After an hour-long discussion, the San Marcos City Council decided for an external task force to compile further information regarding the ban for single-use bags.

Layne Duesterhaus, geography resource and environmental studies senior, presented a PowerPoint to City Council Tuesday night in an attempt to persuade them to ban plastic and paper bags used in retail and grocery stores.

The San Marcos City Council will take its first step toward a possible plastic bag ban at tonight’s meeting.

During the citizen’s comment portion of a City Council meeting over the summer, several Texas State students proposed the idea of banning single-use bags at all retail and grocery stores in San Marcos.

“Everyone can agree that single-use bags are a litter issue, and a natural resource issue,” said Councilmember Kim Porterfield, Place 1. 

Approximately 25 Texas State students stood in the lobby of City Hall Tuesday night trying to sway the votes of council members to approve construction of a nature center on Purgatory Road.

Last month San Marcos City Council voted in a 3-3 split decision on whether to spend   $1.6 million on the center. Mayor Daniel Guerrero and Councilmembers Kim Porterfield and Fred Terry agreed on the projected cost. However, Councilmembers Ryan Thomason, Chris Jones and Shane Scott voted against it. Councilmember Jude Prather abstained.

An advertising lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication died Sept. 28.

Doris Laird was 74 years old when she died in Austin.

Laird graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and a Master’s of Art in mass communications. From 1985 to 1995 she taught journalism at UT. She also won the UT Department of Journalism Chairman’s award in the spring of 1993. She was an adjunct lecturer at Texas State, from 2006 until her death.

Laird is survived by her mother, children and their spouses, grandsons, boyfriend and friends.

Fires broke out at approximately 4:00 p.m. Saturday off of Post Road, north of San Marcos.

Nick LaRocque, Trooper for the Texas Highway Patrol, said crews responded to three separate fires located south of Five Mile Dam on Post Road.

State troopers near the scene said two of the fires were contained around 6 p.m., but one was still burning as of Saturday evening.

Melissa Millecam, City of San Marcos spokeswoman, said two houses were evacuated, but no injuries or structural damages were reported as of Saturday evening.

The demolition of the former home of a swimming pig, an underwater wedding and the movie Piranha began Wednesday afternoon after a ceremonial groundbreaking near Spring Lake.

The Aquarena Center has recently begun a six-month to two-year restoration project to make the area look less like an abandoned theme park and more like a nature hotspot. Officials from Texas State, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers were present for the start of the new Aquarena era.

The San Marcos City Council is one more step closer to banning public alcohol consumption and containers.

On Tuesday night, the council passed the second of two readings of an ordinance restricting open containers in the central downtown district between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2:15 a.m.

The University Police Department has located Aleczandar Yorick Lovern, 29, the individual believed to be armed in Thursday morning’s incident.

Both UPD Captain Rickey Lattie and Mark Hendricks, director of University News at Texas State, said Lovern is in San Antonio and has made contact with UPD. Lattie said Lovern would turn himself into UPD by the end of the day.

The San Marcos City Council passed the first of two readings to prohibit the consumption of alcohol outside of The Square at Tuesday’s council meeting.

City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that would restrict alcoholic consumption and containers in the central downtown district from 10 p.m. to 2:15 a.m. on its first reading.

A longtime banker and a six-year council member have entered the Place 4 City Council race in the November city elections.

Wayne Becak has announced his candidacy after retiring from Balcones and Broadway Bank earlier this year. Becak said he has a broad financial background, including years of banking experience throughout Hays, Guadalupe, Comal and Travis counties. He said he has also served on the Economic Development Council, San Marcos City Independent School District finance committee and the San Marcos Rotary Club.