1.
City
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A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, a big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas. Once a city expands far enough to another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. Damascus is arguably the oldest city in the world, in terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai. There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities, some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution, the Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development. The advent of farming encouraged hunter-gatherers to abandon nomadic lifestyles and to settle near others who lived by agricultural production, the increased population density encouraged by farming and the increased output of food per unit of land created conditions that seem more suitable for city-like activities. In his book, Cities and Economic Development, Paul Bairoch takes up position in his argument that agricultural activity appears necessary before true cities can form. According to Vere Gordon Childe, for a settlement to qualify as a city, it must have enough surplus of raw materials to support trade and a relatively large population. To illustrate this point, Bairoch offers an example, Western Europe during the pre-Neolithic, when the cost of transport is taken into account, the figure rises to 200,000 square kilometres. Bairoch noted that this is roughly the size of Great Britain, the urban theorist Jane Jacobs suggests that city formation preceded the birth of agriculture, but this view is not widely accepted. In his book City Economics, Brendan OFlaherty asserts Cities could persist—as they have for thousands of years—only if their advantages offset the disadvantages, OFlaherty illustrates two similar attracting advantages known as increasing returns to scale and economies of scale, which are concepts usually associated with businesses. Their applications are seen in more basic economic systems as well, increasing returns to scale occurs when doubling all inputs more than doubles the output an activity has economies of scale if doubling output less than doubles cost. To offer an example of these concepts, OFlaherty makes use of one of the oldest reasons why cities were built, in this example, the inputs are anything that would be used for protection and the output is the area protected and everything of value contained in it. OFlaherty then asks that we suppose the protected area is square, the advantage is expressed as, O = s 2, where O is the output and s stands for the length of a side. This equation shows that output is proportional to the square of the length of a side, the inputs depend on the length of the perimeter, I =4 s, where I stands for the quantity of inputs. So there are increasing returns to scale, O = I2 /16 and this equation shows that with twice the inputs, you produce quadruple the output
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance
5.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
6.
Travis County, Texas
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Travis County is a county located in south central Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,024,266 and it is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas, the county was established in 1840 and is named in honor of William Barret Travis, the commander of the Republic of Texas forces at the Battle of the Alamo. Travis County is part of the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area and it is located along the Balcones Fault, the boundary between the Edwards Plateau to the west and the Blackland Prairie to the east. Evidence of habitation of the Balcones Escarpment region of Texas can be traced to at least 11,000 years ago, two of the oldest Paleolithic archeological sites in Texas, the Levi Rock Shelter and Smith Rock Shelter, are located in southwest and southeast Travis County, respectively. Several hundred years before the arrival of European settlers, the area was inhabited by a variety of nomadic Native American tribes and these indigenous peoples fished and hunted along the creeks, including present-day Barton Springs, which proved to be a reliable campsite. At the time of the first permanent settlement of the area, the region was claimed by the Spanish Empire in the 1600s, but at the time no attempt was made to settle the area. In 1691 Domingo Terán de los Ríos made a tour through East Texas that likely took him through Travis Country. The first European settlers in the area were a group of Spanish friars who arrived from East Texas in July 1730. They established three missions, La Purísima Concepción, San Francisco de los Neches and San José de los Nazonis. The friars found conditions undesirable and relocated to the San Antonio River within a year of their arrival, in 1821 Mexico won its independence from Spain, and the new government enacted laws encouraging colonists to settle the Texas frontier by granting them land and reduced taxation. Over the next decade, thousands of immigrants moved into Texas, in particular, American empresario Stephen F. Austin established one of his colonies near what is now Bastrop. Josiah and Mathias Wilbarger, Reuben Hornsby, Jacob M. Harrell, in 1836 Texas declared and won its independence from Mexico, forming a new Republic of Texas. After Texas Vice President Mirabeau B, lamar visited central Texas during a buffalo-hunting expedition between 1837 and 1838, he proposed that the republics capital be relocated to a site on the north bank of the Colorado River. In 1839 the site was chosen as the republics new capital and given the name Waterloo, Texas. A new county was established the following year, of which Austin would be the seat. In 1861 Travis County was one of the few Texas counties to vote against secession from the Union, since the majority of the state did favor secession, Travis County then became a part of the Confederacy for the duration of the Civil War. After the Confederacys defeat, Texas was fully readmitted to the Union in 1870, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,023 square miles, of which 990 square miles is land and 33 square miles is water
7.
Williamson County, Texas
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Williamson County is a county in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2016 census estimate, the population was 545,412, the county is named for Robert McAlpin Williamson, a community leader and veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. Williamson County is part of the Austin-Round Rock, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, the two areas are roughly bisected by Interstate 35. Much of Williamson County has been the site of habitation for at least 11,200 years. The earliest known inhabitants of the area lived during the late Pleistocene, one of the most important discoveries in recent times is that of the ancient skeletal remains dubbed The Leanderthal Lady because of its age and proximity to Leander, Texas. It was discovered by accident by the Texas Department of Transportation workers while drilling core samples for a new highway, the site has been extensively studied for many years and samples from this site carbon date to the Pleistocene period at approximately 10,500 years ago. Such evidence of Archaic Period inhabitants is often in the form of relics, many such sites were inundated when the San Gabriel River was dammed to create Lake Granger. During the eighteenth century made the transition to a horse culture. After they were crowded out by white settlement, the Comanches continued to raid settlements in the county until the 1860s. There also appear to have small numbers of Kiowa, Yojuane, Tawakoni. On September 9 and 10,1921, the remnants of a hurricane moved over Williamson County, the center of the storm became stationary over Thrall, a small farming town in eastern Williamson County, dropping a storm total of 39.7 inches of rain in 36 hours. The 24-hour rainfall total ending 7 am on September 10,1921 at a U. S. Weather Bureau station in Thrall remains the national official 24-hour rainfall record. Thralls rainfall was 23.4 in during 6 hours,31.8 in during 12 hours, eighty-seven people drowned in and near Taylor, and 93 in Williamson County. This storm caused the most deadly floods in Texas, with a total of 215 fatalities, on May 27,1997, Williamson County was hit by the worst tornado outbreak in county history. The 1997 Central Texas Tornado Outbreak caused 20 tornadoes including an F-5, the F-5 tornado killed 27 people and completely destroyed the Double Creek Estates neighborhood in the city of Jarrell, Texas, Texas, located in far northern Williamson County. Another strong tornado, an F-3, struck the City of Cedar Park, two F-2 tornadoes also struck Williamson County. The outbreak cost the county over $190 million USD in damage, Williamson Countys fast growth rate is due in large part to its location immediately north of Austin coupled with Austins rapid expansion northward. Austins city limits cross into Williamson County making Austin the largest city in Williamson County and this has transformed Williamson county over recent years into a dynamic self-sustaining community with less dependency on Austin
8.
City council
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A city council, town council, town board, or board of aldermen is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area. Because of the differences in legislation between the states, the definition of a City Council varies. However, it is only those local government areas which have been specifically granted city status that are entitled to refer to themselves as cities. The official title is Corporation of the City of ------ or similar, some of the larger urban areas of Australia are governed mostly by a single entity, while others may be controlled by a multitude of much smaller city councils. Also some significant urban areas can be under the jurisdiction of rural local governments. Periodic re-alignments of boundaries attempt to rationalize these situations and adjust the deployment of assets, the 2001 Local Government Act restyled the five county boroughs of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, and Limerick as city councils, with the same status in law as county councils. For many decades until the government reforms of 1989, a borough with more than 20,000 people could be proclaimed a city. The boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, as a result, the term city began to take on two meanings. The word city came to be used in a formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries. This informal usage is jealously guarded, gisborne, for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in the world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a council, but its status as a city is not generally disputed. Under the current law the minimum population for a new city is 50,000, in the Republic of China, a city council represents a provincial city. Members of the councils are elected through local elections for provincial cities which are held every 4–5 years, Councils for the provincial cities in Taiwan are Chiayi City Council, Hsinchu City Council and Keelung City Council. In the UK, a city council is, In England, a parish council that has been granted city status. The council of a London borough that has been granted city status, in Wales, The council of a principal area that has been granted city status. A community council that has been granted city status, in Scotland, The council of one of four council areas designated a City by the Local Government etc. City councils and town boards generally consist of elected aldermen or councillors. In the United States, members of city councils are typically called council member or council man/woman, while in Canada they are typically called councillor
9.
2000 United States Census
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This was the twenty-second federal census and was at the time the largest civilly administered peacetime effort in the United States. Approximately 16 percent of households received a form of the 2000 census. Full documentation on the 2000 census, including forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Microdata from the 2000 census is available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, personally identifiable information will be available in 2072. The U. S. resident population includes the number of people in the 50 states. The Bureau also enumerated the residents of the U. S. territory of Puerto Rico, its population was 3,808,610, the 2000 Census was the first time survey options for multiracial Americans were provided. S. Households had access to computers, 42% have Internet access, regionally, the South and West experienced the bulk of the nations population increase,14,790,890 and 10,411,850, respectively. This meant that the center of U. S. population moved to Phelps County. The Northeast grew by 2,785,149, the Midwest by 4,724,144, the results of the census are used to determine how many congressional districts each state is apportioned. Congress defines the formula, in accordance with Title 2 of the U. S. Code, each member of the House represents a population of about 647,000. The populations of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are excluded from the apportionment population because they do not have voting seats in the U. S, since the first census in 1790, the decennial count has been the basis for the United States representative form of government. Article I, Section II specifies that The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, in 1790, each member of the House represented about 34,000 residents. Since then, the House more than quadrupled in size, today, each member represents about 20 times as many constituents. This recommendation was followed by the Secretary of Commerce, after the census was tabulated, Utah challenged the results in two different ways. Utah was extremely close to gaining a fourth seat, falling 857 people short. The margin was later shortened to 80 people, after the government discovered that it overcounted the population of North Carolina by 2,673 residents. Utah claimed that individuals traveling abroad as religious missionaries should be counted as residents, almost half of all Mormon missionaries, more than 11,000 individuals, were from Utah, only 102 came from North Carolina
10.
Central Time Zone
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The North American Central Time Zone is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, during summer most of the zone uses daylight saving time, and changes to Central Daylight Time which is five hours behind UTC. The province of Manitoba is the province or territory in Canada that observes Central Time in all areas. Also, most of the province of Saskatchewan is on Central Standard Time year-round, major exceptions include Lloydminster, a city situated on the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city charter stipulates that it shall observe Mountain Time and DST, putting the community on the time as all of Alberta, including the major cities of Calgary. As a result, during the summer, clocks in the province match those in Alberta. The Central Time Zone is the second most populous in the US after the Eastern Time Zone, lanett and Valley observe Eastern Time historically because they were textile mill towns and the original home office of their mills was in West Point, Georgia. Some eastern counties observe Central Time because they are close to the border of the Middle Tennessee counties surrounding the Nashville metropolitan area. Louisiana Michigan, All of Michigan observes Eastern Time except the four Upper Peninsula counties that border Wisconsin, other westernmost counties from this area such as Ontonagon observe Eastern Time. South Dakota, Eastern half as divided by the Missouri river adjacent to the state capital, note, the metropolitan area of Pierre is Central, including Fort Pierre. Wisconsin Most of Mexico—roughly the eastern three-fourths—lies in the Central Time Zone, except for six northwestern states, the federal entities of Mexico that observe Central Time, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua all use Central Standard Time year-round. The Galápagos Islands in Ecuador uses Central Standard Time all year-round, Daylight saving time is in effect in much of the Central time zone between mid-March and early November. The modified time is called Central Daylight Time and is UTC−5, in Canada, Saskatchewan does not observe a time change. One reason that Saskatchewan does not take part in a change is that, geographically. The province elected to move onto permanent daylight saving by being part of the Central Time Zone, Mexico decided not to go along with this change and observes their horario de verano from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In December 2009, the Mexican Congress allowed ten border cities, eight of which are in states that observe Central Time, to adopt the U. S. daylight time schedule effective in 2010
11.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
12.
UTC-5
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UTC−05,00 is a time offset that subtracts five hours from Coordinated Universal Time. In North America, it is observed in the Eastern Time Zone during standard time, the western Caribbean uses it year round. The southwestern and northwestern portions of Indiana Mexico – Central Zone Central, in most of Mexico, daylight time starts a few weeks after the United States. Communities on the U. S. border that observe Central Time follow the U. S. daylight time schedule
13.
ZIP Code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001
14.
Geographic Names Information System
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It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names to promote the standardization of feature names, the database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited, variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier, the database never removes an entry, except in cases of obvious duplication. The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U. S. geographical features, the general public can make proposals at the GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals. The Bureau of the Census defines Census Designated Places as a subset of locations in the National Geographic Names Database, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28 gives standards for addressing mail. In this publication, the postal service defines two-letter state abbreviations, street identifiers such as boulevard and street, department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division, Digital Gazeteer, Users Manual. Least Heat Moon, William, Blue Highways, A Journey Into America, standard was withdrawn in September 2008, See Federal Register Notice, Vol.73, No. 170, page 51276 Report, Principles, Policies, and Procedures, Domestic Geographic Names, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28, November 2000. Board on Geographic Names website Geographic Names Information System Proposals from the general public Meeting minutes
15.
2010 United States Census
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The 2010 United States Census, is the twenty-third and currently most recent United States national census. National Census Day, the day used for the census, was April 1,2010. As part of a drive to increase the accuracy,635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, as required by the United States Constitution, the U. S. census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The 2000 U. S. Census was the previous census completed, participation in the U. S. Census is required by law in Title 13 of the United States Code. On January 25,2010, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves personally inaugurated the 2010 Census enumeration by counting World War II veteran Clifton Jackson, more than 120 million census forms were delivered by the U. S. Post Office beginning March 15,2010, the number of forms mailed out or hand-delivered by the Census Bureau was approximately 134 million on April 1,2010. The 2010 Census national mail participation rate was 74%, from April through July 2010, census takers visited households that did not return a form, an operation called non-response follow-up. In December 2010, the Census Bureau delivered population information to the president for apportionment, personally identifiable information will be available in 2082. The Census Bureau did not use a form for the 2010 Census. In several previous censuses, one in six households received this long form, the 2010 Census used only a short form asking ten basic questions, How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1,2010. Were there any additional people staying here on April 1,2010 that you did not include in Question 1, mark all that apply, Is this house, apartment, or mobile home – What is your telephone number. What is Person 1s age and Person 1s date of birth, is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else, the form included space to repeat some or all of these questions for up to twelve residents total. In contrast to the 2000 census, an Internet response option was not offered, detailed socioeconomic information collected during past censuses will continue to be collected through the American Community Survey. The survey provides data about communities in the United States on a 1-year or 3-year cycle, depending on the size of the community, rather than once every 10 years. A small percentage of the population on a basis will receive the survey each year. In June 2009, the U. S. Census Bureau announced that it would count same-sex married couples, however, the final form did not contain a separate same-sex married couple option
16.
Austin, Texas
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Austin is the capital of the U. S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. It is the 11th-most populous city in the U. S. and it is the fastest growing large city in the United States and the second most populous capital city after Phoenix, Arizona. As of the U. S. Census Bureaus July 1,2015 estimate and it is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 2,056,405 as of July 1,2016. In the 1830s, pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River, in 1839, the site was officially chosen to replace Houston as the new capital of the Republic of Texas and was incorporated under the name Waterloo. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas and the republics first secretary of state. The city subsequently grew throughout the 19th century and became a center for government and education with the construction of the Texas State Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin. After a lull in growth from the Great Depression, Austin resumed its development into a city and, by the 1980s, it emerged as a center for technology. A number of Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin, including Amazon. com, cisco, eBay, Google, IBM, Intel, Oracle Corporation, Texas Instruments, 3M, and Whole Foods Market. Dells worldwide headquarters is located in nearby Round Rock, a suburb of Austin, residents of Austin are known as Austinites. They include a mix of government employees, college students, musicians, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers. The city also adopted Silicon Hills as a nickname in the 1990s due to an influx of technology. In the late 1800s, Austin was known as the City of the Violet Crown because of the glow of light across the hills just after sunset. Even today, many Austin businesses use the term Violet Crown in their name, Austin is known as a clean-air city for its stringent no-smoking ordinances that apply to all public places and buildings, including restaurants and bars. The FBI ranked Austin as the second-safest major city in the U. S. for the year 2012, U. S. News & World Report named Austin the best place to live in the U. S. in 2017. Austin, Travis County and Williamson County have been the site of habitation since at least 9200 BC. When settlers arrived from Europe, the Tonkawa tribe inhabited the area, the Comanches and Lipan Apaches were also known to travel through the area. Spanish colonists, including the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition, traveled through the area for centuries, in 1730, three missions from East Texas were combined and reestablished as one mission on the south side of the Colorado River, in what is now Zilker Park, in Austin. The mission was in area for only about seven months
17.
Greater Austin
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Austin–Round Rock is a five-county metropolitan area in the U. S. state of Texas, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. Commonly referred to as Greater Austin, the area is situated in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest. Austin–Round Rock is the 35th largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population over 2 million people, the metropolitan area is centered on the City of Austin—the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 11th-largest city in the United States with a population of 912,791 people. Austins largest suburbs are Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, as of 2013 the U. S. Office of Management and Budget defines the Austin–Round Rock MSA as including Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties. The U. S. Bureau of Economic Analysis includes the counties of Blanco, Burnet, Lee, Llano, Mason, other counties in Central Texas included by some sources are Burleson, Colorado, and Gillespie Counties. The two largest cities in the area are Austin and Round Rock. Other large municipalities in the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos MSA are, in order of size, Cedar Park, San Marcos, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Kyle, there are over 4 million people in the San Antonio-Austin corridor. The areas in and around Austin have been the site of habitation since at least 9,000 B. C. The earliest known inhabitants of the area, during the late Pleistocene, during the 18th century they made the transition to a horse culture and used firearms to a limited extent. After they were crowded out by white settlement, the Comanches continued to raid settlements in the county until the 1860s. There also appear to have small numbers of Kiowa, Yojuane, Tawakoni. The prehistory of Texas has been studied by professional and avocational archeologists for many decades. When Europeans first arrived in the area, the Tonkawa tribe was the most prevalent, though the Comanches, Spanish explorers, including the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition, traveled through the area for centuries though few permanent settlements were created for some time. In the mid-18th century the San Xavier missions were established along the San Gabriel River in what is now western Milam County to facilitate exploration, in 1804 the fort Puesta del Colorado was established by the Spanish in what is now Bastrop. In 1807 the San Marcos de Neve settlement was established on the San Marcos River, following the independence of Mexico, of which Texas was a part, the empresario Stephen F. Austin issued grants to settlers in what is now Bastrop and Fayette Counties. During the mid-1820s settlements were established along the Colorado River near modern La Grange, the village of Mina was established in 1827. Growth of the settlements was stagnant for some time because of conflicts with the Native Americans in the region. Nevertheless, the region sat along an important trade route known as the Camino Real de los Tejas, during the 1830s others, such as Martín Veramendi and Thomas G. McGehee, were issued land grants by the Mexican government to encourage settlement in the region
18.
Colorado River (Texas)
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The Colorado River is an 862-mile long river in the U. S. state of Texas. It is the 18th longest river in the United States and the longest river with both its source and its mouth within Texas and its drainage basin and some of its usually dry tributaries extend into New Mexico. The Colorado River originates south of Lubbock, on the Llano Estacado, near Lamesa. It flows generally southeast, out of the Llano Estacado and through the Texas Hill Country, through several reservoirs including Lake J. B. Thomas, E. V. Spence Reservoir, and Lake O. H. The river flows through several reservoirs before reaching Austin, including Lake Buchanan. Johnson, commonly referred to as Lake LBJ and Lake Travis, the Llano River joins the Colorado at Lake LBJ near Kingsland. The Pedernales River joins the Colorado at Lake Travis near Briarcliff, after passing through Austin, the Colorado River continues flowing southeast until emptying into Matagorda Bay on the Gulf of Mexico, near Matagorda. The Colorado River, which red or reddish river in Spanish, was frequently confused by Spanish explorers with the Brazos River to the north. The European discoverer of two neighboring rivers called the present Colorado River the Brazos de Dios, and called the present Brazos the Colorado River. The upper Colorado River was controlled by Comanches from the early 18th century to the late 19th century, in 1757, Spanish Texas attempted to establish an outlying Catholic mission on the San Saba River, near its confluence with the Colorado River. Nearly defenseless and viewed by the Comanche tribe as a territorial invasion, the Comanche were not effectively challenged on the upper Colorado River for nearly a century. The river is an important source of water for farming, cities, major man-made reservoirs on the river include Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and Lady Bird Lake in Austin. Collectively, these lakes are known as the Highland Lakes, in addition to power plants operating on each of the major lakes, waters of the Colorado are used for cooling the South Texas Nuclear Project, near Bay City. The Colorado River Municipal Water District owns and operates three reservoirs upstream of the Highland Lakes, Lake J. B, Thomas near Snyder, E. V. Spence Reservoir near Robert Lee, and O. H. Ivie Reservoir near Ballinger. Flood control and use of the Colorado River is managed by two agencies established by the Texas Legislature, the Upper Colorado River Authority, and the Lower Colorado River Authority, there are 11 major reservoirs along the Colorado River. The Colorado River is joined by five significant tributaries, Concho River, Pecan Bayou, Llano River, San Saba River, beals Creek is also a tributary fed by arroyos such as Sulphur Springs Draw, McKenzie, Seminole, Monument, Mustang, Midland, and Johnson Draws
19.
United States Census Bureau
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The United States Census Bureau is a principal agency of the U. S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureaus primary mission is conducting the U. S. Census every ten years, in addition to the decennial census, the Census Bureau continually conducts dozens of other censuses and surveys, including the American Community Survey, the U. S. Economic Census, and the Current Population Survey, furthermore, economic and foreign trade indicators released by the federal government typically contain data produced by the Census Bureau. The Bureaus various censuses and surveys help allocate over $400 billion in federal funds every year and help states, local communities, the Census Bureau is part of the U. S. Department of Commerce and its director is appointed by the President of the United States. The Census Bureau now conducts a population count every 10 years in years ending with a 0. Between censuses, the Census Bureau makes population estimates and projections, the Census Bureau is mandated with fulfilling these obligations, the collecting of statistics about the nation, its people, and economy. The Census Bureaus legal authority is codified in Title 13 of the United States Code, the Census Bureau also conducts surveys on behalf of various federal government and local government agencies on topics such as employment, crime, health, consumer expenditures, and housing. Within the bureau, these are known as surveys and are conducted perpetually between and during decennial population counts. The Census Bureau also conducts surveys of manufacturing, retail, service. Between 1790 and 1840, the census was taken by marshals of the judicial districts, the Census Act of 1840 established a central office which became known as the Census Office. Several acts followed that revised and authorized new censuses, typically at the 10-year intervals, in 1902, the temporary Census Office was moved under the Department of Interior, and in 1903 it was renamed the Census Bureau under the new Department of Commerce and Labor. The department was intended to consolidate overlapping statistical agencies, but Census Bureau officials were hindered by their role in the department. An act in 1920 changed the date and authorized manufacturing censuses every 2 years, in 1929, a bill was passed mandating the House of Representatives be reapportioned based on the results of the 1930 Census. In 1954, various acts were codified into Title 13 of the US Code, by law, the Census Bureau must count everyone and submit state population totals to the U. S. President by December 31 of any year ending in a zero. States within the Union receive the results in the spring of the following year, the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau regions are widely used. for data collection, the Census Bureau definition is pervasive. Title 13 of the U. S. Code establishes penalties for the disclosure of this information, all Census employees must sign an affidavit of non-disclosure prior to employment. The Bureau cannot share responses, addresses or personal information with anyone including United States or foreign government, only after 72 years does the information collected become available to other agencies or the general public
20.
Lake Pflugerville
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Lake Pflugerville is a reservoir in Pflugerville, Texas in the United States. Construction of the 180-acre reservoir began in 2005 and was completed in 2006, pumps are used to flow water through a 16-mile pipeline to the reservoir from the lower Colorado River. Its main purpose is to water to area residents. Recreation activities also surround the reservoir, amenities include a 3 mi -long granite hike and bike trail and fishing piers. Adjacent to the reservoir is Lake Pflugerville Park, which was completed in 2010, the park includes kayak rentals, pavilions/picnic areas, and a beach area. Lake Pflugerville is home to events, including KIDFish, the Pfirecracker Pfestival. Lake Pflugerville Lake Pflugerville Park Lake Pflugerville Triathlon
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Lower Colorado River Authority
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The Lower Colorado River Authority is a nonprofit public utility created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. LCRAs mission is to enhance the lives of the Texans it serves through water stewardship, energy, LCRA provides public power, manages the lower Colorado River, builds and operates transmission lines, owns public parks, and offers community services. LCRA does not receive state appropriations or have the ability to levy taxes, instead, LCRA is funded by revenue it generates, the vast majority of which comes from producing and transmitting electricity. A very small portion of LCRAs revenue comes from selling water, the Fayette Power Project is a three-unit coal-fired power plant in Fayette County that provides 1,625 megawatts. Lake Fayette is the pond for the project. LCRA uses coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming as fuel, the Sim Gideon Power Plant is a three-unit natural gas-fired plant in Bastrop County that provides 608 megawatts. The Lost Pines 1 Power Project is a natural gas-fired combined-cycle plant adjacent to the Sim Gideon plant, the Lost Pines 1 Power Project can generate up to 511 megawatts. Lake Bastrop is the pond for the Lost Pines Power Park. LCRA broke ground on a new Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant in April 2012, the plant began operating in 2014. The Ferguson facility is a natural gas-fired, combined cycle plant in Horseshoe Bay capable of producing 540 megawatts, Ferguson is among the most environmentally responsible power plants in Texas, producing 30 to 40 percent fewer emissions per unit of power that the unit it replaced. It uses about 35 percent less fuel per megawatt-hour and about one-third of the used at a typical steam plant per unit of power. The Winchester Power Park in Fayette County provides about 176 megawatts for use primarily during peak-demand periods, the LCRA buys natural gas on the open market and stores it at the Hilbig Gas Storage Facility, an underground reservoir near Rockne, Texas. The facility can hold up to 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas, LCRA purchases 51 megawatts of wind power capacity from the Indian Mesa Wind Energy Center in West Texas and 200 megawatts from the Papalote Creek II Wind Farm near the Texas Gulf Coast. LCRA has the rights to more than 2.1 million acre-feet of water per year based mostly on surface water permits issued by the state of Texas, LCRA owns more than 40 public parks, recreation areas and river access sites along the Highland Lakes and lower Colorado River. LCRAs McKinney Roughs and Matagorda Bay nature parks have natural science centers that offer educational and recreational programs for youths. LCRA offers a range of conservation programs for water users within its river basin. LCRAs community services include the Community Development Partnership Program, which has awarded almost $42 million in matching grants for 1,491 community development projects since 1995. LCRA began operations in February 1935, LCRA completed Buchanan Dam and a companion project, Inks Dam, in 1938—the first of six dams that form the reservoirs known as the Highland Lakes
22.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
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The EPA was proposed by President Richard Nixon and began operation on December 2,1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House, the agency is led by its Administrator, who is appointed by the president and approved by Congress. The current administrator is Scott Pruitt, the EPA is not a Cabinet department, but the administrator is normally given cabinet rank. The EPA has its headquarters in Washington, D. C. regional offices for each of the ten regions. The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education and it has the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws, in consultation with state, tribal, and local governments. It delegates some permitting, monitoring, and enforcement responsibility to U. S. states, EPA enforcement powers include fines, sanctions, and other measures. The agency also works with industries and all levels of government in a variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs. In 2016, the agency had 15,376 full-time employees, more than half of EPAs employees are engineers, scientists, and environmental protection specialists, other employees include legal, public affairs, financial, and information technologists. Beginning in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, Congress reacted to increasing concern about the impact that human activity could have on the environment. Senator James E. Murray introduced a bill, the Resources and Conservation Act of 1959, the 1962 publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson alerted the public about the detrimental effects on the environment of the indiscriminate use of pesticides. In the years following, similar bills were introduced and hearings were held to discuss the state of the environment, in the colloquium, some members of Congress expressed a continuing concern over federal agency actions affecting the environment. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 was modeled on RCA, President Nixon signed NEPA into law on January 1,1970. The law created the Council on Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President, NEPA required that a detailed statement of environmental impacts be prepared for all major federal actions significantly affecting the environment. The detailed statement would ultimately be referred to as an impact statement. On July 9,1970, Nixon proposed a reorganization that consolidated many environmental responsibilities of the federal government under one agency. After conducting hearings during that summer, the House and Senate approved the proposal, the agency’s first administrator, William Ruckelshaus, took the oath of office on December 4,1970. In May 2013, Congress renamed the EPA headquarters as the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, the EPA is led by an Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. As of 2017 Scott Pruitt is the 14th administrator, each EPA regional office is responsible within its states for implementing the Agencys programs, except those programs that have been specifically delegated to states
23.
Pflugerville Independent School District
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Pflugerville Independent School District is a public school district based in Pflugerville, Texas. The District encompasses approximately ninety-five square miles and includes all or part of six municipalities including Pflugerville, Austin, Coupland, Hutto, Manor and Round Rock. As of 2013 PISD covers 10.7 square miles of land within the City of Austin, in 2011, the school district was rated academically acceptable by the Texas Education Agency. PISD has announced that in the year of 2014–2015, they will open their twentieth elementary school. ^Note 2 The students who went to Delco Primary will go to Dessau Elementary in 3rd grade, ^Note 3 The students who went to Windermere Primary will go to Windermere Elementary in 3rd grade. ^Note 4 Dearing Elementary School will open for the 2014-2015 school year, the Goddard School Opportunity Center Middle School and High School PACE List of school districts in Texas Pflugerville ISD website
24.
Pflugerville High School
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Pflugerville High School is a public high school located in Pflugerville, Texas that serves 2,108 students from grades 9-12. From 1958 until 1962, Pflugerville won 55 consecutive games, at the time, it was both a State and National record. The Streak ended with a 12-6 loss to Holland in the 1962 Bi-District round of the playoffs, in 1964, Pflugervilles national winning streak record was broken by Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1958 and 1959, PHS fielded Eight-Man football teams and played in the Class B division until 1967 and this is why Pflugerville is only credited with 34 wins on the all-time consecutive win chart. However, they are in actually, in 2nd Place as of 2005, the Panthers compiled 5 District Championships,2 Bi-District Championships, and 4 Regional Championships. Through those five seasons, the Panthers scored 2,585 points, allowed just 256, the record for most consecutive victories is now held by De La Salle High School of California with 151 from 1992-2004. Their streak ended with the first game of the 2004 season against Bellvue High from Washington state, the Texas State record is now held by Celina, which won 68 games from 1998-2002. Pflugerville still ranks #2 All-Time in the State of Texas, in the 2009-2010 season, Pflugervilles Cross Country for the first time qualified an entire team for regionals. The 7, 000-capacity Kuempel Stadium the current home of the Panthers in Football, Soccer, through the 2004 season, Kuempel Stadium has had a natural grass playing surface. However, on February 5,2005 voters approved a bond package which will include funds to upgrade to the new style of artificial turf. Similar surfaces are used at RRISD Stadium and at Dragon Stadium as well as NFL, construction was finished prior to the start of the 2005 season A plaque outside the entrance explains the name origin. Dedicated October 1986 Named for Charles and H. L, hub Kuempel, both graduates of Pflugerville High School, who returned and served the Pflugerville schools for a combined 49 years. In the late 50s and early 60s they coached PHS to 55 consecutive football victories, at that time this was a State and National Record. The TV Series Friday Night Lights was originally filmed using the stadium,2007 On the morning of September 11,2007, a teenager in Pflugerville was arrested in connection to terrorist threats made against Pflugerville High School that were posted on the website 4chan. Alex Okafor - American football player Ikemefuna Enemkpali - NFL football player GreatSchools. net
25.
John B. Connally High School
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Connally High School is a public secondary school in Austin, Texas, United States. The school, which opened in 1996, serves 9-12 and is part of the Pflugerville Independent School District, Pflugerville Connally, since first opening, has been known as a powerhouse in the 4-A district through Texas. The program never had less than 8 wins in a season before switching from head coach Matt Monzingo to head coach Howard McMahan, the 08-09 season marked the end of the Cougars streak of making the UIL State Playoffs Tournament for 11 years. Connally moved back into the 4-A district for the 10-11 season, Pflugerville Connallys baseball program was established in 1997 after the opening of the high school. Typically known as a program who starts off sluggish until the start of district play, the baseball team has had sustain success since the 2002-2003 school year. That team was led by seniors Austin Boggs Texas A&M University, the team made it all the UIL Regional Finals before losing to Brenham High School. The following year brought success as well, the 2003-2004 team was led by seniors MLB prospect Greg Golson New York Yankees and Drew Bias Baylor University. The 03-04 team had an exit from the UIL playoffs to the same Brenham High School from the previous year. The 2004-2005 kept up the record of winning by repeating what the previous teams accomplished. The team was led by seniors Mason Dixon Texas A&M International, the team defeated Austin Lanier High School in the 1st Round of the UIL Playoffs and was defeated in the next round by Dripping Springs High School. The team was led by Zachary Gonzales Texas A&M International and Santos Reyes Southwestern University, ryan Sasaki, a high school senior, was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009. The following year, senior Anthony Bryant was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cougar Womens Basketball team has experienced mixed success. However, both the 03-04 and 04-05 teams went to the State Quarterfinals, led by coach Angie Hermsmeyer, the Lady Cougars have never had a losing season. Coach Hermsmeyer was recently replaced by Laura Zouzalik, who has been coaching for twenty-four years, boys soccer at connally has never been known as a powerhouse program like its rivals Vista Ridge and Brenham, but the class of 2009 brought statewide recognition to the program. Becoming the first 4A high school, to move up in classes, the team was led by Senior Marco Alcocer and to an unprecedented 5A district title. The team went on to the Regional Finals that year in playoffs and ended up losing to Brownsville Lopez, head Coach John Edwards was in his first year of coaching boys high school soccer and also was awarded with the Coach of the Year award by the district coaches
26.
Interstate 35 in Texas
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Interstate 35 in Texas is a major north–south Interstate Highway running from Laredo near the United States-Mexico border to the Red River north of Gainesville where it crosses into Oklahoma. Along its route, it passes through the cities of San Antonio, Austin, Interstate 35E heads northeast where it passes through Dallas. Interstate 35W turns northwest to run through Fort Worth, the two branches meet up in Denton to again form Interstate 35, where it continues to the Oklahoma border. Interstate 35W maintains its own sequence of exit numbers, in Texas, Interstate 35 runs for just over 407 miles, which does not include either the 85-mile segment of Interstate 35W or the 97-mile segment of Interstate 35E. Texas contains more miles of the length of Interstate 35 than any other state. The Interstate is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion project. The project includes work on portions of the interstate from Dallas south to Laredo, in Laredo, Interstate 35 is between 6 and 8 main lanes in each direction, dropping to 4 near mile marker 13. After running concurrently with US83 for 20 miles, the highway continues north-northeast across the South Texas Plains, the highway passes through the towns of Cotulla, Dilley, Pearsall, Devine, and Lytle before reaching San Antonio. In San Antonio, I-35 is listed as the PanAm Expressway and it starts out as four lanes from the south until it reaches the Poteet-Jourdanton Freeway, expanding to six to eight mainlanes of travel. Its southern point begins in the southwest corner of town and travels northeast, at the southwest corner of Downtown, it reaches an intersection with Interstate 10, United States Route 87 and United States Route 90. US90 continues east and west from junction, while I-10 westbound/U. S. 87 northbound joins with I-35 northbound along the side of Downtown. In this section, it splits lanes to two levels, a lower one for local traffic and a higher one for express traffic. They briefly rejoin near the northwest corner of Downtown to allow I-10/U. S,87 to split off and go northwest. I-35 continues, resplitting lanes again as it curves around the northwest corner of Downtown, I-35 continues east for a few miles until it begins to curve back to the northeast. It merges with I-410 on its eastern north–south leg from its direction in a triangular interchange. A couple miles later, I-410 will split off onto its northern west–east leg, trucks are restricted from travel in the far left lane of I-35 in either direction throughout the San Antonio area. The restriction covers Bexar, Guadalupe, and Comal Counties, in Austin, Interstate 35 is named Interregional Highway
27.
Texas State Highway 130
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SH130 runs in a 131-mile corridor east and south of Austin. The route parallels I-35 and is intended to relieve the Interstates traffic volume through the San Antonio-Austin corridor by serving as an alternate route, the highway is noted for having a speed limit of at least 80 mph along its tolled section. The 41-mile section of the road between Mustang Ridge and Seguin has a posted speed limit of 85 mph, the highest posted speed limit in the United States. SH130 begins co-signed with I-410 at an interchange with I-35 in southwestern San Antonio, hwy 130 follows 410 until an interchange with I-10/US90, just east of Downtown San Antonio, following those two highways to Seguin. SH130 leaves I-10 in eastern Seguin, running north as a tollway, near Lockhart, the tollway begins an overlap with US183, with US183 running along the frontage roads. In the small community of Mustang Ridge, US183 leaves the frontage roads, the two highways run in a northeast direction passing through rural areas of Travis County. The tollway passes near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at the interchange with SH71, the tollway curves around Lake Walter E. Long after the interchange with the Manor Expressway near Manor, in the city of Pflugerville, theres slight development along the route near RM620. SH45 leaves the tollway in Pflugerville with SH130 running through areas of Williamson County. SH130 runs in a slight northwest direction before ending at I-35 in northern Georgetown, SH130 was originally designated in far west Texas, between the city of El Paso and SH54 in El Paso, Hudspeth, and Culberson counties. That route was constructed in 1928, in 1932, the route was co-designated as a portion of US62. The SH130 designation was dropped with the general re-description of the highway system in 1939. Since 1943, the route has also been designated as a portion of US180 along with US62. The cost of section was expected to be $1.5 billion, which included the costs of utility relocation, design, construction. Right-of-way costs alone were estimated at $389 million, groundbreaking for SH130 took place on October 3,2003. The first segment of SH130 to open to the public was from US290 northbound to US79 on November 1,2006, on December 13, the highway was extended northward to a junction with I-35. On September 6,2007, the route was extended southward from US290 to SH71, segment 4 opened on April 30,2008, running 8. 7-mile from SH71 to US183. Cintra-Zachry formed SH130 Concession Company to manage the project, in exchange for the investment, the company received the right to collect tolls for 50 years in a revenue-sharing agreement with the state
28.
Texas State Highway 45
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State Highway 45 is a highway loop around Austin, Texas, that exists in two open segments. The official designation of SH45 is such to form a loop around Austin. One segment is in southwest Austin and runs roughly southeast from Ranch to Market Road 1826 to the terminus of Loop 1. The roadway is a divided, four-lane facility with a wide median intended to accommodate a future freeway, before the 2002 Central Texas Turnpike Project, SH45 existed only as a short section of four-lane, divided highway in southwest Austin. The CTTP added a road that runs east from US183 near Cedar Park, crosses I-35, bi-secting the La Frontera development. South of this interchange, SH45 is co-signed with SH130 to US183 just south of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, SH45 then loops westward rejoining I-35 north of Buda. SH45 North is an approximately 13-mile segment in the north Austin metropolitan area, the freeways western terminus is at US183 northwest of Austin in Cedar Park. For a distance, RM620 travels concurrently with the roads also designated as State Highway 45. Heading east, the freeway intercepts Loop 1s northern terminus, bisects La Frontera and this particular segment ends at SH130 near Pflugerville, but the SH45 designation continues southward along SH130. The Texas Department of Transportation had originally planned to complete construction of the entire 2002 CTTP in September 2007, SH45 Southeast is a 7. 4-mile, tolled segment southeast of Austin, near Creedmoor, Texas. Roughly paralleling Farm to Market Road 1327, it is a four-lane, controlled-access facility that links SH130 and US183 to Interstate 35 north of Buda and it completes the SH45 eastern bypass loop around the Austin metropolitan area. Originally planned as part of the 2002 CTTP, SH45 Southeast became the subject of controversy, delaying development, in 2006, an environmental advocacy group filed a lawsuit in an effort to move the alignment further south. SH45 Southeast was opened to traffic on May 7,2009, SH45 Southwest is an unfinished 3. 6-mile tollway link between the existing non-tolled SH45 terminus at Loop 1 and Farm to Market Road 1626 to the east. Construction on the SH45 Southwest link officially began in November 2016, after delays due to environmental. This missing link was one source of controversy surrounding the alignment of SH45 Southeast, planning for the western portions of SH45 to form a complete loop is still very early, although a proposal for possible route has already been offered by the City of Lakeway. State Highway 45 was originally designated in 1919 as a route from Bryan to Louisiana border, by 1926, the section west of Roans Prairie was cancelled. By 1926, the section from Point Blank to Livingston had yet to be built, by 1931, large portions of the highway were still under construction along the proposed route. SH45 was realigned on a straight route, with the old route being renumbered as SH156
29.
The Home Depot
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The Home Depot, Inc. is a home improvement supplies retailing company that sells tools, construction products, and services. It operates many big-box format stores across the United States, all 10 provinces of Canada, the company is headquartered at the Atlanta Store Support Center in Cobb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta. In terms of overall revenue reported to the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States, ahead of rival Lowes. It operates out of large warehouse-style buildings averaging 105,000 ft2 with megastores operating in larger facilities, the Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernard Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill and Pat Farrah. The Home Depots proposition was to build home-improvement superstores, larger than any of their competitors facilities, investment banker Ken Langone helped Marcus and Blank to secure the necessary capital. In 1979, the first two stores, built in spaces leased from J. C. Penney that were originally Treasure Island hypermarket stores, two more opened not long after, and all four shared the space under the squiggly zig-zag roof with Zayre on its right side. The initial public offering occurred in approximately September 1981 and the became a New York Stock Exchange traded company on April 19,1984. The first headquarters was on Terrell Mill Road on the southeast side of Marietta, Georgia, the tallest building is approximately 85 metres high, the fourth-tallest in the Vinings area. The three buildings are marked B, C, and D—the missing building A is actually store #121 on Cumberland Parkway, in 2000, after the retirement of Marcus and Blank, Robert Nardelli was appointed chairman, president, and CEO. Nardelli had pushed hard to make the more efficient, instituting many metrics and centralizing operations, while cutting jobs, benefits. Its 2005 sales totaled US$91.8 billion, despite the 10% increase in revenue, it dropped three spots to No.17 on the 2007 FORTUNE magazines FORTUNE500 list. The Home Depot owned EXPO Design Center, a chain of home decorating and appliance stores, in 2001, it acquired distributor Your Other Warehouse, which still operates as its own division. In 2006, the Home Depot acquired Hughes Supply which was assimilated into HD Supply serving contractors, in September 2005, Home Depot Direct launched its online home-furnishings store,10 Crescent Lane, shortly followed by the launch of Paces Trading Company, its online lighting store. In mid 2006, the Home Depot acquired Home Decorators Collection, Home Depot Landscape Supply, with only a few stores each in metro Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth, was founded in 2002 and closed in late 2007. On January 2,2007, the Home Depot and Robert Nardelli mutually agreed on Nardellis resignation as CEO after a six-year tenure and his severance package of $210 million was criticized because when the stock went down, his pay went up. His successor, Frank Blake, previously served as the vice chairman of the board. Blake agreed to a more conservative compensation package than Nardelli. Although a longtime deputy to Nardelli at GE and Home Depot, Blake was said to lack Nardellis hard edge, indeed, Blake repudiated many of his predecessors strategies, and it has been reported that the two men have not spoken since Nardelli departed Home Depot
30.
Best Buy
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Best Buy Co. Inc. is a U. S transnational consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota, a Minneapolis suburb. Internationally, it operates in Canada and Mexico. It was formerly operational in China until February 2011 and in Europe until 2012, the company was founded by Richard M. Schulze and Gary Smoliak in 1966 as an audio specialty store. In 1983, it was renamed and rebranded with more emphasis placed on consumer electronics, Best Buys subsidiaries include Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, and Pacific Sales. Best Buy sells cellular phones from Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Sprint Corporation, Boost Mobile, Hubert Joly serves as Best Buys chairman and CEO. In August 1966, Richard M. Schulze and a partner opened Sound of Music. Schulze financed the opening of his first store with his personal savings, in 1967, Sound of Music acquired Kencraft Hi-Fi Company and Bergo Company. Sound of Music earned $1 million in revenue and made about $58,000 in profits in its first year, in 1969, Schulze bought out his business partner. Sound of Music had three stores and became a publicly held company listed on the NASDAQ exchange, Sound of Music operated nine stores throughout Minnesota by 1978. In 1981, the Roseville, Minnesota, Sound of Music location, the store’s roof was sheared off and showroom destroyed, but the storeroom was left intact. In response, Schulze decided to have a “Tornado Sale” of damaged and he poured the remainder of his marketing budget into advertising the sale, promising “best buys” on everything. Sound of Music made more money during the four-day sale than it did in a typical month, in 1983, with seven stores and $10 million in annual sales, Sound of Music was renamed Best Buy Company, Inc. The company also expanded its offerings to include home appliances and VCRs. Later that year Best Buy opened its first superstore in Burnsville, the Burnsville location featured a high-volume, low price business model, which was borrowed partially from Schulze’s successful Tornado Sale in 1981. In its first year, the Burnsville store out-performed all other Best Buy stores combined, Best Buy debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 1987. In 1989, the company introduced a new store concept dubbed “Concept II. ”Concept II replaced dimly lit industrial-style stores with brighter and more fashionably fixtured stores. Stores also began placing all stock on the floor rather than in a stock room, had fewer salespersons. Best Buy also did away with commissioned salespeople, the commission-free sales environment “created a more relaxed shopping environment free of the high-pressure sales tactics used in other stores, ” but was unpopular with salespersons and suppliers
31.
Target Corporation
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Target Corporation is the second-largest discount store retailer in the United States, behind Walmart, and a component of the S&P500 Index. The first Target store opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962 while the parent company was renamed the Dayton Corporation in 1967, the company has found success as a cheap-chic player in the industry. The parent company was renamed the Target Corporation in 2000 and divested itself of its last department store chains in 2004, as of 2017, Target operates 1,806 locations throughout the United States. Target is often recognized for its emphasis on the needs of its younger, image-conscious shoppers, the Westminster Presbyterian Church from downtown Minneapolis burned down during the Panic of 1893. Without insurance coverage to cover the loss, the congregation found itself unable to rebuild. The store was renamed the Dayton Dry Goods Company in 1903, Dayton died in 1938 and was succeeded by his son Nelson as the president of the $14 million business. Nelson died in 1950 and was replaced by his own son Donald, the company acquired the Lipmans department store company during the 1950s and operated it as a separate division. John F. Geisse developed the concept of upscale discount retailing while working for the Dayton Company. Using his concepts, the company opened its first Target discount store at 1515 West County Road B in the Saint Paul suburb of Roseville, Minnesota, Douglas Dayton was its first president. The name Target originated from publicity director Stewart K. Widdess and it opened three additional units in the first year, and reported its first gain in 1965 with sales reaching $39 million. Later that decade, B. Dalton Bookseller was formed as a subsidiary of the Dayton Company, the parent company acquired the jewelers Shreve & Co. and J. E. Caldwell, the Pickwick Book Shops, and the electronics and appliances chain Lechmere. It also went public with its first offering of common stock, in 1969, the Dayton Company itself merged with the Detroit-based J. L. Hudson Company, and together formed the Dayton-Hudson Corporation. The new company, at the time the 14th-largest retailer in the United States, consisted of Target and the department stores Daytons, Diamonds, Hudsons, John A. Brown, Target reached $200 million in sales while Dayton-Hudson acquired Team Electronics and the jewelers C. D. Peacock, Inc. and Jessop and Sons in the 1970s, Target reported a decrease in profits in 1972, due to the rapid pace of expansion with the purchase and conversion of several former Arlans department store locations. New management marked down merchandise to reduce its overstock and only opened one new location that year, Dayton-Hudson was established as the seventh-largest general merchandise retailer in the United States with its acquisition of Mervyns in 1978. It sold the Dayton-Hudson Jewelers subsidiary to Henry Birks & Sons of Montreal, Target was established as the dominant retailer in southern California after purchasing fifty Gemco stores in the state in 1986, that year, Dayton-Hudson sold B. Dalton Bookseller to Barnes & Noble. The acquisition of several Gold Circle and Richway stores assisted its expansion into northwestern and southeastern United States, later that year, Dayton-Hudson sold Lechmere to a group of investors. In 1990, Dayton-Hudson acquired Marshall Fields and opened its first Target Greatland store in Apple Valley and it started the Everyday Hero clothing specialty store with two locations in Minneapolis in 1992, although they were closed in 1997
32.
At Home (store)
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At Home is a big box retail chain specializing in home decor products, based in Plano, Texas. The specialty retailers stores each carry over 50,000 unique items across broad product categories, the company went public in 2016. Founded in 1979 with one store in Schertz, Texas, the brand was created as Garden Ridge Pottery and was renamed simply. In 2014, the company converted all stores to the At Home brand and floorplan, at Home operates more than 120 stores in 30 U. S. states. AEA Investors acquired Garden Ridge in October 2011, prior to this, the chain was privately held by Three Cities Research. After the reorganization, the corporation emerged from Chapter 11 in 2005, the company publicly filed an S-1 on September 4,2015
33.
Bealls (Texas)
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Bealls /ˈbɛlz/ is a United States chain of department stores, owned by Stage Stores Inc. and headquartered in Houston, TX. The store specializes in retailing desirable brand name apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, the chain overlaps with the Florida-based Bealls chain, although the two are not related. In markets where the two overlap, the Florida chain operates as Burkes Outlet instead. The first Beall store was opened in Henderson, Texas in 1923 by brothers Archie and Robbie, the Bealls opened a second store in Nacogdoches in 1926 and a third in Mt. Pleasant in 1927. By 1930, there were seven stores in the chain, the Beall brothers won bids for the business of J. L. Douglas, a Jacksonville merchant. This move would establish Jacksonville as a permanent home office for the growing chain, the Beall brothers decided to file for incorporation of the chain during this time. In 1935, the office moved to the Mayfield Building in downtown Jacksonville. The Jacksonville store location would move in 1936 from the old Douglas building to the corner of Main and Commerce streets, by 1940, Bealls had 15 stores in the chain. Despite World War II, store count by 1950 had grown to 19, continued growth of the chain led to 38 locations by 1957. Bealls shifted their office and warehousing to a new location on East Rusk Street in Jacksonville. In the 1960s, a modernization of store interiors and operations was underway. In 1972, Bealls had grown to 60 stores in Texas and found its way beyond the borders of its state for the first time. Bealls had reached most parts of Texas, except for the far west, meanwhile, three of Robbie Bealls sons were now in high-level positions with the company, Royce and Ray were now vice-presidents and R. G. was serving as president of Bealls. The 1980s brought more changes on the homefront, buying operations were moved away from Jacksonville to the Las Colinas area of Irving, Texas in 1983. This move ensured close proximity to many representatives of the apparel industry, most had local offices. By 1984, Bealls moved its long-time downtown Jacksonville store operation to a new location on South Jackson Street, a new warehouse and distribution center took shape on the north side of Jacksonville, replacing the warehouse that occupied the rear of the headquarters building. The new operation was opened in 1986, in 1988, Royce and Ray Beall announced plans to sell Bealls due to the vote of shares by shareholders to sell the company, this effort was led in part by other family members of Jacksonville. The 13% voted against the sale, during the mid- to late 1980s the company was hit particular hard when the oil revenues in the state of Texas plummeted that resulted in a downturn for the state
34.
Dick's Sporting Goods
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Dicks has 610 stores in 47 states, primarily in the Eastern United States. The company also owns Golf Galaxy, Inc. a golf specialty retailer, the company also operates specialty chains True Runner and Field & Stream. Founded in 1948 by Richard Dick Stack, the chain has expanded to one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the world. In 1948, at the age of 18, Dick Stack worked at an Army/Navy store in his hometown of Binghamton, New York, after World War II. ”When Dick recounted his story later that day, his grandmother advised, “Dick, always follow your dreams, ” and gave him $300 from her savings. He rented a storefront and opened the first Dicks as a small bait & tackle fishing supply store, the store prospered, and Dick eventually opened a second store in Vestal, New York. In the 1970s, the Binghamton store moved next door to a larger facility. Dick Stack headed the organization until his retirement in 1984, Dick Stacks son, Edward Eddie Stack, succeeded him in the leadership of the company, expanding the two-store business rapidly. In the early 1990s, Dicks began chain operations, opening additional stores across Upstate New York, in 1994, Dicks moved its headquarters from Binghamton, New York to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In January 2016, Dicks launched Team Sports HQ, a platform of services for youth sport leagues, services offered include software for online registration and team/league websites, custom uniforms and FanWear, and access to donations and sponsorships. The company used the e-tailing Web site dickssportinggoods. com, operated by GSI Commerce under license, starting in 2013, the company began using a ship-from-store platform for online orders. This means that the company has an inventory for every store. As of March 2009, customers may return items purchased from the Web site, Dicks has also sponsored SportsMatter. com, a crowdfunding site to help support underfunded youth sports leagues. In July 1971, Dicks was told of infringing a patent owned by Furnace Brook, LLC, in a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Illinois. On March 31,2005, the company restated the first three quarters of 2004 as well as full-year figures due to adjustments to its accounting for leases. In August 2006, Dicks was accused of infringing two patents owned by Cushion Technologies, LLC, in a lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas, in April 2007, Dicks settled with the plaintiff and the lawsuit was dismissed. In June 2009, Dicks was accused of infringing a patent owned by The Donkey Company, in 2014, Dicks began a lawsuit against Modells Sporting Goods CEO, Mitchell Modell, for going undercover into their stores to gain access to their retail secrets. Dicks Sporting Goods opened in Florida and California in 1997, seven years later, the chain acquired the entirety of Galyans, an Indiana-based sporting chain. They also acquired Golf Galaxy and Chicks in 2007, plans were announced in 2010 to open its first store in Washington state with six more locations coming soon
35.
Petco
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Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. or simply Petco, is a privately held pet retailer in the United States, with corporate offices in San Diego and San Antonio. Petco sells pet products and services, as well as types of live animals. Petco sells and holds fish, reptiles, small birds, hamsters, guinea pigs, pet services include grooming and dog training. The company also owns the rights to the Petco Park baseball stadium. Think Adoption First is a philosophy and program, which encourages pet adoption rather than the purchase of companion animals whenever possible. Petco was criticized when they were selling large exotic birds in their shops, in 2005, they signed an agreement with PETA to end the sale of large birds. Petco has never sold dogs or cats, and in 2008, the company was founded in 1965 as a mail-order business selling veterinary supplies. The company was acquired in 2000 by Leonard Green & Partners, in November 2015, CVC Capital Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board agreed to acquire Petco in a deal worth $4.6 billion. The move followed failed talks between Petco and PetSmart over a merger, in 2004, Petco bought the naming rights to San Diegos then-new downtown baseball stadium, making it Petco Park. The company agreed to pay the San Diego Padres about $60 million over a period of 22 years, at the time, it was one of the highest prices paid for naming rights to a baseball park. Jim Myers has been the chairman and CEO of the company since 2004 and he has been with Petco since 1990. In 2016, he announced he will retire on February 1,2017 and his successor will be company president and chief merchant Brad Weston. Petco paid more than $850,000 to resolve a case in 2004. Despite severe weather warnings and flood advisories for the river in the days leading to the flood. Petco had also claimed that the casualties were caused by a backup in the stores drain/sewage line, johnson City police have also stated that flood warnings were issued by the National Weather Service, and they should have been taken more seriously. On September 12,2011, Petco issued a statement accepting full responsibility for the event, PETA has called for a criminal investigation against Petco. Soon after, Petco offered to donate $25,000 towards animal welfare centers in the area, the foundation also supports spay and neuter efforts, animal assistant therapy programs, and education about the humane treatment of animals
36.
Ross Stores
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Ross Stores, Inc. is an American chain of off-price department stores headquartered in Dublin, California, officially operating under the brandname, Ross Dress for Less. It is the second-largest off-price retailer in the USA, behind TJX Companies, Ross Department Store was first opened in San Bruno, California, in 1950 by Morris Morrie Ross. Morris would work 85 hours a week doing all of the buying and bookkeeping for his department store, by the end of 1995 the chain reached an annual sales of $1.4 billion with 292 stores in 18 states. By 2012 Ross reached $9.7 billion for the year with 1,091 stores in 33 states with an additional 108 for Dds Discounts in 8 states. Barbara Rentler took the place of CEO Michael Balmuth on June 1,2014, thereby becoming the 25th woman chief executive officer of a Fortune 500 company, Ross Stores
37.
Office Depot
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Office Depot, Inc. is an American office supply retailing company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, United States of America. The company has combined sales of approximately $14 billion and employs about 66,000 associates with businesses in 59 countries. The company operates 2,200 retail stores, e-commerce sites, the company’s portfolio of brands includes Office Depot, OfficeMax, Grand & Toy, Viking Direct, Ativa, TUL, Foray, Realspace, and DiVOGA. It was announced February 20,2013, that Office Depot and OfficeMax would combine in a deal, pending regulatory approval. On November 5,2013, the merger was completed, on February 4,2015, it was announced that rival Staples had agreed to purchase Office Depot in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $6.3 billion. However, in December 2015, the Federal Trade Commission voted to block the merger, on May 10,2016, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FTC a preliminary injunction against the merger. After the ruling, Office Depot and Staples announced termination of their proposed merger. Office Depot was founded in October 1986 by the late F. Patrick Sher, the chairman and chief executive officer, Stephen Dougherty, the president, and Jack Kopkin. All three were associated with Home-owners Warehouse, the home improvement company that Sher sold to Service Merchandise in 1983. The catalog showroom chain eventually sold off the Mr. HOW Warehouse units to a variety of buyers including Builders Square and they envisioned a warehouse-style store for office products where customers could purchase items in bulk for discounted prices. This concept led to the beginning of what is known as Office Depot, Office Depot recently closed all of its Connecticut locations. This is a list of events and milestones that have to do with Office Depot. 1991 – Expands to the West Coast of the United States by merging with Office Club,1992 – Increases operations in North America by acquiring The Great Canadian Office Supplies Warehouse Chain. 1993 – Enters contract stationer business by acquiring Wilson Stationery & Printing Company,2003 – Doubles European business with acquisition of Guilbert, S. A. becomes the first office supply superstore to offer fully functional and comprehensive Spanish website. S. and Canada. 2005 Names Steve Odland Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 2013 – OfficeMax begins negotiations with Office Depot to engage in a merger of equals,2014 Announced that it will close 400 stores due to declining sales and customer migration to e-retailers. Office Depot and OfficeMax merged and started combining,2015 – The Federal Trade Commission voted to block the merger with Staples. 2017 – Gerry Smith was named as executive officer, effective Feb.27. Smith will succeed current Chief Executive Roland Smith, who announced his plan to retire in August 2016, Smith is currently the chief operating officer at technology company Lenovo Group
38.
24 Hour Fitness
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The corporate office is located in San Ramon, California and a processing center is located in Carlsbad, California. The founder is Mark S. Mastrov, and the CEO is Frank Napolitano and it was acquired from the Company from Forstmann Little & Co in May 2014. 24 Hour Fitness operates a nutritional supplement company, Apex Fitness Group and their motto is Improving lives through fitness. The company began in 1983 as an operation called 24 Hour Nautilus. Mark Mastrov and Leonard Schlemm began the firm, with Mastrov, CEO Mark Mastrov hired Mark Golob and Dean Moloney as Vice President of Marketing. Golob created promotional campaigns with Pamela Anderson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mike Tyson that increased membership, during Moloneys tenure, he and Mastrov, along with Tom Gergley and Golob, began planning an international chain of health clubs. In 1994,24 Hour Nautilus partnered with McCown De Leeuw and soon acquired the Southern California-based Family Fitness Centers chain. Todd Smith and Adam Shaw were responsible for the expansion of the company during their initial growth period. In 2004,24 Hour Fitness became a sponsor of the 2004-2008 United States Olympic teams,24 Hour Fitness worked with NBC to develop a reality show, The Biggest Loser, which features 12 to 22 overweight contestants competing to lose weight over several million dollars. The show first aired in late 2004, from 2005 to 2008,24 Hour Fitness co-sponsored the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. 24 Hour Fitness formerly had some 15 clubs in Singapore and China, besides the United States, it had centres in Singapore and Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai in China) through its wholly owned subsidiary California Fitness. Its European clubs closed in the early 2000s and it was also listed on the stock exchange with major Thai corporate partners. Two more California Wow franchisees had existed in Vietnam, run as private gyms, independently of those in Thailand, likely an unrelated company copying the style and name only. Celebrity Fitness, yet another gym chain with 24 Hour Fitness roots, is headquartered in Jakarta and runs gyms in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, neither CalWowX nor Celebrity Fitness had competed directly with California Fitness. In August 2012, the owner of 24 Hour Fitness put the 416 location gym chain on the block with a price tag reported to have been close to $2 billion. After being courted by various interests for over six months, ultimately in January 2012, offers reportedly fell short of the asking price. 24 Hour Fitness has over 4 million members and more than 420 clubs in 18 states and its major competitors in the US are Anytime Fitness, Golds Gym, Aspen Fitness, and LA Fitness. The Member Services call center for 24 Hour Fitness is outsourced through the Alorica Corporation location in Spokane, Wa and is based out of Irvine, Ca
39.
Cinemark Theatres
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Cinemark USA, Inc. is an American movie theatre chain owned by Cinemark Holdings, Inc. operating throughout the Americas and in Taiwan. It is headquartered in Plano, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as of December 31,2013, the Cinemark circuit is geographically diverse and is the third largest in the United States with 495 theatres and 4,457 screens in 40 states. It is the most geographically diverse circuit in Latin America with 148 theatres and 1,106 screens in 12 countries, it is the largest movie theatre chain in Brazil, Cinemark also holds the spot of second largest circuit internationally. Cinemark operates theaters under several brands, including its flagship Cinemark, Century Theatres, Tinseltown USA, CinéArts, Cinemark was started in 1976 by Lee Roy Mitchell as a chain of theatres in Texas, Utah, and California. Through new theatre construction and acquisitions, it became the third largest theatre chain in the United States, in March 2009, Cinemark introduced its own large screen concept, known as XD, and has plans to install it in many well-performing locations around the world. At first, it was known as XD3, all XD screens installed after August 2010 featured 7.1 surround sound and those installed after October 2012 feature Dolby Atmos. Cinemark is also known for its highly diversified concessions and dine-in theater options, serving such items as marinated lengua, mitchells son Kevin Mitchell worked with the company as well as an executive until leaving in 2007 to found ShowBiz Cinemas. In the 1990s, Cinemark Theatres was one of the first chains to incorporate stadium-style seating into their theatres. The case was heard in El Paso district court as Lara v. Cinemark USA, in response, the United States Department of Justice filed their own suit against Cinemark while appealing the appellate courts decision. The DOJ argued that, while Cinemark was not technically violating the ADA, Cinemark responded by filing a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, alleging misconduct on the DOJs behalf. Cinemarks lawsuit was thrown out, and the Department of Justice proceeded with its lawsuit. Cinemark ultimately agreed to out of court before the court came to a ruling, agreeing with the DOJ that it was in the companys best interest to end litigation before a ruling was issued. In turn, the Department of Justice agreed not to bring litigation against the company in relation to the architecture of stadium seating as it applies to the ADA. In 2006, Cinemark purchased Century Theatres with a combination of cash and this acquisition added over 80 theatres and many more screens. Some of these theatres were shut down either being phased out as under performing or replaced with new complexes. In 2009, in order to save the company from a potential bankruptcy, the theatres were Arundel Mills Egyptian 24 in Hanover, MD, Paradise 24 in Pembroke Pines, FL, Palace 20 in Boca Raton, FL, and Boynton Beach 14 in Boynton Beach, FL. Arundel Mills Egyptian 24 was often one of the movie theaters in the nation. In November 2012 Cinemark announced it was acquiring Rave Cinemas, the Dallas, Texas–based chain that operates the former Bridge theater with IMAX in Culver City, the deal included 32 theaters located in 12 states, representing 483 screens
United States
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