Debate hosts eight GOP hopefuls.

NATION, 9A

TM-Flour Bluff battle in playoffs. SPORTS, 1C

BRASLAUS
CLOSING

HONORING VETERANS

BUSINESS, 6B

Group will gather to meet former servicemen and

servicewomen as they cross nish line of Ride Texas. LOCAL, 1B

$1.00 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2015

SCIENTISTS
TRACK TRASH
LOCAL, 1B

CITY EDITION

Affordable housing plans develop

City Council

backs vision
for infill lots
By Kirsten Crow

kirsten.crow@caller.com
361-886-4316

Capitalizing on inll lots

may be the next step in tackling the citys limited affordable housing inventory.

On Tuesday the City

Council gave the nod for
staff to continue work on
proposals that would create an incentive program
for home construction
on inll lots in certain
areas and develop a draft
affordable housing inll
pilot program. Inll lots
are vacant areas between
established developments.
Its anticipated that city
staff will return to the

council in the next few

weeks with additional
details for the proposed
programs for the councils
review, Assistant City Manager Susan Thorpe said.
The discussion Tuesday follows a tense debate
several weeks ago, when
the Corpus Christi Business and Job Development
Corp. also known as the
Type A board voted to
approve $100,000 for an

affordable housing inll

pilot program.
Some have chalked
up that controversy to a
misunderstanding.
The pilot program
was interpreted by some

residents and officials as

essentially thrusting the
city into the homebuilding business.
On Tuesday staff said
the intent is to use a
city-owned vacant lot
for the construction of a
home by private builders.
Builders would bid on a
construction contract,
and once awarded, would
receive an interim loan
from the Type A board.

WHOOPS AND TROOPS

Military

bases offer
rest stops
for cranes
By David Sikes

INSTALLATIONS TARGETED FOR WHOOPING CRANE STOPOVERS

Friends of the Wild Whoopers nonprot is searching forr

additional wetland areas for an expanding crane population.
ation.
Minot Air Force Base
Camp Grafton
Garrison Training Area

Grand Forks Air Force Base

se

See COUNCIL, 3A

State
roads
may be
costly

Voters OKd

Camp Grafton South

nontoll only

N O RT H DA KOTA

sikesd@caller.com
361-886-3616

For the endangered

whooping crane, choosing
a rest stop each night during its 2,500-mile migratory journey is becoming
increasingly difficult.
So the U.S. military invited them to bunk with the
troops. Chester McConnell,
president of Friends of the
Wild Whoopers, a nonprot
basedinAlabama,saidallhe
had to do was ask military
officials for help. McConnell believes the nearly 50
Army, Navy, Air Force and
National Guard bases and
camps along the cranes
migration corridor harbor
enough wetland wilderness areas to help keep the
worlds only wild ock of
whoopershealthyandgrowing for a very long time.
Establishing these rest
and refueling stations for
the cranes is possible, in
part, through the U.S. Department of Defense Partners in Flight program, a
federally funded habitatbased management effort.
The programs mission is to
help species at risk, to keep
common birds common
and to engage in voluntary
conservation partnerships
for birds and bird habitats.
McConnell met with
military wildlife biologists
to demonstrate simple and
cost effective ways to create or improve habitat for
the cranes. Biologist Brian Knapp, with the Texas
Military Forces Adjutant

The builder would be responsible for constructing

and selling the home.
The home would likely
sell for $60,000 to $80,000,
Thorpe said. The buyer
would need to meet the
income guidelines set out
by the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, and once sold,
the loan would return to

By Matthew Waller
Austin Bureau

Ellsworth Air Force Base

SOUTH DA KOTA
NEBRASKA

Stanton Training Site

Nebraska Army National Guard

Mead Training Area

Cornhusker/Lincoln Air Force Base

Camp Ashland

Hastings (formerly Greenlief)

Training Site

KA N SAS

Fort Riley
Forbes Field

Smoky Hill Air Force Range

McConnell Air Force Base

Kansas Army Ammunition Plant

Vance Air Force Base

OKLAHOMA

Lexington Army
Aviation Facility

Tinker Air Force Base

Altus Air Force Base

McAlester Army
Ammunition Plantt

Fort Sill
Sheppard Air Force Base

Dyess Air Force Base

Fort Wolters

Camp Barkley

Camp
Gruber

Camp Maxey

T EXAS

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS/C

ISSY BEASLEY

Camp Bowie

Goodfellow
Air Force Base
Fort Hood
Randolph Air Force Base
Camp Bullis
Camp Swift
Fort Sam Houston
Laughlin
Addicks and
Air Force Base
Brooks City-Base Barker
Joint Base San Antonio
reservoirs
Escondido Ranch
NAVSTA Ingleside
Navy Auxiliary Landing
Field, Orange Grove

Naval Air Station Kingsville

JOURNAL MEDIA
GROUP GRAPHICS

See WHOOPERS, 6A

AUSTIN The ballot item

that voters approved earlier this month on Election
Day may have gotten more
money to transportation,
but it may have also made
roads more expensive.
Proposition 7 was advertised as a way to help
clear congestion to make
way for roads. However,
the ballot item also made
sure that the new money
was for nontoll roads,
which officials believe
could increase transportation costs.
We were a tolling world
until we werent, Victor
Vandergriff, a member of
the Texas Transportation
Commission, told lawmakers at a committee hearing
on road funding.
Proposition 7 would let
$2.5 billion would come
from state sales taxes
above the rst $28 billion
that year. Meanwhile,
35 percent of the net revenue from motor vehicle
sales and rental tax that is
more than the rst $5 billion each year would also
go to roads, specically the
state highway fund. Money
wouldnt be allowed for
toll roads. According to a
scal note for the passed
legislation, in 2018-19, the
state could get $5 billion
for roads.
In 2013, lawmakers
spoke of a highway scal
cliff because borrowing
See HIGHWAYS, 3A

#STXHSFB

Roger Christian Garcia

SCIENCE

Going to a high school

football game this
week? Shoot some
photos and be sure
to use the hashtag
#stxhsfb to share
with the Caller-Times.

Nicholas
Cheesman

Careers in engineering, medicine

Carroll High School

senior Nicholas Cheesman is used to working
in a team to achieve a
goal. Whether its on the
eld with Tigers varsity
football team or in the
lab with other members
of the Engineering Club
that he helped create,
the student nds better
results when he works
together with friends and
classmates.
I nd it exciting when

you can do well in a match

and beat a team, Nicholas said. Its very rewarding, but at the same time
its like, Wow, I still have
a lot to learn.
He hopes to combine
his skills in teamwork and
science into a career in
mechanical engineering.
Roger Christian Garcia, a senior at Taft High
School, has spent his life
using science to help others, whether by building

a solar oven to benet

impoverished countries
or interning at a physical
therapy facility.
Roger also gives back
to his community with
projects such as beach
cleanups with FFA, participating in sock and
blanket drives through
NHS and the Head Start
after-school program.
Roger plans to continue using science to help
people. He plans a career

in medicine.
Both have been named
2015 Caller-Times/Citgo
Distinguished Scholars
in the Science category.
The program awarded
$1,000 scholarships to 35
students from 21 schools
this year.
Staff reports
Learn more about the
winners and view others in
this category on Page 8A.

Have a news tip?

newstips@caller.com
INDEX
BUSINESS 6B-7B
COMICS 7E-8E
CROSSWORD 8E
OBITUARIES 4B-5B
LOTTERY 2C
OPINION 10A-11A

87/63

Warmer 11A

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