Time to Order Luminarias

It's time again to order luminarias from your Newman Park Neighborhood Association. While you are at it, make a donation to the Association online (yellow donate button in right side column) or by filling out the form and following the mailing instructions.

Order Form English

Order Form Spanish

Attend Public Meeting about EPISD Proposed School Closures

The Capital Facilities Master Plan meeting is on Monday, December 8 at 6 PM in the Austin High School Gym. We need our Central area folks to come out for this meeting and weigh in on the issues that matter to us. The Board of Managers commissioned a study of the facility needs and issues throughout the district, including the fact that we have too many classrooms for too few kids. Based on that analysis, they have developed several options for the public to weigh in on. Options including closing schools, improving schools, changing school boundaries...

The options document can be found at:
http://www.episd.org/file_mgr/facilities/master_plan/1.00%20EPISD_DRAFT_OPTIONS_REPORT_Nov_3rd_2014.pdf

Be forewarned that it is a lot of info to digest and it is put together by engineers who don't seem particularly concerned if the public understands the information. For our area, the options being presented can be found in the following sections.

Planning Area B.H.1: (High schools)
Planning Area B.M.1: (Middle schools)
Planning Area B.E.2. (Elementary schools)

One proposal is to close Alta Vista Elementary. It is not because there are too few students there but because the condition is not great, which in my opinion is more a function of decades of neglect rather than a poor quality building. 

I have served on the steering committee. The public process has been clunky at best but I think this is a good opportunity for us to weigh in about the following issues:
1. the condition of our historic schools and the need to maintain them,
2. any other facility needs that we think need to be addressed in our area,
3. the need to really work to make Austin High shine again, including improving their magnet program, and 
4. Anything else that we think should be a priority for the district as it pertains to our area.

Thank you.

Susie Byrd
EPISD Board Trustee in Waiting

Reawakening!

Time to order luminarias!

After almost a year of hibernation, the Newman Park Neighborhood Association is reawakening. 

A General Meeting was held at the Friesenhahn home on November 15 and new board members were elected: Lynn Coyle (NPNA's founding President), Orlando Arriola, Andy Baca, Becky Friesenhahn, Robert Taylor and Jim Tolbert. 

This past Tuesday the new Board met at the Tolbert home and officers for 2015 were elected: Andy Baca (Secretary), Robert Taylor (Treasurer), Becky Friesenhahn (Vice-President) and Jim Tolbert (President). 

The Board made plans for the annual luminarias fundraiser. Expect a sales flyer soon at your front door. Along with the information about the fundraiser, the flyer will ask for donations from members of the Newman Park Neighborhood Association. Who is a member? President Jim Tolbert said that all people in the Association boundaries should be considered members. There is no membership fee. Instead, there is a suggested donation of $20 per household. But less is okay and certainly more will be appreciated. So give what you can.

Of course, donations can be made online at any time. Just go to www.newmanpark.blogspot.com and click on the yellow donate button.

FREE Check Up Calls Helps Senior El Pasoans During Extreme Heat

City Offers FREE Check Up Calls For Seniors Calling All Seniors Program 

Aimed to do a welfare check – over the phone - for seniors living alone 

EL PASO, TEXAS – These past few days we have encountered SEVERE temperatures in the Sun City and we are urging the public to take action to protect themselves and others during these extreme weather conditions. The City of El Paso’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) – Calling All 
Seniors is available to assist in making sure the community’s seniors are safe. 

RSVP is a FREE program aimed at making sure a senior living alone is safe. Seniors (55 years and older) in the program will receive a friendly phone call from a volunteer to make sure they are safe. Each program volunteer is paired up with the senior based on similar interests – hobbies, education, background, etc. so that they may have things in common to talk about during the check-up call. The phone calls will be made at the senior’s convenience (mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekdays, weekends). The phone calls can be made daily or even once a week, whatever they prefer. 

This free phone call is a great way to ensure the safety of a senior living alone who is homebound, isolated and in need of a check-up call or somebody to talk to. 

Calling All Seniors depends on public awareness for its success. We hope that the public will identify and report seniors who need this service. Currently over 75 volunteers registered with the RSVP are calling over 75 seniors that have been referred by agencies and residents. The service is free of charge. It is essential that the community look out for one another, especially the seniors in our community – many of them do not have anybody to care for them and are in desperate need of assistance. A friendly telephone call, that will make sure they are safe, may be their life saver. 

If you are interested in this 
free service please call: 
(915) 212-1685

Park and Ride from 5 Points to the Chihuahuas Games

Learn How to Identify Stash Houses for Human Traffiing

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