Patrons of the Will Hampton Branch of the Austin Public Library have a new librarian in Frank Schmitzer, a 25-year-plus veteran of the Austin Public Library system and the new librarian at the Oak Hill Branch.

A native of the Los Angeles area, who got his Library degree from the University of Denver after getting his bachelor’s in history and philosophy from the University of New Mexico. Schmitzer had first attended Bowdoin College in Maine.

“Coming from the L. A. area in the 1960s, I found it hard to be comfortable in a stuffy little New England college,” he smiled, “but it was my first library job.”  After graduation from Denver, Schmitzer initially ran the fine arts library at UNM, then worked for three years for a book dealer in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Back in New Mexico, he worked for the Albuquerque Public Library before moving to Austin in 1981 to work as a reference librarian at the University Hills branch. As Schmitzer moved to the Oak Hill Branch, Irma Flores-Manges—until now the only librarian the Oak Hill branch had ever known—moved to the Cepeda branch to work with the outreach programs, something she had done in the past.

Long-time patrons of the Oak Hill library would like to see major changes to the building and grounds, Schmitzer said, particularly repairs to the present building as well as an expansion of it. But the reality is there won’t be major bond money for such changes until at least the next bond cycle, about five years from now. That, however, doesn’t mean there won’t be some changes and upgrades to the Oak Hill library if the developing bond program set for November succeeds.

In addition, Schmitzer says there have already been some internal changes to improve the flow of work through the facility and other changes that have made it easier and faster to get returned books back on the shelves or back to their home libraries.

“The thing that takes the most time for us is simply getting the books back where they belong, to the branch we may have borrowed them from, or back on the shelves here.”  With a dedicated staff and a “great bunch of volunteers,” that normally goes well, though Schmitzer, like heads of other organizations who use volunteers, could always use more.

“Retired people make great volunteers and many of them are looking for something to do,” he points out.

Some of the Oak Hill branch physical problems will need to be addressed soon, Schmitzer explained, including repairing worn exterior panels and obtaining new furniture and equipment.  There is also a Xeriscape project that will include reclaiming the site’s failed water quality ponds.

Another thing that tends to make the operation of the library “manpower intensive” is book donations, as these have to be sorted and then sent where they are needed.  Some might go into the shelves, others sold during the Oak Hill book sales, which Schmitzer plans to have every Saturday, weather permitting.

“Last week we took in over a thousand dollars from the Saturday book sale,” he said, “and, while we may not be able to do that regularly, we would like to increase the amount.” Unlike money that comes in from, say, fines, which go to the city’s general fund, the branches keep the money from things like book sales for their own use. “We also have great support from the community, both in things like volunteer help and also in donations.  This week, Frost Bank donated $2,500.  The patrons here really like their library.”

Donated books, by the way, can end up in several places.  Many are sold at the branch, and some for more than you would expect.  Schmitzer displayed a reasonably old “first edition” that had been donated and is worth over six hundred dollars.  Other books may go to “Recycled Reads,” the Austin Public Library’s main bookstore out on Burnet Road.

Of course, with summer coming on, summer reading programs at the Will Hampton Branch are starting up for both children and adults.  In addition to a year ’round book club, the library also offers “Steeped in Books,” which meets at the library every Tuesday at 2:00 pm.

For citizens who would like more information and a chance to offer feedback on the developing bond program, the city has supplied the following link: http://www.austintexas.gov/online-form/bond-development-survey.

Story and Photos by Joanne Foote

After a year of legal wrangling, the place Janice and Doug Todd called home for more than 30 years is now legally theirs. The Todd’s lost their home a year ago to the Oak Hill fire, but with no homeowner’s insurance and no clear title to their home, they have been unable to rebuild.

The remnants of their house, which sits boarded up on Scenic Brook Drive, was one of ten homes destroyed and among dozens that were damaged in the fire that ravaged the Scenic Brook and South Windmill Run neighborhoods on April 17, 2011.

The journey, which began a year ago, has been a long one, with many roadblocks along the way. The fly in the ointment preventing the Todd’s from rebuilding has been obtaining a clear title to their home.

“We had a wrap-around mortgage on our home and made payments to the owner for 30 years. However, the title was never changed and then the original owner died. The executor of the will also never followed through and has also since died,” explained Doug. So the Todd’s turned their case over to an attorney.

“We started the process with a lawyer in Houston, but we changed to a few different local attorneys, who agreed to take on our case pro bono. It was wonderful what all they did for us. Fortunately, we had all the tax statements, receipts and letters and correspondence from the original owner that did not get damaged in the fire.  We handed it over to our lawyers,” Janice said. “On March 6, we had our hearing before the judge, and one year to the date from the fire, we got the call that the case was ruled in our favor and that the house was legally ours.”

“The wheels of justice are slow, but we prevailed,” Doug added.

The memories of that fateful day one year ago are still fresh, as Janice and Doug recall the day of the fire. “I had just gotten home from Abilene, out in west Texas, around 1:00 p.m. after helping my mother for several days, and was exhausted,” said Janice, as she recalled the day of the fire.  “At 2:00 p.m. exactly, I heard sirens and I went outside. I thought there was a wreck at first, but you could see smoke everywhere and people were pointing up the hill.  I could see flames over the houses. Seeing all that smoke and helicopters and planes dropping water that day was so scary,” recounted Janice, as she sat in the grass, pulling weeds in the yard of her burned-out home.

“There was a 100-foot wall of flames up the hill from our house, several blocks away,” described 69-year old Doug Todd. “I got the hose and wet the back of my house and put out a fire in the creek, which is behind our fence line. I was coming around the front of the house to hose it down, but the police wouldn’t let me and I had to evacuate. Sometimes I wonder if I had been able to hose down the front of the house, that maybe it could have been saved,” added Doug.

“After the police had evacuated all of us to the end of the street near Highway 71, I called my son, Darren.  He didn’t tell me this at the time,” said Doug, “but he had gotten on the computer and found a satellite view of the fire and was able to see that our house had caught on fire. He booked a flight from Arizona to come in to Austin and help.

“When we were finally allowed to come back into the neighborhood, we walked up here.  It took us a while to walk the mile or so, with my oxygen tank. When we got to our house, my heart went through my feet,” said Doug, adding, “I was mentally and physically sick at the sight of our home.”

“I was in total horror and disbelief.  You just can’t imagine something like this happening to your own neighborhood, much less to your own house,” said Janice, 67.

It was determined that stray embers carried by the fierce winds that day was the cause of the fire at the Todd’s home. “Embers dropped into the gutter over the front porch, igniting the plastic gutter guard.  The fire went up under the metal roof, and caught everything in the attic on fire,” explained Doug. One look at the house and it’s easy to see where the fire began and how it burned. “The fire went up inside, filling the whole house with smoke, but the metal roof was a barrier that kept the fire inside the house,” explained Doug. “Now, I feel like I would have been safer with a shingle roof,” he added.

Doug and Janice have been married 46 years.  They both grew up in west Texas and met while in college in Abilene. With his tall, broad build, Doug played football for Hardin-Simmons University. In the early 1960’s when Doug and Janice were dating, they were in a car accident which landed them both in the hospital with significant injuries. A crushed windpipe and shattered collar bone were just some of many injuries Doug sustained. Janice had a severe concussion and fractured jaw. Years later, residual problems from that accident caught up with Doug, and he has to use an oxygen tank wherever he goes.  Luckily, the one he uses is small enough to be carried in a backpack.

Acts of kindness both large and small have flowed into the Todds’ lives in the face of this latest adversity, just one of many that has cropped up in their lives through the years. Robin Collins, who lives in the Oak Hill area, came to see the fires at the urging of her roommate. “The day of the fire, my roommate wanted to come over to the area to see what was happening. We just happened to park in front of the Todds’ house.  Doug was sitting outside, obviously devastated.  I saw Janice too, and they were just lost. We went home, and then I saw the Todds’ on the news and I told my roommate, ‘I’m going back to do what we need to do,’” said Collins. “There were all kinds of volunteers, but we got organized,” she added.

“Robin has wings hidden under that shirt,” said Janice.  “She is one of many angels that have helped us.  She came back and helped with the clean up.  Easter was a week after the fire, and she brought a spread for us and for all the volunteers.  She brought a ham and the whole works. It was truly a blessing I will never forget.” Collins was among many volunteers who came and helped sort through and pack up all the things that were salvageable.

Not only did the fire bring changes to the Todds’ world, but it also changed Collins, who had worked in the mortgage business for close to 20 years. “The fires and this whole experience were life changing for me. I worked for years in the mortgage business. Last year I quit. I had always wanted to open a restaurant, so I just took the plunge,” said Collins, who owns Robin’s 290 Grill on Highway 290.  Collins had been doing catering on the side for a number of years, and after the fire, she decided to try her hand at running her own restaurant.

Doug knows his way around basic maintenance and house structure, having worked at Home Depot for the last 18 years, most recently at the Bee Caves location. “I’m a Customer Order Specialist.  I chase material that is special ordered, and all the steps that are involved for the customer, vendors, employees and management,” he explained.

Volunteers, including some from Home Depot, were a big help with the cleanup, the Todds said. Home Depot also donated materials, including trash bags, masks, shovels, brooms, water, as well as manpower.  The volunteers stripped all the damaged sheetrock and insulation down to the wood framework, which is all that is left to define the rooms. “The roof has some damage, some of the framework and trusses might be saved, but we will likely have to replace the roof and decking with new plywood and shingles. The 25-year shingles will probably outlast me. And we need to run all new electrical wire as well,” said Doug.

Collins was just one of the angels that surfaced in the Todds’ life. “A week or so after the fire, the nicest man, Pat Benner, pulled up in front of the house. We were introduced, and after talking he told us he had a two bedroom house nearby that he had been preparing to put on the market,” said Janice.  Prior to that time the Todd’s were staying in hotels.

“The only way to say it is it was a God thing,” said Benner, an area insurance agent and broker. “A fellow that was helping me with painting the house the Todds are now living in, happened to be working on a house in the area where the fires were.  He went to the Red Cross table to see how he could help and was directed to the Todds.  I was taking this fellow home and he said to me, ‘Pat, you’ve got to meet these people, they are good people.’ So I was introduced to Doug and Janice.  It crossed my mind that I had this little house I was finishing up.  I asked them where they planned to live and they weren’t sure, but they needed to be close to Austin due to Doug’s job and his doctors. I told them to come by and take a look at this house I had and if it was something they could use, they were welcome to stay there,” said Benner. The house was formerly one of his offices, which he was getting ready to turn into a rental.

“It’s a two way street. They pay the utilities and they have kept the place up very nicely. They are wonderful people, and have done a service for me as well, because leaving a property vacant deteriorates the place very quickly.  This has been good for both of us, and they can stay there until their house is ready to move back in,” Brenner added.

“We treat it like it was ours,” Doug said. “He is letting us live there rent free, and we feel it is our duty to take care of it. Janice put in some new flooring; we replaced the garbage disposal and the outside air conditioning unit.  Our son, Darren, works with Sonic, helping with the refrigeration the company needs.  He helped us get a wholesale price on the air conditioner and get it installed.  It was the right thing to do. I didn’t have the heart to call Pat and have him replace it. He has been so good to us,” said Doug.

The Todds stop by their house twice each day to check on it and to feed their cats, which still live there. Some neighbors having been coming by to help scrape up the tile floors, which are one of the last things that need to be removed. “We have hired this young man, Eddie, across the street and he comes in each day and works getting this tile up. He is such an exemplary young man,” said Janice, sweeping up the damaged linoleum squares, which she had installed herself.

Janice’s cats, Pumpkin, Honey, Tinker and Trina, all ran off during the fire. “Luckily we have pet doors so they could get out.  Thankfully, they showed up about four days after the fire, but they seem more skittish now. They were very traumatized—everything’s different for them too.”

Like any home, the house is full of memories. The Todds moved to this house with their children, daughter Christi and son Darren, in the 1970s.  However, six years ago they lost their daughter to a disease. “Our daughter, Christi, passed away. We lost her to an eating disorder.  She was 32 years old.”  The Todds’ house also flooded during the 1981 Memorial Day Flood. “We didn’t flood from the creek behind our house though.  We flooded from the street,” said Doug.  The house also holds many good memories for the Todds as well, and they just want to get back home.

Neighbors keep a watchful eye on the house as well. Adding insult to injury, the Todds’ home was looted shortly after the fire.  “We were clearing out all the debris and had things we had hoped to reuse sitting in the garage, including our bathtubs, pedestal sinks, our kitchen appliances, literally, everything including the kitchen sink. I just found out today that had the looters not come in and stole my meter and breaker boxes, I would have been grandfathered in and possibly might not have had to rewire everything. Now it looks like that will have to be replaced as well,” said Doug.

“It’s sad to think that you have that element that wants to thrive off of the adversity of others.  Taking without asking is stealing, plain and simple,” said Doug. “Even though the house wasn’t boarded up yet, it wasn’t theirs to steal.”

Broom in hand, and standing in what is now just a shell of her kitchen and dining area, Janice described what her kitchen looked like just before the fire. “This is the world’s tiniest kitchen. I used to imagine it being a little bigger, but now I don’t care. I just want a kitchen of my own. It had a nice view, overlooking the creek.  Shortly before the fire, I had renovated it in a Tuscan theme.  We put up new wallpaper, hung new curtains and added new pulls on the cabinets, and put in new flooring.  I was so pleased with it,” she said, even though cooking is not one of her favorite things.

With the legal woes behind them, Doug and Janice allow themselves to dream a little bit about the future rebuilding process. “We hope to combine the master bedroom with a smaller bedroom nearby.  All the bedrooms were itty-bitty and we don’t need four bedrooms anymore, so if we combine our bedroom with this other small bedroom, our room will be a little bigger, maybe for a sitting area,” said Doug, pointing out the floor plan as he walked through the house. “I know enough to ask for help when I need it.  Right now, I feel a bit like a goose in a hurricane, not knowing which way to flap my wings.”

The Todds have set aside funds, some of which came from monies that were raised and distributed through the Oak Hill Wildfire Relief Fund. Doug’s brother, who lives in Houston, set up a trust fund for friends and family to donate to as well. Doug said, “We have some money in our savings, as well as FEMA funds which we received, and money from the Oak Hill Wildfire Relief Committee, but we will still be short when we rebuild, because we need all kinds of materials and labor.”

“We just never dreamed something like this could happen,” Janice said. “It scares you to death. It is amazing how the fire just randomly picked out houses. But we have been reminded how wonderful people can be, like Robin and Pat and the attorneys and all the volunteers.  The best in people comes out in a disaster like this.  When we were frantically pulling stuff out of the house, people would randomly drive up and hand us a $20 HEB gift card, and it helped a lot.  We are going to get through it with God’s help and all these wonderful people.  We will get back on our feet,” stated Janice.

“One man who drove up gave us a $200 gift card to McDonalds,” added Janice, whose secret love is McDonald’s breakfast. “We like to eat there every morning.  I don’t cook breakfast. I have a breakfast burrito, Doug has a scrambled egg and a sausage biscuit.”

“I believe there are no coincidences in life,” said Benner. “It felt right. I try everyday to give something back.  It is something I learned a long time ago. It goes full circle and it would be pretty condemning if we didn’t return favors to those in need. Doug and Janice are wonderful people with a good attitude.  I know they will get through this, even though it has been tough. If you look, there can be positive things even in overwhelmingly negative situations,” Brenner added.

Gary Hunt, co-chair of the Oak Hill Wildfire Relief Committee, said the volunteers who have been working on the Henric home are close to being finished. “We are so close, I think she will probably be in her house in the next two weeks,” he said, referring to Lily Henric, who lives just a few houses away from the Todds and who also lost her home. “Most of our volunteers in the skilled areas are completing the Henric home.  I know we all need a break, but having said that, there are some of us who will do whatever we can to insure the Todds’ house goes forward. I just received a call from Pastor Randy Phillips of PromiseLand West Church, where the Todd’s are members.  He assured me that the Todds will be supported through their church community and for that we are very grateful,” said Hunt.

At this point, the Todds are just hoping there are still some folks out in the community that will help them rebuild. “We are just hoping that people still want to help.  One month, two months after the fire we had people coming up offering help, and it was so wonderful, but we couldn’t do anything as far as rebuilding is concerned back then.  We know so much has happened with all the fires last year and people are burned out and fatigued. But we hope there are still some people who are willing to help us now that we can move forward,” said Janice. “My hope and dream is just to come back home. We want to come back home so badly. This is home, and we have been gone for over a year.”

Doug chimed in, “I can never thank those that have helped us enough. All I can do from here on out is pay it forward in anyway I can.”

That piano made a lot of moves over the years with Henric—to Mexico, back to El Paso, to Houston a couple of times, and finally to her home in Oak Hill. “I kept that coupon book in the piano bench because it embodied everything that my mother had done for me,” said Henric.

More than half a century later, Henric’s home and most of her belongings were destroyed last year in the April 17 fire. “I watched them take the piano out of my home and I gave up hope on it. It felt like a funeral home taking the body away.”

Henric, whose home was uninsured, put thoughts of the piano out of her head in the crazy aftermath of the fire. Amber Kubik—who along with Amy Harper and John Pfannkuche has been front and center in the rebuilding of Henric’s home—was there when the piano was pulled from the rubble. “Part of the roof had fallen on it. There were ashes and burn marks all over it and keys missing,” said Kubik.

Unbeknownst to Henric, Kubik’s friends Jeremy Bracken, Mike Dario, and John Momberger got together with Dario’s housemate Dustin Hill (who is a pianist and restores pianos as a hobby), and over the past year, the piano was taken completely apart and restored. Kubik herself sanded, stained and polished the wood.

On Sunday, April 29th, a little over a year later, Henric was getting set for a “Remembrance Day” gathering at Windmill Run Park—an afternoon of food, music and proclamations planned for the Scenic Brook and Windmill Run communities.

Gary Hunt, chairman of the Oak Hill Wildfire Relief Committee, called Henric that morning on the pretext of needing help with preparations related to the day’s festivities.

“Gary had me go to Jack Allen’s with him to check on the food. I couldn’t really figure out what he was talking about, but thought he was planning something special for Amber and Amy, and didn’t quite trust me with the secret,” said Henric.

Meanwhile, back at Henric’s house, five volunteers with Two Men and a Truck moving company are bringing the restored piano back to Lilly’s nearly restored home. Relief Committee co-chair Karon Rilling is trying out the piano. Kubik places lilies on top of the piano, and people gather to await the arrival of Hunt and Henric.

“As soon as I saw the moving van, I knew,” said Henric. The door was wide open and sounds of Rilling rocking out with Elvis Presley’s classic “Don’t Be Cruel” could be heard floating out to the walk.

“Lilly was crying and shaking when she walked in the door,” said Kubik.

“All I could get out was ‘you stinkers’!” said Henric. “They made it so special. It is just one more demonstration of how great this community is.”

By Joanne Foote

You could hear a pin drop at a recent assembly at O.Henry Middle School where both students and staff, waited, anticipating the moment when they would hear a few, very precise instructions on how to proceed. After being prepped on what to expect, at last, after a 15-minute wait, they heard the magic words.

“O. Henry Middle School, this is Mission Control in Houston. Please call station for a voice check.” U.S. Congressman Lamar Smith replied, “Station, this is Congressman Lamar Smith at O.Henry Middle School in Austin, Texas. How do you hear me?”

“Congressman Smith, we’ve got you loud and clear. Welcome aboard the International Space Station (ISS),” confirmed the astronauts aboard the Space Station.

With rare government precision and little other formalities, students were already lined up at the microphone, ready to fire off their questions. Topics ran the gamut, from asking about how one becomes an astronaut, to what it’s like to sleep in space. Seventeen students were able to ask their questions in the 20-minute time allotment. More than 100 other students where on hand to listen to the conversation and see the astronauts projected on the 30-foot screen set up in the gymnasium.

Students wait in line to ask questions to astronauts live aboard the International Space Station.

Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineers Don Pettit, both of the United States, and Andre Kuipers, of the Netherlands, appeared on the big screen. The live question-and-answer session took place while it was simultaneously broadcast live on NASA Television.

“Today’s event supports what you learn in school. Math and science really are the future of our country, and you will be better prepared in the future if you push yourself in these areas. This is my first time to ever do this and I don’t know if I will ever have the opportunity to do it again. You are among a very elite group,” said Smith.

While waiting for the countdown to connect to the ISS, O. Henry Principal Pete Price shared his first experience with space flight to the third period science students in attendance. “When I was your age, in the early 1960s, President Kennedy talked about putting a man on the moon and in 1969, we watch that happen. When man first walked on the moon, my family and I watched that exciting event on television. Now here we are today and I am thrilled to have the kind of technology that we can chat with the Space Station through a downlink. They are 230 miles up in the sky and this is quite an exciting event,” said Price.

The first question was directed to Commander Dan Burbank:  “How long does it take to get in your space suit?” inquired student Levon Midwood.

“It depends on what type of space suite you are asking about. The one we wear for launches takes about 20-30 minutes to put on and then make sure it is leak tight and communications work. The space suite we use for space walks outside are more complicated and take more than an hour to get in, checked out and ready to go,” replied Burbank.

Ireland Tendler asked Burbank how much room there is to move around. “We have a lots of volume in the Space Station. It’s like a big house, divided into modules, or rooms, that you can float between,” he said.

The question many wanted to know the answer to came from Jack Norman, “How do you use the bathroom in space?” Chuckles from the students rippled across the gym, and a smile by the astronauts was seen on the big screen. “That is a very essential question, a lot of people think about it. Weightless can make it challenging, but we use airflow and something like a vacuum cleaner to help with the process. It is an endeavor, but works just fine,” responded Andre Kuipers, of the Netherlands, and one of the flight engineers aboard the space station.

Another student asked what is the process to become an astronaut. Burbank replied, “First and most important you have to send an application to NASA. Nowadays, there are scientists, physicians, pilots, and teachers. Most who get picked did very well at the things they did before applying to NASA. It is important when you decide what you want to do to choose wisely, so that becoming good at it not like work, it is more like play.”

Nick Berndt addressed his question to Flight Engineer Don Petit, of the United States: “What’s your favorite activity to do in space?”

“My favorite thing is working on science and engineering experiments. We are working on a new kind of toilet. We have one up here we call Regenerative Life Support, where we recycle urine and purify it and pump it back in to make coffee,” he said, amid sounds of disgust from the audience.

In response to a question about weightlessness, Kuipers responded, “Weightlessness is a fantastic feeling, it’s a bit like being underwater, floating in a pool, a bit comparable, but you have to adjust and learn how to move around properly.”

“When you look out of space station what do you see?” asked Avery Turner. “The first thing you see in foreground is ISS itself, it is huge, nearly 1 million pounds. Then you see the sun, the moon, planets, and stars, thousands and thousands, of steady piercing points of light. Our planet Earth is spectacular. You can see islands, mountains, oceans, clouds, and earth’s atmosphere. It’s a view I never get tired of, one of the neatest things about being in space,” expressed Burbank.

Student Joe Ibarra asked a question that brought everyone back to earth, “Can you send a Text in space?”

“No, we don’t have cell phones, but we do get to communicate with our family and work regularly, through downlinks similar to this one, which go through the satellite system. We can also send emails,” said Petit.

   Practical questions were also on the minds of students: “How do you get enough water and electricity to the Space Station?”

“Water and oxygen are initially brought through cargo vehicles. We preserve as much as water as possible by trying our best to close as much of the water cycle as possible. It is very difficult and expensive to bring cargo/supplies here. Previously, the space shuttles would bring in supplies, and we preserve as much as possible. Electricity is easy since there is almost one acre of solar panels on the outside of the Station, which we direct towards the sun and convert those to photons into electrons,” said Petit.

“How do you sleep in space and do you have your own bed?” asked another student. “We sleep very well. We float, sleep on the ceiling, it is a bit strange,” explained Kuipers. “There is no pillow or mattress. We do miss those aspects, but we have sleeping cabin, which are private, and very pleasant,” he added.

Gyselle Barrera posed the final question. “Do you miss your home and families?

“What we miss the most is being physically close, to hug our kids and kiss our spouses. We can be close in a virtual sense through something similar to video phone calls at least once a week most anytime we are free, but I really look forwards to that time when we get home. We have reminders, photos and small mementos of our families with us. We also maintain a journal to bring back and share our experiences. It is precious time that we have here, and we are really fortunate to be able to do this. There are a lot of people in line to come here,” Petit answered.

With that timely question, the 20 minutes had disappeared in to thin air. “Thank you for your time, your expertise, and sharing the love of your job. We wish you the best in your endeavors and appreciate all you do for us and your future,” stated Price, O.Henry Principal. “Thanks to Lamar Smith and his office, or we wouldn’t be doing this,” he added. “This type of program is important to our STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and math.”

The office of U.S. Congressman Lamar Smith organized the ISS Space Chat, which took place on April 3. In order to participate, the request must come from a member of Congress’s office and the member must be present at the event.  It took several months to organize schedules. Smith, who is on the Science/Space/Technology committee in Congress, was very excited about this opportunity. “I have a 4×4 foot poster taken from the Hubble Telescope on the wall in my office,” said Smith.

O. Henry is the only middle school in Texas to host a downlink with the ISS. The once in a lifetime event was arranged with Science Department Chair Camie Fillpot with assistance from Technology Specialist Iris Szachacz and Assistant Principal Matthew Nelson.

“We love that our principal embraced this opportunity. It’s not all about bubble sheets. We want to create lifelong learning opportunities through this type of extension activity,” said Camie Fillpot, Science chair and Instructional Specialist at O.Henry. Students in all the science classes had an opportunity to submit questions. “I wanted to pick a variety of questions, for the astronauts, some serious, and others just general curiosity questions, but there was only time for a limited amount.”

From NASA media release: This in-flight education downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the United States and abroad to improve STEM teaching and learning. It is an integral component of NASA’s Teaching from Space Program, which promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA’s human spaceflight program.

By Will Atkins

Windmill Run Park came alive on Sunday, April 29, with the sounds of music, children playing and neighbors chatting over tables loaded with potluck surprise dishes of everything from bean salad to beef enchiladas, as neighbors came together in a “Day of Remembrance” of the April 17, 2011 Oak Hill Wildfire.

The fire destroyed 11 homes and damaged 10 others, but became a rallying cause for the neighborhoods of Scenic Brook and South Windmill Run. Many of those attending the festivities in the park Sunday are good friends now—having met each other in the aftermath of the fire and the year-long effort of neighbors helping neighbors to rebuild.

The Oak Hill Wildfire Relief Committee (OHWRC) was formed by a group representing the two affected neighborhoods, and rebuilding Lilly Henric’s home on Scenic Brook became one of its prime objectives. Henric lost everything in the fire, had no insurance, but discovered that she did have neighbors determined to help her.

Those neighbors were recognized and honored at the gathering in the park Sunday.

“A couple of teams did some amazing work,” said OHWRC co-chair Karon Rilling. “There has not been one day in the last 365 that they have not been involved with the rebuilding of Lilly’s home. I know this because I have the 450 emails that have documented their work.” She then presented special plaques to Amy Harper, John Pfannkuche and Amber Kubik to acknowledge and thank them for their “selfless and sustained response in spearheading the rebuilding of Lilly Henric’s home after the Oak Hill wildfire April 17 2011.”

Rilling also awarded special plaques to Gary Hunt and Rosie Beck, who she described as: “The other heroic team that has worked every single day of this last 365…making things happen, whether it was the physical work or the networking work.” She commended them “for extraordinary service to our neighborhoods in the aftermath of the Oak Hill fire.” Rilling added that thanks to the efforts of all involved, Henric could finally be back in her home in a few weeks.

All of the other members of OHWRC were presented with medals of recognition, and Rilling thanked Tom Thayer for his efforts in planting three trees at the edge of the park where the fire came close, in remembrance of the pets and wildlife lost in the fire.

Also on hand for the occasion were Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Gary Brown, representing County Commissioner Karen Huber. Leffingwell presented a proclamation recognizing April 29^th, 2012 as “Oak Hill Fire Remembrance Day in Austin Texas.” The document read in part: “disasters do have a silver lining as evidenced by the many acts of kindness that have been shown to the residents of Scenic Brook and South Windmill Run.”

Brown announced that the county would work together with those affected by the fire to establish an educational kiosk that recognizes the wildfire disaster and those associated with the response and recovery. It will also contain wildfire preparedness information so that park users now and in the future can be mindful of their own roles in being prepared.

Several residents affected by the fire expressed their thanks to the crowd. Carol Cespedes, whose home was destroyed in the fire, spoke also for her husband Benny and said: “We love this neighborhood. This is a special place…Anything we needed, this neighborhood was up to.”

Finally, Lilly Henric shyly inched up to the microphone and began speaking haltingly through her tears: “There are no words.  If you could put everything good, everything beautiful, into one phrase, put it into ‘thank you.’ …It’s been a heck of a year. And this is one heck of a community. And I give you my heart.”

By Ann Fowler

Austin Independent School District Superintendent Meria Carstarphen brought staff members to a meeting at Bowie High School on April 17 to present the preliminary fiscal year 2013 budget and the 2013-14 facility master plan. The overcrowding at Bowie was touched on but not really addressed.

Chief Financial Officer Nicole Conley-Abram presented the budget, while Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Fryer presented the master plan. Questions were taken after each presentation.

For the 2012-13 biennium, the district faces a decrease of $5.3 billion when factors such as enrollment growth and property value decreases are considered. The budget predictions get worse with state cuts and federal revenue losses.

Conley-Abram said district staff compensation has been frozen for the past two years, with teacher salaries lagging 11.3 percent behind Texas urban peers and 3.6 percent behind local peers.

She added that, of more than 1,000 school districts in Texas, Austin is one of perhaps 20 that participate in Social Security. This adds a cost of $33 million to AISD and would take an act of Congress to change.

Recapture — or “Robin Hood” — takes dollars from “property-rich” districts such as Austin and sends that money to “property-poor” districts. From fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2013, AISD will have paid $1.6 billion to the state in recapture payments.

Circle C resident Ron Hill said the district could save $11 million if it joined a state health care plan. Dr. Carstarphen said she believed he was looking at old numbers, because the district had actually saved $13 million in health care costs.

In the master plan, Fryer referenced a future South High School that was part of the 2008 bond program. In the master plan it is listed as possibly a comprehensive school (like Bowie) or a specialty (technical) school. Oak Hill residents had hoped a new high school in southwest Austin would relieve overcrowding at Bowie and Austin High.

In fact, local parent Dana Malone expressed frustration that she had voted in 2008 for a comprehensive school to relieve Bowie’s overcrowding. She was applauded when she said: “What are we going to do – put in 100 more portables? Circle C area is huge and not slowing down. They’re building another neighborhood on the other side of 45.”

Dr. Carstarphen said southwest Austin had challenges like impervious cover and the Aquifer. She said, “You’ve got some other interesting issues. So those things tend to slow us up.”

AISD board member and Oak Hill resident Robert Schneider told the Gazette after the meeting that the 2008 bond money was for land only, not construction. He said, “The original motion I made was to add the school for relief in southwest Austin but later agreed to simply having south Austin being the designated area of relief.”

Schneider pointed out that recent data from the district shows a dramatic growth for the schools feeding into Bowie — called a vertical team — over the last five years. For Bowie, that growth is 45 percent, while the Akins vertical team shows 8 percent. The district-wide average is 6 percent.

Schneider suggests Oak Hill residents speak up to affect change. He said: “While messages from organized groups such as neighborhood associations, parent/ teacher associations, campus advisory councils at district schools, business associations, and other community organizations are important, the most forceful impact is simply each individual in the community letting their voices be heard. The AISD board needs to understand that not serving growth in southwest Austin simply because it is in southwest Austin or because of unfounded environmental concerns is simply not acceptable.”

Schneider said the students of southwest Austin are entitled to the same opportunities as students in other parts of the district. He added, “If [AISD is] not willing to do that, then perhaps it is time to start the discussion of other forms of relief that are available under state statue.”

Schneider added that residents should show up at the polls. “School board elections will be on the November 2012 ballot,” he said. “Vote for candidates that will serve the needs of southwest Austin. As long as southwest Austin continues not to turn out at the ballot box and vote for issues and candidates that are important to them, we will continue to have to fight for items such as this rather than relying on good data and good decisions to provide for our community needs.”

Born in Austin, Castro attended O’Henry Middle School, where she also played volleyball and basketball. Upon arriving at Austin High, she earned a spot on the varsity squad. “It was a big goal,” she admitted. Over the summer, she played on the select team Austin’s Finest with current Maroon teammates Alexus Martinez, Dezarae Mendoza, Briana Vallejo and Brianna Garcia. Castro’s travel coach Jose Hernandez and her pitching coach Frank Lopez have assisted in her development as a talented softball player. “They helped me be where I’m at today,” she noted.

Language arts instructor Mr. Miller is Vannessa’s favorite teacher at Austin High. “He helps you and pushes you to the limit,” Castro added. Earning good grades in a foreign language class is her favorite academic achievement at Austin High. “I passed Spanish II and aced a project in that class,” Castro stated. Her favorite sports experiences were wins over Westlake and Bowie. Vannessa will now work on improving for her sophomore campaign. “I am going to keep playing outside of school,” she said. “I will take it to the next level and work more on hitting my locations and preparing to face better teams.”

About 50 people turned out for the Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods (OHAN) City Council debate, which took place April 11 in lieu of the regular OHAN monthly meeting. Former State Representative Valinda Bolton moderated the event.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell faced his two opponents, former Council member Brigid Shea and self-proclaimed “citizen activist” Clay Dafoe.  Leffingwell brought up recent reports touting Austin’s economic performance, the low tax rates and his goal to “leave Austin a better place than we found it.” He said “the record speaks for itself—AAA bond rating, no laid off employees and no deficit spending.”

Shea called herself “a proven leader”, citing her leadership in Cleanwater Action and Save Our Springs Alliance. The question, she states, is “what kind of a future do we want?” She says we should be “prosperous, but affordable” and claims that bad decisions have made Austin more expensive. She cites the city paying $13 million for Formual One infrastructure as an example. “We don’t need to pay people to move here,” she stated.

Clay Dafoe picked up on the same theme of “giveaways” and mentioned what he thought were ill-conceived rebates for Apple and the downtown Marriot in addition to Formula One. He also called for more Council meetings on Saturday to increase citizen participation.

The mayoral candidates were asked about their position on SH45. Leffingwell was for keeping it in the 2035 CAMPO plan while his challengers disagreed. Shea claimed that SH45 would “make MoPac a parking lot.” She proposes instead to improve existing roads such as Highway 290, and would support a “non-tolled, non-elevated parkway solution.” Clay concurred that we should “improve what we have.”

Place 2 candidates, incumbent Mike Martinez and challenger Laura Pressley answered questions about Capital Metro and improved service to this part of town. Pressley questioned the wisdom of spending so much for light rail to Leander and also brought up a theme repeated by many other challengers, that of “giveaways” to developers.

In the crowded Place 5 race, incumbent Bill Spelman faces six challengers on the ballot, but only three of them showed up for the OHAN forum. Tina Cannon, who is currently an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Texas State, emphasized her many years as an Oak Hill resident, before moving to East Austin to escape the traffic problems. Iraq War veteran “Dom” Chavez likewise stressed South Austin roots. Candidate John Rubine arrived just as other Place 5 candidates were being seated.

Spelman touted his credentials as a UT professor at the LBJ School teaching his students to problem solve, saying that his role on Council was one of constant problem solving. He used as an example his recent discovery that the inspection process for bathroom contractors was overly cumbersome, causing delays and extra expenditures for the homeowner. He said that this was something that could easily be fixed. Tina Cannon said it was surprising that Spelman just now discovered this.

The question of why nothing was done to stop construction of the Promiseland amphitheatre, despite requests from adjacent Oak Hill neighborhoods to do so. Spelman replied that city lawyers had concluded that the issue was a constitutional one regarding religious assembly and that while the city could not stop the amphitheatre from being built, they could closely monitor and step in should there be noise violations or uses of the amphitheatre for other than religious assembly.

Place 6 incumbent Sheryl Cole faced challenger Shaun Ireland, who was also quick to point out that, unlike the entire City Council, he resided in South Austin. In her opening remarks, Cole talked about her roots in the PTA and chairing the school bond campaign. She emphasized her support for affordable housing, public safety and the Waller Creek project, which she said takes 11% of downtown out of the flood plain and puts it on the tax rolls. Ireland, in his opening remarks, stressed repairing broken infrastructure, support for single member districts and lowering taxes and the cost of living.

Both Cole and Ireland were asked whether they agreed with the CAMPO plan for 2035, which keeps SH45, or the Imagine Austin plan which removes it. Ireland, who is against SH45, said “We need to stop building new roads and repair the old ones.”

Cole’s response was “I am a member of the CAMPO Board and I voted for SH45.”

In closing, Ireland said “we need to spend money on the people who are already here” and claimed to be the “candidate of change.”

Cole, meanwhile, claimed that “people are losing trust in government and the clog in transportation is a major reason.” She points out how much better our quality of life would be if “we could take 10 minutes off of everyone’s commute.”

Anderson snapped a seven game winning streak for the Maroons with 4-0 victory over Austin High (17-10-1, 10-5) in the final regular season contest for both schools. Starting pitcher Travis Eckert sustained only his third loss of the season, and the Maroons committed three errors in the field to assist the District 15-5A champion Trojans.

The Georgetown Eagles won their first eight games of the season, including a 9-1 triumph over the Maroons at a tournament encounter in early March. The Austin High pitching staff must contain Sam McDowell and Cameron White, who combined for five RBI in the Eagle’s third victory of the year. Greg Salinas took the hill for the Maroons in the first battle between the two clubs, surrendering a pair of hits to Eagle first baseman Tyler Watson.

Georgetown, coached by Danny Wallace, features a pitching staff that includes Jarrett Dooley, Joe Hauser, Jako Kelm and Watson. The Eagles finished third in District 16-5A, one game behind champion Round Rock. Bacak may opt to start five game winner Andrew Pate in the first game of the series, and throw Maroon ace Eckert in Friday’s contest at Georgetown. First pitch for the initial two games is set for 7:30 p.m. If necessary, game three will commence at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Burger.

By Tony Tucci

Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) has introduced legislation that would ban the manufacture, distribution and sale of coal tar sealants, a pavement resurfacing material that contains chemicals that pollute our water, cause mutations and birth defects in aquatic life, and have been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a probable cause of cancer in humans.

If passed, the manufacture of coal tar sealants would be prohibited in one year, the distribution would be illegal in 18 months, and sales would be illegal in two years.  Passage of the bill would culminate a six-year battle that began in 2006 when the city of Austin became the first community to ban coal tar. Since then, numerous communities and the state of Washington have banned coal tar, and retailers such as Lowe’s and Home Depot have pulled it from their shelves.

Other communities that have followed Austin’s lead are the District of Columbia; Madison, Wisc.;  Suffolk County, N.Y.; Dane County, Wisc.; the state of Washington; and 15 communities in Minnesota.

“Although other local communities have taken action, we cannot wait for all other communities simply to catch up to Austin,” Doggett said in his bill. “That is why I have introduced the Coal Tar Sealants Reduction Act. This legislation would phase out these coal tar-based sealants nationwide. Alternative products are already on the marketplace.”

Doggett was joined by legislators from Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, and Massachusetts — all states where communities have questioned the effects of coal tar on human health — as well as the nation’s major environmental advocacy groups such as the Sierra Club.

They cited research by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that shows:

• Coal tar contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) “which are probable human carcinogens, having been identified as such by the Environmental Protection Agency,” which are ”toxic to aquatic life” and ”present in pavement sealants, known as sealcoats, made from coal tar.”
• Coal tar sealants are widely used on parking lot surfaces, airport runways, and driveways.
• Research conducted by the USGS indicates that elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on parking lots, where the dust may be tracked into homes and increase health risks, are associated with use of these coal tar sealants.”
• Research conducted by the USGS indicates that elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in waterways, where they are toxic to aquatic life and enter the food chain, are associated with use of these coal tar sealants.”
• “Alternative, coal tar-free sealants are available in the marketplace, and nationwide retailers Lowe’s and Home Depot have voluntarily committed to cease carrying coal tar sealants.”
• Austin, TX, was the first municipality to enact a ban on the use of coal tar sealants, which went into effect in 2006, and other local governments have instated similar restrictions.
• “in 2011, Washington State became the first State to enact such a ban.”

Other legislators who have signed H.R. 4166 The Coal Tar Sealant Reduction Act of 2012 are Congressman Jim McDermott (D-Washingtom, 7th District); Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota 5th District); Congressman Mike Quigley (D-Illinois 5th District), and Congressman Bill Keating (D-Massachusetts 10th District.

Doggett’s staff said the congressman was planning a press conference to announce the bill and declined to comment at this time. However, he was quoted in a Sierra Club newsletter as saying, “In 2003 when Austin officials raised initial concerns about the environmental and health impact of coal tar sealants used on playgrounds, parking lots, and other paved surfaces with me, I contacted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) several times. In 2005, I was pleased that city government took action to ban coal tar sealants. Other communities, however, have not been as diligent in protecting their citizens from these substances. These pollutants not only get washed into local waterways after a rainfall, but can be tracked into our homes simply as dust on the soles of our shoes. Communities are threatened elsewhere in Texas and across the Nation.”

Coal tar has been a controversial subject since shortly after the turn of the century. The city passed its ban in 2005, becoming one of the first cities in the nation to do so.

Just recently the Austin school district decided to begin removing coal tar from school playgrounds. The older coal tar actually is more dangerous because it crumbles and flakes and can be washed into our waterways and tracked into our homes and cars. Children are the most vulnerable because they play on the ground and then put their hands in their mouths.

An online petition drive has been started to support a nationwide ban. Those who want to sign the petition should go to http://forcechange.com/15718/support-a-nationwide-ban-on-toxic-coal-tar/.

Doggett said there is “compelling scientific literature” to warrant a nationwide ban. He said coal tar not only causes mutations and birth defects in aquatic life, but has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen.

“The Coal Tar Sealants Reduction Act is common sense legislation that will benefit our ecosystem and the health of Texans and other Americans,” he said.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Kevin Carmody, an award-winning environmental reporter who first recognized the danger of coal tar sealants. His legacy lives on.