May 4, 7-9 a.m.

4^th Annual Coppell 4K

Come out and enjoy the race benefitting Coppell Special Olympic Teams. Starts at Andy Brown Park West and go through Andy Brown Park East. Besides the 5K, there former Dallas Stars Hockey Players will be signing autographs, and there will be a bounce house for the kids. For more information and to register for this family friendly event visit: www.Coppell5K.com.

May 4, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Cinco de Mayo Multicultural Festival

Enjoy Food and Multicultural Entertainment from different Countries at Senter Park in an afternoon filled with fun and games for the whole family.

May 5, 6 a.m.-12 p.m.

Heels and Hill Half Marathon /

Whether you are a first timer or a seasoned professional, join Heels and Hills, Inc. at 3838 Teleport Blvd. for fun and unintimidating races geared towards any skill level and dedicated to promoting and increasing involvement in women's fitness. No Race Day Registration for any race distance
May 5, 3-5 p.m.

Irving Heritage House Tours

Built in 1912 by C. P. Schulze, brother of one of the co-founders of Irving, J. O. Schulze, the Irving Heritage House is one of the oldest homes in Irving. Located at 303 South O’Connor, the Heritage House was designated as a Recorded Texas Historical Landmark in 1986. Admission is free and docent led tours are provided at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. For more information call 972-252-3838.

May 6, 6-8:30 p.m.

Drip Irrigation Class

Come find out what drip irrigation is and how it works at the Senter East Building, 228 Chamberlain. This class is for the do-it-yourselfer or for those wanting enough knowledge to select a drip irrigation method for a professional to install.

May 9, 7-9 p.m.

Great Hearts Texas meeting

Great Hearts Academies is excited to grow their network of schools into the great state of Texas and are exploring a potential campus in Irving. The goal is to open their first K-12 Dallas-area school in the 2014-15 or 2015-16 school year. Great Hearts does not charge tuition and is open to all students, with admissions determined through a lottery process. Come to the University of Dallas’ Lynch Auditorium to learn about Great Heart’s focus on a classical, liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the Great Books and the Socratic teaching method. Great Hearts’ academies are comprehensive college prep schools, with competitive athletics programs and a variety of extracurricular activities, such as speech and debate, fencing, and music ensembles.

Mosquito Preparedness

Residents are reminded to prepare for mosquito season this summer. To defend against the West Nile virus, remember to follow the “Four Ds.” They are:

Dusk/Dawn – the times of day to stay indoors.

Dress – wear long sleeves and long pants when outdoors during these times.

DEET – an ingredient to look for when purchasing and using insect repellent.

Drain – minimize outside standing water so it does not become a mosquito breeding site.

To report vector control issues, call (972) 721-3755.

By Jess Paniszczyn

Families met and mingled with builders and housing professionals on the manicured lawns of newly built homes that now populate a portion of Tudor Lane. Children rode bicycles along the street as music played from oversized speakers and hot barbeque was available for all comers. The sunny Saturday block party hosted by the City of Irving’s Housing and Human Services Department helped dim Tudor Lane’s past as one of the most violent neighborhoods in Irving.

Several years ago, City officials from a variety of departments worked together to clean up the crime ridden area. In the end with the help of the Federal government, the City was able to demolish several structures while creating a plan to replace them with new single family homes. They also began working with the remaining property owners and residents to improve the area.

“This project brings a fresh start to this neighborhood,” said Galen Price, Housing Coordinator with City of Irving. “Previously there was a lot of crime on this street and in this area. With the infusion of the new homes and working with some of the existing homeowners, our goal is to revitalize and redevelop this entire neighborhood and make it more of a close knit community. With homeownership you get that more so than with rentals.

“The City demolished 17 existing fourplexes. Now we are redeveloping the area, and when we are finished, there will be 27 brand new homes built in their place. There will be 14 single family attached homes; attached at the garage, and 13 traditional single family detached homes.

Click here for the whole story.

By Will Jukes 

The Irving Convention Center hosted FIRST Robotics Competition’s regional tournament on March 23. The competition challenged teams of robotic specialists from grades 9 through 12 to pit their robots against one another in timed matches, where points were scored by shooting frisbees at goals and climbing pyramid-shaped towers. The tournament drew 48 teams from the US and abroad, with one team coming from as far as Mexico City to compete.

FIRST Robotics Competition was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, best known as the inventor of the Segway, the iBOT, and other novel personal transportation systems. Kamen founded FIRST in an effort to inspire more young people to pursue careers in science and technology, fields that were and are suffering from a lack of human capital.

“Kamen saw the direction the world was going in, and this is what we should be inspiring our kids to do. So we continue to cure disease, to come up with technology, to make the world a better place, to inspire our students to be engineers and scientists and researchers we need,” said Christi Holman, Assistant Regional Director for FIRST. “Companies like Raytheon, Microsoft and Lockheed-Martin, are looking for a workforce that frankly doesn't exist in large numbers in the states.”

To that end, FIRST partners young people with mentors from all corners of the science and technology industries, from university students to working engineers. Major sponsors of FIRST also contribute significantly to the mentoring program, hoping to connect with students.

Click here for the whole story.

Keep Texas Beautiful, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to beautifying and improving community environments, has named VHA Inc., the national health care network based in Irving first-place winner of its 2013 Ebby Halliday and Maurice Acers Business and Industry award in the state and national category.

The Keep Texas Beautiful Awards recognize the efforts of individuals, businesses, media outlets and government agencies that enhance their community environment and protect the Lone Star State through litter prevention, beautification and waste reduction. VHA will receive official recognition as a winner at the Keep Texas Beautiful Annual Conference to be held June 17 – 20 in San Antonio.

VHA was selected as a first place winner based on its long track record of giving back in the communities where its employees live and work.

“We are honored to be recognized by Keep Texas Beautiful for our contributions to community improvement,” said Terri Scannell, director of corporate citizenship and sustainability at VHA. “As a network supporting not-for-profit hospitals nationwide, VHA knows the impact public service can have at the community level. Being green and good corporate citizens to shrink our environmental footprint is one of our core values that we demonstrate through our environmental initiatives and community interactions throughout the year.”

The company’s signature program, Community Day, was launched in 2002 when the CEO redirected funds previously allocated for the company holiday party to support an annual companywide day of service during which employees volunteer with local non-profits. In 2012, approximately 85 percent of its employees participated in the program, volunteering more than 8,191 hours at 40 different organizations.

Community Day is a snapshot of the commitment VHA makes to the community year-round. From greening its work space to LEED standards to engaging its employees through volunteerism and community engagement, giving back is integrated fully into the services and operations of VHA.

“VHA is such a great organization and cares so much about people and the environment. We appreciate all of the ways VHA partners with Keep Irving Beautiful and benefit from its year-round support,” said Rick Hose, Keep Irving Beautiful coordinator.

Source: Keep Irving Beautiful