Marfa Dot Net

ALPINE – This Saturday, October 21, is the regularly scheduled 3rd Saturday Mulch Day from 9 am till noon.

Bring your truck or trailer and city staff will load all you can haul with a front-end loader. There is no limit to how much you can take and multiple trips are encouraged.

This event is open to residents of the tri-county area.

For more information regarding  mulch pick-up, please call 837-3281. And as always, thank you for helping to keep Alpine beautiful! Disclaimer: Vehicle owner accepts all responsibility for damages that may occur from loading mulch with a front-end loader.

More info: www.cityofalpine.com/alpinerecycles and alpinerecycles@ci.alpine.tx.us.

MARFA – The MARFA100’s charitable 100km bike race held at 9am on Saturday, October 21, on scenic ranch road FM 2810 in Marfa.

Riders of all skill levels are invited to participate. Race headquarters will be at the farmstand at Saint George Hall. There will be three water and snack stations along the route, along with medical and mechanical support.

Rebecca and Luci Bockelie from the Lost Horse and the soon-to-be Waterstop Café will provide a post race meal.

All are invited to celebrate at 4pm with participants at the awards ceremony, where MARFA100 pint glass can be purchased for $5. This includes free refills of Big Bend Brewing beer.

At the awards ceremony, winners of each age category will be honored with engraved Marfa agates provided by Moonlight Gemstones and overall winners will receive a custom designed race jersey.

To wrap up the event, there will be an after party from 6-11pm at Saint George Hall with Austin’s Queen cover band Magnifico, Low on High from Santa Fe and local acts Babysteps and No Nombres. The show is for ages 21 and up and there is a cover of $10.

Organizers, participants, and kids of all skill levels will ride a fall morning bike tour at 10am on Sunday, October 22, in Marfa.

Proceeds from the race benefit The Dixon Water Foundation that provides access to hikers, runners, students, educators, and those interested in practices of environmentally and economically sound rangeland management with Mimms Ranch Unit.

Marfa100 is made possible in the past by the support of Big Bend Coffee Roasters, Big Bend Sentinel, Big Bend Title, Bike Marfa, Bizarro Bikes, Capri, Foodshark, Frama, Hotel Paisano, Marfa Country Clinic, Magic Hour Marfa, Marfa National Bank, Marfa Realty, Marfa Table, Marfa Vista Real Estate, Ranch Candy, Silla, Stellina, Saint George Hotel, Thai Way, The Get Go, The Thunderbird Hotel, The Well and TLC Plumbing.

Register at https://runsignup.com/. For more information, visit facebook.com/Marfa100 or email marfa100k@gmail.com.

FORT DAVIS – Jeff Davis County Judge Jeannette Duer and the four Jeff Davis County commissioners will dedicate an interpretive historical marker in front of the Jeff Davis County Library building on Memorial Square in Fort Davis on Tuesday, October 10 at 8:45am, Jeff Davis County Historical Commission chair Mary Williams announced.

The marker uses text and historic photographs to tell the history of Memorial Square, which had its beginnings in 1880 when Fort Davis merchant Whittaker Keesey donated an acre due west of his store for a courthouse for newly-organized Presidio County.

Keesey’s store was housed in the building that now serves as the Jeff Davis County Library. The square took its present shape in the early 20th century. In 1906 Keesey’s adobe store building was given its present rock façade. The building that now houses Kimball Miller’s real estate office was built in 1909 as Fort Davis’s first auto garage. The present Jeff Davis County courthouse was built in 1911; the Limpia Hotel in 1912; and the Fort Davis State Bank in 1913. The small park in the center of the square was added in 1931.

The interpretive marker is the third in a series of markers incorporating historic photographs being placed around the county by the Jeff Davis County Historical Commission.

Markers have been erected in Valentine and on Front Street in Fort Davis, and markers are planned for the courthouse and the Fort Davis neighborhoods known as Chihuahua and Newtown.

Anyone having photographs of these neighborhoods is urged to contact the County Historical Commission by calling Lonn Taylor, vice chair, at 432-426-2901.

Friday the 13^th

FORT DAVIS – A murder mystery theatrical production and a fine meal is a great way to spend a Friday night in Fort Davis.

The Fort Davis Children’s Theater is hosting “Quantum of Malice,” a night of serious fun and sleuthing from 6-9pm Friday, October 13 at the First United Methodist Church.

The play centers around the criminal organization S.P.O.O.K.T.E.R. and MI6 who are meeting for the very first time with the aim of reaching a peaceful solution after years of espionage and counter-espionage. Double O agents, S.P.O.O.K.T.E.R. agents and various associates have all gathered for these momentous talks which are taking place in neutral territory in an expensive London hotel.

Progress is slow and time is ticking on, but just when everything seems to be coming together, M is blown up! Can the guests attending the talk uncover the mastermind behind this most daring of criminal acts before it is too late?

Tickets are $20 per person and include a four-course meal prepared by Ervy Hernandez, Patrick Olivas, Jenna McNew, Krystal Bencomo, and Allison Scott.

“The play takes place in a fancy restaurant created at the church parish hall,” board president Stessa Miles said. “The audience will be served a four-course meal between the acts of the play. Clues are given throughout the play, and then each table works as a team to solve the mystery. The winning table will receive a prize.”

Fort Davis Junior/Senior High School students make up the cast and crew.

Miles said the board had been looking for something new and different to raise funds for the Missoula Children’s Theater Program (MCTP) the board sponsors each year. That program has involved more than 650 students in the 19 years that MCTP has performed in Fort Davis. Each year, it costs about $5,000 to pay for the annual summer theater event.

More information: 432-249-0664.

ALPINE – Bulky items, metal, and yard waste will all be picked up during the same week.

Beginning on October 9, Texas Disposal Systems Crews will pick up all bulky trash & continue through the week.

Do not place additional items next to the curb after 7am the morning of the October 9.

Acceptable Items include (limit of 5 items) include furniture, mattresses, large plastic yard toys; appliances, water heaters, and scrap metal – refrigerators, freezers, & air conditioners will only be picked up if the Freon has been removed by a licensed technician whose sticker is attached; yard waste – put leaves, grass clippings, & other small trimmings in paper yard waste bags. Cut brush & tree limbs into pieces no longer than 4 feet, & bundle them with string or twine (no wire).

EXCLUDES CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS, ELECTRONICS, TIRES, AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS!

NEVER PLACE TRASH NEXT TO DUMPSTERS!

Do not put anything on the street or sidewalk, in an alley, or next to the dumpster.

You may bring brush, tree limbs, electronics, and large metal items to the city yard daily, Tuesday through Saturday from 8 am till noon. Call Keep Alpine Beautiful at 837-3281 with any questions. www.cityofalpine.com/alpinerecycles; alpinerecycles@ci.alpine.tx.us.

PRESIDIO, MARFA – Far West Texas State Senator José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, will have two legislative town halls meetings in Presidio County next week to discuss key legislation from the 85th legislative session – results, changes to expect, and what this means for constituents of Senate District 29 – and to provide an opportunity to answer questions from residents.

He’ll be at the Hotel Paisano in Marfa at 5:30pm Wednesday, October 4, and at the City of Presidio Activity Center at 5:30pm on Thursday, October 5.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

Information: Daniel Hernandez, 432.295.0045, Daniel.Hernandez@senate.texas.gov.

The first telescope in the Las Cumbres Observatory global network saw first light at McDonald Observatory in 2012. Located on Mt. Fowlkes, this 1-meter robotic telescope is part of a world-wide network of telescopes used in both research and education. Soon it will be joined by a second 1-meter LCO telescope, as well as an LCO 0.4-meter telescope, at McDonald. (Credit: Frank Cianciolo/McDonald Observatory)

FORT DAVIS – A new 1-meter telescope is coming to The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory in the next two years. The Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) global network is expanding, and will build a second 1-meter telescope at McDonald.

“McDonald Observatory continues to grow in its capabilities and in its science,” said director Dr. Taft Armandroff. “We are pleased and grateful to have another LCO 1-meter telescope studying our very dark skies. The unique capabilities of the Las Cumbres Observatory align well with the research interests of astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin.”

Las Cumbres Observatory is a global network of robotic telescopes. The first telescope in the network was built at McDonald in 2012. Others have followed or are in progress at sites around the world, including Hawaii, Chile, South Africa, Israel, the Canary Islands, Tibet/China, and Australia.

The LCO telescopes at McDonald provide additional science resources to the faculty, research scientists, and graduate students of the UT Austin astronomy program. In exchange for hosting the telescopes, Texas astronomers are granted access to LCO’s entire network.

Texas astronomers use the LCO telescopes for a variety of research projects, including hunting for extrasolar planets and studying the exploding stars known as supernovae. The addition of a new LCO telescope at McDonald means UT Austin astronomers will double their share of observing time on the network.

In addition to the new 1-meter telescope, which is funded by a $1 million grant to LCO by the Heising-Simons Foundation, McDonald will soon host a 0.4-meter LCO telescope. This smaller telescope will be used for both research and educational projects.

More teams needed, organizer says

PRESIDIO – More teams are encouraged to join Presidio’s Relay for Life from 6pm to midnight on Friday, October 6, at the Presidio High School track.

Relay for Life is the signature event for the American Cancer Society to raise cancer awareness and to help the fight to end cancer. Teams from all over the globe take turns walking around a track or a designated path.

This is the third year for Presidio to host the event with Sonia Sanchez, a Presidio resident and cancer survivor, organizing the event.

At present, the Presidio relay event has seven teams from Presidio and one Terlingua team, but Sanchez would like to sign up more, especially teams from Marfa Fort Davis, and Alpine, which isn’t hosting a Relay for Life for the first time in years.

For more information, please visit relayforlife.org/presidiotx.

MARFA – St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will observe a church tradition, The Feast of St. Francis, and the blessing of animals at 5pm on Sunday, October 1.

There will be a service of blessing and thanksgiving those who register will receive a certificate of blessing. Free treats for pets and their owners will be available.

Everyone is welcome.

MARFA – The Big Bend Sierra Club is partnering with the Big Bend Defense Coalition for the Texas Climate Change Tour presentation by Mr. Luis Castilla of Public Citizen at 5pm, Monday, September 25, at the Marfa Public Library and at 5pm on Tuesday, Septebmer 26 in Alpine at the Sul Ross State University campus in room 309 of Lawrence Hall.

Public Citizen is a nonprofit organization that takes on issues such as environmental protection, clean energy, nuclear safety, ethics in government and global warming. This event is part of a 20-city tour focused on the issue of climate change which started on September 6 at Austin City Hall.

“From stronger storms to longer droughts and sea level rise, climate change will have a profound effect on every man, woman and child in Texas, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable communities and people who do not have the resources to relocate,” said Reggie James, Lone Star state director for the Sierra Club. “We need to make the general public aware of the challenges ahead, so we can begin to tackle the problem collectively.”

Castilla will engage with students, scientists, activists, elected officials and the general public across Texas to start conversations around climate change and its solutions. The tour comes as tens of thousands of residents clean up from catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey – the third such “500-year flood” to hit Texas in three years.

“Clearly, climate change poses a threat to Texas cities. The stakes have never been higher,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler at the Texas Climate Tour kick off two weeks ago where he was joined in support by Jim Marston of the Environmental Defense Fund; James; University of Texas Professor Kerry Cook; Castilla, and Adrian Shelley, director of Public Citizen Texas.

Public Citizen’s Climate Change Tour encourages Texans to engage with their elected officials to request sustainable solutions be adopted at the city, state and federal levels.