News

Both Reps Doggett (D) and McCaul (R) part of the majority who voted against the bailout bill. Montopolis-area residents form a neighborhood association. Four State Board of Education members plugging the Bible curriculum for Texas public schools. The French Ambassador to the US spoke at UT about nuclear power today. Some good news after today's shaky financial events: starting in January, you can fly straight to Puerta Vallarta from ABIA on Viva Aerobus. more ›

South Carolina Mayor wonders: Could Obama be the Antichrist? Bailout agreement tentative. Google feels good about gay marriage, bad about Prop 8. Martial law in the US? Huh. Some conservatives not backing Palin. Wall Street not wicked popular. Chavez wants the bomb. more ›

McCain's campaign still asserts that if the mortgage bailout doesn't happen on Friday, he won't show up. But both Obama and the Commission on Presidential Debates say the debate is on. Whoever ends up debating on Friday (and you know McCain will end up there eventually, despite these shenanigans), the Alamo has got your back. Both Village and South Lamar locations will be showing the debate. We attended the Clinton/Obama debate at the South Lamar location and assume the set-up will be about the same. McCain and Obama factions will be split down the middle, although this being Austin, the Obama voters will most likely outnumber McCain voters. Laughing at bogus answers is encouraged, but yelling "You're an idiot!" to the screen might get you in trouble. more ›

• DEADLINE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION IS OCTOBER 4TH! If you aren't registered, unsure if you are registered or you think there is even a remote chance that your registration is not current, GET ON IT NOW.
• John McCain hires reality TV make-up artist. We thought he was leaving the "celebrity" status to Obama...
• Speaking of McCain - he now wants to postpone the Vice Presidential debate too!?!

Schoolkids from Allison Elementary found a used needle in an outside restroom during their recess yesterday and played with it. 2 young soldiers from Ft. Hood arrested after joy flying(?) a stolen plane and then crashing it into some mailboxes in Killeen. Texas Supreme Court rejects Libertarian Presidential candidate. Bob Barr's lawsuit. Galveston ends state of emergency declaration, but now may go under a "state of disaster". Homeowners in Bridge City finding jellyfish displaced by Ike in their pools. more ›

• FBI investigating four firms at the heart of this financial meltdown
• Warren Buffett in a buying mood; pours $5 billion into Goldman Sachs
• McCain aide’s firm was paid by Freddie Mac up through last month

• Apparently our economy is being "fundamentally reordered" and the executive branch is getting even more power than it got from the Patriot Act. Happy Tuesday!
• Harry Reid promises that bailout won't go through without Dems putting their thumbs on it.
• Unexpected side-effects of financial crunch, part 56.

UT game + ACL Fest + Ike evacuees = a hard time finding a hotel or motel room for this weekend. FEMA setting up a disaster center off of 12th Street to help Ike evacuees register for aid. Rep. McCaul won't participate in a debate (hosted by the Statesman) with the two other candidates running for his current position in the House. Former staffers from Ron Kirk's Senate campaign now working for Obama. Stevie Ray Vaughan not chosen for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Bobbie Lee Nelson on playing with brother Willie and releasing her first solo album at the age of 77. more ›

How much did the Emmys hosting by reality TV hosts suck last night? A. lot. Yay! Sentences can again include the words 'Britney," "Come," and "Back" again without grossing us out! OMG, hot torrid man-passion between Zac Efron and James Franco??? A cursory glance at this headline and you'll be saying, "Maybe." Are you kidding us? Because, "What? Eww, no!" OMGLOLZ I CAN HAZ ROFLRAZZI? KTHX! OMG EFF U MILEY RAY CYRUS! We're all about HEROES! (Please be good, please be good, please don't suck...) Wicked catchy headline we want to repeat in a sort of sing-songy lilt, over and over: O'Reilly Blasts Hackers, Hackers Hack Him Back more ›

• Gothamist went on the Wall Street roller coaster during a crazy week for financial institutions (bankruptcy, sale, bailout) and the county.
• Phillyist analyzed the problem of hecklers at live performances.
• Londonist eagerly anticipated the annual Open House Weekend, where for one weekend only, the public get to poke around some of the capital's more interesting buildings.
• LAist headed to the LA County Fair to earn a heart attack by checking out all the deep-fried foods such as deep-fried avocado and deep-fried Oreos. And then they ate a huge brick of cheese fries.
• Shanghaiist was happy to learn that Shanghai is one of the world's five most improved places for gay tolerance.
• Torontoist took a look at a photographer whose exhibit of photographs of street art was shut down last week, after local graffiti artists took issue with their work being photographed and re-sold for thousands of dollars without permission, credit, or compensation.
• Bostonist dared to criticize horny hometown heroes NKOTB.
• Chicagoist found out they live in America's Most Stressful City and then were given another reason why as they dealt with massive flooding.
• SFist captured images of PARK(ing) Day, an annual event where people take over metered parking spaces for a day, turning them into fun-sized public parks.
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• Deadline approaches for evacuees to leave Austin Convention Center.
• APD officers head to Houston to help police streets.
• Some Ike victims may not be allowed to rebuild.

wili_hybrid/Flickr
• Austin firefighter files discrimination suit against the City of Austin.
• Hope Andrade sworn in as Secretary of State, becoming the first Latina to hold that office.
• Registered sex offender pretended to be Ike evacuee to get into the Delco center with his girlfriend.

Another Capital Metro bus rider was severely assaulted last Friday afternoon in North Austin, and this time there's reason to believe that the attack may have been a targeted hate crime. more ›

• Central banks doing their part to help world's money markets
• And just how did we get into this mess, again?
• AP isn't handing hacked Palin emails over to the Secret Service.

Capital Area Food Bank still needs your help and donations for Ike evacuees. The Office of the Attorney General warns Texas hurricane victims to be wary of possible clean-up scams. Bob Barr (Libertarian candidate for Prez) suing to get McCain and Obama's names removed from the Texas ballot. One of the largest drug seizures in American history today; 175 suspects arrested (22 of them from the North Texas area.) Police looking for 3 men who assaulted a CapMetro driver in August. more ›

Capital Area Food Bank of Texas is accepting donations at the H-E-B on Parmer Lane until 7 p.m. tonight. Their most-needed emergency items include bottled water, granola bars, canned meats, peanut butter, diapers & wipes, and assorted toiletries. They'll also be accepting donations at their headquarters at 8201 South Congress Avenue (between William Cannon & Slaughter Lane) through this Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily. [Disaster Relief Donation Hours and Location] more ›

A "Public Visioning Meeting" to discuss the city of Austin's master plan for development in the East Riverside Corridor area will take place tonight at the Travis High School cafeteria. more ›

• The Federal Reserve lends insurer AIG $85 billion to stay afloat
• Howard Stern pranksters make out behind live news report from Wall Street
• 16 die in attack on U.S. Embassy in Yemen

• Global markets don't look good.
• Joe Biden is very disappointed. (Join the club.)
• Palin won't talk to the Troopergate investigators. Well, that's one way to handle it.

Searching for a generator in Houston. Haunting photo-set of Ike-affected areas. After slight delay, FEMA has set up distribution spots in Houston. The state is running distribution centers in harder hit areas of Texas. Galveston says that current conditions are reaching a public health crisis. Some Galveston evacuees in Austin won't go back. AISD trying to figure how many student evacuees will enroll into classes here, even temporarily. Austin Children's Museum headed to Mueller. more ›

The Capital Area Food Bank just put out an urgent call for emergency donations, saying that their donations are depleted, and that as of 2pm, no more emergency boxes could be filled onsite. They are using funds donated to buy more food, but if you are able to drop any food items off at the Food Bank, they are in desperate need of: peanut butter, canned meat (with pop-top lids), bottled water, and personal care items (shampoo, fem. hygiene, toothpaste, etc). Also desired: granola bars, diapers and wipes. The Food Bank, located at 8201 S. Congress Ave., will be accepting these donations through Friday. [Capital Area Food Bank of Texas Weblog] more ›

Last night, catching up to the Harvest Moon ride, someone who I do not know was hit with a bottle thrown from the window of a car. more ›

Local NBC affiliate KXAN announced today that it may be taken off of Time Warner Cable's broadcast service in early October if current contract re-negotiations don't work out. The station, which has been around since the 1960s, is part of parent company LIN TV, which owns local stations around the country. more ›

As some Gulf Coast residents and evacuees grapple with what to do after Ike's landfall over the weekend, United Way Capital Area is in need of volunteers to staff the 2-1-1 Texas Call Center. The call center provides disaster response support statewide, and is especially necessary in such a time as now. Volunteers are needed to fill four-hour shifts (9am-noon, 1pm-5pm, 5pm-9pm) throughout the week. [Hands On Central Texas] more ›

There is an old saying about house guests and fish. Human error blamed in LA train tragedy. Some headlines make one do the chuckling. Le sigh. "Uhhh-huh-huh-huh. You said teeters."Ike, you are such an asshole. Tina Fey, you are such a badass. more ›

Hurricane Ike was still over 150 miles away from Galveston this afternoon and already generating surges 8-feet-tall and rising. The Category 2 hurricane, which has an unusually large footprint, is still expected to escalate to a level 3 status before it makes landfall sometime Saturday morning. more ›

• Surfside Beach's last offer of escape before Ike hits land.
• Some Galveston residents linger as storm nears.
• 13 shelters open as evacuees continue to flow into Austin area.

It seems that the projected path for Hurricane Ike moved eastward overnight. Now instead of being smack in the middle of the path (as was projected yesterday), Austin appears to be on the farthest west edge of the path as Ike aims for Galveston. The hurricane is still expected to hit the Texas coast late Friday night and leave Austin residents with, at the least, a rainy weekend. more ›

• Texas prepares for Ike.
• The lipstick controversy continues....
• So, Bin Laden wasn't the mastermind of 9/11? White House can't decide.

With the eye of the storm now out of Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ike has the potential to strengthen severely before hitting somewhere along the Texas coast. more ›

The posh shops of the 2nd Street District are feeling the growing pains of “urban development" after six stores fell victim to burglary over the last week. In a series of similar style robberies, the break-ins took place in the early morning hours. At two stores on 2nd Street, one on 3rd Street, one on E. Cesar Chavez, and two locations on Lavaca, glass doors or windows were shattered and cash from registers or petty cash tills were taken. Last month, Leaf and RunTex FitCity were burglarized as well. more ›

• "Big Bang" machine, Large Hadron Collider (hee hee): Still, it works
• Was Obama referring to Palin when he said "lipstick on a pig"?
• Hurricane Ike enters Gulf; on path for Texas

Up to 36 fire department employees may have viewed p#rn at work. Man who fired gun at EZ's and Barton Creek movie theatre is caught. Since the City Council has approved the 2009 budget, trash rates will increase. Meals on Wheels starts a new program for volunteers who want to bike (instead of drive) a route to deliver food to needy Austinites. C3 Presents to donate $2.5 million to the Austin Parks Foundation. more ›

"I'm going back to professional cycling," said Armstrong. "I'm going to try and win an eighth Tour de France." more ›

According to company co-founder Judy Crofut, Good Flow had been operating under the assumption that pasteurization—the process of heating up a liquid to kill off bacteria and molds—wasn't necessary for its products since they were handmade and delivered to neighborhood grocers in less than a day. The company had previously operated as a "juice bar," like Daily Juice, with the approval of the FDA via an exemption. That exemption was later retracted in 2006. more ›

Currently pummeling Cuba with sub-80-mph winds, Hurricane Ike is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico later today, most likely picking up momentum and intensity as it heads towards Texas. It's anticipated to hit the Texas coast on Friday or Saturday. more ›

• Palin has brought all the voters who only care about smushmortion out of the woodwork.
• Yeah, we thought we felt Rove behind this.
• Obama needs $$, despite his known status as an "eastern elite."

The issue, from what we can gather, is that their juices hadn't been pasteurized (the process of heating up a liquid to kill off bacteria and molds), a standard industry procedure that prevents the outbreak of nasty things like E. coli. Given a deadline by the FDA, it seems like they were unable to bring their juice-making site up to code, and, despite no outbreaks of contaminated product, have been ordered to stop production. more ›

The latest speculation surrounding Austin athlete, bar owner, and above average lovemaker Lance Armstrong is that he's planning to come out of retirement and race again the Tour de France. more ›

Uncle Sam takes guardianship of Fannie and Freddie Cuba: We Don't Like Ike We can put a man on the moon, but what's the deal with these damn elections? Kim Jong Il: For real? Palin, Gibson. Gibson, Palin. OMG it's BRITNEY Y'ALL! Judge: Don't come in here like BRITNEY, Y'ALL! more ›

There was an interesting editorial in yesterday's Washington Post. Basically, the price of oil has fallen dramatically in the last few weeks and gas prices are coming down as a result. This is good new for the stock market and Hummer drivers, but it threatens to wipe out recent decreases in domestic consumption of gasoline (U.S. motorists to drove 12.2 billion fewer miles in June compared with a year earlier). The bottom line of the editorial is that higher gas prices result in lower consumption, so any national energy policy seriously aimed at reducing consumption should include an increased gas tax that would maintain the incentives to conserve gasoline. more ›

• Dead body found in Lady Bird lake.
• Hays County Sheriff's Office deputy injured in accident dies.
• Dell looks to sell factories worldwide.

Motorcyclist killed in early morning hit-and-run on 183 at Burnet Rd. UT cancer research lab fined by the USDA for the escape and death of a chimpanzee. APD searching for woman involved in 6th Street bathroom knife attack in July. The state has dropped half of the FLDS custody cases. Texas Parks and Wildlife increasing the acreage of Palo Duro Canyon State Park. more ›

Supporters of Westbank Community Library gathered this past weekend to break ground on the new library to be named in honor of our current First Lady. When complete, "Laura's Library" will offer stunning views of the surrounding hill country, a fancy courtyard with stone seating carved to resemble books, and, most appropriately, a drive-up book window. More photos are available at the official website. more ›

Yesterday, Austin media outlets covered the sad closing of downtown fixture Las Manitas. A reader recommended we check out KXAN's story on the closing of the restaurant; towards the end of the on-location story, as the reporter reads from the sign in the door about the soul of Austin being lost, another woman joins in the fun. It's at about the 2:37 mark. [KXAN video] more ›

• Alaska being "right next to Russia" apparently qualifies as foreign policy experience according to McCain.
• Jesse Jackson hospitalized.
• Unemployment claims up once again. So much for our "strong economy."

Historic building in Elgin catches fire this afternoon. Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that this UT football season will bring about $142 million to our town. City of Austin holding public meetings on urban rail plan. Apartment owners suing Farmers Branch (again!) over their new ban on the rental of housing to illegal immigrants. Multiple retired judges and prosecutors from around the state and country ask Gov. Perry to stop the upcoming execution of Charles Dean Hood. Texans for Public Justice want Lt. Gov. Dewhurst's wealth investigated. more ›

In this video of a small press gaggle earlier today at the RNC in St. Paul, Hutchison defends McCain's choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as running-mate. When asked why she didn't want to be vice-president, she says, "I didn't want to spend the next four years in Washington, and I really don't. And I really have decided I'm going to go in a different direction." Her "different direction"? Veering towards the governor's mansion . . . more ›

Las Manitas closed forever on August 31 according to Cynthia Perez (one of the owners). The restaurant will probably be replaced with a complex of three new Marriott hotels. more ›

• Palin takes the stage tonight to speak to Republican convention
• Google releases a new web browser, called Chrome, to take on Microsoft
• Following up on Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna expected to hit Friday

Bush visited Austin yesterday, commended Texas for our state's emergency preparations. Mandatory evacuation orders lifted for Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties in Southeast Texas. Evacuees taking shelter from Gustav in Austin eager to return home. Two Central Texas employers announced job cuts today. more ›

• New Orleans might, fingers crossed, have dodged the (latest) bullet.
• Little Mrs. Anti-Earmark actually got a bunch of federal $$ for tiny Wasilla (maybe to fund the Iditarod Museum?)
• Ridiculous as she is, Palin brought in the bucks this past weekend.

On August 31, 2008 The Human Race charity 10K organized by Nike was run in cities around the world, including here in Austin. In the Men’s division, Bernard Manirakiza originally from Burundi, Africa wons the race with a time of 31:51. In 2nd place, Gilbert Tuhabonye also from Burundi finished a little over a minute after his cousin Bernard with a time of 32:56. more ›

Gustav pushing back RNC plans.