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He loves his school. He can’t get enough of his iPod. He digs rock music, and his favorite song is Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue.”

But in one way, he’s different.

Drew has a very rare genetic condition called neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation. The condition is so rare, that only about 6,000 people world-wide have the disease. Children and adults with the disease have a build-up of iron in the brain that causes neural degeneration, involuntary muscle movements, failing eyesight and difficulty with speech.

The disease is fatal.

“My hands, my eyes and my speech,” have changed in the six years since diagnosis at age 11, Drew said, his mother, Amy, interpreting because his speech has been affected by his condition.

At a recent conference for families suffering with NBIA, Drew met other children with the condition and was struck by the need to find a cure, if not for himself, then for the younger children living with the condition.

Drew, his family and friends mobilized to turn Drew’s love of music into a fundraiser for a cure.

Band Together for a Cure will be held at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at Austin Ridge Bible Church, 9300 Bee Cave Road. Audioroad, Penny and Sparrow and Friendly Savages will perform. Bountiful Café and Bakery is providing dinner, and there will be a silent auction. Tickets are $25. Proceeds will go to the NBIA Disorders Association, an international nonprofit that is working to find a cure.

“As a board on NBIA we’ve said that if we can raise $60 million we can cure this,” said Mark Karakourtis, Drew’s father. “For a lot of families, if we can just hang on, there is light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the day, it’s just a dollar figure and time that stands between this and a cure.”

Despite the challenges he has faced, Drew has not lost hope, Amy Karakourtis said.

“The great thing about Drew is that as he’s lost abilities, his heart has not lost courage,” she said. “He’s a real example of perseverance. It’s taught us to enjoy each day and make the most of your time. It doesn’t take a whole lot to make something special if you have the perspective of ‘Today I can do this, and I’m going to do it.’ He’s been a good teacher.”

For now, Drew has decided that organizing a concert fundraiser is what he can do.

Tickets are $25, which includes dinner.For more information or to purchase tickets, send an email to amyinaustin@austin.rr.com.

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Photo by Nimai Malle

Retribution rhythm guitarist Phil Smith plays during the Eanes Education Foundation at Antone’s Jamfest.

The fourth-annual JamFest, the music-laden fundraiser for the Eanes Education Foundation, hit Antone’s Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. with a packed schedule of young talent, including two dozen students from the Eanes school district.

JamFest is the brainchild of Westbank orthodontist Randy Kunik, a former EEF board member who is underwriting the event this year. Kunik said he knew the idea would be a winner for the local community and local schools.

“[It’s] a student band showcase that encourages student musicians and provides a high profile performance venue that is also a benefit for our outstanding Eanes schools,” he said.

Ten bands formed the line-up: Electric Silk, The Austeens, The Others, Playing with Fire, Unsocialized, The Little Galaxy, The Old Theatre Guild, Lithium Sun, Retribution and Jester’s Court. Eanes students participating include: Phil Smith, Thomas Denning, Tim Smith, Juan De Haro, Dave North, Devin North, Cody Ross, Ben Baron, Grace Krakow, Olivia Field, Madeline Silvestro, Enrique Sanchez, Brett Wilson, Sophia Werkenthin, Zoe Ashton, Hanna Jinks, Rohit Srinivasan, Benjamin Hines, Tre Pham, Paulo Lugo, Michael Mullen, Cade Bandera, Emily Weller and Roy Fenner.

West Ridge Middle School eighth-grader Dave North plays lead guitar for the band Retribution, which has been together for a year. He started playing guitar at six and writing songs when he was 10. He said his band was excited to earn one of those high-profile spots in the showcase through audition.

“Our band has been looking forward to [this] for a long time,” he said. “We love to jam and get the audience to jam with us, especially if it’s for a good cause and especially if it’s at Antone’s.”

Dave’s brother, Devin, is a Westlake High School sophomore and the bassist leader of the band Jester’s Court. He and the band’s drummer, Ben Baron, have been playing together for two years. Guitarist Cody Ross and vocalist Grace Krakow joined the band last year. Devin said he became interested in music through the school district’s orchestra program.

“With more funding from events such as this, the district’s vast music programs can continue to grow and flourish,” he said.

Olivia Field, WRMS seventh-grader and guitarist for Austeens echoes that sentiment.

“EEF is important to us because [it allows us] to hire more teachers,” she said.

Last year, EEF provided $1.19 million to the Eanes school district. The organization hopes to provide a similar amount to fund excellence in local schools this year, said EEF executive director Wally Moore.

“Gifts to the Eanes Education Foundation help our outstanding Eanes schools perform well beyond what the state defines as an adequate public school education, and it is our Eanes schools that provide much of the glue that makes the Eanes area such a great place to live and work,” Kunik said. “That funding is even more important now, as the state is increasingly unable or unwilling to fund our public schools at levels that prepare our students to be successful at the next level.”

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In all, the restaurant will have 114 seats, 50 of them on the new covered patio, project architect Allan Nutt told the council. The location previously held Wildwood Art Café, which seated only about 25 people.

Council members prohibited the use of stone columns that had been included in the design for the patio, but otherwise approved the addition to the building’s site plan. The patio will use cedar columns instead.

“We would have prefered the stone columns, as they added a very French feel to the restaurant, but we are happy to comply with the council’s decision,” said owner Amy Ramirez.”(The patio) will have a feeling of sitting in a courtyard in the European countryside. We are very excited about it.”

Council members expressed concern over parking issues in the shopping center, but Nutt said that with most of the shops closed during the dinner rush, the only time parking might be an issue is at lunch time during the holiday shopping season.

The patio was approved with a 2-1 vote, with Councilman Spencer Stevens opposed and council members Andrew Schwartz and Stan Graham absent.

The restaurant is scheduled to open in April.

In other action, the council discussed, but took no action on a rezoning proposal for Reveille Road. Some residents have requested that the area be rezoned to allow only single-family houses. Currently, there are several duplexes on the street that would be allowed to remain, but improvements and additions would be limited on the buildings and they could not be replaced with duplexes.

The council extended a moratorium on building permits for the area for an additional 90 days, on top of the 90 days that was approved last year. The moratorium does not affect building permits for single-family homes.

The council briefly discussed simplifying the variance process for homeowners seeking to make changes to their properties, but took no action. Under the new system, forms would be available online and would include a checklist of documents that residents need before meeting with the city planner and going before the City Council.

Mayor Dave Claunch said that he will be a test case in a few weeks when he seeks a variance for his West Lake Hills home.

The council also approved a new communications policy for the city that has been in the works for several months. The new policy dictates the storage of electronic records for the city, limits employee use of city-owned email and internet connections to city business and requires employees discussing city issues on their own blogs, email accounts and social media sites to place a disclaimer that their views are their own and not those of the city.

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The offer, which was hand delivered to LCRA staff Tuesday morning by Mayor Bill Hamilton, also includes a provision for the city to take over operation and maintenance of the system as soon as possible. Taking over operation of the system could save the city about $120,0000 a year, Hamilton said.

“We are in a relatively strong position to negotiate the best deal possible for the city,” Alderwoman Shanthi Jayakumar said, noting the LCRA is eager to get the municipal water and wastewater systems off the agency’s books, a unit the agency said loses about $3 million a year. Jayakumar abstained from the vote.

City officials arrived at the $10.6 million offer because it is “an amount the city understands to be the total of LCRA’s outstanding debt on the system as of Oct. 2012,” Hamilton wrote in a letter to LCRA officials.

The LCRA announced in 2010 that the agency would sell off all 32 of its municipal water and wastewater systems. The announcement sparked a months-long battle with towns all over Central Texas about whether the systems would end up in public or private hands.

In the end, private company Corix Infrastructure Inc., a Canadian investor-owned utility, ended up as the winning bidder for 18 of the systems. Others ended up in municipal hands. LCRA opted to take West Lake Hills, Rollingwood and two systems affected by the Bastrop wildfires off the table at the last minute.

The next step for the city, if a price can be hammered out with LCRA, is to set up a bond election. The earliest election date available is in May.

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In a lot of ways, Drew Karakourtis is a typical 17-year-old boy.
He loves his school. He can’t get enough of his iPod. He digs rock music and his favorite song is Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue.”
But in one way, he’s different.
Drew has a very rare genetic condition called Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation (NBIA). The condition is so rare, that only about 6,000 people world-wide have the disease. Children and adults with the disease have a build-up of iron in the brain that causes neural degeneration, involuntary muscle movements, failing eyesight and difficulty with speech.
The disease is fatal.
“My hands, my eyes and my speech,” have changed in the six years since his diagnosis at age 11, Drew said, his mother Amy interpreting because his speech has been affected by his condition.
At a recent conference for families suffering with NBIA, Drew met other children with the condition and was struck by the need to find a cure, if not for himself, then for the younger children living with the condition.
Drew, his family and friends mobilized to turn Drew’s love of music into a fundraiser for a cure.
Band Together for a Cure will be held at 6:30 p.m. February 10 at Austin Ridge Bible Church. Audioroad, Penny and Sparrow and Friendly Savages will perform. Bountiful Café and Bakery is providing dinner and there will be a silent auction. Tickets are $25. Proceeds will go to the NBIA Disorders Association, an international non-profit that is working to find a cure.
“As a board on NBIA we’ve said that if we can raise $60 million we can cure this,” said Mark Karakourtis, Drew’s father. “For a lot of families, if we can just hang on, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the day, it’s just a dollar figure and time that stands between this and a cure.”
Despite the challenges he has faced, Drew has not lost hope, his mother, Amy, said.
“The great thing about Drew is that as he’s lost abilities, his heart has not lost courage,” Amy said. “He’s a real example of perseverance. It’s taught us to enjoy each day and make the most of your time. It doesn’t take a whole lot to make something special if you have the perspective of ‘Today I can do this and I’m going to do it.’ He’s been a good teacher.”
For now, Drew has decided that organizing a concert fundraiser is what he can do.
For info box: Band Together for a cure will be held at 6:30 p.m. February 10 at Austin Ridge Bible Church, 9300 FM 2244. There will be live music, dinner and a silent auction. Tickets are $25. For more information or to purchase tickets, email amyinaustin@austin.rr.com.

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Photo by Esther Robards-Forbes

This speed limit sign is in the zone around Hatley Park in Rollingwood. The council is considering lowering speed limits in other parts of the city to control cut-through traffic.

The debate about traffic-calming measures in Rollingwood continued at last week’s City Council meeting.

A variety of suggestions about lowering the speed limit citywide to 25 mph have been discussed during the past two weeks at both the City Council meeting and a special hearing. Last week, council members discussed suggestions from the earlier hearing and a few new ideas, which included lowering the speed limit city-wide from 30 to 25 mph, installing medians, bike lanes road humps or speed tables and radar signs.

Reducing or slowing cut-through traffic on streets such as Rollingwood Drive, particularly near the park, is a concern for both residents and city officials.

The majority of residents speaking out appeared to be opposed to lowering the speed limit citywide, but reducing speeds in the park zone and on the whole of Rollingwood Drive were discussed.

“Overwhelmingly, we have been told that [residents] don’t want the entirety of Rollingwood Drive lowered to 25,” Alderwoman Susan Jenkins said at the Jan. 19 meeting.

The current speed limit on Rollingwood Drive is 30 mph, with a suggested speed limit of 25 mph in the zone around Hatley Park.

Several residents raised concerns about vehicles traveling over 40 mph on Rollingwood Drive, but according to Rollingwood Police Department statistics presented at the meeting, 11 speeding tickets were issued in the central stretch of Rollingwood Drive near the park during the past two years.

“To me, 11 speeding tickets in 24 months does not represent a problem,” said Alderwoman Sara Hutson. “I’m not sure what exactly the problem that we’re trying to solve is.”

Hutson suggested that both drivers and pedestrians need to observe standing laws and ordinances, saying that she had observed walkers and joggers on the wrong side of the street, dogs off of leashes and children in the street.

“If we’re trying to be safe, we need the pedestrians to be safe as well as the drivers,” Hutson said.

Residents and council members suggested that the newest traffic study for the city, which is 10 years old, may need to be redone in order to make adjustments based on good data, said Mayor Bill Hamilton.

“I just want to have a pedestrian-friendly city,” Alderman Barry Bone said.

In the end, the council voted 4-0 to increase police presence, provide a police escort for school buses, install digital radar signs and look at installing crosswalks. Bone abstained.

In other action, the council approved a route for the Rollingwood Women’s Club 5K run on April 13. The route will be identical to last year’s route.

The council also approved a special use permit for alcohol sales for Jino’s Sushi and Bistro, which will be located in the former Bistro 88 location at 2712 Bee Cave Road. Under the special use permit, less than 10 percent of the restaurant’s sales can come from alcohol.

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]]> http://westlakepicayune.com/2012/01/27/rollingwood-seeks-to-slow-traffic/feed/ 0 http://westlakepicayune.com/2012/01/27/closures-at-redbud-mark-start-of-changes/ http://westlakepicayune.com/2012/01/27/closures-at-redbud-mark-start-of-changes/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:27:59 +0000 Esther Robards-Forbes http://westlakepicayune.com/?p=16002

Photo by Esther Robards-Forbes

Crews move utility poles near the Bee Cave Road and Redbud Trail intersection in preparation for a widening project that will add turn lanes.

The first in a long line of road closures had Redbud Trail partially shut down at the Bee Cave Road intersection this month, as the Texas Department of Transportation moves forward with plans to install turn lanes and new traffic lights.

A small section of Redbud Trail was closed for a few hours so that utility poles could be moved further from the intersection.In addition, the right turn lane on Redbud Trail that feeds onto Bee Cave Road was later closed by Water District 10 officials to move water lines in the area.

TxDOT officials said they expect to begin work on the intersection expansion in March. Plans for the intersection include a center turn lane, a right turn lane for east-bound traffic on Bee Cave Road and protected left turn signals. The project is expected to cost about $1.4 million, including the cost of moving the water lines.

The partial closures at Redbud Trail are just the first in a long line that are expected to affect the Westbank in the coming months.

TxDOT has big plans for Loop 360 that include changes to most of the intersections between MoPac and U.S. 183.

Many of the intersections will eliminate left turns or stop traffic on side streets from crossing Loop 360. The design, commonly referred to as a “Michigan left,” would employ the use of u-turn lanes with signals that would then allow drivers to make a right turn at the desired intersection.

“Right now, these intersections typically have four signal phases,” said Victor Vargas, assistant director of transportation operations for TxDOT. “One way to alleviate traffic congestion is to remove some of the signal phases.”

Under the currently proposed concept, each intersection would get its own treatment, depending on traffic needs, Vargas said.

Currently, $11 million is available for the project, said TxDOT spokesman John Hurt. Approximately $5 million is coming from Proposition 12 funding, and $6 million is coming from Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization funds.

Construction could begin on the project as early at 2013. TxDOT officials are planning a series of open houses beginning in March to discuss the proposed changes and get resident feedback about the design. At least four meetings will be held, Hut said.

As for the perennial question of widening other sections of Bee Cave Road for a center turn lane, there might finally be some movement, West Lake Hills officials said this month.

Before now, West Lake Hills and TxDOT officials were at a bit of an impasse on plans for Bee Cave Road, said City Administrator Robert Wood.

TxDOT’s current plans for a Bee Cave Road expansion include bike lanes, turn lanes and sidewalks, plan city officials said may not be possible because of the amount of right of way that would have to be donated by property owners along the road.

“[TxDOT] expressed a willingness to work with us on the plan if we can get the right of way,” Wood said. “But we can’t get the right of way until we know how much right of way we need and until they do the plan. It’s gone round and round.”

City officials have agreed to approach property owners to see how much right of way they would be willing to donate and take those estimates to TxDOT to see what could be designed within those constraints, Wood said.

“We’re still working on a few and we hope to resolve that soon since the project has been going on for 15 or 20 years now,” Wood said.

Currently, TxDOT estimates that it will cost $3.5 million to widen the stretch of Bee Cave Road east of Redbud Trail to west of Westbank Drive. It will cost approximately $4 million for the stretch east of Westbank Drive. The project is currently slated for 2017, Hurt said.

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Owner Linda Chang posted a message on the restaurant’s website thanking customers and hinting that the restaurant may open at a later date in a smaller location. The restaurant is currently located in the Westbank Market shopping center at the intersection of Bee Cave Road and Walsh Tarlton Lane.

Chang encouraged customers to keep in touch on the restaurant’s website, chinatownwestlake.com or by email at chinatownwestlake@gmail.com.

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Board members unanimously approved scope changes on nine bond projects, most of which provide HVAC renovations to district campuses. The projects also cover special education renovations at West Ridge Middle School and Valley View Elementary School, the fire alarm system at the Ninth Grade Center and a Life Skills kitchen at Westlake High School.

The changes were largely due to the difference between early project estimates and the actual bids the district is receiving from contractors. Some project bids came in over budget and some under. All projects considered, the district will wind up spending an additional $203,000, a relatively minor increase out of the $54 million bond approved by voters last year.

“What we really had in the budget last May was concept ideas,” said Nola Wellman, district superintendent. “Now we have to go out and get those bid out. The variance is to be expected because of that, because they were strictly concept estimates.”

Any bond project whose cost fluctuates more than 20 percent above or below budgeted estimates has to have the approval of the school board. The nine projects approved during the Friday meeting also had the stamp of approval of the district Bond Oversight Committee.

“The committee determined these scope changes to be reasonable and in the best long-term interest of the district,” said BOC vice chair Mike Salas.

Some of the projects have significant changes in their planned scope. The cost of the HVAC system at Eanes Elementary School will more than double, increasing from $528,500 to $1.1 million. District Executive Director of Facility Management Les Reddin told BOC members in a meeting last week that the district expanded the design plan of that project after hearing from campus teachers that the air conditioning and heating worked in some classrooms and not in others.

The project cost for a kitchen for the Life Skills class at Westlake High dropped $260,000 after the district found existing space that already had the needed infrastructure, Reddin said.

The BOC recommended that the district combine renovation work at The Learning Center, an alternative learning campus at the high school, and The Alternative Education Program, a district disciplinary campus. Reddin said the two campuses are close in proximity and can be handled by one contractor. The BOC also recommended allowing the district to combine HVAC projects at West Ridge Middle School and nearby Barton Creek Elementary School for the same reason.

Teachers, students, parents and Principal Linda Rawlings enthusiastically told board members that the district’s WiFi pilot program, which put 1,600 iPads in the hands of the high school’s seniors and some juniors this year, was a dramatic success.

“We’ve talked a lot about the need for us to make sure that our kids have the 21^st skills they need for learning,” Rawlings said. “It’s 2012 and our schools still look in some places in the country like they did 100 years ago. How do we prepare our kids to make sure our nation is regarded as the top global leader?”

She said the WiFi program at the high school was a great way for students to begin to achieve those goals.

In a survey conducted at the high school, students said the new iPads helped motivate them and made classroom material much more engaging. They said the technology allowed them to better communicate with each other and their teachers.

“Having iPads has revolutionized the way students view school,” said Arnab Chatergee, co-chair of the WiFi Vision Committee that helped bring the iPads to the high school. “It really is about allowing students to become the architects of their own education.”

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