Category Archives: Four Points

Two front door, snake encounters at a home in Four Points

A western diamondback rattlesnake at the front door of Birjis Rashed of Steiner Ranch.

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

A Steiner Ranch resident came home from work one recent afternoon and didn’t know she put her purse down inches away from a rattlesnake at her front door.

“I set my heavy purse down on the door mat and was just about unlocking the front door when I saw the snake coiled on the door mat right beside my purse,” said Birjis Rashed.

Rashed — a professor at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, a blogger at Hot Sweet Spicy Recipes, and a mother of two daughters — freaked out, picked up her purse and ran inside through the garage door.

She announced to the others at home about the presence of the snake and not to open the front door. They ventured back slowly hoping the snake was gone, but finding it comfortable and still sitting by the front door.

Rashed — who hates and fears all sorts of reptiles, snakes and lizards — looked up the brown and white, diamond-marked snake to find out that it was in fact a western diamondback rattlesnake and that it was venomous.

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Lake Austin group sues city over open meetings

By JO CLIFTON
Austin Monitor

 

A group of Lake Austin homeowners on Monday sued the city of Austin, claiming that the city’s notice concerning the zoning and waiver of environmental regulations on what is known as the Champion tract off of RM 2222, was inadequate and therefore violated the Texas Open Meetings Act.

According to the lawsuit filed by the Lake Austin Collective Inc., when City Council approved new zoning for the tract on City Park Road on Nov. 10, the notice failed to mention that it would also be approving waivers of environmental regulations as well as the Hill Country Roadway Ordinance.

As the Austin Monitor reported in April, the group notified the city of its intention to sue and gave council 45 days to post the item on its agenda again with notice of the pertinent waivers. However, the city failed to do so.

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Lightning strikes Steiner home

Lake Travis Fire Rescue responded to a call about a lightning strike hitting this home on Indigo Waters Drive in Steiner Ranch on Saturday night.

 

 

Updated

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Just before 10 p.m. on Saturday night, Tatum Sapinoro and her daughter Jaedyn were sitting at the kitchen table listening to the storms outside when a lightning bolt struck their house.

There were two close, intense lightning strikes but it was the one closest to 10 p.m. that hit them.

“It sounded like a gunshot sound,” Tatum said. “But it was more than what we heard — you could feel it too.”

“It was like a big surge of energy you could feel,” Jaedyn said. “It was so unexpected.”

They lost power to half of the house.

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