Living

Doug Ables of Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweepers prepares to clean out a Copperas Cove home owners chimney box.

Doug Ables of Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweepers prepares to clean out a Copperas Cove home owners chimney box.

Chimney Sweeper sweeps for 34 years

News Staff
Tue, 07/08/2014 - 05:00
By KERRI CHRISTENSEN   Chim chim-in-ey, chim chimin- ey, chim chim cher-ee! The Mary Poppins song pops into the owner’s head of Ables Top Hats all day long while sweeping out local chimneys in the central Texas area.
Fireworks can be traced back to ancient China.

Fireworks can be traced back to ancient China.

Fireworks have a colorful history

News Staff
Fri, 07/04/2014 - 05:00
Independence Day celebrations are marked by many spectacles. But few can garner the “oohs and aahs” of a good fireworks display. Summer is a time of year when the resonating booms and bright spills of color that dot the night sky are quite common.
Volunteers from the Austin Fly Fishers worked with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries staff to plant aquatic vegetation into Cedar Park’s Brushy Creek Reservoir. The plants will provide fish habitat, stabilize sediment and improve water quality.

Volunteers from the Austin Fly Fishers worked with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries staff to plant aquatic vegetation into Cedar Park’s Brushy Creek Reservoir. The plants will provide fish habitat, stabilize sediment and improve water quality.

Fish habitat at Brushy Creek Reservoir enhanced

News Staff
Fri, 07/04/2014 - 05:00
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) partnered with Austin Fly Fishers (AFF) and the City of Cedar Park Parks and Recreation Department to conduct native aquatic vegetation plantings at Brushy Creek Reservoir on June 21.

Septic system maintenance workshop set for July 29

News Staff
Fri, 07/04/2014 - 05:00
By LISA PRCIN   The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Lampasas River Watershed Partnership are offering a free training on septic system maintenance for homeowners from 6-8 p.m. July 29.
AgriLife Extension programs will focus on the benefits of family mealtimes between Sept. 21 and Sept. 27 in Corpus Christi.

AgriLife Extension programs will focus on the benefits of family mealtimes between Sept. 21 and Sept. 27 in Corpus Christi.

Family mealtimes help children’s health, grades

News Staff
Tue, 07/01/2014 - 09:00
By ROD SANTA ANA   Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service personnel throughout South Texas will be touting the many benefits of sharing family mealtimes in the coming months, they say.
18th annual Great Texas Birding Classic broke records this year with 81 teams with more than 400 competitors. Setting an all time bird count record of 425 species.

18th annual Great Texas Birding Classic broke records this year with 81 teams with more than 400 competitors. Setting an all time bird count record of 425 species.

Great Texas Birding Classic breaks records

News Staff
Fri, 06/27/2014 - 05:00
The results are in and organizers of the 18th annual Great Texas Birding Classic have something to squawk about.
To help combat invasive zebra mussels, Texas Parks and Wildlife have imposed a new rule requiring all boats to be drained.

To help combat invasive zebra mussels, Texas Parks and Wildlife have imposed a new rule requiring all boats to be drained.

Statewide boat-draining rule takes effect July 1

News Staff
Fri, 06/27/2014 - 05:00
Beginning July 1, boaters must drain all water from their boat and on-board receptacles before leaving or approaching a body of fresh water anywhere in Texas.