Austinist

Turkey Time Means Focusing on Football, Film, and Food! [Extra Extra]

annainaustin — 2009-11-25T20:18:31-06:00

Flickr/gamene

Story about the A&M student who barely survived the tragic bonfire collapse in 1999.
When we learned that the mayors of College Station and Austin were wagering live trees on the outcome of Thursday's Longhorn/ Aggie pigskin kerfuffle all we could think of was the vintage Belly song “Feed The Tree.”
Dallas Cowboys who were real turkeys. A.k.a. “Serious Cowboy FAIL.”
Former UT student makes a stop-motion film about some thieving farm animals! It's playing everywhere!
North Texas has a place where gay teens can go and be accepted.
If she becomes Governor, Hutchison wants more technology in Texas schools.
Truck carrying 18 immigrants goes over a cliff near Corpus Christi.
Going to H-town during this season of gluttony? The mussels and fries at this Belgian-joint sound totally yummy!

Thief Nabs $10K Flagship Trek Bike From Mellow Johnny's

Allen Y Chen — 2009-11-25T13:46:29-06:00

Lance Armstrong and his crew at Mellow Johnny’s bicycle shop are doubtlessly pissed after someone stole a $10,000 triathlon bike being housed in the store last weekend.

The bike was a Trek Equinox TTX SSL, the company's flagship triathlon model that was used by Livestrong team member Ryan Baumann this year, and is owned by Trek. Some distinguishing customizations for this particular bike include Bontrager TT bars (photo posted after the jump), a Bontrager Aeolus 90 front wheel and a Zipp disc rear. Baumann's name is written along the top tube.

The theft occurred sometime early Sunday morning. Anyone with information can call general manager Craig Staley at (512) 473-0222.

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Government Recalls Cars and Cribs [News Bits]

Jeff Beckham — 2009-11-25T09:02:45-06:00

Pecan Street Project Gets $10.4 Million Stimulus Grant

Jeff Beckham — 2009-11-24T13:39:22-06:00

The Pecan Street Project has been awarded $10.4 million in federal grant money to build a "smart-grid" community at the Mueller development in Northeast Austin. The grant money was part of $184.5 million in federal clean-energy stimulus programs announced today by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Pecan Street is a partnership between the city and high-tech companies to develop clean-energy solutions, such as advanced electric meters on homes and business and electric-car recharging stations. More details to come at a press conference this afternoon. [Statesman Business Blog]

Austin High Teen Shoots Fleeing Car Near Lady Bird Lake Trail

Allen Y Chen — 2009-11-24T12:38:05-06:00

Hot on the heels of that pellet gun punk who was recently accused of injuring a cyclist on Southwest Parkway last May, another Austin High student has been charged in a shooting incident that occurred near the school last night.

Jay David Carbullido, a 17-year-old senior at Austin High, was involved in a heated exchanged with a female student on Stephen F. Austin Drive when the other teen decided to leave. As the car carrying the girl pulled away, Carbullido fetched a .22-caliber rifle from his trunk and shot at the car, striking it four times and breaking one of the windows. No one was hurt.

Carbullido later turned himself into police, and now faces five counts of aggravated assault.

Austin IRS Offices Catch Fire, Temporarily Closed

Allen Y Chen — 2009-11-24T12:31:15-06:00

Community Impact reports that the local IRS office, as well as its affiliated Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC), was affected in a fire in the adjacent office last Friday. The office, at 825 East Rundberg, will be closed at least until early December. [ImpactNews]

True Stories Can Be Stranger Than Fiction [Extra Extra ]

annainaustin — 2009-11-23T20:47:19-06:00

me and the sysop/Flickr

Schieffer's Out of Gov Race

Allen Y Chen — 2009-11-23T14:08:08-06:00

The Texas Tribune and Dallas Morning News both report that Democrat Tom Schieffer is pulling out of the gubernatorial race, and plans to formally announce his withdrawal this afternoon.

Citing difficulties raising both funds and awareness, Schieffer's campaign "just couldn't get traction," as one supporter put it. It's also speculated that his ties with George W. Bush—as a lawyer, Schieffer was a partner in the investment group that bought the Texas Rangers team—hurt his profile among Democrats, despite his lifelong affiliation to the party.

It now appears that Houston Mayor Bill White may divert his focus from the Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison to become one of the leading Democratic candidates in the governor's race. As the Texas Tribune points out, White's in a much better position than Schieffer had been able to achieve—he's well-funded, moderate enough to appeal to independents, and, unlike Schieffer, never voted for Dubya.

Austin Man Charged In Scheme To Defraud Government Program For The Deaf

Jeff Beckham — 2009-11-20T11:38:37-06:00

cliff1066™/flickr

An Austin man has been charged with fraud as part of a scheme to steal millions from the FCC's Video Relay Service, a government program intended to help the deaf and hard-of-hearing communicate with hearing persons.

David Simmons, 43, of Austin, is one of 26 people indicted Thursday in a nationwide sweep. Simmons worked as the marketing and advertising director for Round Rock-based Mascom LLC. The indictments allege the companies submitted fraudulent claims for Video Relay Service (VRS) calls, causing the FCC to reimburse the defendants at a rate of approximately $390 per hour.

VRS is an online video translation service that allows people with hearing disabilities to communicate with hearing individuals through the use of interpreters and web cameras.

Simmons and Mascom are named in the second of six indictments, charging them with generating fraudulent VRS minutes. According to the indictment, these companies operated VRS call centers that generated and processed a large volume of fraudulent VRS calls, which were then submitted to the FCC’s TRS Fund Administrator for reimbursement. That six-count indictment includes charges for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to submit false claims; submitting false claims; conspiracy to commit mail fraud; and mail fraud.

Whoops: Did Texas Ban All Marriages?

Travis — 2009-11-20T11:30:00-06:00

laverrue/flickr

Conservatives can sleep soundly knowing the fight for gay marriage is not returning to Texas shores—at least not entirely. The only Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General, Barbara Radnofsky, says Texans were so eager to ban gay marriages in 2005 that they banned marriages altogether. Don't understand how? Well, it seems that Subsection B of that constitutional amendment states:

“This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

A spokesperson for current Attorney General Greg Abbott says there is no problem with the law as written, and that it only bans legal forms of same sex relationships but did not specify the implications for straight civil unions or common law marriages.

Radnofsky says the wording opens the door to frivolous lawsuits involving spousal rights, insurance claims, inheritance, and other marriage-related issues. She blames Abbott for the oversight and has demanded he acknowledge the error. If, as Radnofsky suggests, another amendment is required to fix the error, could it possibly acknowledge the recent developments in gay divorce? (Although the real question here seems to be whether Radnofsky has presented this dilemma in an effort to promote equality in Texas, or merely as a way to criticize Abbott and increase awareness of her candidacy.)

News Kibbles!

zachary — 2009-11-20T10:40:36-06:00

Southwest Parkway Prius Drive-By Was 18-Year-Old Punk

Allen Y Chen — 2009-11-19T11:30:52-06:00

Prius, from Weeds

Authorities believe they have identified the suspect responsible for the errant drive-by pellet gun shooting on Southwest Parkway in May that nearly paralyzed a cyclist.

Former Austin High School student Hollan Dyer, 18, was riding shotgun in a blue Toyota Prius in Oak Hill when the car came upon the cyclist, Austinite Brad (last name withheld). According to detectives, Dyer allegedly remarked to his fellow passengers something along the lines of, "I hate cyclists on the road!," then, evidently steamed, rolled down his window and fired at the victim.

The pellet struck Brad in the back and went in about half an inch, barely missing his spine. The car sped off, with all passengers "scrunched down in the seat" so that Brad was unable to catch a glimpse of their faces, but noticed that the two front passengers had curly brown hair.

"I wanted to catch them to find out what did I do to deserve this?" said Brad to KVUE a month after the assault. "Why would you do this to another person and create such a situation where somebody could literally get killed? ... I thought I was aware of everything that was going on around me and this caught me 100 percent by surprise. Nothing to provoke the shooting."

It appears that Dyer may be on the lam, as authorities are unable to locate him. He may have fled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or is possibly still at his mother's house here in Austin. If convicted, the assault counts as a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a mere $4,000 fine and/or a year's jail sentence.

News Bits

austinist_keb — 2009-11-19T10:45:44-06:00

Travis House: City Council To Finalize Zoning Status Today

Thinman — 2009-11-19T08:00:00-06:00

Travis House, photo by thinman

On October 13th, the Planning Commission (PC) considered the Historic Landmark Commission's recommendation that Travis House be designated as a historic building. The owner's lawyer told Planning that the 1945 building was in bad shape and contaminated with lead, mold and asbestos. Susan Villarreal, Senior Planner with the city, responded that "It is a distinctive and interesting building" and an "excellent representative of Colonial Revival style." The PC voted 4-2 to deny the historic designation (DMU-H) and recommended that the building retain its current zoning designation (DMU). City Council will make the final decision as to whether the building receives historic zoning at its meeting today.

In January, vandals set four fires in the building; before that the owners allowed the building to be used by the fire department for smoke or so called “black out” training drills. “We thought we were helping the fire department save lives, doing our civic duty,” the owner’s attorney told the Commission. In any event, the basement now has six feet of water, and, according to Larry Irsik of ARCHITEXAS, it will cost $6M to renovate: removing everything except the outside walls and rebuilding to current codes. At that price, this would mean the approximately eighteen, 750-square-foot units would need to sell for around $350,000 each or $460/SF.

The Texas Heritage Commission took no position. One person who did write a letter was architect Wayne Bell, who is the President of the homeowners association of nearby Cambridge Tower. I asked him if he thought the building was an excellent example of Colonial Revival.

Bell: It is a rather generic building. They [city staff] are calling it Colonial Revival based on the portal on the east facade. It has maybe some traces, but it has no street presence. It’s not a pleasant building to walk by; there are no windows, there is nothing to see. It’s just that one nice entrance.

Acknowledging that the building’s past use as a YWCA boarding house was significant, the PC did pass a resolution to preserve some of that history. They directed, in the form a unanimous resolution, that the
applicant create some kind of memorial using architectural features from the original building as an on-site record.

UPDATE: City Council denied historic zoning, so the building will likely be demolished.

Dinner, Crime, Disease and the Holidays! [Extra Extra]

annainaustin — 2009-11-18T17:45:59-06:00

me and the sysop/Flickr