Robin Stallings the Executive Director of BikeTexas and local BikeTexas outreach coordinators Joyce Cunningham and Fernando Martinez, met with Mayor Debra McCartt of Amarillo, Texas to discuss how to introduce bike lanes to the community. Mayor McCartt discussed her vision to make Amarillo a bike friendly community and Larry Offerdahl, Director of Parks and Recreation, discussed the city's Hike and Bike Master Plan. The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program had been approved by the Amarillo Independent School District (AISD) board one month prior to this meeting. AISD Program Director Denise Blanchard, a key supporter of SRTS, helped make the program a reality for AISD ...
In a recent report from the New York Times, 66 of Hispanics living in New York, were found to be either overweight or obese. Still, big soda companies continue to target minority groups by signing celebrity endorsements. According to this article, Coca-Cola has reportedly signed a contract with Christina Aguilera to boost sales, among the Hispanic market. After filing a lawsuit against the city of New York for its recent soda ban, minority organizations such as the N.A.A.C.P. and the Hispanic Federation-- who receive money from big soda companies--do not appear to have weighed out the public health costs and consequences of obesity--which affects African Americans and Hispanics disproportionately. ...
Commissioner Michael Gallen announced that every elementary school playground in Manatee County will be open during nonschool hours, weekends, summers, and holidays. According to Gallen, school playgrounds are considered open space under the county's comprehensive plan. However, it is still up to each principal to open the playground up to the public. Already 13 out of 33 elementary schools in the county are open. Now the school district will hold meetings with each school principal to discuss any concerns they might have. The changes are also expected to be brought up during a future school board meeting. ...
Researcher Bill Kohl explains the importance of creating environments that are conducive to physical activity. Dr. Kohl is currently investigating how community design can encourage physical activity among residents residing in the Mueller Community in Austin, Texas. ...
News of the city's request for information about parties interested in building a grocery store in the downtown area has sparked some competition between ...
Phase I of the Beacon Hill Linear Park has now been completed, thanks to the collaboration of neighborhood members and officials from the City of San Antonio. ...
By October of 2005, the city of Amarillo had begun to make bike lanes available to the community. In order to get residents active and using these bike lanes city officials would have to create a plan for educating the people on how to use bike lanes appropriately. Because the bike lanes were new to the community, bike lane proponents discussed practical ways to make residents aware of the city's bike ordinance. Ideas like increasing bike signage and including information on the water bill were some methods proposed. ...
For the fiscal year 2014-2015 the House and Senate included funds for only 84 state parks. This means that the state would have to shut down 7 parks. Park advocates and state legislators in support of state parks are currently seeking ways to keep these parks open. ...
In 2001, BikeTexas, formerly known as the Texas Bike Coalition (TBC), commissioned Fernando Martinez to translate its Texas SuperCyclist curriculum into Spanish. Because of the large Spanish speaking population that exists in Amarillo, this material was later used for the Safe Routes to School program and distributed to 60,000 Amarillo residents by mail. ...