Janelle Monáe Takes ACL-Live at INSIDE the Moody · PDF fileThis paper can be recycled TPA TEXAS ... Janelle Monáe takes ACL-Live at the Moody ... vacated by Rep. Mark Strama of

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Presorted StandardU.S. Postage Paid

Austin, TexasPermit No. 01949

TheAustinVillager.comTheAustinVillager.com

INSIDE

RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’Tommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy Wyatt

Vol. 41 No.27 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: [email protected] November 22, 2013

Janelle Monáe Takes ACL-Live atthe Moody Theater by Storm

Janelle Monáe Takes ACL-Live atthe Moody Theater by Storm

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Janelle MonáeJanelle Monáe

By Naomi RichardJanelle Monáe takes ACL-Live at the Moody

Theater by storm singing hit after hit to a fullcrowd of Austin fans! The R&B rising legendhit the Live-Music Capital of the World freshfrom winning the prestigious Video of the Yearaward for ‘Q.U.E.E.N.’ (featuring Erykah Badu)during the 2013 Soul Train Music Awards tapedin Las Vegas on November 8.

Her performance was amazing and her en-ergy was high. The stage was electrifying withher crew and at one point during the night, sheliterally jumped off the stage into the crowd offans!

Janelle Monáe, will be crowned as the Ris-ing Star at the 2013 Billboard Women in Music

event December 10 in New York. The presti-gious award recognizes an artist’s early-careersuccess and potential.

Singer Janelle Monáe Robinson was born onDecember 1, 1985, in Kansas City, Kansas. Hermother was a janitor and her father was a gar-bage truck driver who struggled with drug ad-diction throughout Monáe’s childhood. She be-gan performing as a child and got her big breakin 2005 when she was invited by Big Boi to per-form on several OutKast tracks. Later, famousproducer Sean “Puffy” Combs signed her to hisBad Boy Records label.

The rest as they say is history. Excellent con-cert and she gave us her A-Game!

Black Nativity Set for November 27 ReleaseBlack Nativity Set for November 27 ReleaseWriter and

Director KasiLemmons

returns with thefeel good movieof the season!By Naomi Richard

Writer andDirector Kasi

Lemmonsreturns with thefeel good movieof the season!

Just in time for theholidays, BLACK NATIV-ITY is set to open at theatersnear you with a star stud-ded cast including ForestWhitaker, Angela Bassett,Jennifer Hudson, JacobLatimore, Nasir “NAS”Jones, Tyrese Gibson,Mary J. Blige and VondieCurtis Hall. Black Nativ-ity is a movie about love,family, hope, forgiveness,reconciliation and re-demption. This musicalwill make you cry, laugh,cheer and shout!

In a contemporaryA JOYOUS SOUND - Jacob Latimore, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker in

BLACK NATIVITY.See KASI, page 2

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today set Jan. 28, 2014, as the special election dateto fill the Texas House District 50 seat, vacated by Rep. Mark Strama of Austin.

The early voting period for this special election will be held from January 20 to January 24.The winner will serve the remainder of Rep. Strama’s unexpired term.To view the proclamation setting this special election date, please visit:

http://governor.state.tx.us/news/proclamation/19097/.

Gov. Perry Sets Jan. 28 Special Runoff Election for House District 50

Irate residents, fumeover $25 million funding at tax

payer’s expense.See FORMULA 1

Page 6

It is time forCasinos in Texas! Have you noticed that allof the states that border Texasare continuing to build andexpand their casinos? Thosestates include Oklahoma,Louisiana and New Mexico.And all of them are dependingon their business from Texasto make them successful. As one who enjoys theentertainment that is offered bycasinos, I am disappointed thatour Texas Legislature has notseen the benefits of having thisindustry in Texas. When I drivethrough the parking lots of theout of state casinos, it isobvious that most of the carsare from Texas. We should be asking thepeople who are asking for ourvote to tell us where they standon permitting casinos to locatein Texas. Instead of continuingto raise our taxes to cover theexpenses of the Stategovernment, while giving hugetax breaks to corporationswho want to locate here, theycould attract an industry thatis willing to pay these taxes.That would give our citizens abreak. We have been discussingthis issue for a number of yearsand our efforts have fallen ondeaf ears. And while we wait,the other states are continuingto expand their operations inorder to take more of ourmoney. And that needs to stop. In the mean time, there is acasino in Eagle Pass (deepsouth Texas) that is nowadvertising and inviting Texansto come there. No one seemsto be able to explain how thiscasino can be the only one inTexas. The last time that therewas a serious discussionabout this issue, it wasproposed that the Dog andHorse Tracks be expandedto full casinos, the sameway that they were inLouisiana. However, it failedto pass in the legislature. Therewas no attempt during the lastlegislature to pass such a bill. As the cost of stategovernment continues toincrease, there is a need fornew money to pay the bills.Texas citizens have reachedtheir limits on the amount oftaxes they can and are willingto pay. We must look foranother revenue stream.Casinos in Texas could fill thebill.

Community leaderstackle voters rightsand regulations for

concerned residents.See CHAPTER

Page 3

HappyHappyHappyHappyHappyThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingHappyHappyHappyHappyHappy

ThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgiving

Chocolate fanaticsindulge in a 48 hour

delectable craze.See FESTIVAL

Page 7

Page 2 ~ November 22, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

THE COMMUNIQUÉKASI: Seeing Forest sing Be Grateful gave me such comfortKASI: Seeing Forest sing Be Grateful gave me such comfort

adaptation ofLangston Hughes’ cel-ebrated play, the holidaymusical drama BLACKNATIVITY followsLangston (Jacob Latimore),a street-wise teen from Bal-timore raised by a singlemother, as he journeys toNew York City to spendthe Christmas holiday withhis estranged relatives Rev-erend Cornell and ArethaCobbs (Forest Whitakerand Angela Bassett). Un-willing to live by the im-posing Reverend Cobbs’rules, a frustratedLangston is determined toreturn home to his mother,Naima (Jennifer Hudson).Langston embarks on asurprising and inspira-tional journey and alongwith his new friends, anda little divine interven-tion, he discovers the truemeaning of faith, healing,and family.

At the heart of the

IN UNISON - Tyrese Gibson as "Tyson" and Jacob Latimore as "Langston"in BLACK NATIVITY.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

BLACK NATIVITY expe-rience is music. “I firstheard Forest sing Sum-mertime and I knew hewas classically trained. Wewere in New York for themovie and I had him singfor me. When I heard hisvoice, I immediately knewthis was going to work,”commented ExecutiveMusic Producer RaphaelSaadiq.

“He (Raphael) mademe feel so comfortable inthe studio and he pushedme to sing several songs. Ifelt so blessed to be chosento do the duet with Jenni-fer Hudson. I saw her singa duet with John Legendon YouTube and was soimpressed. That song (BeGrateful) was a big mo-ment for me,” said ForestWhitaker.

In a moving conver-sation, Kasi had this to say,“While working on thisproject for 5-6 years, I tragi-

cally and suddenly lost mysister. It was just horrible.When I saw Forest sing BeGrateful, I felt my sisterstanding behind him. Itgave me such warmthand comfort. That mo-ment will live with meforever.”

Angela Bassett wasnot to be left out of a sing-ing role. “Kasi and I havebeen friends for years andwere both in New Yorktogether for a while. Sheremembered that I couldsing and asked me to singin the movie.” Her musi-cal talent will surprise you!

The music grabsyour heart from the firstpowerful song by Jenni-fer Hudson, Test of Faith,sure to becomeGrammy® nominated,and it holds your heartuntil the final scene.Make plans now to seeBLACK NATIVITY in atheater near you!

G. W. C. Ambassadors & Lyons, Jr. Lodge No. 290Host its Annual Community Turkey Shoot!

Nov. 23, 2013MYEC

1156 Hargrave Street,Austin, TX 78702

5:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

You Think You Can Bowl?Come out and Try Your LuckWin a Turkey or Ham or Both

3 SHOTS FOR $5.002 STRIKES - Win a turkey

or ham 3 CONSECUTIVE

STRIKES - Win a turkeyand a ham

Pick up a 7 – 10 split anyframe - Win a turkey, ham

and a complete dinner,value at $30.00

For More InformationContact Art Sauls

(512) 926.6216 ORJerry Eason (512) 339.7552

“Maximum of TWOwins per person”

“This Is Your Chance ToHelp A Needy Family InThe Austin Community”

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/November 22, 2013 ~ 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

Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church 5900 Cameron Road Austin, Texas 78723-1843

(512) 451-0808 (512) 302-4575 Fax Web Site - www.themount.net

WORSHIP SERVICESSunday Worship - 7:45 a.m. & 11 a.m.Church School - 9:45 a.m.Bible Studies - Mon, 6:30 p.m. & Wed., 12 noonWednesday Night Worship - 7 p.m.

“Ministries For Mankind” Luke 4:18

A.W.. Anthony Mays, Senior 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-

[email protected]

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

Damon LuckettSales Consultant

Charles Maund Toyota8400 Research Blvd.

P.O. Box 1608Austin, TX 78758

(512) 458-2222damon_luckett@

charlesmaundtoyota.com

7801 N. Lamar Blvd,Suite D 102,

Austin, Texas 78752

Worship: Sunday--10:00 am - 12:30 pm

Tuesday Bible Studies--7:30pm - 9:00 pmFriday Prayers--7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

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

Sunday Morning Bible Study, 9:00 A.M.Sunday Morning Worship, 10:15 A.M.

Visit our website @ www.obcaus.org

Globalizing the Gospel

A Ministry That Ministers

Edward M. Fleming,Sr. Pastor

OLIVET BAPTISTCHURCH

The bills don’t stop whenyou’re sick or hurt and

have no income statefarm.com

INSURANCE THAT IS!

Richard Glasco, Agent11824 Jollyville Rd

Suite 300Austin, TX 78759-2300

(512) 250-5533

Ask me about DisabilityIncome Insurance the

State Farm Way.

HEALTH?HOW’S YOUR

Call for details on coverage, cost, restrictions and renewability

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

*Home Office: Bloomington, Illinois

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

SpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsLaLaLaLaLawwwww

Wes SpearsAttorney

[email protected]

Personal Injury,Criminal andFamily Law

512-696-2222512-687-3499

401 Congress AvenueAustin, Texas, 78701

Suite 1540

*Austin and Kileen | *Principal Office

30 Years Experience

SpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsLaLaLaLaLawwwww

Felix Bamirin, Pastor

GRACEWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCHExperience Grace For Life

(By Parmer Lane Baptist Church building, behind Wells Fargo)

Call: 682.472.9073 l Email: [email protected] lVisit: www.gracewaycca.org

JOIN US This SUNDAY / THURSDAY@ 12424 Scofield Farms Drive, Austin, TX 78758

SUNDAYS 10:30 A.M., THURSDAYS 7:30 P.M.

AustinChapter,

Links,Incorporated

HostsVoters Rights

andAwareness

ForumBy Cheryl Morgan

Austin Chapter,Links, Inc. hosted one ofthe most informativeVoters Rights Forums ofrecent times for thosepersons unsure of vot-ing rules and voter rulechanges.

On October 24,2013, The Links andmany Austin residentsmade their way to TheBoyd Vance Theatre inThe Carver Museumand Cultural Center,1165 Angelina Street.

The reason: The

Voters Rights andAwareness Forum, withModerator, DawnnaDukes, Texas State Rep-resentative and a mem-ber of the Austin Chap-ter, Links, Inc.; andPanelists, DanaDebeauvoir: TravisCounty Clerk, JohnDoggett: Professor, Uni-versity of Texas at Aus-tin, Bruce Elfant: TravisCounty Tax Assessorand Nelson Linder:President, NAACP-Austin Chapter.

Pictured L-R: Dawnna Dukes, Dana Debeauvoir, John Doggett, Bruce Elfant, Nelson Linder

The Forum’s formatwith moderator and pan-elists was an excellentway of presenting criticalinformation in a relaxedsetting. Some of the pan-elists were bursting withknowledge: their job re-sponsibilities requirethat they know the an-swers; know the types ofattempts to discouragevoter turnout; knowmuch, much more that allvoters need to know nowand in the future.

After the two hour

Forum, Judge BrendaKennedy, President ofthe Austin Chapter of theLinks, Inc. thanked themoderator and panelistsfor an excellent informa-tion exchange. VicePresident of Programs,Chrystle Swain alsothanked the participantsand acknowledged thegreat work being doneby her program teams.

The internationalorganization of TheLinks, Inc. has five majorprogram areas, which fo-

cus on education, cul-tural enrichment, healthand wellness, and civicinvolvement targetingAfrican Americans andpersons of African de-scent.

The planning andexecution of The VotersRights and AwarenessForum was led by Aus-tin Chapter’s NationalTrends and Services,Chairperson, CyntheaRhodes-Patterson andCo-Chairperson, TiffanyWhite.

ANDERSON VILLAGE OPEN HOUSE( A U S T I N ) - T h e

Anderson CommunityDevelopment Corpora-tion and City of Austinannounced the ribboncutting and open houseof the new Anderson Vil-lage garden homes thisSaturday, November 23from 11a.m.-1p.m.Anderson Village, locatedat 3101 E. 12th Street inAustin is the result of col-laborative efforts amongthe ACDC, the City ofAustin, the United StatesDepartment of Housingand Urban Development,and Austin Housing Fi-nance Corporation. Theribbon cutting takes placeat11:30 a.m.

Saturday,November 23,

201311 a.m.–1 p.m.

Ribbon Cutting:11:30 a.m.

3101 E. 12th StreetAustin, Texas 78702

Live musicRefreshments

Giveaways andMORE!

ANDERSON VILLAGE OPEN HOUSE

YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today

Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry

Page 4 ~ November 22, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

Lanette DempsDel Valle High School

Winter Guard

Now that marching sea-

son is over that means that nowwe have winter guard. I havebeen looking forward to winterguard be I don't like color guardbecause we have to performwith the band and I didn't likethat .

Winter guard is better be-cause we can choose out ownmusic without worrying about asecond choice . I also hole thatour uniforms would look betterbecause I don't like or didn't likethe ones we had.

Jaquarry WilsonLBJ High School

Mid Semester in ACC

It's the time of the semes-ter when students who are en-rolled in dual credit collegecourses must make a choice.Some of the students are mak-ing high grades while somestruggle to even make passinggrades. With less than a wholemonth until the college semes-ter ends, it's important that stu-dents who are borderline makea decision that would make theirtranscript have the best gradespossible. Instead of just failing

the class and receiving a fail-ing grade on their transcripts,students who are failing stillhave the opportunity to drop theclasses they're failing and re-ceive a 'W' on their transcriptsinstead. This means that thestudent was withdrawn fromthe class before the f inaldeadline.

Even though a 'W' ismuch more pleasant to seeon a transcript than an 'F',having the former present ona transcr ipt can affect astudent's financial aid, whichmay cause debt in college.

Dezhia GorrerLBJ High School

Camari StiggersElgin Middle School

Veteran’s Day

Veterans Day is an im-portant day to many people,but some people don’t evenknow what the purpose is. Inworld geography we learnabout many different things,but not about Veterans Day.November 11, 1918 ended allof the wars that were going on,for that reason we have Veter-ans Day….. to thank the sol-diers that fought for our coun-try to be free. The day is veryimportant to me, because Ihad an uncle that died fromfighting in the wars. He gotagent orange from fighting inthe war and as a result had tohave a lung transplant.

My uncle Warren wasone of the longest living lungtransplant patient. The last

time I saw him, he was in thehospital with a couple of daysto live. When the doctors toldmy family and I the news it re-ally touched me and showedme how short life really was. Itake Veterans Day serious formy uncle. People don’t careto know the reason becauseall they care about is they geta day off of school or work. Ifeel we need to know the ac-tual meaning of the day sopeople will get more involved.

I want to start a cam-paign to raise money for thesoldiers to get better equip-ment for the soldiers to healfaster if they get hurt or verysick. If it wasn’t for the soldierswe wouldn’t have the freedomthat we have today, so the nexttime you see a soldier makesure you thank them!!!

E.M.S. BandsIn Elgin Middle School

there is a band. We have a be-ginning band for 6th graders and7th/8th graders that want to learnan additional instrument. Thereis the Symphonic Band formostly 7th graders. This is theband I am in. Lastly, the is theWind Ensemble. This is the topband that has mostly 8th and thereally good 7th graders. Nextyear I am going to try hard to getinto Wind Ensemble. Until thenI’ll do my best in my band.

Weird Weather

We all know whatweather is right? Well recentlyin Texas we have been havingsome very weird weather. Some-times it rains and all of a sud-den it is scorching hot. I think itis weird how we depend on theweather, because lets say you

Zachariah WashingtonCedars Academy

are getting married outside andit rains. We all know that stinks!!!Who says you cannot have it in-doors.

I know what you are say-ing “We can do What Ifs” all day,but that is my opinion about theweird weather we are having.Go outside and think to yourself“What weird weather we arehaving”.

Montrae NelsonRiverplace Elementary

Volcanoes

This week in science Ilearned about volcanoes. Vol-canoes are formed frommagma from inside of the Earthsupper mantle that rises overtime. There are three stages ofvolcanoes, the first is active vol-cano that has erupted recentlyand might erupt again. Thesecond is dormant volcano andthis stage has not erupted in along time but might erupt in thefuture. The third stage is extinctvolcano and this type of volcanohas not erupted in thousands ofyears and will not erupt again.

Volcanoes erupt when

plates of the Earths crust movecausing friction and this frictioncauses earthquakes and volca-nic eruptions at the edges of theplates. Volcanoes are very dan-gerous, they have really hot lavathat burns and can start fires andthey make large dark smokeclouds in the sky. When a vol-cano erupts it shakes theground and hot rocks shoot outof the top and ash starts to fall.There are more than 1500 ac-tive volcanoes on Earth.

In the United States thereare active volcanoes in Hawaii,Alaska, California, Oregon, andWashington. Volcanoes are verydangerous and I am glad thereare none active in Texas!

SaNaya WhiteCedars Academy

Upcoming Science Fair

At my school we are get-ting ready for a science fair!!Almost everyone was put in

groups except 3 people, in-cluding myself, that was cho-sen to do it by ourselves! Sci-ence Fairs are fun!! I enjoythem because I get to learnnew things and make a posterand experiment!

I am doing a projectcalled "which salt melts icefastest?" I can't wait to see theresults. I don't care muchabout winning, just getting agood grade and having fun.Although winning will be nice,we will see what happens...

Aubri Allen-BrentDel Valle High School

Before High School

Before I started highschool, I wanted to be a nursepractitioner. I thought that jobwas best for me. But now thatI’m in high school and takingthe classes to become a nurse,my life has really become realbecause in middle school, youreally didn’t have to try as hardto succeed but now that I’m inhigh school I have to TRY really

hard, and I have to go to tutor-ing and all that other stuff.

High school determineswhat you’re going to be in yourlife, and how you are going tohandle things. My career haschanged so many times. Onetime I wanted to be a police of-ficer, another time I wanted to ajudge and now I’m thinkingabout maybe becoming a law-yer.

Until next time goooocards !

Trenton LearyHighland Park Elem.

Science Project

Highland Park Elemen-tary will be holding ScienceFair in January. My class re-ceived the Science Projectpacket last month so that wecan begin the writing portionof the project.

The first step of theproject process for me, was

to decide what my projectwill be about. Me and mymother researched and Icame up with a good projectI believe and that is "How toMake Butter". This weekendI worked on the Hypothesis,and the materials that wasneeded for me to do myproject. Until next time bebless and safe.

Darius HatcherHarmony Academy

Chromebook Sleeves

Neoprene sleeve bagsare being sold, in the front of-fice for ten dollars. The neo-

prene sleeve is sturdy and du-rable. It has handle on it to carryyour Chromebook around, with-out fear of dropping it.

It also has a pocket tokeep your power cord with theChromebook at all times.

Chromebooks are usedfor many assignments, andkeeping your device poweredand in good working conditionis very important. So pick upyour sleeve in the front office toprotect your Chromebook.

Kiara MyersVista Ridge H.S.

Thanksgiving Break

The week beforeThanksgiving break is alwaystough on students. Teachers tryto cram as much informationand testing in before everyonegoes on vacation, and it can turnout to be very stressful. At leastfor me, I have tons of homeworkand two tests before I leave togo to California, and I don’t

know if I will be able to make itthrough the week. What’s evenworse is homework over thebreak. Why would I want to writean essay about United StatesHistory when I could be atDisney Land with my family?I’m hoping this week will workfor the good and go by fast. But,my excitement about the trip toCalifornia is definitely beingcontrasted with the stress ofthese few days.

Luckily though, the se-mester is almost over and it’salmost time for Christmas. Iguess, in accordance with theholiday spirit, I should count myblessings too. So to end on ahappy note, I hope everyone isable to enjoy their week andhave a relaxing break in thepresence of their loved ones.

Giving

Thanksgiving is a timeto be thankful for all that youhave. Individuals also takethis time to be thoughtful andgive to those less fortunate.Several other places aroundthe world observe similar cel-

Marshay HatcherHarmony Academy

ebrations. It is celebrated onthe fourth Thursday of No-vember in The United States.

This year Harmony Sci-ence Academy will be hav-ing a food drive in order tohelp and support those whoare less fortunate during thistime.The drive will run fromnow until November 22,2013.Please bring your donatednon-perishable food items tothe donation boxes locatedin the lobby of the front of-fice. Items that are mostneeded for the food driveInclude,canned meats,canned fruits, canned veg-etables, boxed or cannedsoups, peanut butter, juices,pasta and rice.

Genesis StiggersElgin Elementary

The COOL Patient

For lots of people anykind of surgery can be scary but

for one woman she wasn’tscared at all. Dr. DeborahCohan, who was getting doublemastectomy surgery, threw aparty in the operating room be-fore she went into surgery. Thedance party, which she plannedherself was videoed and morethan 250,000 people saw it.Deborah and the crew weredancing to ‘Get Me Bodied’,Beyoncé’ hit single. The hospi-tal says Deborah was dis-charged on Wednesday.

This week was pretty un-eventful because we have beenreviewing for the M.O.Y., whichis the Middle OF the Year test.The good thing about review-ing for the M.O.Y. is I did nothave any homework this week.The other event was the sixthgraders going on a field trip. In

Boring Daysmy dance class we were sup-posed to practice our routine forour upcoming recital. Unfortu-nately, we only had four studentsin my dance class, which wasvery awkward, because all theother students were gone on thefield trip. Hopefully, I will havesome exciting things to reportnext week.

Until next time do not for-get to smile.

De’Ja HillLamar Middle School

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/November 22, 2013 ~ Page 5

YOUTH BRIGADE

Jada DempsDailey Middle School

Imani DempsDel Valle High School

Are You Serious

This week was goinggood till I got till 3rd period anda teacher told me there was anew bathroom policy. What youhave to do is go to PAC and geta pass and after you get 3 youget ISS and ISS is not over till

5:30. These are rules that thenew principle made. Maybe thisis not a good change. I'm start-ing not to like him because ofthis.

Why are we being pun-ished for something that's natu-ral. Del Valle needs to make achange in this policy becauseit's not okay.

Adrian JacksonHarmony Academy

Hiring New Teachers

Harmony PublicSchools-Austin is currently look-ing for enthusiastic, highlyqualified bilingual and ESLteachers. Harmony Science

Academy North Austin needmotivated teachers to add to ourdiverse campus. Teachers arebeing hired for many positions,if you are interested please goto the Harmony.org website andfill out an application.

Teachers mold the futurethrough impacting their stu-dents’ views and under-standings. Teachers fostercreativity, develop character,give students lenses withwhich to view the world andprovide students with theskills they need to reach theirpotential and lead productivelives.

This year is going so fastalready, feels like I’m in the 9thgrade.I am pushing myselfharder and harder but there is

not always a positive outcome,but as the school year passes Ilearn how to set goals for my-self when I’m feeling a certainway. Well I hope for the rest ofthe school year it is positive.

The School Year Is Flying

Alon RodgersHendrickson H.S.

Top Running Backs

Leadership is a very keypart of sports and this seasonthe varsity football team experi-enced a major drop in expec-tations when we lost our QB1 ingame eight. What had been oneof the best teams in the state ifnot the country was just an av-erage playoff team withoutXavier Conley. Through eightgames he completed 56 out of84 passes with 3 interceptionsand 11 touchdowns averaging138.7 yards per game.

The Hawks are known asa running team that producedsome of the best running backsin division 1 college ball with

leading runners now at TexasTech, UT Austin, and Okla-homa. Adding another dimen-sion to the team made a strongprogram a great one. Xavier didnot rise up from Kelly Lane orParkview middle schools. Heshowed up and made an in-stant impact. We are all hopingto see him play ball on Satur-days in the coming years.

The Hawk varsity basket-ball team hosts its first homegame of the season this weekagainst A&M Consolidated.Members of the team areKe'shon McCoy, JamelMcKnight, Andre Easley, JordanRoberts, Jason Manning,Barrett Clark, Tre Tucker, AlonRodgers, Josh Wood and BrettFloyd. Jim Reid is Head Coachand Robert Sainz, JasonPatterson and Darin Ramseyare Assistant Coaches. Theteam website is http://hawkbasketball.weebly.com/and the Twitter account is@Hawk_Hoops.

Hawk out!

Jasmyn PattersonReagan High School

Bringing You Some Drama

From Greek mythology tooutstanding comedy, theReagan Blue Jesters(Reagan’s drama club) con-tinue to keep showing amazingversatility and bring us raidersand the public the best ofdrama. The Reagan Blue Jest-ers possess the quality ofuniqueness and creativity, withtheir choice of productions.They have preformed many dif-ferent genres and each one hasbrought out a specific emotion.From laughter too tears, theirproductions have move us all

in a different way. Their recentproduction “ The Odd Couple”was one full of laughter, smilesand a lot of those shockingmoments.

The story is of two mis-matched friends, Felix Ungerand Oscar Madison in the pro-cess of learning that love, trust,and friendship are more impor-tant than living in differentworlds. The Blue Jesters arenow planning for their new pro-duction “A Christmas Carol.”Sandy Bentiez, (a former BlueJester) states, “ I’m so excitedfor the next show, I love theChristmas theme!” I agree withMs. Bentiez, the show will beone to remember. I believe itwill get us all into the holidayspirit. The group has been pre-paring and I believe it will beanother phenomenal show.

So come out and enjoyyourself on December 5,6 and7 at the John H. Reagan ECHStheatre, because we do noth-ing without honor.

Zyon HillReagan High School

All-City Concert

This week Reagan Highhosted the All City Guitar Con-cert. “All-City” is when differ-ent schools from all over Aus-tin participate in a concert to-gether. It takes a long time

for the students to prepare forthis event, the do severalrehearsals. On the day of theevent rehearsals last as longas four hours before a breakis taken to eat.

Only to rehearse for anadditional two hours beforethey actually perform thesame evening. The studentsusually play at least foursongs, although I am un-aware of what those songsare, I am sure they soundedgreat.

Until next week, Zyon

Sarah RobertsonPioneer Crossing Elem.

Jory HendersonAnderson High School

Triumphant Victor

On the night of Novem-ber 7th the Anderson Trojanfootball team took on theAkins Eagles in what wouldbe both teams final game.The Trojans until that Thurs-

day had yet to win a gamethis whole season. Due totheir will to win they wereable to fight and pull out theironly win of the season.

I have high hopes formy team next season. Fol-lowing this season there isn'tanywhere we can go but up!

We Are Girls Conference

Last weekend, November9th I was select by my teacher togo the “We Are Girls Confer-ence” put on by GENAustin- theGirls Empowerment Network ofAustin that was held at AustinHigh school. The focus of theconference was to help girlsembrace their inner strength;the conference was designedespecially for girls in grades 5-12.

This year’s annual eventwas to help girls to explore theissues of bullying, body imageand being a girl. We had skillbuilding workshops and dy-namic presentation that were

offered on topics including cre-ating healthy relationships,building financial indepen-dence and media literacy. Wealso had Zumba and yogaclasses which were really fun.My favorite class was “I amBeautiful” where we talk aboutnot only should you have beautyon the outside but on the inside.Everyone has their own uniquebeauty. Each girl went homewith a bag full of goodies andlots of information.

GENaustin’s mission is tosupport and guide girls to makewise choices as they navigatethe unique pressures of girl-hood. These goals really mat-ter to me and should matter toall.

Andrae HatcherHarmony Academy

Averill ToppsPease Elementary

Dreams

Dreams are a mysteryto all people. At Pease El-ementary, the 6th graders arelearning about different typesof dream stages and things

that happen during dreams. Ihave learned that there aretwo different types of dreamstages. One is REM stagewhich stands for Rapid, Eye,Movement and NREM whichstands for Non, Rapid, Eye,Movement. This was discov-ered by a man named Mr.Nathaniel Kleitman, who wasa famous physiologist andsleep researcher at the Uni-versity of Chicago.

I have always won-dered why do we sleep andnow I know why a little bit.

Novel Writing Month

National Novel WritingMonth, shortened asNaNoWriMo, is an annualinternet-based creative writingproject that takes place everyNovember. NaNoWriMo chal-lenges participants to write50,000 words of a new novel be-tween November 1 and 30. En-tries are accepted from aroundthe world. The goal ofNaNoWriMo is to get peoplewriting, no matter how bad the

writing is, through the end of afirst draft. The idea is that manypeople are scared to start writ-ing because it won't be anygood, or they don't know whatto write about.

The project started inJuly 1999 with just 21 partici-pants, but by the 2010 event over200,000 people took part, writ-ing a total of over 2.8 billionwords. Writers wishing to par-ticipate first register on theproject's website, where theycan post profiles and informa-tion about their novels.

The Pflugerville Com-munity Library is inviting thosethat are participating to cometo the library and write in thecompany of other NaNoWriMoparticipants. Partipants willhave the library's meeting roomsall to themselves every Tuesdayevening in November from 5:30to 7:30 p.m. Snacks and drinkswill be provided.

Asian AmericanCommunity PlansFundraiser to Help

the Philippinesby Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

On November 1, the most severe ty-phoon to be recorded battered the nation ofthe Philippines. Not only the typhoon dam-aged everything on its way, but also causedthe loss of lives. Recently the governmentof the Philippines has placed the death tollto 4,000 and sadly the death toll will continueto rise. Furthermore, the typhoon has causedabout 2 million Filipinos to be homeless. Inaddition, the typhoon has destroyed the infracture of the Philippines therefore, basicservices such as a drinking water, doctors,roads, and fuel are very hard to obtain by thecitizens.

Those in Central Texas have mobilizedtheir efforts on November 1 to present to theentire world including helping the nation ofthe Philippines. Just recently, the Networkof the Asian American Organization(NAAO) has held some “brainstorming”ideas for fundraising events on behalf of thepeople of the Philippines. For instance, theNAAO is planning to hold telethons to raise$200,000 within a frame of a week. More-over, the money is meant to go directly to thevictims of the typhoon.

Not only is the NAAO holding afundraiser but, also the Filipino Associationof Austin and other organization are plan-ning various fundraisers for the victims ofthe typhoon. For instance, the Filipinos inAustin are holding a “Typhoon Haryana/Yolanda Disaster Relief Fundraiser show.”They plan to have live music and to hold asilent auction. In addition, the Filipino As-sociation is planning a Zumba fundraiserevent at High Hope Sports on Thursday No-vember 21st at 5:30 pm and on Monday,November 23rd at 6:30 pm.

Lesley and Sumit DasGupta address the community.Photo by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

The 2013 A Christ-mas Affair, Winter Won-derland, will be heldWednesday, November20-24that Palmer EventsCenter. This year's four-day holiday market willhighlight the eleganceand beauty of winter andcelebrate the wonder ofthe impact that The Jun-

A Christmas Affair 2013ior League of Austin isable to make in our com-munity through programssuch as Coats for Kidsand Food In Tummies(FIT), along with otherselected communityprojects for 2013-2014.

For more informa-tion Phone (512) 404-4500

www.TheAustinVillager.com

@TheVillagerATX

TheVillagerAndBlackRegistryCompany

Page 6 ~ November 22, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLDWilliamson CountyDemocrats Rise Up

by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Over a long pe-riod of time,Williamson Countyhas been a strong Re-publican County.However, the Demo-cratic Party inWilliamson Countyhas seen change. Sincethe economic boomthat the county hasseen, there have beenmore people movinginto the county. As aresult, numerous areas

of Williamson Countyhave become more ur-banized. In addition,the demographics of thecounty has changed, inwhich, there has been anincrease of minorities inWilliamson County.

Since theWilliamson CountyDemocratic Party hasseen some change oc-curring in WilliamsonCounty, then they be-lieve that they have a

great chance of makingmore gain in the county.For instance, in 2012about 43 percent of theWilliamson Countyvoted for the PresidentObama. In other words,almost half of theWilliamson Countyvoted for the Demo-cratic Party candidate.As a result, they havefulfilled the desires ofnumerous candidateswho are running forvarious kinds of offices.

In WilliamsonCounty, some con-cerned Democrats havedecided to become the“change agent” by run-ning for office. For in-stance, Louie Minor Jr.

has decided run for the31st Congressional Dis-trict. As a result, he ischallenging the currentincumbent Representa-tive John Carter. Fur-thermore Eddie Hurst alongtime Democrat hasdecided to run forWilliamson CountyCommissioner PrecinctII. He will be facing theincumbent Commis-sioner Cynthia Long.Moreover, EddieHurst’s team membersbelieve that they havean opportunity to win.However, they also be-lieve that it will takelong hours of knockingon doors andfundraising to win.Eddie Hurst

Formula 1 is Still a Divisive Issue for the Community

On November 15-16,the Circuit of America or-ganized the Formula 1Race in Austin, Texas.The race track has the ca-pacity to hold a crowd of120,000 people. In addi-

tion, the race-track itselfis about 3.4 miles. More-over, the approval pro-cess of this race-track forFormula 1 racing is con-troversial. Even thoughFormula One has been inAustin for the second year,it is still a divisive issue.For instance, the arrival of

Formula 1 caused com-munity leaders to opposepro-business advocates.People on both sides of theissue had their reasons tosupport or reject the arrivalof Formula 1 in Austin,Texas.

During the approvalprocess, the communityleaders disapproved of itdue to the use of publicfunds and the lack of trans-parency. ConcernedAustinites asked their CityCouncil, “Why would theState of Texas give 25 mil-lion dollars a year towardthe race, when they canfund their own opera-tions?” In other words,some concerned citizensbelieved that it is "unfair" to

use tax-payer’s moneytoward the funding of abusiness operation likeFormula 1. Furthermore,some community leadersare concerned about thelevel of traffic and level ofnoise that would occur dur-ing the events.

Moreover, those thatoppose Formula Onepointed out to the fact, therace do not benefit the av-erage “Austinite.” For in-stance, the majority of theworkers at Formula Oneare seasonal and part-timejobs meaning that they donot receive any benefitsfrom the company. Inother words, it does notprovide long-term sus-tainable jobs for the aver-

age Austinite compared tothe money the State andcity gave them.

On the other hand,some advocates for For-mula One believe that therace provides an "eco-nomic boost" to Austin andto Travis County. Theymentioned that the, "Out oftown visitors spend moneyon hotel accommodations,food and entertainmentwhile they are in the Austinmetro area. As a result,they can point to the facthotels and food sectorsgreatly benefit duringthese events.

Furthermore, someadvocates believe that theevent would cause Austinto be an international city.

by Tsoke(Chuch) Adjavon

In other words, the racewill place "Austin" as adestination for interna-tional travelers. Re-cently, the airport has de-cided to build an interna-tional hub to screen over-seas flights. And the ad-vocate is pointing to thefact that the expansion ofthe airport facilities is alsotied to Formula One.

In addition, a Euro-pean Airline company hasrecently decided to estab-lish nonstop flight betweenAustin, TX and London,England. Therefore, thesupporters Formula Onecan also point that inter-national airlines are flyingmore into Austin due tothe race.

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/November 22, 2013 ~ Page 7

CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION

City of AustinPurchasing Office

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-TRAVIS COUNTYMENTAL HEALTH ANDMENTAL RETARDATIONCENTER, DBA: AUSTINTRAVIS COUNTY INTEGRALCARE (Local Authority) is seekingapplications for purpose of con-ducting Preadmission Screening andResident Review (PASSR) Level IIEvaluations, for the residents ofTravis County, Texas. Contractswill be initiated for all Providers whomeet application criteria.The open enrollment period for theRequest for Applications (RFA) willbe open November 6, 2013 throughJanuary 3, 2014. THE FINALDEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONSUBMISSIONS IS 5:00PM, onJanuary 3, 2014.Please click on the RFA link below,download the RFA, and follow thesubmission instructions in the RFA.www.integralcare.org

Apply at HRMiddle Fiskville Rd.

6th Floor, Austin, TX 78752Job Line (512 223-5621hhtp://www./austincc.ed

EEOC/AA/M/F/D/V

Austin Community CollegeDistrict is requesting proposalsfrom qualified firms for the purposeof selecting providers for District-Wide Jurisdictional RepresentationServices.Request for Proposal No. 961-14005RWAll proposals must be submitted tothe Purchasing Department by nolater than Thursday, December 12,2013 at 2:00PM. Proposal packagesare available on the ACC Purchasingwebsite at http://www.austincc.edu/purchase/. In addition, the proposaldocuments will be available in theACC Purchasing Office betweenthe hours of 9 am and 4 pm,Monday through Friday (512) 223-1044.All responses must be sealed andreturned to the ACC PurchasingOffice, ACC Service Center, 9101Tuscany Way, Austin, TX 78754,by the date and time indicated above.Electronically transmittedresponses will NOT be acceptedunless otherwise stated in thedocuments.The ACC Board of Trusteesreserves the right to reject any and/or all responses and waive allformalities in the solicitationprocess

AUSTIN COMMUNITYCOLLEGENew Jobs for

the Week of 11/17/201Technician, Senior Computer

Lab SupportRio Grande Campus

Monday-Fridayand some weekends

$3,023-$3,779/MonthlyJob# 1311004

EMPLOYMENTPROPOSALS

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VILLAGER

Art inPublicPlaces

By Shirley A. Hammondtwitter.com/xtremeridewish1

(AUSTIN) - Thegood news is that theBoggy Creek underpasses are not fallingdown. And, of course,shrink wrap would notdo much good in keep-ing them up if they werein disrepair. But there issomething akin toshrink wrap gracing thebridge underpass pil-lars at the Boggy CreekGreenbelt (1114 NileStreet). It is part of theCity of Austin’s Eco-nomic DevelopmentDepartment’s Art inPublic Places (AIPP) ini-tiative. Different tempo-rary art installations arefeatured all over thecity, particularly in localparks. On Saturday, inconjunction with theself-guided East SideStudio Tour, a TEMPOTemporary Public ArtProject kickoff tookplace at Plaza Saltillo.The plaza is a backdropfor the Metrorail stationby the same name, aswell as the location of aSunday farmers market.Located at 5th andComal (412 ComalStreet), Plaza Saltillo’soutdoors beams arenow adorned with col-orful Festoons, anothertemporary art installa-tion. It was the site ofcelebration, festivitiesand recognition of thecommissioned artistswho offered their cre-ativity to the project.

The plaza installa-tion titled Festoon, is thework of artist JessicaBraun. Due to her inge-nuity, thousands of pen-nant flags are now hang-

ing over the plaza’scourtyard. The flags bil-low in the breeze, cap-ture the light of the sun,and make shades ofthemselves over theplaza floor.

The industrialwrap project is titledAlbedo, and is the workof Mason Leland Mooreand Joel Nolan. The twoused industrial plasticwrap to cover thebridge underpass. Bothnight and day, the plas-tic wrap catches the lightsources and producesdazzle and curiosity topassersby. Duringsome parts of the day,color is added to thelight effect.

Below by JacobVillanueva and JeffClarke is at the BoggyCreek Watershed, closeto the Aldebo installa-tion. Below’s concept isdescribed in a press re-lease as an LED lightdisplay within an ab-stract sculpture basedupon the watershed’snatural characteristics.AIPP coordinator, AnnaBradley, stated that itincluded digital infor-mation reinterpolatedinto an interactive lightshow.

There is also Win-dow Walk, by JohnMark Luke. Located at12401 Riata Trace inAustin, Luke’s installa-tion is described in apress release as a con-cept using faux coloredwindows to give view-ers a different spin onwhat a window can be.

Visitors attendedthe plaza on Saturdayand met many of the art-ists, who submitted pro-posals, budgets and lo-cales for their intendedinstallations. During thecelebration some artistsof upcoming installa-tions were also present,such as Autumn Ewalt,who described her in-tended installation asan LED display thatmimics fireflies in na-ture. She stated that shehad to research the inter-esting night insect tomake her installationtrue to life. Her work isexpected to go up at theGaines Creek Park inDecember or January.

“It challengespeople as to what isart,” stated Bradley. “Ilove temporary publicart,” she added. She alsodescribed it as a greatopportunity for the art-ists, because they canrespond to their envi-ronment using their art-istry. The press releasedescribed the goal ofAIPP as to advance thepublic’s understandingof visual art and to alsoheighten the aestheticquality of public places.

The call for propos-als for next year’s Art inPublic Places will go upin March or April 2014.Further details can beobtained at the websitewww.austintexas.gov/department/TEMPO.

Austinites Got Chocolate WastedDuring Austin Chocolate Festival

By Shirley A. Hammond

Faith Penn (who isblind) enjoyed chocolatedrizzled fruit at the fes-tival. Photo by Shirley A.Hammond

Willie Wonka andhis chocolate factory ofCharlie and the Choco-late (Roald Dahl) fame,might have been theonly missing piece ofthe sensational choco-late event this weekend.Every kind of chocolate,and scores of chocolatelovers converged uponthe Norris ConferenceCenter at 2525 WestAnderson Lane for the6th annual AustinChocolate Festival onSaturday and Sunday.The rules for the swarmsof visitors were to eatchocolate, eat chocolateand eat chocolate, wipeone’s mouth and theneat more chocolate.Chocolate lovers werein plentiful supply aschocolate makers fromall over provided deli-cious samples and op-portunities to purchaseitems. Many enjoyeddedicated samplesfrom a chef’s table, andthen participated inchocolate polls. Itseemed that everythingbut the floor and wallswere adorned withdashes, splashes, flowsand coatings of choco-late.

“A day withoutchocolate is like a daywithout sunshine,”stated one young lady;who admitted that she

and her mother attendthe festival each yearto feast on the wares.All attendees receiveda generous ream oftickets, along with com-petition tickets wherethey could cast theirvote for their top choiceof four fierce contend-ers for the chocolatecrown.

Chocolate fudgewas there; including onevariety described asLavendar Sea SaltFudge. Also in atten-dance was chocolatecovered fruit of manyvarieties, chocolate andpopcorn mixes, choco-late brownies, pepperychocolate concoctionsand others. Markedpresent also were cook-ies, mole, truffles ga-lore, cordials, chocolatecovered super fruits,cake balls, fruit onskewers atop plates andslathered with meltingchocolate.

E r i n c r e d i b l eChocolates and MOREwas there. She createsedible molded choco-late in shapes and pat-terns. She can generatetheme-based chocolatedesigns and table cen-terpieces.

Other chocolatier’sproducts were present,including KathyHolberg from Bastrop.

Her famed candy con-fections are all the ravein Central Texas.

People only got somany sample tickets fortheir admission price,so they had to decidewhich tables to loadtheir containers andplates from. It was aplace where peoplecould get chocolatewasted with abandon,and no one could tellthem to stop.

There arechocoholics and self-proclaimed chocolateaddicts. There werepeople who are con-vinced that chocolateshould be a food group.Whatever their obses-sion with chocolate,many were there load-ing up and shoving it in(their mouths).

Some lines forsamples were longerthan others; but everychocolatier had a chanceto give out yummytaste bits of their inno-vative chocolates.

Page 8 ~ November 22, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

PROGRAMS ~ AWARENESSHACA Banquet Honors 24 Family Self-Sufficiency Graduates and HomeownersHACA Banquet Honors 24 Family Self-Sufficiency Graduates and Homeowners(AUSTIN, TX)— November 15, 2013-—The Housing Authority of the

City of Austin (HACA) will honor 24 public housing and Housing ChoiceVoucher residents who have successfully completed personalized goals ofattaining education, employment or homeownership at the 16th Annual Fam-ily Self-Sufficiency (FSS) and Homeownership Luncheon on November 18,2013 at 11 a.m. at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol, 701 E. 11th Street.

The graduates and homeowners being recognized are public housingand Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) residents who are ending their five-year contract terms of working with a HACA FSS or homeownership coordi-nator to utilize resources that will help them gain more financial indepen-dence. The event will feature two graduate speakers who completed the FSSor Homeownership Program. Of the 24 graduates who participated in theFSS Program, two are new homeowners, one utilizing the Down PaymentAssistance Program, and one utilizing the Community Land Trust Program.The Down Payment Assistance Program provides residents a $10,000 for-givable loan if they occupy their residence for five years. The CommunityLand Trust program provides private financing for qualified public hous-ing residents to purchase a home sold by Equity CLT. Four graduates whohave reached the five-year mark in their home will experience a ceremonial“shredding of the note.”

This year, HACA’s Homeownership Program has provided over $85,000to qualified participants towards the down payment of their home. FSS par-ticipants have the opportunity to establish an escrow account, and once theysuccessfully complete the program they can receive the earnings.

Michael Gerber, HACA’s President, said the luncheon is a way to show-case the hard work that residents engage in that makes a big difference inmoving their family closer to self-sufficiency.

“The benefits the FSS and Homeownership Programs provide are nu-merous from giving participants individualized case management, to link-ing them to effective resources and strategies to reach their goals, as well asbuilding their self-confidence to continue working toward their dreams andto never quit,” Gerber said. “Each graduate has an inspiring story to share,which demonstrates that given the right tools and support, any goal is achiev-able.”

More than 200 guests are scheduled to attend the luncheon, includinglocal lawmakers, Housing and Urban Development field officers, HACAcommissioners, and nonprofit and business leaders. HACA has helped hun-dreds of individuals through its FSS and Homeownership Programs. To findout more about each program, visit the HACA Web site at http://www.hacanet.org/residents/fss.php or http://www.hacanet.org/residents/homeownership.php.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS: (TOP l-r) Paul Hilgers, president of AustinBoard of Realtors; Louise Sawaki, FSS Coordinator; Terria Justice, FSSGraduate; Mike Gerber, President of Housing Authority of the City ofAustin. (CENTER) Olivia Farley [middle], FSS Graduate and Homeownerwith daughter, Monica; Suzanne Schwertner, HACA Homeownership Co-ordinator. (BOTTOM l-r) Mike Gerber, President of Housing Authority ofthe City of Austin; Bettie Mim, FSS Graduate; Edwina Carrington, HACABoard of Commissioners; Isaac Robinson, HACA Board of Commissioners.

H-E-B’S 24TH ANNUAL FEAST OF SHARING DINNEREXPECTED TO SERVE 14,000 MEALS IN AUSTIN

Community dinner will provide free hot meals and live entertainment

(Austin) — To celebrate the holiday season, H-E-B will host its 24th annual Feast ofSharing dinner, an H-E-B tradition for community residents to enjoy a delicious, free mealand festive entertainment. Set for Tuesday, November 26, 2013, from 4:00 to 8:00p.m. at the Palmer Events Center, H-E-B’s Feast of Sharing will be located at 900Barton Springs Road in Austin. “Feast of Sharing supports H-E-B’s continuousefforts to serve our communities and share a spirit of camaraderie duringthe holiday season,” said Winell Herron, group vice president of public af-fairs, diversity and environmental affairs. “Over the past 25 years, Feast ofSharing has grown to be a holiday tradition in 32 locations throughout Texasand Mexico, and we appreciate the opportunity these community dinnersprovide to express gratitude to our customers.”

Hundreds of H-E-B Partners and community volunteers will worktogether to prepare and serve more than 14,000 meals to residents of Austinon Tuesday, November 26, 2013. Altogether, 3,500 lbs of sliced turkey; 3,500lbs. of mashed potatoes; 3,080 lbs of vegetable medley; 280 gallons of browngravy; 1,400 pies; 14,000 dinner rolls and soft drinks will be served.