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TPATPATPATPATPATEXASPUBLISHERSASSOCIATION

Presorted StandardU.S. Postage Paid

Austin, TexasPermit No. 01949

INSIDEVol. 41 No.51 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: vil3202@aol.com May 9, 2014

RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’Tommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy Wyatt

TheAustinVillager.comTheAustinVillager.com

Health InsuranceMarketplace Enrollment

Totals Over 8 MillionEnrollment in the Health Insurance Market-

place surged to eight million at the end of the firstenrollment period, HHS Secretary KathleenSebelius announced today. The final enrollmentreporting period spans from October 1, 2013, toMarch 31, 2014, and includes “in line” and otherenrollment activity (such as people enrolling dueto a change in life circumstance) reported throughSaturday, April 19, 2014.

Importantly, 2.2 million (28 percent) of thosewho selected a Marketplace plan were youngadults ages 18 to 34 — a number that grows to 2.7million when counting ages 0 to 34, the reportfound. The report also shows, for the first time,

See TEXAS EYES 149% GROWTH, page 2

SWAMP RUNNERS - Nate (Tishuan Scott) andWill (Ashton Sanders) in a scene from Chris Eska'sTHE RETRIEVAL. Photo credit Naomi Richard

THE RETRIEVALBy Naomi Richard

SYNOPSIS - 1864: as war ravages the nation,on the outskirts of the Civil War business as usualcontinues for slave-owners and traders. The Re-trieval follows Will, a fatherless 13 year-old boy,who survives by working with a white bountyhunter gang who sends him to earn the trust ofrunaway slaves and wanted freedmen in order tolure them back to the South.

On a dangerous mission into the free Northto find Nate, a fugitive freedman, things go wrong,and Will and Nate find themselves alone and onthe run. A thrilling movie, but grounded in his-torical research, The Retrieval serves as an insightinto the little-told story of the grey area betweenslavery and emancipation.

Review The Retrieval is locally produced and

See SXSW AWARD WINNER, page 3

From Detroit to LA,NAACP Prez Has History

of ‘Selling Out’

Leon Jenkins (Courtesy Photo The Los Angeles Sentinel)

By Zenobia JeffriesSpecial to the NNPA from The Michigan Citizen

Leon Jenkins, the Los Angeles branch NAACPpresident who awarded LA Clippers basketballteam owner Donald Sterling with a LifetimeAchievement award among other commendations,lived, worked and won notoriety in Detroit.

Jenkins was a 36th District Court judge be-tween 1984 and 1987. During that time, he wascaught lying about his residency to get lower autoinsurance rates, fixed tickets and accepted otherbribes, according to the California Bar Journal. Hewas also observed on FBI surveillance takingmoney.

See JENKINS’ CRITICISMS, page 5

Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy

RancherCliven

Bundy and‘The Negro’

by Lee A. DanielsNNPA Columnist

As is typical ofblowhards, ClivenBundy, the conservativemovement’s most re-cently defrocked hero/criminal, opened hismouth once too often. Indoing so, the Nevadarancher revealed whohe really is behind allthe Stars-and-Stripesflag-waving and man-of-the-West rhetoric.The man who hasgrazed his cattle on fed-eral land for more thantwo decades but has re-fused to pay the mini-mal grazing fees thegovernment charges allranchers (Bundy nowowes about $1 million)

is an arch-racist as wellas a chiseler.

On Saturday, April19, Bundy, speaking toa small group of hissupporters – and, fortu-nately for the rest of us,a New York Times re-porter and photogra-pher – went off-messageto hold forth on a num-ber of topics, includingrace.

According to theTimes, Bundy said: “Iwant to tell you onemore thing I knowabout the Negro,” as herecalled driving past a

SeeBLACK FRONT-MEN,

page 7

Austin partners seekresident bids for land

improvements.See CITYPage 5

Inadequateemergency readinesscauses fiasco in TX.

See FIREPage 6

Leon Jenkinsis Out! L.A.

NAACP ChiefResigns Over

Sterling AwardScandal

Overraction orNot a Moment

too Soon?

Give Us YOURThoughts on

The BreakfastClub at

KAZI 88.7 FMFriday

MorningsFrom 8-9 AM!

Travis Co. receives a$50,000 community

restoration grant.See LOVEBack Page

What WouldYou Do?

If you were oneof the high paid, highprofile players for theLos Angeles Clippersbasketball team of theNational Basketball As-sociation (NBA) andyour boss and owner ofthe team made racist re-marks that made inter-national news? Also,you are in the middle ofone of the biggest eventsof the season, the play-offs. What would youdo?

Many are sayingthat the team shouldhave refused to playany other games untilthe owner was dealtwith by the NBA lead-ership. Some went sofar as to suggest that allof the teams in the play-offs should refuse toplay until this matter issolved. I don’t think so!!

The people whocould make the greatesteffect on the situationwould be the fans. If thefans would have stageda boycott of the gamesand refused to attenduntil the situation wascleared up, that wouldhave made the greatestimpression on the lead-ership of the NBA. In aleague where 90% of theplayers are AfricanAmerican and most ofthe rest are foreign play-ers that would havebeen the greatest pro-test.

But, if you hadpurchased a ticket toone of the games, wouldyou have protested bynot going to the game?Would you have tornup that very expensiveticket and threw it in thestreet in protest? I don’tthink so!! Why? Becausemost people do notwant to give up any-thing for the advance-ment of the cause, butwe think that our ath-letes should give upeverything in protest.

We want them toput their jobs and careersin danger to protest rac-ism in the community,while we are not willingto give up anything ex-cept lip service.

Page 2 ~ May 9, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

THE COMMUNIQUÉ

Career Expo 2014“Your Journey to Success Starts here”

May 20Noon to 4:30 p.m.

Palmer Events Center 900 Barton Springs Road · Free and open to the public,

no registration required · More than 100 employers participating · Spanish language interpreters, sign

language interpreters, and sighted guideswill be available

· Snacks and refreshments will beavailable for purchase

· Free parking in the Palmer Events GarageMore information at www.austintexas.gov/

Texas Lottery

the race andethnicity of the 69 per-cent of enrollees in theFederally-facilitatedMarketplaces who vol-untarily reported thisinformation.

HHS also an-nounced today thatmore than 4.8 millionadditional individualsenrolled in Medicaidand CHIP through theend of March 2014, com-pared to enrollment be-fore the Marketplaceopened last October.

”More than eightmillion Americanssigned up through theMarketplace, exceedingexpectations and dem-onstrating brisk de-mand for quality, af-fordable coverage,” saidHHS Secretary KathleenSebelius. “In addition,over 4.8 million morepeople have been cov-ered by states throughMedicaid and CHIPprograms, around 3 mil-lion more Americansunder 26 are coveredunder their parents’plans, and recent esti-mates show that an ad-ditional 5 millionpeople have purchased

ENROLLMENTDOUBLED SINCE

MARCH 1ST: TEXASEYES 149% GROWTH

continued from page 1

coverage outside of theMarketplace in Afford-able Care Act-compliantplans. Together we areensuring that health cov-erage is more accessiblethan ever before, whichis important for fami-lies, for businesses andfor the nation’s healthand wellbeing.”

Today’s report alsodetails state-by-state in-formation where avail-able. In more than adozen states, enrollmenthas doubled sinceMarch 1. For example,Texas (149 percentgrowth), Georgia (127percent growth), andFlorida (123 percentgrowth) had some of thelargest surges in enroll-ment in the countryover the final weeks ofthe initial open enroll-ment period.

Key findings fromtoday’s report include:8,019,763 people se-lected Marketplaceplans from October 1,2013, through March 31,2014, (including addi-tional Special Enroll-ment Period activitythrough April 19th).Nearly 2.6 million

signed up in the StateBased Marketplacesand over 5.4 million inthe Federally-facilitatedMarketplace. About 3.8million people, includ-ing nearly 1.2 millionyoung adults (ages 18 –34), enrolled in theHealth Insurance Mar-ketplace plans in thesixth and final reportingperiod, which beganMarch 2 and concludedon April 19. Those 3.8million individuals rep-resent nearly 90 percentgrowth over February’scumulative enrollment.Of the more than 8 mil-lion: 54 percent are fe-male and 46 percent aremale; 34 percent are un-der age 35; 28 percentare between the ages of18 and 34; 65 percent se-lected a Silver plan,while 20 percent se-lected a Bronze plan;and, 85 percent selecteda plan with financial as-sistance.

Today’s report

measures enrollment asthose who selected aplan.

The federal Market-place also reported, forthe first time this month,the race/ethnicity of itsenrollees. The applica-tion for coveragethrough the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces(FFM) contains ques-tions on race and onethnicity, both markedas optional. Thirty-onepercent of enrollees didnot report their race orethnicity or chose“other.” However, ofthose enrollees who re-ported race andethnicity: 62.9 percent ofthose reporting arewhite; 16.7 percent areAfrican American; 10.7percent are Latino; 7.9percent are Asian; 1.3percent are multiracial;0.3 percent are AmericanIndian/Alaska Native;and, 0.1 percent are Na-tive Hawaiian/PacificIslander.

Friends,I am humbled and

excited to share that af-ter much encourage-ment from friends,neighbors, and commu-nity leaders, I am run-ning to be a voice forthe people of SouthAustin. I bring uniquequalifications to repre-sent our district at thecity council.

A neighbor ofSouth Austin for over20 years and formerState Representative, Ihave fought for strongerenvironmental rules, amore affordable Austin,protection of children,women’s health,

strengthening our pub-lic schools and protect-ing our neighborhoods.

I hope you will joinme over the comingmonths as I talk withSouth Austin neighborsabout the challengesour city faces and thesolutions needed.

Sincerely, Ann

Ann Kitchenfor City Council

District 5

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/May 9, 2014 ~ Page 3

CHURCH & TOWN BULLETIN

Ebenezer Baptist Church1010 East 10th Street 512-478-1875 Fax 512-478-1892

Sunday Services Worship Service 8:00 A.M. Sunday School 9:00 A.M. Discipleship Training 10:00 A.M. Worship Service 11:00 A.M.

WednesdayMidweek Prayer Service 7:00 P.M.Child Development CenterAges 0-5 years (Daily) 512-478-6709

Bus Ministry Call 512-478-1875

Dr. Ricky Freeman, Pastor

St. Peter’s United Methodist Church 4509 Springdale Road Austin, Tx 78723

Office 512- 926-1686 Fax 512-929-7281Christian Web Site-

stpetersaustintx.ning.comstpetersaustintx@att.net

THE PLACE WHERE WE STEP OUT ON FAITH.COME AND STEP OUT ON FAITH WITH US

Sunday School 8:45 a.m. Praise and Worship 10:15 a.m.Wednesday Bible Study 12:00 p.m.

and Praise /Bible Study 6:30 p.m.(to include Children’s Choir Rehersaland

Bible Study with age appropiate Activities)

Rev. Jack C. Gause Pastor

Agape Baptist ChurchIn “The Centre” Bldg. F-15 7801 N. Lamar Blvd. (SE Corner of N Lamar and 183)

AGAPE is a chuch for all people. “Where Jesus Christ is Magnified and the love Heexhibited is Exemplified.” Come, receive God’s unconditional lovefor you.

For there is no greater love!

Church ServicesSunday School 9:30 AMSunday Worship 11:00 AM

Mid-Week Service Thursday: Praise,Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 PMCall 454-1547 for Transporation

Website www.agapebcaustintx.orgRev. H. Ed Calahan

Pastor

Imani Community ChurchDavis Elementray Auditorium 5214 West Duval Road

Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Worship Service 10:00 A.M.•Power Hour Bible Life Group 6:00 P.M.

Imani Complex & Office,11800 Mustang at Duval Austin, Texas 78727

Visit:imanichurch.comOffice: 512-343-9300Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Donald-Mims

7801 N. Lamar Blvd,Suite D 102,

Austin, Texas 78752

Worship: Sunday--10:00 am - 12:30 pm

Tuesday Bible Studies--7:30pm - 9:00 pmFriday Prayers--7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

The Church of Pentecost, USA Inc,Austin offers a wide variety of opportuni-ties for children, youth, adults, and olderadults to be involved in worship, spiritualgrowth, education, community outreach,and making a tangible difference to thosein need in our community. You too, canmake a positive difference in our commu-nity through your prayers, your presence,your gifts, your service, and your witness.Tel: 512 302-1270

Leading People to Experience God’s Love, Know Jesus Christ & Grow in His Image

The Church of Pentecost

Olive Branch Fellowship of Austin / All Faith Chapel4110 Guadalupe St Bldg #639 Austin, TX 78751

Sunday MorningWorship @ 11: am

Romans 5:1 Therefore,having beenjustified by faith, we have peace

with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

This life, therefore, is not righteous-ness, but growth in righteousness; not health,but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest,but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be,but we are growing toward it. The process isnot yet finished, but it is going on. This is notthe end, but it is the road. All does not yetgleam in glory, but all is being purified.

--- Martin Luther

Kenneth Hill, Pastor

DOUBLE

GROCERY“R”

450l East Martin Luther King Blvd.

*We cash ALL Tax Refund*Checks *Check Out

1179 San Bernard Street,Austin, TX 78702, 512-478-7023

Sunday Morning Bible Study, 9:00 A.M.Sunday Morning Worship, 10:15 A.M.

Visit our website @ www.obcaus.org

Globalizing the Gospel

A Ministry That Ministers

Edward M. Fleming,Sr. Pastor

OLIVET BAPTISTCHURCH

The bills don’t stop whenyou’re sick or hurt and

have no income

INSURANCE THAT IS!

Richard Glasco, Agent11824 Jollyville Rd

Suite 300Austin, TX 78759-2300

(512) 250-5533

Ask me about DisabilityIncome Insurance the

State Farm Way.

HEALTH?HOW’S YOUR

Call for details on coverage, cost, restrictions and renewability

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

*Home Office: Bloomington, Illinois

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

SpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsLaLaLaLaLawwwww

Felix Bamirin, Pastor

GRACEWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCHExperience Grace For Life

(By Parmer Lane Baptist Church building, behind Wells Fargo)

Call: 682.472.9073 l Email: gracewayaustin@aol.com lVisit: www.gracewaycca.org

JOIN US This SUNDAY / THURSDAY@ 12424 Scofield Farms Drive, Austin, TX 78758

SUNDAYS 10:30 A.M., THURSDAYS 7:30 P.M.

Wes SpearsAttorney Personal Injury,

Criminal andFamily Law

512-696-2222512-687-3499

401 Congress AvenueAustin, Texas, 78701

Suite 1540

*Austin and Kileen | *Principal Office

30 Years Experience

SpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsLaLaLaLaLawwwww

Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church 5900 Cameron Road Austin, Texas 78723-1843

(512) 451-0808 (512) 302-4575 Fax Web Site - www.themount.net

WORSHIP SERVICESSunday Worship - 7:45 a.m. & 11 a.m.Church School - 9:45 a.m.Bible Studies - Mon, 6:30 p.m. & Wed., 12 noonWednesday Night Worship - 7 p.m.

“Ministries For Mankind” Luke 4:18

A.W.. Anthony Mays, Senior Pastor

Damon LuckettSales Consultant

Capitol Chevrolet6200 I-35 SouthP.O. Box 1988

Austin, TX 78767

(512) 444-8888Cell (512) 809-5805

CHEVROLET

www.spearslaw.cowesleys637@yahoo.com

www.richardglasco.com

Serving East Austincell: 512-517-7180/fax: 512-349-9634

email: reneejacobs@KW.comweb: www.reneejacobs.KWRealty.com

12515-8 Research BlvdAustin, Texas 78759

“Each Office is Indepently Owned”

RealtorRealtorRealtorRealtorRealtorRenee JacobsRenee JacobsRenee JacobsRenee JacobsRenee Jacobs

directed using top-of-the line cinematogra-phy. It has won severalfilm festival awards in-cluding “Special JuryPrize for Acting” atSouth-By-Southwest.Set in East Texas, thescenery is superb andreminiscent of the 1800’slandscape. Beautifultrees, lakes, hillsides andthe forest-like environ-ment provide the perfectsetting for this film.

Lead actors AshtonSanders, Tishuan Scott,Keston John, Bill OberstJr., Christine Horn,Alfonso Freeman andRaven Ledeatte reallybring the story to life.The bond that developsbetween Will (AshtonSanders ) and Nate(Tishuan Scott), softened

THERETRIEVALWON “SPECIALJURY PRIZEFOR ACTING”AWARD ATSOUTH-BY-SOUTHWESTcontinued from page 1

the brutal aspect of theCivil War tragedies.Their journey together,the protection they pro-vided to each other andthe genuine concernsexpressed for their re-spective past and fu-tures were refreshing tosee.

The Retrieval dem-onstrates a truth. That

is, in every point of his-tory, no matter howoverwhelming the evilmay have seemed, therewas always a light, asense of hope and an an-ticipation for a brightertomorrow.

The movie is RatedR and may be seen inthe Austin area at theRegal Arbor 8 Theater.

Kirstie & KristieBronner Launch theNext Phase of theirExceptional Career

Atlanta, GA - Kirstie and Kristie Bronner, bestknown as the “Bronner twins” who graduated asdouble valedictorians from Spelman College in2013 making national news headlines, havelaunched the next phase of their budding, extraor-dinary career. Kirstie and Kristie have combinedtheir talents to write a book – “Double Vals: TheKeys to Success in College and Life Beyond,” re-cently published and celebrated at a Book LaunchParty held at the Riverside EpiCenter in Austell,GA.

Serving as youth pastors at Word of FaithFamily Worship Cathedral (Austell, GA), Versedwith the legacy of the Bronner family, and withGod in their lives, they are already a force in the21st century.

They lead the Faith Family Worship Cathe-dral [WOF] Ignite Youth Ministry, which is de-signed to help young people grow by providingan environment of accountability, counsel, andfriendship.

In May of 1928, the weather in Austin was thetypical 4 degree days loaded with sunshine. Aus-tin Texas was growing and had then passed theCity Plan for 1928. The City Plan of 1928 had pro-visions to create a “Negro District, east of EastAvenue (IH-35). Prior to then, African Americancommunities were spread broadly across Austin.Coinciding with the City Plan of 1928, a group ofbaptized believers with membership with the FirstBaptist Church met had a meeting on May 4, 1928at the Mosby-Lott Building located at 607 SanJacinto (currently a commercial building is therehosting several small business).

A week later, John W. Whitley offered thename and the new congregation approved thename, Olivet Baptist Church along with its firstPastor Reverend Joseph H. Harrington on May 12,1928. Now, Pastor Edward M. Fleming, Sr., servesas the 7th Pastor of the Olivet Baptist Church.

On Sunday May 18, 2014, Pastor EdwardFleming, Sr. and the Olivet Baptist Church familyinvites the community, to both the 10:15 a.m. and3:30 p.m. services will be held to glorify God forHis support of the Olivet Baptist Church for 86years a testimony of “The Church-Gods Unstop-pable Force”. Special guests at 3:30 p.m. includePastor Richard Carter and the Mt. Olive BaptistChurch family. Come celebrate the life, the historythe legacies and Gods prominence at the OlivetBaptist Church.

OBC Celebrates 86th Anniversary“The Church-Gods Unstoppable Force”

YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today

Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry

Page 4 ~ May 9, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

School is winding downand summer is coming really

Summer is Coming Fast

Aubri Allen-BrentDel Valle High School

fast, I’m still trying to lock downa good summer job. Havingyour own money is great. I wastold to enjoy it now because ina few years everythingchanges. When the summertime comes and you don’thave a job you are unem-ployed. During the summer Igo to at least 2 or 3 family re-unions, the one in Dallas is abig one. I can’t wait till sum-mer. Until next time GOOOOCARDS !!!

Genesis StiggersElgin Elementary

Knowledge

School teaches youlots of things. Long division,multiplication, decimals, etc.

but sometimes you learn stuffon your own, without anyhelp at all. No matter whatyou learn it is always con-nected to one thing, yourbrain. Knowledge stays withyou forever so even if itseems redundant, it can carryyou a long way. It also showshow people think of you. Thatis why knowledge is so im-portant. Without it you can’taccomplish your goals anddreams. So never stoplearning. Because life neverstops teaching. And it wantsyou to share it.

Montrae NelsonRiverplace Elementary

Field Trip

Hello everyone! Thisweek was my field trip to theInner Space Caverns, Thenearest cave. When I went tomy classroom, one of theparent chaperones tookeveryones lunch and putthem in a cooler. At 9:00am itwas time to go! I was so ex-cited! Everyone got onto thebus and it seemed like wewere riding for hours.

When we arrived I sawa playgroung, tables, ani-mals, and where the cavebegan. Then my teacher Ms.Hurd called the class andgave everyone sand and littlebags to find gold. When wewere done I found a little bitof gold but a lot of white crys-tals. The it was time for thegift shop. I bought a heartnecklace for my mom andsome colorful crystals. Thenwe went into the cave. It wascool and wet inside. We tooka picture in the cave. We sawsmall bats and crystals butwe could not touch them.When we came out we saidgoodbye and got onto thebus and went back to school.I told my family how nice thecave was and that we shouldgo so now I can't wait to goagain with my family!

Michael Vey Series

There is a series ofbooks out about a fictionalcharacter named MichaelVey, written by author Rich-ard Paul Evans. The MichaelVey series is a series tar-geted towards young adultsand teenagers. The bookstell the story of a teenageboy with turrets syndromewho has very interesting andpowerful abilities. DuringMichael’s birth somethinghappened to him, whichgave him powers linked toelectricity. Michael has theability to jumpstart a car withhis bare hands, form balls ofpure electricity in his hands,

Wesley DickersonCedar Ridge H.S.

and magnetize himself. There are a handful of

other children that are likeMichael. Each child has theirown set of powers linkedwith electricity. A man whois very interested by theabilities of the kids makesseveral attempts to roundthem up and study themwith the hopes of creatingan army of these electricchildren. This man is calledDr. Hatch and he has gaineda few followers, but notMichael and a group of hisfriends who call themselvesthe Electroclan. The booksfocus on how theElectroclan does all that theycan to stop Hatch from creat-ing an army.

I would highly recom-mend this series to everyonewho is interested, but mainlyteenagers interested in start-ing a new series of books.There are three books outcurrently and they are notvery long so I suggest thatall teens take a look at thesebooks.

23 More Days

This school year is ba-sically over. I'm so happybecause school getsstressful and I feel like Ineed a break. like schoolbut it starts to get hard with

Imani DempsDel Valle High School

all this testing but, I know Ican do it, I have done it foralmost 3 years. I havecome to far to give up ornot try. Nothing in life comeseasy you got work for whatyou want and I want to besuccessful in the end.

When I was younger Ifelt like I would never finishschool now that I have oneyear left it's still a little hardto believe that I'm almostdone and we have a lot offinals coming up so I needto get prepared for them. Iknow I can pass them, all Ihave to do is work hard andstudy.

SaNaya WhiteCedars Academy

Throughout this wholeweek I've been studyingWorld War 1 in school.Sounds like it was a scary,dangerous & bloody. People

Studying World War Icalled it the Great War be-cause no one had ever ex-perienced anything like it. Myteacher said that thepeople who fought in thewar came back changedbecause of what they saw,heard and had to do.

The people f ightinghad to live in ditches so I'msure it wasn't comfortable.Some of the warriors grewfungus & molds on their feetand died from sickness. Itis such a hard thing to doto be forced to fight or kill, Ireally thank those protect-ing and f ight ing for ourcountry.

Cedars Cinco De Mayo

On May 1,2014 myschool Cedars InternationalAcademy had a Cinco DeMayo program. Cinco deMayo is ud I enjoyed it alot because of the children'sperformance and there ef-fort to make an excellentshow. I enjoyed it so muchI was singing and dancingto the music.

What I learned from

Zachariah WashingtonCedars Academy

the Preformance was thatlegend says that the Mexicapeople wondered aroundthe land waiting for their godHuitzilopochtli to send thema sign as to where theyshould build their city untilone day they saw an eagleeating a snake, standing ona cactus that grew on a rock,and all this took place on asmall island of the landTexcoco, thats why theMexican flag has a badgein the middle.

I also learned thatCinco De Mayo comes fromin 1861 when Mexico wasin bad shape anf couldn'tpay i ts debts to Spain,France, England. Well En-gland and Spain negoti-ated, France decided to in-vade Mexico. France waswinning until Mexicans fromaround Puebla got togetherto defeat the French army.

Alon RodgersHendrickson H.S.

The STARR test is hereand the end of the schoolyear is a month away. Thishas been a long journey foreverybody and it's the timeof the year where every-body begins to slack off,yet Mr. Padival, our princi-pal, encourages us every-day to become better andstrive for success.

On May 9th, seniorswill have a guest speakerand witness a staged drunkdriving accident in our park-ing lot. Between 11 am andnoon, you will see emer-gency vehicles and aStarf l ight hel icopter de-scending onto our campus.

Finals are coming andthe seniors are preparingfor the SAT test. The SAT isa scary test if you stressabout it to much but I havebeen told if you just studyfor it, relax and zone outeverything, that it will be awalk in the park, and trustme the people who told methat aced the SAT!

May 10th: Voting dayfor school bonds

May 10th: Prom @Bob Bullock Museum

May 20th: Senior pan-oramic at 9 am

May 23rd: Textbooksreturned

May 27th: 9th through11th Grade Awards Cer-emony at 7 pm in the PAC

June 1st: Baccalaure-ate @ 6 pm (Connally HS)

June 3rd: SeniorAwards Ceremony at 6:30pm

June 7th: Graduationat the Frank Erwin Center(seniors report at noon)

June 7th: Senior Cel-ebration (9 pm-5 am)

Hawks Festivities

All of this week there isSTARR Testing. I hope ev-eryone studies for EVERY-THING! If you don't study forthese test you WILL have totake them again next yearand everytime you fail youwill have to continuously takeit and I know you will not wantto fake it again so STUDYSTUDY !!

Lanette DempsDel Valle High School

Testing

The Dance

Erika LipscombManor Elementary

My school had adance this past week. It wasfun. Everybody kind ofdressed up. I was happybut then I got bored after Ispent al l my money. Ibought lots of snacks. Wedanced to all kinds of mu-sic. My friends were reallycrazy. I really enjoyed thedance and I always lookforward to it coming again.

I’m an eighth graderand this is my last year ofmiddle school. I’m kind ofsad because, me and myfriends will split up.I willmake this last year worthit, I think I did good thisschoo l year .The ru leswere much str icter thanlast year but I fol lowedthem because , everywhere you go there will berules.

Jada DempsDailey Middle School

Last Year

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/May 9, 2014 ~ Page 5

YOUTH BRIGADE/NATIONAL & CITY NEWS

Dezhia GorrerLBJ High School

Re-test For Staar

As I attend LBJ HighSchool the school is hav-ing many retest and teston the staar for freshman,sophomores, and juniors.The staar is a district testtha t de te rmines i f wemove on to the nex tg rade . Some sopho-mores are made to takethe test only if they failedthe test thei r f reshmanyear. The peop le whodon’t pass the staar thefirst t ime are put into aclass that helps them pre-pare for the test again in-

s tead o f ho ld ing themback a grade. The fresh-man and sophomores aregoing to take their biologytest first, then the juniorswil l take the US historystaar the day after that,and last the freshman andsophomores will take thealgebra 1 staar.

The res t o f thesophomores that passedthe staar will be place intheir regular class, but willhave to s tay longer intheir classes to wait for theo ther s tuden ts to ge tdone tes t ing . S tudentsw i l l con t inue to ge tchances to retest if theykeep fai l ing or they wil lget special help from ad-min is te rs . Everyoneneeds to pass the English1 and 2, Biology, US his-tory, and algebra 1 staarto g radua te f rom h ighschool. Those who don’tpass the f i rs t t ime wi l lhave the chance to retest,because the school wantsthem to graduate. Unt i lnext time…..GO JAGS!!!!!

Zyon HillReagan High School

De’Ja HillLamar Middle School

Weekend Fun

Hello Readers,This week there

was not anything excitingthat happened at LamarMiddle School. I did gospent the night at my sec-

ond oldest brotherDesmond’s house andspent time with my niecesand nephews. I had a greattime, he took us to ZilkerPark and he took us canoe-ing.

This was my first timeever doing something likethat. I was afraid at first, butthen I got used to it and Ireally had a blast. I playedwith my family and on Sun-day when Desmond broughtus home, I ended the nightwith a Short Stop burger.Remember it is okay to re-lax every now and then.

Until next time, De’ja’

Getting Ready

Hello Readers,This week at Reagan

High School students werestressing out over the up-coming test ing session.The students did the same

thing that we have beendoing for the past couple ofweek, which is going to sta-t ions and the teacherswould take turns bringingdifferent types of work toeach station.

Saturday school wasoffered several times andso were prizes on top ofprizes. I went to Saturdayschool and received helpand suddenly my confi-dence level was boostedfor the upcoming STAARtest. I feel like I could passthe tests with flying colors,so to speak.

Until next time, Zyon

Be Prepared

As each day passes Iget more and more readyfor the college life. Gradu-ation is coming up and tosay that I'm excited wouldbe an understatement. Tomy knowledge, I've man-aged to accumulate severalhundred dollars in scholar-ship money, and for that I'mthankful. I'm waiting on myFAFSA to be processed

and received in its entiretyby Texas A&M. Before go-ing to school in the fall Ihave to go to a New StudentConference. Luckily for me,a June date was availablefor my taking. Also, it canbecome pretty expensivewhen you have to pay all ofyour fees for certain appli-cations and documents.

Its a hassle at times,but its definitely worth it. Iwant to congratulate all ofmy classmates for gettingaccepted into their collegesbecause its far from an easytask to get into a college.Graduation is almost hereand we have to keep work-ing hard. This past weekwas STAAR testing for ev-eryone but seniors. But westill have finals to look for-ward too.

Jaquarry WilsonLBJ High School

Kiara MyersVista Ridge H.S.

May Madness

The end of the schoolyear is filled with many testsand even more stress toperform well on them. Thefirst two weeks in May arealways reserved for Ad-vanced Placement and Endof Course testing. Person-

ally, I have three AP testsand one U.S. HistorySTAAR exam. Students allover the country and evenworld have been preparingover the past year to passthese AP tests in order toreceive college credit andstudents in Texas need topass the STAAR exam tograduate.

With the heavy weightof these tests, it becomesa struggle to balance study-ing with the normal day-to-day homework that teach-ers ironically continue to as-sign. I hope that everyonetaking tests this week findstime to adequately prepareand performs their best un-der the great pressure.

Averill ToppsPease Elementary

Pease Mission Statement

At Pease Elementary,our belief is the following:

DIVERSITY is astrength. Intel l igence is

built through effort. A re-spectful environment is es-sential to learning and Edu-cation is a collaborative ef-fort. Pease students areSelf-controlled, Motivated,Aware, Respec t fu l andTake respons ib i l i t y fo rchoices. Pease’s mis-sion is for all students toexcel Personal ly, Emo-t iona l l y, Academica l l y,Socially and Everyday!

This is how we do itat Pease Elementary. Ev-ery school should havethis mission! Go PeaseBobcats!

Sarah RobertsonPioneer Crossing Elem.

Manor String Fest

On April 26 Manor ISDhad a String Fest. A StringFest is when all the schoolscome together and do aworkshop on String Instru-ments and then they havea major performance as thefinale. The Fest lasted from9 am until 4pm. This wasmy third time being involved

because my school startedearly teaching kids to playthe violin. I have been play-ing the violin for 3 years.Every school in Manor ISDwas represented from el-ementary through highschool.

We went to differentclasses to learn somethingnew about our instrumentsfrom special teachers fromthe Austin Symphony.Some were even Universityof Texas music majors.They provided us lunch andwe all played our instru-ments. It was great to seeother kids my age, youngerand even older playingmusical instruments. I hada great time and I look for-ward to going in the future.It was lot of fun and a greatlearning experience.

JENKINS FACES CRITICISMSRANGING FROM PUBLIC

DISTRUST TO CREDITING AKNOWN BIGOTcontinued from page 1

In 1991, the Michi-gan State Bar Reviewsaid Jenkins “sold thepublic trust” and wasdisbarred in Michigan,and eventually, in Cali-fornia.

He was also re-moved from the benchby the Michigan Su-preme Court.

The State Bar Re-view found Jenkins:“Systematically androutinely sold his officeand his public trust, . . .committed wholesaleviolations of the mostelementary canons ofjudicial conduct, andbrought grave dishonorupon this state’s judi-ciary.”

The Los AngelesNAACP fell under criti-cism because of its rolein awarding Sterling hissecond lifetime achieve-ment award in fiveyears.

Sterling has hadmore than one sexualharassment and dis-crimination lawsuitfiled against him, in-cluding a 2009 federalhousing lawsuit wherethe U.S. government ac-cused him of refusing torent to Blacks andLatinos. He settled thatlawsuit for $2.73 mil-lion.

Sterling receivedthe NAACP LifetimeAchievement awardthat same year.

Jenkins, who sayshe has known Sterlingfor almost 20 years, de-fended hisorganization’s plans tohonor the bigoted NBAteam owner by sayinghe has a record of con-tributing to minority or-ganizations.

“Mr. Sterling’s or-ganization, on a consis-

tent basis has brought innumerous minoritiesand inner city kids togames,” Jenkins told theLA press. “Almost ev-ery game, there is a sec-tion where there areyoung people. He hasalso, in the years welooked at, contributedto a lot of minoritycharities, including theNAACP.”

Jenkins saidSterling’s organizationgave more money to theminority communitythan other local LAsports franchises. Hedeclined to say howmuch Sterling has re-cently given to the orga-nization but describedthe amount as “insignifi-cant.”

Jenkins, who calledSterling’s comments“devastating”, says thecivil rights organizationwould return themoney and withholdthe award Sterling wasscheduled to receivethis month.

Jenkins graduatedWayne State UniversityLaw School and wasadmitted to practice in1979. In 1984, he wasappointed by Gov.James Blanchard to 36thDistrict Court.

Jenkins moved toCalifornia in 1990 andtried to keep his Califor-nia law license, statinghis community service,which included probono work and his ef-forts with the localNAACP should allowhim to continue to workas a lawyer. He was de-nied and lost the licensein 2001.

In media reports,Jenkins has also said hewould forgive Clipper’sowner Sterling.

City’s Neighborhood PartneringProgram seeks applications for

June 1 deadlineThe Neighborhood

Partnering Program(NPP) is seeking applica-tions for its June 1 dead-line. This program pro-vides opportunities forcommunity and neigh-borhood organizationsto submit proposals forsmall to medium scaleimprovements on City-owned land. In order tobe considered for fund-ing, the neighborhoodmust be willing to sharein the cost of the project.Cost sharing can beachieved through cashcontributions, donatedservices or materials, andvolunteer hours. Addi-tionally, all proposedprojects must be on City-owned property, have acommunity benefit andbe publicly accessible.

In recent years,NPP has worked withcitizen groups to bring

improvements such asnew sidewalks, land-scaping/beautification,art installations, com-munity gardens, andtransportation improve-ments. “Austin hasmany creative, passion-ate citizens who caredeeply about theirneighborhoods…we’repleased to be able topartner with them toimprove the areaswhere they live, work,and play,” says HowardLazarus, Public WorksDepartment Director.

For more informa-tion or to start an appli-cation, visit http://a u s t i n t e x a s . g o v /neighborhoodpartneringor call (512) 974-6439.This program is in sup-port of Imagine Austinand seeks to empowerneighborhoods to buildcommunity.

Page 6 ~ May 9, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLDDealey for District 10

Since the votersapproved the 10-1Plan of the Aust inCity Council District,there have been nu-merous candidatesrunning for an openseat on the new coun-cil. One of the candi-

On May 10, 2014the residents of Taylor,Texas will be going tothe polls to vote forvarious members oftheir City Council. Tay-lor is Northeast of Aus-tin and also coversWilliamson County. Inthe past decade, TaylorTexas has seen dra-matic populationgrowth. According tothe census report, "Thepopulation was 13,575at the 2000 census andit was estimated to be15,191 in the 2010 cen-sus."

In Taylor, JessieAncira, the incumbentcity council memberwill be facing a chal-lenger. First of all,

dates running for theAustin City CouncilDistrict 10 is MandyDealey. She decidedto run for office dueto the belief that someof her ideas can helpimprove the city ofAustin. Some of the

by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

i ssues that MandyDealey seeks to ad-dress are transporta-tion, affordability andwater. According toMandy Dealey,"Austinites have donea good job of reducingour consumption ofwater, but we need tomake sure to get thebest use of it while con-tinuing to identify ad-ditional means of con-servation. Makinggray water accessibleto greater areas of townfor irrigation and cool-ing will be an impor-tant step while we con-tinue to conserve andlook for new water re-sources for our bur-geoning city."

Mandy Dealey hasbeen active in the Aus-tin community for over30 years. MandyDealey has chaired theboards of several non-profit organizationssuch as Planned Par-enthood of Austin,Preservation Austin,the Texas Lyceum and

the Austin Area MentalHealth Association. Inaddition, she served asa board member ofthese variousnonprofits, such as theAustin CommunityFoundation, the GirlsScouts, People Fund,the Austin SymphonyOrchestra and the Aus-tin Lyric Opera.

Moreover, AustinCity Council District 10covers parts of Central,North and the NorthWest Austin area. Ac-cording to the censusreport, "District 10 is 86percent white, 2 per-cent black, 9 percentHispanic and 8 per-cent Asian." The dis-trict includes neigh-borhoods l ike OldEnfield and BrykerWoods. MostAust ini tes bel ievethat the 10-1 plan of-fers the best type ofrepresentation on thecity county level. But,now the question is,"Will people show upto the polls?"

Mandy Dealey

Taylor, TX Electionsby Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Jessie Ancira waselected to the TaylorCity Council in 2011 asan at Large Represen-tative. Jesse Anciraholds both an Account-ing degree and a Lawdegree. Prior to run-ning for the City Coun-cil, Jesse Ancira servedas the Chief of Staff forthe Texas House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v eSpeaker. However, thechallenger is RickyLouis Selin.

Moreover, theturnout in the electionwill be very low due tothe fact it is not a No-vember election. How-ever, this election willbe crucial due to thefact that Taylor is a

Jesse Ancira, Jr.

growing city. As thecity grows, it will faceissues such as water

usage, economic de-velopment, and trans-portation.

In the past decades of Central Texas, includ-ing Pflugerville, have seen massive growths inpopulation. In the past 10 years, the city ofPflugerville has gained over several thousands ofnew residents. However, the infrastructures suchas roads, Fire Department, and schools have notkept up with the massive growth. As a result, cit-ies like Pflugerville are seeking to catch up. Notonly is Pflugervilles ISD holding a bond electionbut will also hold an election to fund for Travis CountyESD No 2 Fire Department, which coversPflugerville.

Currently, the Pflugerville Fire Departmentdoes not have the adequate staff and equipmentto respond quickly to an emergency. According tothe ESD No. 2, the Pflugerville Fire Departmentwould need to hire at least 21 new employees andto build three more fire stations. Furthermore, thePflugerville Fire department will need a couple ofmillions just for various operational duties such astraining, facilities and other employee matters.

Although the ESD 2 Fire tried to resolve thisissue without more public funds, it seems that theresident of Travis County will have to help out. TheMay 10 election is a proposal to increase the saletax inorder to help pay for the services. Accordingto Travis County Esd 2 the " proposed increase insale tax, which is a consume tax, not a propertytax could be used to begin funding a much neededhigher level of emergency medical care.”

Fire DepartmentSeeksVoter's Help

This weekend Congressman Doggett was able to visit again with victims ofthe Onion Creek flood about relief efforts. He spoke alongside localcommunity leaders like Rosa Villegas, who continues to be a voice forvictims of this tragedy. At the event, Congressman Doggett said: "This isnot necessarily the last flood we will see, and we face continued challenges.I believe, as I've tried to do throughout, that the important thing is to listento this neighborhood, and that the more the neighborhood can speak withone voice, the better off we'll be."

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/May 9, 2014 ~ Page 7

CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION

City of AustinPurchasing Office

EMPLOYMENTPROPOSALS

PUBLIC INFORMATIONFOR SALEFOR RENT

BIDSMISCELLANEOUS

The City of Austin Purchasing Office invitesyou to view current bid solicitations at https://www.c i . au s t i n . t x . u s / f i nanceon l ine /vendor_connection/solicitation/solicitations.cfm.Vendors are encouraged to register on-line in theCity’s Vendor Self Service System. Once yourcompany is registered, you will receive notifica-tions about new bid opportunities. For addi-tional information regarding current bid opportu-nities or Vendor Registration, please call the Pur-chasing Office at 512-974-2500.

For information on the City of Austin’s Mi-nority Owned and Women-Owned ProcurementProgram and the certification process, pleasecontact the Small & Minority Business ResourcesDepartment at 512-974-7600 or visit their websiteat http://www.austintexas.gov/smbr.

City of Austin Featured Job OpportunitiesThe City of Austin is currently seeking qualified

applicants for the following positions:• Director, CAMPO

• Administrative Specialist (Payroll)• Building & Grounds Lead

• Managing Librarian (2 Openings)• Network Systems Administrator

• Human Resources Advisor• Parks and Recreation Department - Summer Arts

Counselors (60 Temporary Summer Openings)• Activity Specialist I, II, III at Community

Recreation Centers (200 Openings)• Police Dispatcher- Multiple Positions (Temp. –

Fulltime)• Graduate Engineer A or Graduate Engineer B

Please visit the City of Austin employment websiteat www.austincityjobs.org to view requirements and

apply for these and other job opportunities. Weencourage you to check the employment websiteoften as new job opportunities are posted daily. Ifyou have any questions or need assistance, please

call 512-974-3210 or email us atemployment.services@austintexas.gov.

The City of Austin is an Equal OpportunityEmployer.

 

Apply at HRMiddle Fiskville Rd.

6th Floor, Austin, TX 78752Job Line (512 223-5621hhtp://www./austincc.ed

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VILLAGER

Las Vegas publichousing project, “and infront of that governmenthouse the door was usu-ally open and the olderpeople and the kids –and there is always atleast a half dozenpeople sitting on theporch – they didn’t havenothing to do. Theydidn’t have nothing fortheir kids to do. They

Daniels:Black front-men claimBlacks lazeabout the

Democratic“plantation”

continued from page 1

didn’t have nothing fortheir young girls to do.”

Bundy didn’t stopthere: “And because theywere basically on gov-ernment subsidy, so nowwhat do they do? Theyabort their young chil-dren, they put theiryoung men in jail, be-cause they never learnedhow to pick cotton. AndI’ve often wondered, arethey better off as slaves,picking cotton and hav-ing a family life and do-ing things, or are theybetter off under govern-ment subsidy? Theydidn’t get no more free-dom. They got less free-dom.”

Did Cliven Bundyform those views justfrom driving past –once? twice? – a feder-ally subsidized housingproject where BlackAmericans live? Or didthey come from the stewof racist notions thatstill have wide circula-tion in the political ide-ology – conservatism –Bundy claims to be anadherent.

Some of his well-known enablers amongthe conservative echochamber of politicians,

talk-show jockeys andpundits quickly dis-tanced themselves fromBundy as soon as theTimes story appeared.Others, doubling-down, claimed his rac-ist views were irrelevantto what they assertedwere his proper resis-tance to federal govern-ment overreach.

But it’s too late forthat flimflam. Beyondthe laughable hypocrisyof Cliven Bundy, chis-eler, asserting that “theNegro” is too depen-dent on government lar-gesse, his words under-score that Americanconservatism’s centralmotivating force fromthe long-ago past to thepresent has always beenthe oppression of ‘theNegro.”

For one thing, con-sider that Bundybrought up the topichimself – and not onlymade it clear he thinksBlacks were better offwhen the vast majoritywere enslaved butwould be better off nowif reduced to somethingapproximating slavery.Bundy’s views aren’t atall unique among

American conserva-tives. Especially sincePresident Obama tookoffice, conservatives,high and low, haveshown an obsessionwith twisting the truthabout Negro slavery.

If it’s not the TeaParty fanatics contend-ing that PresidentObama’s intent is to“enslave” Whites; it’sWhite conservatives –and their Black front-men such as Ben Carson,Herman Cain and AllenWest – asserting thatBlacks who vote Demo-cratic are unthinkinglycontent to laze about onthe Democratic “planta-tion.” If it’s not the Fam-ily Leader, an Iowa-based conservativegroup, proclaiming thatBlacks were better offduring the Slave era be-cause the slave-ownerskept their families intact– a brazen lie – it’sformer U.S. Senator JimDeMint, now head ofthe powerful, conserva-tive Heritage Founda-tion, declaring on aright-wing Christiantalk show earlier thismonth that the slaveswere not emancipated

by “big government”but by “a growingmovement among thepeople, particularlypeople of faith that [sla-very] was wrong.”

I’ve no doubt thatthe ignorance on displayin the conservativemovement’s obsessionwith American slavery islargely a deliberategambit to obscure howevil – and widely ac-cepted among Whites –slavery and its succes-sor, legalized racism,was. But I also think that,as with Cliven Bundy,some of it stems fromthe deep-rooted fear ofwhat “freedom” forBlack Americans meansfor those Whites whoneed the crutch of Whitesupremacy to feel goodabout themselves. IfBlacks were “free,” youcould get Black Ameri-cans contributing a fullmeasure of their talentto American society.Why, you might get aPaul Robeson, or anAlthea Gibson, or aLeontyne Price, or evena president of the UnitedStates.

And then, whatwould America be?

AUSTIN, Texas – On April 8, 2014, the Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA)and its partners, Foundation Communities, Austin Travis County Integral Care (ATCIC) andAIDS Services of Austin (ASA), were awarded three U.S. Housing and Urban Development(HUD) grants totaling more than $700,000 to provide comprehensive housing and supportservices for homeless individuals and families in Austin for the coming year. Funded throughHUD’s Continuum of Care program (fiscal year 2013), these grants help ensure homelesspersons have access to permanent and transitional housing as well as critical services in-cluding job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment andchild care.

“These grants are critical to combat homelessness in Austin,” said Lisa Garcia, Vice Presi-dent of HACA’s Assisted Housing department. “The funds will allow HACA and its partnersto continue to offer permanent supportive housing and extensive supportive services to someof Austin’s most vulnerable individuals and families experiencing homelessness.”

HACA administers the grants and Foundation Communities, ATCIC and ASA providesupportive services and housing as it becomes available.

HACA Receives Grantsto Help End Homelessness

www.TheAustinVillager.com

Page 8 ~ May 9, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

PROGRAMS ~ AWARENESS

Pictured are Huston-Tillotson University 2014 teacher candidates fromthe Alternative Teacher Certification Program. Candidates are now eligiblefor their standard certificate as Texas teachers.

Pictured front left to right: Ronald Curry – Math 8-12, Amy Wright –Math and Special Education, Danielle De Camps – Elementary EC-6, and Crys-tal Conde – Elementary EC-6. Second row: Tim Boswell – Social Studies 7-12,Paige Trahan – Social Studies 8-12 and Special Education, Krystn Goulet –Elementary EC-6 and Special Education, and Sandra Staes – Social Studies 4-8 and Special Education. Not pictured: Ricardo Avila, Elementary EC-6 andSpecial Education, Guliz Kraft – Elementary EC-6 and Special Education,Miguel McKay – Physical Education, Jeff Somers – 4-8 Generalist, Nina Walzer– 4-8 ELA, and Vincent Wrencher – Math 8-12 and Computer Science 8-12.Photo by Dr. Jan P. Seiter.

WE NEED MORE LIKEYOU, TEACH!

WE NEED MORE LIKEYOU, TEACH!

Free ComicBooks at

APL

by Shirley Hammond

AUSTIN, TX - Theyoung and young-at-heart turned out onMonday, May 5 for theAustin Public Library(APL) Free Comic BookDay giveaway. Accord-ing to Toni Grasso, Pub-lic Information Officerfor the library system,the event follows on theheels of the Saturdayevent, where comicbook stores in the citygive away comic booksin their stores and thendonate the leftovercomic books to APL.

Comic books, orsequential pictures withnarrative messagescould be said to dateback to 113 AD withEgyptian hieroglyphs.When it comes to printcomics, a satirical pub-lished in 1826 called“The Glasgow LookingGlass,” included in-stallments, speechbubbles, pictures, cap-tions and narrative.

Comic books have beenconstantly evolving anddrawing audiences foralmost as long as mov-able type has beenaround.

Grasso explained,“Free Comic Book Dayis always on the firstSaturday in May.” Shesaid they receivedcomic books for youngkids, teens and adultsand others who likegraphic novels. Eachperson who showed upat area libraries couldreceive up to two comicbooks.

She reported thatAPL received 2150comic books total, andeach branch receivedabout 102 comics. Thegiveaway program atcomic book storesstarted in 2002 and APLbegan participating in2005. The copies re-ceived by the librarysystem to hand out are

ordered by AustinBooks and Comics at5002 North Lamar,where the store erecteda tent and then gavevisitors up to 10 comicbooks each. They gaveaway close to 25,000comic books and thenshipped out the excessafter the Saturday event.

The first Saturdayin May giveaway eventis the comic industry’sown featured holiday.

Grasso stated, likeall campaigns aimed atattracting someone whomay not think the Li-brary offers somethingfor them to read, thiscampaign showcasesone aspect of thelibrary’s collection.

All comic bookshops, gaming storesand the libraries haveall advertised the librarygiveaway. It was alsolisted onFreeFuninAustin.com

AUSTIN, TX -Mayor Lee Leffingwellannounced the creationof a new grant initiativewhich aims to fund vol-unteer-led improve-ment projects in lower-income neighborhoodsin Austin. Called LoveYour Block, Austin!, thisprogram will enableneighbors to obtainfunding to developcommunity gardens,plant trees, removegraffiti, do vacant lotcleanups and addsculptures to theircommunities.Sly Majid,Chief Service Officer forthe City explained,“This is a program thatis based upon a NewYork model.” He saidMayor MichaelBloomberg piloted theprogram in 2009 in theBig Apple. A press re-lease indicates thatmany cities have gottenon board and Austin isusing the model fortheir program this year.Majid stated thatgroups of neighbors,neighborhood associa-tions and individualswho have identified aneed in their commu-nity are welcome to ap-ply for funding. He saidthis enterprise has a fo-

cus on community en-gagement with volun-teers at the heart of it.

Grants range be-tween $500 and $1000.Applications are due onJune 1st. The applicationcan be accessed ata u s t i n t e x a s . g o v /loveyourblock.

According to apress release, this ispart of an Impact Vol-unteering Fund Grant,that was awarded toAustin and 22 other cit-ies. Over 60 cities ap-plied. Called the Citiesof Service Grant, Austinreceived a total of$50,000; and part of it isa neighborhood revital-ization initiative. Theother part of the grant isfor the removal of inva-sive plants that are noteco-friendly.

Austin won thegrant, which followsNew York’s Blueprint,and which supportsmayors who are imple-menting “impact volun-teering” strategies thattackle pressing localchallenges.

“Compassion ispart of the fabric of ourgreat city and Austinitesembody that every daythrough their commit-ment to volunteerism

and community ser-vice,” says Mayor LeeLeffingwell. “This grantfrom Cities of Serviceand Bloomberg Philan-thropies will allow us toexpand our efforts inutilizing citizens to re-move invasive plantspecies that are harmfulto our eco-system. Ad-ditionally, these fundswill be used to em-power residentsthrough neighborhoodrevitalization projects.”

Using citizen ser-vice, which amounts tothe energy and time ofvolunteers, part of thisgrant will engage vol-unteers to removeharmful invasive plantsfrom 300 acres of publicland. According to thepress release, in 2013,Austin received $25,000in funding to support itscitizen service programwhere more than 140volunteers partneredwith 22 community or-ganizations to study1,800 acres of city-owned land to identifyinvasive plant life spe-cies for removal to pro-tect the local environ.

Love Your BlockMini-Grants by Shirley Hammond

MayorLee Leffingwell