Inside the Moon Golf Cart Poker Run A2 Grilled Fish Kebabs A7 Texas Surfriders A8 Traveling Moon A9 Fishing A13 Issue 742 The Island Free The voiceMoon of The Island since 1996 July 5, 2018 Weekly www.islandmoon.com FREE Around The Flour Bluff Island Ski Basin Area Sells ISD Does By Dale Rankin Our balmy shores Away with have been visited in for $5 Million Dollars recent weeks by this guy, a manta ray who University has seen swimming A total of 648 acres sold at foreclosure auction Tuesday around the Port A jetties. He hasn’t By Dale Rankin Preparatory been seen in about a week so he may have moved on, but he created quite a It took less than fifteen minutes stir while he hung around. Tuesday morning on the steps of the Program Nueces County Courthouse for Axys By Blaine Svoboda Young You can tell when the heart of the Capital Management of Austin to summer Tourist Season hits The become the largest single landowner Since 2006 students at Flour Bluff Island by counting the number of of North Padre Island. High School have been able to earn black and white State Police cars college credits while still in high driving around and this week was The company was the only bidder school, but that came to a halt last no exception. The first harbingers of on three separate parcels of land week when the Flour Bluff school the big weekend arrived Tuesday and including Cape Summer, the land board voted to dissolve the University by Wednesday morning cars were surrounding the popular ski basin Preparatory High School program being pulled over along SPID and area, the lot at the southwest corner of (UPHS) by the end of the 2018-2019 Whitecap. the SPID/Whitecap intersection, and school year. The Fourth this year is a bifurcated For twelve years the program holiday due to it falling on Wednesday. Island by the numbers provided students that are at risk It was a boom to business who got a of not graduating, first in their free bite at the apple as some visitors Tuesday's family to go to college, a minority came in the weekend prior to the Cape Summer photo by Brud Jones underrepresented in college, holiday and, as it appears as of this economically disadvantaged and/ Land Sale a tract which includes 300 feet along The 6.29 acres on the seawall just writing at mid-day Wednesday, it north of Island House, sold for $1 or English language learners the looks like the majority will be here for Ski Basin: 642 acres 5 million the Michael J. Ellis Seawall. opportunity to go to college and earn Whitecap/SPID Lot: $500,000 million, and the SPID/Whitecap the following weekend. It’s a two-for- By far the largest of the three parcels up to 60 credit hours while still in Seawall Frontage: 6 acres 1million corner lot sold for $500,000. one deal that nobody is complaining is the Cape Summer area at 642 acres high school. Sale cont. on A4 about – except of course the people for which Axys paid $5 million. “The board made this decision who complain about everything and principally for the reason that the we all know a few of those now don’t State of Texas has substantially we. Motorized Bicycles Facing changed the requirements for early The new campground over at Balli college high school programs in Park was half-full Tuesday morning a manner that made it impossible but by Wednesday there was nary a Scrutiny in Port Aransas for FBISD to comply,” school campsite to be had and an informal board president Steve Ellis said in a canvassing of lodging spots finds By Dale Rankin statement on July 3. them fully booked for the weekend. The burgeoning motorized bicycle It’s going to be a busy one. leasing business in Port Aransas has FBISD cont. on A4 Land sale come under scrutiny in recent weeks July 14th as city officials work to keep them The biggest news of the week on within the confines of state rules. The Island happened Tuesday and Port Aransas Police Chief Scott escaped the notice of the Big Daily Ridley Burroughs sent letters to business and the local television stations. owners who rent out the bikes this That is the sale of the area around Rendezvous summer outlining the state rules, the ski basin which could be a huge leading some of the owners to cease game changer for our little sandbar. the leasing, or in some cases putting The area has tremendous potential Festival their motorized bikes up for sale. but has been awaiting development Superintendent Mark Spier since the forty-plus fingertip streets Burroughs said while there are announced this week that the staff were constructed four decades no Port Aransas city ordinances at Padre Island National Seashore ago. That area combined with the governing the bikes the state law will host the first ever “Ridley large privately owned parcel on the applies. The same is true for the City Rendezvous” on Saturday, July 14. south side of Sea Pines makes for a of Corpus Christi. Bikes for sale after city notification The event celebrates the 40th year potentially substantial developed area of successful collaboration of the Burroughs said electric bicycles are code depending on which category. If subject to the state laws governing over the next few years. bi-national, multiagency Kemp’s legal to be operated on city streets if the cycle cannot attain a speed over licensing, registration, and operation Ridley Sea Turtle Restoration & The land is platted but has no they are designed to be propelled by 30 mph, the engine cannot produce of a motorcycle. (Transportation Enhancement Project at Padre Island infrastructure, other than the an electric motor (with or without more than 2 bhp, the engine has a Code, §541.201(8)). National Seashore. Developed in the volleyball court at the ski basin, but human pedal power), that cannot displacement of 50 cc or less, and Burroughs said he requested a ruling 1970’s, this pioneering conservation the change of ownership comes at a attain a speed of more than 20 mph the engine does not require operator from the city attorney earlier this program worked to restore the time when The Island is fast running (max without pedal power) and to shift gears then it is classified as a year after he received inquiries from critically endangered Kemp’s ridley out of vacant lots due to the plethora does not exceed a weight of 100 moped and is subject to the state laws business owners considering getting sea turtle when it was feared that it of new houses that have been built in pounds. (Tex. Transportation Code, governing licensing, registration, and into the motorized bicycle business. would go extinct within a few years the past seven years. §541.201(24)). operation of a moped. unless immediate steps were taken. There are currently no businesses Long-term plans from the Gasoline powered cycles fall If the motor driven cycle exceeds Four decades of work by both the leasing the motorized bicycles on Metropolitan Planning Organization into one of two categories and are these thresholds, the vehicle is Padre Island. presented to the Island Strategic governed by the Texas Transpiration considered a motorcycle and is Rendevous cont. on A4 Action Committee this year call for a second bridge to Padre Island by 2035 that would land on The Island A little Island history near Sea Pines, very near the area purchased Tuesday. It has been a long time since we Hot Dogs, Baseball, and the 4th of July have seen new residential property development but Tuesday may be the day that we look back at as the one By Andy Purvis ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about hotdogs. where that began to change. American actor Humphrey Bogart once said, “A hot dog at “You can’t tell the players without a Ridley Rendezvous the ballpark is better than steak at scorecard” The turtle rescue program at PINS the Ritz.” Bogart, a preeminent In the 1850’s, terrible tasting food is celebrating 40 years of good motion picture tough guy and a and overpriced drinks could be found work with the first ever “Ridley top box office attraction during the at every baseball park in America. Rendezvous” on Saturday, July 14. 1940’s and 1950’s, loved baseball Harry M. Stevens, a British-born The program draws thousands of and understood that a hot dog at caterer from Derby, England, would visitors to the area each year to watch the park tasted much better than at turn con cessions into an empire. the pocket watch-sized quadrupeds home. Bogart would have loved Stevens was born in 1856 and make their dash to the sea and the our potluck dinners here at Island immigrated to Niles, Ohio, in the success of Dr. Donna Shaver and the Presbyterian Church. 1880’s. He became obsessed with army of volunteers. It’s always a life With the season well under way the game of baseball. Harry began affirming event and we look forward and the All-Star Game just a week designing and selling the sport’s to the celebration of forty years. away, it’s time to talk about food at first scorecards at the games, while We’ll see you there, in the meantime the ballpark. The Astros and Hooks quoting Lord Byron and Shakespeare stay cool and watch out for the flying have fine teams and should battle to draw attention.