Category Archives: Westminster Glen

Leander ISD board candidates participate in second forum

Ten candidates are running for four positions on the Leander ISD Board of Trustees. Nine of the candidates took part in the second forum on Oct. 15 hosted by the Leander ISD PTA Council. Each candidate answered a variety of questions at the event held at Austin Community College’s Cypress Creek campus. LYNETTE HAALAND

By KAYLA BOUCHARD, Hill Country News

Nine of the ten Leander ISD school board candidates came together at the second forum hosted by the Leander ISD PTA Council on Oct. 15 at Austin Community College’s Cypress Creek campus. They answered questions that were submitted ranging from school safety and mental health support to zoning, debt and special education. Early voting started on Monday.

Board of Trustees incumbent Trish Bode and challengers Bryan Patton and Melissa Glaze are running for Place 1. Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia, Gary Hampton — who did not attend the forum — and Sharyn LaCombe are running for Place 2. Incumbent Aaron Johnson and challenger Mike Fischer are running for Place 6, and Elexis Grimes and Donnie Mahan are running for Place 7.

Starting off the forum, Bode, Patton and Glaze were asked what they see as the district’s role in providing mental health, behavioral and wellbeing instruction while still maintaining excellence in academics.

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Steiner’s new Sierra Vista landscaping raises questions

By LYNETTE HAALAND , Four Points News

In May, the Steiner Ranch Master Association board voted to add some $30,000 worth of landscaping on Quinlan Park Road along Sierra Vista near River Ridge Elementary. But this has raised questions among some Steiner residents because it uses general funds rather than funds from Sierra Vista. Longtime homeowner Jannine Farnum spoke up at the most recent HOA meeting about it and came to the meeting armed with the results of an unofficial survey she conducted.

Farnum launched the independent survey in late September on a public Facebook post and in an email blast for “information gathering purposes only”. Results showed that most of the 100 individuals who took the survey were against SRMA paying for the new landscaping. A large majority also said that this sets a precedent for future such requests.  

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Lake Travis rises to historic levels, causes flooding Volente hit hard, Lake Austin homeowners watchful

The water flowing over the Low Water Crossing Road bridge appears more like a blustery sea than a quiet arm of the Colorado River Oct. 18. LESLEE BASSMAN

By LESLEE BASSMAN, Four Points News

Heavy rains last week produced flooding which affected businesses and homes on both Lake Travis and Lake Austin.

Shack 512

Waterfront restaurant Shack 512, 8714 Lime Creek Rd., was underwater up to its roofline. It is co-owned by Four Points residents Ashley and Ross Goolsby, along with General Manager Jon Silva, who was at the eatery Thursday, Oct. 18 trying to salvage furniture.

Silva said the water level at the restaurant rose about 12 feet during the last six weeks. He said when he awoke on Oct. 16, the water had risen four-and-a-half feet overnight. That’s when he started moving out equipment and furniture from the building to higher ground, renting a U-Haul truck to hold and then transport the materials to a storage facility. Two days later, only the restaurant’s roofline was visible out of the water.

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Driver arrested, student rescued after LISD bus swept away by flooded Brushy Creek

A Leander ISD bus driver and a Stiles Middle School student were rescued from a flooded school bus after the driver went around a barricade on Oct. 16. The driver was later arrested and the student was treated by first responders and released to parents. KAYLA BOUCHARD

By KAYLA BOUCHARD, Hill Country News

One student was saved from a flooded Leander ISD bus on route to Stiles Middle School on Oct. 16 after a bus driver attempted to drive over a low-water crossing on County Road 177, heading east from Ronald Reagan Boulevard toward County Road 175.

Ashley Ringstaff, the student’s mother said that her child called her as the bus was swept down Brushy Creek from the flooded roadway.

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Four Points businesses, schools, homes affected by day three of water boil mandate

Image result for austin water logoAustin is now in its third day of the boil water notice, and today a state-mandated boil notice was issued as flood silt stalls water treatment.

This affects homes, schools and businesses in River Place, Westminster, Glenlake, Grandview Hills, Colina Vista, The Preserve, and surrounding areas including the Trails at 620. Eateries and coffee shops are among the local businesses affected by the boil water mandate.

The notice does not affect Steiner Ranch, Comanche Trail, Strawberry Hill and areas that receive water from the Travis County Water Control and Improvement District 17. Continue reading →