Five Vandegrift choir students advance to the state level competition — including the first Viper freshman All-Stater — after the Area Choir Auditions on Jan. 11 at Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio.
The John Philip Sousa Foundation awarded the Vandegrift band and Vision Dance Company the 2019 Sudler Shield. The award recognizes high school marching bands that meet the foundation’s international standards of excellence.
“It was a shock,” snare captain Israel Ramirez said. “It’s really difficult what the directors asked of us, and people who have four years of experience doing what we did, people who had two months of experience all worked toward the same goal. The fact that we could get rewarded was really important to me.”
The $75 million RM 620 South widening project is scheduled to break ground in late 2022.
The Texas Department of Transportation hosted a public hearing on Feb. 20 to share the proposed improvements to RM 620 South, from SH 71 to Hudson Bend Road, not far from Mansfield Dam.
“Total price tag is estimated to be $75 million from SH 71 to Hudson Bend Road,” said Brad Wheelis, TxDOT public information officer. “It will cost $60 million from SH 71 to Oak Grove Boulevard. That section is expected to start construction in late 2022.”
The Travis County Sheriff’s Office Lake Patrol found a body on the shoreline of Lake Travis just after 7 a.m. on Feb. 21 and later confirmed it was the body of Brenden “Chameleon” Foster.
Foster’s body was found in the vicinity of Hippie Hollow, where the abandoned vehicle and his belongings were discovered 16 days earlier on Feb. 5.
Nancy Eisemann Blackburn’s body was discovered in a submerged vehicle in Lake Austin at the end of Quinlan Park Road just over a year ago on Feb. 2, 2019, and Austin Police Department stated that her blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit.