Northwest Austin Impacts — June 2008

Northwest Austin Impacts — June 2008

Friday, 27 June 2008

1. Goodwill

Goodwill Industries of Central Texas opened its newest location last month at 1700 W. Parmer Lane. The nonprofit organization celebrated its 50th anniversary June 12. For more information, visit www.austingoodwill.org or call 719-4119.

2. Indian grocery store

Apna Bazaar, opened May 18 at 8650 Spicewood Springs Road, Ste. 133-B. For more information, call 249-0202 or visit their website.

3. Printing services

AlphaGraphics #US371 opened recently at 11209 Metric Blvd., Ste. B at the corner of Metric and Braker Lane across from Walgreens. AlphaGraphics offers professional solutions for design and print projects. For more information, call 323-5000 or visit their website.

4. Licensed childcare

Faith Montessori Home of Children, a licensed childcare center with full-time and half-day programs, opened April 24 at 9006 Anderson Mill Road for children from 18 months to 6 1/2 years old. For more information, call 219-9191.

5. Dance the night away

The Dance Institute is now open at Riverplace Village, 6612 Sitio Del Rio Blvd. Its dance programs are built around classic dance forms and fitness-oriented Pilates, yoga and dance. Summer programs include Director’s Cut Ballet Summer Initiative for ages 9 through 18 and Ballroom Bootcamp for ages 7 through 18. For more information, call 346-6612 or visit their website.

6. Farm fresh veggies

Each Wednesday, from March through August and October through December, Angel Valley Organic Farm sells organic seasonal vegetables at the Asian American Cultural Center, 11713 Jollyville Road, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 336-5069 or visit their website.

7. North Austin rec center

The Austin City Council contracted Austin-based Studio 8 Architects to build a new recreation center in North Austin on vacant, undeveloped land bound by Rutland Drive, Rundberg Lane and Mearns Meadow Boulevard behind H-E-B. The project will be about 18,000 sq. ft. estimated to cost about $5-6 million and funded by a 2006 bond election. Most city recreation centers have a gym, multi-purpose meeting rooms and a kitchen. The city will meet with nearby neighborhoods to find out what they would like the recreation center to include. For more information, call 974-7225.

8. Sweet treats

Karen Jackson recently graduated from Sacramento State with a degree in business management. Previous experience with frozen yogurt and a will to be her own boss drove Jackson and her family to open Sprinkles Frozen Yogurt, a self- serve yogurt shop with a wide variety of toppings. Sprinkles Frozen Yogurt, 10700 Anderson Mill Road, Ste. 105 is located in the Williamson Square Center west of US 183. For more information, call 506-8736 or visit their website.

9. Drive-thru donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts celebrated its grand re-opening June 2 at 12200 Research Blvd., Ste. 100. Under new ownership, the shop now has a new menu that includes lunch items and offers drive-through service. For more information, call 258-6560.

10. Bats going lights out

Unable to find a suitable venue, the Austin Ice Bats will sit out the 2008-2009 season. The minor league professional hockey team said they could not continue playing at Chaparral Ice because of high costs. For more information, visit their website.

11. Hospital earns top honor

St. David’s HealthCare was selected as one of three recipients of the Texas Award for Performance Excellence. The award, given by the Quality Texas Foundation, is based on St. David’s HealthCare’s commitment to excellence and the benefits it brings to communities and the Texas economy. St. David’s is the first healthcare system in Central Texas to receive this award. For more information, visit www.texas-quality.org.

12. Power up

Three University of Texas MBA graduates—David Luppino, Mike Elhaj and Chad Gallun—formed Simple Power, a Texas retail electric provider that gives customers an alternative to their current electricity service. Simple Power, 8127 Mesa Drive, Ste. B206–342, is looking to hire as many as 15 new employees in Central Texas during the 2008-09 fiscal year in supportive, administrative and sales positions. For more information, visit www.simplepower.net.

13.Soldiers phone home

Cell Phones for Soldiers and the PakMail Center at 13359 US 183 are asking for donations of cell phones to support the 150,000 men and women serving overseas. Cell Phones for Soldiers recycles the phones and the proceeds are used to buy prepaid calling cards sent to soldiers to help keep them connected with their families. The goal is to collect 50,000 cell phones. Residents can support the collection drive by donating their phones at PakMail, near Anderson Mill Road. For more information, call 249-7447 or visit their website.

14. Learn to sew

The Stitching Studio, now open behind Lucky Dog on Anderson Mill Road, offers workshops, classes and studio time for beginning and intermediate sewers at 9725B Anderson Mill Road. Most of the classes are designed so that projects can be completed within a single class. For more information, visit their website or e-mail ann@HomeSewNow.com.

15. Green interiors

Interior Design Gallery, 7825 Burnet Road, has expanded its business to incorporate green design into its specialties. Bonnie Nathan, accredited environmental interior designer, is available for consultation to make home interior design sustainable and efficient. One service Nathan provides is Green Screening, a tool for realtors to provide green home options for their buyers. For more information, call 454-2626 or visit www.interiordesigngallery.com.

16. Montessori school

Austin Children’s Academy, a Montessori school for ages 18 months to 6 years, opened in May at 12310 RR 620. The school offers specialty programs such as gymnastics, dance, yoga and physical education. For more information, visit www.austinchildrensacademy.org or call 331-2075.

17. Saks moving

Expected to open in the fall of 2011, Saks Fifth Avenue will move from the Arboretum Market to a larger 80,000 sq. ft. space at The Domain. For more information, call 231-3700.

Transportation issues

Capital Metro is seeking public input on transportation-related issues. Capital Metro has proposed increasing the bus fare from 50 cents, the rate since 1985, to 75 cents. Other service fares would be increased proportionally. For the full fare structure proposal, visit www.capmetro.org/fares.asp. Attend a Capital Metro public hearing about the proposed increase June 27 at noon at the Capital Metro administration offices, 2910 E. Fifth St. or call 385-0190.

Rotarians cool off families

The Rotary Club of Northwest Austin, in cooperation with Family Eldercare, recently completed the distribution of more than 400 fans to families and individuals residing in Northwest Austin and Travis County. The project benefits many families in need of cooling during the hot Texas summer months. More than $2,500 contributed by the Northwest Austin Rotary club was matched by $2,500 from The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International for this local program. Northwest Austin Rotarians raise money by selling fruit each fall to residents of the community. For more information, call Tim Buckley at 339-9297.

Dump the pump

While recent national figures show more Americans are utilizing public transit, Capital Metro is also experiencing a system-wide increase in riders. During the first four months of 2008, Central Texans took 677,914 more bus trips than the same time period in 2007, an increase of 6.1 percent. Ridership from park and ride facilities has increased 13.3 percent the first four months of 2008 compared to the prior year. For more information, call 389-7441.

Adopt a street

Keep Austin Beautiful has locations on Braker Lane, Jollyville Road and Parmer Lane available for its Adopt-a-Street Program. Groups adopt at least half a mile for two years, agree to have four cleanups per year and pay a one-time fee of $152 to have the Adopt-a-Street sign produced and installed. For more information, visit www.keepaustinbeautiful.org/AdoptaStreet or call Alanna at 391-0622.

Summer camps

Abrakadoodle and Chaparral Ice at Northcross Mall will partner for a variety of half-day and full-day summer camps for children ages 5-12 this June through August. Chaparral Ice, within the North Austin mall on Anderson Lane, will host Abrakadoodle at its newly renovated rinkside space to help inspire young artists during their experiences at camp. For more information, call 380-7555, visit www.abrakadoodle.com/tx03.html or e-mail gsmythe@abrakadoodle.com.