By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Nicholas Wyzykowski

Nicholas Wyzykowski has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after he admitted that he was drunk on Dec. 27, 2013 when he caused the crash that killed Steiner Ranch Elementary kindergarten teacher Peggy Howard and her son Cale, a Vandegrift High School senior.

Wyzykowski, 22, pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of intoxication manslaughter and five counts of intoxication assault.

The accident on RM 620 N. in Four Points also sent five others to hospitals with injuries including broken backs, broken ribs, a broken neck, a broken femur and a punctured lung.

The former University of Alabama student was initially charged with 19 felonies following the incident. Other felonies in this case are pending and Wyzykowski’s next court date is Nov. 21, said Linda Estrada, Travis County court clerk.

According to court documents, Wyzykowski must serve half of his punishment before he is eligible for parole review. Once he is released, he will be placed on probation for 10 years. Continue reading →

By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

Vandegrift High School was one of only four Central Texas high schools to receive a gold medal as one of the Best High Schools in Texas based on the 2014 U.S. News and World Report.

VHS was ranked the 41st best high school in the state and 347th best in the nation. Rankings are determined by a number of factors including reading and geometry proficiency, overall student performance, disadvantaged student performance, college readiness and Advanced Placement student performance.

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By SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

September rains added two feet to Lake Travis, bringing it to 35 percent of capacity, though still 40 feet below average.

Current combined water storage in Lakes Buchanan and Travis is 702,117 acre feet of water. An acre foot is equivalent to the amount of water standing one foot deep on a acre of land.

So far this year, the Lower Colorado River Authority, which manages water in the Lower Colorado lakes chain, has avoided having to issue a Drought Worse Than the Drought of Record Declaration. This would happen were combined storage levels to drop below 600,000 acre feet, the historic low experienced in the 1950s.

Furthermore, meteorologists are still predicting a “wetter pattern” to develop sometime in November.

Bob Rose, LCRA chief meteorologist, states this should be accompanied by, “above normal rainfall continuing into early spring… This pattern should bring our region frequent cloudy, rainy days during late fall and winter.”

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By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

3M ​—​ the 112-year-old innovation company that never stops inventing from Post It notes and Scotch Guard to cell phone parts, fiber optics and touch screen hardware ​—​ came to Four Points when little else was here.

Now three decades and nearly 900 employees later, Four Points is home to 3M’s global headquarters of the 3M Electronics and Energy Business Group. The group that last week posted $1.5 billion in sales in the third quarter.

The local operations are the only one of 3M’s five business groups headquartered outside of St. Paul. Last year, the local group generated more than $5.4 billion in global sales.

The third quarter report released on Oct. 23 stated that electronics-related sales increased 8 percent year-on-year, with strong growth in display materials and systems and in electronics materials solutions.

A few months ago, local inventors at the 6801 River Place Blvd. campus, helped the Fortune 500 company reach a milestone when it surpassed 100,000 patents.

Jane Kovacs and Matt Fagan of 3M interact with a Platform 46 Table, featuring a 3M multi-touch display in the local 3M Innovation Center. The tabletop touch screen supports up to 60 simultaneous touch points, meaning six people use both hands to work on the screen together.

Products

“In developed countries, any person at any given time is within 100 feet of a 3M product,” said Matthew Fagan, manager at 3M Electronics and Energy Business communications services.

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