8A myRGV.com Friday, April 12, 2024 Miss An Edition! ACTIVATE YOUR DIGITAL ACCESS TODAY! For assistance in activating your account or any questions please call Customer Care (956) 683-4300. Simply visit myRGV.com and click on my Follow 3 easy steps to register your account and your Monday thru Saturday Weekend editions will be emailed to you! E-EDITIONS 6 DAYS A WEEK! my my RGV RGV PLUS RECEIVE UNLIMITED ACCESS my RGV my RGV TO TO RECEIVE BY DAVID MONTESINO FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM Bluebonnet season is in full bloom across Texas. In March, experts from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin declared this bloom to be super because of how last drought conditions may have killed off much of the rivals and how a generously wet winter may have helped the plants to propagate. a scale from one to 10, this year looks like it could be an eight, for bluebonnets in par- ticular, if not even said Andrea DeLong-Amaya, the director of horticulture. fall and winter enjoyed adequate rainfall been well-spaced, which is real- ly key to wildflower develop- Long random patches of red, yellow and especially purple blooms line many Fort Worth roads today a beautiful bas- ket of spring that draws visitors to Texas.
People of the Lone Star State are fiercely proud of their state flower officially named by the legislature in 1901. But is it against the law to pick bluebonnet blooms? A cheeky conversation erupted on an Instagram account owned by an Austin singer. Her post shows her clutching a bunch of bluebon- net blooms. After much gush- ing about how talented the singer is, a commenter asks if the flowers were indeed blue- bonnets. This response followed shortly: traumatized Texas (thinking go to jail if I picked Bluebonnets as a child) I was startled by this Is it legal to pick bluebon- nets? Contrary to popular rumor, there is no law that prohibits picking bluebonnets in Texas, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Care of campaign.
You can also take photos with the bluebonnets as long as you damage the flowers. TxDOT discourages picture- taking that damages the flowers because if too many are tram- pled, they will die and not go to seed. A century of conservation for a legacy of purple blooms Fears of the extinc- tion is not new. More than century ago, a San Antonio civic activist named Sallie Ward Beretta led the charge to educate the public on the dire condition she found her lovely blooms to be in. Beretta launched her conserva- tion efforts at a club function, strategically placing paper blooms on tables as a challenge: Do nothing and paper flowers are all be left with.
The women responded with a flourish, gathering seeds from across the city and sending free packets out to Girl Scout troops across the state. Some of the seed packets even found their way to Alaska, New York and even points abroad. conservation work earned her the moniker: Lady of The typical bluebonnet season is from March through May, but more wildflowers can be seen at different times of the year depending on the region. Where to find bluebonnet blooms in Texas If looking for an awe- inspiring excursion with the purple blooms as your star, here are seven places that need to be on your must-visit itinerary. Do not leave your camera at home.
It will be a paradise. 1. KINGSLAND Each spring, this town nes- tled near Llano explodes in bluebonnet blooms that can last for two months. Follow a trail of the flowers from Llano to Kingsland on Texas 29, then south on Ranch Road 1431. This peaceful town is not typi- cally flooded with tourists, making it an ideal spot to view the pretty purple blooms.
2. MARBLE FALLS This picturesque town on the Colorado River is where you will find President Lyndon B. ranch. Marble Falls takes pride in this, extol- ling the fact that when Lady Bird Johnson, wife of the 36th president of the United States, planted bluebonnet seeds across America, they love to point out that they got a little more love in the process. Its proximity to Kingsland and Burnet makes for a conve- nient trio of stops.
3. BURNET Recognized as the Capital of Burnet ought to be on the list for those scavenging for the best views of the wildflowers. Its annual Bluebonnet Festival, held from April 12-14, is a major attraction. Thousands converge on this Hill Country hamlet on the intersection of Texas 29 and U.S. 281 each spring, mostly because of the bluebonnets.
4. BRENHAM This town in Washington County is located in the heart of bluebonnet country. The town watches for the first signs of the purple blooms, anticipating a spring full of flowers. Brenham is located halfway between Houston and Austin, and is known for its picturesque countryside and charming historic down- town. 5.
ENNIS Only an hour drive south- east from Fort Worth, Ennis is a convenient destination for folks from the Metroplex look- ing to view bluebonnets. The town is home to the Ennis Bluebonnet Trail and Festival. The Ennis Garden Club meticulously tracks flower growth, making it a reliable source of bluebonnet sight- ings. In Texas, can you be arrested for picking bluebonnets on roadsides? FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM TNS As the bluebonnets bloom, the beauty of Texas is laid bare. A patch of bluebonnets along U.S.
Highway 377 on April 10, 2021. BY JUAN A. LOZANO ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON Hip-hop artist Drake has been dis- missed from a lawsuit over the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival in Houston in which 10 people were killed, a judge has ruled. Drake was a special guest of rap superstar Travis Scott, who had headlined the festi- val. He performed with Scott at the end of the concert on Nov.
5, 2021, as the crowd surged and attendees were packed so tightly that many could not breathe or move their arms or legs. Authorities and festival organizers were trying to shut down the show. The families of the 10 peo- ple who died during the con- cert, as well as hundreds who were injured, sued Drake, Scott and Live Nation the festival's promoter as well as dozens of other individuals and entities. Many of those who were sued, including Drake and Scott, have asked state District Judge Kristen Hawkins to dismiss the lawsuits against them. On Wednesday, Hawkins dis- missed Drake from the case in a brief order.
Lawyers for Drake, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, had argued dur- ing a court hearing April 1 in Houston that he was not involved in putting the concert together so was not liable for the deaths and injuries that had occurred. During a deposition he gave in November in Toronto, the Canadian rap- per said in the moments before he took the stage, no one told him that people in the crowd were suffering cardiac arrests or other injuries. He said when he was on stage, the crowd looked like a blur and he couldn't make out any details. In the deposition, Drake was shown a video that the youngest victim, 9-year-old Ezra Blount, took as he sat on his father's shoulders. "Do you see the panic in those people's eyes?" an attorney asked Drake about the video.
"I do, sir," the rapper responded. Later, when asked by an attorney for Blount's family about whether it would be important for him to hear from those who put the concert together about why Blount died, Drake said, "I think I would want answers for what happened, yes." On Monday, Hawkins dismissed seven compa- nies and individual people who had been sued. But she denied motions to dis- miss that were filed by 10 other companies and including individuals, Apple which pro- duced a livestream of the concert, and two compa- nies associated with Scott. Hawkins was set to hear other motions to dismiss, including one related to Scott as an individual, on Monday. Following an investiga- tion by Houston Police, no charges were filed against Scott.
A grand jury in June declined to indict him and five other people on any criminal counts related to the deadly concert. Police Chief Troy Finner declined to say what was the overall conclusion of his agency's investigation. Judge dismisses lawsuits filed against rapper Drake over deadly concert BY JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN A convicted murderer who was released early from a Texas prison in 1993 and now faces two new murder charges offered Thursday to enter a plea and return to prison for 50 years in exchange for avoiding going to trial and facing a possible death sentence an offer that victims' families urged prosecutors to reject. Raul Meza 63, served about a decade in prison for killing an 8-year-old girl before he was released. He was charged last year with two other killings that happened in 2019 and 2023, and investi- gators have said they are look- ing into as many as a 10 other unsolved cases that they think might be connected to Meza.
During a pretrial hearing Thursday, Travis County pros- ecutors said they had just received the plea offer from Meza's attorney and hadn't had time yet to evaluate it. Meza's lawyer, Russ Hunt, said the number of years in prison was the only term offered, and that there had been no discussion yet whether a deal would require Meza to plead guilty or no contest to the murder charg- es. After the hearing, vic- tims' family members speaking to reporters urged prose- cutors to reject the offer. Meza's orig- inal 1982 conviction and 30-year prison sentence were the result of a plea deal. He was released early after receiv- ing credit for good time.
"It just brought me back to what my parents had to go through when we were chil- dren," said Tracy Page, whose sister Kendra Page was stran- gled and sexually assaulted by Meza in 1982. "It's like he's dictating what he wants. To me, in my heart, I want (him) to go to the death penalty." Hunt said the offer of 50 years on each murder charge, to be served concurrently, would effectively mean he'd be in prison for life. By law, Meza would be eligible for parole in 30 years, at age 93. "Mr.
Meza would like to avoid a trial and all the trouble and emotional turmoil it brings to everyone involved in the case, including the fami- lies of the victims," Hunt said. Meza's early release from prison in 1993 caused an uproar throughout Texas and he was met by protesters at nearly every turn. Picketers drove him out of six cities, sometimes with threats of vio- lence. "In my heart, I know that I will not willfully bring harm to anyone," Meza said during an August 1993 news conference after he had been driven out of communities. Austin police said Meza called them last May and con- fessed to killing his 80-year- old roommate, Jesse Fraga, days earlier, and implicated himself in the 2019 sexual assault and killing of Gloria Lofton.
Meza was carrying a backpack containing zip ties, a flashlight, duct tape and a .22 caliber pistol with extra rounds when he was arrested, police said. Meza has been charged with capital murder in Lofton's killing, which could result in him being sentenced to death or life without the possibility of parole if he's convicted. He was indicted on a murder charge in Fraga's Convicted murderer charged in two new Texas killings offers to return to prison in plea Meza.
