Investing in students’ educations could pay off in the future for the local government, county and community, officials say.

Representatives of Core Four, a collaboration of entities in Hays County, held a presentation during the Feb. 12 Commissioners Court meeting to outline goals for education within the county. The Core Four represents Hays County, the City of San Marcos, San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District and Texas State.

Presenters for the Core Four Education Committee included Councilwoman Kim Porterfield, Place 1, Stephanie Reyes, assistant to the city manager, and Provost Eugene Bourgeois. Bourgeois said the committee began as part of the Dream San Marcos project, which provides a vision statement regarding development in Hays County.

Michael Way and Alenas Fernandez, Texas State alumni, work on a project for Teacho Group. The group of technology engineers designs websites and applications for smartphones.

Despite what its name implies, San Marcos’ Taecho Group is already achieving recognition for its work.

“Taecho” is a translation of “in the beginning,” the first words of the Korean Bible. The web developing company, co-founded by Texas State alumnus Adam McCombs, creates websites and applications for a number of clients. McCombs said he hopes it will soon grow into a full service agency that will take on advertising projects and campaigns.

Hays County Commissioners voted Tuesday to reinstate the countywide burn ban in unincorporated areas, three weeks after it was lifted.

The ban was reinstated on recommendation of Fire Marshal Mark Chambers, who cited the county’s rising drought index as cause for concern. The commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the ban. Commissioner Will Conley, Precinct 3, was absent from the meeting.

Chambers said the drought index currently sits at 497, a level where it had remained for the previous week.  A drought index nearing 575 is an indication to consider a ban, though it is not always an accurate measure.

“(The drought index) is not moving, and there’s a lot of fuel out there,” Chambers said, referring to the high amount of dead grass in the county. 

Judge Bert Cobb said the dead grass can make the index unreliable because it often measures dryness in soil but doesn’t factor any material that could fuel fires.

San Marcos residents were invited to take part in a presentation Monday to learn more about the future growth of the San Marcos community.

The mayor and councilmembers met for the annual State of the City address, which highlighted aspects of the San Marcos Comprehensive Master Plan. Dubbed “Vision San Marcos: A River Runs Through Us,” the presentation covered various aspects of the master plan, each covered by a city councilmember. Housing, economic development, the Youth Master Plan, transportation and infrastructure and the river were among the topics discussed by the councilmembers.

The master plan is updated every five years by city council and provides an outlook for the following 10 years of growth.

Katherine Hayhoe, research professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas Tech University, speaks at the Ed Cape Seminar Jan. 23 at Bobcat Stadium. Hayhoe discussed the effects and possible solutions to global warming.

During her childhood in Canada, Katharine Hayhoe’s grandmother would sneak into her bedroom and cover the girl with an extra blanket for warmth.

The extra blankets were often unnecessary. This experience, Hayhoe said, is comparable to what humans have done to the planet.

“It already has the perfect blanket, and we’re putting an extra blanket on it by producing too much carbon dioxide,” Hayhoe said.

County commissioners unanimously adopted a plan that could potentially result in changes such as a freeway loop around San Marcos in coming years during their Tuesday meeting.

The Hays County Transportation Plan will serve as a guide to expanding the area’s roads for the next 22 years. The plan will outline county road projects through 2035 and establish Farm-to-Market 110, a new four-lane freeway in San Marcos. The freeway, known as San Marcos Loop, will extend from the Texas Highway 123 exit of Interstate 35 to the north side of the city near Yarrington Road. The plan will include upgrades to San Marcos roads. The expansion of Wonder World Drive from four to six lanes is slated under the transportation plan, as well as dividing Aquarena Springs Drive and expanding Texas Highway 21 to six lanes.

More Hays County drivers will soon be able to receive roadside assistance when they experience vehicular difficulties along Interstate 35.

County commissioners voted unanimously during their Jan. 15 meeting to support the extension of the Highway Emergency Response Operator, or H.E.R.O. program. H.E.R.O., a program of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, provides free roadside assistance to travelers along I-35 as far north as Round Rock and parts of U.S. Highway 183.

Currently, the services stop in Kyle. With the extension, H.E.R.O. will provide services an extra 10 miles south, stopping at Yarrington Road in north San Marcos.

H.E.R.O. will have operators patrolling the new stretch of road during peak traffic hours, though drivers who become stranded outside that period may still contact the Mobility Authority for assistance.

Hays County commissioners voted unanimously Jan. 8 in favor of lifting the county’s burn ban.

Burn bans go into effect when the county has a rank of 575 according to the Keetch-Byram Drought Index. The drought index can reach between 600 and 700 during the summer months, but recent measures provided by Texas A&M. AgriLife Research have shown an index between 300 and 500  for much of Hays County. Only small portions have seen drought indexes of 500 or higher. Despite this improvement, Clint Browning, assistant fire marshal, reminded the commissioners court that the county is still experiencing dryness.

“Even though it is raining, we are still very dry,” Browning said. “Everything’s dead. There is some moisture, but we have a situation that what is there is not just dry, it’s dead. Raining on it isn’t going to make the grass green.”

Since pulling the plug on Tantra’s days as a live venue, those behind the bar of the local coffeehouse have re-evaluated what the business can bring to the community and its members.

Tantra Coffeehouse continues to host its popular bluegrass night every Wednesday despite cutting live music earlier this year.

Earlier this year, Adam Lilley, manager of Tantra Coffeehouse, had to make a decision regarding his career as a small business owner in San Marcos. He realized the java shop would not succeed in the long run as a music venue.

Blake Petrea’s grandmother emigrated from Germany to Texas in the 1960s and knowing her native language is important to his family, academic life and career.

Blake Petrea, German and philosophy junior, works on German homework in the Honors Building. The foreign language department will be consolidating German and French majors due to the lack of students graduating.

However, Petrea, German junior, is one of few students studying the language at Texas State, prompting changes to the future of the degree.