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Friday, March 11, 2016
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CITY
Ken’s closure leaves hole in hearts By Forrest Milburn @forrestmilburn
Ken’s Donuts will reopen Friday if it passes the latest round of inspections from city and county health inspectors, after it failed to receive a score above 70 for three years in a row. The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department conducted the shop’s third failed inspection, and temporarily closed the shop for public safety concerns beginning Wednesday morning until today.
“They were closed for 48 hours, after which time they can reopen and will be inspected,” said Carole Barasch, communications manager for the department. Barasch said she did not readily have information regarding what happens to the shop if it fails for a fourth time. McKay Proctor, supply chain management and English junior, said he was on his way to Ken’s Donuts late Wednesday night when he saw the health inspection sign from the city. “I was going to get a maple
glaze last night and the sign on the door said they were closed until [Thursday], which was really unnerving,” Proctor said. Proctor, who sits on the Texas Student Media board, also said student options for breakfast and baked goods are now limited without Ken’s providing customers a large variety, unseen elsewhere near campus. “If I really want a maple glaze donut, I can’t get that anywhere else,” Proctor said. Many turned to social media
KEN’S page 2
Researchers analyze road improvement economics @forrestmilburn
Asa Johnson | Daily Texan Staff
Ken’s Donuts, usually open 24 hours a day, was forced to close for 48 hours after the business failed to meet inspection standards and received a third strike from the health department.
Counterfeit bill sparks DHFS precautions By Mikaela Cannizzo @mikaelac16
A UT staff member reported a counterfeit $20 bill to the UT police department while reviewing the cash register in the Jester Academic Center on March 2. UTPD officer William Pieper said two or three cases of counterfeit money, which is classified as forgery, are typically reported to the department each year. “We instruct cashiers to inspect a suspicious note carefully and call the police department as soon as possible if they believe they have a counterfeit note,” Pieper said. As the instructor of counterfeit detection to cashiers in the Division of Housing and Food Services, Pieper said he teaches full-time cashiers about the history of the crime and offers resources and tips Illustration by Nicholas Osella | Daily Texan Staff
CITY
CITY
By Forrest Milburn
CAMPUS
BILL page 2
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An Austin real estate research firm will look at the economic impact of improving certain transportation areas of the city, including the road and sidewalks along Guadalupe Street, that require services in order to become more accessible to drivers, bikers and pedestrians. On March 3, City Council members voted to approve a contract with Capitol Market Research to study the fiscal effects of transportation corridor improvement areas. The firm will provide analysis looking 20 years out that will allow the city to prioritize the areas to work on. “You have to try to make predictions about what will happen with economic growth based on what you are doing,” council member Don Zimmerman said. “There is speculation involved, and it is complicated.” The Transportation Department established several improvement areas around Austin after voters approved the 2012 bond program. When the department set up the improvement areas, it aimed to plan for changes over time, which included mobility improvements as the city geared to tackle mass transportation concerns in the near future. Improvements also include widening bike lanes and increased road quality. City staff said the firm will use data to project the rising real estate costs in
ROAD page 3
NATIONAL
Austin to implement Zilker Park currently ranked second in new parking system national competition for best city park By Bharath Lavendra @burreth
Austin motorists will soon have a new way to pay for parking in West Campus. The Austin Transportation Department will be introducing a pay-by-phone parking service so users will never have to interact with a pay station. Steven Grassfield, the Parking Enterprise manager with ATD, said the goal of the program was to make parking easier for the community. ATD is partnering with ParkX, a private application, that has implemented the pay-by-phone in other cities, such as Corpus Christi and El Paso. “The app only takes two minutes to set up, and you’ll never have to visit a pay station,” Grassfield said. “The app even sends a text message or alert to you when your parking is about to expire and allows you to buy more time, all from your phone.” Grassfield said ATD chose the West Campus
neighborhood so students can help the city find issues with the app and system. “Students are more adept with apps,” Grassfield said. “We will eventually roll out the system to the entire city, but students will help us find anything wrong and be able to give us feedback before we do so.” Students found the concept useful, but had other concerns with parking in West Campus besides how they were paying for the meter. Economics sophomore Darpan Bhatt said safety was his main qualm with parking near the University. “Street parking is more risky when compared to parking in a garage,” Bhatt said. “I’ve heard of people getting their windows smashed and cars being damaged when they’ve parked deep into West Campus.” Finance senior Puja Patel said she likes the pay-byphone concept, but doesn’t predict its widespread use
PARKING page 2
By Vera Bespalova
Zilker Metropolitan Park is currently ranked number one out of 20 finalists for Best City Park in the United States.
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What does Austin have on New York City, Boston and San Francisco? According to USA TODAY, its parks. An expert panel from USA TODAY has selected Zilker Park as one of the 20 finalists for the 10Best Readers’ Choice travel award for Best City Park in the United States. Zilker is currently ranked No. 2 out of the 20 finalists, behind Forest Park in St. Louis and ahead of Klyde Warren Park in Dallas. Shelley Parks, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department public information specialist, said she thinks the nomination solidifies what Austinities already believe — Zilker is the best park in the country. “We think it’s the best, and we want the rest of the country to see how beautiful it is,” Parks said. The 351-acre park was opened in 1917 and contains
Zoe Fu Daily Texan Staff
a variety of attractions, including Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Zilker Hillside Theater, McBeth Recreation Center, Austin Nature and Science Center and Barton Springs Pool. Nutrition sophomore Lila Opincar, who frequents Zilker to practice acroyoga, said she thinks it’s more than just a park. “It’s a dog park, it’s your local gym, it’s a yoga studio, it’s a kite-flying festival, it’s a
volleyball court, it’s a soccer or football field, it might even be your next date,” Opincar said. “Pretty much everyone at Zilker is willing to chat, share their hobbies and let you pet their adorable dogs.” Along with its many attractions, Zilker Park holds events and festivals throughout the year, including Blues on the Green, Austin City Limits, the Kite Festival and the Trail of Lights.
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“There are so many memories and so many traditions that revolve around Zilker Park, that of course we want it to win,” Parks said. Public health sophomore Soumya Shekhar said she thinks Zilker is a great focal point of the city and her go-to running spot. “Zilker is definitely one of the few gems we have in this
ZILKER page 2 REASON TO PARTY
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