a wwasherasher Carter, a Round Rock resi- July 4th initiative.” dent and former Williamson County judge, who has been in Congress for 14 years. But Inside Leander getting set for Liberty Fest they are also intrigued about the possibility that decorat- Community ..........................2 BYOB no the Liberty Fest site will ed war veteran and women’s Opinion ...............................4 not be allowed and will champion Mary Jennings longer allowed be screened at the en- Hegar may enter the Demo- Faith Roundtable .................6 under new rule trance gates. However, crat primary. Entertainment ......................7 alcoholic beverages will Hegar, who lives in Aus- By RICHARD LEGGITT be available on site for tin, was a pilot on an Air Sports ............................. 8, 9 Hill Country News purchase from licensed National Guard medevac he- vendors. licopter that was shot down Classifieds ......................... 14 Leander’s annual Lib- Neu said bags, cool- in Afghanistan in 2009. De- www.hillcountrynews.com erty Fest is expecting ers and lawn chairs spite being wounded, she more than 12,000 peo- will be welcome at Lib- used her weapon to furious- ple at its Independence erty Fest but amplified ly fight off a group of enemy Day celebration featur- music, illegal drugs, la- attackers and save the lives ing fireworks, food and ser pointers, weapons of her patients and crew. music. City officials and fireworks or other She was awarded a number want to make sure par- explosives are among of medals for her actions, ticipants enjoy them- items that are prohib- including the Distinguished selves while observing ited. Flying Cross, a medal that Thank a Veteran and new rules and safety “Safety is our num- has only been awarded to Serviceman Every Day. procedures. ber one priority,” Neu six women, including Amelia According to Mike said. Earhart. Neu, Leander’s public Texas country music Courtesy photo Returning home after information officer, this star Josh Abbott will three tours of duty, Hegar A patriotic young girl raises the American fl ag at Leander Lib- year alcoholic beverag- erty Fest in 2016. Th is year’s fest will begin at 4:30 p.m. near the es purchased outside of See LIBERTY FEST, pg. 16 Leander Capital Metro train station. See CONGRESS, pg. 15 Voted Best Residential Remodeler Probate? Voted Best www.ResearchPest.com of the Year last 7 years in a row. Lawyer 1st Residential • Commercial BEST Advertise Your OF Divorce? by Hill Place Locally Owned & BESTTHE Country Family Operated 2015 Business Here! Howton 2 2 2 2 C News 0 2 0 0 0 2 2 Wills? 0 0 0 Reach over 37,000 L Construction Readers 8 9 1 A 1 0 0 E R 1 0 ES CH 1 1 1 R 2 4 readers weekly AFFORDABLE • RELIABLE • EXPERIENCED DWI? 3 KITCHEN & BATHROOM COMPLETE • TILE & HARDWOOD FLOORS CallC ll forf an appointment Call 512-259-4449 P RESIDENTIAL/COMMERCIAL REMODELS • CUSTOM CARPENTRY 512-918-3958 E OL ST CONTR for more information 512-296-4580 www.terrydavis.com Terry Davis & Associates www.clhowtonconstruction.com 512-258-5228 Serving Cedar Park & Insured (bonding avail.) • Read our rating reviews on Yelp.com ATTORNEYS AT LAW surrounding communities for over 30 yrs THURSDAY HILL COUNTRY NEWS Page 2 • June 29, 2017 COMMUNITY www.HillCountryNews.com DEATHS Joan Hurst Services will be held at a later date. Age: 84 from Cedar Park, Texas Date of Death: 6/15/17 Name of Deceased: Jean-Pierre Costa Age: 28 Residence: Leander, Texas Date of Death: 06/17/2017 Time, Date, of Service: Monday, June 26th at 2pm Location of Service: Hill Country Bible Church, 12124 Ranch Rd 620 N Austin, TX Funeral Home Information: Beck Funeral Home, 1700 E. Whitestone Blvd., Cedar Park, Texas 78613. Calendar JULY 1 JULY 6 Teens are invited to the Super Leander Public Library hosts a mu- Smash Bros. Tournament, July sical and storytelling African Safari 1, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Cedar Park with Elizabeth Kuhura on July 6 at Library, 550 Discovery Blvd. Ages 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., 1011 Bag- 12 to 18 years are welcome. Free dad, Leander. play will follow the tournament. Visit cedarparktexas.gov for more Leander City Council will meet details. Thursday, July 6, at 7 p.m. at City Council Chambers, Pat Bryson Mu- Way Off Broadway Community Play- nicipal Hall, 201 N. Brushy Street. ers presents the comedy “’Til Beth Meetings are open to the public. Photos courtesy of MIKE NEU Do Us Part” Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. until July 1 at 11880 West Cedar Park Library will host special Jeffery Hayes, the Leander assistant chief of police, is also a self taught graphic artist.