Community Health Improvement Plan Increases Accessibility to Healthy Foods for Austin Residents

Cindy Kotrady is a 27-year-old Austin resident. She lives in what is known as a “food desert,” and does not have walking access to a healthy food distribution point from her home. Kotrady represents the average Austin resident. For many living in Austin, limited access to healthy food distribution points is simply a harsh reality.

However, new implementations put in place by the Austin/Travis County community health plan will make it easier for all residents to access healthy foods, according to Shannon Jones, the Chair of the Austin/Travis County Community Health Improvement Planning (CHIP) program, at a meeting about the results of the plan’s first year.

2014 Texas Book Festival Highlights

In case you missed it, here is where you can find photos, videos, blog posts and more about this year's Texas Book Festival.

Annual Literary Pub Crawl To Occur Saturday Night

For Texas Book Festival attendees, the literary events need not end with the festival. According to the official Texas Book Festival website, the annual “Lit Crawl” will occur the night of Saturday, Oct. 25.
 
The Lit Crawl is an after-hours event designed to allow both festival goers and other interested parties to interact with many authors featured in the Texas Book Festival. The event is sponsored by the Texas Book Festival and Litquake, a book festival centered in San Francisco. 

The event features such events as interactive trivia, jeopardy and readings from authors at multiple venues in Austin, all for free. The Lit Crawl primarily centers on E 6th Street and the surrounding area and takes place at local bars and restaurants, such as The Volstead and The Liberty. 

Although the Lit Crawl identifies itself as a type of pub crawl, certain events are open to all ages, such as a live reading by authors Adam Gidwitz, Michelle Knudson, and Danya Lorentz, young adult fiction writers, at the Texas State Cemetery. 

The event kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and continues till 10:15 p.m. and serves as an interim between days of the Texas Book Festival.

Read the full story and see other multimedia at the Texas Book Fest reporting blog.

UTPD Issues New Bike Unit To Patrol Campus and West Campus

Any person that has traveled Guadalupe Street during the weekday is undoubtedly familiar with the masses of automobile and pedestrian traffic that clog the street. While this traffic is frustrating for any average work-goer, it also creates a delay in the University of Texas Police Department’s response to crime calls.

To combat this situation, UTPD issued a new bike squad on Sept. 17. The unit intends to reduce the amount of time it takes to arrive at a crime scene and serve as a reassuring police presence for UT students. UT campus is nestled in a heavily populated area of Austin, which makes it difficult for police cars to patrol the area, according to UTPD officer Layne Brewster. On bikes, however, Brewster said the police can patrol more thoroughly and quickly.

Strained Relations Between Texas And Mexico Affect Mexican Independence Day Celebrations

The iconic Texas flag that covers the south side of the Texas State Capitol waved in the gentle breeze Monday evening; below it, in stark contrast, stood a sea of faces painted with the red, white and green of the Mexican flag.

A celebration for Mexican Independence Day occurred Monday, Sept. 15, on the South Steps of the Texas Capitol. Thousands of people, primarily of Hispanic-American descent, in the Austin area came out to commemorate the holiday and celebrate freedom in the United States. Given the recent tension between the Texan and Mexican governments, though, this celebration raised some controversy. Many attendees expressed wariness toward celebrating at the Capitol.