oakhillgazette.com
January 7, 2016 Volume 21, No. 1 Southwest Austin’s Community Newspaper Since 1995
Birthday party for the three bears - you’re invited!
Post Office swamped by Christmas traffic by Ann Fowler OAK HILL - Holiday mailing season seems to always be hectic for both postal employees and customers, but it got a little more difficult this year at the Oak Hill Post Office when customer parking decreased by more than half. The facility needed more room for the large volume of packages and mail—up 26.6 percent over last year, according to Austin Postmaster Tom Billington. Billington explained, “To accommodate this significant increase, we set up a tent in the secured area of this office’s parking lot to facilitate and expedite processing and han-
A big tent was used to proccess a 26.6% increase in volume, but it also led to traffic problems. dling of packages for our carrier delivery operations.” The loss of employee parking in the back forced some employees to park in what is See POST OFFICE on p. 10
Bear cubs Korben, Tilly and Ruby are bear•ly two years old. The inset photo is of the cubs when they first arrived at Austin Zoo. - photos by Kati Bennett and Trevor Fowler (insert). by Ann Fowler Austin Zoo is holding a birthday celebration for bear cubs Korben, Tilly and Ruby on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 1 p.m.—and you’re invited. Patti Clark, director of the Austin Zoo, said these cubs had a rocky start to life. The three were orphaned when they were less than
two weeks old when logging activity in Portland, Oregon, frightened away their mother. Clark said, “They were transferred to the Oregon Zoo where staff began seeking a permanent home for them. Their eyes were not open and they were not walking. We were contacted to see if we could provide a forever home for the three cubs.”
The Austin Zoo was contacted to see if the three bear cubs could become permanent residents. Of course the answer was yes. Two staff members flew to Oregon to work with Oregon Zoo staff in caring for the cubs until a veterinarian cleared them for the trip to Austin. See BEARS on back page
Sports on p. 12