July 2010 - Community Impact Newspaper

821 Grand Avenue Parkway, Ste. 411
Pflugerville, TX 78691 • 512-989-6808
www.impactnews.com
Publisher / Chief Executive Officer
John P. Garrett, jgarrett@impactnews.com
Lake Travis/Westlake
General Manager | Phyllis Campos
Market Editor | Tiffany Young
Senior Account Executive | Lauren Itz
Lead Designer | Leah Breslin
Staff Writers | Samantha Bryant, Eric Pulsifer,
Jenn Rains, Mary Tuma
Contributing Writers | Patrick Brendel,
Jessica Brown, K. Jenney
Editorial Intern | Valerie Lai
Editorial management
Associate Publisher | Claire Love
Executive Editor
Cathy Kincaid, ckincaid@impactnews.com
Managing Editor | Shannon Colletti
Assistant Managing Editor | Rebecca Nordquist
Creative Director | Derek Sullivan
Ad Production Manager | Tiffany Knight
Administrative management
Chief Operating Officer | Jennifer Garrett
Chief Financial Officer | Darren Lesmeister
Business Director | Misty Pratt
Circulation & Operations Manager | David Ludwick
About us
Community Impact Newspaper, owned by local
businessman John Garrett, is Central Texas’ fastest
growing news organization. We now distribute
to nearly 550,000 homes and businesses in seven
markets in Central Texas and one in northwest
Houston.
Subscriptions
Subscriptions to our other editions are available for
$3 per issue. Visit impactnews.com/subscribe
Contact us
News or press releases | ltwnews@impactnews.com
Advertising inquiries | ltwads@impactnews.com
Reader feedback | ltwfeedback@impactnews.com
2009
M•E•D•I•A
I N C O R P O R A T E D
©2010 JGMedia, Inc., All Rights Reserved. No reproduction of any
portion of this issue is allowed without written permission from the publisher.
General Manager’s Note Contents
As a parent with kids
starting at Westlake High
School this year, I was
delighted when Dr. Nola
Wellman, superintendent
of Eanes ISD, recently told me Westlake
High School made No. 58 on Newsweek
magazine’s annual “Top 100 High
Schools” list.
As the only high school in EISD,
Westlake has an exemplary rating. This
month, as we continue our look at education
in the area, we visit issues such
as the current bond proposal and Texas
Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test
scores. We also take a look at how funding
from education foundations affect
Chapter 41 school districts in Texas.
Eanes’ issues are not unlike others in
the region or state. For that matter, how
do you plan for growth and stay
Online poll
Where do you generally shop?*
Hill Country Galleria 3.3 %
Arboretum 6.7%
Barton Creek Square Mall 20%
Lakeline Mall 13.3%
Other 43.3%
*Results as of June 21, 2010
Vote at impactnews.com/ltw
Reader Feedback
“The June 4 edition arrived on Friday. I enjoy
reading your newspaper and find it not only
interesting but very informative as well. I also
believe in buying from locally owned businesses
when I can and find that many such businesses are
featured in your publication. Thank you for putting
out an outstanding local newspaper. “
—Capt. Lee Nelson
West Lake and Lake Travis, Texas/Nadi, Fiji
ltwfeedback@impactnews.com
competitive in a volatile economy with
declining tax support? The Eanes school
board, with three new members, has a lot
on its plate this year, and many parents
in the district will be watching to see if,
or how, this bond package materializes.
While funding education can be
complicated, transportation seems to be
just as much so. It seems, to me, there
are more and more cars on the road in
west Travis County these days—Find
out which roads made the CAMPO 2035
Plan for improvements and extensions in
our Transportation Report on Page 19.
impactnews.com
Phyllis Campos
pcampos@impactnews.com
Local jobs
Post your résumé and search for local
jobs at impactnews.jobing.com.
May employment trends
Central Texas unemployment—6.9%
Down from 7.0% in April
State unemployment—8.3%
No change from April
National unemployment—9.7%
Down from 9.9% in April
In May 43,600 jobs were added in Texas. The business
sector added 10,200 jobs, and the hospitality industry
added 9,600.
Source: Charla Lovelace, Jobing.com
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Online-exclusive content
Visit the Lake Travis/Westlake home page
for up-to-date community news, information and a full
calendar of local events.
Find us online at impactnews.com/ltw.
Community Impact Newspaper • impactnews.com July 2010 | 3
4 Community Impacts
6 Business Profiles
Abbey Designer Floors of Texas Inc.
Games2U
8 Neighborhood Dining
Maudie’s Tex-Mex
11 City and County Notes
13 Local History
Lammes Candies
15 Vote 2010
Congressional District 10
19 Transportation Report
CAMPO’s 2035 Plan
21 Education Focus
Eanes ISD
27 Regional Report
Downtown Austin Plan
28 Real Estate Report
In This Issue
6
12
7
7
19
“We were one of the first
companies to start a
business out here—before
Lowe’s, before The Home
Depot, before there was
even a dream of a mall.”
—Ron Ferguson,
manager, Abbey Designer
Floors of Texas Inc.
“We just want to create
a company where kids
can feel like a rock star for
a day.”
—David Pikoff,
co-owner, Games2U
“I think the CAMPO process
is broken—it ends up
being a wish list of every
small locality.”
—Karen Huber,
Precinct 3, Travis County
commissioner
Correction - Volume 1, Issue 5
Deborah and Johnny Sheldon recently
opened Strandz Hair Salon at 2127
Lohmans Crossing Road, Ste. 308. Call the
salon at 436-9111.