By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

Since the Texas Legislature expanded a law in 2003 to allow parents to exempt their children from vaccination requirements due to philosophical or personal objections, hundreds of Leander ISD parents have done just that and exempted their children from mandated vaccinations.

Now, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that at least 121 people from 17 states have contracted measles in the worst outbreak in recent memory, LISD officials are concerned that unvaccinated children create an avoidable health risk.

“There is a growing concern within the medical community and from the two county health departments that work with LISD,” said Karla Barth, assistant director of risk management and district nurse for Leander ISD. “School districts are charged with following the law and we will continue to monitor the situation and take guidance from our local health departments.”

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 916 Leander ISD students — 2.59 percent of the district’s overall enrollment — were exempted from vaccination requirements for non-medical reasons during the 2013-14 school year.

Immunization exemption rates in local schools

Continue reading →

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The Austin City Council passed six affordable housing projects last week including the controversial Cardinal Point development slated for Four Points Drive. The proposed Cardinal Point apartments would bring up to 125 affordable housing units to Four Points by as early as summer 2017.

“We’re grateful for the council’s support,” said Walter Moreau, the executive director of Foundation Communities. Two of the six proposed projects the council passed are Foundation Communities’ projects. In addition to the local project, the other one is located off of North Mopac.

“We will continue with the design of the community and the state funding process, which goes through the end of July,” Moreau said. Continue reading →

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Oasis Texas Brewing Co. is being sued by New Belgium Brewing because both claim to have the right to the name Slow Ride.

“New Belgium is basically making two points: they’ve done an exhaustive search for the name, and that we wouldn’t settle amicably,” said Max Schleder, president of Oasis Texas Brewing at the Oasis Texas complex in Four Points.

Schleder said that it is “completely false” that they wouldn’t amicably settle.

“We’re big fans and we still like them to this day,” he added.

Oasis Texas Brewing started producing their pale ale under the name Slow Ride early last year. On April 29, 2014 the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission gave the local brewery approval for the name Slow Ride. By May, Slow Ride was on the market.

Fort Collins, Colo.-based New Belgium also has a Slow Ride. It is a session IPA.

But because Oasis Brewing didn’t register the name Slow Ride with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office until Nov. 5 — several months after New Belgium filed for the trademark — New Belgium is legally seeking to clarify where either brewery can use the name Slow Ride, according to reports. Continue reading →

Zenoss Inc., headquartered on Four Points Drive, had 103 percent sales growth over the past year. Here are employees at a company meeting at The Oasis Restaurant in late January.  Zenoss’ future plans may include an IPO. In the meantime, the company unveiled its new brand and is hiring 25 more staffers.

By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

Zenoss Inc., headquartered in Four Points Drive, had 103 percent sales growth over the past year and its future plans may include an IPO. In the meantime, the company just unveiled its new brand and is hiring 25 more staffers, most to join the 125 local employees.

The high tech company also was recently named by Forbes as one of the best cloud computing companies and CEOs to work for in 2015.

Zenoss, located at 11305 Four Points Drive, Bldg 1, is a leading provider of unified monitoring and analytics solutions for physical, virtual, and cloud-based IT infrastructure and applications. The product allows companies to determine what IT issues are happening in their environment before the users are impacted.

“You’ll know more and be able to act faster than you could with any other monitoring tools, and without the rigidness and hefty price tag of legacy monitoring frameworks,” said Ginger Blankenship, vice president of human resources. “It’s helping the different IT teams get to a root cause much faster and more efficiently, rather than everyone pointing fingers and taking days to rectify what might impact customers.” Continue reading →

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

There is an Austin City Council vote coming up on Thursday and a majority vote would give Foundation Communities the go-ahead with its plans to build an affordable housing apartment complex with 125 units off of Four Points Drive. If approved, the project would break ground next year and likely open summer 2017.

The project called Cardinal Point would be built in State Rep. Donna Howard’s District 48.

Donna Howard

Howard is in favor of the project. She said that Foundation Communities has a long history of developing quality housing and educational services in Austin with more than 1,500 units, and that Cardinal Point would meet a need in a high-opportunity area of Northwest Austin.

“This new apartment community will create a rare affordable rental option for families that want to live and work in the Four Points area,” Howard stated last week. “I am proud to support the project’s TDHCA (Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs) application, and will be submitting a letter of endorsement to the department.”

But not everyone supports the project. City Council Member Don Zimmerman, District 6, is against it.

Don Zimmerman

“Barring a natural disaster, there is no way a democrat city council is going to vote (against Cardinal Point). It is part of their agenda,” said Zimmerman, who added that he will vote against it. Continue reading →