Eastaustinvoice's Weblog

Couple gets hitched at food trailer | KXAN.com

eastaustinvoice — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:52:13 +0000

Couple gets hitched at food trailer | KXAN.com

via Couple gets hitched at food trailer | KXAN.com.

Cheesesteak and cheesecake and a minister, too

Updated: Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 10:40 PM CST
Published : Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 10:40 PM CST

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Are you looking for a uniquely “Austin” way to get hitched?

This may be for you: Way South Philly food trailer is offering complete wedding packages for $39.99.

For that price, you get Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and cheesecake to share with your bride or groom, as well as an official marriage ceremony. Marcos and Graciela Cantu came by the food trailer on Sunday to get hitched.

Actually, it was to renew their wedding vows with their two children present.

“”When we were first married, the kids were really small,” Graciela Cantu said. “We thought this would be a good way so they could participate in our wedding.”

Trailer owner Willy Pearce recently became an ordained minister, so he performs the ceremonies. For more information and available dates, drop by the trailer on East Sixth Street near Waller in East Austin.

AISD unveils new elementary plans | KXAN.com

eastaustinvoice — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:39:59 +0000

AISD unveils new elementary plans | KXAN.com

via AISD unveils new elementary plans | KXAN.com.

School promised to relieve North Central Austin

Updated: Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 9:19 PM CST
Published : Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 7:59 PM CST

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin Independent School District trustees are expected to approve design plans for a new North Central Elementary School, which will relieve the overcrowded McBee and Walnut Creek campuses.

The $14 million campus, which has stalled for a lack of a location, was approved in the 2004 bond issue. BLGY Architects were selected as the prime design firm for the campus in 2008. Last November, trustees finally approved the purchase of an 18-acre site at 102 East Rundberg Lane.

According to backup materials provided to trustees, the current programmed scope of work includes the construction of a campus with 32 classrooms that can be expanded to 40 classrooms. The site also will include playing fields, parking lots and a bus circle, as well as space for four additional portable classrooms.

The item, which is on the board’s consent agenda, suggests taking a base bid for 32 classrooms, plus an alternate bid for the full 40 classroom facility, in case bids are competitive. Comments made by trustees in early January are being incorporated into the final plans.

The elementary school originally was budgeted for $12.7 million in 2004. The revised budget is $14.8 million. Construction is expected to begin in June and be completed next August.

New arts center on tap at Mueller

eastaustinvoice — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:36:32 +0000

New arts center on tap at Mueller

via New arts center on tap at Mueller.

Mueller

Performing Arts Center will be open in 2013

Updated: Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 9:22 PM CST
Published : Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 9:18 PM CST

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The design plans for a $26.6 million Performing Arts Center will be approved by Austin Independent School District trustees at Monday night’s school board meeting.

A 3-acre site for the complex, at the intersection of Mueller Boulevard and East 51st Street, was purchased by Austin ISD last April. That followed the hiring of Pfluger Associates Architects to design the PAC in 2009.

Funding for the project, which is still on budget, came out of the 2008 AISD bond issue. The programmed space in the building will include a 1,200-seat auditorium, a 225-seat black box theater, facility offices for the Fine Arts Department, plus a parking garage that contains 400 spaces for scheduled events.

An alternate bid to be considered by trustees included additional space for dance and rehearsal spaces, with moveable audience seating, according to backup materials presented to the school board.

The earliest stages of construction will begin on the site in June 2012. Construction should be completed, according to the school district, in the Fall of 2013.

Areas eager to join Austin proper | KXAN.com

eastaustinvoice — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:31:07 +0000

Areas eager to join Austin proper | KXAN.com

via Areas eager to join Austin proper | KXAN.com.

Areas eager to join Austin proper

Others want to see new home rule city

Updated: Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 6:53 PM CST
Published : Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 6:53 PM CST

David Scott

AUSTIN (KXAN) – In East Travis County, several neighboring communities are desperate for one of two things to happen: be annexed by the City of Austin or incorporate as its own separate city.

Those neighborhoods include Austin’s Colony, Forest Bluff, Kennedy Ridge Estates and other communities along FM 969 near Webberville, nine miles east of Austin.

Some 7,000 residents live in this growing area. Right now they face rapidly rising water rates, the need for rules on land use and concerns over emergency response time, as well as health and human safety issues.

“Right now it’s in limbo,” said resident David Trevino, who supports annexation. “There’s no one in control, no direction, no significant oversight. You need somebody to come in and do some kind of Sunset Valley, something that has control. Right now there’s no control in this area. Without some kind of oversight, there’s no telling what’s going to happen out here.”

But the City of Austin said it has no plans ot annex that area, at least in the near future. That works fine for some residents, who would prefer to become a home rule city and not part of Austin.

“Annexation wouldn’t give us as much power as being a separate city,” said Richard Franklin III, who favors incorporation. ” We could create our own economic development zone. If we become annexed then we’d still have to go to the city and ask them to do things for us. As our own city we’d be able to do it ourselves.”

On Saturday afternoon, residents were signing petitions to incorporate as the City of Hornsby Bend. Hornsby Bend was a settlement in that area going back to the 1830s. That way they say they could control their own destiny and perhaps even develop their own private water company. Residents say one way or another, something’s got to happen.

Incorporation will requiring petitioning Travis County for an election.

Areas eager to join Austin proper: kxan.com

The Ronald Reagan Legacy

eastaustinvoice — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:23:29 +0000

The Ronald Reagan Legacy

Click on the link below to see this awesome documentary!

via The Ronald Reagan Legacy.

Mitt’s Blood Money | The Truth About Mitt Romney’s Medicare Fraud

eastaustinvoice — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:24:35 +0000

Mitt’s Blood Money | The Truth About Mitt Romney’s Medicare Fraud.

In the end, the Republican primary is about who will beat Barack Obama and who we want to beat Barack Obama. Before you decide, watch the video. And consider, what else don’t we know?

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Debating in Tampa, Florida in late-January, while falsely characterizing Newt Gingrich’s income from his government consulting work, Mitt Romney denied that Bain did “any work with the government like Medicaid and Medicare”. Now we learn that Bain, under Romney’s “supervision”, purchased and ran the Damon Corporation, who pled guilty to Federal conspiracy charges as a result of tens of millions of dollars in systemic Medicare fraud committed under Romney’s and Bain’s control. Damon was fined over $119-million which was, at the time, the largest criminal healthcare fine in Massachusetts history and Mr. Romney’s participation was characterized in 1996 by Corporate Crime Reporter thusly: “As manager and board member of Damon Corp, Mitt Romney sits at the center of one of the top 15 corporate crimes of the 1990’s.” Watch the substantiated mini-documentary, BLOOD MONEY: MITT ROMNEY’S MEDICARE SCANDAL, to learn the truth about Mitt Romney.

Say Thanks Austin – Legend

eastaustinvoice — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:33:34 +0000

Say Thanks Austin – Legend.

Please vote for Lola, she has a heart for the poor and she gives to the poor everyday!

Lola Stephens-Bell feeds the rich and the poor alike from her East Austin restaurant

Stephens-Bell says she understands what it feels like to struggle and wants anyone who needs a little extra help to know that she is there for them. From the minute they walk through the door of Nubian Queen Lola’s Cajun Soul Food Restaurant, customers are treated like family; but it’s the customers who come through the back that make Lola’s establishment truly exceptional. Aside from the excellent food and exceptional customer service that has become standard from every dining experience, something extraordinary is quietly simmering on the backburner. Stephens-Bell feeds the homeless joyfully and without any reservations, and is making a pivotal impact on the lives of everyone she reaches. Stephens-Bell donated her “Pay-It-Forward” money to Hope Street Austin.

click image to play video

Rally for life at the Texas State Capitol this Saturday

eastaustinvoice — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:53:40 +0000

http://www.texasrallyforlife.org/

Join the thousands of Texans expected
at the State Capitol in Austin on Saturday, January 28,
for the 2012 Texas Rally for Life!

RSVP today on the official Facebook Rally event page.

On Saturday, January 28, thousands of Texans will gather at 15th and Colorado Streets in Austin and march to the state Capitol to show the media and our elected officials that Texas is PRO-LIFE!

The 2012 Texas Rally for Life commemorates the 39th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973, which made abortion legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy. In the wake of Roe, legal abortion in our nation has claimed the lives of more than 53 million unborn children and has hurt countless women and men.

The Rally will feature pro-life Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is defending our state’s Sonogram Law in federal court and will administer the Choose Life license plate fund to promote adoption. Also speaking will be Carol Everett of The Heidi Group, a former director of abortion facilities who is now a pro-life leader; Most Rev. Joe Vásquez, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Austin; Rev. Dr. David Smith of the Austin Baptist Association; emcee Elizabeth McClung, founder of Austin Coalition for Life; Kimberly and Michael Speirs of the John Paul II Life Center & Vitae Clinic; and Joe Pojman, Ph.D., executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. Also attending will be special guests U.S. Senator John Cornyn and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst.

Stand up for the more than 77,000 unborn babies who will lose their lives in Texas this year, unless we act now.

Plan now to attend! Organize a bus or car pool of people from your church or local pro-life organization to come with you. See which groups are coming from your area. Individual signs will be provided, but bring a banner from your church or pro-life organization.

Schedule for the 2012 Texas Rally for Life

Saturday, January 28, 2012

1 pm Note the new starting location! Meet in the parking lot at the northwest corner of 15th Street and Colorado Street for the march to the South Steps of the Capitol.

2 – 3 pm Rally at the South Steps of the Capitol with pro-life speakers and leaders from across the state.

Don’t miss these other pro-life events happening the day of the Rally, sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Austin. (En espanol.) Also, check out the related events sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Photos from the 2011 Texas Rally for Life!

Photos courtesy of Sunday’s Child Snapshots

The Top 10 Austin Top 10 Lists | KUT News

eastaustinvoice — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:36:54 +0000

http://kutnews.org/post/top-10-austin-top-10-lists

Posted from WordPress for Android

‘Bullhead’ An Underdog Oscar Contender for Drafthouse | KUT.org

eastaustinvoice — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:59:00 +0000

http://kut.org/2012/01/bullhead-an-underdog-oscar-contender-for-drafthouse/

Posted from WordPress for Android

Eastaustinvoice's Weblog

Couple gets hitched at food trailer | KXAN.com

Cheesesteak and cheesecake and a minister, too

AISD unveils new elementary plans | KXAN.com

School promised to relieve North Central Austin

New arts center on tap at Mueller

Performing Arts Center will be open in 2013

Areas eager to join Austin proper | KXAN.com

Areas eager to join Austin proper

Others want to see new home rule city

The Ronald Reagan Legacy

Mitt’s Blood Money | The Truth About Mitt Romney’s Medicare Fraud

Say Thanks Austin – Legend

Lola Stephens-Bell feeds the rich and the poor alike from her East Austin restaurant

Rally for life at the Texas State Capitol this Saturday

Join the thousands of Texans expected at the State Capitol in Austin on Saturday, January 28, for the 2012 Texas Rally for Life!

Schedule for the 2012 Texas Rally for Life

Photos from the 2011 Texas Rally for Life!

The Top 10 Austin Top 10 Lists | KUT News

‘Bullhead’ An Underdog Oscar Contender for Drafthouse | KUT.org

Join the thousands of Texans expected
at the State Capitol in Austin on Saturday, January 28,
for the 2012 Texas Rally for Life!