Dancing in the streets to live Texas music. Arts and crafts booths nestled between oak trees and pouring into the streets, where folks will dance along to live Texas music.

If the Helotes MarketPlace lives up to Old Town developer Ken Dempsey’s expectations, the monthly event that starts Oct. 4 could be just what the municipality needs to pull out of its economic slump.

“Quite often I am asked if we are trying to become another Boerne or Fredericksburg, but the truth is we are becoming Helotes,” Dempsey said.

The MarketPlace is slated for the first Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Old Town Helotes, near the Floore Country Store and Helotes Creek.

Dempsey said he is getting a strong response from local vendors, and citizens were directly involved in fashioning the event that will also draw talent throughout South Texas. Jewelry, arts and crafts and fresh produce are among the wares to be sold.

Proceeds from the event will go to a rotating list of nonprofit organizations, including the Helotes Historical Society and the new Helotes Humane Society. The former will be holding a quilt raffle, while the latter will be offering up pets for adoption.

Vendors can sign up for a booth for $35. For more information, call Madeleine Sarem at 695-6951 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The city of Helotes is at work on budget and tax rate for 2009 to take the city out of an $800,000 downfall. City officials partially blame a flailing sales tax base and look to the MarketPlace as a way to attract new business to the area.

On Sept. 11, the council adopted tax breaks for business owners that develop in the Old Town Helotes Special District, which has been designated as a reinvestment zone. According to the ordinance, business owners can, over a 10-year period, get a 50 percent discount on their property taxes, given that they follow certain guidelines and the City Council approves their project.

H-E-B is launching the nomination period for the 2009 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards. One nomination can place a teacher, principal or a school district on the path toward winning a cash prize ranging from $5,000 to $100,000.  

For the first time in the awards’ eight-year history, nominations will be accepted online at www.heb/education. Nomination forms can also be picked up at H-E-B stores. All nominations are due by Nov. 21. Teachers, principals and school districts are also encouraged to submit their names for consideration.   

“A nomination is a simple yet powerful way to show appreciation for our educators that are daily demonstrating a true passion for teaching children to aim high in life,” said Jill Reynolds, H-E-B community relations program manager. “They deserve to be thanked and rewarded for this dedication.”      

Following the close of the nomination period, all nominees will be sent an application form to complete. The form requests additional information from the nominee for judging purposes including written responses that communicate their teaching and learning experiences, their teaching philosophies and what inspires them to make a difference in the lives of their students. Completed application forms will be due Jan. 2.

Following a regional judging process, 225 semifinalists will receive an H-E-B gift card and a certificate of recognition from H-E-B Chairman and CEO Charles Butt. Additionally, 48 finalists representing five Texas regions will be selected and invited to compete further for an H-E-B Excellence in Education Award and cash prize.

For more information on the awards, visit www.heb/education.

The Northside ISD Gifted/Enrichment Advisory Council is sponsoring a Bowling Extravaganza and Silent Auction Oct. 18 at Bandera Bowl, 6700 Huebner Road, to raise funds for GT student enrichment. Tickets for $12 per person are available from the NISD Partnerships Office, 6632 Bandera Road, Building A, and at Bandera Bowl on the day of the event. Ticket price includes shoe rental and unlimited bowling from 1 to 3 p.m.

Proceeds support the Northside Education Foundation IGNITE Fund, a designated fund for gifted and talented students’ education. For information call Priscilla Lurz, NISD GT coordinator at 397-8632

Housing debt has become a financial cluster bomb. 

At first – boom! – it hit those low-income folks who had been lured into subprime mortgages they didn’t understand and couldn’t afford. Not to worry, said Wall Street hucksters and Washington officials, we’ve got that little problem “contained.”

Not exactly. Boom! The next wave shattered the dreams of more upscale homeowners whose mortgages contained exploding interest rates. 

And now – boom! – the latest ones hit are those who’ve been enticed by bankers to take out “equity loans” on their homes. These are essentially second mortgages on the value of the home, and this dicey financial move has been driven hard the last 20 years or so by the marketing departments of big banks.

Rather than encourage customers to pay off their housing debt and own their homes free and clear, the banks strongly urged people to take out second loans on their homes in order to buy a car or take a vacation. The bankers even went on the road to teach people how to cash in on their homes, and an advertising blitz was launched to make it all sound painless. 

“Live Richly,” was the slogan of a billion-dollar ad campaign by Citibank, adding that your home is your “ticket” to anything “your heart desires.” “Don’t sit on your equity,” scolded another. “Turn it into cash.”

In a short time, this promise of “free” money piled up a trillion dollars in added debt on the backs of millions of homeowners. It was a bonanza for the banks, which pocketed billions of dollars in fees for extending this additional credit. 

However, with home values plummeting and the economy tanking, the bankers’ boom has become the borrowers’ bust. Hundreds of thousands of Americans now can’t pay off these equity loans, and they face losing their homes, which will further depress housing prices across the country, setting off other bombs. 

Once again, we learn that when bankers say “Live Richly,” they’re only talking about themselves. 

Former Texas Agriculture Secretary Jim Hightower is a best-selling author. His Web site is www.jimhightower.com. Material courtesy of www.MinutemanMedia.org.