Tag: dark sky

Silent Auction items for our December 14 holiday party (Saturday)

Many thanks to all who have donated their goods or services for our silent auction. We love our good neighbors! Please support us by posting the link to this page on your social media thingies. We appreciate all signal boosts!

FA Silent Auction starts at 6:30pm, December 14,
at the Radiance Dome, 108 Royal Way, Austin, TX 78737

This community potluck welcomes you even if you are not bringing food to share; please see this link for more info

Donated services and items so far:

  • books by local authors
  • Yeti drinkware (just added! so cool! so hot!)
  • one-hour consultation with a public speaking coach
  • one-hour consultation with a registered dietician
  • one-hour consultation with a tree genius
  • one-hour “how to be a successful farmer’s market vendor” workshop with farmers market manager
  • massage therapy gift certificate(s)
  • ATX Sound Balancing gift certificate (tuning fork therapy)
  • Depression glass pitcher
  • artisan crafted wood bowl
  • Stieff pewter bowl
  • one art bird
  • Massachusetts Bay handcrafted porcelain
  • vintage Yamaha FG-180 red label acoustic guitar with guitar case and new strings
  • cold-tolerant Changsha tangerine tree
  • adapted-to-our-area olive tree (15 gallon pot)
  • Norwegian modern leather and wood recliner
  • one-hour native plant ID walk-and-talk (great for newcomers and nature lovers)
  • one-hour fruit tree pruning and/or planting class featuring fruit trees that work in our area
  • one-hour Vietnamese spring roll workshop in your home (dinner for 4 people)
  • pet-sitting service for a two-day weekend
  • Y3K-compliant board games
  • framed large portrait of Thomas Jefferson
  • one-hour beekeeping workshop with the opportunity to view living beehive
  • one-hour worm composting workshop

Please check back as this list continues to grow.

Petition: Designate Texas Ranch-to-Market Roads 1826, 150 and 967 “Scenic Highways”

Here’s what our petition says:

From the wildflowers that Lady Bird Johnson adored, to the dramatic rise and fall of tree-covered limestone hills in the Texas Hill Country, our country roads are a treasure. Texas Ranch to Market Roads 1826, 150 and 967 reward travelers with natural vistas, cool clear creeks, and wide open skies filled with stars, sunrises, and sunsets every day.

We the undersigned want to keep the Texas Hill Country SCENIC.

Central Texas is experiencing explosive growth. Data from The U.S. Census Bureau shows Hays County is the 4th fastest-growing county in the United States (see https://communityimpact.com/austin/san-marcos-buda-kyle/city-county/2018/03/22/hays-county-ranked-4th-fastest-growing-county-country/ ).

The increase in the number of motorists along our Ranch to Market roads has triggered a proliferation of billboards on our roads. Billboards are not mere eyesores: their lighting endangers human health and pollutes the night skies that are iconic to this region of Texas.

Further, healthy Texans are productive Texans. We need our nighttime dark. Light pollution has a direct negative bearing on human health and circadian rhythms:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627884/

Artificial lights at night don’t just affect people. Wildlife is also affected negatively, with impacts on migration and reproduction:
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full/10.1139/er-2014-0005#.XFxfwdFJnwc

Last but not least, billboards may have a negative impact on property values of nearby homes and neighborhoods.

For these reasons, we ask the Texas Legislature to acknowledge the value of these roads we love by designating Texas Ranch to Market Roads 1826, 150 and 967 as “Scenic Highways” in Hays County.

We ask the 86th Legislature to help preserve the scenic beauty and character of Ranch to Market Roads 1826, 150 and 967 by supporting legislation that keeps the beauty of the Texas Hill Country intact.

The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas.
May they be so, forever.

If you agree, please sign our petition here:

https://www.change.org/p/texas-house-representative-erin-zwiener-district-45-designate-texas-ranch-to-market-roads-1826-150-and-967-scenic-highways

SM Corridor News: Commissioners Approve Resolution In Support Of Legislation To Prohibit Billboards On Highways In Hays County

https://smcorridornews.com/commissioners-approve-resolution-in-support-of-legislation-to-prohibit-billboards-on-highways-in-hays-county/

….

Commissioners considered and approved the adoption of a resolution in support of Rep. Erin Zwiener’s House Bill 1303, which will add several highways in Hays County to a list of roadways where billboards will be prohibited.

The bill will add FM 1826, RM 150 and RM 967 to Section 391, Subchapter 1, of the Transportation Code, which lists certain state highways in Texas in which limitations on off-premise signage exist. …