This paper can be recycled TPA TPA TPA TPA TPA TEXAS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid Austin, Texas Permit No. 01949 INSIDE Vol. 41 No.42 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: [email protected]March 7, 2014 RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt TheAustinVillager.com TheAustinVillager.com “12 Years A Slave” Takes Home the Gold at The Academy Awards! By Naomi Richard 12 Years A Slave wins Best Picture of the Year, Best Supporting Actress by newcomer Lupita Nyong’o and Best Adapted Screen- play by John Ridley during the 86th Annual Academy Awards ®! Steve McQueen’s film scored the top honor of the night as Best Picture. After delivering a spir- ited acceptance speech, he turned around to the cast and jumped up and down on the stage with excitement! The Awards aired March 2, 2014 on ABC, and were hosted by Ellen Degeneres. In a stirring accep- tance speech filled with tears, Best Supporting Actress Lupita Nyong’o had this to say, “When I look down at this golden statue may it re- mind me and every little child that no mat- ter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.” Gravity walked away as the biggest win- ner of the night with seven Oscar Awards®! Gravity, a movie about a medical engineer and an astronaut working together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space, won Best Director (Alfonso Cuaron, the first Latin American filmmaker to win in this category), Original Score, Cinema- tography, Editing, Vi- sual Effects, Sound Ed- iting and Sound Mixing. Austin’s own Mat- thew McConaughey won Best Actor for Dal- las Buyers Club . McConaughey had this to say during his accep- tance speech, “God has shown me that it’s a sci- entific fact that grati- tude reciprocates!” During tonight’s telecast, history was made. Twitter tempo- rarily crashed due the extremely high volume of Oscar Award® tweets! At one point, users re-tweeted a photo posted by Ellen Degeneres 750,000 times in less than an hour! For a complete list of 2014 Academy Award® Winners, visit http:// oscar.go.com/nominees. Lupita Nyong'o KOOL & THE GANG CELEBRATE 50th AT AUMF KOOL & THE GANG CELEBRATE 50th AT AUMF by Marcia Williams (AUSTIN)-Kool & the Gang, one of the big- gest bands of the ’70s and ’80s, will make Aus- tin part of the “Celebra- tion” of their 50-year anniversary when they headline the Austin Ur- ban Music Festival Sat- urday, March 29 at But- ler Park at Auditorium Shores. Morris Day and The Time will kick off the festival Friday, March 28. Tickets are a v a i l a b l e @AustinUrbanMusicFest.com In 1964, Robert “Kool” Bell and his brother, Ronald Bell, joined Jersey City neigh- borhood friends Robert “Spike” Mickens, Den- nis “Dee Tee” Thomas, Ricky Westfield, George Brown, and Charles Smith to create a unique musical blend of jazz, soul and funk. They have performed continuously for the See 80’s, page 2 Oprah Winfrey and Sidney Poitier present the Trailblazer Award to Cheryl Boone Isaacs at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Lun- cheon. Boone Isaacs is the first African American and only the third woman elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in its 86 year history. This is one of the most ex- citing years in black film ever, and 2014 is a record year for African American presenters at the Oscars(R). (Photo: Business Wire) BOONE RECEIVES TRAILBLAZER AWARD BOONE RECEIVES TRAILBLAZER AWARD Climb Aboard the 801 Rapid Climb Aboard the 801 Rapid BY SHIRLEY HAMMOND AUSTIN - Capital Metro released their new sleekly designed 60-foot buses with ar- ticulated middles that look like accordions. The roomy buses are designed for better com- fort and routed for more convenience. The travel route for this bus stretches long; all the way from Howard Lane in North Austin to Stassney Lane in South Austin. In-between those remote points, it hits about 44 dedicated stations mostly along Lamar Boulevard and South Congress. There are a few park and ride stations along the way, including the one at Howard Lane accessed by IH35 frontage road. Called the MetroRapid, these buses have some prior- ity lanes and upgraded stations that are exclu- sive for this bus route. See FREE WiFi, page 2 Citizens continue to challenge the political leadership of Texas. See WILLIAMSON Page 6 ACC contrives for nation’s largest interactive study lab See RENOVATION Page 2 This election season was very exciting in a number of ways. One thing it revealed was dis- sention inside the Repub- lican Party. The Tea Party Republicans are making a serious effort of taking over the party. In doing so, they are raising a lot of questions of the conser- vative leadership that has been leading the party for the last two decades. That fight also shows many of the weak- nesses of the Democratic Party. For the last two decades, the Democratic Party has been rolling over and playing dead. That is until Senator Wendy Davis stood up in the Texas Legislature to stage a filibuster over an issue that she opposed. And even though her ef- forts were unsuccessful, she became the most rec- ognized Democrat in the state. That led to her being encouraged to run for Governor, the first se- rious woman for that of- fice since Governor Ann Richards. As a result, she is the person who was chosen to head the ticket in November against the Republican nominee, Greg Abbott. Locally, Sarah Eckhardt defeated Andy Brown for the Democratic nomination for County Judge. She will face Re- publican Mike McNamara to replace out- going County Judge Sam Biscoe, who will be retir- ing at the end of this term. County Trea- surer, Dolores Ortega Carter had her first oppo- nent in this year’s elec- tion. She defeated Ramey Ko in a fairly close elec- tion. In other areas, Velva L. Price ran unop- posed for District Clerk. And she will not have an opponent in the General Election. This is an office that is not very well known, but is surely to become more open under the leadership of Price. There will be a couple of runoff races that will take place in May. But until that time, voters can rest easy for a couple of months until the County Convention, where they will elect del- egates for the State con- vention. STAGE SET FOR SUMMER Millions unaware of crucial health care enrollment deadline. See COVERAGE Page 7
12 Years A Slavewins Best Picture of theYear, Best SupportingActress by newcomerLupita Nyong’o andBest Adapted Screen-play by John Ridleyduring the 86th AnnualAcademy Awards®!Steve McQueen’s filmscored the top honor ofthe night as Best Picture.After delivering a spir-ited acceptance speech,he turned around to thecast and jumped up anddown on the stage withexcitement! The Awardsaired March 2, 2014 onABC, and were hostedby Ellen Degeneres.
In a stirring accep-tance speech filled withtears, Best SupportingActress Lupita Nyong’ohad this to say, “When Ilook down at thisgolden statue may it re-mind me and everylittle child that no mat-ter where you’re from,your dreams are valid.”
Gravity walkedaway as the biggest win-ner of the night withseven Oscar Awards®!Gravity, a movie abouta medical engineer and
an astronaut workingtogether to survive afteran accident leaves themadrift in space, won BestDirector (AlfonsoCuaron, the first LatinAmerican filmmaker towin in this category),Original Score, Cinema-tography, Editing, Vi-sual Effects, Sound Ed-iting and Sound Mixing.
Austin’s own Mat-thew McConaugheywon Best Actor for Dal-las Buyers Club.McConaughey had thisto say during his accep-tance speech, “God hasshown me that it’s a sci-entific fact that grati-tude reciprocates!”
During tonight’stelecast, history wasmade. Twitter tempo-rarily crashed due theextremely high volumeof Oscar Award®tweets! At one point,users re-tweeted aphoto posted by EllenDegeneres 750,000times in less than anhour!
For a complete list of2014 Academy Award®Winners, visit http://oscar.go.com/nominees. Lupita Nyong'o
KOOL & THEGANG
CELEBRATE 50thAT AUMF
KOOL & THEGANG
CELEBRATE 50thAT AUMF
by Marcia Williams
(AUSTIN)-Kool &the Gang, one of the big-gest bands of the ’70sand ’80s, will make Aus-tin part of the “Celebra-tion” of their 50-yearanniversary when theyheadline the Austin Ur-ban Music Festival Sat-urday, March 29 at But-ler Park at AuditoriumShores. Morris Day andThe Time will kick offthe festival Friday,March 28. Tickets area v a i l a b l e
@AustinUrbanMusicFest.comIn 1964, Robert
“Kool” Bell and hisbrother, Ronald Bell,joined Jersey City neigh-borhood friends Robert“Spike” Mickens, Den-nis “Dee Tee” Thomas,Ricky Westfield,George Brown, andCharles Smith to createa unique musical blendof jazz, soul and funk.They have performedcontinuously for the
See 80’s, page 2
Oprah Winfrey and Sidney Poitier presentthe Trailblazer Award to Cheryl Boone Isaacs atthe Essence Black Women in Hollywood Lun-cheon. Boone Isaacs is the first African Americanand only the third woman elected President ofthe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencesin its 86 year history. This is one of the most ex-citing years in black film ever, and 2014 is a recordyear for African American presenters at theOscars(R). (Photo: Business Wire)
BOONE RECEIVESTRAILBLAZER
AWARD
BOONE RECEIVESTRAILBLAZER
AWARD
ClimbAboardthe 801Rapid
ClimbAboardthe 801RapidBY SHIRLEYHAMMOND
AUSTIN - CapitalMetro released theirnew sleekly designed60-foot buses with ar-ticulated middles thatlook like accordions.The roomy buses aredesigned for better com-fort and routed for moreconvenience. The travelroute for this busstretches long; all theway from Howard Lanein North Austin toStassney Lane in SouthAustin. In-betweenthose remote points, ithits about 44 dedicatedstations mostly alongLamar Boulevard andSouth Congress. Thereare a few park and ridestations along the way,including the one atHoward Lane accessedby IH35 frontage road.
Called theMetroRapid, thesebuses have some prior-ity lanes and upgradedstations that are exclu-sive for this bus route.See FREE WiFi, page 2
Citizens continue tochallenge the politicalleadership of Texas.See WILLIAMSON
Page 6
ACC contrives fornation’s largest
interactive study labSee RENOVATION
Page 2
This election seasonwas very exciting in anumber of ways. Onething it revealed was dis-sention inside the Repub-lican Party. The Tea PartyRepublicans are making aserious effort of takingover the party. In doingso, they are raising a lotof questions of the conser-vative leadership that hasbeen leading the party forthe last two decades.
That fight alsoshows many of the weak-nesses of the DemocraticParty. For the last twodecades, the DemocraticParty has been rollingover and playing dead.That is until SenatorWendy Davis stood up inthe Texas Legislature tostage a filibuster over anissue that she opposed.And even though her ef-forts were unsuccessful,she became the most rec-ognized Democrat in thestate.
That led to herbeing encouraged to runfor Governor, the first se-rious woman for that of-fice since Governor AnnRichards. As a result, sheis the person who waschosen to head the ticketin November against theRepublican nominee,Greg Abbott.
Locally, SarahEckhardt defeated AndyBrown for the Democraticnomination for CountyJudge. She will face Re-publican MikeMcNamara to replace out-going County Judge SamBiscoe, who will be retir-ing at the end of this term.
County Trea-surer, Dolores OrtegaCarter had her first oppo-nent in this year’s elec-tion. She defeated RameyKo in a fairly close elec-tion.
In other areas,Velva L. Price ran unop-posed for District Clerk.And she will not have anopponent in the GeneralElection. This is an officethat is not very wellknown, but is surely tobecome more open underthe leadership of Price.
There will be acouple of runoff racesthat will take place inMay. But until that time,voters can rest easy for acouple of months untilthe County Convention,where they will elect del-egates for the State con-vention.
STAGE SETFOR SUMMER
Millions unaware ofcrucial health care
enrollment deadline.See COVERAGE
Page 7
Page 2 ~ March 7, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
THE COMMUNIQUÉ
past 35 years,longer than any R&Bgroup in history, sellingmore than 70 million al-bums worldwide, andare one of the musicindustry’s most widely-sampled performers.
The ’80s would seethem dominate the main-stream, starting with thedouble platinum-sellingalbum Celebrate (drivenby the international mon-
80’s See Kool & The Gang Dominate Music’s Mainstream80’s See Kool & The Gang Dominate Music’s Mainstream
ster hit Celebration,which spent six weeksatop the R&B chart andbecame a #1 Pop single).Celebration, whichplayed as the Americanhostages returned fromIran, remains de rigueurat joyous occasionsworldwide. The smashesGet Down On It, Take MyHeart, Joanna, Tonight,Misled, the #1 R&B, #2Pop giant Cherish andthe #1 R&B anthem Fresh
continued from page 1 (these last three from themulti-platinum LPEmergency) solidifiedthe group’s internationalsuperstardom. Kool &the Gang landed globalcommercial endorse-ments, supported count-less charitable causesand were the only Ameri-can group to participatein Band Aid’s 1984 DoThey Know it’s Christ-mas project for faminevictims in Africa.
More than 15,000music revelers annuallyconverge on Audito-rium Shores to enjoyone of Austin’s few mu-sic festivals focused onR&B, neo-soul and hiphop music. Festival or-ganizer, Homer Hill, ofthe SoulTree Collective,Inc., said, “Our goal isto provide great enter-tainment that will bringtogether the entire fam-ily, so we’ve always
chosen groups that willhave a broad appeal,like this year’s Kool &The Gang and MorrisDay and The Time.We’re fortunate to havetwo amazingly talentedindividuals performingat the festival.” The fes-tival is a benefit for theSoulTree Collective, anon-profit organizationthat mentors youth inmusic and performance.
The Festival has
consistently provided avenue for local perform-ers as well as presentedtop national R&B actsthat provide family-friendly entertainment.Past performers haveincluded Kenneth“Babyface” Edmonds,Boyz II Men, Cameo,Jeffrey Osborne, An-thony Hamilton, TreySongz, Chaka Khan,Miguel, Melanie Fionaand Ray J, to name a few.
Silver and red, thestations match the exte-rior design of the buses.All stations have bikeracks, bench seating, in-tense lighting and real-time digital signage.The stations also in-clude an announcementas the bus approaches,as well as LED lightingthat provides arrivaltimes. A Capital Metrotrash can was seen nextto each of these stations.
On the bus itself,are announcements pro-viding information onthe upcoming stationsand telling which busesit connects to at that par-ticular stop.
There are threedoors for boarding ease,along with free-WiFi.When I rode this bus ona cold, blustery night(March 2), I made around trip to check outthe entire route. It takes
THIS BUS EQUIPPEDWITH FREE WiFi
almost the length oftime it would take todrive to Dallas fromAustin, with a totalroute time of two hoursand 45 minutes. Al-though I rode on a Sun-day, the bus arrives at10-12 minute intervalsduring peak hours onweekdays.
Despite the cold,the bus stayed warmexcept when the doorswere open for boardingand deboarding of pas-sengers. In fact, it wastoasty warm for most ofthe ride.
This bus could be acommuter’s dream. Ithits most high pointsalong the lengthy ride;including St. EdwardsUniversity and the Uni-versity of Texas. Any-one taking a Megabuscould probably use theMetroRapid, as itpasses the UT property
where Megabus has itsparking lot hub (DobieMall).
Eateries and pointsof interest abound alongthis route, includingmany, many SoCo(South Congress) res-taurants and other es-tablishments.
Apparently thesenew buses aresmartbuses also. It al-lows people who buytickets using the mobileapp called CapMetroApp, to swipe theirphone under the vali-dating scanner to showpasses purchasedthrough one’s tele-phone. People can stilluse the traditional Capi-tal Metro tickets, as well.
On the CapitalMetro website, and on801 MetroRapid bro-chures, it indicates thatthe 801 buses catch moregreen lights. The routeis dubbed as a PriorityService of the bus sys-tem. The literature re-ports that the accordionmiddles make turningeasier. To see this busnavigate a turn andbend around a cornerwith ease is to believethe logic behind its de-sign.
With cushionedseats, bright lighting,extra wide doors andhigher ceilings; this busis a top-shelf option forcommuters travelingalong its route.
continued from page 1
ACC Marks Milestone inHighland Mall Renovation
Former J.C. Penney store transforms into Highland Campus
AUSTIN,TX – Aus-tin Community Collegecelebrated a milestonein the construction ofHighland Campus witha “dry-in” ceremonyWednesday, Feb. 26, atHighland Mall (6001Airport Blvd.).
Similar to a top-ping out on new con-struction, a dry-inmarks an importantpoint in a renovationproject, when the build-ing is weather-tight.Highland will be ACC’s11th campus, and thecampus grand openingis planned for fall 2014.
“It’s exciting to seethe ACC Highland Cam-pus go from bunker tobrilliance and begin tocome to life,” says Dr.Richard Rhodes, ACCpresident/CEO. “ACCHighland is a projectunlike any other in thenation. The campus willbe home to accelerated
learning programs thatwill increase studentsuccess and become atrue pride point for thecommunities of CentralTexas.”
Located in therenovated J.C. Penneystore, the 200,000-squre-foot Highland Campuswill feature an open,main street design withnatural lighting, com-puter bars, large class-rooms, high-tech sci-ence labs, student sup-port services, a library,and study space.
Highland will alsobe home to a “learningemporium,” thenation’s largest lab forinteractive learning,with more than 600 com-puter stations that allowstudents to learn at theirown pace, get one-on-one faculty assistance,and benefit from peer-to-peer collaboration.
The emporium will
be home to the college’sinnovative math classesthat are transforminghow the subject istaught.
“The HighlandCampus allows us toreach many more stu-dents who need ournew math classes,” saysDr. Constance Elko,chair of ACC’s MathDepartment. “We’veseen amazing successon a smaller scale, andwe’re excited to makethe instruction morewidely available.”
The opening ofHighland Campus thisfall will mark the comple-tion of phase one of theHighland project. Futureplans call for transform-ing Highland Mall into amodernized regionalcenter of educational ex-cellence and mixed-usedevelopment, in partner-ship with RedLeaf prop-erties.
3rd Annual Girls’ Symposium Coming This MonthThe Alpha Kappa Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority
will host its 3rd Annual Girls’ Symposium on Saturday, March22, 2014 from 9am to 4pm. The location will be the Winn Con-ference Center of St. James Baptist Church at 1812 E.M. FranklinAvenue. The theme is “Keep Calm and Grow Strong Women”and is open to all girls ages 12-18. There will be a variety ofinteractive workshops designed to teach them the skills theyneed to become strong, independent and refined young ladies.Lunch is included. Parents and guardians who bring their teen-agers are encouraged to stay for a separate morning sessionwith a professional counselor to discuss communication and con-flict resolution methods. The cost is $5 in advance and $10 atthe door. To reserve your teenagers place for the symposium,please register at http://keepcalmstrongwomen.eventbrite.com.
www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/March 7, 2014 ~ Page 3
CHURCH & TOWN BULLETIN
Ebenezer Baptist Church1010 East 10th Street 512-478-1875 Fax 512-478-1892
Sunday Services Worship Service 8:00 A.M. Sunday School 9:00 A.M. Discipleship Training 10:00 A.M. Worship Service 11:00 A.M.
WednesdayMidweek Prayer Service 7:00 P.M.Child Development CenterAges 0-5 years (Daily) 512-478-6709
Bus Ministry Call 512-478-1875
Dr. Ricky Freeman, Pastor
True Hope Apostolic ChurchThe Apostle Gerald E. Loveless, Senior Pastorwww.thcm.org
8863 Anderson Mill Rd.Austin, TX 78653
512-744-5851 Cell
512-547-HOPE Church
512-767-4979Assistant, Elder Walker
St. Peter’s United Methodist Church 4509 Springdale Road Austin, Tx 78723
Office 512- 926-1686 Fax 512-929-7281Christian Web Site-
THE PLACE WHERE WE STEP OUT ON FAITH.COME AND STEP OUT ON FAITH WITH US
Sunday School 8:45 a.m. Praise and Worship 10:15 a.m.Wednesday Bible Study 12:00 p.m.
and Praise /Bible Study 6:30 p.m.(to include Children’s Choir Rehersaland
Bible Study with age appropiate Activities)
Rev. Jack C. Gause Pastor
Agape Baptist ChurchIn “The Centre” Bldg. F-15 7801 N. Lamar Blvd. (SE Corner of N Lamar and 183)
AGAPE is a chuch for all people. “Where Jesus Christ is Magnified and the love Heexhibited is Exemplified.” Come, receive God’s unconditional lovefor you.
For there is no greater love!
Church ServicesSunday School 9:30 AMSunday Worship 11:00 AM
Mid-Week Service Thursday: Praise,Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 PMCall 454-1547 for Transporation
Website www.agapebcaustintx.orgRev. H. Ed Calahan
Pastor
Imani Community ChurchDavis Elementray Auditorium 5214 West Duval Road
Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Worship Service 10:00 A.M.•Power Hour Bible Life Group 6:00 P.M.
Imani Complex & Office,11800 Mustang at Duval Austin, Texas 78727
Visit:imanichurch.comOffice: 512-343-9300Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Donald-Mims
The Church of Pentecost, USA Inc,Austin offers a wide variety of opportuni-ties for children, youth, adults, and olderadults to be involved in worship, spiritualgrowth, education, community outreach,and making a tangible difference to thosein need in our community. You too, canmake a positive difference in our commu-nity through your prayers, your presence,your gifts, your service, and your witness.Tel: 512 302-1270
Leading People to Experience God’s Love, Know Jesus Christ & Grow in His Image
The Church of Pentecost
Olive Branch Fellowship of Austin / All Faith Chapel4110 Guadalupe St Bldg #639 Austin, TX 78751
Sunday MorningWorship @ 11: am
Romans 5:1 Therefore,having beenjustified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
This life, therefore, is not righteous-ness, but growth in righteousness; not health,but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest,but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be,but we are growing toward it. The process isnot yet finished, but it is going on. This is notthe end, but it is the road. All does not yetgleam in glory, but all is being purified.
--- Martin Luther
Kenneth Hill, Pastor
DOUBLE
GROCERY“R”
450l East Martin Luther King Blvd.
*We cash ALL Tax Refund*Checks *Check Out
1179 San Bernard Street,Austin, TX 78702, 512-478-7023
This is a specialtime and a lot of memo-ries held at this time ofthe year “Rodeo” youand your horse BigBlack, I remember whenhe stoop up on his twohind legs and you wereholding on, your horsewas bucking.Crittendon attendedSims School andJohnston High School inAustin, Texas. We re-member you and willalways love you. Yourbro. Albert (A.J.), sister,Cheryll Evette, daugh-ter Lavonne and motherE. H. Gibson.
MusicianAppreciation
Service
Rehoboth BaptistChurch invites Churchand Gospel Groups tojoin in on celebratingforty years of music ap-preciation for MusicianCarolyn Tinnon.Carolyn began playingat the tender age of 12years old throughoutthe city and has contin-ued throughout theyears. Your choir groupor individual represen-tation will help com-plete the program. TheAppreciation Servicewill be held on Friday,April 25, at 7 pm. Forfurther information andprogram participationfeel free in contactingJackie Harris-Crayton(512) 801-4104 orSabrina Owens (512)694-7487.
Rehoboth BaptistChurch is located at5303 Samuel HustonAvenue where the Pas-tor is Reverend Ray A.Hendricks.
Bill Powers, PresidentThe University of Texas at Austin
Campaign for Texasreaches $2.75 billion
It’s a great time to be part of the UT Austinfamily.
Yesterday, on Texas Independence Day, wecrossed another milestone in the Campaign forTexas, when our total giving surpassed $2.75 bil-lion. More than 257,000 alumni, friends, founda-tions and corporations have given during this capi-tal campaign. If you are among them, thank you!If you haven’t given yet, you can still help us makehistory and achieve our goal of $3 billion by Au-gust 31.
Your contributions are already hard at work.One exciting example is UT Austin’s new DellMedical School. Because of your generosity, weare breaking ground for the medical school onApril 21. And your donations help in thousandsof other ways, such as scholarships for deservingstudents, faculty chairs in critical areas of study,and support of crucial programs across the Uni-versity that will shape the future of our state andworld.
Every gift, large or small, counts. Estate gifts(and letting us know about them) are especiallyimportant. And it just might be yours that propelsUT across the finish line. Please give today. http://giving.utexas.edu/
What starts here changes the world.
Community Fit-Blast benefitingthe Alliance for African American
Health in Central TexasMake that move! That’s what the Alliance for
African American Health in Central Texas and BornAgain Bodies is encouraging the community to doon Saturday, March 22, 2014, from 10 a.m. - Noonat Givens Recreation Center. Staying active is oneof the most important things we can do to main-tain good health. Community Fit-Blast is an op-portunity to get moving and at the same time, helpsupport the work of AAAHCT. This will be a fun-packed two hours of music and movement leadby two of the premiere fitness instructors in Cen-tral Texas. Jabari Warfield of n’Caliente Fitness willshare his unique Zumba style, and Pam Parker andBorn Again Bodies will lead routines to show par-ticipants how to incorporate mind, body, and spiritinto their workout. For more information and toregister visit communityfitblast.eventbrite.com.You may also contact Marva Overton (512) 619-4280or Pam Parker (512) 222-7118 to purchase tickets.
Hawaiian Falls Seeking to Hire More than300 Seasonal Workers at Job Fairs
March 6, 2014 Thursday 4:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.Hendrickson High School; 2905 FM 685 Pflugerville TX 78660
March 15, 2014 Saturday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. First BaptistChurch; 306 S. 10th Street; Pflugerville TX 78660March 20, 2014 Thursday 4:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.Pflugerville High School; 1301 Pecan Street W.Pflugerville TX 78660
YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today
Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry
Page 4 ~ March 7, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
Jaquarry WilsonLBJ High School
Preparing for The Big Day
High school gradua-tion, to some, may be con-s idered the bes t dayever. However, those whodidn't order their cap andgown packages may not bewalking across the stage.This is due to the fact thatsome students were incor-rectly informed to believethat the cap and gownwould be provided withoutan order when in fact, ev-ery graduate is requiredto at least rent a cap andgown for the graduation.The d i f ferent packagesavailable for order, which
minimally include a cap,gown, and tassel, are or-dered through Herff Jones,the same organizat ionthrough which students canorder senior pictures,letterman jackets, seniorclass rings and more.
Her f f Jones madetheir first appearance at anassembly, informing stu-dents who attended aboutthe d i f fe ren t packagesand when they 'd be oncampus again taking theorders. Near the end ofthe assembly, the gener-ous company gave awaytwo free packages. OneLBJ s tuden t and oneLASA s tudent bo th re -ceived free items. Gradu-ation is right around thecorner, and June will behere before we know it.This is why it is importantto make sure everythingis ready before the bigday that I am absolutelypositive we are all excitedfor.
Montrae NelsonRiverplace Elementary
My School Safety Program
I had a great day atschool today,Friday 28, 2014.At the end of the day we gath-ered with other students foran assembly to hear about asafety program called Wreckit Ralph Safety Program.They talked about not talking
to strangers and whenpeople are mean or bullying.We were told not to talk tostrangers but I already knewthat because my mom anddad told me.
The presenters of thesafety program told us toyell, tell, no, and go. Next ifsomeone is bullying you,you need to walk away, tell ateacher and or adult. If I everhave a problem at school Itell the teacher and my momwhen she picks me up. I alsolook out for my little brotherwhen we are at school, he isone grade below me. Thesafety program gave us a lotof information on staying safeand I think every child couldlearn a lot from this programand I liked it a lot.
Fun and Family Time!
SaNaya WhiteCedars Academy
This weekend I had lotsof fun. I played water tag withmy cousins at my house andwent to the Millennium YouthEntertainment Complex. Atthe millennium I skated a longtime and saw eight peoplefrom my school. Me and my
cousin did a relay race at themillennium on skates so itwas also fun to see myfriends have fun. Somepeople fell and were not asfast as me. Sunday we wentto visit a different church.
The service was good.If you haven't had any fun andfamily time this month takesome time off your busyschedule and have somebecause it can really bringyou closer together as a fam-ily! There's all kinds of funthings to do at all differentkinds of places. There is onerule and one rule only to hav-ing fun and family time, hereit is, always haveFun,Fun,Fun!
Aubri Allen-BrentDel Valle High School
Zyon HillReagan High School
Teen Pregnancy
A topic that is very im-portant is teen pregnancy. Somany teens at my school arepregnant at my school. Aquote by Carly Rae Jepsonis “you’re supposed to bechanging the world notchanging diapers” If yourpregnant then you can’t en-joy your teen age years, andyour high school fun! And you
probably drop out of highschool. And dropping out isnot the answer! If you dropout of high school then youwill have to get your GED andyou won’t get to have a suc-cessful life. So the messagethat I’m trying to get to you isdon’t drop out of high school,STAY IN SCHOOL!! Until nexttime GOOO CARDS !!!
· One in three (34%)teen mothers earned neithera diploma nor a GED, com-pared with only six percentof young women who had nothad a teen birth.
· Only 40 percent ofteen mothers finish highschool. Fewer than 2 percentfinish college by age 30.
· Pregnancy is the #1reason girls drop out ofschool.
Saturday School
Hello again,Did you know high
schools have school on Sat-urdays? I know it is not newsto most high school stu-dents. What I find interestingis that Saturday school is notjust for students to make upwork or get help on an as-signment that they may behaving problems with. Some
teachers request their stu-dents to come so they cango over things that theylearned in the first semester,to keep students from forget-ting the information. Otherteachers want their studentsto go over things that will beon the STAAR test so theymay get better scores. Ihave always been one of thestudents that did not want togo to Saturday school unlessI was failing a class andneeded to make up somework. Since a few of myteachers have explained tome why they want me tocome to Saturday school, Ijust might have to change myopinion about Saturdayschool.
Until next time,Zyon
De’Ja HillLamar Middle School
Communities in Schools
Hello everyone,I have been in the
C. I .S . p rogram, wh ichstands for Communities inSchool, since I was in thefirst grade. This program isa good place to have funand it is basically for stu-dents who are interested inhaving mentor; someone tohelp you with any work youmight have problems with.They also help with otherthings like school supplies,issuing bus passes whenneed, and clothes. C.I.S.invited the students that arein their program to attenda gardening day on Sat-urday and we could alsobr ing fami l y members .My mom and I went to-gether and had a really funtime.
When we got therethe first thing we did waspaint pots for plants to gointo. My mother and I haddif ferent designs in ourheads so we each painteda pot. After painting thepots we were allowed topick out an herb that we
Genesis StiggersElgin Elementary
A Crazy Piece
Someone has beenstealing pieces of art from allover the world. Heck, a man
from America broke a a mil-lion dollar vase for pete‘sakes! Speaking aboutcrazy, let’s sail across to theArctic where polar bears arestill starving. The weather isso hot the ice is melting andpolar bears have to go toomany miles just to find food,or even a place to rest. OnT.V. today they are talkingabout polar bears eating theirbabies just to survive.
As I look around theworld today I notice, that weare one crazy piece of theuniverse.
could plant in our pot. Ipicked a lavender plantand my mom p icked abas i l p lan t ; one o f thecoolest things is we gotto take our potted plantshome. We were also sup-plied with simple recipesthat called for the use ofthe herbs we planted.
The next thing wedid after finishing with ourplants was to paint birdhouses. My bird housewas painted using blueand yellow paints, while mymom used orange, yellow,and grey paint. My birdhouse looked way betterthan hers by a long shot.We decided to decorate afew more bird houses us-ing markers this time and Ibelieve that both of our birdhouses looked pretty good,so we called it a tie. Wewere able to choose a birdhouse a piece to take homealong with our plants. I washappy about that becausewe put wind chimes onthem too, although I mightfeel different about the windchimes once they start mak-ing too much noise. Weboth had fun especially mymom because she does notget out the house that often.I think that al l studentsshould check to see if theyhave a C.I.S. program inyour school because theycan really help you out.
Until next time keepyour head up and neverstop smiling, De’ja’
I’m so sad that this is thelast sport I will be doing forthe rest of the year, but I dontcare what no one says I knowI came a long way.Oh I’malso trying out for a summerbasketball league, soo mebeing an athlete will continue.
Jada DempsDailey Middle School
Sports Season Ending
Explore UT
On Saturday, March 1st,my church youth group wentto the University of Texas forExplore UT, “The BiggestOpen House in Texas”. It wasfree but they had a lot of dif-ferent activities for all ages.
We took a tour of thecampus by visiting the differ-ent buildings; engineering,science, art, and social work.
Sarah RobertsonPioneer Crossing Elem.
It was at these differentschools we had the chanceto do the exploring. At eachschool they had hands onactivities like arts and crafts.We built cars out of life sav-ers candy, with straws andpaper. Then we tested thecars to see if they wouldmove. We had to blow andpush them to get them tomove, but it worked.
The students from UTschools help us with our ex-periments. There were lotsof kids from all over Texas.As the grand finale for Ex-plore UT closing activities, wehad a chance to march withthe UT marching band to thetower where we took a giantpicture shape like the stateof Texas. After that we hadfree ice cream from Amy’s icecream. It is an annual eventand I look forward to goingagain next year.
www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/March 7, 2014 ~ Page 5
YOUTH BRIGADE
Jaylon KnightenDel Valle High School
The Final Stretch
All week we have beentaking the Mock STAAR test,
preparing us for the realSTAAR test in April and May.The English I part of the testis very important since this isthe one all grades needs topass in order to graduatehigh school.
The Cardinals baseballteams will having games thisweek on Tuesday we playagainst Akins and on Satur-day we will be traveling toLockhart TX to play in a tour-nament.
Next week is SpringBreak March 10-16th. StayBlessed
The Hawaiian Falls Wa-ter Park, which is locatedimmediately in front ofHendrickson HS, is holdinga summer job fair 4:30 pmMarch 6 at the school, 10 amto 3 pm March 15 at First Bap-tist Church, and at 4:30 pm atPflugerville High (March 20)and Connally High (March27). Jobs include lifeguards,cashiers, grounds keepersand maintenance workers.
The Hawks Classic CarShow will be held in the park-ing lot March 29. The annualevent is sponsored by theBusiness Professionals ofAmerica. There will be a si-lent auction at 10 am withawards at 1:30 pm.
The girls' golf teamcompeted in the McNeil HSGolf Tournament, held at LostCreek Country Club. Repre-senting HHS were seniorsRhianna Mask and ZanbriaAsante, junior Mallory Lovett,sophomore Ania Franco andfreshman Tara Cooper. Theteam posted a score of 423with Franco, Mask and Coo-per posting their personal
Classic Car Show
Alon RodgersHendrickson H.S.
bests of 88, 119 and 120 re-spectively. Their next tourna-ment is at Delaware Springsin Burnet on March 17.
The boys golf team isoff to a busy start this spring,already having competed intournaments in Marble Falls,Lampasas and Bastrop. Ac-tually, surviving is more likeit. Tee off in Lampasas sawa temperature of 31 with thehigh that day of only 35. Com-peting for the Hawks areCarter Brown, Blake Kirkham,Logan Miller, Gabe Garves,Nick Carl, Austin Eickhoff,Dustin Dubose, Lucas Adix,Zach Kidwell and Justin Ruiz.The teams will compete nextweek at Crystal Falls GolfCourse in Leander.
Art students went to theUIL competition last week. Arecord number of studentsparticipated in the competi-tion. Medal winners were:Katie Amenda with two med-als, Ranella Cruz, ShaneAnders with two medals,Jonathan Becerra, HuyNguyen, Eroica Luckowski,Triston Simpson-Bland, JolieEstes, Ana Luisa Gutierrez(two paintings), Kim VanDyke (2 works), MichaelaProtsman, Emily Strickland,Mikaela Kelarek, and KaliseGartner. In addition to all ofthe medal winners one of theworks of art will be going onto compete at state level.Congratulations to ShaneAnders with his drawingAquatic Cyborg.
Jasmyn PattersonReagan High School
On last week I wasprivileged with the opportu-nity of representing John HReagan ECHS at UIL Soloand Ensemble competition.It was a wonderful experienceand I learned a lot about myvoice and challenging my-self. As a contestant, I was
U.I.L.given a few books full of UILapproved sheet music. I se-lected an arrangement byHarry Burleigh title StealAway. I practiced the songfor a little over a week andthen on that Saturday I trav-eled to McCallum High for thecompetition.
In UIL, scores are ratedby numbers, 5 being theworst and 1 being the best.Well to my surprise I made a1. I am so elated to be ableto represent my school andshine a little on our musicdepartment. I hope that otherstudents compete in UIL nextyear and continue to paintpositive image of our won-derful school.
Lanette DempsDel Valle High School
Talent Show
Friday March 17 ,2014Del valle High School is hav-ing a talent show. It will be lo-
cated in the auditorium. Andthe time it will be starting at8:30 and will be ending at9:05. There will also be oneafter school . If you attend thetale t show you will have topay $2 to in and after schoolit will be $3. I hope to seealot of people there and trustme you will enjoy your selfand you will have a greattime .
Enjoy and I will keepyou updated on any otherevents that will happen at DelValle High School.
Imani DempsDel Valle High School
This is the last week ofschool before spring break.I'm so happy because I canwork a lot over the break.This week grades went in Itried to stay after school asmuch as I could so I can stayon my grades. I'm just readyto graduate school then I'll behappy forever.
Spring Break
Kiara MyersVista Ridge H.S.
This past Saturday atHSANA, there was the 2ndannual STEM Fair. STEMstands for Science, Technol-ogy, Engineering and Math.It’s the equivalent of an openhouse for students to showoff their talents in coreclasses and extracurricularactivities.
Saturday morning, stu-dents and teachers arrived atschool before the eventstarted to ready their dis-plays and themselves for theflow of people who werebound to come. Papers onposters were re-glued,tables were set up and con-cession stands werestocked.
When the clock struck10 A.M., students, parentsand teachers were directedto the cafeteria to watch theopening ceremony,drumline. Shortly after, U.S.Congressman Bill Flores wasintroduced and strongly en-couraged HSANA administra-tors, teachers and studentsto continue to be excellent.Then, everyone set off toroam the school and checkout all the amazing presen-tations.
STEM Fair
Jarian GallowayHarmony Academy
Each section and roomof the school was set asidefor a different subject: therewas the Physics hall, whichshowed everyone how easyit was to generate electricitythroughout the human body,the Math hall, showed every-one how shapes and theo-rems are used in everydaylife. The Biology roomshowed everyone the humanbody’s many talents and howeasily DNA can be made intoa keepsake. The SocialStudies section gave infor-mation about other countriesand how their general back-ground came to be. The En-glish/Theater hallway per-formed different scenes fromdifferent plays. The Chemis-try hall showed everyone howhousehold items can beused to modify things. TheTechnology room, were theRobotics team showed offtheir robot friends
There were even someextra rooms, such as the Dis-section room, where seniorsdissected a cow’s heart anda cat and the Reptile room,where a single studentbrought all of his reptilianpets, including sevensnakes, a turtle, two beardeddragons, a savannah moni-tor, a scorpion and four taran-tulas.
STEM Fair is a placewhere memories are madeat school and things younever knew could happen.Just ask the students, whoare terrified of snakes, whosuddenly found themselveswith a Columbian Boa Con-strictor slithering around theirnecks.
Leadership Conference
On Thursday night theCapital City chapter of TopTeens of America traveled toShreveport, Louisiana for theannual Area One LeadershipConference. We arrivedearly Friday morning andjumped right into our first ses-sion. We networked with
other teens from the regionand got to build stronger re-lationships with our mentors.It was quite a busy weekendwith lots of people runningaround. I most enjoyed thebanquet and ball on Saturdaynight where we got to dressup in formal wear and dance.Also we got to know eachother better and spent timesocializing.
My team even won theBlack History Bowl overeleven other teams. I’mthankful to have had such agreat time and have met somany new people. I’m reallylooking forward to my lastconference next year inHouston and ending my termin Top Teens on a high note.
APD ExplorersThe Austin Police
Explorer program is in-tended to show youthbetween the ages of 14and 20 and at a 9th gradelevel or higher the manycareer opportunitiesavailable in law en-forcement. All areayouth interested in alaw enforcement careermay apply.
Program trainingareas include, but arenot limited to, patrol tac-tics, forensics, commu-nications and criminalinvestigations. Explor-ing provides experi-ences to aid youngpeople in their develop-ment in becoming re-sponsible and caringadults. The programteaches key skills suchas leadership, ethicalinsight and decision-making.
Explorers can alsobecome involved inspecial events, partici-pate in a ride-alongprogram, travel to dif-ferent places aroundthe state and nation toparticipate in competi-tions and receivescholarships.
The Explorer pro-gram allows partici-pants to:
Develop potentialcontacts that maybroaden employmentoptions
Boost self-confi-dence and experiencesuccess at school andwork
Develop physicaland mental fitness
Experience posi-tive social interaction
Encourage the skilland desire to help oth-ers
Gain a keen respectfor the basic rights ofothers
Help make ethicalchoices
Acquire leadershipskills necessary to fulfillones responsibilities insociety
One of the mostvaluable things in theCity of Austin’s future isour youth. Together wecan make a differencethat will continue toshape the landscape ofour city for decades tocome. For more infor-mation on the Explorersprogram, please emailA P D e x p l o r e r s @austintexas.gov or con-tact Officers TomCastonguay (512) 974-4975 or William Beck(512) 974-4431.
SRP'13, the 2013 Summer Reading Programfor youth, takes place June 6 through August 24.Special events happen June 17 through July 27.
There's something for everyone from toddlersto teens: mysteries to solve, magnet science fun,marionettes, puppets, tap dance, live raptors, lo-cal music, cowboys vs. ninjas, stories, arts andcrafts, a DIY clothing swap, cosplay and a glow-in-the-dark dance party!
Take the SRP'13 challenge!How many books can you read? You decide!Sign up at the Library or online.Read, read, read.Record the books you read and your opinions
in your reading log.Return your completed log to any Austin
Public Library location between July 1 and August26, 2012, and choose a book to keep. That's right,you earn a FREE book just for reading!
SRP’13 is sponsored in part by Austin Energyand the City of Austin Music Division. All pro-grams and events are free and open to the public.For more information please call 512-974-7400 orvisit www.austinsummerreading.org.
Generation ZeroAustin Resource
Recovery is committedto achieving ZeroWaste by educatingAustin’s youth to cre-ate the next GenerationZero! Austin ResourceRecovery, in partner-ship with Keep AustinBeauti ful , providespresentations, activ-ity kits, youth serviceprojects and f ie ldtrips for students ingrades K through 12.Join us to engageyouth in fun, hands-
on activities and ser-vice projects to raiseawareness about re-cycling, compostingand conservation whilefostering environmentalstewardship.
Register ataustintexas.gov/de-partment/youth-educa-tion to schedule a pre-sentation and engagestudents in service. Forquestions e-maile d u c a t i o n @ k e e paustinbeautiful.org orcall 512-391-0617.
K–2: Classroom Composting3rd–5th Grade: Recycling Adds Up
Middle School: Trash Travels and MRF(Materials Recovery Facility) Madness
High School: Opening the Lid on Waste
Class Levels
Page 6 ~ March 7, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLD
By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
Van De Putte’s Campaign Stops in AustinIn the past days
and weeks, the Demo-cratic party candidatefor Lieutenant Gover-nor has been busy"stumping" in the Aus-tin area. For instance,she was one of the pre-miere speakers at a"pro choice" rally at theTexas Capitol Build-ing, which, was heldlast week. In addition,Leticia Van De Puttewas the major speakerat the Central TexasDemocratic party fo-rum.
In this statewiderace, Democrats have alot of odds to overcomedue to the fact that ithas been over a decadesince they have held astatewide office. In thepast years, Texas hasbecome a “red State”
due to the fact Texanshave over whelminglyvoted for the Republi-
can candidates in state-wide races.
Moreover, some
political experts be-lieve that Leticia’splacement on the state-wide ballot would mo-tive women’s votesand also other minoritygroups. The recent Re-publican controlledLegislature overreached in women re-productive rights hasgalvanized womenthroughout the State.Therefore, a surge ofwomen voters can alsoturn the State of Texasfrom Republican toDemocrats. In addition,the demographicchange in Texas cancause Democrats to win.In recent years, Texashas seen a growth a vari-ous minority groups,which, tend to votemore often for theDemocratic Party.
Texas Senator Leticia Van de Putte.
Can WilliamsonCounty Turn Blue
On March 6, 1957,the nation of Ghana be-came an independentnation. Its leader,Kwame N' Krumah ledthe nation from its in-dependence and wasalso a leader within thePan-African view move-ment, which called forthe solidarity amongpeople of African de-scent. In other words,Kwame N'Krumah wasone of the first Africanleaders who believedin self-reliance, in-stead, of receivingmonetary aid fromWestern nations. Afterbeing president for ashort period of time, hewas overthrew. Ghanaspiraled into variousmilitary coups, whichslowed the develop-ment of Ghana. But,then Ghana wouldeventually stabilizeunder the militaryleader of JJ Rawlings.
On March 6, 2014the nation of Ghana cel-ebrated its 64th Anni-versary, which makes itthe oldest independentcountry in West Africa.Not only is Ghana theoldest nation in Sub-Sahara Africa, but italso has become a rolemodel for other coun-tries to follow. Overthe past two decades,Ghana has become a
As Williamson County Democrats go to thepolls, they have very optimistic for their oppor-tunity to change the county leadership. Unlikeother times, Democrats are challenging Repub-l icans for a lmost every key pos i t ion inWilliamson County. For instance, Eddie HurstJr is running for Williamson County Commis-sioner Precinct II; Chris Osborn is running forTexas House District 52 in Williamson County,which includes parts of Austin; John Bucy III isrunning for Texas House District 136; Nick Leosis running for Williamson County CommissionerPrecinct 1.
Since the economic boom of the 90's thatthe county has seen fast growth. As a result,numerous areas of Williamson County have be-come more urbanized. In addition, the demo-graphics of the county has changed, in which,there has been an increase of minorities inWilliamson County. For instance, in 2012 about43 percent of the Williamson County voted forthe President Obama.
In Williamson County Democrats can turnthe tide by massive voter registration; blockwalking; and phone banking. For instance, theycan work with Diaspora Vote and other organi-zation that seeks to register and mobilize vari-ous Democratic party voting blocks. In otherwords, there needs to be a dramatic turnout inorder for Democrats to be elected in WilliamsonCounty.
Ghana CelebratesIndependence Day
By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
"beacon" of democracyin West Africa. It hasbecome a role model ofdemocracy due to thefact that they orga-nized elections thatwere "free and fair" toall of its citizens. Nowthat Ghana has heldfive successful elec-tions without any inci-dents, now it serves asa showcase nation totheir neighboringcountries like Coted’Ivoire and Togowhich have much workto do before holdingfree and fair elections.
Finally, the Gha-naian diaspora livingin Central Texas arestill in the planning tohold an independentday celebration. More-over, the Ghanaian cel-ebration is a source ofcommunity unity andpride. According tocertain statistic, thereare about 1,000 peopleof the Ghanaiandiaspora communityliving in Central Texas.Moreover, the Ghana-ian Diaspora is one ofthe largest group inCentral Texas. For in-stance, Mr. Hinn-Luther mentioned thatthe event services as a"gathering for the com-munity and also an op-portunity to reflect ontheir homeland."
TX House District 52 Candidate, Chris Osbornand Oyen. Photo by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
DESIRE-TO-INSPIREEmpowerment BrunchReaching Out Supporting Every Sister (ROSES)
presents the second annual empowerment brunchdesigned to motivate you to have the best year ever!
Grab your friends and join us for facilitated talksand inspirational fun with our talented and entertain-ing Extraordinary Panel of guest speakers. Featur-ing a swanky brunch, door prizes, complimentarygiveaway bags, vendors, and more!
There's nothing like being in a room full of posi-tive, talented, successful women who are willing toshare their testimonies and insight to help guide youin the right direction.
Vendors are welcome! There is a vendor fee.Vendors will be limited and accepted on a first come,first serve basis. Placements also available for busi-ness cards, promotional items, information or “free-bies” in our Giveaway Bags. Please contact RoseASAP.
Desire To Inspire - Women's EmpowermentBrunch will be prepared and served by ChefLaTwayna Griffin and her amazing team at SouthernElegance.
We expect to exceed last year's attendance,and TICKETS WILL NOT BE SOLD AT THE DOOR.
For additional questions, ticket purchases andinformation to promote your business, organization,ministry, products or services, please contactROSES ASAP @ 512.579.8265
RED CARPETAFFAIR: AReason To
DanceOn Saturday,
Mar. 22 Ballet Afriquewil l ce lebrate thetransformative powerof dance by hosting acocktail reception andspecial screening of AREASON TO DANCEat the George Wash-ington Carver Mu-seum & Cultural Cen-ter from 6 p.m. to 9p.m.
A REASON TODANCE is an much-anticipated documen-tary about one ofAustin's premier cul-tural institutions, Bal-let Afrique. The filmis part of KLRU’saward winning “Artsin Context” and fea-tures Ballet AfriqueFounder & Art is t icDirector ChinaSmith’s inclusive mis-sion to bring dance toall of Austin’s chil-dren.
A wide array oflocal, state, and na-
tional public and pri-vate leaders, officials,personalities, digni-taries and friends areexpected to attend theRed Carpet Affair. Itbegins at 6 p.m., fol-lowed by the hour-long screening at 7and ending with thecocktail reception.
The documentarywill air on Thursday,Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. (CST)in celebration of BlackHistory month. Pleasecheck local listings,
Ballet Afrique6th Birthday
PartyBallet Afrique will
celebrate its 6th Anni-versary with a birth-day party to honor Bal-let Afrique’s beautifulchildren and families,many of whom rely on
scholarships.The party is free
and open to the public,and will also take placeat the Carver Museum& Cultural Center. Joinus from 11 a.m. to 1:30p.m. for cupcakes, car-nival games, guestspeaker Mikaila Ulmerand special appear-ances by Curli Locksand Princess ButterflyUnique (There will bespecial surprises andtreats for the entirefamily.
and watch the trailer athttp://www.klru.org/a r t s i n c o n t e x t / e p i -s o d e / a - r e a s o n - t o -dance/).
www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/March 7, 2014 ~ Page 7
CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION
City of AustinPurchasing Office
EMPLOYMENTPROPOSALS
PUBLIC INFORMATIONFOR SALEFOR RENT
BIDSMISCELLANEOUS
The City of Austin Purchasing Office invitesyou to view current bid solicitations at https://www.c i . au s t i n . t x . u s / f i nanceon l ine /vendor_connection/solicitation/solicitations.cfm.Vendors are encouraged to register on-line in theCity’s Vendor Self Service System. Once yourcompany is registered, you will receive notifica-tions about new bid opportunities. For addi-tional information regarding current bid opportu-nities or Vendor Registration, please call the Pur-chasing Office at 512-974-2500.
For information on the City of Austin’s Mi-nority Owned and Women-Owned ProcurementProgram and the certification process, pleasecontact the Small & Minority Business ResourcesDepartment at 512-974-7600 or visit their websiteat http://www.austintexas.gov/smbr.
AUSTIN, TX –Austin is now home toan African AmericanCultural Heritage Dis-trict (District).Launched on Feb. 1 atthe beginning of BlackHistory Month at the“Treasured Places: ACommunity Gather-ing,” the District willend the month, reservedfor reflection and cel-ebration of AfricanAmerican heritage, withthe announcement of the“Legacy Logo” compe-tition. The competitionoffers the opportunityfor the District to recog-nize and support youngartists and designers,while hoping to solicitgreat work that repre-sents the District’s iden-tity, legacy, present dayspace and future.
“The launching ofthe District has been agrand effort of collabo-ration amongst the Cityof Austin, the AustinConvention and Visi-tors Bureau and the citi-zens of East Austin,”says Austin’s AfricanAmerican CulturalHeritage District Execu-tive Director, Lisa Byrd.“We are dedicated toensuring that the Districtbecomes a thriving sec-tor of historical, socialand cultural signifi-
Austin’s First AfricanAmerican Cultural Heritage
District Launches LegacyLogo Competition
$10,000 awarded to the winning design, logo torepresent District’s historic and cultural legacy
cance and hope that thiscompetition will inspireAustin’s designers tocapture that purposeand legacy in a logo.”
The Austin AfricanAmerican CulturalHeritage District willserve to introduce muchof the Austin commu-nity to some of the city’smost iconic landmarksand unrecognizedspaces of historical sig-nificance to both the Af-rican American Austinnarrative and Austin’snarrative at large. Art-ists and designers areencouraged to contem-plate that purpose andits significance to theAustin community andsubmit their ideas/de-signs by Thursday,March 19. While all sub-missions are welcome,the District will encour-age work created by andr e p r e s e n t i n gunderrepresented com-munities. A panel com-prised of local artists,community leaders andhistorians will selectthree submissions topresent to the public ata public forum at theend of March. The win-ning designer will beawarded $10,000 fortheir logo. For more in-formation visit: http://www.aachd.org/
Many Unaware Significant Affordable Care Act Deadline LoomsMarch 31 Deadline to Enroll for Health Coverage May Be Last Chance for Most in 2013
Austin, TX (myPressManager.com) —While most of the attention in recent months
on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has focused onits bumpy rollout and the deadline to gain cover-age by January 1, 2014, the approaching open en-rollment deadline of March 31, 2014, may be farmore significant than most realize.
According to the law, anyone who has notpurchased ACA-compliant coverage by March 31,2014, will be unable to do so for the remainder ofthe year unless they experience a “qualifyingevent” such as a marriage, divorce, birth or adop-tion of a child, or loss of a job. Those not qualify-ing for special enrollment after March 31, 2014, willhave to wait until open enrollment for 2015 openson November 15, 2014, in order to purchase cov-erage.
Unless you’re exempt from the requirementto obtain coverage, you could face a penalty of $95or up to 1 percent of your household income,whichever is higher, if you do not obtain ACA-compliant coverage for 2014 by March 31. Whilemany may be inclined to pay the first-year pen-alty rather than incurring the cost of purchasingcoverage, the lack of health insurance could provedevastating should they experience a health careevent or illness after the deadline. Surveys sug-gest that a large number of consumers are unawarethat they will not have access to coverage for theremainder of the year after March 31, 2014. A re-cent Enroll America survey found that over 80percent of Americans did not know of the March31 deadline to enroll in policy purchased from aHealth Insurance Exchange Marketplace.
Mark Bellman, president of the Texas Asso-ciation of Health Underwriters, cautions consum-ers about taking that risk. “While a quick analysisof the low first-year penalty versus paying for thecost of coverage might seem like a no-brainer, amore important consideration might be, ‘Can Ihandle the cost of a broken limb or serious illnessshould that occur?’” he said.
According to AFLAC’s Real Cost Calculator,without health insurance the average cost to treata broken leg is over $10,000. The average cost oftreating breast cancer, the second leading cause of
cancer death among women, is $128,556. For a se-vere heart attack, the average real cost is about $1million. The Healthcare Bluebook reports the av-erage cost for appendicitis without insurance is$10,091.
In the past, Texans unable to obtain healthcoverage were able to do so through the TexasHealth Insurance Risk Pool (THIRP). THIRP hasserved as a safety net for approximately 20,000Texans, but will be closing its doors on March 31,2014, leaving no other alternatives aside from pri-vate options offered inside and outside the state’sHealth Insurance Exchange Marketplace.
A key and popular component of the Afford-able Care Act allows for access to coverage regard-less of any pre-existing health condition an indi-vidual may already have. To ensure that consum-ers did not wait until they were ill to purchase cov-erage, open enrollment periods were included topromote responsible health insurance coverageand to allow insurers to spread the risks and costsof providing coverage among a broad pool ofhealthy as well as sick individuals.
The concept of spreading the risk among abroad pool of both sick and healthy individuals isthe underlying premise that makes insurance cov-erage possible and is a major part of the Afford-able Care Act. Without enrollment timeframes, itis believed that the vast majority of consumerswould wait until they were about to incur medi-cal costs before they purchased coverage. The re-sult would be exorbitant premium rates that wouldbe required to fund the costs of mostly sick indi-viduals who would comprise an insurance pool.
“There are a lot of moving parts to the newlaw, and those purchasing coverage will be well-served to ensure they have the full picture of theiroptions and the consequences of their decisions.Their choices could determine their ability to af-ford the care needed to remain healthy, managean unexpected injury or deal with a life-alteringillness,” stated Bellman.
Consumers interested in locating a profes-sional benefit adviser in their community who canassist with questions about the Affordable CareAct may do so at www.tahu.org.
Doings andHappeningsfor Spring
Breakby Shirley Hammond
Austin Aquarium/Sea to Believe
This venue offersgreat exhibits of sea life;including some rare findsand exotic species. Thereare also many non-marineanimals on display. Alltold, the website boastsover 2,500 species.
Order online andsave $2 or check out theirlarge group discounts.Also, foster children arefree.
The aquarium is lo-cated at 13530 N Hwy 183,Austin, TX 78750 offAnderson Mill Road.Hours are Sunday-Thurs-day 10am-7pm, and Fri-day-Saturday 10am-9pm.Call 512-222-5586.
Workshop forGirls
Austin Bat Cave isoffering an exciting, freeworkshop for girls ingrades 8-12. The springbreak workshop is free,but registration is required.
Included in the work-shop is the “Tell Me Ev-erything: The Art of the In-t e r v i e w . ”Workshop: Saturday,March 8, 1:00pm–4:00pmat Lewis Carnegie Studio.
To register, visitaustinbatcave.org/work-shop-sign-up or call 512-666-7645.
PROJECT Visa Global IT Center
Bid Package: Lobby, 1st & 2nd Floor Tenant Improvements (Phase III of IV)
BID DATE Thursday, March 6, 2014, 2:00pm (CST)
DPR CONTACT Matthew Lockwood, Preconstruction Manager ([email protected])
INVITATION TO BID/PROPOSE: DPR Construction is requesting bids/proposals for certainwork components related to the interior fit-out of approximately 45,000 SF office space andLobby for the Visa Global IT Center project located at Research Park Plaza III, in Austin,Texas.
A Pre-Bid/Proposal Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 27, 2014, 11:00 AM (CST) andTuesday March 4, 2014, 11:00 AM (CST) at the site, 12301 Research Blvd. (Building 3), Austin,TX 78759.
Bids/Proposals are due on Thursday, March 6, 2014 before 2:00 P.M (CST). Bid/proposalsmay be submitted via e-mail to DPR Preconstruction Manager Matthew Lockwood [email protected]; via fax at 512-345-8230; or via hand-delivered envelope to DPR’s AustinOffice, located at 9606 Mopac Expressway, Suite 300. Bids/proposals will be opened by theOwner’s representative at DPR’s offices on bid day, and results will be made public after bidaward. Please direct all questions about the bids/proposals and project scope to DPRConstruction, Matthew Lockwood.
Project Description: Scope includes complete tenant improvements for 45,119 SF of space,which includes mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, fire alarm, telephone anddata cabling, casework, ceramic tile, audio visual, appliances, carpet and paint.
•Flooring•Painting•Casework•Doors, Frames &H a r d w a r e•Ceramic Tile•Wall Covering•Mechanical
•Electrical•Plumbing•Fire Alarm•Fire Protection•Audio Visual•Telecommunications/D a t a•Appliances
Trades :
Plan Availability: Plans will be available at all of the local area plan rooms and DPR’s Austinoffice, 9606 MoPac Expressway N., Suite 300 Austin, TX 78759. DPR also has file sharing sitefor contractors interested in electronic documents. Please contact DPR Construction foradditional information, 512-345-7699 or contact Matthew Lockwood directly [email protected].
DPR Construction is an EEO Employer and all subcontractors and vendors, including Minorityand Woman Owned Business Enterprise Subcontractors and Suppliers, are stronglyencouraged to submit bids/proposals for this project. Certification must be in place with theCity of Austin prior to submission of bid/proposal. Subcontractors (not equipment vendors)are also strongly encouraged to complete DPR’s qualification process prior to the submissionof a bid/proposal. Qualification is a condition of contract award.
We appreciate your bid and would like to hear from you!Please indicate your interest in bidding by faxing this form back to DPR at (512) 345-8230
YES, will bid NO, will not bid
Project: Visa Global IT Center – Lobby, 1st and 2nd Floor Tenant ImprovementsCompany:Contact Person:Email:Phone No.FAX No.MBE/WBE Certified No Yes If yes, Vendor ID Code:
Page 8 ~ March 7, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
PROGRAMS ~ AWARENESS
Austin, Texas — On February 21, the GreaterAustin Black Chamber of Commerce hosted the thelargest celebration of Blackbusinesses and cham-pions of diversity in Central Texas at its 2014 SmallBusiness Awards Gala. Over 400 guests attendedthe black-tie event hosted at the Omni Southpark,which recognized thirteen honorees, chosen forexceptional leadership, extraordinary standards ofprofessional excellence and commitment to com-munity.
Featured remarks were made by Robert Smith,Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners;LIfetime Achievement Award Winner Ron Kirk,former U.S. Trade Ambassador and Senior Coun-sel with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Dr. Jose Vicente,Founder of Zumbi Dos Palmares Brazil, and Hon-orary Gala Chair, Austin Mayor Pro Tem SherylCole. Presenting awards to winners were ChamberBoard Chair, Ashton Cumberbatch (l) & ChamberPresident & CEO, Natalie M. Cofield (r).
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2014 SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS GALAHIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2014 SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS GALA
Centered is African American CorporateExecutive of the Year, Terri Broussard Williams,
Vice President of Governmental Relations,American Heart Association Southwest Affiliate
Centered is Ambassador of the Year,AJ Bingham, Legislative Director, McWilliams,
Governmental Affairs Consultants
Centered is Ambassador of the Year,Dee Patience, Founder, DeePatience.com
Centered is Austinpreneur of the Year, LukeKyohere, Founder & CEO, Beyonic
Centered is Corporate Partner of the Year, ChrisGenteel, Head of Diversity Markets, Google, Inc.
Centered is Diversity Champion of the Year,Dr. Kevin Foster, Founder, Blackademics,
Professor at the University of Texas at Austin
Centered is Diversity Champion of the Year,Hugh Forrest, Director, SXSW Interactive
Festival
Centered is Emerging Business Leader of theYear, Virginia A. Cumberbatch
Centered is International Business/Partnershipof the Year, Dr. Jose Vicente, Founder, Zumbi
dos Palmares College (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Centered is Lifetime Achievement Award, TheHonorable Ron Kirk, Senior of Counsel,
Gibson Dunn, Former United States TradeAmbassador
Mayor Pro Tem, Sheryl Cole and GreaterAustin Black Chamber President & CEO,
Natalie Madeira Cofield
Keynote Speaker, Robert Smith-Chairman andCEO of Vista Equity Partners
Centered is Teenpreneur of the Year, HannaLashay, CEO, Hanna’s Handmade Hairbows
Centered is Small Business of the Year,Charmane H. Sellers, President and CEO,
