Late one evening on a school night, after Bowie baseball coach Rudy Alvarez got done raking the field to get it ready for the next day after it had rained, he sat down for this interview and reflected on his career of 40 years coaching high school baseball in the Austin Independent School District.

Raking the field is less of a chore and more a labor of love for Alvarez, who knew he wanted to coach baseball since the seventh grade and has practically lived on the diamond his whole life.

On Saturday morning, February 11, the Bowie baseball booster club will hold a ceremony honoring Alvarez’ 40 years in the district, followed by junior varsity and varsity scrimmages as part of opening day festivities to welcome the 2012 baseball season.

Having spent most of his 64 years playing and coaching baseball in south Austin, Alvarez has seen all of the hits, misses and curve balls that a baseball life can throw at you. He’s won numerous awards, made the state championship game, worked under the best baseball minds, seen bad umpire calls that still bother him to this day, coached talented young players who have gone on to sign professional contracts, and dealt with tragedies of losing former players and a coach.

Through it all, Alvarez has built and maintained relationships with countless former players and coaches and, of all the accolades and wins accumulated, those relationships are what stand out most for Alvarez.

Assistant coach Sam Degelia is one of those relationships he has built and maintained.

“Every year we go to the high school coaching convention in Waco,” Degelia said. “We can’t walk more than ten feet without someone stopping him and talking, he knows everyone.”

Bowie Coach Rudy Alvarez

Modern technology has helped Alvarez track down even more players he’s coached, dating all the way back to the early 1970′s at Travis High School.

“I joined Facebook a couple years ago and within 3 days, I had like 60 friend requests from former players,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez had visions of playing professional baseball growing up. He was little league and high school teammates at Travis with Ken Boswell, the second baseman for the 1969 Amazing Mets team that won the World Series. The two were quite the double play combo, as they both played shortstop and second base.

Alvarez played at Blinn Junior College, where he was all set to transfer to the University of Texas before blowing his knee out. He still was able to walk on to UT and played in a handful of games for Coach Cliff Gustafson.

The knee injury was still an issue though and he knew he couldn’t run like he used to, so rather than play as a backup infielder at Texas, Alvarez transferred to St. Edward’s where he finished out his playing career.

He came back to Texas and worked as a field director under Gustafson at his baseball camp. Alvarez would be a staple at the Texas camp, as he went on to work under Augie Garrido after Gustafson left. Now Alvarez has his own camp at Bowie.

As a kid, Degelia attended Gustafson’s baseball camp where Alvarez was one of the coaches. The two formed a bond and Degelia transferred high schools just so he could play for Alvarez and his renowned program at Travis High.

“When I played for him, he was feared,” Degelia said. “You’re expected to win, you’re going to win district and go to the playoffs, that’s it.”

In 1994, after Degelia’s father died, Alvarez, the best man at Degelia’s wedding, immediately consoled him.

“Baseball aside, he’s a very reputable guy,” Degelia said. “My dad passed away in 1994. I hadn’t seen coach in years, and that night, he shows up at my house to see if everything was okay. That’s just him.”

A couple of years later, Degelia was coaching at Reagan High School when Alvarez called asking him if he wanted to coach with him at Travis. Degelia jumped on the opportunity and they have been coaching together since.

In his 25 years at Travis, Alvarez made the playoffs 19 times and won district seven times. When asked if he could point to one player as the most talented he’s ever coached, Alvarez said he’s coached far too many great players to single out just one, but the question did bring to his mind an outfielder he coached in the mid 80′s at Travis.

“When I was coaching at Travis in 84 or 85, we had a center fielder,” Alvarez said. “That guy could run down any ball hit. When a ball was hit out there, you knew it was going to be caught. He didn’t even end up playing after high school.”

Alvarez also had one of his most talented teams during that time period, a Travis team where two of his pitchers and his catcher went on to sign professional contracts.

When the Bowie job opened up, both Alvarez and Degelia went together and are now in their fourteenth year there.

In 2002, they assembled Alvarez’ best team to date, a senior class that went 100-12 dating to their freshman year according to Alvarez. They made it all the way to the state championship game to face the number one team in the country, Fort Bend Elkins, a team that featured current Dodgers first baseman James Loney.

In his 40 years of coaching, Alvarez can point to the day of that game, June 2, 2002, as both his greatest achievement and most tragic day of his career.

Assistant coaches Sam Degelia and Gary Fowler spent the previous day scouting Elkins out in the hot sun. That morning, Fowler, Degelia’s roommate at the hotel in Round Rock, woke up and couldn’t feel his legs.

“We woke up and (Fowler) said ‘coach I can’t feel my legs, I can’t get up,’” Degelia said.

Bowie Coach Rudy Alvarez instructs his players before a game

Degelia at first thought he was joking or Fowler’s leg was asleep, then quickly realized it was more serious. He told Coach Alvarez and they called an ambulance to rush Fowler to the emergency room. MRIs revealed Fowler had a cancerous brain tumor.

“It was the best day of my career and it turned into the saddest day of my career,” Alvarez said. “Having one of my best friends go to the hospital—and his son was a bat boy. Things happen in baseball and in kids’ lives that put everything in perspective. Baseball is not the end of the world.”

An emotional Bulldogs team lost 11-4 to the number one team in the country and a little over a year later, Fowler passed away from brain cancer.

Every year, the team holds the Annual Gary Fowler Golf Classic to raise money for the baseball team, and one player from the varsity team is selected to wear Fowler’s number eight in his honor.

Other than the state title game, two particular games stand out as the most memorable of Alvarez’ career.

In 2001, the Bulldogs played rival Austin High in a winner take all game to go to the State Championships at the Dell Diamond. The stands at neutral Toney Burger Field were evenly packed with screaming fans from both schools. Bowie was winning late in the game, when Austin High had the bases loaded with one out and their power-hitting catcher Jason Pyle came up to bat. He hit a ground ball to third; the third baseman stepped on the base and threw to first for an apparent double play. When both teams were jogging off the field, the third base umpire called them back, saying the ball hit Pyle’s foot and was therefore a foul ball.

“They showed it over and over on the news that night, talking about how it was a bad call,” Alvarez said, the moment still fresh in his mind. “That ball bounced ten feet in front of the plate.”

Given another chance, Pyle cleared the bases with a hit and Austin High went on to win in extra innings and advance to the state finals.

The next year, when Bowie met San Antonio Reagan in the playoffs, the number two or three team in the state according to Alvarez, the Bulldogs went up against a set of brothers who were both highly touted pitchers and who were signed to play big time college baseball.

Bowie won the first game of the series 1-0 without getting a hit the whole game. They got their run across when they got a couple runners on base, and ran a trick play they had been working on to score. Bowie pitcher Terry Killion threw a gem of his own, allowing no more than a few hits.

They went on to beat the other brother and eventually advance to the state championship game against Elkins.

As a player, Degelia only really saw the stern side of Alvarez, but now, especially in recent years, he says Alvarez has softened somewhat.

“He’s always been focused, always baseball driven,” Degelia said. “He’s a hard worker, just goes and goes and goes. I never really saw a funny side until now. He laughs all the time and tells jokes. I think he’s finally starting to loosen up a little.”

After 40 years, 31 playoff appearances, eight Coach of the Year awards, a state runner-up trophy and numerous district titles, Alvarez says he still has as much passion and is having as much fun as ever.

“I know he’s said he’s going to coach four or five more years, I hope he goes longer,” Degelia said.

One thing is for certain, Coach Alvarez, who lives across the street from Bowie, will not be coaching anywhere else.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Alvarez said, laughing. “I’ve been coaching for 40 years, high school baseball is where I belong.”

Award-winning furniture designer Robert Galusha has relocated to Austin from California by way of Kingman, Arizona and he is opening up his workshop to share his 35 years of knowledge and experience with woodworking hobbyists and artisans alike.

When Galusha moved to Oak Hill a few short months ago, he was just in time to get a late entry into the prestigious Texas Furniture Makers show in Kerrville and walked away with second place honors for his ‘Mobius Rocker in Walnut‘. He has just set up his workshop in Cedar Valley and is offering workshops.

Galusha was working as a gofer on the set of Francis Ford Coppola’s set ‘Apocalypse Now‘ back in 1974 when his father died and left him his table saw. What started as a hobby making furniture for friends turned into a career as he got better at the craft and began getting regular clients.

“Back in 1981 I was living in San Francisco when Michael Taylor, the designer who created the ‘California Look‘ kept sending over furniture designs to bid on. I would give him a bid and then not hear back. I thought I must have bid too high, so I kept coming down on price. When I finally hear back, he ordered all 40 pieces at once and needed them right away. I ended up calling every furniture maker in the San Francisco area and we managed to get the job done. I didn’t make any money from it, but that was really the founding of the Bay Area Woodworkers Association,” says Galusha.

In 1986, Galusha had moved operations into a former slaughterhouse near Candlestick Park and was working on a large job for 61 rooms of hotel furniture. He was nearing completion on the order when a nearby clandestine fireworks factory blew up and destroyed two blocks of businesses, his included. “Everything was gone, including a lot of personal stuff and artwork that I was storing there,” he recalls. He managed to find a new workspace, expand from 8 to 50 employees and from 1 to 3 shifts to deliver the job on time and on budget, but delays in insurance compensation for the fire and SBA red tape made it difficult to maintain the business.

“I ended up moving to Napa Valley and had a workshop at my house so I could stay home and raise my daughter,” he explains. During those years he would build furniture to order and do restoration work. When the housing bubble hit he sold his house and moved to Kingman, Arizona using the profits from the sale to build his dream workshop with a low overhead. The local community college also came calling and he began teaching woodworking to others.

“It really pleases me to be able to pass on information and skills, ” he says. “I am more than happy to share what I know. I had always trained all of my own employees and many of them ended up with their own businesses.”

It was the internet that helped bring Galusha back to Texas, where he had served at Fort Hood during the Vietnam era. “My girlfriend from back then googled me and sent me an email. We hadn’t had any contact in 40 years, and now here I am,” he explains.

Galusha has opened up a workshop in Cedar Valley, where he has plenty of space and equipment to share his craft with up to 6 students at a time. The workshop motto is ‘Skills for a Lifetime, Heirlooms for Generations.’ “I will work with students on specific projects or help them develop projects that use skills they want to learn,” he explains. “You’ll end up creating something that the kids will fight over when you die.”

The bread and butter for Galusha is not so much the workshops or his award-winning designs, but in building furniture to order, often turning someone’s vague idea into a reality.

It was a contest sponsored by Fine Woodworking magazine in 2008 that brought out the artist in Galusha. The contest was centered around building a piece of furniture out of a single plank of maple and Galusha got the red ribbon in this competition too. The strikingly elegant chair that Galusha entered managed to confound the magazine’s editor. “He couldn’t figure out how it was made. I had actually developed a groundbreaking technology for manufacturing furniture,” he says. He continues to refine the process and come up with new designs. Each chair involves two weeks to a full month of labor, but Galusha thinks he can cut that time in half as he refines the process.

You can find pictures of Galusha’s chairs and other information about his business at his website, RobertGalushaDesign.com

Seeing as how it’s Valentine’s season, let’s talk about love.

Love’s a funny thing, isn’t it? No matter how much of it you give away, love remains full and strong, always. If you chop love in half, each half will grow again to full measure, into whole complete love—because true love survives.

Take my wife, for example. You thought I was going to say, “Take my wife, please.” Nah, that’s Henny Youngman’s line. The love I hold for my lovely wife, Sue, has matured and shaped itself into this wondrous, long-lasting deep and mellow love that will burn on like a mammoth firelog. Ya know, those giant firelog pits that you gather ’round at Zilker Park during Christmas season? It burns like that. The love I share with Sue is battle-hardened, scarred, weathered – and true. I never thought love could look so beat up and still be so amazingly beautiful. Our love looks like it’s been through a Hoboken subway tunnel, but it’s still there.

We’ve been through a lot, my wife and I, but we know that our love is a firelog love, always burning, keeping us safe and warm. I will love Sue always, and she knows that in her heart, and vicey veesy. Or vercy vice-chair. veeky….something

Now, my love for my daughters is a whole other can of love. Yes, it’s still love, but it’s the brand of love that makes me catch my breath with pride, clench my fists in stark fear, and weep quietly in the night over broken hearts. When I watch my daughter Lindsey play guitar or my daughter Jamie run like the wind, I want to jump and shout and tell the world about their talents, but I’m Dad so I just smile and say “all right!”

To your kids, there’s nothing worse than embarrassing them in front of their friends, so you have to play it cool. But, man, I love those girls. Did I tell you that Lindsey makes her own jewelry and that Jamie can play volleyball like a manic octopus? Oh, I did already. Sorry. I have some pictures! Oh, you’ve seen those, too. OK.

Anyway, it’s funny how we bandy the word “love” about, when it is such a powerful and elusive thing. Love can curl itself into a ball and hide from you, run long and hard down the road with you chasing after it, or it can gob you right in the face like a melted marshmallow. You don’t have the controls. It does. But you must treat love with great respect and care, for if you lose it, your world will be corrupt and bitter and cold.

It sounds cliché, I know, but you must be careful with love. It’s the best thing we’ve got. Love is the power of the universe, but you have to use it wisely. You must nurture it, and stay faithful. It’s like a basketball filled with truffles. Bounce it lightly, or you’ll have a big mess. You can say you love your car or your job or your new tie, but that’s the Cliff’s Notes rendition of love. No, when we’re talking about real love, we’re talking about the engine that runs your very soul. If you are really in love with something or someone, it becomes a better part of you.

So. Spread some love with a gentle butter knife. Wield it skillfully. I think that’s what we’re here for. That, and to render good music. Love, friends, music, and a little wine. That should be all you need. Yah?

The 58 year-old veteran thought he had been through the worst — Vietnam — but then one day he was riding his motorcycle and collided with an 18-wheeler, crushing his leg, which had to be amputated. Suddenly Allen Hancock was handicapped, with no job, no family and no place to call home.

He had friends though, his fellow veterans, and especially the veterans at Oak Hill Post 4443.

The Oak Hill veterans knew what it was like to be down and almost out. A few years ago their numbers had dwindled to the point where they didn’t have enough members to fill all officer positions. The post was in danger of losing its franchise.

VFW Post 4433, which got a lease on life when it purchased a 9-acre tract on Thomas Springs Road more than a year ago, is sharing its good fortune by providing disabled veteran Allen Hancock (front) a home on the property. Post members (from left) are Commander Hank Irwin, Jean Susaraba, Bob Kountz, and Mike Jordan with his white shepherd Dandy.

Then an opportunity came up. The post sold its land in Bee Cave, where real estate prices were booming, and bought 9 acres of land on Thomas Springs Road just west of Oak Hill. The new site included a post headquarters and seven small rental homes. The homes were all occupied, but then — just about the time Hancock was being fitted for an artificial leg — one of the homes became vacant.

The home was small — just two rooms and a bath — but “it seemed like it would be a good fit for him,” said Mike Jordan, an Oak Hill Gazette columnist who lives in one of the other homes. The home needed some work though, and the veterans and the community came together to help.

The Veterans Administration provided a handicap ramp, and a local company, Bradco, donated shingles for the roof, which was installed by Wilson Roofing. A number of veterans, including Robert “Chappie” Chaplin, Caleb Chaplin and Bob Kountz, did a lot of work on the house to make it ready.

“This was an unusual collaboration between the veterans and the community,” said John Tschirhart, a member of Post 4443.

Jean Susaraba, a local realtor and a charter member of Post 4443, was instrumental in bringing Hancock and the Post together. She said Hancock and her son, Alan Peeks, are friends, and when Hancock heard there was a vacant home on the site, he contacted Susaraba.

Susaraba said she knew Hancock through her son, and he had come to a few dinners at their home. “When I heard about his accident, and that he was looking for housing, I knew our small unit would be perfect for him.”

Hancock agreed. After a five-year stint in the Coast Guard, including a year in Vietnam, he tried several business ventures, most recently a motorcycle repair shop. He now collects disability pay, which will cover his rent and some other expenses.

“He has no car, no way to get groceries. He lives on disability checks,” said Susaraba.

Hancock was badly injured in May 2010 while riding his motorcycle at the Y in Oak Hill. “Two lanes merged and I guess the driver of the truck didn’t see me,” he said. He was rushed to Brackenridge Hospital with multiple injuries.

“The doctors said my leg was so badly damaged that it would be useless, so I agreed to have it amputated,” he said. After physical rehabilitation and fitting for a prosthesis, Hancock was released from the VA Hospital in Temple last Friday.

His new home was supposed to be move-in ready this week, but some unexpected delays occurred. For one thing, workers who began to install new floor tiles discovered rotted wood and termites.

“The floor was just flaking away,” said Kountz, who was busy installing a plywood sub-floor. Kountz could not predict a date when the home would be ready for occupancy. Meanwhile, Hancock has been staying at Susaraba’s home.

As for his future, Hancock says no more motorcycles. “I think I’m going to buy a pickup and turn into a redneck,” he said.

By Ann Fowler

On January 24, the city’s Planning Commission granted an indefinite postponement to the West Park PUD, a proposed 130-acre development south of the Austin Community College Pinnacle campus on U.S. 290 West in Oak Hill.

According to attorney John Joseph of Coats Rose, who represents Rudy Belton of Buffalo Equities, Ltd., owner of the property, the postponement will allow them to work out transportation issues “to address a phasing of the project to coincide with improvements to 290 West.”

Joseph told the Gazette they are working “to address where traffic comes from and where it goes once it leaves the project. We want to minimize the impact on neighborhoods and an infrastructure incapable of handling it at this time.”

He said West Park PUD is working with Travis County on park improvements in a nearby neighborhood: “We’re working on the logistics for doing the environmental improvements staff wanted on the Windmill Run Park.”

He added that they are making improvements in the city of Austin right-of-way adjacent to the property, such as fixing grass swales and installing ponds to help slow down potentially erosive water.

Joseph said he was disappointed that a proposal to work with ACC to build a roadway to bring connectivity to the area was rejected by the college. The Oak Hill Parkway, a road stretching from Highway 71 to U.S. 290 West across the West Park PUD and Pinnacle campus, was a prominent feature of the winning design of the Green Mobility Challenge—with sponsors that included the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority.

ACC Executive Vice President Ben Ferrell sent a letter to Paul Linehan, president of Land Strategies, Inc., saying the ACC Board of Trustees was not interested in such connectivity. The letter said in part, “there does not appear to be any significant benefit to the ACC District under the proposed plan, and the plan would appear to generate undesirable traffic flow through the campus, require the destruction of newly built parking on our campus, and could negatively impact the amount of impervious cover on our site.”

Joseph said, “It amazes me that the Austin Community College wouldn’t be interested in connectivity for the community. It would help students, the faculty, the community as a whole.”

The original 2000 West Park PUD allowed for 70,000 square feet of commercial development and 906 apartments. Nearly five years ago, representatives met with Rudy Belton, owner of Buffalo Equities, to discuss with him the possibility that the development could be part of a Town Center for Oak Hill. A PUD amendment was filed in 2009 for 365,000 square feet of retail, 450,000 square feet of medical/general office, multiple ball fields, an athletic complex, an eight-story hotel, a movie theater and nearly 500 residential units. Mitigation for the high percentage of impervious cover (40 percent rather than the required 25 percent) was being discussed.

The ball fields were included at the request of locals who complained that the current Oak Hill fields were filled to capacity. West Park PUD representatives were surprised when residents living closest to the proposed fields complained about the potential noise they could bring. The plan was changed, and it was changed again when people voiced support for a vertical mixed-use design. A score of meetings with local stakeholders over the three years brought no consensus on what exactly Oak Hill wants at that location.

The development was then redesigned to accommodate 25 percent impervious cover, but while the footprint became smaller, the buildings were taller to accommodate the same density.

The community has heard little about the project in the past year, but Joseph said they have reached out to the local neighborhoods twice in recent months with no response. “We’ve been committed to the public process for several years,” he said. “What was a long list of neighborhood issues is now a very short list.”

But some local residents don’t feel representatives of the project have done enough to engage them.

At the January meeting of the Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods (OHAN), Robert Kleeman of Hill Country Estates asked the group to reject the development’s request for an indefinite postponement at the Planning Commission. He said, “Rudy Belton and his advisors have evaded, avoided and dodged participating with us in that process. Frankly, they’re at the end of their rope, and now its time to pull off the rope. My position is they need to start working with the community rather than trying to work around us.”

OHAN voted in favor of a resolution opposing the postponement. Dick Armitage of Shadowridge Crossing supported the resolution. He told the Gazette, “The developer has not been responsive to the concerns expressed by the neighborhoods regarding the amount of traffic that would be generated by the size of the commercial development proposed in the PUD application.”

Joseph said that is precisely what they are working on in the phased planning. “As traffic improvements occur, more and more of the development can be built.” He added, “We’re still optimistic, putting one foot in front of the other.”

Said Joseph, “We’ll continue to work with those in Oak Hill that are willing to sit down and talk to us to see if we can get the remaining issues resolved and get this thing before the Planning Commission, the City Council, to hopefully get approved. I believe this is a good thing for Oak Hill, something that needs to happen. It will help kick start that area and can lead to the resolution of a lot of issues on down the line. I think it’s an important project for Oak Hill.”

Jeffrey J. Wittig, who has been part of the Oak Hill Fire Department (OHFD) for more than 15 years, was appointed Fire Chief by the Travis County Emergency Services District #3 (TCESD #3) board of commissioners effective January 23. He has served as Acting Fire Chief since November 2011.

Born in Victoria, Texas, Chief Wittig’s family moved to Oak Hill in 1978. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout while in Oak Hill Troop 395. He was a freshman at Bowie High School when it first opened in 1988, and his class of 1992 was the first four-year class to graduate from Bowie.

Chief Wittig originally had a different career in mind: “I had intended to be a school counselor, but after sitting in traffic when the old Texaco station on 290 blew up, and then watching Oak Hill fire units block 290 for STARFlight to land, I knew I really wanted to be a part of helping others in the community.”

He found the chance to help the community after earning a degree in Psychology from the University of Texas. During the ten years Chief Wittig spent working in procurement and management at UT, he became a volunteer firefighter with OHFD. As a volunteer, he participated in Oak Hill’s fire training program. He was promoted to firefighter, firefighter II, lieutenant, and captain. He became part of the full-time staff in 2005 at the rank of Fire Captain.

Chief Wittig received an MBA from the University of Phoenix in 2005. He said, “After earning my MBA, an opportunity to work for the Department presented itself and it felt like the right decision for me and my family. Getting to work in the emergency services field in the area where I grew up and still live is great.”

A year later, he was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief, assuming full management responsibilities of the department’s administration. As Oak Hill has grown, so has its fire department. Chief Wittig said: “Fire service needs in the Oak Hill area have changed drastically over the 16 years I’ve spent with the Department. We went from an all-volunteer organization with trucks stationed at officers’ homes to a combination paid and volunteer organization with two excellent stations, state of the art equipment, and training that is well known throughout the region for its successes.”

The Oak Hill Fire Academy allows cadets seeking firefighting careers to train in the evenings and on weekends in the year-long program. Said Chief Wittig, “The leadership in the fire Academy is second to none and places emphasis on delivering high quality training.” The Academy’s ninth class began on January 28.

Chief Wittig described the services provided by OHFD: “Our department provides a vast array of services, including fire, enhanced medical responses with EMT-Intermediate level trained personnel on every truck, Hazardous Materials response, advanced training for new construction methods and new challenges with materials inside homes, and prevention efforts that strive to prevent emergencies before they occur — the area where we can be most effective.”

OHFD services are constantly evaluated, according to the chief. He said, “The department will continue to evaluate its options to better secure the great services our community enjoys now for the future. We will be looking at working closely with other departments to help make sure that emergency services in our area will continue on during periods of economic difficulty or annexation by the City of Austin.”

OHFD has a staff of 32 and is overseen by the commissioners of TCESD #3, who are appointed by the Travis County Commissioners Court. Chief Wittig said, “Commissioners volunteer their time and strive to serve the community, so our emergency services personnel are well trained, well equipped, and ready to respond.”

He added, “The Board of Commissioners remains very committed to ensuring that services for our community remain at the high level they are offered now as well as taking care of the workforce so that continuity of the department doesn’t suffer.”

Chief Wittig is particularly proud of the way TCESD #3 manages the funds that provides emergency services. He explained, “This year in our annual audit performed by a third party auditor, we were informed that they consider TCESD #3 as a leader in how government accounting should be done; they use our department as a model when speaking to other clients about how to properly account for their funds in the governmental setting. This speaks volumes to the dedication and professionalism the Commissioners and administrative staff bring to the department to help maintain an effective government structure for our citizens.”

Chief Wittig received the Chief Fire Officer Designation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence. In addition, he completed the Texas Fire Chiefs Academy by the Texas Fire Chiefs Association and is enrolled in the National Fire Academy’s four year Executive Fire Officer Program. Chief Wittig holds certifications for Advanced Firefighter, Fire Officer II, and Fire Instructor II for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection; Emergency Medical Technician-Basic from the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians and the Texas Department of State Health Services; Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Specialist II from the Texas Fire Marshal’s Office; Fire Officer IV from the Texas Fire Chief’s Association; Incident Safety Officer from the National Fire Academy; and Communications Unit Leader from the Department of Homeland Security.

Oak Hill bicyclists riding to downtown Austin may get a bridge to help reach their destination if the city and environmentalists can agree to an earth-friendly design.

Annick Beaudet with the city’s Neighborhood Connectivity Division told the Gazette that the need for such a bridge goes back to 1998, when the Texas Department of Transportation turned a northbound shoulder of Mopac into a turn lane for drivers going eastbound on Loop 360. “That essentially removed bike access from the bridge,” she said.

In recent years, the demand for a bicycle-safe route from Southwest Austin to Downtown has grown. “The city’s been trying to remedy that barrier,” said Beaudet. A $7 million grant from state and federal funds will cover 70 percent of the cost of a bicycle/pedestrian bridge, with the remainder to come from local bond funds.

Bicyclists will be able to use the bike lanes on Escarpment to William Cannon, where Beaudet hopes bike lanes will be built from U.S. 290 West to Southwest Parkway. Improved shoulders on Southwest Parkway will provide room for bicyclists, leading to the new bridge, grade separated all the way to Zilker Park and the trail system downtown, she said.

Local resident and bicyclist Tom Thayer calls the project “a fantastic idea.” He believes the proposed bridge will be good for the environment. He said, “Encouraging people to use bicycles and walking is definitely beneficial to the environment. I think this far outweighs the impact construction would have in such a sensitive environmental area. I think a bridge can be designed that has minimal impact on the creek and karst area below. This would be a much smaller impact than any expansion of the highway would have.”

Beaudet emphasizes that the driver of the project is the environment. She said the city has engaged several local environmental groups early on “to assure that the type of structure and how we do it is most environmentally sound and respects the creek in every way.”

Steve Beers of the Save Barton Creek Association told the Gazette, “My friends in the parks, cycling and environmental communities are all in favor of this Mopac bike bridge proposal. Myself, I question it.”

Beers is concerned that the bridge might syphon off funds that could be used for other projects. “I don’t question the functionality of this bridge, just the return for the money,” he said.

Beers said the bridge cannot be attached to the existing bridge. One technique for a freestanding bridge is to pour footings into the karst limestone below.

Local engineer Bruce Melton believes a different method would work better. He said, “There is no way in science that this bike bridge needs to be built any other way than with concrete construction above ground. No drilling into the aquifer needs to happen.”

Melton suggests a gravity (or massive) foundation: “a giant piece of concrete big enough to hold up a bike bridge, placed flat on top of the ground.” He said the city is evaluating the technique, but is fearful it will be rejected due to flood control concerns.

He explained, “One of my engineering specialties is flood modeling. The concerns of the city are erosion around the base of the massive concrete foundation. Standard armoring techniques used for generations can prevent erosion in this case.”

Melton added, “These ‘massive concrete foundations’ are not all that big when it comes to the real world, though. And when they are compared to the designs that the city is considering, they are much less environmentally damaging and will cost approximately the same.”

Beers would prefer a smaller bridge, although he acknowledges it would be more susceptible to flood damage and could be a more challenging ride for cyclists. But it could be less expensive with less disruptive construction.

Ultimately, said Beers, “I am all in favor of a better way for cyclists to cross Barton Creek, if the community wants this design. Some bridge is better than none.” He added, “I think if they do decide to go ahead with a more expensive valley-spanning design, then I hope they use the very most beautiful and graceful design they can, because this bridge would be highly visible to our entire community.”

That’s the plan, according to Beaudet. “It’s going to be amazing,” she says. She envisions the finished bridge being featured on the front cover of “Highway Today” magazine: “It will be the typical spaghetti bowl, but it will be a spaghetti bowl of a different sort – it’s all for bicycles and pedestrians.”

In the past six months, Austin and Oak Hill businesses have been victimized by copper thieves, who have stolen more than $10,000 in copper tubing from air conditioning systems. Police officials say many times the thieves brazenly park vans or pickups next to the businesses and, dressed like legitimate service people, use ladders to access rooftop a/c units.

Austin Police Detective Darryl Fulbright told the Gazette that the thefts are happening citywide, statewide and nationwide. Oak Hill area businesses have also been victimized. In the past ten days, thieves have targeted businesses at the Shops at Arbor Trails on William Cannon. Police could not give the Gazette specific information on the January 23 “Theft of Metal” police report attributed to Costco. A Costco representative told the Gazette that the theft was actually in the general shopping center. Another report dated January 28 was for the theft of ATM data wiring stolen prior to its installation in the Arbor Trails complex.

Det. Fulbright said no one appears exempt from such thefts: churches, schools, libraries, and homes have all been victimized. He pointed out that last June, the Ruiz Branch of the Austin Public Library was shut down for weeks after thieves removed the copper from the air conditioning system. Oak Hill residents whose homes were destroyed by wildfire last year were victimized again when copper thieves stole wiring that rightly belonged to the demolition companies.

“Sometimes they may get $30 when they sell copper tubing or wire,” said Det. Fulbright, “but it will cost the victim 10 to 15 times that in repair cost. It’s unfortunate, the inconvenience of dealing with the insurance company and getting repairs. Victims have said, ‘If they needed $30, they should have just come to the door and asked.’ ”

Speaking about the Oak Hill thefts, Det. Fulbright said, “We are actively pursuing them.” He said a colleague likened copper thieves to an ant hill. “You can step on one, but there are still a thousand of them around.”

Officials say public awareness and reporting is often the best defense against such thefts. Men that show up under the guise of a/c maintenance should be asked for ID. Anyone seeing vehicles parked near businesses or empty homes (those for sale or lease) during unusual hours should call 911 with the license plate number so police can investigate.

Anyone with information about these incidents can call the Austin Police Department burglary unit at (512) 974-6941.

Please notify your local fire department before conducting any outdoor burning activity. If you need to the phone number for your local fire department, contact the Travis County Fire Marshal’s Office at 512-854-4621.

Outdoor burning must be conducted under state regulations found in Texas Administrative Code

Section 30 TAC 111.219 or summarized on the Travis County Fire Marshal’s website at http://co.travis.tx.us/fire_marshal.

The Canine Center for Training and Behavior (CCTB) held its second annual Open House at its Old Bee Caves Road facility on Saturday, February 4, from 1 to 6 p.m. to introduce dog owners to the facility and its variety of classes and seminars.

The Center is known for the help it provides owners of troubled dogs, but the Center has classes that can benefit all manner of dog and owner. The founding principle of CCTB is: ‘You own a dog to make your life richer, more rewarding and more fun.’ The staff at CCTB has more than 30 years of experience in working with puppies, working with abandoned, rescued, neglected and abused dogs, and working with all dogs in between.

Classes are held both during the week and on weekends and include Agility, Night Search Air Scenting, Yoga with Your Dog, Fieldwork, Proper Play and Fetch Skills, Basic Training, Tracking and Confidence Building for Reactive and Fearful Dogs.  Seasonal offerings include Kayaking with your dog and the upcoming Skijor week in Colorado from February 29 to March 4.

The trainers use a three-step approach:

• Invest in the relationship with your dog by developing communication techniques and fun ways to gain basic good manners and social skills.
• Keep your canine relationship interesting by incorporating your dog into your life with hiking, yoga, agility training and kayaking.
• Push the envelope by challenging yourself with the Canine Adventure series that allow people to vacation with their dog.

The training team includes Shari Elkins, Jane Del Re, Paul Mann, Jyl Hershman-Ross, Jess Forte, Jessica Jourdan, Richard Taglienti and Lynne Perry.

Del Re told the Gazette, “We want to introduce people to our idea of life with their dog. We want people to have a dog they want to take everywhere, including on vacation. We will show them how it is possible, and how working with your dog is fun and rewarding. Everyone can have that if they go down the path with us to canine adventures.”

Del Re said of the Open House, “Families with their reasonably well-behaved dogs are welcome.” She stressed that dogs should not wear pinch or choke collars, and said non-flexi leashes are preferred.

Elkins, the director of training programs, evaluated a senior rescue dog adopted by Gazette reporter Ann Fowler. The 9-year-old dog had been neglected and abused. She was plucked off the city’s euthanasia list by Austin Pets Alive. “Xena” was apprehensive of other dogs, but during the evaluation last April Elkins noted that she had the right communication skills to signal whether she wanted dogs to approach. The problem was not with Xena, but with the owners who let their dogs approach without approval.

During subsequent Confidence Building classes, a trainer noted that Xena did not react when she heard her name — although she reacted positively to the term “good girl.” Unsure if her name was used negatively in her previous home, Fowler changed the name to GiGi – short for Good Girl.

Fowler said, “GiGi had so many fears when we adopted her a year ago. It was a relief to get Shari’s advice on how to work with her to build her confidence.” Fowler has also taken GiGi on several of the CCTB local hikes to enforce the dog’s confidence that she can walk by dogs without fear of attack.

The Open House will benefit Austin Pets Alive.  For more information and a full listing of classes, see www.morefunthandirt.com.