Group provides update on facility and U.S. Grand Prix race

By Fauzeya Rahman

Special to the Pflag

Six months from now, Austin will have something in common with Shanghai, Monte Carlo, New Delhi and Montreal: it will be the site for a 2012 Formula One Grand Prix race. Before that happens, the Circuit of the Americas track needs to be completed and area businesses need to prepare for the influx of approximately 120,000 race enthusiasts, according to Tom Schneider, vice president of Guest Services for Circuit of the Americas.

He recently spoke at a packed Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon and shared updates on the first-ever purpose-built F1 track in the United States. He and his team have met with communities throughout Austin and surrounding cities to spread the word on the new facility and to express the need for a large volunteer base for the three-day event, set to take place Nov. 16-18.

“We’re so grateful to have a community that’s fully embraced this,” Schneider said. “We’re shooting for 120,000 people each day, which means we’ll have about 120,000 lost people. We’re looking for about a thousand volunteers – folks that know their community and area, and know the attractions.”

Schneider sees a need for different types of volunteers for the facility, which is located about two miles from Austin Bergstrom International Airport. One group of volunteers will provide general information and wayfinding at the circuit, and another group will be in key positions throughout Austin, as well as south and north of the city, “where most of the guests will end up.”

He hopes these volunteers can turn a hotel in Pflugerville into a welcome center of sorts, armed with maps and key information for visitors. That will take some work, as Pflugerville doesn’t yet have a hotel.

In the coming months, Schneider and his group will launch a volunteer website where people can sign up.

Schneider comes to Circuit of the Americas with experience in guest services, hospitality and volunteer services. He worked with the Kentucky Derby for seven years and said that’s the most relevant experience for his current role.

“The Kentucky Derby is a world-class event, on most people’s bucket list,” he said. “That’s what we’re shooting for here with Circuit of the Americas. It’s not just going to be Formula One. It’s purpose-built for a whole heck of a lot of things.”

Along with Formula One, the facility will host the Australian V8 Supercars series. It can also hold marathons and other human performance events as well as bicycle and motorcycle races. The 3.4-mile circuit goes through 20 turns, with an elevation change of 133 feet on the first turn.

“It’s truly something special,” Schneider said. “That first turn is the coolest vantage point I’ve ever seen in professional sports. You can see planes coming in almost at eye level.”

Seating comes in different forms, “something for everyone to have a great view,” Schneider said. The golf course design lets people walk along the trail and see the race from every turn. Along with main grandstand seating, club space and premium suites will be available. Ticket sales are expected to launch sometime this summer, between June and July.

The facility will also include a 20,000-seat amphitheater, meant for concerts and music festivals. There’s room for corporate events and conferences for up to 1,000 people in the 40,000-square-foot conference center.

“Before coming here today I didn’t know anything about Circuit of the Americas, but after seeing pictures and hearing the presentation, I’m excited about the concert venue and all of the other stuff that’s coming along with it,” said Josh Friedlander, a PCC luncheon attendee.

Along with the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, Formula One is one of the most popular worldwide sporting events, according to Schneider. Last year, 527 million people followed the races in 187 countries.

While Schneider estimates the economic impact of Formula One to be anywhere between $300 million and $500 million, a 2011 Austin American-Statesman article stated that this figure could be much lower. The article quoted Formula Money, which stated that in 2009 the race “brought host cities as much as $395 million (Bahrain) and as little as $25 million (Belgium).”

The real economic impact will be seen much more clearly after the Circuit’s first U.S. Grand Prix. While general tickets have yet to go on sale, potential visitors have already begun looking for hotel accommodations both in and around Austin.

By Korri Kezar
Special to the Pflag

Treatments for heart attacks, broken bones and concussions are all in a day’s work for First Care Emergency Room, which will open doors to a new facility in the Pflugerville area May 18.

First Choice ER currently operates 14 locations (including the new Pflugerville facility) in the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin areas. Receiving a private equity investment last year has allowed the company to expand even further around Texas’ metropolitan areas.

“We are in an expansion phase right now, and expect to open many more facilities in the coming months and years,” said Jason Worley, FCER’s chief development officer and CIO.

With expansion at the forefront, Worley said First Choice built its newest location at 15100 FM 1825 because of swelling populations in Austin and its suburbs.

“Pflugerville is one of several north Austin suburbs that we feel will benefit from more convenient access to emergency medicine,” he said. “We have a variety of demographic and competitive analysis we perform to identify the most opportune locations, and Pflugerville was high on that list.”

The facility will be staffed with 30 board-certified emergency physicians, emergency-trained nurses, radiologists and front desk staff, bringing additional medical jobs to the area. The space is approximately 6,500 square feet and includes seven treatment rooms, as well as an onsite lab, full digital imaging CT scanner, X-ray machines and ultrasound to treat a variety of emergency ailments.

And FCER was built for exactly that purpose – to aid in emergencies. Worley said the facility will be a clean, friendly place for patients, but shouldn’t be used for regular or clinical care.

“We are a full-service emergency room, so we treat the same conditions that a hospital-based ER would treat. We are not an urgent-care, primary-care provider or what is often called a ‘doc-in-the-box,’” Worley said. “An easy way to understand our services is, if you are injured or ill, and your instinct is to go immediately to a hospital ER, you can come to First Choice ER instead, be seen much more quickly, and in a friendly, clean and calm environment.”

That environment is what makes FCER different from other hospitals. If someone needs immediate help without the aggravation of lines and inattentive staff, they can count on getting equal care in a better atmosphere at FCER, Worley said.

“First Choice ER can treat all patients that come through our doors. Unlike traditional hospital-based ERs, it is unusual for there to be a significant wait to be seen by a physician. We add staff and other resources as needed so we can accommodate very high levels of patients in our facilities, while still maintaining the best customer service in the industry,” he added.

The Pflugerville area continues a trend of increasing health care options for patients with the addition of First Choice ER. In December, St. David’s Emergency Center began treating patients with medical emergencies in and around the city of Pflugerville. It’s located in the Stone Hill Town Center at the southwest corner of Texas 130 and Texas 45.

FCER will open for its first day of business at 8 a.m. May 18 and be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“First Choice ER will provide Pflugerville and other nearby residents with alternatives for getting immediate care for emergency conditions. Being located convenient to the community can be important, especially if you are many miles from the closest hospital ER, and have to deal with traffic. Speed of access has proven to be a life-saver at many of our other facilities,” Worley said. “Our goal is to bring a better alternative for emergency medical services to Pflugerville and surrounding communities.”

For more information on the company and its local facility, visit fcer.com.

Former PHS gym, built in 1934, to be converted into meeting space

By Lauri Zachry
Pflag Reporter

Pflugerville ISD Board of Trustees member and longtime city resident Vernagene Mott loves recalling special memories of half-court basketball games she played with other Pflugerville High School students from 1957 to 1960 in the district’s Rock Gym.

The Rock Gym lives up to its name – having a rocky interior and exterior of limestone. The interior walls were covered with mats, so players wouldn’t hurt themselves if they happened to run into the wall, she said.

With no central heating or air in the gym, people gathered around a potbelly stove, or a cast-iron wood-burning stove, to stay warm during cold winter months, she said.

“We had great memories playing basketball in the Rock Gym,” Mott said. “Our team went to district and we always seemed to have a great team.”

The Rock Gym, which was built in 1934 through then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration initiative, served as the only high school volleyball and basketball gym in the Pflugerville and Round Rock areas during this time. It was next to the original two-story red brick Pflugerville High School constructed in 1921, which had been located next door to where Timmerman Elementary currently stands, Mott said.

In 1957, a tornado destroyed the two-story red brick high school but the Rock Gym remained unharmed. A new school, for seventh- through 12^th-grade students, was constructed in 1958 near where Timmerman stands. The current Pflugerville High School, located at 1301 West Pecan St., opened in 1974.

After PHS was constructed and new gyms were built, people still utilized the Rock Gym as a practice facility for drill teams in the 1980s and 1990s and for Little Dribblers basketball teams.

With the gym being unoccupied for about six years now, members of the PISD Board of Trustees and district administrators chose to renovate the Rock Gym and turn it into a meeting place, said Bill Clayton, PISD executive director of facilities and support services. The renovation will consist of replacing the windows and doors, adding central heating and air and large fans to the gym, redoing the current electrical structure of the facility, taking down the basketball goals and converting the girls and boys locker rooms into Americans with Disabilities Act compliant women’s and men’s restrooms.

The original wooden floors of the gym will be sanded, refinished with polyurethane and restriped to gym standards, Clayton said.

“The flooring is made from longleaf yellow pine, which is basically non-existent now,” Clayton said.

The outside look of the Rock Gym will remain the same. PISD employees replaced the roof of the gym five years ago.

Renovations will cost approximately $500,000, he said.

Former Pflugerville High School basketball coach Charles Kuempel is excited the Rock Gym will be renovated soon. He served as boys basketball coach at the school from 1955 until 1974. He has fond memories of playing teams in their district such as Leander (when the district only had one high school), Florence, Manor, Taylor and their biggest rival – Hutto.

“I can still remember the first time we beat Hutto in our gym in 1955,” Kuempel said. “We beat them 36 to 32. At the Rock Gym I remember us having to scrub the gym floor after almost every basketball game because the players’ shoes wouldn’t slide if the floor was too dirty. You also couldn’t shoot the ball too high in the air because the rafters were so low even though the ceiling was high.”

Mott said representatives from the Texas Historical Commission are set to present an historical marker at the site of the Rock Gym in early October.

District employees are currently in the final phase of the upgrade and will complete the project at the end of this summer, Clayton said.

Parades, music, food among annual festival’s highlights

By Rebekah Skelton
Special to the Pflag

Each year since 1976, Deutschen Pfest has offered Pflugerville residents the opportunity to join the rest of the community and load up on bratwurst, jam out to live music and parade that German heritage.

This year’s festival will be no exception. A three-day event, Deutschen Pfest will take place Friday through Sunday at Pfluger Park.

“This is our big spring annual festival,” said Terri Waggoner, public information officer for the City of Pflugerville, who also serves as the publicity chair for the 15-member Deutschen Pfest planning committee. “We want [residents] to come enjoy a day with us in the park, have fun with their family and learn about their community.”

Offering events for every age group and interest, this year’s fête will kick off with a carnival on Friday, accompanied by food, vendors and live music starting at 7 p.m.

Saturday’s festivities will begin at 11 a.m. with a parade down Main Street. The parade incorporates marching bands from local schools, various community organizations and community dignitaries, along with any community members who wish to participate.

“The parade is awesome,” Waggoner said. “To me it’s not a parade if there’s not a marching band coming through. […] But the best part is that anyone and everyone can participate in the parade.”

Saturday’s live music kicks off with Oma and Ompah at 10:30 a.m. and continues throughout the day, ending with headliner Matt Bowlin at 9:30 p.m.

Pflugerville Councilmember and Deutschen Pfest Committee Chair Starlet Sattler said the music is her favorite part of the festival.

“We end up with so many types of music that it keeps you upbeat all day and night,” Sattler said.

The 5K Pfun Run and Walk will take place at 8 a.m. Sunday. The park will open at 11 a.m. and there will be more live music, food, vendors and children’s activities until 5 p.m.

Sattler, who has been involved with Deutschen Pfest since 1997, said the festival has grown to a much larger event than it used to be. What started out as a one-day event held to bring local families together, has turned into a three-day extravaganza.

“Now we […] have people come from all over the place — Dallas, Houston, San Antonio … This year we even have someone coming from Las Vegas,” Sattler said. “So we’ve seen growth outside the community.”

Gate sales show that last year’s attendance was almost 11,500, and nearly $30,000 was raised. All of the money from Deutschen Pfest goes to the city Parks Department. In the past, the department has used the money to buy the stage for the festival and benches for city trails, Waggoner said.

This year’s proceeds will be used to purchase interpretive signage to post along the trails. The signs will identify foliage, give directions, tell about park history and serve as mile markers.

Tickets can be purchased at the gate for $5 on Friday and Sunday and $7 on Saturday. Deutschen Pfest T-shirts are available for $10 – $14 at City Hall, Pflugerville Recreation Center and Pflugerville Pharmacy. Festival-goers receive free entry all three days with the shirt.

Festival attendees will not be able to park in Pfluger Park for the event, but free shuttles will be provided from Pflugerville High School and Brookhollow Elementary School. The shuttle will begin running 30 minutes prior to the park’s opening and for 30 minutes after closing each day.

Although the city had problems with shuttle service at the 2010 Pfirecracker Pfestival, Waggoner said Deutschen Pfest has never had a problem with bussing. She also said that the committee has worked out a system for the shuttles to run more smoothly, so that they aren’t passing each other in several different directions.

“With Deutschen Pfest we don’t have the parking capacity at the park, and we do block off the roads so people don’t park in front of homes,” Waggoner said. “But the shuttle’s free and it’s so easy.”

Waggoner also said that there isn’t a need to park close to the festival grounds because no outside food or drink is permitted, so people won’t be bringing coolers.

For more information about tickets and events, visit the Deutschen Pfest website at pflugervilletx.gov.

Schedule of events:

Hours:

Friday, May 18: 5 p.m. to midnight

Admission is $5 per person.

Saturday, May 19: 10 a.m. to midnight

Admission is $7 per person.

Sunday, May 20: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission is $5 per person.

(Children age 6 and under enter free each day)

Location:

Pfluger Park

Activities:

• Deutschen Pfest Children’s Parade – Begins at Railroad Avenue and proceeds down Main Street at 10:45 a.m.
• Deutschen Pfest Main Parade – Railroad Avenue to Main Street at 11 a.m.
• 33rd Annual 5K Pfun Run and Walk and Kids 1K – Sunday, May 20 at 8 a.m. Kids 1K begins at 9 a.m.
• Live music each day

Parking/shuttles:

Parking is not permitted in the park. Free parking and shuttles are available at Pflugerville High School (1301 W. Pecan St.) and Brookhollow Elementary School (1200 N. Railroad).

Friday:
Both shuttles: 4:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Saturday:
Pflugerville High Shuttle: 10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
Brookhollow Elementary Shuttle: Noon to 12:30 a.m.

Sunday
Both shuttles: 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Coolers, alcoholic beverages, pets, skateboards and bikes are prohibited in the park.

Tennis lessons will be conducted by Pflugerville community members and Hendrickson High School varsity tennis players every Saturday at the Hendrickson tennis courts. Lessons begin at 8:30 a.m. and are free to the public.

Email aaron.holman@pflugervilleisd.net for more information.

Low-cost pet clinics May 12

A low-cost pet vaccination clinic takes place May 12 from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Riojas Elementary, 3400 Crispin Hall Lane.

Another low-cost pet vaccination clinic takes place May 12 from 10 a.m. to noon at Windermere Primary School, 429 Grand Avenue Parkway.

‘Grand Picnic’ on May 12 at library

The Pflugerville Community Library will host “The Grand Picnic” from noon to 1 p.m. May 12. Local grandparents and their grandchildren are invited to picnic at the library; drinks and desserts will be provided by the library. RSVP at the library circulation counter.

The library is located at 102 S. 10^th St.

Pfarmers Market opens for season

The Pflugerville Pfarmers Market is now open. It will be open to the public each Tuesday from 3-7 p.m. at Heritage Park, 901 Old Austin Hutto Road, through Sept. 25.

Vendors sell produce including tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, squash, okra, garlic, melons, corn, peaches and grapes. In addition, there are also artisan baked goods, honey, flowers, eggs, free-range meats jarred salsas, pickles, jams, fruits, hand-crafted jewelry and children’s books.

This year’s market includes vegetables and fruit from Lockhart Farms, The Bernhardt Farms, 6 J Ranch and featured newcomer Star Farmers Market; baked goods from Great Harvest Bread Company, Vegan Bread; and new vendor new World Market.

Additional entertainers and vendors are still wanted. For more information, visit pflugervilletx.gov/pfarmersmarket or call 990-6355.

Czech Heritage Society to meet

Travis/Williamson County Czech Heritage Society will meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16 at the Pflugerville Recreation Center, 400 Immanuel Road. After the meeting, Anne Hyzak will present a program on “May Celebrations in the Czech Republic.” Dessert and coffee will be served. Guests are welcomed. For more information contact the president, Eileen Rosipal at 452-3292 or ERosipal@aol.com.

‘Preparing Your Landscape for Summer’

The Travis County Master Gardeners will host “Preparing Your Landscape for Summer,” a free seminar May 17 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Travis County AgriLife Extension office, 1600 B Smith Road, Austin.

Participants are invited to learn when to fertilize plants, which plants to pinch back and gain other tips. For more information, call 854-9600 or visit tcmastergardeners.org.

‘ACT Test Strategies 101’

The Pflugerville Community Library presents “ACT Test Strategies 101,” with Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, at 4:30 p.m. May 17. Advance registration is required; call or come by the library to sign up. Cost is free. The library is located at 102 S. 10^th St.; phone is 251-9185.

Say hello to college admissions officers

The Pflugerville Community Library presents “Introducing Yourself to College Admissions Officers: The Perfect Application Essay,” with Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, at 1 p.m. May 19. Advance registration is required; call or come by the library to sign up. Cost is free. The library is located at 102 S. 10^th St.; phone is 251-9185.

‘Small Space Gardening’

The Travis County Master Gardeners host “Small Space Gardening,” a free seminar on making use of your entire garden, on May 19 from 10 a.m. to noon. The event takes place at Austin Community College’s south campus, 1820 W. Stassney Lane, Room 1130, Austin.

Participants will be shown how to design in layers, borrow their neighbor’s landscape and use color, containers and creativity to add punch to small spaces.

No reservations are required but to sign up, visit travis-tx.tamu.edu/horticulture online or call 854-9600.

P’ville Quilt Guild to meet

The Pflugerville Quilt Guild will meet Thursday, May 24 at 6 p.m. at the Pflugerville Community Library. The program will be “How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt” by Tammy Hutcheson.

PHS academic awards ceremony

Pflugerville High School will host its academic awards ceremony on May 24 at 7 p.m. at the school Fine Arts Center. Students are asked to dress in business attire.

Public Works open house and equipment show

City officials invite the public to tour the Pflugerville public works facility at an open house and equipment show on May 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Public Works includes fleet, streets, water and wastewater. Explore the laboratory where water samples are taken and measured, climb onboard backhoes and other equipment and meet the staff. Call 251-9935 for more information.

Calvary to host ‘Chains Be Broken’ event

Calvary Austin church will host “Chains Be Broken,” a free one-night event for victims of abuse, on May 26 at 6 p.m.

The event will include speakers and music. All are welcome to attend. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Calvary Austin is located at 1601 W. Pecan St., Pflugerville.

For more information, call 719-4667 or visit calvaryaustin.com.

Turning Pages Book Club

The book club Read n’Ramble is now the Turning Pages Book Club. Members meet at the Pflugerville Community Library at 2 p.m. on the last Thursday of each month, except for June, July and August. They’re looking for new members, who are invited to bring a book suggestion.

Early release, last day of school

The last day of school for Pflugerville ISD is scheduled to be May 31. High schools release at 1:30 p.m. on May 30-31.

PISD graduation ceremonies

Pflugerville ISD commencement ceremonies take place June 2 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, 1701 Red River. Connally High School ceremonies begin at 9 a.m., Hendrickson ceremonies begin at 11 a.m. and Pflugerville High’s event will be at 1 p.m.

By Lauri Zachry
Pflag Reporter

In a unanimous vote, the Pflugerville ISD Board of Trustees May 3 approved a two-year extension of Superintendent Charles Dupre’s contract.

Board members voted to extend his contract to June 30, 2015. This is the second time board members voted to extend his contract. His previous contract, which began in October 2010, was set to expire June 30,2013.

“The Board of Trustees believes Mr. Dupre is the right person to lead Pflugerville ISD, and it was important to all of us to show that in a tangible way, by extending his contract,” Board of Trustees President Elva Gladney said in a news release issued May 7. “Under his leadership, the district is operating at a high level, with a focus on continuous improvement and providing an equitable education for all students.”

Dupre has led the effort to systematize PISD’s instructional practices, policies and professional development to ensure all of these components are aligned to maximize student achievement for all, the release stated.

“I am honored by the opportunity to continue serving the Pflugerville ISD community,” Dupre said in the news release. “It is a blessing to work with such a dedicated Board of Trustees, staff members and students, and to live in a supportive community that values a strong school system. There is truly no better place to be than PISD.”

Under his leadership, PISD earned an Academically Acceptable rating from the Texas Education Agency in 2011, with two of the district’s 24 campuses receiving an Exemplary, or the highest, rating, and 12 receiving a Recognized, or the second highest, rating, according to the PISD website.

Since 2010, Dupre has been receiving a yearly salary of $181,188, according to his contract board members issued in October 2010.

Since he is currently working on a doctoral degree in public school administration, the district has paid for his educational expenses since January 2010 and will continue to pay for that until the end of 2012, according to Dupre’s contract board members issued in October 2010. The district will pay a total maximum of $30,000 in educational expenses.

Dupre was named acting superintendent in June 2006 and official superintendent of schools in October 2006. He previously served as deputy superintendent in the district. Prior to that, he served as associate superintendent and chief financial officer in Fort Bend ISD, near Houston, according to the PISD website.  Before working in Fort Bend ISD, he worked in the public accounting and energy industries from 1984 to 1995.

He graduated with a bachelor of business administration in accounting from Harding University and received a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Houston. He is also certified public accountant.

Tobacco caused an average of 11 deaths per week in 2008.

Cancer and heart disease were the leading causes of death in Travis County in 2008.

Source: Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department

By Kristi Parker Johnson
Special to the Pflag

Put away your tobacco products now, or you could end up a morbid statistic.

Tobacco was the leading cause of preventable deaths in Travis County in 2008, according to a critical health indicators report compiled by the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, released April 30.

The report provides an overview of the well-being of this area’s population based on statistics from 2008 and the three-year period of 2006-2008.

“This report establishes a baseline of health for residents of Austin and Travis County,” A/TCHHSD director Carlos Rivera said. “It highlights important diseases that affect our community such as cancer and heart disease, as well as risk factors that contribute to illness and preventable deaths.”

In 2008, almost 600 Travis County deaths – an average of 11 per week – were caused by cigarettes and other tobacco products, according to the report. To put it in perspective, smoking caused more deaths in Travis County than AIDS, crack, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, car accidents, fire, murder and suicide combined.

Tobacco use increases the risk of chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as cancer of the lung, throat, stomach, kidney and pancreas, the report said.

“If you’re looking at diseases, four out of the top five – cancer, heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease – are directly related to tobacco use,” A/TCHHSD Medical Director and Health Authority Dr. Philip Huang said.

Overall, cancer and heart disease were the leading causes of death in Travis County in 2008, according to the A/TCHHSD report. In the past, heart disease was the No. 1 killer in the county, but 2008 statistics show that cancer has taken over the top spot. Cancer caused 1,008 deaths in 2008 compared to 917 caused by heart disease.

Lung cancer was the most common form of the disease, followed by colorectal cancer and breast cancer. Smoking tobacco – both in smokers and in people exposed to second-hand smoke – is the primary cause of lung cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic.

But cigarettes aren’t the only harmful form of tobacco. According to the National Cancer Institute, smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco and snuff, is not a safe substitute for cigarettes.

Dr. Huang agrees.

“The tobacco industries are using it to try to get people to continue using tobacco, but it has significant harms associated with it,” he said.

Smokeless tobacco contains at least 28 chemicals that can cause oral cancer, esophogael cancer and pancreatic, according to the NCI.

A 2010 population-based survey of Travis County conducted by the health department showed that more than one in six adults uses some form of tobacco product, such as cigarettes, snuff, chewing tobacco, pipes or cigars. More than 27 percent of tobacco-users are men, 12.6 percent are women, and 23.4 percent are young people ages 18-34.

These may look like sterile numbers, but behind every number is a real person who smokes, dips or chews. And behind that person is an entire network of friends and family members who are directly and indirectly affected by their tobacco use, according to Dr. Huang.

He spent two days listening to stories of people who were affected in some way by the harmful effects of tobacco use in preparation for the A/TCHHSD “Live Tobacco Free Austin” campaign that was launched last year. Those stories are the ones told in the graphic TV and radio commercials circulating the airwaves around Travis County.

“There’s real people behind every single one of the numbers in the statistics, with their own stories, and they are so heart-wrenching,” Dr. Huang said. “The sad thing is, it’s entirely preventable and senseless. People don’t think about the effects it has until something bad happens.”

The A/TCHHSD tobacco-free campaign encourages businesses to prohibit tobacco use and offers people tools for quitting tobacco. Visit the website at livetobaccofreeaustin.org for information.

To see the A/TCHHSD 2012 critical health indicators report, go to austintexas.gov/department/health.

LCRA asked customers to institute the mandatory restrictions on Aug. 23, 2011, when the combined storage of lakes Buchanan and Travis dropped to 900,000 acre-feet. This year’s rains have pushed combined storage to more than 900,000 acre-feet.

LCRA’s board, on the advice of staff, decided at its April 2012 meeting to lift the request when combined storage increases to 1.1 million acre-feet (combined storage is currently at about 971,000 acre-feet). LCRA officials said the goal is to avoid bouncing in and out of mandatory restrictions over the summer irrigation months.

Alcantar previously served as advisor to two governors

By Lauri Zachry
Pflag Reporter

Andres Alcantar of Pflugerville was recently appointed chair of the Texas Workforce Commission by Gov. Rick Perry. Alcantar began his new duties May 1.

The workforce commission oversees and provides workforce development services to employers and job seekers throughout the state.

“I look forward to working with my fellow commissioners and members of our 28 boards to respond to the needs of employers and job seekers in Texas,” he said. “We’re here to deliver quality service to them. We want to drive the Texas economy and make connections between employers and job seekers. We implement strategies that are industry-driven and put people to and back to work.”

So far this year, Texas has added approximately 332,000 private sector jobs in areas such as manufacturing, trade, logistics, transportation and financial services, Alcantar said. He attributes the creation of new jobs in the state to Texas having a diverse economy and a highly skilled workforce.

“Texas competes well because we are perceived as having a strong business climate, one where a company can invest and have a go of it,” he said. “Texas is a great place to do business and that’s why we’ve been able to add more and more jobs. Because of this, new operations come to our state and existing operations expand here.”

Some of the goals Alcantar has for his position include:

• expanding partnerships with higher education institutions, employers and other stakeholders to develop regional, industry-based economic development partnerships;
• helping military veterans get back to work, recognizing the service they have offered to the U.S. but taking advantage of the skills they have acquired to work in a civilian setting; and
• promoting science, technology, engineering and math as a strong foundation for success in the workplace.

Before becoming the chair of the Texas Workforce Commission Alcantar served as the commissioner of the workforce commission, a position he held since Gov. Perry appointed him in August 2008.

He is former deputy director of the Governor’s Office Budget, Planning and Policy Division, which advises the governor on federal, state and local issues, and provides executive oversight to state boards and commissions. He is also a former advisor in Gov. George W. Bush’s Office of Budget and Planning on workforce and health and human service issues, and former director of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Strategic Planning Division.

Alcantar received a bachelor’s degree and a master of public administration from Texas Tech University.