News: July 2009 Archives

Mad gymnastic skills help a San Marcos man land in jail for stealing copper. Even the oil companies are "suffering" in this recession. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" amendment removed from Congress. Like a scene from a movie set: craziness on I-35 yesterday included guns, bank robberies and hostages. Texas librarians are wild & crazy! For $15M, you too could own a piece of architecture history. Bud Light, really, Mr. President?

Coming soon to a newsstand near you, Austin Monthly's annual "Bachelor" edition. The glossy features ten of Austin's finest man meat after what the magazine called an agonizing decision process. The year's list includes a Survivor contestant, an FBI agent and Austinist friend, James Moody - legendary rambler, owner of Mohawk and proprietor of the upcoming Fun Fun Fun Fest.

• One man dead, another injured in South Austin shooting overnight
• Police searching for man who threw bricks through windows at City Hall and police headquarters
• Neither Texas senator plans to vote to confirm Sotomayor to Supreme Court

The Office of the Governor issued a press release today confirming that it's taking part in this week's "National Level Exercise 2009," a massive joint effort across regional, state, and national intelligence and law enforcement resources to "prepare for catastrophic crises ranging from terrorism to natural disasters."

Join Shawn Shillington, our Urban Development Editor, along with Council Member Chris Riley, Jeb Boyt of the Waller Creek Citizen's Advisory Committee and Austin Metro Trails & Greenways, Jana McCann of ROMA Design Group and James Moody of The Mohawk and the Austin Live Music Task Force, for a thrilling bike tour of the soon-to-be-redeveloped Waller Creek. The tour will start at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday August 1 at the Mexican American Cultural Center Plaza.

Someone tossed a brick with a note through the window of Barbara Frische's house in East Austin in the early morning of July 24th. The police are now investigating. A black string wrapped around the brick secured a printed message. The firm strokes looked almost chiseled onto the page. If the plain words revealed little more than a protest, could that lettering hold any clues? Two well-known handwriting analysts offered to have a look and offer their opinions, with the following caveat: they had seen only the picture, not the original note.

Despite a bottle service that started at $150 and attempts to expand their demographic, the club failed to weather the current economic crisis and shuttered its doors in mid-July (coincidentally, the same weekend as East Austin's Peacock Lounge). There's no word yet on what new bar or club will take over the space, or, more importantly, whether they're planning to auction off the stuffed zebra heads.

China rising: US, Beijing, prepare for "G2" summit Pelosi vows passage of healthcare overhaul Bill Moyers: Obama and healthcare execs -- BFFs? More economic indicators: The "Big Mac" exchange rate No more body counts in Afghanistan as mission focus shifts Business Week: "Skilled Immigrants on Why They're Leaving the U.S." MJ's hair to be made into "diamonds", whereabouts of nose still uncertain

The paper reported that three possible buyers met with Statesman executives last week. Each of the three have made headlines with recent business moves.

44 people, including rabbis and politicians, were arrested in a NJ corruption sting yesterday. Should Professor Gates have been more polite to the cops who showed up at his door? While her fans still adore her, it looks like less everyday Americans give a hoot about Palin. Budget Lodge near Rundberg on IH35 comes to an agreement with the city; neighbors hope that leads to less crime in the area. Low water levels mean long-ago dumped cars can be recovered from Lake Travis. Shanghai officials to couples: please have two babies. Bruce Campbell a hit at Comic-Con, chats about Burn Notice.

• Texas continues to ignore that whole "separation of church and state" thing.
• Ohio politician seems to think abortion should be decided by men.
• Obama: police who arrested Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "acted stupidly."

The school was hosting the one-year anniversary of "Trae Day," a celebration honoring local rapper Frazier "Trae" Thompson III and meant to promote community service and voter registration, when gunfire erupted from the parking lot near the TSU stadium. Subsequent incidents took place off campus at a nearby intersection.

If you only knew them as dots on a map, you might expect Austin and San Antonio to be very similar. With downtowns a mere 70 miles apart, you would be correct in assuming they share similar geographies and climates. Studying the map further you would note both cities are bisected by rivers and, depending on how detailed the map, you might also see that while Austin has lined its river with hike and bike trails, San Antonio has surrounded its water feature with restaurants and bars. While this would seem to imply San Antonio is the hipper, cooler place, you do not need me to tell you it is not. MTV has yet to shoot a season of “The Real World” in a pimped-out mansion on the Riverwalk. There is no “San Antonioist” blog. Indeed, for all of its layered history and cultures, San Antonio as it exists today is a much less compelling place than its younger sibling to the north.

• Police investigating West Campus deaths as double homicide
• LULAC may sue City of Austin to force single-member district elections
• LCRA trying to address long-range water needs for Austin area

It’s a site Native Americans came to for healing and—perhaps more awesomely—where Robert Redford learned to swim. But the millions-year-old Barton Springs pool will be closing for six to eight months thanks to something frustratingly man-made: holes in the concrete bypass culvert.

A City of Austin sponsored class that promises an insider’s view of local government along with hands-on experience will be offered beginning in September. It is a quick overview of Austin's 31 departments. The cost: a couple of hours of class time for 10 weeks. The instructors: Executive team members like the assistant managers, City staff, and Department Directors. The class is not only a reverse show-and-tell, but also an opportunity to find people who might be interested in serving later as volunteers. For example, here is one of the application questions: In what ways would you like to be a community leader in Austin in the next five years? And, for the skeptics out there, this should only cost the city around $2,500 in printing costs.

• Obama pushes on with health reform, Republicans push back
• US Military searches for captured Afghanistan soldier
• Six (more or less) out of 10 (approximately) economists say recession could be kinda sorta maybe easing... or not.

Some may recall the incident that occurred in El Paso in late June, where five gay men were ordered to leave a Chico's Tacos restaurant by security guards because two of the men kissed each other. When they refused to leave, the police were called. A rookie officer arrived on the scene and cited a Texas sodomy law that had been struck down in 2003 by the United States Supreme Court.

Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels targeted in Jakarta bombings; eight people killed. Things looking up in the West Bank. Hot climates lead to slower economic growth? Obama spoke at the NAACP conference last night. ICYMI: Former Pres. Jimmy Carter, "The words of God do not justify cruelty to women." Senate Republicans say they won't block a vote on Sotomayor. Emmy nominations announced yesterday; lots of love for "30 Rock" and "Mad Men", with a little "Flight of the Conchords" and "How I Met Your Mother" thrown in.

The resultant fallout has been a spectacular example of marketing gone horribly wrong. Commenters on the Do512 RSVP page have all but declared war against the pale lager and its associated firms. A newly-created Facebook page entitled "Dos SuXX" has just under 200 members. And, in a perhaps overstated gesture, someone's even suggested launching a class action lawsuit.

Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido was sentenced to four days in jail and fined $500 for his drunk-driving conviction back in February, reports the Statesman.

KLBJ DJs suspended after making repeated racial slurs. Austin man's death likely to be heat-related. Our troops need their smokes. Oh Paris, we don't need your stinkin' smiles. Je t'aime! Meghan, just come out of the closet...as a Democrat. 50 million and counting. Who needs health coverage, really. Obama and his mom jeans (video).

A forty-home development called Solutions Oriented Living is coming to a close-in location. Chris Krager of KRDB, an Austin design/build firm focused on affordable smart designs, brings solar panels, efficient heating and cooling systems, and heavily insulated (SIP panels) affordable homes ($200/S.F.) to a close in location at 1121 Perry Road. Sixteen of the homes are reserved for those earning 40-60% of the median family income. The realty group the GoodLife Team will be holding a pre-grand opening celebration on July 23rd from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. that is open to the public.

A city’s downtown comprises the heart of the community, and its streets form the primary public arena for interchange and commerce. Downtown Austin belongs to all of the city’s residents, and its streets serve as the primary public place. Although it has always represented the community culturally, economically, and politically, downtown Austin has traditionally lacked the vibrancy engendered by numerous pedestrian-dominant and multi-functional commercial corridors that define other cities.

• Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor returns for second day of senators' questions
• All 168 aboard believed to be dead in Iranian plane crash
• Federal investigators say Southwest jet's design limited tear's damage

Last week, sometime during the night, a 23-inch pecan tree (#NT033) snapped off about five feet above ground and fell near the stone pillars above the pool's parking lot. No one was hurt. It was originally scheduled to be removed, but the determination was later changed (see "Tree Maintenance Table", June 18th) as a result of the public meetings to: "PARD will prune to eliminate dead wood and broken limbs." When called for a comment, Don Gardner, an independent arborist who evaluated some of the trees around Barton Springs, said, "I did not inspect that tree as part of my evaluation. I do remember glancing at the tree during my walk and thinking it should be removed." According to Victor Ovalle, PARD spokesman, the failure has not been analyzed. Three trees have been cut down around the playground area, but the trimming of dead wood in the trees to be preserved has not yet begun.

Partisan lines drawn in Sotomayor nomination debate Obama selects Alabama family doc, Genius Grant recipient for Surgeon General Dems nudge harder for CIA/Cheney investigation Kim Jong-Il diagnosed with pancreatic cancer Obama's "tough love" message to Africa In wake of protests, Philadelphia swim club asks kids back Alcohol cuts dementia risk... except when it doesn't

Remember the wall painting along the north side of 8th Street just west of Congress? It was covered up a few years ago, and now the new owner of the Hickory Street Bar and Grill, Colin McClelland, has decided that Austin needs something fresh, something singular, and something, for the moment at least, mysterious. McClelland promised that it will not become a billboard. "I want a mural that represents Austin," he said. An artist, Shawn Gillespie, will soon apply his paintbrush to that pea-green, stair-step wall and bring some privately sponsored art to a public space. Feel free to drop by watch or, to use Thoreau's words, "represent spectatordom" - a time-honored, summertime goof-off activity.

• Iran protesters take to streets despite threats.
• Hopes fade for quick solution to Honduran crisis.
• Human rights groups say the Mexican army is using torture in their search for drug traffickers.

A recent statewide survey shows that Governor Rick Perry is still the favored candidate versus Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in next year's Republican primary—though not by much.

G8 set global warming targets (while we swelter in Austin). Help the homeless survive the heat. Young punks: two teenagers responsible for the loss of 150,000 gallons of water in Johnson City and 420,000 gallons in Blanco. Sen. Cornyn could care less about what you think of his travel expenses. LA's tax dollars hard at work to remember MJ. Madoff won't appeal because he is about to hop the next jet to Ken Lay's private island. The size of the signs will definitely do the trick.

I have plenty of time to think about the progress of Austin as I pass exit-after-exit during my shorter-than-average commute from Northwest Austin to South Austin. Sometimes I wonder where the “cool” part of Austin stops and the “sprawling” part of Austin begins, or why I would never, ever walk (or bike) from my neighborhood to the two large grocery stores near my home, even though I would have happily walked over a mile to the market during my six-month stay in Munich.

It looks like someone's totally hacked a bunch of Direct Events' venue websites — as of 10:13 a.m., Austin Music Hall, La Zona Rosa, and The Backyard's site are all pulling up a splash page, shown to the right, that reads "HaCKeD By EL_MuHaMMeD."

• Family, friends, and fans say goodbye to Michael Jackson at memorial service
• Obama meets with G-8 leaders in Italian town still recovering from April earthquake
• Government websites hacked on July 4: Could North Korea be behind it?

Today, along with the attorneys general of 32 other states, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief asks the court to clarify whether the right to bear arms, guaranteed by the Second Amendment, extends to non-federal enclaves like states and cities. Abbott filed the request on behalf of a Chicago resident who has been prohibited by city ordinances from obtaining a handgun.

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Congressional candidate Laney Melnick hopes that isn't true. As a result of a technical glitch, hundreds of people have received multiple emails from the Melnick campaign over the past few days.

• Robert McNamara, Vietnam War architect, dead at 93
• Obama, Medvedev/Putin agree on nuclear cuts
• Obama's Russia visit to bring over $1.5 billion in deals

On Saturday, July 4th, the Austin Yellow Bike Project (YBP) held a free concert and released seven hand-painted, sunshine-yellow bikes at Wooldridge Square Park. People decorated the bikes with streamers, hand-made flags and pithy statements like: “Have Fun or Die.” The refurbished bicycles - “Free to Ride, but Not to Keep” - will serve as sharable public transportation. Pete Dahlberg, who drives a pedicab, organized the bike giveaway. The concert by The Invincible Czars closed with the 1812 Overture (minus the cannon sounds) and attracted a crowd of around a hundred. Grant brought his brown duck, Puddles, who rides around in a cage strapped to the back of his bike. “They make great pets,” he said. “You throw her up in the air and she flies right back.” That is how yellow bikes are supposed to work: once freed, they should stick around.

• Never ending war.
• Inhofe on Franken: pot calling the kettle black.
• Just what America needs - less educated students.

If you've purchased any beef products from H-E-B recently, check that they're not one of these following types—if they are, they may have E-coli contamination and are being recalled by the grocer as part of a nationwide effort.

Think you've got the chops to solve City of Austin's budget woes? They've put up a "Budget Simulation Exercise" that lists a slew of areas, from Library and Police to Watershed Protection and Health & Human Services, where sources of increased revenue are possible. The point of the exercise is to come up with at least $9.3 million in savings or new revenue, though even this falls well shy of the estimated $30-43 million shortfall that the current 2010 budget faces.