Two of Big Kahuna Donuts co-owners Dennis de la Paz and Rey Patriarca handed out samples at Saturday’s grand opening.

The Larrabee family of Steiner tried the apple fritters, orange glazed and lemon blueberry donuts at Big Kahuna Donut’s grand opening. “Who knew that a healthy donut could be so good?” said mom Bridget.

Steiner tot Stephen Lane showed the crowds in attendance how to eat a donut without abandon.

By  SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

Local restaurateurs the Patriarca family, owners of Hunan Riverplace, celebrated the grand opening of Big Kahuna Donuts in Steiner Ranch on July 2.

Located at 2900 North Quinlan Park Rd. in the Shops at Steiner center, the mission of Big Kahuna is to create an all-natural product that caters to healthier eaters.

As Rey Patriarca, co-owner of Big Kahuna Donuts with his wife Anna and partners Pat Fetizanan, Dennis de la Paz and Pablo Bonjour, explained, it was a challenge to realize their vision. “We couldn’t get the fillings we wanted from suppliers. Everything has preservatives. Everything had imitation flavoring. So it took a little more time but it was worth it.”

Fetizanan, a resident of Florida and best man at the Patriarca’s wedding, is a self-described, “donut connoisseur.”

Continue reading →

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Traffic congestion in Four Points got a lot of attention during the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s public comment period for its 2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Program.

Nearly 90 percent of the comments — or 129 of the 145 total — that CAMPO received during its open comment period that ended June 29 were issues involving RM 620 and RM 2222, said Brian Thompto, who was at the CAMPO transportation policy board meeting last week on July 6.

“The CAMPO board did receive the message from the public,” Thompto said. “We don’t have the funding yet, but it is clear that this project needs funding and seems important to them.”

CAMPO’s response
The local feedback helped put RM 620/RM 2222 improvements back on the CAMPO list of potential near-term projects that could be fast-tracked if funding is identified. The local, Four Points improvements were removed from the 2017-2020 plan recently due to lack of funding.

All projects in the Transportation Improvement Program or TIP must have funding available and be scheduled to begin construction in the four-year TIP window, said CAMPO’s spokesperson Doise Miers.

“While the RM 2222/620 bypass project does have authority for preliminary engineering as it is in the planning stages, it doesn’t currently have construction funding; therefore, it does not meet the criteria to be included in the main list of projects in the 2017-2020 TIP,” Miers said.

However, it is included in appendix G of the 2017-2020 TIP along with other projects that have preliminary engineering, studies, and development work to complete before being eligible to be included in the main body of the TIP document, Miers explained.

Continue reading →

Clay Bales, forester with Texas A&M Forest Service, identified some 30 trees in Steiner Ranch that have oak wilt. “The rate of spread of the disease through the roots is approximately 75 feet per year,” Bales said.

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Oak wilt was recently confirmed in Steiner Ranch and managing the disease is difficult. Oak wilt spreads quickly, especially through tree roots, ultimately killing most trees that are susceptible.

“The rate of spread of the disease through the roots is approximately 75 feet per year,” said Clay Bales, Texas A&M Forest Service forester.

Once oak wilt infects an oak tree, the disease can spread through the roots to other oak trees. Out of all of the oak varieties, red oaks and live oaks are most susceptible to the disease.

Roots form a network underground which accelerates the rapid spread.

“Large live oaks can root-graft to other large live oaks up to 200 feet away,” Bales said.

Continue reading →

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The University Interscholastic League announced the six winners of the 2015-16 UIL Lone Star Cup on Friday and Vandegrift won its second consecutive UIL Lone Star Cup in conference 5A.

“Winning the 5A UIL Lone Star cup for the 2nd year in a row is a historic accomplishment for a high school that only opened in 2009,” said Charlie Little, principal of VHS. “I am extremely proud of all of the academic, fine arts and athletic coaches and their students for all of the hard work they put in to achieve this goal.”

The UIL Lone Star Cup is an award that recognizes the best overall athletic, fine arts and academic programs in Texas.

Vandegrift won the cup with 115 points with state championships in boys swimming and boys golf. The Vipers also earned points with state runner-up finishes in marching band, girls golf and team tennis and its academics team finishing fifth overall at state. VHS also tallied points in boys and girls soccer, volleyball, football and boys basketball.

This year VHS reached 21 points higher than its score last year of 94.

Continue reading →