Give a Pint, Get a Pint at the Blood Center

The Blood Center of Central Texas typically experiences a drop in blood donation during the holidays as people busy themselves with shopping and travel. But, the necessity of a steady supply of blood never takes a holiday.

That's why the Center is hosting the Amy's Ice Cream Give a Pint Get a Pint Holiday Drive. Each blood donor will be thanked with a FREE pint of Amy's Ice Cream.

Cedar Park Community Blood Center
920 N Vista Ridge Blvd
(at FM 1431)

For more information, visit the Blood Center website at: http://www.inyourhands.org/

Recycle Your Christmas Tree at PEC

Happy Holidays! Now, if you've had your fill of Christmas decorations and you're ready to get rid of the tree, don't just throw it out. Pedernales Electric Cooperative is recycling Christmas trees again this year.

Starting today, you can drop off your natural, undecorated tree during regular business hours at PEC's office in Cedar Park. The last day to participate in the recycling program is Jan. 5, 2009.

As part of its Green Works initiative and ongoing conservation efforts, PEC will mulch donated trees and distribute the chips to enhance and beautify playgrounds and parks in its service area.

For more information or directions, call PEC toll-free at 1-888-554-4732, or visit their web site, www.pec.coop.

Pedernales Electric
1949 West Whitestone Boulevard
Cedar Park, TX 78630
Mon-Fri: 8 to 5
Sat 8 to noon
View Map

Vista Ridge Hires Vincent as Head Football Coach

Vista Ridge High School just announced that Coach Rodney Vincent has been named Head Football Coach and Athletic Coordinator.

From the Vista Ridge Insider:

Coach Vincent has maintained outstanding academic and athletic programs during his coaching career. In his most recent position as Athletic Coordinator and Head Football Coach at Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, his teams have been to the 5A Football Playoffs three years, while his student athletes have maintained an impressive 98.7% passing rate.

“Coach Vincent truly reflects the values of Vista Ridge High School and LISD,” said Paul Johnson, VRHS Principal Paul Johnson said.

Report Criticizes Former PEC Leaders' Practices

According to the Statesman, Navigant Consulting just released its report on the practices of former Pedernales Electric co-op management:

"The explosive 390-page report documents in exhaustive detail [former general manager] Fuelberg's authoritarian management style, a complacent board that rubber-stamped his decisions and a lack of budget controls. It also details a systemic pattern of questionable payments, transactions and business ventures that drained the co-op of tens of millions of dollars with little to no transparency and put the co-op at risk, Navigant said.

The report is the result of Navigant's eight-month probe zeroing in on ten years' worth of practices and expenditures at Pedernales from 1998 to 2007. The probe encompassed interviews with 80 witnesses and the review of more than 1.3 million pages of co-op documents. Navigant said the co-op's staff, now under the direction of general manager Juan Garza, cooperated fully."

Read the full story: Report on PEC: Documents destroyed, $510,000 in payments unexplained.

Check Out Santa's Workshop Saturday

Head over to Santa’s Workshop Saturday and enjoy music, games, a yule fire, arts & crafts, and, of course, Santa Claus. This event is free and open to the public, and offers a variety of festive, family-friendly activities.

Santa's Workshop
Location: Heritage Oak Park, 875 Quest Parkway
Date: December 13, 2008
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Hot cocoa will be available for $1 and you can have your picture taken with Santa for $1. Bring an unwrapped toy for Blue Santa and receive a free cup of hot cocoa.

For more information, visit the City of Cedar Park website.

Texas Fares Better in Foreclosures

RealtyTrac, a company that specializes in tracking foreclosure data, reported this week that foreclosures dropped 7 percent nationwide in November, although they were up 28 percent from the same month last year.

According to the company, there were 259,085 foreclosure filings (including default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions) across the U.S. in November, but Texas fared much better than many other states, with only 7,843 total.

Read more: http://centraltexrealestate.com/2008/12/texas-foreclosure-rates-improve/.

Winter Comes to Cedar Park

The weather folks said we might get snow tonight, and what do you know, we did. Here's a pic from about 10:15 PM.

183A Goes Cashless

You may have noticed that you didn't have to slow down as much while merging on to 183A this week. Wondering why? The toll road went cashless starting Monday, so drivers without a TxTag no longer have to stop. Instead, their license plates are photographed and they receive bills by mail.

If you don't have a TxTag account yet, you just need to sign up and get a sticker for your car window. Starter kits begin at $20, and you'll save about 25 percent off the toll rates charged to pay-by-mail users.

TxTag
1-888-468-9824
http://www.txtag.org/