With traffic on the section of Wurzbach Road heading toward Bandera backing up during peak hours, Leon Valley has looked into some options for decreasing the number of accidents in the area and increasing safety for pedestrians.
Through the San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization, Leon Valley has applied for a grant through the Transportation Improvement Program.
“This particular grant is for an elevated center median with landscaping and designated turn lanes,” said Leon Valley City Manager Lanny Lambert. “This was generated because of the traffic accidents occurring from Ancira customers who drive out of the Ancira repair shop and get hit on Wurzbach.”
While the safety of the drivers is certainly at stake, the city has also been worried about VIA bus riders trying to cross the road after disembarking.
“The raised center median would create a safer way for the pedestrian to cross the street,” said John Hargis, an intern for the city manager. “There's a bus stop right there in front of some apartments on Wurzbach, and across from that is a shelter. VIA wanted to make sure the bus riders could cross it in segments rather than all at once.”
The city's share of the project would be 20 percent of construction costs, with the estimated cost coming in at $234,419 from the MPO and $58,605 coming from Leon Valley if the project were done in fiscal year 2012. Those figures are estimated to rise to $243,796 and $60,949, respectively, if the project waits until fiscal year 2013.
In addition to providing safety, the center median would include landscaping and irrigation for the aesthetic value of the road.
“This is one of three grants we've submitted,” said Lambert. “It's pretty important because about 25,000 cars a day drive down this road. We average three accidents a day, and we'd like to do what we can to cut down on that.”
The council briefly discussed the option of putting bicycle lanes on Wurzbach Road but ultimately decided it would be too dangerous for riders in a high-traffic area.
“One of the previous grants under the same program was for improvements on Evers Road,” said Hargis. “If the city is awarded that money, they discussed putting bicycle lanes there.”
According to Hargis, the final grants should be awarded by spring of 2009.
VIEWPOINT: New blend of media expands free speech
Thursday, 20 November 2008
By Gene Policinski Guest Commentary
The village green has grown to include the village screen.
The 21st century dynamics of free press and free speech are an intriguing blend of traditional news media, new technology, personal messages and even entertainment programming.
And, considering the success of President-elect Barack Obama's use of e-mail, text messages and social-networking sites like facebook.com in his campaign, First Amendment scholars may be revising contemporary definitions of assembly and petition as well.
Consider these post-Election Day observations, based on reports from colleagues at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., and news reports elsewhere:
Modern-day “town criers” brought Election Night news in a personal way: News reports said more than 1.2 billion text messages were sent between 7 p.m. and midnight on Nov. 4, as broadcasters and Web sites reported state-by-state results and then the news broke around 11 p.m. ET that Sen. Obama would be the 44th president of the United States.
Mainstream print media still matter, but in new ways: Beginning at 7 a.m. ET on Nov. 5, Newseum visitors and tourists stood as many as five deep at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. to examine newspaper front pages from the 50 states and overseas reporting Obama's historic victory. Television crews followed. It was a unique New Age experience – people posing with printed newspapers, in front of broadcast media, for cell-phone photos to be sent wirelessly to Web sites.
Journalism is not only “the first draft of history,” but also the historical memento: USA Today sold an extra 380,000 copies post-election and more online since. The Washington Post printed 1,050,000 commemorative editions. The Chicago Tribune printed more than 1.1 million copies of the Nov. 5 edition, about 410,000 more than its regular run. The Los Angeles Times printed at least 200,000 extra copies. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had to reprint five times for a total of 248,000 extra newspapers.
TV ratings were shared in a new way: ABC News topped all Election Night competitors with 13.2 million viewers, but cable's CNN came in second at 12.3 million. NBC's “SNL Presidential Bash” was the network's top entertainment program for the week, with 14.4 million viewers.
In the nation's earliest years, pamphleteers like Thomas Paine, partisan newspaper editors and publishers like Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Bache and a host of Colonial orators in town halls and on village greens fueled debate and provided information to the public. It was that politicized press and speech, and a desire to protect the public's right to challenge and petition its government for change, that prompted the 45 words of the First Amendment.
Fast-forward to 2008. A Nov. 3 article by Adam Nagourney of The New York Times was premised on the idea that the Obama Internet strategy has “rewritten the rules on how to reach voters, raise money, organize supporters, manage the news media, track and mold public opinion, and wage – and withstand – political attacks.” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas of The Washington Post has been researching “Triple O,” the nickname for Obama's online operation, and its reach to new groups of voters such as students and its fund-raising success. He told a Newseum audience in October that the model for this 2008 effort was none other than Sen. John McCain's 2000 campaign's use of the Net to attract donations.
Vargas says the Web is outpacing television as the source for news and information: “I think we're transitioning away from the era of sound bites … . The way we interact with news has fundamentally changed. ”
Gene Policinski is vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center of Washington, D.C.
VIEWPOINT: Texas legislators prefile bills
Thursday, 20 November 2008
By Jeff Wentworth Guest Commentary
Texas legislators began filing bills on Nov. 10 for the 81st Legislature, which convenes on Jan. 13, 2009.
Prefiling a bill doesn't guarantee its passage; however, such bills are assigned lower bill numbers, which places them in a more favorable position for a committee hearing.
Some of the bills I plan to prefile include: a congressional redistricting commission bill; a mandatory real estate sales price disclosure bill including reforms of appraisal districts; a bill that allows persons who are 21 or older and are licensed to carry a concealed weapon to do so on college campuses; and a bill that will enhance Texas juries' effectiveness.
My redistricting bill would take congressional redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature and place it in the hands of an independent, bipartisan citizens' redistricting commission.
I believe strongly that a redistricting commission made up of citizens, rather than legislators, would greatly reduce the historical gerrymandering that has regularly taken place in Texas for the past four decades. Unlike most other states, current law in Texas does not require that the actual purchase price of property be listed in the deed; as a result, appraisal districts rely on the multiple listing service (MLS) and other sources of information to assess property values.
The purchase of commercial property is rarely listed in MLS, preventing the property from being valued accurately, shifting the tax burden to homeowners. A bill requiring sales price disclosure when a person sells a piece of real estate would result in a fairer distribution of the property tax burden. Currently, concealed handguns are not allowed on Texas college and university campuses. Because that prohibition leaves Texas students defenseless and vulnerable to attacks by armed wackos, I believe that law should be changed.
Mass murders on college and university campuses would have resulted in lives saved had a person with a license to carry a concealed handgun been on the scene.
Because only persons who are 21 years of age or older may be licensed to carry a concealed weapon in Texas, very few college students (mostly seniors and graduate students) would be eligible to carry a weapon on campus, and those who are would have to be trained and licensed before they could carry one.
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence, I will file a bill that will enhance the jury's effectiveness by allowing jurors both to take notes during trials and to ask questions of witnesses by submitting their questions in writing to the judge, who then decides whether the question is relevant and may be asked.
During the time before the Legislature convenes, I will keep you informed about other bills I prefile and any that may be of particular interest filed by other senators.
Texas State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) represents District 25, which includes part of Bexar County. He can be reached via e-mail at
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Dots connects low prices with high fashion
Thursday, 20 November 2008
By Miranda Koerner Staff Writer
The scene outside the new Dots store in the Bandera Pointe Shopping Center looked more like a scene from New York Fashion Week than a women's retail store opening.
Colorful lights flashed from a DJ booth pumping dance tracks while women stood in a line that snaked to the end of the shopping center.
Inside, employees were dancing with shoppers at the grand opening event from 6 to 9 p.m.
“I'm here because of that noise,” one shopper joked, pointing to the DJ booth. “I was at the Christian bookstore next door, and all I could hear was the music. (But) the prices are right.”
Dots originated in 1987 in Ohio as a store called Bobbi Gee, which served both men and women. Eventually, the store marketed solely to women, focusing on providing quality brands, such as Angel or Paris Blue, at low prices. Every piece at Dots is marked under $25. Customers can purchase T-shirts for as low as $6 and dress pants for $15.
“I don't think a lot of women know about a place where you can find high fashion at such a cheap price,” Alexis Castro, sales associate said. “We've got everything from athletics to causal fashion.”
The shop's main target is women 18 to 25 and offers clothing in four categories: active wear, club wear, professional wear and causal wear. In addition, Dots sells handbags, undergarments, jewelry and shoes.
“We call them our diva group,” Samantha Martinez, Dots store opener, said. “A diva is a woman who is confident and trendy. It could be anyone — a single mom, a student. We think of women as fresh and exciting, and that's what we try to provide our customers.”
Women of all ages mingled at the Dots opening.
While there are other Dots locations in San Antonio, Martinez said the Bandera location was a special concept store designed by a panel of customers.
“From our music to the color palette of the store, it's all what the women wanted,” Martinez said. “We provide what they want. Customer service is our primary goal. We try to keep that boutique feel for every woman that walks in. We want them to feel catered to.”
A unique thing about the Dots store is that it offers sizes 0 to 24 in all the pieces, not just a select few. Martinez noted it was important that the plus-size pieces cost the same as the junior pieces, since many plus-size stores can be expensive.
“We want to offer the same shirt for a junior in plus size,” Martinez said. “Plus-size women tend to feel they are restricted to jeans and T-shirts, but not here. If we have skinny jeans or leggings for a junior size, we have it for plus size.”
Many women at the opening were searching for everything from lower priced work tops and pants to handbags and shoes. Mothers were there towing along their daughters while couples perused outfits for upcoming holiday events.
“(Dots) is my favorite store,” said longtime shopper Ally, who declined to give her last name. “I've made friends with a lot of the associates here. I like the price and fashion.”
Dots is located at 11643 Bandera Road in the Bandera Pointe Shopping Center. Hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 520-8822.
Keystone grade-schoolerplaces nationally in math
Thursday, 20 November 2008
By Marvin Pfeiffer Staff Writer
It's no surprise that Keystone third-grader Adithya Mummidi is quite adept at sixth- and seventh-grade math. What is surprising is that the young student is only in the third grade.
Mummidi, who lives with his family in northwest San Antonio and studies at Keystone School, received fifth place in the Level 1 Math Bee at the 16th annual North South Foundation national Finals Championships (NSF) held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., this September. He competed against 94 other students from across the country to win the award.
NSF is a non-profit voluntary organization designed to promote academic excellence among children of Indian origin.
Mummidi qualified for the national competition by first competing at a regional NSF regional competition here in San Antonio at the India Association of San Antonio Center. He finished first in math and second in spelling at the local competition, enabling him to move on to the national level.
“There was one round with 20 questions where you had to write down everything and then answer the problem and then there were five bonus questions after those,” Mummidi said of the competition's structure.
"Then there was a lightning round where you had to do questions in 45 seconds. You had to work them out in about 30 seconds because the person took about 15 seconds to tell them to you and then you had to put it down on an answer sheet.”
Mummidi was also entered in a spelling contest but didn't advance to the final round there.
“I also competed in spelling but I didn't make it to the top 15,” Mummidi said. “I was nervous for the math but in the spelling one I wasn't too nervous because I had one of my friends sitting next to me.”
Mummidi plans to go back to the competition next year to see if he can do even better the next time. He says he'll probably skip the spelling part though and just concentrate on the math contest.
“I really like math. It's one of my favorite subjects. I started doing math when I was in pre-K. I was home schooled, so I started learning multiplication when I went to a Montessori school.”
His parents recently enrolled the young prodigy at Keystone School where they are thrilled to have him.
“Adithya is a fabulous student,” said Lindsey Oefinger, his third grade teacher. “He's definitely the epitome of a Keystone kid. He loves math. The minute you give him a challenge he's on it and he's got it figured out in no time. He's a great kid.”
Oefinger said she feels fortunate to be able to work with gifted children such as Adithya.
“It's amazing,” Oefinger said. “I'm so blessed to be here at Keystone. These kids are so easy to teach because they want to be here and they want to learn. He's the same way.”
