This paper can be recycled Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid Austin, Texas Permit No. 01949 TPA TPA TPA TPA TPA TEXAS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Vol. 40 No. 30 RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Email: [email protected] Phone: 512-476-0082 December 7, 2012 TheAustinVillager.com INSIDE TheAustinVillager.com Austin Black Symposium: Buying Black By Shirley A. Hammond Special to The Villager Austin Black Business Symposium featured many black businesses either speaking, presenting, or showcasing their products or services on Saturday, De- cember 1, 2012. Located at the Eastview Campus of ACC, the event was hosted by Ujamma Community Foundation and The H.I.M Center. The evening closed out with someone who has gotten plenty of column inches and airtime. In spite of the media tempest sur- rounding her, Maggie Ander- son has not placed a “mis- sion accomplished” stamp on her quest. Anderson has launched an empowerment movement. She and her hus- band began an experiment that they wish other blacks would do on some scale. She is now challenging a change in black money management and spending. She wants to see if their book “Our Black Year,” her manifesto, and her passionate speeches can ig- nite the hearts of black people to spur them to be- gin, return to, or further sup- port black businesses as a pattern and practice. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and others have fea- tured Anderson, as have other national shows. Her family experiment and the book has also been cited by Publishers Weekly as cen- tered around “a dynamite subject.” The wife and mother of two is a lollapalooza, which is defined by Dictionary.com as an extraordinary or un- usual thing, person or event; an exceptional example or instance. Like Queen Esther, she has risked her life for this quest. Similar to Noah, she states that she is trying to do all that the Lord tells her to do (Genesis 6:22). Rosa Parks-like, she is the cata- lyst for a movement. Simply stated, she wants African consumers to use their buying power to impact minority communities and businesses. She wants to see the dollar turn over in the black community as many times as it possibly can. As she sees it, an uptick in vi- able black businesses will honor ancestors and impact future generations. She practiced what she preached before she advo- cated it. In one year, at the behest of her critically ill mother, she embarked upon a strategy to buy black, and to do so exclusively. She had no qualms about sometimes traveling further to do it, as was the case when she was looking for a black grocery store. Resolute, and strate- gic, she stated in one video clip that she does not want See Buying Black page 2 Maggie Anderson takes time out for a symposium attendee at her book signing table. Photo by Shirley Hammond. The Precursors’ Re- cruitment Committee, Judge Harriet M. Murphy, chair with Judith Jenkins and Lt. Col. Leon Holland, co- chairs, sponsored an event to recruit Black students to enroll at the University of Texas at Austin. As a public school supported by all Texas tax payers, the Uni- versity must focus its recruit- ment efforts on all qualified students. However, the Black alumni are not barred in their pursuit to increase ethnic enrollment. The group has become gravely concerned that over the years Black enrollment has lingered between 4½ to 6% of the total student popu- lation of 48,000 to 50,000 Black Alumni Make an Appeal to High School Students to Attend U.T. @ Austin By Judge Harriet M. Murphy Special to The Villager students. This is a group that has assumed a mission to go all out to change this statis- tic. They are some of the first Blacks to receive de- grees from U.T. after the U.S. Supreme Court in Sweatt vs. Painter opened the door to Black students. They are also aware of the road blocks to fulfilling their hopes and dreams. One is overcoming the racial past that created walls to prevent Black entry. Another is our commitment to attend his- torically Black Colleges where many are legacies, being persuaded by their parents to attend. And third, many of the high achievers in Texas are sought by high ranking universities, such as, Harvard, Stanford and other Ivy League schools. And of course, there are honor stu- dents sent as was my great niece to attend Prairie View who later attended medical school, one graduating this past summer. These students probably preferred the com- fort zone while they sought a college for a higher degree. But it is imperative that Texas’ Black stu- dents take advantage of the opportunity to attend one of the greatest public universities in the world, ranking 25 among other like universities. Its de- grees are almost a guar- antee that they will be highly successful in their chosen professions if they live up to them. Another main reason, is the argument which See Black page 2 Santa’s Ranch, a drive- thru Christmas Light Park, is now open and will until De- cember 30. With more than 1.5 million twinkling lights il- luminating 12 wooded acres, the park has become a holi- day destination for many Central Texas families and is celebrating its 10th season this year. Santa’s Ranch is con- veniently located on I-H 35 between New Braunfels and San Marcos. It features a 50-foot Christmas Tree, drive-through tunnels, hun- dreds of lighted characters, Santa’s Ranch is Open Through December 30th and more than four dozen major scenes, including the Town of Bethlehem, vil- lages, scenes from the bible and Santa tubing on a “river” of blue lights. Santa’s Ranch hours are 6-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6-11 ;.m. Fridays and Satur- days. There is a per vehicle charge per visit or you can buy an unlimited season pass. For more information, call 830-743-1293 or visit on-line at www.santas ranch.net. Snoopie welcomes visitors Precursor’s (l to r) Lt. Col. Leon Holland Co -Chair, Judge Harriet Murphy, Lonnie Fogle - President of the Precursors, Judith Jenkins, Dr. Edmund T. Gordon,- Chair of the Department of African And African Diaspora at UT, and Brenda Burt - U. T. Undergraduate and Alumni Outreach. Black Alumni Make an Appeal to High School Students to Attend U.T. @ Austin Santa’s Ranch is Open Through December 30th Much talk is being made about the “fiscal Cliff” that the economy will topple over in January, unless congress is able to come together to solve our economic situation. That means that they must come up with a budget that the presi- dent will approve. Both President Obama and the U. S. Senate have put proposals on the table that have been rejected by the other. President Obama is holding fast to the promise that he will not approve a budget that does not provide for elimi- nating all or most of the Bush cuts for the wealthy. On the other hand the Republicans in the Senate have stood fast on the promise that they would not put a tax increase on the table. Ways and Means Hu- man Resources Subcommit- tee ‘s ranking member, Lloyd Doggett (D-Tx) has released a statement on the latest Con- gressional Budget Office re- port. That report shows that renewing federal unemploy- ment benefits will create nearly 300,000 jobs. However the Republican Senators are call- ing on the president to these benefits should not be ex- tended. The Emergency Unem- ployment Compensation (EUC) program is scheduled to expire at the end of 2012, with the last payable week ending on December 29. Doggett says, “this report is more evidence that extending help for those, who are seek- ing work, is a better investment for our economic than extend- ing tax breaks for those resist- ing comfortably atop the eco- nomic latter.” The public understands that the President is on the right side of this issue, because that was the center piece of his re- election campaign. It is under- stood that you cannot have a balanced budget without hav- ing enough income to cover the expenses and pay for the cost of the numerous services that are provided by the fed- eral government. The only other way is cut the many ben- efits that are provided to citi- zens in need and the elderly. The two sides have a few more days to come to a com- promise over the budget be- fore the “fiscal Cliff” comes into play. Our country’s future de- pends on this deal getting done. “Fiscal Cliff” is Approaching! Payroll Tax: A severe deadline and no decision reached, could put many low-income housholds in a devastating position See FISCAL Page 7 STEM Bill: Republicans have stepped on a sensitive issue and with such an adverse apporch it could leave over 50,000 immigrants at risk See HOSTILE Page 6
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This paper canbe recycled
Presorted StandardU.S. Postage Paid
Austin, TexasPermit No. 01949
TPATPATPATPATPATEXASPUBLISHERSASSOCIATION
Vol. 40 No. 30
RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’Tommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy Wyatt
Email: [email protected]: 512-476-0082 December 7, 2012
TheAustinVillager.com
INSIDE
TheAustinVillager.com
Austin Black Symposium: Buying BlackBy Shirley A. HammondSpecial to The VillagerAustin Black Business
Symposium featured manyblack businesses eitherspeaking, presenting, orshowcasing their products orservices on Saturday, De-cember 1, 2012. Located atthe Eastview Campus ofACC, the event was hostedby Ujamma CommunityFoundation and The H.I.MCenter. The evening closedout with someone who hasgotten plenty of columninches and airtime. In spiteof the media tempest sur-rounding her, Maggie Ander-son has not placed a “mis-sion accomplished” stamp onher quest. Anderson haslaunched an empowermentmovement. She and her hus-band began an experimentthat they wish other blackswould do on some scale. Sheis now challenging a changein black money managementand spending. She wants tosee if their book “Our BlackYear,” her manifesto, and herpassionate speeches can ig-nite the hearts of blackpeople to spur them to be-gin, return to, or further sup-port black businesses as apattern and practice.
CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews and others have fea-tured Anderson, as haveother national shows. Herfamily experiment and thebook has also been cited byPublishers Weekly as cen-tered around “a dynamitesubject.”
The wife and mother oftwo is a lollapalooza, whichis defined by Dictionary.comas an extraordinary or un-usual thing, person or event;an exceptional example orinstance.
Like Queen Esther, she
has risked her life for thisquest. Similar to Noah, shestates that she is trying to doall that the Lord tells her todo (Genesis 6:22). RosaParks-like, she is the cata-lyst for a movement.
Simply stated, shewants African consumers touse their buying power toimpact minority communitiesand businesses. She wants tosee the dollar turn over in theblack community as manytimes as it possibly can. Asshe sees it, an uptick in vi-able black businesses will
honor ancestors and impactfuture generations.
She practiced what shepreached before she advo-cated it. In one year, at thebehest of her critically illmother, she embarked upona strategy to buy black, andto do so exclusively. She hadno qualms about sometimestraveling further to do it, aswas the case when she waslooking for a black grocerystore. Resolute, and strate-gic, she stated in one videoclip that she does not wantSee Buying Black page 2
Maggie Anderson takes time out for a symposium attendee at her book signing table. Photo by ShirleyHammond.
The Precursors’ Re-cruitment Committee, JudgeHarriet M. Murphy, chairwith Judith Jenkins and Lt.Col. Leon Holland, co-chairs, sponsored an eventto recruit Black students toenroll at the University ofTexas at Austin. As a publicschool supported by allTexas tax payers, the Uni-versity must focus its recruit-ment efforts on all qualifiedstudents. However, theBlack alumni are not barredin their pursuit to increaseethnic enrollment.
The group has becomegravely concerned that overthe years Black enrollmenthas lingered between 4½ to6% of the total student popu-lation of 48,000 to 50,000
Black Alumni Make an Appeal to HighSchool Students to Attend U.T. @ Austin
By Judge Harriet M. MurphySpecial to The Villager
students. This is a group thathas assumed a mission to goall out to change this statis-tic. They are some of thefirst Blacks to receive de-grees from U.T. after theU.S. Supreme Court inSweatt vs. Painter openedthe door to Black students.They are also aware of theroad blocks to fulfilling theirhopes and dreams. One isovercoming the racial pastthat created walls to preventBlack entry. Another is ourcommitment to attend his-torically Black Collegeswhere many are legacies,being persuaded by theirparents to attend. And third,many of the high achievers inTexas are sought by highranking universities, such as,Harvard, Stanford and otherIvy League schools. And of
course, there are honor stu-dents sent as was my greatniece to attend Prairie Viewwho later attended medicalschool, one graduating thispast summer. These studentsprobably preferred the com-fort zone while they sought acollege for a higher degree.
But it is imperativethat Texas’ Black stu-dents take advantage ofthe opportunity to attendone of the greatest publicuniversities in the world,ranking 25 among otherlike universities. Its de-grees are almost a guar-antee that they will behighly successful in theirchosen professions if theylive up to them.
Another main reason,is the argument which
See Black page 2
Santa’s Ranch, a drive-thru Christmas Light Park, isnow open and will until De-cember 30. With more than1.5 million twinkling lights il-luminating 12 wooded acres,the park has become a holi-day destination for manyCentral Texas families and iscelebrating its 10th seasonthis year.
Santa’s Ranch is con-veniently located on I-H 35between New Braunfelsand San Marcos. It featuresa 50-foot Christmas Tree,drive-through tunnels, hun-dreds of lighted characters,
Santa’s Ranch is OpenThrough December 30th
and more than four dozenmajor scenes, including theTown of Bethlehem, vil-lages, scenes from the bibleand Santa tubing on a“river” of blue lights.
Santa’s Ranch hoursare 6-10 p.m. Sundaythrough Thursday and 6-11;.m. Fridays and Satur-days. There is a per vehiclecharge per visit or you canbuy an unlimited seasonpass.
For more information,call 830-743-1293 or visiton-line at www.santasranch.net.
Snoopie welcomes visitors
Precursor’s (l to r) Lt. Col. Leon Holland Co -Chair, Judge Harriet Murphy, Lonnie Fogle - President ofthe Precursors, Judith Jenkins, Dr. Edmund T. Gordon,- Chair of the Department of African And AfricanDiaspora at UT, and Brenda Burt - U. T. Undergraduate and Alumni Outreach.
Black Alumni Make an Appeal to HighSchool Students to Attend U.T. @ Austin
Santa’s Ranch is OpenThrough December 30th
Much talk is being madeabout the “fiscal Cliff” that theeconomy will topple over inJanuary, unless congress isable to come together to solveour economic situation. Thatmeans that they must come upwith a budget that the presi-dent will approve.
Both President Obamaand the U. S. Senate have putproposals on the table thathave been rejected by theother. President Obama isholding fast to the promise thathe will not approve a budgetthat does not provide for elimi-nating all or most of the Bushcuts for the wealthy. On theother hand the Republicans inthe Senate have stood fast onthe promise that they wouldnot put a tax increase on thetable.
Ways and Means Hu-man Resources Subcommit-tee ‘s ranking member, LloydDoggett (D-Tx) has releaseda statement on the latest Con-gressional Budget Office re-port. That report shows thatrenewing federal unemploy-ment benefits will create nearly300,000 jobs. However theRepublican Senators are call-ing on the president to thesebenefits should not be ex-tended.
The Emergency Unem-ployment Compensation(EUC) program is scheduledto expire at the end of 2012,with the last payable weekending on December 29.Doggett says, “this report ismore evidence that extendinghelp for those, who are seek-ing work, is a better investmentfor our economic than extend-ing tax breaks for those resist-ing comfortably atop the eco-nomic latter.”
The public understandsthat the President is on the rightside of this issue, because thatwas the center piece of his re-election campaign. It is under-stood that you cannot have abalanced budget without hav-ing enough income to coverthe expenses and pay for thecost of the numerous servicesthat are provided by the fed-eral government. The onlyother way is cut the many ben-efits that are provided to citi-zens in need and the elderly.
The two sides have a fewmore days to come to a com-promise over the budget be-fore the “fiscal Cliff” comes intoplay. Our country’s future de-pends on this deal getting done.
“Fiscal Cliff”is Approaching!
Payroll Tax:A severe deadlineand no decisionreached, could
put manylow-income
housholds in adevastating
positionSee FISCAL
Page 7
STEM Bill:Republicans have
stepped on asensitive issue
and with such anadverse apporch
it could leaveover 50,000
immigrants at riskSee HOSTILE
Page 6
SOLILOQUIZING Page 2 ~ December 7, 2012/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
By Shirley A. HammondSpecial to the VillagerA red fish walking, a
huge rattlesnake meanderingwith bicyclists inside its exosk-eleton, a cycling butterfly andElvis with cape aspread wereall on Congress Avenue onSaturday, the first day of De-cember, 2012. It was the line-up of events, including theChuy’s Children Giving toChildren Parade in the morn-ing and the KUT 90.5/Down-town Austin Alliance (DAA)catalog of events during theevening. Morning and eve,colorful floats and wheeledcontraptions packed thestreets. Some streets wereclosed off causing buses andvehicles to detour around themain downtown thorough-fares. KUT and DAA’s fes-tivities included a Holiday SingAlong, a Tree Lighting and aCongress Avenue Stroll. Forboth celebrations, peoplepacked the streets, sleepy chil-dren draped the curbs, masseswatched from hotel balconies,and sat or stood or walkedwherever they could find el-bow room. Austin’s Capitoleven received a new Christ-mas tree this year.
Julie Weaver, a mediacontact with DAA, explainedthat the towering tree has mu-sic and light choreographywhich occurs on the hour andhalf hour. The tree modeled itsverdant green giant plainnessuntil the appointed time tobring it dazzling color and light.
In the morning, manytruck loads of toys werepicked up and layered intopickup truck beds. The toyscame from businesses andparade spectators along theroute. The donations will ben-efit Operation Blue Santa. Anumber of the truck beds werefilled to overflowing with toys,games, lush toys, and goodiesfrom generous donors. DownSan Jacinto and onto Con-gress, and then along Con-gress Avenue traveled numer-ous holiday floats (some inflat-able). One hot rod-type floatfeatured benefactor Chuy’sRestaurant with a red topwhich wasn’t a cherry, but St.Nick himself. The walking redfish was the unofficial mascotfor Chuys. There were alsocoordinated walking dancers,marching bands, and an Elvislook-alike telling donors“thank you very much.” Otherparticipants stopped at inter-vals and showcased their skillsor threw greetings to themasses.
Once the majority offloaters reached Congress,
those who heard the warningawaited and silently listened tothe 19 cannon shots fired fromthe Capitol grounds. The loudbooms punctuated the air anddelivered small plumes ofsmoke. Some had not heardthe advance news, and werenot sure how to react duringthe early seconds of the event.
A good number of tuck-ered tots draped their wearytorsos over curbs to slumberthrough parts of the event.Many people brought chairs.On the hill-like lawn of theCapitol Visitor’s Center werea plethora of spectators.
At 6:00pm, the KUT/DAA sing-along began withJohn Aielli serving as host. Awidely-distributed programwith song lyrics, the paraderoute and stroll map, pep-pered with business adshelped people to sing the cor-rect words, navigate the nightevents, and know who spon-sored their fun evening.
During the kickoff mu-sical event, many people readthe lyrics by penlights, phonelights, or flashlights. Othersknew many songs by heart andsaved the program to refer tofor later events, such as thestroll. Seasonal songs hadsome tempo changes, androunds that went higher atAielli’s behest. Other tuneswere rendered slow and low.Reverence or glad cheer ac-companied different selec-tions.
One dad who observedhis celebrating family sug-gested that they make the clus-ter of events their Christmastradition. Others were a fewgenerations strong. The fam-ily pooch was not left out, asmany brought their leasheddogs to the festivities.
Grey hairs, newborncurls and everything in-be-tween were spotted in thedense crowd. The front lawnof the Capitol was brimmingwith celebrants.
At the 7pm chime of theclock, the countdown for the
tree lighting began. Soon the40 tall tree was ablaze withlights that alternated frombright white to red and gold,shades of blue, with a multi-colored blend in the sequence.Weaver explained that theholiday singing connected tothe tree featured musiciansfrom none other than the LiveMusic Capitol of the World.
Businesses along Con-gress Avenue was readied forthe stroll. Children were ableto go to The Paramount The-atre to watch classic cartoons.
Custom animated pro-jections added dazzle to Con-gress Avenue. They consistedof animated art projections onbuildings showcasing the fi-nesse and skill of local artists.
Students from the Aus-tin School of Performing andVisual Arts students treated thecrowd with various live per-formances.
Downtown churchesprovided cocoa and cookiesdistributed during the singing.During the stroll people wereinvited into the Old Bakery totake a cookie decorating class.
Santa “re-appeared” atthe State Theatre to sit inphoto shoots with children.For some youngsters, this rep-resented the second picture ofthe night. The brightly lit Capi-tol tree had served as a back-drop for many photos takenfrom phones and other digitaldevices before the stroll.
The money and cannedgoods collected at tree-sidewill benefit the Capital AreaFood Bank. DPS estimatedthat the nighttime crowdwas18,000-20,000 strong.
At press time, a countof visitors for the morningevent was not available.
Also, as of the pressdeadline, we were unableto confirm how much wascollected for either event.Angie Marchman withChuy’s marketing staff didshare that Blue Santa do-nations were 20% higherthan last year.
Santa on Chuy’s Hot Rod. Photo by ShirleyHammond.
Crowd on E. 11th during Chuy’s Chirstmas Parade. Photo by Shirley Hammond.
to see only liquor storesand funeral homes in blackcommunities.
What She KnowsNot only did she turn
over rocks to find black busi-nesses during her inquiry, shepeeped into some lesserknown crevices for informa-tion. She knows which busi-nesses get black money buthas no black distributors,franchises or producers. Sheknows which productsbeautify the tresses and facesof blacks but are white-owned. She knows manyblack businesses and prod-ucts, and that list is growing.
She also knows howmany times a dollar turnsover in different communi-ties.
- She said that onedollar stays in the Asian com-munity for 28 days beforeleaving
- She said that in theJewish community its 21days
- She shared thatWhite Anglo Saxon Protes-tants keep a dollar in theircommunity for 17 days
- In the Hispaniccommunity she gave the re-tention period of a dollar at7 days
- In the AfricanAmerican community, theperiod is even not in days
While speaking at thesymposium, Andersonshared lesser repeatedquotes by Dr. King:
- “Philanthropy is
commendable but it must notcause the philanthropist tooverlook the circumstancesof economic injustice whichmake philanthropy neces-sary.”
- “I call upon you totake your money out of thebanks downtown and de-posit your money in Tri-StateBank—we want a “bank-in”movement in Memphis. Sogo by the savings and loanassociation. I’m not askingyou something we don’t doourselves at SCLC. Youhave six or seven black in-surance companies in Mem-phis. Take out your insurancethere. We want to have an“insurance-in.”
She said that King waskilled one day after sharingthe speech from which thisexcerpt came.
Eloquent and generousin her own speech, Ander-son shared some profoundAndersonisms of her own.They follow below:
1. “King died telling usto support black businesses.We didn’t”
2. “The blackest thingyou can do is to be blackwith your money.”
3. “It’s gonna take amovement to get it done.”
4. “We have to use thesame power those Mont-gomery marchers used.”
5. “Black people havebeen here 400 years, atleast.”
6. “Trickle down gen-erosity won’t do it. You can
wait on that, or you can rollwith us.”
Anderson, stated thatHispanics say through theirpurchasing power, “We’rehere and we’re gonna doright by our own.” She saidblack people should state bytheir spending practice, “Ifyou want our business, youneed to do business with us.”
About that statistics onhow long a dollar stays in theblack community? Accord-ing to Anderson, it’s 6 hours.Commenting on this fact, shestated, “It’s sad. It’scrushingly so.”
If you want to knowmore about “The AndersonEffect,” see black-ownedbusinesses that she has iden-tified, and gain tips on howyou can get involved in TheEmpowerment Experimentthat she founded, visit herwebsite at www.OurBlackYear.com or email her atM a [email protected].
You can also contactCorey Tabor, with theH.I.M Center, who is fea-tured in the book as a dis-ciple of the experiment withbuying black. He is also oneof the organizers who se-cured her as the keynotespeaker. His email addressis [email protected]. Ihave posted an interviewwith him on my blog(writeouswriter.blogspot.com).
Follow her on twitter attwitter.com/xtremeridewish1
Austin Black Symposium: Buying BlackFrom page 1
Christmas Cheer and Givingin Downtown Austin
Local Talent and Abundant Visitors
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 He exhibitedis 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 ServiceThursday: Praise, Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 PM
Call 454-1547 for TransporationWebsite 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
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
JOSHUA CHAPEL CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
1006 Yeager Lane, Suite 102-A Austin, Texas
Sunday ServicesSunday School 10:00 A.M.Worship Service 11:00 A.M.
WEDNESDAY Bible Study 6:30 P.M.SATURDAY New
Member Assimilation 10:00 A.M.
Rev. Lois Hayes, Pastor
Ebenezer Baptist Church1010 East 10th Street 512-478-1875 Fax: 512-478-1892
Sunday ServicesWorship 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
AFRICAN ASSEMBLIES of GODCHURCH
A growing church ministering to African American andother nationals
Come worship with us
Sunday Worship 11:30 A.M.Wednesday Prayer Meeting 6:45 P.M.
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
The Church of Glad Tidings 2700 Northland Dr. Austin, TX 78756For more information, contact Pastor Jonah Ghartey
512-873-8103 [email protected]
Place of Worship
St Annie A.M.E. Church1711 Newton StreetAustin, Texas 78704
Voice mail (512) 444-4509E-mail: [email protected]
Church School 9:30 A.M. SunMorning Worship 10:45 A.M. Sun
Bible Study 7:30 P.M. Sun.
Rev. Derwin D. Gipson, Pastor
Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Chruch1701 Chestnut Avenue Austin, TX 78702
Church Phone (512) 476-0838
Morning Worship Service @ 11 a.m.Sundays @ 9:00a.m.- Sunday schoolSunday @ 10:00am Bible Study Monday @ 6:30 pm Bible Study Mid-Week Service each Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m., where there is Prayer, Praising, and Preaching going on. Come and worship with us!!!
Rev. Ralph H. Daniels, Pastor
Advancing the Ministry -Expanding the Church
2115 E. MLK Blvd.512-476-7338
Austin, Texas 78702www.PHRX.Net
Open Mon-Fri 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sat 9 a.m. - Noon
HOSPITAL PHARMACYServing Austin since 1970
Let us Fill your next Perscription!SAVE TIME
*Ask your doctor to call your prescription in to usand we’ll have it ready for you when you get here!
THE VILLAGER/December 7, 2012 ~ Page 3
CHURCH & TOWN BULLETINwww.theaustinvillager.com
DOUBLE
GROCERY“R”
450l East Martin Luther King Blvd.
*We cash ALL Tax Refund*Checks *Check Out
If you have church newsor
to have your church included onthis page, send information to
call 512-476-0082.
True Hope Apostolic ChurchThe Apostle Gerald E. Loveless, Senior Pastorwww.thcm.org 8863 Anderson Mill Rd.
Austin, TX 78653512-744-5851 Cell
512-547-HOPE Church512-767-4979
Assistant, Elder Walker
Dr. Ricky Freeman, Pastor
Nothing Fancy. Just Good Food!
603 Sabine Street512-382-0603
Mon- Tuesday 7am-3pm Wed-fri 7am-6pmSat 8am-3pm Sun 8am-3pm
On Tuesday, June19th, the Rev. Fred Luter,pastor of New Orleans’Franklin Avenue BaptistChurch, was elected asthe first Black president ofthe 16-million-memberSouthern Baptist Conven-tion (SBC) during theirannual meeting in NewOrleans. The two-dayannual meeting’s themewas “Jesus: To the neigh-borhood and the na-tions.”
Rev. Fred Luter
The previous SBCpres ident i s BryantWright.
When asked whatmessage he hopes hisnominat ion and SBCpresidency will send,Luter, 55, explained thatthe lesson people shouldlearn is about the impor-tance of faith.
“Why me out of allthe thousands and thou-sands of preachers in thiscity and state and na-
tion?,” he asked. “I be-lieve it’s not because I’veaccomplished so much; Ijust believe it’s becauseof the faithfulness of Godand that He has honoredme because of my faith-fulness.”
According to theAnnual Church Profile,the Southern Baptist Con-vent ion has approxi-mately 15 million U.S.members and of those, anestimated one millionmembers are Black. Theselection of a Black min-ister for the highest postin the SBC has particularrelevance because of howthe convent ion wasfounded nearly 167 yearsago. The Southern Bap-tist Convention was cre-ated in 1845, when par-ticipants decided to leavethe Northern Baptists be-cause they believed sla-very was biblically just.
Many, including Luter,have �difficulty believingthe racial injustices perpe-trated by SBC churchesand their members.
“I’ve been in thisthing four years now,” hesaid. “I don’t feel a needto leave. All of us got apast. All we can do isapologize about thosethings and move on.”
The SBC is wel laware of its racist historyand in recent years hasmade moves — big andsmall — to address itspast and shape its future.In 2011, the conventionpassed an historic mea-sure calling for more eth-nic diversity in their lead-ership ranks; in 1995,they even formally apolo-gized “to all African-Americans’ for their paststance on slavery.
Traditionally, when itsreferring to churches, the fig-ure of 10 percent refers tohow much of an individual’sincome they are required togive back to the church.
Yet the Miami Gar-dens-based ImmanuelTemple has expanded thatconcept by promising to do-nate 10 percent of thechurch’s proceeds to chari-table donations.
According toImmanuel Temple’s founderand senior pastor, Rev. JohnF. White, the church is “tith-ing back to the community.”
“For me, it is a mandatefrom God to spread the loveof Jesus Christ in a tangibleway and this is our effort todo that,” Whiteexplained.Immanuel Templeheld it inaugural service onEaster Sunday, April 8th atthe auditorium of the CarolCity Senior High School.The church continues to meetat the high school and Whiteestimates that they have over300 members already.
To ensure that thechurch meets its 10 percentdonation goals, ImmanuelTemple relies upon a budgetthat allots roughly 15 percentof all proceeds are to be
saved, 85 percent are to beused for the operating bud-get and the remaining 10 per-cent is for charitable dona-tions.
Pamela Hines, was oneof the church’s first mem-bers, praised ImmanuelTemple’s “community tithing”policy.
I am very honored tobe apart of a congregation
that gives back,” she said.“Most churches take andgive nothing to the surround-ing community where theyare located and in that aloneImmanuel Temple will be dif-ferent.”
To ensure that there istransparency, White says thatchurch leaders will report thebudget to the entire churchin quarterly meetings.
SBC Elects Its First Black PresidentRev. Fred Luter to Take Over Southern Baptist
Local Church Pledges 10 Percent ofOfferings to Community
By Kaila HeardSpecial to the NNPA from
The Miami Times
Page 4 ~ December 7, 2012/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today
Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry
Timberwolves Performed
7th Annual CCB Banquet
Jaylon KnightenDailey Middle School
Last Thursday theDailey Middle School 8th
grade A & B Basketball teamplayed their first game againstthe Elgin Wildcats at DaileyMiddle School. The B teamloss, so they are 0-1. Theirnext game will be againstOjeada Middle School, but
they will also play in a tourna-ment at Goodnight MiddleSchool in San Marcos, TexasDec 7-8 Friday and Saturday.The A team had a different re-sult, they beat the Wildcats andtheir next game will be againstDecker Middle School atDecker.
The Capital CityBearcats held their 7th AnnualFootball/Cheer banquet onSaturday Dec 1st. They werelooking back on the greatfootball season the bearcatshad and recognized BoardMembers, our President, VicePresident, Team Managers,Coaches and athletes (cheerand football). We had a greattime. This is my last year play-ing, I had a great time this yearbeing a Bearcat and I will al-ways be a Bearcats.
This week the DaileyTimberwolves Cheerleadershad a cheer competition in
Aubri Allen-BrentDailey Middle School
San Antonio TX. This ex-perience was awesome be-cause I never experiencedthis before. We got to meetthe Spurs cheerleaders andperform at the pregameshow for the spurs vs. theMemphis grizzlies’.
We won 1st place in theelementary, jr. highschoolnovice division and also wewon another 1st place in themiddle school division. Nextweek we are going to DallasTX for the NCA state cham-pionships cheer competition.I can’t wait! Until next timeGOOOO WOLVES !!!!!
U.T. Holiday Singing
U.T. Elementary Holi-day Singing is when all thegrades 12345 go on thestage and sing songs. Onesong that we are going tosing is a song from Papua,New Guinea,another one isfrom Rome. It will be a lotof fun because there is go-ing to be entertainment(singing), drinks (non- al-coholic) and food that ourchefs are going to prepare.We have been practicingthese songs for a monthnow and we sound reallygood, if I may say so my-self.
Mr. Harris, ourmulticultural arts teacher,taught us these songs. Hepicked the song from
Averill ToppsUT Elementary School
Papua, New Guinea be-cause one of his friendswent there and came backwith one of the villagerswho taught Mr. Harris'friend how to sing the songand what it meant. One ofthey lyrics is this: a papua apapua a which means pro-tect me from the alligators.The Holiday Singing is onFriday, December 7th atU.T. Elementary on 6thStreet starting at 5:30 pm -7:00 pm.
**Update on theFLLC (First Lego LeagueCompetition) which washeld this weekend at DelValle High School. Weplaced in the top 15 andwon an award for CoreValues because we demon-strated our ability to effec-tively work as a team, butsadly we did not make it tothe finals. This was our firsttime competing in the FLL.We learned how to pro-gram a robot, and moreimportantly we learnedabout the value of team-work.
Until next timeHook'em Horns
Dailey Basketball
Last week on the29th, was Dailey MS firstbasketball game for the
season, our 8th grade Bteam won, it was a toughone but we went all theway we went against ElginMS. They did a good jobthough and they broughttheir best, so I give themprops for that but our 8thgrade A team lost but atleast they tried and theywere all tired and hurtfrom them trying.
Our next game isagainst Decker I believeso be looking for my up-date on that.
Lanette DempsDailey MS
This past Saturday Iattended The Village ofWestlake. There were alot of buildings to makeup the village and we
Westlake Scavenger Huntwere a part of a scaven-ger hunt! It was so fun!The radio station thathosted this event wasMajic 95.5. There weremany different activities forthe kids. The lines for facepainting and character bal-loons were really long butI was patient.
I went with my aunt,grandma and cousins. Weall had fun! My cousins andI enjoyed the special ap-pearance by Santa!
You better get ready,Santa is coming to town!
SaNaya WhiteCedars Academy
I would like to startoff by saying happy holidaysto everyone. This year
went by so fast. I am soready for Christmas. I can'twait to see what I am get-ting this year. I see that I’mgetting older and eventuallythe presents are going tostop.
I wish I could stayyoung forever. I don'tknow what I am going todo. But I’m happy becauseDel Valle is off December24, 2012 and we don't goback until January 5, 2013that looks like a long time.
Imani DempsDel Valle High School
Christmas Break
Lately it seems asthough I spend 50% of mytime on homework andthe rest of my time com-pleting college and schol-arship applications. Eventhough I know my effortsare for the greater good,this is a really stressfultime of my life.
For instance, I've lostcount of the paper work
Will PurcellNew Manor Tech HS
I've completed concern-ing college and the schoolyear isn't even half over.
Today I have to meetwith some people talkingabout graduation and talkto my counselor about get-ting my art credit. It seemsthat I went to summerschool several years backto get ahead in high school,but somehow the credit gotlost in my file so I'm tryingto get that fixed.
Senior year is defi-nitely an exciting time andthere is some perks likegetting a reduced classschedule, but it is also mybusiest time of my schoolcareer. Some days arebetter than others, but I'mdefinitely ready to rise tothe occasion.
Graduation Preparation
This time of the yearseems like it's busier than allyear long. For school, wehave a book fair coming upand a Christmas party. In Artclass, we are doing Christ-
mas stuff too. Yeap, Christ-mas is almost here. Christ-mas is my favorite time of theyear. Besides my birthdaywhich is in November.Make sure that you are be-ing nice. Oh, and make sureyou have enough milk forSanta's cookies.
A countdown toChristmas- 20 days (in-cluding weekends). Lastweek the girls and boys'basketball teams wentagainst Goodnight. Theeighth grade girls' A andB teams los t toGoodnight. The seventhgrade girls' A team won
Lockheart Band Events
Tori Smith, Lockhart Junior High School
40 to 20. The seventhgrade girls' B team lost byone point to Goodnight.The eighth grade boys' Aand B teams los t toGoodnight too. Lastlyboth seventh grade boys'A and B teams lost too.
This week we willbe going agains tDahlstrom. Also the girlsbasketball team will begoing to a tournament toDahlstrom on the week-end.
In Band they will begoing to all of the elemen-tary schools to show thesounds and looks of theinstruments they mightplay in middle school.
Erika LipscombManor Elementary
Christmas Time
Perfect Attendance Movie
On December 7th,this Friday there is goingto be a perfect atten-
dance movie students getto see from their perfectattendance. The perfectattendance movie is goingto be in the morning rightwhen you get into first pe-riod. At the end of the daythere is going to be a noreferral dance. It’s goingto be fun, wi th yourfriends dancing and play-ing. In the morning youstart with a movie, and atthe end of the day youend with dancing!
Deria GoodDailey Middle School
Darius HatcherPflugerville MS
Selections in High School
Starting in December, all8th graders students will map-ping out their high schoolcourse schedules. Our coun-selors and principals havestressed to us that when weget to high school things aregoing to change and the onlyperson you have to depend onis yourself. We are preparingfor the responsibilities that
come with moving on to highereducation. The eighth gradestudents are making plans forcollege, setting goals, andlearning what courses they willneed to take for their futurecareers.
We will be taking a tripto the Pflugerville HighSchool on December 6th,Tech in Action 8th gradersare going to tour the Careerand Technology classes atthe high school. This will bea great chance to get impor-tant information on what theclasses are, and if this mightbe a good option for you.We will spend an hour and ahalf with the students andteachers. They are going toshow us what the class is allabout and what we can ex-pect.
CHRISTMAS PLUS: DELIGHTFULThis 5-star review book
was wr i t t en by Sh i r l ey A.Hammond, a Cont r ibu t ingWriter for The Villager News-paper.
See the full review andexcerpts at http://www. ama-zon. com/Christmas-Delight-ful-stories-full-length-ebook/dp/B004HW6DN0 and orderonline or directly from her.
Contact Shirley A.Hammond [email protected] with subject IWant It!
THE VILLAGER/December 7, 2012 ~ Page 5www.theaustinvillager.com
YOUTH BRIGADE
Olivia SmithLockhart High School
On, Friday November30, some key club mem-bers and myself volun-teered at Bluebonnet El-ementary School to help outwith the "RIF" event. "RIF"stands for( Reading is Fun-damental). I remember at-
Reading is Fundamentaltending book fairs and RIFevents. RIF events arewhere RIF representativescome to elementaryschools, and they bringbooks for the students tochoose from. A student isallowed to choose onebook.
The purpose of thisprogram is to encouragestudents at a young age toread and educate them-selves. They stress the im-portance of reading andhow it will help you in thelong run. I helped studentsdecide what books theyshould get. Also, the booksare free. Students were sothrilled for RIF. I am gladthat I vounteered for sucha great event and purpose.
Need some extra tu-torials? Are you sufferingfrom low test grades?Need help wi th yourhomework? Want a quietplace to get work done?Interested in working withyour friends in smallgroups on your school-work? If you answeredyes to any of the questionsabove then Late Night Li-
Alon RodgersHendrickson Highschool
brary is for you!Late Night Library is
located in the library ev-ery Thursday from 4:20-5:30. Teachers and up-perclassmen are availableto help as needed.
Come by 4:30pmand leave at any time, butthen it’s time to go home.(no come and go). Comewith something to workon and working with yourfriends is allowed and en-couraged!
School rules apply:electronic devices/head-phones are allowed whileworking.
District basketballgets underway Fridayagainst Westlake at home.All basketball teams playSt. Michaels Dec. 10. TheHHS Choir Concert is at 7pm in the PAC on Dec. 11.
Hendrickson Study Night Suicide is Not An Option
Marcus AustinCedar Ridge High School
The weekend was avery busy one for me. Itstarted early Saturdaymorning with me takingmy S.A.T. at Round RockHigh School. I was verynervous but once we be-gan the test I felt muchbetter. I think it was all inmy mind that’s why I wasso nervous and the factthat the test would take 3hours and 45 minutes hadme feeling overwhelmed.
Once the test was fi-nally over I felt like ahuge weight was lifted offof me. After the S.A.T.exam I attended the 4ASemi-finals football gamein Cedar Park betweenthe Georgetown Eaglesand Angleton Wildcats.My cousin T.J. Austinwas the quarterback forthe Angleton Wildcats,they played a good gamebut came up short to theEagles 39-49.
Suicide is a very seri-ous matter, as the years goon more and more cases ofit are rising. While there aremany reasons for suicidealcoholism is credited for30% of all suicides. Sui-
cide is one of increasingcauses of death for Afri-can American teens. Fire-arms are the most fre-quent method of suicideamong adults in the U.S.
It is stated that ev-ery 15 minutes in Americasomeone dies from sui-cide. These are astonish-ing numbers! To me it isvery sad to see that some-one has to commit suicidebecause they feel alone,bullied, heartbroken, orhopeless like it is the onlyway out. I believe if weall took a little more timeto hear someone abouttheir problem life and notcriticize them then wewould see a decrease inthese ridiculous numbersand statistics especially inour teens!
We need to showpeople that they are notalone and that they areloved because suicide notonly affects the personkilling themselves but italso affects their family,friends, and loved onesleft behind. I pray for thosethat have been affected bythis horrific act. I pray thatGod gives them a peace ofmind. If you know anyonethat may be contemplatingsuicide listen to there prob-lem with a open heart andyou can call 911, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255),check them in to the emer-gency room, and last butnot least pray for that per-son.
That’s all the newsfor this week. Thank youfor reading. Until next timetake care & God bless!
The Christmas Seasonis here and it is my favoriteholiday of the year. I love
Christmas. Its a time forfamily to get together andcelebrate the birth of Jesus.This year my family may begoing out of town.
I enjoy it because I getto eat different kinds ofgreat food and run aroundlike a little kid with mycousins. I hope it snowsthis holiday. My birthdayis also in the Christmas sea-son, so excited for it.
Christmas is my fa-vorite holiday, I can't waitto hear Santa ' s be l l sjingle!
Christmas Season
Latrice LipscombDel Valle High School
Second Golf Tournament
On Monday Decem-ber 3rd, 2012 the Del ValleHigh School Boys Varsitygolf team had our secondand final tournament of thefall semester. The tourna-ment was held at QuailCreek. Quail Creek Coun-try Club is located in theSan Marcos area. This wasmy first time playing golf atthis course; it had very nicefairways, and greens thatwere actually green, whichis always a plus. Thecourse was moderatelyeasy, but I must admit thatthere were some obstacles
Jaquarry WilsonDel Valle High School
present. Since two of ourplanned five members ofthe team who were chosento attend didn’t show up,we went to the tournamentwith a mere three players.
Unfortunately, havingonly three players isn’tenough to be included inthe overall competitionwhen it comes I teamscores, a number that com-bines all of the team mem-bers’ scores. I was disap-pointed by this because Ifelt as if we have all workedvery hard in practice sincethe last tournament in thelast week of October. Ourscores this time weren’t thebest, with a team score of382, however we were allfocused and we did ourbest.
I must say that thewind was definitely a fac-tor when it came to ourscores. Our next tourna-ment will be next semesterand I can’t wait!
Competition Time
Competition for ro-botics is so close. The com-petition is on Saturday, De-cember 8, 2012 so wehave a little bit of time. Ourrobot still isn’t finished but
the robot is small anyway,so I guess you could saythat we are almost finishedwith our robot. We haven’tgotten as much informationas we need to get. Ourteam is lucky because weare farther than the boys.
Last year the girl’steam won, let’s hope thatthis year we’ll win again.I don’t have that muchinformation about thecompetition. All I know isthat if we qualify for thiscompetition we will get togo to the one in St.Louis,Missouri in January. Wishus good luck . GOTIMBERWOLVES!
Tierra GoodDailey Middle School
Youth of Today
Hope of Tomorrow
Bria GoodLBJ High School
It's Almost Christmas
It is almost Christmastime! I’ve always lovedChristmas time and theyearly traditions I partici-pate in as Christmas nears.Christmas time is great forenjoying family and friends.Along with Christmas timecomes midterms and finals.That is the only negativething for the students this
semester.It is kind of surreal
that my first semester ofsenior year has flown by. Itseems just like yesterdaythat I was performing at thefirst pep rally of the year,now I’m preparing andstudying for the end of thesemester midterms and fi-nals. Once finals are com-plete, I will be so relievedto enjoy the rest of Christ-mas break with my familyand friends. No matter howold I am, I will forever en-joy Christmas and all theholiday has to bring. It’s notall about presents and whatyou receive, but also aboutwhat you give to one an-other.
I hope everyone has ablessed and safe holidayseason!
Girls Basketball
On Monday Decem-ber 10, 2012 thePflugerville Middle SchoolGirls Basketball team willtake on the Forbes SilverEagles. The 8th grade girlsteam will play home at
Pflugerville Middle Schooland the 7th grade team willplay away at ForbesMiddle School inGeorgetown.
The basketball gamewill start at 5:30 and it willend around 7:30. The Bteam game will start first,and the A team will tenminutes after the B gamehas ended. So now thatyou know the time anddate please come buytickets and help supportthe Pflugerville lady pan-thers.
Also please shop atthe concession stands tohelp out the PTO.
Andrae HatcherPflugerville MS
On Sunday, December 12, Del Valle HighSchool seniors and teachers volunteered to run inthe annual Mothers Against Drunk Drivers(MADD) Jingle Bell 5k. Below is a picture of therunners with senior A. Cruiz, representing one of themany victims of drinking and driving. In total, therewere over 50 students that volunteered for the timedrun. Thank you to all who came to support MADD.
Panther Mid-Terms
The Pflugerville HighSchool Panthers are prepar-ing to take their mid-termexams. Students will betested over the informationand material learned in theircourses, this semester. InPreparation for the exam, itis a great idea to plan ahead
and have time to look overolder notes and study forthe mid- term, just in caseyou have forgotten some-thing that was taught ear-lier in the year. Also, stu-dents should get plenty ofsleep the night before andhave a nutritious breakfastin the morning.
Exams are scheduledto be taken, December17th, 18th, and 19th, the lastweek before students arereleased for the holidaybreak. The break will starton December 20th andclasses will resume January7th, starting the second se-mester for this year.
Good luck panthers,and have a safe and happyholiday break.
Marshay HatcherPflugerville High School
DVHS Seniors and TeacherVolunteer with MADD
The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce recog-nized Pflugerville ISD Superintendent Charles E. Dupreas Superintendent of the Year during its 7th AnnualState of Education luncheon in recognition of his effortsto create a culture within Pflugerville ISD where allstudents are encouraged to attend college.
"It is a tremendous honor for Pflugerville ISD tobe recognized by the Greater Austin Chamber of Com-merce," Dupre said. "This award acknowledges theclimate and culture we are trying to create in PISD, ledby our Board of Trustees and carried out by our out-standing staff members."
CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLD Page 6 ~ December 7, 2012/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
Republican’s Hostile ImmigrationBill Aimed at the African Continent
Once again, the Re-publican held United StatesHouse of Representativeshave taken a negative ap-proach to the United Statesimmigration policy towardthe African continent bypassing the Standing forScience, Technology, Engi-neering, and Mathematics(STEM bill) ImmigrationBill Act that would providegreen cards to foreign na-tionals who have earnedtheir Ph.D. or Masters inone of the STEM fieldsfrom an American Univer-sity, while getting rid of the"Lottery Visa" that is allo-cated to the African conti-nent.
Moreover, the pas-sage of this bill by the Re-publican does not help fixthe immigration policy ofthe United States but re-stricts one group of peoplefrom entering the UnitedStates. However, theDemocrats in the Senateplan to block this bill.
Under the LotteryVisa System, the Africancontinent is allocated55,000 Green Cards peryear. If someone wins thegreen card, then they areallowed to come to theUnited States and start anew life. Upon arrival in theUnited States they can pe-tition for a spouse or chil-
dren, in order, to be re-united with their family.However, the bill that waspassed for by the Republi-cans party will do awaywith the Lottery Visa thatallow less than 1% of Afri-cans to enter the U.S witha lottery visa.
As a result, the billchampioned by the Repub-licans shows their dis-re-gard towards African immi-grant population alreadyliving the United States dueto the fact that ending theLottery Visa Programwould make it harder forthem to re-unite with theirfamily in the U.S.
Moreover, the Afri-cans who have used theLottery Visa Program are avery productive segment ofthe United States. Over theyears, they have startednew small businesses thathave re-energized the taxbases of their community.In addition, their businesseshave employed thousandsof other people in theUnited States. Further-more, the lottery visa helpsAfricans who are trying toescape the un-ending po-litical instability. Other Af-ricans seeking the LotteryVisa have away to come toAmerica in quest of eco-nomic opportunities.
The Ghanaian Diaspora AwaitsElection Results in West Region
By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
On December 07,2012 the nation of Ghanain West Africa plans to holda truly free and fair demo-cratic election. Over thelast two decades, the na-tion of Ghana has experi-enced free and fair elec-tions in which the people’schoice prevails. Conse-quently, Ghanaians and therest of the West African re-gion strongly believe thatthe upcoming presidentialand parliamentarian elec-tions will be transparent.Moreover, the upcomingpresidential election wouldhelp stabilize the region andalso help the region pursueeconomic growth.
In the upcoming elec-tions, the incumbent Presi-dent John Dramani Mahamiof the National DemocraticCongress (NDC) will be fac-ing several challengers whoare Hassan Ayariga, PapaKwesi Nduom, Nana AddoDankwa Akufo-Addo,Michael Abu Sakara Foster,Akwasi Addai Odike, JacobOsei Yeboah, and Henry
Herbert Lartey. However,the most competitive chal-lenger among this list is NanaAkufo-Addo of the NewPatriot Party. According toseveral polls, it shows atight race between both theincumbent President JohnDramani Mahami of theNDC and Nana Akufo-Addo. As a result, the elec-tion will be won based onturn-out. Not only wouldthe nation of Ghana be vot-ing to elect a president, butalso will be voting to electtheir members of parlia-ment.
Finally, Ghanaians liv-ing in the Diaspora, includ-ing Central Texas are hop-ing for a peaceful election.According to Sam, "Theseelections will show the ma-turity of the Ghanaians de-mocracy; therefore makingGhana an exemplary nationin West Africa". Moreover,the political stability ofGhana has made it into aneconomic powerhouse inAfrica in which its growthrate exceeds 8%. In addi-tion, the political stabilityhas attracted and its oil dis-covery has attracted nu-merous investors, includingfirms from the State Texas.Furthermore, Ghana's po-litical and economic stabil-ity has resulted in the visitof three different Americanpresidents. For instance,President Clinton, Presi-dent Bush and PresidentObama have visited the na-tion of Ghana. As a result,the entire world is fixingtheir eyes on the Ghanaianelections and hope that theywill be both free and fair.
Annual Chuy’s Parade
On December 1 ,2012 the City of Austinheld its Annual Chuy’sParade in the heart ofdowntown. The Chuy’sAustin Parade serves as amethod to help the Op-eration Blue Santa to givegifts to children in theAustin Metro area duringthe Christmas season.Moreover, the Chuy'sAustin Parade first beganin 1987, when the co-owner of Chuy’s and alocal radio station teamedup to organize the firstparade. Since 1987, theChuy's Austin Parade hasbecome an annual eventthat is sponsored by nu-merous area businessesand the local government.
For this year, theChuy's Austin Parade wasonce again very success-ful. The parade startedfrom 11th Street and
Congress and went downSouth on Congress, untilit reached Cesar ChavezStreet. During the march,there were giant inflatableballoons, marching bands,holiday floats, classiccars , and of courseSanta.
Also during the pa-rade, children had theopportunity to give gifts to"Santa helpers". After allthe gifts were collected,then the Chuy’s AustinParade gave the gift toOperation Blue Santa,was in charge of distrib-uting the gifts to familiesin the Austin areas.
Moreover, the eventwas very successful due tothe large crowd gatheredat the event and also hada very large sponsorshipbase. Numerous localbusinesses and also vari-ous local government en-
tities took part in theevent by having a floatdrive down the main pa-rade route. In addition,a large crowd gatheredfor the events. The crowdconsisted of families of alltypes.
Moreover, familiesused this time to bringtheir kids to the down-town area. For instance,the Johnson family whodrove from Round Rockmentioned that the paradewas "beneficial to theirfamilies because it al-lowed their kids to givegift to other children whohave lesser means thanthey have." He also men-tioned that the "family en-joyed, especially the kidsenjoyed the various floatsand marching bands thatwere at the parade andthat they look forward anattending the next event."
Hassan Ayariga Papa Kwesi NduomDankwa Akufo-Addo
Michael AbuSakara Foster
Akwasi AddaiOdike
Henry HerbertLartey
Jacob OseiYeboah
By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
Congressman Luis Gutierrez
CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATIONTHE VILLAGER/December 7, 2012 ~ Page 7
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The City of Austin Purchasing Officeinvites you to view current bid solicitationsat http://-www.ci.austin.tx.us/purcase/vs/p2.htm. Vendors are encouraged to registeron-line in the City’s Vendor Self ServiceSystem. Once your company is registered,you will receive notifications about new bidopportunities. For additional information re-garding current bid opportunities or Ven-dor Registration, please call the PurchasingOffice at 512-974-2500. For information onthe City of Austin’s Minority-Owned andWomen-Owned Procurement Program andthe certification process, please contact theSmall & Minority Business Resources De-partment at 512-974-7600 or visit theirwebsite at http://www.-ci.austin.tx.us/smbr.
City of AustinPurchasing Office
AUSTIN COMMUNITYCOLLEGE
Apply at HRMiddle Fiskville Rd.
6th Floor, Austin, TX 78752Job Line (512 223-5621hhtp://www./austincc.ed
EEOC/AA/M/F/D/V
AUSTIN COMMUNITYCOLLEGE DISTRICT (ACC) issoliciting bids to provide for HDTVupgrade to its Instructional Devel-opment Production (IDS) Studio atthe Pinnacle Campus
Request for ProposalsNo. 840-13007AS
All proposals must be sub-mitted to the Purchasing Depart-ment by no later than 2:00 p.m.,Central Time, on Thursday, Janu-ary 31, 2013. The RFP documentwill be available on the ACC Pur-chasing website on Tuesday, De-cember 11, 2012 at http://www.austincc.edu/purchase/advertisedbids.php . All proposals must besealed and returned to the ACC Pur-chasing Office, ACC Service Cen-ter, 9101 Tuscany Way, Austin,Texas 78754, by the date and timeindicated above. Electronicallytransmitted responses will NOTbe accepted unless otherwisestated in the documents. Late pro-posals will be retained unopened.
The ACC Board of Trusteesreserves the right to reject any and/or all responses and waive all for-malities in the solicitation process.
ACC District Business Of-fices will have limited operationsduring 20-21 Dec 2012. All facili-ties will be closed for an extendedperiod for college winter break from24 Dec 2012 through 2 Jan 2013.No deliveries are to be made orscheduled during this period.
**WINTER BREAK CLOSURE**
New Jobs for theWeek of 11/25/2012Supervisor, Computer
SupportNorthridge Campus
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
$3,674-$4,593/MonthlyJob# 1211010
Thurgood Marshalbrought to the SupremeCourt Justices in his secondSweatt case and that is todeny Black law students thefull association with Whitelaw students is to deny themthe opportunity to get toknow many of the futureleaders of Texas who willimpact their lives.
The event was held atthe Etter-Harbin Alumni Cen-ter where box lunches andbeverages were provided bythe Texas Ex’s Administra-tion for the 65 or more at-tendees. Door prizes weregiven out and Welcomecards with Longhorn pinsfrom University President,
Black Alumni Make an Appeal to HighSchool Students to Attend U.T. from page 1
65 Students attended the event.William Powers, were givento everyone present.
Brenda Burt, U.T. Un-dergraduate and AlumniOutreach, invited membersof Innervisions, the Blackstudent gospel choir, to en-tertain the group. She wasalso responsible for getting agroup of current Black U.T.students to share their expe-riences. Daniele Martin,Admissions Office ProgramCoordinator, informed thestudents about the admis-sions procedures and finan-cial aid. The keynotespeaker was Dr. Edmund T.Gordon, Chair of the Deptof African and AfricanDiaspora at U. T. He dealt
with the racism of the pastand how U.T. has drasticallychanged to a more equitableacademic environment overthe years and how the Uni-versity really and truly wantsto welcome them to theCampus.
Lonnie Fogle, presi-dent of the Precursors,gave closing remarks andalso urged students to ap-ply. Some of the localmembers of the Precursorsare Dr. Charles Urdy, Dr.A.L. Mackey, Dr. GeneralMarshall, Larry Jackson,Charles Miles, Dr. HershallShelly, Dr. Exalton Delco,and Bertha Means, all lead-ers in the Community.
H o l l y w o o dheartthrob and successfulentrepreneur BlairUnderwood told businessleaders that he enjoysmaking money as muchas anyone, but said healso understands the im-portance of blendingcapitalism with service.(Photos by VincentChristie).
ATLANTA – Award-winning Hollywood celeb-rity Blair Underwood iswidely known for his com-pelling acting roles, his di-rectorial credentials and –let’s face it – his captivat-ing good looks, but it is hisbusiness acumen thatbrought him before a groupof 200 entrepreneurs herethis week to honor entre-preneurs in Atlanta.
Speaking at the At-lanta Business League’s79th Annual Meeting &Dinner Nov. 27 at the At-lanta Marriott Marquis,Underwood told audiencemembers that while re-searching his ancestry, hediscovered that he camefrom a long line of success-ful entrepreneurs.“But Idon’t know if I got my lovefor business from [my an-cestors] or if it’s just mygood old-fashioned streethustle to survive and pro-
By Kalin ThomasSpecial to the NNPA from
The Atlanta Voice
Blair Underwood
vide for my family,” he saidwith a laugh.
While he enjoys mak-ing money, however,Underwood said he under-stands the importance ofblending capitalism with ser-vice – something he saidblack people learned fromtheir ancestors.
“They say whenAmerica gets a cold, blackAmerica gets pneumonia,but we’ve learned to sur-vive,” Underwood said.“And even through all theyears of economic down-turns, we still find a way tomake money and give backto the community.”
It’s somethingUnderwood said he is do-ing himself through his newBU (Blair Underwood)clothing line at K&G Fash-ion Superstores.
“My BU collection isa lifestyle brand that en-courages philanthropy andallows nonprofits tofundraise through sales,” hesaid. “Soon we’ll launch aprogram where… corpo-rate and community part-ners will get an ‘affinitycard’ with a bar code onthe back.
“So when you buyfrom the BU collection,you’ll get a discount andpart of that sale will goback to your organization.”
Underwood, well
known for his award-win-ning roles on television, filmand stage, was in Atlanta tohelp the Atlanta BusinessLeague celebrate 79 yearsof contributions to the busi-ness community.
Business league presi-dent & CEO Leona Barr-Davenport said the annualevent is designed to cel-ebrate entrepreneurs whoare making a difference inmetro Atlanta.
“This event gives us achance to reflect on whatwe’ve done as an organi-zation and toot our ownhorn,” she said. “And wethought it was significant tohave Blair be our keynotespeaker because he is anentrepreneur personified.”
Hall of Fame induct-ees included: OrlandoLynch, president and CEOof Atlanta Peach Movers;Pat Lottier, Publisher ofAtlanta Tribune: TheMagazine; and HarveyNewton, vice presidentand CEO of Dove Direct.
At the dinner, outgo-ing business league chair-man and 100 Black Menpresident emeritus, ThomasDortch – a longtime friendof Underwood’s – pre-sented the actor with apainting by Atlanta artist,Cecil Bernard. And Barr-Davenport pinnedUnderwood as an honorarymember of ABL.
Underwood calledAtlanta one of his favor-ite U.S. destinations.
“I love Atlanta. I’vebeen coming back and forthhere for as long as I’ve beenin show business,” he told TheAtlanta Voice. “We also shotthe film “Mama Flora’s Fam-ily” here years ago. So I feellike Atlanta is a great place tocome home to.”
WA S H I N G T O N(NNPA) – If Republicans andDemocrats don’t reach a 12th
hour deal to avoid the “fiscalcliff,” many lower-andmiddle-income families willfeel deep pain, according toanalysis by economists andrespected think tanks.
The Budget Control Act,set to expire at the end of theyear, will usher in draconiansocial spending and defensecuts along with tax hikes on allAmericans if lawmakers can’tget a deal done. Much of theimpact of such a decision –ornon-decision – will come later inthe year, some changes will beimmediate.
“The most immediateone is the payroll tax,” saidChuck Marr, director of fed-eral tax policy at the Centerfor Budget and Policy Priori-ties, a fiscal policy and publicprogram research group.
“That’s going to come right outof your paycheck, your first isone going to change.”
In 2010, PresidentObama worked with the Con-gress to continue the “payroll taxholiday” and unemployment in-surance benefits.
In an October 2012 briefon the payroll tax cut and unem-ployment insurance extension,CBPP reported that both werestill needed to spur growth in afragile economy.
The brief stated: “If thepayroll tax cut ends abruptly asscheduled on December 31, thepaychecks of the average work-ing family will shrink by roughly$1,000 over the course of 2013,putting downward pressure onconsumer spending when theeconomy remains vulnerable.”
The CBPP brief listed anumber of examples. A cash-ier making $20,230 saved$405 as a result of the payrolltax cut, a hair dresser whoearned $26,460 saved $529
and an electrician who made$52,910 kept an additional$1,037. Those savings will dis-appear on New Year’s Day ifa deal isn’t reached.
The report noted that thetemporary pay roll tax cutcould add $100 billion to theeconomy, twice what the up-per-income tax cuts wouldcontribute, “because much ofthe payroll tax cut goes to low-and middle-income house-holds, whose spending risesmore in response to increasesin their income than doeswealthier people’s.”
The brief also recom-mended extending unem-ployment insurance for an-other year to prop up the ail-ing economy. Even though,Blacks access the unemploy-ment benefits at lower ratesthan Whites, more than 1million Blacks received thehelp, softening the impact ofa double-digit jobless rate(14.1 percent in October2012) that plagues the Blackcommunity.
For many lower-incomeand middle-income Blacks,the Earned Income Tax Creditand the Child Tax Credit pro-vided an additional safeguardagainst poverty.
In a June 2012 study, theCBPP reported that the spe-cial credit not only reducedpoverty, but helped childrensucceed in school and in-creased their potential earningsas adults.
The report said: “Childrenin low-income families that re-ceived an annual income boostof $3,000 (in 2005 dollars) be-tween the child’s prenatal yearand fifth birthday earned an av-erage of 17 percent more asadults, and worked 135 hoursmore annually, than similar chil-dren whose families do not re-ceive the added income, accord-ing to research by Greg J.Duncan, Kathleen Ziol-Guest ofCornell University, and Ariel Kalilof the University of Chicago.”
Low and middle-incomefamilies would not immediatelyfeel the sting of losing the EarnedIncome Tax Credit and the ChildTax Credit because they comeinto play when those families filetaxes.
Significant cuts to the fed-eral budget could also harmBlacks who depend on publicsector jobs for employment.
According to a 2011study titled “Black Workers andthe Public Sector,” labor econo-mist Steven Pitts found that, “thepublic sector is the single mostimportant source of employmentfor African Americans.”
More than 21 percent ofBlacks that held jobs from2008-2010 were employed inthe public sector.
“The public sector is alsoa critical source of decent-paying jobs for Black Ameri-cans. For both men andwomen, the median wageearned by Black employees issignificantly higher in the pub-lic sector than in other indus-tries,” wrote Pitts.
President Obama’s plancenters on extending unem-ployment benefits and the pay-roll tax cut. But Republicansare pushing reforms to Med-icaid, Medicare and Sfor busi-nesses, domestic and abroad,and American families to planfor the future.
Blend Capitalism With Service,Actor Tells Local Leader
By Freddie Allen NNPAWashington Correspondent
‘Fiscal Cliff’ Might Push Poor, Blacks Over the Edge
Don’t Be Left Out!Reserve A Space
For Your PlaceIn The 2012 - 2013
Black RegistryDirectory.
Call Today ForMore Information@
512.476.0082
Page 8 ~ December 7, 2012/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
Local~National~InternationalCapital Metro is “Seriously Transparent”
The Travis CountySheriff’s Office Brown SantaProgram is hoping to help over2000 family’s this Christmas sea-son but their toy bins and foodshelves are empty. The cash do-nations are at their lowest andthe applicants are at the highestever. Brown Santa is also receiv-ing some overflow applicationsfrom Blue Santa/Christmas Bu-reau.
This is how you can help,Brown Santa desperately needs:
Cash donationsNon-perishable food
itemsNew toys 0-14 boys and
girlsPuzzles, books, stuffed
animalsDonations can be
dropped off at any HEB inTravis County or brought to the
warehouse located at 12317Technology Blvd., Suite 300.You can also go to our websiteat www. BrownSanta.org for alist of public drop off locations.
Cash donations can alsobe mailed to Brown Santa,P.O.Box 207, Austin, Texas78767-0207.
Please call 24-SANTA(247-2682) for more informa-tion.
Courses providehands-on experience ingrowing field
This spring, AustinCommunity College will beginoffering an associate degree insocial media communication,preparing students with theessential skills needed to fill thevariety of jobs in this growingfield.
Students will learn todevelop social media strate-gies to promote organizations,products, and services, as wellas how to use analytics tomonitor and improve those
ACC Offers New Associate Degreein Social Media Communication
strategies. Classes will givestudents hands-on experi-ence creating, implementing,monitoring, and analyzingsocial media and social infor-mation channels.
“Most people knowsocial media only as a wayto communicate with familyand friends, but it is rapidlybecoming a broader venuefor companies and commu-nities,” says Jill Brockmann,adjunct professor of busi-ness and technical commu-nication. “Getting your asso-ciate degree in social media
communication at ACC is afirst step toward a new em-ployment field that is ex-pected to only grow.”
ACC’s spring registra-tion is now open; the semes-ter starts Jan. 14. ACC has anopen-door admissions policy,meaning everyone who meetseligibility criteria is encouragedto enroll. Visit austincc.edu/apply to get started and viewa map that guides new studentsthrough the registration process.
For more information onspring registration, visitaustincc.edu/register.
By Gordon JacksonTwo multiple Super
Bowl champions, a HeismanTrophy winner and a former“Fastest Man in the World”help make up a highly distin-guished 2012 Class of out-standing Texas African Ameri-can Athletes and Coaches, allwho were bestowed for theworld to see.
The Parrish Restau-rants, LTD Texas BlackSports Hall of Fame, at theAfrican American Mu-seum Dallas, selected 10new Texas-connected sportsfigures to be honored and in-ducted this year.
This 17th Class ofTBSHOF was formally en-shrined at the Parrish Restau-rants LTD, Texas BlackSports Hall of Fame Enshrine-ment Luncheon, Saturday,December 1, 11:30 a.m., atthe Dallas Marriott City Cen-ter Hotel, in downtown Dal-las. The adopted theme for theevent was “Celebrating Ath-letic Brilliance.”
“The 2012 Class of theParrish Restaurants, LTDTexas Black Sports Hall ofFame is not only a celebra-tion of athletic brilliance, but isalso a celebration of commu-nity achievements,” saidRonald Parker, Chair of theTBSHOF Advisory Commit-tee. “These athletes were notonly great on the field of play,but they’ve continued that levelof performance by serving asgood community stewards, inwhich we are very pleased incelebrating as well.”
The 2012 Class of In-ductees are:
Tim Brown, out of Dal-las’ Woodrow Wilson HighSchool, is considered by manyas one of the NFLs most pro-lific wide receivers ever,amassing almost 20,000 all-purpose yards in a 17-yearcareer, after winning the 1987
PARRISH RESTAURANTS, LTDTEXAS BLACK SPORTS HALL OF FAME
“CELEBRATING ATHLETIC BRILLIANCE”WITH ENSHRINEMENT OF 2012 CLASS INDUCTEES
Heisman Trophy with NotreDame.
Charles Haley is theonly player in NFL history tohave won five Super BowlChampionship Rings. Three ofthose were with the legendaryDallas Cowboys teams of theearly and mid-1990s, theother two with the San Fran-cisco 49ers. The ever menac-ing defensive end accumulatedover 100 sacks in his career.
Jim Hines came out ofTexas Southern University tobecome the “Fastest Man inthe World” over a 15-yearperiod. He was the first manto break the 10-secondrecord in the 100-meter dash,held the world record for 15years and won gold medals inthe 100-meter dash and the4x100 relay in the 1968 Sum-mer Olympics in Mexico City.
Eugene “Gene”Upshaw, born in Robstown,Texas and a Texas A&I (nowTexas A&M-Kingsville)graduate, was one of the mostdominant NFL offensive line-men in his era, playing 15 yearswith the Oakland Raiders. Hehelped lead the Raiders to winsin Super Bowl IX and XV andwas a 6-time Pro Bowler. Hewent on to become executivedirector of the NFL PlayersAssociation until his untimelydeath in 2008.
Tommie Smith, born inClarksville, Texas, won theGold Medal in the 200-meterdash in the 1968 SummerOlympics in Mexico City, then,with teammate John Carlosperformed the Black PowerSalute on the medal podium,in one of the most symbolicmoments during the CivilRights Movement.
Lori McNeil , aHouston native, was a con-sistent Top Ten-ranked protennis standout who pulledoff major Grand Slam up-sets over Steffi Graf and
Chris Evert and won 10Women’s Tennis Association(WTA) singles titles and 32doubles championships over an18-year period.
Chadwick Brownstarred as an All-American of-fensive lineman for East TexasState University (now TexasA&M-Commerce) from 1966-68 and for the past 20 years hasserved as an NFL game official,having officiated Super BowlsXXXV in Tampa, Florida andXLV in Arlington, Texas.
George “Jake” Roland(Posthumous) won 400 gamesas a basketball coach for Dal-las’ Lincoln High School andCarter High School, winningseveral district championshipsand Coach of the Year honors.
Horatio Porter was afive-time All-American sprinterat TCU, winning NCAA cham-pionships in the 4x100 relaysand Southwest Conference titlesin the 55-meter and 200-meterdashes.
Bobby E. Moten, Sr.was an All-Conference tightend for Bishop College anda four-letter, double All-State high school athlete,becoming only the thirdplayer to be drafted fromBishop College, by the At-lanta Falcons.
“The point to makehere is that these athletesand coaches excelled notjust due to raw athletic abil-ity, but also because of theirintellect, their work ethic,discipline and high valuessystem,” said Gordon Jack-son, a member ofTBSHOF’s Selection andAdvisory Committees.“That’s why we’re usingthe theme, ‘CelebratingAthletic Brilliance.’”
The Parrish Restau-rants, LTD is the TitleSponsor of the TexasBlack Sports Hall of FameLuncheon.
2012 BROWN SANTADesperately Needs Your Help
2012 BROWN SANTADesperately Needs Your Help
ACC Offers New Associate Degreein Social Media Communication
PARRISH RESTAURANTS, LTDTEXAS BLACK SPORTS HALL OF FAME
“CELEBRATING ATHLETIC BRILLIANCE”WITH ENSHRINEMENT OF 2012 CLASS INDUCTEES
Capital Metro is “Seriously Transparent”
Austin, Texas, Dec.4, 2012 – For the thirdconsecutive year, CapitalMetro has earned theTexas Comptrol le r ’sGold Leadership Circledesignation for the transitauthority’s commitment tofinancial transparencyonline.
The program recog-nizes local governmentsthat strive to meet a highstandard of f inancialtransparency by openingtheir books to the publicand providing informationin a clear, consistent anduser-fr iendly format .Capital Metro was thefirst Texas transit agencyto earn the Gold trans-parency rating from theTexas Comptroller.
“Capital Metro hasworked hard over thepast few years to get itsfinancial house in orderand gain the public’strust,” said Capital MetroPresident/CEO Linda S.Watson. “I am pleased tohave led Capital Metro on
this path to greater ac-countability, fiscal re-sponsibility and transpar-ency.”
Added Texas Sena-tor Kirk Watson, “Capi-tal Metro has done a tonof hard work over thepast three years to trans-form the agency into amodel of best practices.Their financial transpar-ency efforts demonstratetheir commitment to beingaccountable to the publicon current and future in-vestments in our compre-hensive transportationsystem.”
Watson was joinedby Mike Martinez, Austincity council member andCapital Metro chairman,and Sandy Guzman, leg-islative director for Sena-tor Watson, at a pressconference today to an-nounce the award.
Capi ta l Metro’sstrong financial positionand stability enables it toinvest strategically in theregion’s mobility. The
transit agency is imple-menting a five-year capi-tal improvement plan,which will help build as t rong inf ras t ruc turethroughout the entire five-county region. These im-provements inc ludeMetroRapid, a new high-capacity transit modecoming to Austin’s busi-est streets in 2014, theaddition of more efficientand comfortable buses tothe fleet, and implemen-tation of Positive TrainControl on its commuterrail line.
Noted Capital Metro’sWatson, “We’ve madetransparency and financialstability a cornerstone of theway we do business so wewill have the resources nec-essary to invest in our future,a future that will give all Cen-tral Texans more transporta-tion choices.”
Taxpayers may easilyreview Capital Metro’s fi-nancial plans and transactionat capmetro.org/transpar-ency.
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