Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus gave the keynote address at the Texas State University commence-ment ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday. Provost Gene Bourgeois said the ceremo-ny, for graduate students and undergraduates from the McCoy College of Business Administration was rumored to be the largest commencement ceremony among the largest graduat-ing class at Texas State.

Introducing Straus, Texas State University President Denise Trauth said he is known for his “genteel lead-ership style and focus on bipartisan problem solving” in the state legislature.

“He is a great friend to Texas State University, and I am so pleased that he is here with us today,” Trauth said.

Straus began his speech by saying he wanted to salute the people “who deserve to be celebrated today. Th e people who’ve put in the long hours and the late nights to make all this pos-

sible, the ones who thought this milestone would never come, but they persevered. … I’m speaking of course, to the parents in the audi-ence.”

Straus congratulated the parents, acknowledged that college graduation is an emotional moment for them and praised them for raising the students set to graduate Saturday morning.

“Th e confi dence you developed in your children prepared and propelled

Th e Planning and Zoning Commission got a look at the 10-year Capital Im-provements Program (CIP) last Tuesday as a step in the process toward approval for the list of projects.

Laurie Moyer from the city's engineering depart-ment gave the presentation before a public hearing on the CIP. She reminded the commission that at its next meeting, it will be making a fi nal recommendation to city council on the plan.

“We have a pretty short time frame,” she said. “... As many of you know, as we move through these processes, you see projects that slowly move toward the front of the line. But every once in a while, projects pop up that are more critical.”

Some of those more urgent projects that are on the CIP schedule for 2019 include fi -ber optic emergency replace-ment, improvements at the Charles S. Cock House, traf-fi c signal synchronization, ADA access to the river, and downtown pedestrian safety and comfort improvements.

“Our downtown is an area that has really been revital-ized in the last few years,” Moyer said of the need for safety improvements. “You see a lot more activity down-town.”

Th ose improvements would include landscaping and lighting improvements, among other minor mea-sures, while the city waits for the next really big down-town project to come up.

Moyer also brought up new projects for 2020, including work to address erosion in Sessom Creek and pull wastewater lines out of the creekbed.

San Marcos Animal Protection Services is issuing a rabies alert in the Blanco Gardens Neighborhood after a cat bit its owner and another family pet.

Anyone who has had contact with the cat since Saturday, April 21 is urged to call San Marcos Animal Protection at 512-805-2655 immediately.

Th e cat was the family pet living both indoors and outdoors and showed pro-gression of symptoms within 24 hours: unusual and erratic behavior, aggression, excessive salivation, vomiting, then death. Th e cat bit its owner and a family dog early Sunday morning, May 6.

An Animal Protection offi cer was dis-

patched to speak with the owner after she left the emergency room at Central Texas Medical Center. Th e cat died later that Sunday and the owner took it to the San Marcos Animal Shelter for rabies testing. Th e cat tested positive for the strain of rabies carried by bats.

Th e dog has begun its 90-day isolation at a veterinary clinic, and the owner is under-going post-exposure treatment.

Animal Protection Offi cers are posting fl yers throughout the neighborhood to alert residents.

City ordinance requires all cats and dogs over the age of four months to be regis-

Th e city’s Transportation Master Plan, two bond issuances, a land lease for the former Dixie Cream Donuts and appointments to a handful of committees are part of a packed agenda for the San Marcos City Council meeting Tuesday night.

Council will hear a presentation on the city’s Transportation Master Plan, which has been updated from the city’s plan from 2004. Th e plan proposes several diff erent

types of thoroughfares, multimodal trans-portation, and other measures are included in the master plan, which aims to increase transportation safety and reduce congestion. Th e plan also includes bike infrastructure, a pedestrian network, greenways and a pro-posed transit plan.

Council will also vote on the issuance and sale of $33.75 million in combination tax and revenue certifi cates of obligation to provide funding for infrastructure improve-ments. Projects in line for funding from

this sale include streets, sidewalks, bike and pedestrian lanes, the city’s water and waste-water system, drainage and fl ood control facilities, the airport, the animal shelter and other municipal buildings. Th e council also will vote on the issuance of $28 million in general obligation bonds for projects ap-proved by voters: public safety facilities and library improvements.

Tuesday’s meeting also will include three public hearings: two related to the La Cima development and one regarding cut and fi ll

measures at the construction site of a new San Marcos CISD elementary school in the TRACE.

Also on the agenda are two items relat-ed to the creation of a Dunbar Cultural Arts District. First, council will vote on a resolution supporting the P2P Movement’s application to the Texas Commission on the Arts seeking the designation of a cultural arts district for the Dunbar area. Later,

Early voting for May 22 primary runoff elections begins tomorrow and runs through May 18.

Th e main early voting location is the Hays County Government Center, where voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day of early voting. Tempo-rary early voting locations will be the Hays County Health Department at 401 A Broadway St., the Hays County Precinct 2 Offi ce in Kyle and the Wimberley Community Center, where voters can cast ballots from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day of early voting, and the Hays County Precinct 4 Offi ce in Dripping Springs, which will be open for early voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 14-15 and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 16-18.

Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus gives the commence-ment address for the students graduating in the McCoy Col-lege of Business Administration during Texas State University’s Saturday morning Spring Commencement ceremony. Daily record photo by Denise Cathey

SEE VOTING PAGE 7A

SEE RABIES PAGE 6A SEE CIP PAGE 5A

SEE STRAUS PAGE 8A

SEE COUNCIL PAGE 6A

BEAUTIFUL BABY

CITY COUNCIL

RUNOFF VOTING TXST GRADUATION

RABIES ALERT

CITY PROJECTS

BOBCAT SOFTBALL OUR TOWN

Here’s to lullabies that work.And a team of experts for everything else.

Visit ctmc.org to learn more about our complete network of care.

Level II NICU Breastfeeding Support Childbirth Classes

INSIDE THIS ISSUESOCIAL MEDIASports — 12AMy Town — 1B

Obituaries — 2A

Classifi eds — 10ACrossword — 4B

Opinion — 4A

facebook.com/sanmarcosrecordtwitter.com/sanmarcosrecordinstagram.com/sanmarcosrecord

SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2018 $1.50 106TH YEAR NO. 93

sanmarcosrecord.com

Texas State wins Sun Belt tournament championship

Pastor, counselor and parable teacher, Derrick Benn

Pg. 12A Pg. 1B

WEATHER

High –91ºLow – 71º

ROBIN BLACKBURNSTAFF REPORTER

ROBIN BLACKBURNSTAFF REPORTER

ROBIN BLACKBURNSTAFF REPORTER

2018 Beautiful Baby Contest

Happy Mother’s Day!

Voted Best Bakery in 2017 and Best Desserts in Hays County seven years in a row!

1662 S. Interstate 35 • San Marcos, TX 78666 • 512-396-4059 • www.penningtonscakes.com

Beautiful cakes for your beautiful baby!Making birthday cakes for Central Texas babies, toddlers and beyond since 1962!

MostOriginal

bestexpression

prettiestHanDsome

&

GREYSON JACKSON

ZOE MILA ROSE

ISABELLA ROSE

VALDEZ

ELLIOT DAVIS HILL

ANDERSON WILLIS

EMMA LILIANA

PALOMARES

Inside this edition are the winners for Th e 2018 San Marcos Daily Record Beau-tiful Baby Contest.

Categories for the contest include Most Original, Best Expression and Prettiest or Most Handsome.

Busy agenda includes bond sales

Early voting commences tomorrow

Straus delivers speech to new Texas State graduates

STAFF REPORTS

Cat tests positive for rabies in Blanco Gardens

P&Z gets CIP plan preview

Photo courtesy of the city of San Marcos.

“Donʼt let the social work majors and the pre-med students be the only ones who do good in the world. … Wherever you are, try to be just as committed to your community as you are to your career.”

- Joe Straus