February News ReleasesFebruary 26, 2008 Abilene Zoo Curator leaving for zoo director position ABILENE, Texas – Abilene Zoo Curator Doug Hotle announced his resignation from the Abilene Zoo for a zoo director position with The Texas Zoo in Victoria, Texas. Hotle has been with the Abilene Zoo since February 2005. His last day will be sometime in early April.
Hotle said the decision was bittersweet. He explained, “The zoo has come a long way during the time I’ve been here. I am extremely proud to have been part of the Abilene Zoo. However, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to become a zoo director and lead its conservation and education efforts.”
Zoo Director Bill Baker added, “Doug has made a real difference here at the Abilene Zoo. I am excited for him to pursue this opportunity and wish him the best in his new position.”
Zoo curators are involved in the acquisition of animals and play a role in the administration of zoo functions and captive breeding programs. The search for a new zoo curator is underway.
February 22, 2008 Record attendance at the Abilene Zoo ABILENE, Texas – More people than ever before are visiting the Abilene Zoo with its 500 animals representing over 200 species. Zoo officials report 152,693 people visited the zoo in 2007, an incredible 25% increase from the year before. Zoo Director Bill Baker credits the record attendance numbers with the zoo’s expansion efforts and facility upgrades which are helping fulfill the zoo’s 10-year master plan. Baker remarked, “We are thrilled that more people are discovering this great family attraction and making repeat visits. A visit to the zoo is truly an adventure where you can see animals from far-off lands and make long-lasting memories. We’re continuing to expand our animal exhibits so there are even more reasons to stop by periodically during the year.” 2007’s attendance numbers are unprecedented with an increase of 31,021 visitors from the year before. The zoo had 121,672 visitors in 2006, 119,264 visitors in 2005, 114,119 visitors in 2004 and 117,900 visitors in 2003. The year 2007 brought the addition of the Adventure Center, a 12,000 square foot complex featuring education classrooms, administrative offices, an entrance gate, a gift shop and gathering plaza along. The Creepy Crawler Center, which opened in December, contains 49 exhibits and 80 species of reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. More exciting changes are on tap for the zoo in the near future. Upcoming projects include the renovation of the African elephant exhibit for the Black rhinos, one of which went on exhibit this week; the Wetlands Boardwalk which will provide guests with a great vantage point to view species that inhabit our wetlands; renovation of the giraffe enclosure; Elm Creek Backyard which will showcase animals, found along Elm Creek such as Raccoons, in 16 animal exhibits; and a Cougar exhibit featuring three cougar siblings. This summer will bring the opening of the Maned wolf and Ocelot exhibits.
February 21, 2008 Keep Abilene Beautiful to award recycling grant to local class ABILENE, Texas – Keep Abilene Beautiful (KAB) will recognize a local class for its commitment to recycling with the new Project Recycling award. The Practical Academics Class at Mann Middle School won the award and a grant worth $2,000 for its “Mission Recycle” proposal. The class will receive recognition during a presentation scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, February 25 at the AISD School Board meeting, held at One AISD Center. Schools began applying for the Project Recycling award in early January with a January 25th due date. They competed to receive up to $2,000 for a specific recycling initiative. The winning recycling program will be located in Mrs. April O’Boskey’s class which will use the grant to purchase a large paper shredder. In addition, staff and students throughout Mann Middle School plan to recycle paper, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Funding for the Project Recycling award was made possible from the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program First Time Implementation National Award that KAB received in December 2007. The KAB Board will continue to make this grant available to schools each year.
February 20, 2008 More than a dozen cadets and public safety dispatchers to graduate from Abilene Police Academy ABILENE, Texas – The Abilene Police Academy will graduate 10 cadets and 8 public safety dispatchers on Monday, March 3, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Abilene Civic Center auditorium. By graduation time, the cadets of Academy #46 will have completed 25 weeks of intensive academic, physical and mentally challenging training. The cadets will be sworn in as Abilene Police Officers at the graduation. The PTO (Police Training Officer) phase begins after graduation for these officers. This phase involves 16 weeks of training with the senior officers on the street. Upon completion of the PTO training, the newest Abilene Police Officers will be ready to serve the citizens of Abilene. The public safety dispatchers received 720 hours of intensive training. This included hands-on computer, dispatch and academic training. These individuals are a vital part of the service provided to this community by the Abilene Police and Fire Departments including Medical Dispatch. Abilene City Councilmember elected to Texas Municipal League Board of Directors ABILENE, Texas – Mayor Pro Tem Anthony Williams, Place 3, was recently elected to serve on the 2007-2008 Texas Municipal League (TML) Board of Directors. Representatives of Region 6, which covers the Hub of Texas – Abilene Area, voted for Councilman Williams to serve as their TML Regional Director to fill an unexpired term. He is scheduled to serve through late October. More than one thousand cities across the state are TML members. Since its formation in 1913, the League’s mission remains the same: to advance and sustain the interests of the cities of Texas.
February 12, 2008 The Cobb Park Recreation Center is located at 2302 State Street. Call Betty or Jessica for more information at 676-6447. February 5, 2008 City Council workshops to be broadcast live ABILENE, Texas – Starting Thursday, February 7, all City Council workshops will be broadcast live on TV Channel 7, the City’s education/government channel. TV Channel 7, which is available on Suddenlink Channel 7 and broadcast Channel 7 on KXN-TV, will rebroadcast the workshops Sunday nights beginning at 7:30 p.m. The workshops will now be held in City Council Chambers due to increased seating capacity. The workshops were held in City Hall’s basement conference room. The next City Council workshop is scheduled for this Thursday at 8:30 a.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall, 555 Walnut Street. Tonight’s “Lost in the ‘50s” show at Abilene Civic Center cancelled ABILENE, Texas – The Abilene Civic Center was notified by Starlite Entertainment that tonight’s 7:30 p.m. performance of “Lost in the ‘50s” was cancelled due to low ticket sales. The Abilene Civic Center was also informed that the musical’s national tour was cancelled as well. Approximately 50 people had tickets for tonight’s show. The Abilene Civic Center Box Office will remain open through 8 o’clock this evening to refund tickets purchased by cash and check. These customers will need to present their tickets to receive refunds. For customers who purchased tickets by credit card, a Star Tickets Plus representative informed Abilene Civic Center staff that they plan to cancel all credit card purchases with the exception of the service fees. These customers will be mailed a refund check for the service fees from the Abilene Civic Center.
February 1, 2008 ABILENE411 is online and available for citizens ABILENE, Texas – On the morning of Friday, February 1, City of Abilene employees counted down to the debut of the new online citizen service center called ABILENE411. Citizens can find a link to ABILENE411 on the City of Abilene website’s homepage, www.abilenetx.com, under E-Government. City Manager Larry Gilley noted, “ABILENE411 is essentially a one-stop online shop that never closes. It’s where citizens can find City of Abilene-related answers and make requests for city services at any time of day or night, seven days a week.” The site offers answers to more than 500 frequently asked questions. Citizens also have the ability to pose a question to City staff from their computer if an answer is not already available. In addition, citizens can make online service requests ranging from reporting potholes to requesting new water service. Initially, ABILENE411 is providing fifteen types of service requests that can be made online with plans to add more in the future. The system will generate work orders and provide a standard tracking mechanism for all departments. “We are constantly looking at ways to improve citizen service,” said Assistant City Manager David A. Vela, who led the effort known as Citizen Relationship Management (CRM). “We believe ABILENE411 will further enhance communications efforts, reduce redundant questions and overall, improve citizen satisfaction.” Citizens can still contact City staff by telephone. However, ABILENE411 will make it easier for citizens to get answers right away and avoid being transferred multiple times. A CRM committee, consisting of several City department leaders, began developing ABILENE411 in the summer of 2006. The City of Abilene contracted the web-based system through vendor WEBQA, Inc. Library to offer computer training classes for ABILENE411 ABILENE, Texas – Now that the City of Abilene’s online citizen service center is available to citizens, the Abilene Public Library is offering free classes to help citizens get the most out of ABILENE411. The schedule for the ABILENE411 computer training course is as follows:
202 Cedar Street Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. Up to 10 participants Register by calling 676-6025
1401 S. Danville Wednesdays, 3 p.m. Up to 5 participants Register by calling 698-7565 Citizens are asked to register in advance since class size is limited. The courses will be given each week until further notice.
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