Today’s bullfighters skip the face paint and silly clothes for the serious business of protecting riders in the rodeo ring
Story by Pam LeBlanc -- Photos by Laura Skelding
If a snot-slinging, 1,500-pound hunk of muscle and rage hurtled across an arena in your direction, would you run toward it or beat a hasty escape?
Your answer could determine whether you’d make a good bullfighter, the term now used in the U.S. and Canada to describe the rodeo athletes who distract bulls and protect riders during bull-riding competitions.
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative and LCRA representatives present a $50,000 grant to the Southeast Caldwell County Volunteer Fire Department to construct additional building space. The grant is part of LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program. Pictured, from left to right, are: Rick Arnic, LCRA regional affairs representative; Patty Mundine, VFD president, secretary and firefighter; Margaret D.
Visiting 14 historic homes across the Bluebonnet region
Stories by Clayton Stromberger and Addie Broyles; photos by Sarah Beal
Sprinkled around the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative service area are hardy survivors of bygone eras — historic houses that have somehow dodged the vagaries of decay, fire, lightning strikes, changing tastes in home design and the human impulse to scrape away the past to make room for something new and novel.
Call it hip camping or just a new way to enjoy nature on someone else’s beautiful land.
Stories by Addie Broyles Photos by Laura Skelding
Nature lovers have found a new way to sleep under the big, bright stars of Central Texas by camping on privately owned land discovered through the use of websites such as Hipcamp, The Dyrt, Tentrr and even Airbnb.
Test your knowledge of friends and foes in Central Texas landscapes
By Addie Broyles
They seemed like good ideas at the time.
Remember the Chinaberry tree in your parents’ backyard? Who didn’t have a thick privet hedge for privacy? And what’s so bad about a backyard full of Bermuda grass?
The bark scale and lone star tick are high on the bad-bug list in Central Texas. Do you know what they look like?
Enjoy the artwork, hometown feel and shopping in Bastrop County
By Laura Castro
Residents here have a standard warning for visitors: You’re going to fall in love with Smithville. The picturesque community of more than 4,000 along the Colorado River in Bastrop County, off State Highway 71 about 40 miles southeast of Austin, abounds with smalltown charm, historic buildings, museums, antique railcars, and oak tree-lined streets and parks. There are popular restaurants, eclectic shops and stylish art galleries scattered along or near historic downtown Main Street.
Enjoy the history, festivals, shops and restaurants in the heart of Burleson County
By Alyssa Meinke
Caldwell, in the heart of Burleson County, has a history steeped in the trade and shipping that followed the path of El Camino Real. That famed route, established in the 1700s by Spanish colonialists, connected Texas with Mexico City.
Two high school seniors represented Bluebonnet at the government youth tour
Some of the nation's most famous sites and symbols were among memorable stops for Johnique “J.T.” Thomas and Tara Williams, high school seniors who represented Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative on the 2023 government youth tour in Washington, D.C.