Category Archives: Volente

Hand to Hold’s impact on one local family

Jocelyn and Bradley Brandt with their daughter Jessica, born in July, and their son Jason,
who was less than two pounds when he was born and spent the first 111 days of his life in
the hospital as a premature infant.

4th annual Hand to Hold fundraising baby shower Fri.

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Jocelyn and Bradley Brandt are helping organize the Hand to Hold’s 4th annual Baby Shower event on Friday because it is the organization that helped them in their family’s time of need.

The Brandt’s son Jason was born on March 15, 2015, at 26 weeks and 1 day, weighing just 1 lb 10 oz. The Brandts visited the neonatal intensive care unit  twice a day for 111 days at St. David’s HealthCare while their baby was hooded up to ventilators and more for the breathing challenges he faced. When baby Jason got to go to his home in Steiner Ranch, he continued to struggle with feeding issues; feeding therapy was needed to strengthen his oral muscles. Continue reading →

$18 million RM 620/RM 2222 bypass project is fully funded Community urged to attend public hearing Thurs. Oct. 26

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

After five years in the making, the $18 million RM 620 and RM 2222 bypass road project is officially funded: $10.5 million from Texas Department of Transportation and $7.5 million from the city of Austin, according to TxDOT.

“We’ve been pushing for a solution since 2012. The good news is that the funding is officially approved at the state level for this project,” said Brian Thompto, Steiner Ranch Neighborhood Association chairman and resident advocate for the bypass project since day one.

The RM 2222 and RM 620/Bullick Hollow Road intersection experiences significant congestion. TxDOT has done the research and concludes that adding travel capacity in the form of a new bypass road along with road improvements will improve mobility. Projections show that travel times could be reduced by about 60 percent, and help maintain safe access to and from Vandegrift High School and Four Points Middle School.

On Thursday, Oct. 26, TxDOT is conducting a public hearing at Vandegrift to present the project information and gather public input on proposed improvements to RM 2222 and RM 620. Continue reading →

Appalachian Trail hiker shares “happy trails” experience

New Jersey has the lowest elevation profile of any state along the AT. Still the views span for miles and reveal a greener New Jersey than most are familiar with.

By SARAH DOOLITTLE
Four Points News

There were so many reasons to worry as I embarked on my second Appalachian Trail section hike in June. Not for any of the reasons other people worry about when I go on the trail alone — not because of bears, or murderous convicts, or rattlesnakes around every bend — but because of the fact that I would hike 74 miles (the width of New Jersey) in five days and had not trained.

Last time I hiked the AT, when I covered 150 miles in 9 days, I trained for two months in advance, hitting the trails in Steiner Ranch and beyond at least three days a week, two hours a day, with a weighted pack and poles. By the time I got on the actual trail, my body knew exactly what to do, and I covered miles and climbed peaks with relative ease.

This year, as I walked away from my sketchy motel in Delaware Water Gap, Pa. at 9 a.m., my body felt like I was taking it out for a test drive. The morning air was typical to a trail town (what hikers call the many towns, mostly small, that are on or near the AT): green, humid and smelling of diesel and diner breakfasts.

Continue reading →

River Place author pens newest nonfiction book

By SARAH DOOLITTLE
Four Points News

Stephen G. Yanoff — the author and world traveler who lives in River Place with his wife Patty — released his newest work in April, “Turbulent Times: The Remarkable Life of William Henry Seward”.

Last year he also published “Run for the Money,” the seventh installment in his ongoing detective series features insurance investigator Adam Gold, inspired by Yanoff’s real-life 20-year career in New York investigating high-ticket insurance claims. And now that “Turbulent Times” is out, Yanoff is already at work on his next two books.

It’s not surprising considering that Yanoff’s second career as a writer is about more than just telling great stories. “For me personally, this is still a hobby even though it’s going quite well. I like meeting people and going around the country,” said Yanoff.

As with his other books in the Adam Gold series, “Run for the Money” centers around an actual claim Yanoff investigated during his career, in this case one in which a wealthy racehorse owner paid to have one of her horses killed in order to collect the insurance money.

River Place author Stephen G. Yanoff released his latest book in April called “Turbulent Times: The Remarkable Life of William Henry Seward”. Already the book was chosen as a finalist in the U.S. History Category of the 2017 International Book Awards.

Continue reading →

Holocaust survivor inspires local students

Dr. Edith Eva Eger survived the Holocaust and shared her story with 8th graders at Canyon Ridge Middle School in May. Principal Susan Sullivan and the students showed their appreciation of her presentation.

“The visit that changed lives”

By QUIN COLLINS, DAVIS FISHER, MICHAEL MASTRODICASA, DEVAN PATEL

Dr. Edith Eva Eger shared with Canyon Ridge Middle School 8th graders details about the 72nd anniversary of her liberation as a Holocaust survivor.

Eger’s inspiring story was one of overcoming difficulty with positivity, she explained on May 4 to a packed room of students. She was taken to Auschwitz when she was 17-years-old, and she watched as her family was taken away from her. Later, she endured a death march and worked in a labor camp. Eger was forced to dance for Nazi leaders, and she now believes that dance saved her life. She has overcome hardships that no one can begin to imagine.

Continue reading →