April 2023

When the Scenic Loop, the seventy-fivemile road that traverses the Davis Mountains, was dedicated on June 28, 1947, the one man most responsible had been gone for ten years and never saw the fruits of his labors. That dedication was held at the Lawrence Wood Rest Area along Madera Creek at the base of Fisher Hill. That location only existed because of Walter Miller.

WEEK Alpine Humane Society’s Pet of the Week is Yuri. Yuri is an adorable and shy kitten, about six months old. She loves to be held and cuddled. She enjoys chasing a feather wand as well as playing with toy mice. She also enjoys naps on your lap and will purr you into oblivion. Yuri does very well on her own but will call out to you occasionally for some attention. Most of the time, she loves to look up at you and listen to you talk.

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Send your community events to editor@alpineavalanche.com. April 27 Ribbon Cutting, 5:30 p.m.

Days ago, we welcomed Easter with glad alleluias and proclaiming, “He is Risen,” but this was not the case that first Easter morning. The last the disciples knew of Jesus he was dead and in a tomb. They were alone, afraid, confused and remained behind locked doors. Jesus had told them that he would return, and they had seen him raise Lazarus from the dead, but now Jesus was dead. How would it be possible for him to return? They had not understood, nor had they believed.

In loving memory of Brian Kenneth Kokernot, born on April 27, 1953, in Utica, NY, died on Jan. 4, in Austin. He was a long-time resident of Alpine. He loved to hunt and fish and golf and tennis were his favorite ball sports. Brian was a friend to many here. He is survived by his daughter Kalliihan Lee Kokernot and brothers Bruce and

On April 6, Alpine competed at the Crane Relays, and just missed dominating the event by one point. Alpine placed second in the meet, just behind Crane and this meet was a preview of what was to come for the district meet set for April 13-15, when they traveled to Crane once again.

Last week was a great week for Alpine tennis. Senior Madison Mendoza represented Alpine High School at district and competed at the Region 1-3A tennis meet in Abilene on Tuesday, April 11.

After reading Alpine ISD Superintendent Michelle Rinehart’s opinion on state education funding, and her call for transparency, I wanted to know what the district spends per student. Not finding financial information in the ISD website, transparency??? I looked elsewhere. According to an outfit out of New York City called Public School Review the Alpine ISD spends about $16,100 per student across its three campuses, above state average. I also found the district is well above state average in what matters most, student academic achievement. Way to go! Ms. Rinehart is worried about taxpayer dollars following students rather than funding legacy institutions. A well enough performing District like Alpine has little to fear about parents seeking better options elsewhere. But what her opinion ignores are the tens of thousands of students trapped in lousy districts across Texas with no hope. It’s these students the Texas legislature is seeking to help. It’s time Texans let dollars follow students so that we may have an educated population.

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