TPA TPA TPA TPA TPA TEXAS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid Austin, Texas Permit No. 01949 INSIDE Vol. 43 No. 1 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: [email protected]May 22, 2015 RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt www.TheAustinVillager.com This paper can be recycled The Precursors Honor President Powers and Mrs. Anderson AUSTIN, TX - Satur- day, May 16, 2015, The Precursors, University of Texas at Austin alumni, hosted their annual meet- ing and awards luncheon at the Crown Plaza hotel. The afternoon was led by Cloteal Davis Haynes, The Precursors, Inc. President who opened with a wel- come speech, followed by Jacquelyn Hawkins, The Precursors Inc. Director who introduced the influ- ential Keynote speaker, Reverend Joseph C. Parker Jr., Esq., D. Min. Parker is the Senior Pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Austin, Texas. The empowering evening continued as Judge Harriett Murphy, The Precursors Inc. Parlia- mentarian took to the po- dium, announcing special acknowledgement to Mr. William Powers, Jr., B.S., J.D., and President of UT MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED - Honoree Mrs. Ada Collins Anderson (left) and Dr. Charles Urdy (right) address the audience during the Precursors An- nual Awards Luncheon, Saturday, May 16, 2015 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel - Austin. Photo/Angela Wyatt (Villager Newspaper) Austin. As Powers prepares to retire, alumni would be remiss to thank him for the many outstanding changes he brought to the university and making a more diverse campus. Powers has recruited a diverse student body and faculty during his celebrated administration. Presi- dent Powers pledged to make diversity his highest pri- ority as stated in his first State of the University Ad- dress in 2006. Powers worked diligently to the estab- lishment of the Division of Diversity and Community by Angela Wyatt | Villager Newspaper See THE UT MANTRA, page 2 The Case for Student Loan Debt Forgiveness By James Clingman | NNPA Columnist Image source: IBTimes.com By the time you read this article, millions of col- lege students will have graduated and be looking for jobs, many will be go- ing on to grad school and millions will suddenly be faced with paying off col- lege loans or contemplat- ing obtaining a loan for graduate studies. Neither option is attractive. Even if students are fortunate enough to have a job when they graduate, if they are laden with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, it will be very diffi- cult to save money for their future, pay living ex- penses and costs associ- ated with the job they ac- cept, and make $300-$600 in monthly payments for college loans. For those moving on to grad school, unless they have a fellowship or some other kind of grant, they will have a tough de- cision to make when the loan officer at their school or the bank says, “No problem, here’s a $30,000 check to pay for your de- gree.” I hate to think what it costs for an medical de- gree these days. At more than $1 tril- lion, having surpassed credit card debt, college loan debt is an albatross around the necks of stu- dents, some of whom had no idea of what they were getting into and some who did know but refused to do anything about it until now, when it’s too late. With the job market the way it is and has been for Black people for de- cades, some graduates will have an overpriced college degree without a commensurate job pros- pect. They will be faced with the challenge of pay- ing back their loans while looking for a job that does not exist. Or, they will have to accept the prospect of joining the ranks of the “underemployed.” This is indeed a sad state of affairs for our best and brightest, the grand- children of the baby boomers. It is said that “millennials,” as they are called, are the first gen- eration that will be worse off than their parents. Most parents want their chil- dren to do better than they did, and most parents participate in that aspira- tion by putting a little money aside to help their children get off to a rea- sonable start in life. How- ever, in today’s economic climate, there is very little of that kind of help avail- able from parents who are struggling just to pay the rent and keep the lights on. What can we do? High on our agenda should be a demand made, to Congress and whoever is running for president, for student loan debt for- giveness. A strong, inde- pendent bloc of voters must go to candidates in both parties and make this demand. Keep in mind, however, as I have said before, a demand without power backing it up is just rhetoric. I think we have heard enough and had enough of empty words by some of our leaders to know that it will take more than just asking for what we want. We must be will- ing to withhold our votes in order to get what we want—and that goes for both parties. The banks and other financial entities got their See BAILOUT, page 7 Latreese Cooke, Executive Director MEEELJ, Inc. AUSTIN - “There is a plethora of jobs out there. There are a few jobs that are a career - but there are fewer still that can be considered a “calling.” For Latreese Cooke, the formation of Minorities for Equality in Employment, Educa- tion, and Justice - MEEELJ- was, and is, a calling. Formed in 2004, MEEELJ focuses on as- sisting those who were previously incarcerated (“We don’t have ‘felons’ here,” Cooke insists) with the transition to the world that they have left behind, some even de- cades ago. Parole ser- “MEEELJ was, and is, a calling” See MEEELJ, page 7 Congratulations, Graduates! This is a happy and exciting time for students who will be graduating this month. They are excited about the next stage in their development. There is so much time spent talking about the ones who do not succeed and fall through the cracks, that we do not give proper credit to those who are doing the right thing. So, we have decided to do something about that. Our next issue will highlight area graduates (High School, College, Graduate School, or Technical School). And we invite the entire community to participate. We invite you to send us a photo of the graduate and we will be running them in our paper next week (See details on page 5). The majority of our students are doing the right thing and should be encouraged to continue. We are excited about the fact that 5 members of the Youth Brigade are graduating and making plans for their next endeavor. It is exciting for us to hear from former YB members who check in from time to time to just say hello and give us an update on what is going in their lives.And even though they are away, we are excited to know that they are doing well. There are a number of organizations in the community who focus their attention on the youth of the community. They provide both guidance and scholarships as a part of their programs. They all are doing oustanding jobs. This will be our first Graduation issue and would love to have input from the community as to how we should continue. We appreciate the feedback that we get on a regular basis and want it to continue - whether it be positive or negative. We learn from both. Our readers are the eyes and ears of the community and we have always depended on our partnershipwiththecommunity tokeepusinformedandpositive. We could not have survived for 42 years without this partnership. Let’s work together to make this an exciting summer for our youth.. Austin Jazz Festival honors renowned band director. See LBJ Page 5 GTFCU supports students in furthering their education. See BEST Page 3 Central Texas artists go overlooked in the mainstream. See URBAN Page 8
The Precursors HonorPresident Powers and Mrs. Anderson
AUSTIN, TX - Satur-day, May 16, 2015, ThePrecursors, University ofTexas at Austin alumni,hosted their annual meet-ing and awards luncheonat the Crown Plaza hotel.The afternoon was led byCloteal Davis Haynes, ThePrecursors, Inc. Presidentwho opened with a wel-come speech, followed byJacquelyn Hawkins, ThePrecursors Inc. Directorwho introduced the influ-ential Keynote speaker,Reverend Joseph C. ParkerJr., Esq., D. Min. Parker isthe Senior Pastor of DavidChapel Missionary BaptistChurch, Austin, Texas.
The empoweringevening continued asJudge Harriett Murphy,The Precursors Inc. Parlia-mentarian took to the po-dium, announcing specialacknowledgement to Mr.William Powers, Jr., B.S.,J.D., and President of UT
MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED - Honoree Mrs. Ada Collins Anderson (left)and Dr. Charles Urdy (right) address the audience during the Precursors An-nual Awards Luncheon, Saturday, May 16, 2015 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel -Austin. Photo/Angela Wyatt (Villager Newspaper)
Austin. As Powers prepares to retire, alumni would beremiss to thank him for the many outstanding changeshe brought to the university and making a more diversecampus. Powers has recruited a diverse student bodyand faculty during his celebrated administration. Presi-
dent Powers pledged to make diversity his highest pri-ority as stated in his first State of the University Ad-dress in 2006. Powers worked diligently to the estab-lishment of the Division of Diversity and Community
by Angela Wyatt | Villager Newspaper
See THE UT MANTRA, page 2
The Case for Student Loan Debt ForgivenessBy James Clingman | NNPA Columnist
Image source: IBTimes.com
By the time you readthis article, millions of col-lege students will havegraduated and be lookingfor jobs, many will be go-ing on to grad school andmillions will suddenly befaced with paying off col-lege loans or contemplat-ing obtaining a loan forgraduate studies. Neitheroption is attractive.
Even if students arefortunate enough to havea job when they graduate,if they are laden with tensof thousands of dollars indebt, it will be very diffi-cult to save money fortheir future, pay living ex-penses and costs associ-ated with the job they ac-cept, and make $300-$600in monthly payments for
college loans.For those moving on
to grad school, unlessthey have a fellowship orsome other kind of grant,they will have a tough de-cision to make when theloan officer at their schoolor the bank says, “Noproblem, here’s a $30,000check to pay for your de-gree.” I hate to think whatit costs for an medical de-gree these days.
At more than $1 tril-lion, having surpassedcredit card debt, collegeloan debt is an albatrossaround the necks of stu-dents, some of whom hadno idea of what they weregetting into and some whodid know but refused to doanything about it until now,
when it’s too late.With the job market
the way it is and has beenfor Black people for de-cades, some graduateswill have an overpricedcollege degree without acommensurate job pros-pect. They will be facedwith the challenge of pay-ing back their loans whilelooking for a job that doesnot exist. Or, they will haveto accept the prospect ofjoining the ranks of the“underemployed.”
This is indeed a sadstate of affairs for our bestand brightest, the grand-children of the babyboomers. It is said that“millennials,” as they arecalled, are the first gen-eration that will be worse
off than their parents. Mostparents want their chil-dren to do better thanthey did, and most parentsparticipate in that aspira-tion by putting a littlemoney aside to help theirchildren get off to a rea-sonable start in life. How-ever, in today’s economicclimate, there is very littleof that kind of help avail-able from parents who arestruggling just to pay therent and keep the lights on.
What can we do?High on our agenda
should be a demand made,to Congress and whoeveris running for president,for student loan debt for-giveness. A strong, inde-pendent bloc of votersmust go to candidates inboth parties and make thisdemand. Keep in mind,however, as I have saidbefore, a demand withoutpower backing it up is justrhetoric. I think we haveheard enough and hadenough of empty words bysome of our leaders toknow that it will take morethan just asking for whatwe want. We must be will-ing to withhold our votesin order to get what wewant—and that goes forboth parties.
The banks and otherfinancial entities got their
See BAILOUT, page 7
Latreese Cooke,Executive Director
MEEELJ, Inc.
AUSTIN - “Thereis a plethora of jobs outthere. There are a fewjobs that are a career -but there are fewer stillthat can be considered a“calling.” For LatreeseCooke, the formation ofMinorities for Equalityin Employment, Educa-tion, and Justice -MEEELJ- was, and is, acalling. Formed in 2004,MEEELJ focuses on as-sisting those who werepreviously incarcerated(“We don’t have ‘felons’here,” Cooke insists)with the transition to theworld that they have leftbehind, some even de-cades ago. Parole ser-
“MEEELJwas, and
is, acalling”
See MEEELJ, page 7
Congratulations,Graduates!
This is a happy andexciting time for studentswho will be graduating thismonth. They are excitedabout the next stage in theirdevelopment. There is so much timespent talking about the oneswho do not succeed and fallthrough the cracks, that wedo not give proper credit tothose who are doing the rightthing. So, we have decidedto do something about that.Our next issue will highlightarea graduates (High School,College, Graduate School,or Technical School). Andwe invite the entirecommunity to participate. We invite you to send us aphoto of the graduate and wewill be running them in ourpaper next week (See detailson page 5). The majority ofour students are doing theright thing and should beencouraged to continue. We are excited about thefact that 5 members of theYouth Brigade are graduatingand making plans for theirnext endeavor. It is excitingfor us to hear from formerYB members who check infrom time to time to just sayhello and give us an update onwhat is going in their lives. Andeven though they are away, weare excited to know that theyare doing well. There are a number oforganizations in the communitywho focus their attention on theyouth of the community. Theyprovide both guidance andscholarships as a part of theirprograms. They all are doingoustanding jobs. This will be our firstGraduation issue and wouldlove to have input from thecommunity as to how weshould continue. Weappreciate the feedback thatwe get on a regular basis andwant it to continue - whetherit be positive or negative. Welearn from both. Our readersare the eyes and ears of thecommunity and we havealways depended on ourpartnership with the communityto keep us informed and positive.We could not have survivedfor 42 years without thispartnership. Let’s worktogether to make this anexciting summer for our youth..
Austin Jazz Festivalhonors renowned
band director.See LBJPage 5
GTFCU supportsstudents in furthering
their education.See BEST
Page 3
Central Texas artistsgo overlooked inthe mainstream.
See URBANPage 8
THE COMMUNIQUÉPage 2 ~ May 22, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
Engagement, alsoknown as the DDCE; whichis a national acclaimeddepartment. He also dedi-cated a bronze statue ofcivil rights champion Bar-bara Jordan at The Univer-sity of Texas at Austin. Jor-dan was the first femalepublic figure so honoredon the university’s cam-pus. On his watch, Powersmade historical accom-plishments, hiring a blackfootball coach, CharlieStrong and basketballcoach, Shaka Smart.Through the direction ofPowers, barriers havebeen broken, benefitingthe African American com-munity in Austin.
As President of theUniversity of Texas, Pow-ers has fully embraced themantra, “What Starts HereChanges the World.” Hisfour areas of emphasiswere building support forhigher education through-out Texas; elevating theUniversity’s academicstanding to the best in thenation among public Uni-versities; as well as re-cruitment and diversity.
Honoree Mrs. Ada
Powers Fully Embraced The Mantra, “ What Starts Here Changes the World ”continued from page 1
Collins Anderson also re-ceived special recognition.Dr. Charles Urdy, Memberof The Precursors Inc., ap-plauded Anderson for hersteadfast dedication andhard work in the Austincommunity. Anderson, aneducator, entrepreneurand philanthropist, andwife of Marcellus J.(“Andy”) Anderson, werethe first African Americanrealtors in the UnitedStates. In 1953 Anderson-Wormley Real Estate wasfounded. Anderson wenton to earn her graduatedegree in 1965 from UTAustin. She worked as ateacher and psychomet-rics in Austin, assisted theAustin Community CollegeBoard and UT. Andersoninitiated the creation ofthe Leadership EnrichmentArts Program (LEAP) to of-fer low-income and minor-ity youth a chance to ex-perience the performingand visual arts. Andersonhas received numerousaccolades, civic awardsand testimonials, includ-ing election to the TexasBlack Women’s Hall ofFame. In 2006, Anderson
was presented with theDistinguished Alumnus ofthe University of Texas atAustin. Lastly, in 2014,Anderson presentedHuston - Tillotson Univer-sity with a $3 million dol-lar gift - the largest gift inthe history of that Univer-sity - designed for HT’sclinic that will work closelywith UT’s new Dell Medi-cal School. Andersonstated that she I excitingand is looking forward tocelebrating her 50th gradu-ation anniversary!
In addition, The Pre-cursors’ recognized threeoutstanding memberswith an achievementaward who contributed totheir communities. Theachievement award re-cipients were Mr. LonnieFogle, B.S., Mr. CleoJenkins, B.S.M.E., and Mr.Carl Huntley, B.A. Eachattendee was given theopportunity to share hispersonal experience onthe UT Austin campus inpursuit of higher educa-tion.
The UT alumni’s mis-sion is committed to en-couraging the next genera-tion to excel and enhance
campus life for all stu-dents. They will engagestudents in learning howto identify external re-sources; to acknowledgethe achievements of theirforbearers and their peers;and use the concept ofnetworking. Thus, as apermanent organization,they will work to ensurethat the present and futurestudents are empoweredto realize their full poten-tial at the University ofTexas at Austin and be-yond. The Precursors are agroup of African Americanalumni who share the dis-tinction of being amongthe first Black students toattend and integrate TheUniversity of Texas at Aus-tin more than 40 years ago.Their goal is to ensure thatfuture generations ofBlack students are sup-ported at the university.
The Precursors’ cour-age and convictionshelped shape The Univer-sity of Texas at Austin intothe institution it is today;their efforts should be re-membered and honored aswe continue to strive for arichly diverse and inclusivecampus.(Top) Honoree Mrs. Ada Collins Anderson
poses with a framed and decorated photographdepicting the future site of HT’s clinic that willpartner with UT’s new Dell Medical School. (Bot-tom) Honoree UT President William Powers,along with the help of Cloteal Haynes, holdsframed memorabilia of The Barbara Jordan andMLK statues bookending an image of the UTTower. Photo/Angela Wyatt (Villager Newspaper)
CHURCH & TOWN BULLETIN
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.comRev. 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
469-226-4679 | www.vainqueurs.org805 S. Sherman St. Richardson, TX 75081
La Génération desVainqueurs Ministry Church
Tuesday - Friday: 3pm -10pmWalking and Appointment
Wednesday Bible Study | 7:45pmFriday Prayer |7:45pm
Sunday Service | 10:00am
Villager Youth Brigade will be taking sponsorshipsstarting summer of 2015.Your support has beenmuch appreciated over the years. Please continueto invest in Austin’s youth. We look forward toanother successful year with some promisingstudents. FMI Call 512-476-0082
Robert A.O. Fadojutimi,Ph.D.
LONGVIEW Robert A.O. Fadojutimi, Ph.D., wenthome to be with his Lord andSavior Jesus Christ Monday,May 4, 2015. He was born May22, 1951, in Ondo, Nigeria, toGabriel and DorcasFadojutimi. He attendedMethodist Boys GrammarSchool in Lagos, Nigeria. Af-ter high school, he served inthe Nigerian Navy and wastrained as a radio engineer.He attended school in Indiaunder the auspices of the Ni-gerian Navy.
After his military ser-vice, he worked for the Ni-gerian Radio Corporation. Hethen came to Florida Insti-tute of Technology (FIT).While at FIT, he worked forHarris Corporation. Hemoved from Florida to work
East Texas ReviewNewspaper Founder Passes
for Vertex Communications(now General Dynamics), inKilgore, Texas. He graduatedwith a Bachelor of Science inElectrical Engineering and amasters degree in BusinessAdministration fromLeTourneau University inLongview, Texas. He earnedhis Doctor of Philosophy inManagement degree fromWalden University.
Robert founded EastTexas Review newspaper,the home of infinitieplusmagazine and KIDS PRESS.He was an engineer and in-ternational businessmanfor most of his career. Hewas preceded in death byhis parents. Left to cherishthe memory of his earthlylife and looking forward tobeing re-united with him ineternity are his loving wife,Joycelyne; daughter, Rhoda;son, Olu; grandson,Oghenekome; and his sisters,brothers, aunts, uncles,nephews, nieces, and in-laws in Nigeria, Texas, Cali-fornia and Minnesota.
Robert lived a wonder-ful and caring life. He was aloving husband, father andgrandfather and friend. Hisfaith in God was strong and isa comfort to those he leaves
behind.
Bastrop, TX – GraduatingSeniors from Bastrop, CedarCreek, Elgin and SmithvilleHigh School were awardedtheir 2014 B.E.S.T. Scholarship
Greater TEXAS FCU Awards B.E.S.T.College Night Scholarships to
Local Area High School Students
(Pictured: L-R ) RachelFausett, GTFCU
Business DevelopmentOfficer; Jill McNabb,
GTFCU Bastrop BranchManager; William Cox
(Not Pictured) ElginHigh School; ChelseaPerry, Bastrop High
School; CaitlynOppermann, CedarCreek High School;
Kyle Schmidt, SmithvilleHigh School
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONSfor Olivet Baptist Church
In May of 1928, the City of Austin initiated provisions tocreate a “Negro District”, east of East Avenue (IH-35). Coin-ciding with the City Plan of 1928, a group of baptized believ-ers with membership at the First Baptist Church held a meet-ing at the Mosby-Lott Building located at 607 San Jacinto toplan for the organization of a new church. At the first churchconference, Reverend M.M. Haynes was recommended astemporary committee chairman, and Mrs. Beulah J. Murphywas chosen temporary secretary. A week later, ReverendJoseph H. Harrington accepted the call to pastor this newlyorganized church, on May 12, 1928. John W. Whitley offeredthe name “Olivet Baptist Church” for this new Christian fel-lowship and the congregation approved the name.
The first Sunday services were held in the Mosby-LottBuilding, but a week later, an old house located in the “Ne-gro District”, on the corner of San Bernard and Cotton Streetwas purchased. The walls of the house were taken out, andwith no electricity, services began at that location and con-tinue until this day.
The charter members of 1928 seem to embrace thetheme of this 87th Anniversary, “Glorifying God for His Gracein Past, Present and Future Generations”. They prayed, glo-rified God and put effort to their prayers by going to thecotton fields week after week and donating their earningsto build its first Church building.
Pastor J.E. Robinson was called to serve Olivet for ashort period from 1938 –1941. However, in 1941 Rev. FrederickD. Davis served as Pastor until 1953. During his tenure a newbuilding was constructed and completed in 1953. A portionof the building is still being used as the Church’s FellowshipHall.
In 1953 Reverend James McChristian was called to Pas-tor Olivet until 1964. On February 18, 1962, the current edi-fice was dedicated to facilitate the membership’s growth, topraise God’s goodness to His people and offer increased ser-vice to God and the community.
In 1965 until 1994 Reverend Lawrence V. Wicks, becamethe Pastor of the Olivet Baptist and served as Olivet’s long-est tenured Pastor. During his time as service to Olivet, theChurch increased its presence in foreign ministry and con-nections to Mother Africa. Also, improvements were madeto the church and the mortgage note was burned.
1995 until 2011 Rev. Kennedy Young, Sr. served Olivetas Pastor. During this period Olivet was able to integratemodern technology to his style of worship and praise. Tech-nological enhancements included video recording, videoprojection and an enhanced sound system. During his ten-ure, Pastor Young instituted small cottage ministry concepts,health care ministry and formalized the Helping Hands Min-istry.
In 2012 Olivet called Pastor Edward Fleming, Sr. to serveas Olivet’s 7th Pastor. Pastor Fleming was baptized in theOlivet Baptist Church where he also announced his calling toserve as a minister for God. He returned to Olivet bringing apowerful style of preaching with commitment to educationand service to the community. Pastor Fleming has presentedhis God given vision to preserve, upgrade and beautifyOlivet’s sanctuary during its 87th Anniversary planning.
Services begin at the 10:15 a.m. , with guest Pastor RayHendricks and the Rehoboth Baptist Church family then cul-minating at 4:00 p.m. service, with guest Pastor Byron Greenand the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Family from Elgin, Texas.
checks from Greater TEXASFederal Credit Union (GTFCU)on Thursday, May 14, 2015 attheir respective high school.
The scholarship recipi-ents received $500 each to gotowards furthering their edu-cation and their college tuition.The winning students wereChelsea Perry, Bastrop HighSchool; Caitlyn Oppermann,Cedar Creek High School; Will-iam Cox, Elgin High School; andKyle Schmidt, Smithville HighSchool.
Bastrop, Cedar Creek,Elgin and Smithville Seniorssubmitted applications at lastyear’s 2014 B.E.S.T. (Bastrop,Elgin, Smithville, Texas) Col-lege Night, underwritten andsponsored by GTFCU andheld in Bastrop, Texas. Thescholarship winners werechosen through a panel ofjudges and credit union rep-resentatives.
The 2015 B.E.S.T. CollegeNight date has been set forWednesday, October 21, 2015from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at theBastrop High School Cafeteria.
YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today
Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry
Page 4 ~ May 22, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
Teen Pregnancy
Today many teens arebecoming mothers at youngages. I have a bunch offriends who are teen momsand they all tell me it thesame thing it ’s hard tojuggle school and being afull mom to a newborn.that’s why many many teen-age parents end up drop-
Aubri Allen-BrentDel Valle High School
ping out . 90% of teens dropout in the United States be-cause of teen pregnancythat’s more than half of stu-dents. According to onestudy, many teen moms inhigh school miss frequentdays of school due to medi-cal appointments and pre-natal care.
The study concludedthat many schools withschool-based health cen-ters are a good solutions tohelping keeping the teensin school while receivingthe necessary medicaltreatment. About one mil-lion students become preg-nant every year, that’s a lotof teenage girls if you thinkabout it. Until next time GOCARDS!
Mud Fest
Did you have a goodweekend? Well I did. OnFriday I spent the night atmy friend’s house. Weplayed outside games liketrampoline fighting andwrap-up tag. All of uswaited till Saturday morn-ing for a Mud Fest that wewere going to be in. WhenSaturday came we woke up
Kevin ParishPark Crest M.S.
early. Right when we gotthere it was a long line.When the time came up forus to go we went to thestarting line. The wholething was 1.2 miles and allof us ran the whole way.There were a variety of ob-stacles that were there.
The best one was icemud where there is a thou-sand of gallons of icedumped into a muddy pit.We all had to swim/walkthrough it and with all thatice in it, it was really cold.We went to the next ob-stacle after that. Then wehad to swim across the lakeand on the last obstacle, wehad to do climb and slidedown a mud wall. Man thatwas fun! We had a greattime I hope all of you whoread this can do the same
next year.
Hendrickson HighSchool was awarded the Sil-ver designation by US Newsand World Report for the sec-ond consecutive year. Thedata for this list is pulled fromtwo years ago, and puts HHSin the Top 10% of high schoolsin the state and country.Each year’s academic perfor-mance has been better thanthe previous so the future forHHS is great. I am proud to bea Hawk but that will soon behistory.
I enrolled in thePflugeville ISD atBrookhollow ElementarySchool as a second grader af-ter coming from ChicagoPublic Schools. This week Iget my cap and gown — nextyear I expect bigger and bet-ter things will come my way.
Alon RodgersHendrickson H. S.
I love Pflugerville, but it istime to move on. I think PISDdid prepare me but not somuch as the next level of myeducation will prepare mefor my future. I want to thankmy principal Devin Padaviland all of my teachers forstanding by me and believ-ing in me. I will not disap-point you as I go forward as agraduate of HendricksonHigh School.
Next year theHendrickson band will be inthe 2016 Macy’s ThanksgivingParade. The basketball teamwill try to rebuild after a di-sastrous 2015 season. Thefootball team will again tryto make what we all know istheir destiny — a 6A statechampionship. The band anddrama departments willagain be the best anywhere.
Events: Thursday andFriday Choir Spotlight Con-cert at 7 pm; May 26: 9th –11th Awards Ceremony; May29: Last Day for Backpacks;May 31: Baccalaureate; June1: Senior Awards Ceremony@ 7 pm; June 2: GraduationPractice for Seniors at 1:30pm; June 3: Graduation Prac-tice for Seniors at9:30 m;June 3: Last Day of School;June 6: CommencementCeremony @ 11 am in theUT-Austin Erwin Center.
Hawks awarded Silver
Mother's Day Special
I know that for this ar-ticle I should be writingabout the countdown tothe world’s deadliest ani-mals but this article will beworth the delay on count-downs. For this article I willbe writing about Mother’sDay and the importance ofmothers. Mothers are thebase of life for the humanrace. W ithout femalesmany children would not behere and humans wouldhave became extinct manyyears ago. Though there aremany other reasons for whymothers are important Ijust thought I should throwin this scientific fact.
Moms are very spe-cial. They protect their
young from the bad by anymeans necessary, even if itcould mean getting them-selves hurt. Mothers sacri-fice a lot. They put up withall the messes and spillsand the refusal to do workfrom their children, andeven though lots of momshave to do these jobs alone,it is always good to have apartner to have your back.Moms do a lot of things andalways need some grati-tude for it sometimes.
Everyone needs someappreciation for that hardwork they do which is whyhave Mother’s Day. My momhas done lots of work andshould could be com-mended for her accomplish-ments. In fact, my motherhas graduated from nursingschool and has been pro-moted from LVN to RN. I wasvery proud of mom whenshe told us about the pro-motion and I knew she wasproud too. Us kids don’tknow how good we have it,I mean some kids don’thave parents and if they dothey never got to meetthem. That’s why I got mymom and step mom a spe-cial gift too show them howmuch I care.
Genesis StiggersElgin Middle School
Field Trip
Last week, we had afield trip to Inner Space Cav-erns. Some people have al-ready gone there before.Some of us was disappointedto go again, we would of likeda different field trip, but to
others, it was their first time.But this wasn’t that bad. Itwas the same but I didn’t dosome of the things I wantedto do, like go to the Conces-sions and gift shop.
While we werewaliking in the cave, we werelistening to tourist talk aboutthe Kissing Rocks that grow 1cm about every 100 years.We didn’t really talk aboutmuch like last time. The tripwas still fun because lasttime, we couldn’t get to goand look at the Zebras andGazels. This time, we did. Itook a lot of pictures. Sothere you have it, I will see
you later bye.
Erika LipscombManor Elementary
Inside the White House
The White House alsoknown as the PresidentialPalace or recently namedthe Executive Mansion islocated on 1600 Pennsylva-nia Avenue in Washington,D.C. The Presidential Pal-ace has 132 rooms, 35 bath-rooms and there are 6 lev-els in the residence. Thereare also 412 doors, 147 win-dows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases and 3 elevators.
Our first PresidentGeorge Washington se-lected the site where theWhite House lies in 1791.After 8 years of construc-tion, President John Adamsand Abagail Adams moved
Zachariah WashingtonCedars Academy
into the unfinished build-ing. During the War of 1812,the British set the “Presi-dents House” on fire in1814. James Hoban was ap-pointed to rebuild thehouse and President JamesMonroe moved into thebuilding in 1817.
Eighty five years laterPresident TheodoreRoosevelt began a majorrenovation of the WhiteHouse including the OvalOffice to the 2nd floor. Lessthan 50 years later, after theRoosevelt Renovation, theWhite House was showingsigns of serious structuralweakness. President HarryS. Truman began a renova-tion of the building in whicheverything but the outerwalls were dismantled.Late,r Truman’s familymoved back into the WhiteHouse in 1952.
Every President sinceJohn Adams has occupied theWhite House, and the historyof the Presidential Palace,the People’s House or theExecutive Mansion goes backto when the country first be-gan and has undergone sev-
eral renovations.
Getting Ready for Next Year
Hello readers,This week there was
only one thing eventfulthat happened at school.I am in the Communitiesin School program (C.I.S.),I have been since elemen-tary school. The coordina-tors decided to give the
De’Ja HillLamar Middle School
eighth graders a goodbyeparty because they saidmost of us will be going toMcCallum High and unfor-tunately McCallum doesnot have a C.I.S. Program.
There were studentsthat came to Lamar fromMcCallum and told us whoour school counselorswere and to let us knowhow hard high school willbe. They stayed for a littlewhile after talking to usand we all just listened tomusic and ate pizza. Thiswas pretty fun because wereally did not have to doanything. The C.I.S. staffsaid they wanted us toknow that even thoughMcCallum High does nothave a C.I.S. program weare sti l l appreciated at
Lamar middle.
Stay Clean and Sober
Zyon HillReagan High School
Hello readers,This week at Reagan
High a group of peoplecame to speak to us aboutstaying away from drugsand alcohol. We learned
about some of the effectsdrugs and alcohol have onyour body. We also hadspeakers that were thereto talk to us about theirpersonal experiences thatthey had with drugs or al-cohol.
One gentlemanspoke about his addictionto marijuana and how hegot kick out of his parent’shome at a young age. Un-like some people, thisgentleman had a friend’shouse he could go to. Hesays he has now been drugfree for almost two years,the message that thespeakers were trying tosend was stay away fromdrugs and alcohol.
Do you like meetingnew people? I do! We mayall look different but we areall the same. When wemeet new people we get to
learn from each other.Some people have dif-
ferent talents and skills. Weall have different religionsthat we follow which is veryinteresting. We have differ-ent colors of skin and that’show God made us. It wouldbe a very boring world if weall looked alike. Everybodywould look the same. I likemeeting new people andtalking about the jobs thatwe have. There is alwayssomething interesting totalk about and learn whenyou take the time to meetnew people. It’s great!
Meeting New People
Malakhi WashingtonCedars Int’l Academy
SAMPLE
YOUTH BRIGADEwww.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/May 22, 2015 ~ Page 5
Montrae NelsonRiverplace Elementary
Business Fair
Hello, I will be tellingyou about the Fifth gradebusiness fair we had at ourschool last Friday.
The fifth graders hadto make inventions and putthere best effort into it, stu-dents brought money sothey could buy whateverinvention they liked. Thefifth graders really did agood job on their inventionsthere were a lot of creativethings i wanted to buy somuch stuff but i didn’t haveenough money for it all.The money collected fromthe book fair was donatedto the Children’s statehospital, and that mademe feel great!
My class was sched-uled to go to the businessfair at 1:40 but we wereready and excited to getthere. We got there andwe were given a bag to putthe toys we were buyingin it, My parents gave meseven dollars to shop withand i bought a wreckingball, slime, sand bags anda glow in the dark bottle.When we were done shop-ping we were allowed toplay with the toys webought, We went outsideplayed for awhile andwent back to class.
I can’t wait to start5th grade next year i wantto make cool inventions toshow to the other stu-dents, my brothers wentto the business fair alsoand they bought reallycool things too, they had alot of fun showing mewhat they bought. Myschool is really nice to dothings like this the I knowthe Children’s hospitalwill use the money to dogood things. Thank you forreading my story and ifyou want some of my giftsi promise i will give them
to you.
Hannah RobertsonConnally High School
Award Banquets
Awards banquets canbe long and boring, espe-cially when they seem to begiving everyone a participa-tion certificate. However,when you are a senior theaward banquets take onnew meaning. This year mysister had a banquet and shewas awarded the Humilityaward, which was special.This year, at my school’s ath-letic award banquets theseniors got a chance to give
words of advice, that madeit nice.
We recently had anaward banquet for my clubvolleyball team and theyrecognized all of the se-niors. Misty May-Treanorwas the guest speaker.She is the 3x Olympic Goldmedalist for Beach Volley-ball. She gave some reallygood advice about com-peting at a high level. Wealso were able to see avideo that her and herteammate watch beforethey played that was in-spirational.
All of the graduatingseniors names were calledand the schools that theywould be attending. Wewere all presented withplaques and pictures. Itwas very exciting. Al-though award banquetscan be long and boring,they are fun and excitingwhen you name is calledfor receiving an award.
Sarah RobertsonAthlos Leadership Acad.
Art and Music
This past Friday myschool had an art and musicfestival. We had 2nd, 3rd,
4th, and 5th graders per-formed. The 4th and 5thgraders played Für Elise ontheir recorders. While 2ndgraders did the popularsong Happy by PharrellWillams. The 3rd gradersdid several Disney songsand that was so cute to see.
The Middle schoolchoir preformed “You’re agood man Charlie Brown.”The choir was awesome inthere play and I’m happythat I got to see it. It wasgreat to see some of myfriends perform. I enjoyart and music and thinkthey are important to edu-
cation.
LBJ High School’sBand Director, Mr.
Don Haynes, toReceive MusicLegend Award
Austin, TX - At thisyear's Austin Area Jazz Fes-tival, Mr. Don Haynes willreceive the Music LegendAward.
For the past 39years, Mr. Haynes hasgreatly inspired multiplegenerations of youngmusicians as both an as-sistant band director andthen, as the Band Direc-tor at LBJ High School.This year Mr. Haynes isretiring and leaving be-hind a long legacy thatincludes winning"Teacher of the Year" fourtimes, creating the Capi-tal City Marching Festi-val, having the 500-seatLBJ theater named afterhim, and numerous otheraccolades.
Additionally, underhis leadership the LBJband has also received avariety of honors and op-portunities over the years.Some of the more notable
achievements includetouring China and France,playing in the London NewYear's Day Parade, andwinning consistently in re-gional and national com-petitions.
"Not many peoplehave the enthusiasm, en-ergy, and the love forboth music and teachingthe way Mr. Haynesdoes," said Chief Execu-tive Officer, Mark A.Terry. "Mr. Haynes per-fectly captures the driv-ing force behind the Aus-tin Area Jazz Festival-thedesire to inspire and con-nect with young peopleto provide them the op-portunities to develop askill they will be able toshare and appreciate fora lifetime. We are incred-ibly honored to have Mr.Haynes as our specialguest at the Austin AreaJazz Festival."
Although the event
will spotlight exciting lo-cal, regional, and na-tional acts such as Torti-l la Factory, JarrodLawson, and headliner,Ledisi, the real focus ison the students of theEast Austin Music Acad-emy (EAMA).
EAMA is a one-of-a-kind afterschool programfor students in the Aus-tin area and helps bringmusic into students' livesthrough individual musi-cal lessons. Currently,EAMA offers piano, gui-tar, and percussion in-struction, with aspirations
to expand. The AustinArea Jazz Festival plays anintegral part of reachingthat goal, as all the pro-ceeds from the festivalbenefit EAMA.
EAMA is located onthe campus of the TexasPreparatory School-Austinlocated at 7540 EdBluestein Blvd. Austin, TX78723. For more informa-tion on the Texas Prepara-tory School call (512) 928-3000 or visit us attexasprep.us. For more in-formation email us [email protected] orcall (512) 541-6297.
Don Haynes
Huston-Tillotson University’s Master’s inEducational Leadership Class Starts June 8
(AUSTIN, Texas) —Huston-Tillotson Univer-sity officials will launchtheir second cohort for theM.Ed. in Educational Lead-ership with Principal Cer-tification on June 8, 2015.The graduate program isdesigned primarily forworking teachers, seekingadvancement to the ad-ministrative level. Stu-dents are taught by expe-rienced award-winningprincipals, superinten-dents, and administratorswith classes to fit arounda working teacher’s sched-ule. Applicants must havea bachelor ’s degree, ateacher certification,teaching experience, let-ters of intent and refer-ences, pass a backgroundcheck, and meet the mini-mum grade point averagerequirement. For more in-formation about themaster’s degree program,visit, www.htu.edu/ppp orcall Dr. Ruth Kane, Depart-ment of Educator Prepara-tion Chair, at512.505.3091.
Hats Off!Congratulate your Graduate
May 29, 2015 The Villager will have a specialGraduation issue. We invite you to salute your
family and friends on their achievement!(High School, College, Graduate School, etc.)
T. TerryL. B. J. High School, Austin, TexasCongratulations, Love Mom and Dad
Reserve Today:Submit a wallet size photo, name,
school, message and $10.00For More Information call
(512) 476-0082
WilliamsonCreek
Beautification |Saturday,
May 30, 2015 -9:00am to11:00am
Volunteers will helpwith light trail mainte-nance, native grass seed-ing, native tree planting,woody invasive manage-ment, and litter abate-ment along WilliamsonCreek in south Austin.Please dress appropri-ately and bring a per-sonal water bottle. Chil-
dren 13 and under mustbe accompanied by anadult at all times.
Location: Walkwaylocated between privacyfences at 607/701 BattleBend Blvd., Austin, TXFMI: Contact: RichardManess, 512-913-4781,r i c h a r d a m a n e s [email protected]
CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLDPage 6 ~ May 22, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
Ice Cream Social
Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
Cheryl Reese, Eldridge and Beth. Photo courtesy of Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
Sunday, May 17, 2015 Bruce Elfant held an “Annual Ice Cream BowlFundraiser Event” in the heart of downtown Austin. These ice cream events areheld to generate funds for various nonprofit organizations. For this year, thebeneficiary was the “Celebration of Democracy Volunteer Deputy Voter Regis-trar Event (that incurred about $5,000 in expenses) and Bruce’s campaign fund.”
Once again, a crowd of Travis County elected officials, candidates, civicleaders, and citizens gathered for the Ice Cream Social event. For numerous poten-tial candidates, it is an opportunity for them to meet and talk with other communityleaders. For instance, Ms. Chantal Eldridge a candidate for the 450th mentioned,“The Ice Cream Social organized by Bruce, was well attended and very successful.”In addition Manual Jimmez who is running for Constable Precinct 4 had the opportu-nity to shake hands with people and to carry on conversations with other leaders.
Furthermore, the attendees came to sample the various flavors and thenvoted based on the best tasting ice cream. For instance, Cheryl Reese one of thecompetitors had entered three types of ice cream flavors for people to sample. Thethree flavors she entered were, “Rocco Choco, 14 Carrots and Angel Delight”. Ac-cording to Cheryl Reese, she entered the Ice cream Social, “in order to have funwhile trying new ice cream recipes.”
Finally, the three winners were 1st place Pete Fredrickson, 2nd place was Jeremy;and Lynn H (Bacon My Peach) was Ann Graham (Mom & Apple Pie) were 3rd. Moreover,the Tax Assessor Bruce Elfant, plans to hold another “Ice Cream Social”.
BlackPoetsSpeakOut
Pictured left to right: Lilia Rosa, Amanda Johnson,Kelene Blake. Photo by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
Tsoke(Chuch) Adjavon
In the recent weeks,there has been a spike inpolice shootings and po-lice brutality towards Afri-can Americans. Conse-quently a local group ofBlack poets and their com-munity allies held an eventto speak out against po-lice brutality. “The BlackPoets Speak Out AgainstPolice Brutality” was heldat “Laresistance Book-store” in the heart of EastAustin on May 15.
At this event, it wasan opportunity for poets to
read the poems they’dwritten in order to expresstheir frustration and angertoward police shootingsand police brutality. Ac-cording to the organizers,Amanda Johnson therewas a couple of local Aus-tin poets who read theirpoems. Also according toJohnson, there were about45 people in attendancefor this event.
Not only did the po-ets read the poems againstpolice brutality and abuse,
but they also sent somepostcards to the Presidentof the United States toshow their displeasure ofthe extra-judicial killingsof minorities. In AustinTexas, Larry Eugene Jack-son was the last AfricanAmerican man shot andkilled by the Austin PoliceDepartment (APD). Evenin a “liberal democraticparty” majority city andcounty, African Americanmen are still being shotand killed by the police.
The African Diaspora Opens aNew Church in Central Texas
From May 15-17, theGeneration desVainqueurs MovementChurch (G.V.M.C) heldtheir grand opening cel-ebration of a new branchin Austin. GVMC is anenergetic, Bible-basedand Spirit-filled churchlocated in Richardson,Texas. In addition, ac-cording to GVMC, “Weare a prophetic ministryled by Apostle Guy Jo-seph Tanoh.”
GVMC recently
moved to Austin in orderto expand its outreachministry to a growing Af-rican Diaspora in thearea. Over the years,Austin and the CentralTexas have seen a dra-matic population in-crease from the AfricanDiaspora Community. Asthe African Diaspora in-creases, so will there bean increase in the cul-tural and social aspect ofthis community.
Although the GVMCchurch had started a ser-vice in Central Texasarea, there were only a
few people. Since, therewere only a few peoplethey held services at apublic library. Over aperiod of time, the churchstarted to grow at afaster rate and thus de-cided to move into alarger rental building.Now, GVMC is located at7801 N. Lamar BLVD suite125 in Austin. GVMC cur-rently holds Bible Studyon Wednesdays from8:00-9:30pm; Prayer Ses-sions on Fridays from8:00-10:00pm and a Wor-ship Service on Sundaysfrom 10:00am-1:00pm.
(Lef to Right) Pastor Sarr, Pastor Adou, Pastor Stephanie N'cho, Pastor Kouassiand in the middle General Overseer Tanoh.
Tsoke(Chuch) Adjavon
CapitalMetro toProvide
ModifiedService onMemorial
Day
AUSTIN, Texas(May 19, 2015) —
On Monday, May 25,Capital Metro will oper-ate its Sunday schedulein observance of Memo-rial Day. There will be noMetroRail, UT Shuttle orE-Bus service.
MetroAccess cus-tomers needing to keeptheir subscription trips onMay 25 will need to call
(512) 852-7272 to sched-ule them.
Capital Metro ad-ministrative offices andthe Transit Store will beclosed May 25; howeverthe GO Line will bestaffed from 8 a.m. to 5p.m., and customers willstill have 24-hour accessto the automated phoneline and online trip plan-ner.
Service returns to itsregular schedule onTuesday, May 26.
Capital Metrowishes everyone in thecommunity a safe andhappy holiday.
We want YOU!AdvertiseWith The
VILLAGER
CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION
City of AustinPurchasing Office
EMPLOYMENTPROPOSALS
PUBLICINFORMATION
FOR 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.
City of Austin Featured JobOpportunities
www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/May 22, 2015 ~ Page 7
Apply at HRMiddle Fiskville Rd.
6th Floor, Austin, TX 78752Job Line (512 223-5621hhtp://www./austincc.ed
EEOC/AA/M/F/D/V
The City of Austin is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Please visit the City of Austin employmentwebsite at www.austincityjobs.org to view
requirements and apply for these and other jobopportunities. We encourage you to check the
employment website often as new jobopportunities are posted daily.
If you have any questions or need assistance,please call 512-974-3210 or email us [email protected].
The City of Austin is currently seeking qualifiedapplicants for the following positions:
Position: District ClerkCriminal Division DirectorLocation: Criminal Justice
CenterManages and coordinates allfunctions of a District Clerkdivision, including, but notlimited to, management of30+ division employees,supervision of programs andoperations of the division,and representation of theDistrict Clerk in an officialcapacity. Manages opera-tions in accordance withState, Federal and Locallaws and guidelines, policiesand procedures. Foradditional information seewww.traviscountytx.gov.
Austin Community CollegeDistrict is requesting qualificationsfrom firms for the purpose ofselecting a provider for asbestosabatement services for the asbestosabatement project, Highland Mall,Phase 2.
Request for Qualifications(RFQ) No. 926-15017RW
All qualifications must besubmitted to the ACC PurchasingDepartment by no later than 2:00p.m., Central Time, on ThursdayJune 18, 2015.The Request for Qualifications willbe available on May 18, 2015 onthe ACC Purchasing website athttp://www.austincc.edu/purchase/advertisedbids.php or in the ACCPurchasing Office (512) 223-1300between the hours of 9 AM and 4PM, Monday through Friday. Allresponses must be sealed andreturned to the ACC PurchasingOffice, ACC Service Center, 9101Tuscany Way, Austin, Texas 78754,by the date and time indicated above.Electronically transmittedresponses will NOT be acceptedunless otherwise stated in thedocuments.Late submittals will be retainedunopened.A mandatory pre-submittal meetingis scheduled for June 2, 2015;9:00am-noon; at Highland Mall;Room 1390.The ACC Board of Trusteesreserves the right to reject any and/or all responses and waive allformalities in thesolicitation process.
Austin Community CollegeDistrict is requesting qualificationsfrom firms for the purpose ofselecting an asbestos abatementconsulting firm for the asbestosabatement project at Highland Mall,Phase 2.
Request for Qualifications(RFQ) No. 926-15016RW
All qualifications must besubmitted to the ACC PurchasingDepartment by no later than 2:00p.m., Central Time, on ThursdayJune 18, 2015.The Request for Qualifications willbe available on May 18, 2015 onthe ACC Purchasing website athttp: //www.austincc.edu/purchase/advertisedbids.php or in the ACCPurchasing Office (512) 223-1300between the hours of 9 AM and 4PM, Monday through Friday. Allresponses must be sealed andreturned to the ACC PurchasingOffice, ACC Service Center, 9101Tuscany Way, Austin, Texas 78754,by the date and time indicated above.Electronically transmitted res-ponses will NOT be accepted unlessotherwise stated in the documents.Late submittals will be retainedunopened.A mandatory pre-submittal meetingis scheduled for June 2, 2015;9:00am-noon; at Highland Mall;Room 1390.The ACC Board of Trusteesreserves the right to reject any and/or all responses and waive allformalities in thesolicitation process.
NOTICE TO CREDITORSNOTICE is hereby given that original Letters Testamentary
for the Estate of Mary R. Hernandez, Deceased, were issued onMay 12, 2015, in Cause No. C-1-PB-14-000259, pending in the Pro-bate Court No. 1 of Travis County, Texas, to: Paul Hernandez.
The notice to the Independent Executor may be delivered atthe following address:
c/o Barnes Lipscomb Stewart & Ott PLLCAttorneys at Law
2901 Bee Caves Road, Box DAustin, Texas 78746
All persons having claims against this Estate which is cur-rently being administered are required to present them within thetime and in the manner prescribed by law.
Dated the 13th day of May, 2015.
$780 billion bailout.Where is ours? Why notbail the students out, andwhy not bail thehomeowners out ratherthan merely “adjusting”their loans? The bankerswere given billions thatthey used to make evenmore money from the tax-payers (That be us, y’all)who paid their bills. Con-trary to what we were told,lending was curtailedrather than expanded, andhundreds of thousands offolks are still homelessbecause there was no realbailout program for them.
The so-called Ameri-can Recovery and Rein-vestment Act, as of Janu-ary 1, 2014, had paid out$816.3 billion in tax ben-efits, grants, contracts,loans; and entitlements.Who got that money? Inmy neck of the woods, thefolks who got the mostwere those who worked onthe roads and express-ways; of those contractorsand workers, few if anywere Black.
Georgia recently em-barked on a $1 billion-plusroad improvement project,and even with 3.2 millionBlack folks in that state,the fourth highest in thenation, Black contractorsand workers will not ben-efit as much as theyshould. Department ofTransportation inclusionrules are based on Disad-vantaged Business Enter-prise (DBE) Programs, inwhich White female busi-nesses get a significantshare of the contracts, and“front” companies rulethe day.
So with all of the bar-riers facing our 2015graduates, and the bleakoutlook for improvementof their lot, the least wecould do is bail them outof their student loans. Poli-ticians said the bankswere “too big to fail,” andI guess the bankers were“too big to jail.” Theycaught a huge break fromGeorge W. Bush andObama. It’s time for abreak for Black and poorpeople now. Hey politi-cians, forgive studentloans.
continued from page 1
Why not bail thestudents and
homeowners outrather than merely“adjusting” their
loans?
vices/peer man-agement, counseling,housing assistance, andeducational programsare a small sampling ofthe assistance thatMEEELJ offers. How-ever, the assistance thatMEEELJ offers isn’tsolely for formerly in-carcerated, but for thosewho are the “children”of those persons whomay be at risk.
Traditionally, thedefinition for childrenwho are at risk describeyouth who are disad-vantaged intransitioning success-fully into adulthood. Itis generally understoodto mean youth who areat risk of not finishingschool, or not findingemployment. In the cur-rent economic climate,even those who are sta-tistically considered tohave transitioned suc-cessfully into adult-hood are having prob-lems with finding em-ployment. MEEELJ of-fers a variety of classes(segregated by gender)to help break the cycleof the school to prisonpipeline, and to offerhope to the youth ofTexas that are so oftenpushed to the side-lines.”
Via MEEELJ,Latreese Cooke also aradio personality atKAZI FM 88.7 has es-tablished a radio showentitled “Iron SharpensIron” that airs on theFIRST Thursday of themonth at 9:00 a.m. anddiscusses issues and re-sources that affect thosepersons and their fami-lies who have gone toprison or are currentlyincarcerated. Over thelast 2 years, this radioprogram under theguidance of Cooke andher delegated staff haveprovided informationand opportunity to dis-cuss these ills publiclyto the Central Texasarea and surroundingcommunities.
Since the inceptionof this organization al-most 10 years ago,Latreese Cooke has suc-cessfully opened andoperates two locations;one in Bastrop Countyand now in TravisCounty. The new office,for the “newly named”MEEEL Justice Center islocated at 403 E. 15th
maintain an established schedule.Some positions may also include
evenings and weekends.Salary is assigned according to the
Full-Time Faculty Salary ScaleJob# 1505008
Faculty, Heating,Air Conditioning,
& Refrigeration TechRiverside Campus
Hours are as assigned: Mustmaintain an established schedule.Some positions may also include
evenings and weekends.Salary is assigned according to the
Full-Time Faculty Salary ScaleJob# 1505031
Faculty, Computer InformationTechnology
Location is as assignedHours are as assigned: Must
maintain an established schedule.Some positions may also include
evenings and weekends.Salary is assigned according to the
Full-Time Faculty Salary ScaleJob# 1505040
Coordinator, EnvironmentalHealth & SafetyService Center
Monday-Friday,8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
$4,254-$5,317/MonthlyJob# 1505036
Assistant, Senior StudentFinancial Aid
Northridge CampusMonday 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.,
Tuesday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00p.m. One occasional Saturday a
month from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.$2,369-$2,961/Monthly
Job# 1505014Assistant, Senior Student
Financial AidRound Rock Campus
Monday 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.,Tuesday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00p.m. (40 hours to be arranged
including alternating late nights).Saturday hours as needed$2,369-$2,961/Monthly
Job# 1505011Specialist, Business Assessment
Round Rock or Highland CampusMonday - Friday,
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Some nights and weekends
required$2,487-$3,109/Monthly
Job# 1505023
torical” setting and isopen from 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday-Thursday and from 8:00a.m.-12:00 p.m. on Fri-day. The office can alsobe reached via thewebsite atwww.meeelj.org and/or Facebook.
Latreese Cooke hasa long history in work-ing in capacities that in-clude state government,associations as a profes-sional ethics reviewer/liaison and with per-sons who are disadvan-taged. She is a mother,wife and communityleader who believes that
“redemption” is essen-tial to practice and enactif we are to make aREAL difference. Herprior work and expo-sure have made herdefinitely a valuableplayer in guiding anagency/organization ofthis kind. You can sup-port the work and thenonprofit by sendingyour contribution to theMEEEL Justice Centeroffice.
MEEELJ offersclasses to help
break the cycleof schoo- to-
prison pipelinecontinued from page 1
MAY 25TH
Memorial DayWeekend PersonalWatercraft Ban on
Lake Austin
The Austin Police De-partment Parks and LakePatrol Unit will prohibit theuse and operation of per-sonal watercraft, wet bikes,motorized surfboards andsimilar devices on LakeAustin beginning at sunseton Friday, May 22, 2015 andending on Tuesday, May 26,2015 at sunrise.
Page 8 ~ May 22, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
PROGRAMS ~ AWARENESS
AUSTIN, TEXAS - The Original L. C. Anderson Alumni Assoc. Austin Chapter (OLCAAAAC) was host to the chapter’s 5, 2015 scholarship recipi-ents and their families at this year’s chapter May meeting. The graduating seniors are; Ramesha Carter – Ann Richards School, to attend Prairie ViewUniversity; Grace Scales – McCallum High School, to attend Austin Community College; Ron Foster – Manor New Tech High School, to attend LamarUniversity; Joshua Smith – Reagan High School, to attend the University of Houston and Reginald Terrell – Austin LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson) toattend the University of North Texas.
The Help That Goes OverlookedFor Austin’s Urban Artists:
Capitol View ArtsBy Aaron ‘Fresh’ Knight for hiphopxcomics.com
You would think in acity that has been dubbed“The Live Music Capitol ofthe World” there would bean abundance of artistswho have successfullymade it to the mainstream; unfortunately thatis not the case here in Aus-tin, TX. There have been afew artist who have madeit big like a Gary Clark Jr,Max Frost, and a few oth-ers, but for the most part“The Live Music Capitol”hasn’t had that artist, orartists that the world justknows instantly with themain stream success. Whyis that? Why is it that thecity that holds the moniker“The Live Music Capitol ofthe World” hasn’tspawned a slew of artistthat the world loves? Withevents like Austin City Lim-its Festival, Fun Fun FunFestival, and the ever sopopular world renownedSXSW Festival, and thenewly started Weird CityHip Hop Festival, whyhasn’t a significantamount local acts made itbig? One reason is thelack of education the art-ists has of how the musicindustry works. That is apretty major reason, sohow do artists get that nec-essary knowledge that islacking? About five years
ago in 2010 an organiza-tion by the name, CapitolView Arts was establishedto help artist gain the nec-essary knowledge andhelp needed to progress inthe music industry.
Capitol V iew Artshas become somewhat ofa staple in the Urban Aus-tin Music scene when itcomes to educating art-ists on the music indus-try. For the past fiveyears CVA has helpedprovide opportunities forlocal urban acts to growand perfect their craft.CVA isn’t an organizationthat guarantees artiststhat they’ll get them thelooks from major recordlabels, or a record deal,or even a spot in a show-case during the musicportion of SXSW. InsteadCVA has helped artists toknow what is necessaryto gain those looks fromrecord labels, possiblyget signed, and what isneeded to be selected forSXSW and other festivals.
Capitol View Arts’main purpose is to helpprovide professional artistdevelopment, and eco-nomic advantages forAustin’s urban artists.CVA provides experience,new exposure, and advo-cating to artist that they
have a value or worth towhat they do. CVA isn’tnecessarily advocatingthat artist fresh out thegate demand to be paidfor verses, shows, produc-tion, etc., but teaching art-ist that after a certain pointtheir craft has certainvalue and that one can’tsimply do any and everysong, performance, etc.that comes their way.Clifford Gillard thefounder of Capitol ViewArts told me a storyabout an artist who hadnever performed with alive band before andwasn’t interested in tryingto perform with one, butonce that artist gave inand performed with a liveband they never wanted tonot perform without a liveband again. Clifford said,“that’s what I mean by anartist’s craft having worth,and that’s what we do atCapitol View Arts.
We show artistwhere they can be versuswhere they are. We atCVA show artists thatgrowth is much morethan making money, orgetting signed.” Cliffordwent on to say that art-ists have taken whatthey’ve learned from CVAand went onto expandtheir careers.
Thursday - June 11, 2015 Pageant - Ages 1 month – 6 years oldFleming Memorial Center, 7:00 p.m. 802 North Avenue C, Elgin, Texas
Friday - June 12, 2015 Annual Street Dance and Vendors VeteransPark, 8:00 p.m. – Midnight 109 Depot Street, Elgin, Texas
Saturday - June 13, 2015 Parade - 10:00 a.m. (start from BookerT. Washington Elementary School) 510 M.L.K, Blvd, Elgin, Texas AllDay Activities (following parade) Veterans Park 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.Opening Ceremony, Showcase of our “Royal Court”, All Genres ofMusic, Vendors (Food, Arts & Crafts), Beverages(Soda and Tea), Youthand Children’s Entertainment/Activities
If you are interested in setting up a Vendor Booth, Parade Entry(no fee), or Participate in the Park Entertainment please contact ElsieWilliams at (512) 281-6322 or [email protected]
Member of the Elgin Chamber of Commerce P. O. Box 763 Elgin, Texas 78621
“Let Us Keep Juneteenth Celebration Alive in Elgin!” Mrs. Bettye Lofton Juneteenth President
