Category Archives: Lake Travis

VHS Art Club gets commissioned for Earth Day sculpture

Vandegrift sophomores Emily Huang and Nidhi Katta building their commissioned piece called “Ariel”. THAO ROTH

By CODI FARMER, Vandegrift Voice

Vandegrift sophomores Emily Huang and Nidhi Katta started celebrating Earth Day early this year. The VHS Art Club they lead received a check from the Leander Parks and Recreation board for a sculpture of wings entitled “Ariel”. The piece was made entirely out of recycled materials and was submitted for an Earth Day sculpture competition last year. Not only did the club win first place for their category, but it also got commissioned to create a more durable version of the wings to be placed in the new Leander park being designed called Lakewood Park.

“Originally, we made it out of cans and cardboard and the cans were cut into feathers,” Huang said. “We ended up winning first place in the wall hanging category of the competition and we were paid extra money to make another set that would be more durable so it could be put outside.”

The Leander Public Arts Commission had been searching for sculptures for the park and after not getting many responses from area artists, the commission decided to go searching in school competitions.

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Family, rescuer coping after shooting in Steiner

Ryan Wells is credited as a hero for his act of bravery in subduing Britt Howe until police arrived after Howe shot his gun during an aggravated assault and kidnapping case at the Meritage at Steiner Ranch apartments on Sunday. “I only did what I’ve always been taught,” Wells said. “Protect the ones you care about, especially if they can’t protect themselves.”

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The victims are still shaken as the investigation continues on Britt Howe, who remains in custody, charged with aggravated kidnapping and assault, after he drove his mother at gunpoint to his ex-wife’s apartment in Steiner Ranch before firing shots into the apartment on Sunday.

“They are slowly coping. They are very upset and very scared of every little bump,” said Ryan Wells, the family friend who rescued the family and subdued Howe until police arrived at the scene.

Wells said that it is not helping that Meritage at Steiner Ranch has yet to come and fix the door that was bashed in.

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Travis County engineers prefer route F as permanent new road for Steiner

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

This near one-mile, $7.2 million road would connect Steiner Ranch’s Flat Top Ranch Road with RM 620. It is called route F and it is the preferred choice of Travis County engineers. Source: Travis County

The Travis County Transportation & Natural Resources department has a preference to move forward with route F as a new permanent road for Steiner Ranch. The near one-mile, $7.2 million road would cut through the greenbelt to connect Flat Top Ranch Road with RM 620, intersecting RM 620 close to Mansfield Dam.

“TNR has a preference and route F is the preference,” said Kathy Hardin, an engineer with Travis County Transportation & Natural Resources Capital Improvement Projects. “This is the route of least resistance.”

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Steiner parents ask for compassion of grown son with mental illness

By SARAH DOOLITTLE

Four Points News

Source: National Alliance on Mental Illness

Mary and Adam are the parents of a daughter and son, both adults. Their daughter works in education and looks forward to getting married and raising a family. Their son Paul, however, suffers from mental illness, which includes delusional and erratic behavior. For Paul, who is currently not taking medications, this means he is unable to keep a job, date or enjoy a life considered “normal” by most. As best his parents can tell, Paul is currently homeless and living in his car in and around Steiner Ranch.

Background

Paul grew up in a loving and stable home. His parents, both working professionals, raised their children in a steady faith tradition, something that became an important part of Paul’s life. Not only was he active in Future Farmers of America and Boy Scouts of America, earning his Eagle Scout, he was also a Eucharist minister and usher/hospitality minister at his church and became a 4th degree Knight of Columbus. He played sports and joined the Junior ROTC. “He’s very, very, very wholesome,” said his mom.

He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) at age six and was prescribed an increasing number of medications, but eventually was taken off the meds when they caused an adverse reaction. By middle school he was on a total of 14, which left him feeling sluggish and sleepy. “We even said to the doctors, can we take him off of everything and just see who he is and start all over?” Mary remembered asking.

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