Contributing Writer

Construction for long-awaited synchronization of traffic lights from MoPac west to Loop 360 has been under way for a couple of weeks and will be completed by early summer, said John Hurt, public information officer with the Texas Department of Transportation.

Hurt said that most of the construction involves tunneling under roadways that intersect with Bee Cave Road and digging beneath more than 50 driveways on the stretch of Bee Cave Road from MoPac westward to Loop 360 to lay the necessary electric conduits. The narrow shoulders on Bee Cave Road require that the outside lane be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily until this project is completed.

Orange-and-white cones and barrels line the north side of Bee Cave Road from McConnell Drive to Red Bud Trail.

West Lake Hills Mayor Dave Claunch said he is pleased to see TxDOT taking steps to synchronize the traffic signals.

“We were hoping that they could use a wireless system, but it appears that the distances and topography wouldn’t allow that, so they have to bury a cable along the edge of the road,” Claunch said. “Although it won’t help improve traffic flow and safety as much as a center turn lane would, every little bit helps.”

Meanwhile, Claunch said is awaiting confirmation from the TxDOT signalization officials about the possibility of changing the timing of the left-turn signal on Bee Cave Road at The Village at Westlake shopping center.

“Westbound drivers wait forever to turn left at that light, and we have been told that TxDOT is going to change that signal to allow permissive left-turns-on green,” Claunch said.

As for the stalled Bee Cave Rood improvements project, Claunch said he still has received no word on the funding for the center turn lane.

“I think we should hear more in the next few months about whether or not they’re going to be able to use maintenance funds to upgrade the intersection at Redbud Trail,” he said. “But the timeline is probably more like a year on the rest of the roadway.”

It’s Dillon Short on a breakaway that gives Westlake the lead. It’s Sarah Gross, soaring above a striker to punch the ball out of the box to preserve a Chap victory.

It’s soccer in Westlake, futbol in East Austin. It’s the beautiful game, taking a sweat, having a kick-about, playing footie.

It’s “Pelada,” an intriguing documentary celebrating the simple roots of the world’s most popular game that will make its global premiere at this weekend’s South By Southwest Film Festival.

A Portuguese word that translates literally to “naked,” the term “pelada” has a simple but deep meaning in Brazil. The word refers to the game of soccer stripped down to its core: a handful of players, a sliver of open space, and a sphere of any make or matter.

The term captures the sport’s spirit as seen through the lens of filmmakers Rebekah Fergusson, Luke Boughen, Gwendolyn Oxenham and Ryan White, who spent six months traveling to 25 different countries and playing pick-up soccer games in the most unexpected locales.

A Bolivian prison, in which a bribe allows the Americans inside the walls. A Chinese square, where the players learn moves via YouTube videos of Messi and Ronaldo. A dusty rocky pitch in Iran, which hosts a side of women in hijabs, booting the ball while all-encompassing black robes leaving trails of dust.

All the backdrops serve as stark contrasts to the familiar settings in the U.S., where manicured greens host swarms of well-fed youngsters, and families pay exorbitant sums for accredited lessons.

It’s still soccer, but it’s not “Pelada.”

“Pelada” will have three screenings at the 2010 South By Southwest Film Festival, which begins Friday at various theaters around Austin. The film shows: Sunday, 7:15 p.m., G-Tech Theatre at Austin Convention Center; Monday, noon, Alamo South Lamar; March 19, 3:30 p.m., Alamo South Lamar.

Visit sxsw.com for more information.

SETTING SCREENS

In addition to “Pelada,” the South By Southwest Film Festival has a handful of other sports films making their world premier.

Hood To Coast
“Hood to Coast” follows four unlikely teams on their epic journey to conquer the world’s largest relay race. Winning isn’t everything in a documentary that takes a celebratory look at personal motivation and attempting the extraordinary.
Saturday, 2:15 p.m., G-Tech Theatre at Austin Convention Center; Tuesday, 1 p.m., Paramount Theatre; March 20, 2 p.m., Alamo South Lamar.

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson
Director Steve James returns to his hometown of Hampton, Va., to examine the 1993 bowling alley brawl that landed Allen Iverson, the nation’s top high-school basketball player, in jail and divided the community along racial lines.
Sunday, 11 a.m., Paramount Theatre; March 19, 2:45 p.m., G-Tech Theatre at Austin Convention Center.

The Ride
A journey into the heart of America through the rough and tumble, rock ’n’ roll world of bull-riding cowboys.
Wednesday, 7 p.m., G-Tech Theatre at Austin Convention Center.

Thunder Soul
In the 1970s, Houston Kashmere High School band director Conrad Johnson turned his students into an international funk sensation. Thirty years later, his students return to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives.
Saturday, 11 a.m., Paramount Theatre; Monday, 6:45 p.m., Alamo South Lamar; March 19, 2:30 p.m., Paramount Theatre.

“The girls put on a show,” he said after his team shot a season-best 324 in the one-round event. “When teams start breaking into the 320s, you know each player has been working hard and seeing progress as a result of that commitment.”

Meg Healy had four birdies while shooting a personal-best 75 to pace the Chaps’ juggled lineup, which didn’t include regulars such as Haley Haught, Taylor Moreno, Kaylin Terry and Mariana Sims.

Christine Campbell fired a 78, Emily Singletary shot an 85 and Angela Jin fired an 86 for Westlake.

Cedar Park won the tournament with a 316, and Ilissa Riley-Jaggers claimed individual honors with a 70.

For the second time this season, Austin High defeated the Chaps (14-6-2 overall) in a shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation. Those setbacks, the only blemishes on the Chaps’ 11-2 district record, knocked Westlake into a tie for first place with Bowie entering the final game of the 25-5A slate.

If Westlake defeats last-place Akins tomorrow at Chaparral Stadium, the Chaps will ensure at least a share of the district title as well as the top playoff seed in 25-5A. Westlake has defeated Bowie twice this season, thus earning the tiebreaker between the two rivals.

The Bulldogs close the regular season against Anderson.

Austin High and Bastrop have also clinched spots in the postseason.

An Austin High goal in the 73rd minute forged the tie, and it negated the Chaps’ dominance of possession.

“We dominated and probably generated the best and most opportunities to score we have had all year,” Westlake coach Rennie Rebe said. ”We just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

Because of Austin High’s long-ball attack, Rebe altered the formations to account for the kick-and-run style.

“We maintained our composure, but it is always difficult to beat a team that plays hard and counts on playing balls over the top as a tactical style,” she said.

Caroline Furst scored for the Chaps in the first half

Sponsorships can be tailored to a company’s ability to give.

Relay For Life events will take place in more than 4,800 communities nationwide. The local event is expected to include approximately 1,000 community members. Approximately $760,000 in has been raised in the past seven years for the American Cancer Society through Relay For Life/Westlake.

Relay For Life is a fun-filled overnight event, held from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. It raises money for the American Cancer Society. Teams take turns walking laps. Each team tries to keep at least one team member on the track at all times. Relay For Life helps communities celebrate the lives of those who have faced cancer, remember loved ones lost and fight back against the disease.

Anyone who would like to become a corporate sponsor or find out how to build a team should visit www.RelayForLife.org/westlaketx or call Barbara Bearden at 751-9735.

Local resident, actor and Shakespeare authority Justin Scalise brings Shakespeare’s work to Laura’s Library twice each month on the first and fourth Mondays.

“Shakespeare was made to be heard,” Scalise said. “There is a rhythm and a richness to the words he selected to use, some of which he made up himself. You lose much of the magic of Shakespeare if you read it silently. You really have to hear it.”

Scalise, who grew up in New Orleans and moved to Austin in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, has been holding the local Shakespeare Aloud reading groups since November. He generally attracts seven or eight participants and is already developing some regulars. Scalise said people of all ages come to the readings, and his groups often range from young children to retired adults.

“Shakespeare isn’t too far over the heads of children,” he said. “Most people in some way are attracted to the beauty of it. It’s not a foreign language. It’s English, 400-year-old English, but it’s English all the same. There is something familiar about it and yet still magical. He wrote so succinctly. Once you begin to wrap your mouth around those words, you begin to get a sense of his power.”

Scalise fell in love with Shakespeare in middle school. The poetry and the theatrical aspect of the stories drew him. And he fell for Shakespeare’s passion. It’s something that others seem to pick up from Scalise during his readings.

“Justin has an infectious enthusiasm for Shakespeare,” said Lisa Charbonnet, branch manager of Laura’s Library. “We’ve had people wander in to find a book on Monday evening and serendipitously discover Justin’s Shakespeare Aloud program. They’re glued for the rest of his session. Last week, we had a delightful professor who brought her two young daughters. They read with Justin for an hour and left with an armful of books by and about Shakespeare. Justin brings an actor’s sensibility to what otherwise might be dry words on a dry page.”

“One of the problems people have with Shakespeare is the way it is taught in school; it can be terribly boring when done wrong,” Scalise said. “And many times people go to see it performed by actors or directors who don’t really understand what the words mean. That can ruin it.”

Some people drop by for a Shakespeare reading at the library out of pure curiosity. Many have had a taste of Shakespeare in the past, Scalise said.

“When you are touched by Shakespeare, you want more,” he said.

The young actor makes sure his readings are packed with fun. After all, fun is the point, he said.

“We read it out loud and make sure everyone knows what’s being said,” he explained. “It’s a casual, friendly atmosphere. We sound things out, laugh at the jokes and listen for the rhythm.”

As the weather improves, Scalise hopes to take advantage of the library’s beautiful setting and take the readings outside.

“We go to the theater nowadays, and we conform to 19th-centruy rules,” he said. “We sit back rigidly in our seats and watch. Outside, you can bring a blanket, lie down and take a deep breath. People are more relaxed outside.”

Shakespeare was a genius with a rare gift, Scalise said. More than 400 years after they were written and first acted on stage, the messages in his plays still ring true today.

“Take Hamlet,” he said. “Those simple words – ‘To be or not to be.’ It’s about living your life or not living your life. He captured a fundamental element common to the human condition. What’s so wonderful is that that very basic human condition – that question we all face – hasn’t changed that much in four centuries.”

In October, Scalise plans a production of Hamlet in a local cemetery by torchlight. Join him for a reading of Hamlet at his next Shakespeare Aloud session at Laura’s Library on March 29 at 6 p.m. Laura’s Library is located at 9411 Bee Cave Road.

Sharman Reed has filed for Place 5 that is currently being filled by interim appointee James Kallison, who replaced Gail King when she resigned in August 2009; Dr. Colleen Jones filed opposite Place 6 incumbent Mike Monnig; and Place 7 incumbent Ellen Balthazar is unopposed for re-election.

Early voting runs from April 26-May 4 at Randalls, 3300 Bee Cave Road, from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and Sunday from noon-6 p.m., or at any of the other early voting polling locations provided by Travis County.

The polling place on Election Day is Valley View Elementary School, 1201 Capital of Texas Highway.

Alderman Bill Hamilton was the lone candidate to file for the mayor’s race in Rollingwood after Mayor Dale Dingley opted not to seek re-election, and incumbent Mayor Dave Claunch was the only candidate in West Lake Hills.

However, city council elections in both municipalities will feature contested races.

West Lake Hills Place 2 incumbent Councilman Andrew Schwartz will face former council member Katherine Loayza, and former council member Jane Noble will face Jean Goehring in Place 4. Place 4 incumbent Councilwoman Cindy Probst announced before filing began that she would not seek re-election. Loayza had previously filed to run for Place 4 but withdrew and filed for Place 2 shortly before the deadline.

Rollingwood, which features an at-large City Council election in which the top two vote-getters win, will have four candidates facing off for two positions. They are incumbent Alderwoman Shanthi Jayakumar, Sara Hutson, Kelli Carlton and Barry Bone. Incumbent Alderman Brian Nalle opted not to seek re-election.

Hamilton said he is not under any supposition that running unopposed is a vote of confidence.

“All it means is that I wanted it more than anybody else,” Hamilton said. “But it’s not really a matter of wanting it. I’ve just lived in the community long enough; I know most of the people; I know a lot of the issues that make people think one way or the other.

“We’re only 1 square mile, 450 houses. We’re basically the size of a regular subdivision. The difference is we’re a government, and we’ve got to do our business as a governmental entity as opposed to a homeowners association. We’ve got to follow state and federal laws and our own ordinances. The good news is we’re in control of our own destiny.”

Hamilton said he is looking forward to working on key issues facing the city, which include completing the water project, street project, parks master plan, making fiscally sound decision and finding a way to complete improvements to the remaining segment of Bee Cave Road in the city without a turn lane.

Early voting in both cities runs from April 26-May 4 at Randalls, 3300 Bee Cave Road, from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and Sunday from noon-6 p.m., or at any of the other early voting polling locations provided by Travis County.

West Lake Hills’ polling place on Election Day is Valley View Elementary School, 1201 Capital of Texas Highway. Rollingwood’s pol-ling place is at City Hall, 403 Nixon Drive.

Polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on Election Day.

Two biologists from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will give a presentation on controlling animal populations in response to demands for an ordinance related to the feeding of deer and other animals. Additionally, the City Council will discuss an interlocal agreement with Travis County for street maintenance (paving); results of an RFQ for a utility rate analyst; and two budget amendments related to last year’s audit.

For more information, visit the city’s Web site at cityofrollingwood.com or call 327-1838.