The Lamebook.com boys have two reasons to celebrate. First off, they recently had a breakthrough in their legal battle against Facebook (who sued the parody site last year for “trademark infringement”) when Travis County Judge Sam Sparks straight-up denied Facebook's motion to dismiss. Lamebook is still fighting the good fight, though it hasn’t been cheap for the upstart humor site. The second reason? They just launched a hilarious, new blog called UHpinions.com. The site features hilarious reviews from sites like Amazon, Yelp and Epinions and seems to be just as addictive as the owner’s original. more ›

M & M Katz Inc, the organization behind Katz's Deli, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year, but has been many thousands of dollars behind on paying taxes since then. Thus, the state comptroller, state attorney general and Texas Workforce Commission jointly moved to dismiss the bankruptcy filing yesterday. If the filing is dismissed (or switched to Chapter 7 status), the landlord for their 6th Street location would be able to kick the business out. [Austin Business Journal] more ›

When the Sematech chip research consortium announced Tuesday that it was moving a research program from Austin to Albany, N.Y., the move closed the books on a long history between our city and the microchip giant. more ›

Austin is too cool to stay under the radar forever… right? That’s the question that creator Al Letson and the producers of State of the Re:Union, an online and public radio show, are attempting to answer in their latest episode entitled Austin: Growing Pains. more ›

For every UT fan there comes a day when we look up at the sky, shake our fists and say, “I wear burnt orange, I bleed burnt orange, but why, oh, why can’t I drink burnt orange?” Well, don’t despair, Longhorn, your days of frustration are over. The University of Texas at Austin announced yesterday a new partnership with GSD&M Idea City to launch H2Orange: purified water sold in a plastic bottle shaped like UT’s iconic clock tower. more ›

CNBC released its fourth annual "Top States for Business" list yesterday, and Texas grabbed the top spot. According to the study, Texas beat out Virginia (last year's winner) for the number one position. more ›

• Early voting ends today!
• Stack's widow will be dropped from wrongful death suit.
• Chinese solar manufacturing company proposing $20.7 million Austin plant.

After 11 years on Austin’s East Side, the consummate cool Café Mundi will be shutting its doors on March 21st. more ›

• Afghan elders plea for quick attack on Marjah.
• Bill Clinton out of hospital after heart surgery.
• Apartment complex fire in Hyde Park displaces five people.

• Don't drink the water.
• Bengals wide receiver dies after car accident.
• Blue Shield of California backtracks on their new shady cancellation policy after media scrutiny.

Two of the biggest technology names in Texas have joined forces Monday as Dell acquired Perot Systems by $3.9 billion. more ›

Spawn Labs debuts the "Slingbox for video games", City Hall throws a party for game developers, CA buys NetQoS for $200 million, and UT alumnus Bob Taylor sits down to talk about inventing the Internet. more ›

Legislature passes a TV recycling bill: "A zombie TV can rot your brain, literally." It's official: Perry's appointment of a creationist dentist to the State Board of Education has been rejected by the Senate. Gov. Perry says he will veto the CHIP expansion bill if the Senate passes it. Rick Perry among the Political Junkie's "Most Endangered of Getting Knocked Off in the Primary Next Year" list. 24-year-old woman in trouble with the law after leaving her 4-year-old alone in their apartment for hours at a time. AG Abbott charges Conn's with aggressive and deceptive sales tactics. A paint spill closed down IH35 Northbound in Round Rock for a while today. more ›

Something to start planning for: Time Warner Cable is going to set up tiered pricing for internet subscribers in Austin and San Antonio very soon. A Time Warner spokesman told the Statesman's Omar Gallaga that this new pricing plan will go into effect this summer. This means that if you watch a lot of streaming video or download a lot of music, your cable bill is going to increase. If you don't, perhaps your bill will remain the same as it is, but you will be charged extra if your data usage goes over your set limit. The only good news here may be for Grande, who will likely get some new business from this. [Digital Savant] more ›

Wildflower displays this year expected to be only moderate since there wasn't much rain this fall. Hard hit by drought, Bastrop County asks Gov. Perry for state of emergency status. San Antonio and Austin city leaders working together to lure solar companies to Central Texas. Capital Metro rail test today showed that cars at 53rd Street are not stopping far enough away from the tracks. Three-alarm fire sparked at a Northeast Austin business at about midnight this morning. Is the honeymoon over? Speaker Straus refuses to hear a motion to allow Reps to voluntarily switch committee assignments. Whole Foods profits down 17.4%. more ›

• Obama to sign the stimulus bill in Denver.
• Oooh. Real mature: House Minority Whip creates YouTube video bragging about the lack of Republicans voting for the stimulus bill.
• Wal-Mart takes one more step toward world dominance.

You may be SOL if you had paid Image Tile for work yet to be done. Three men put out a truck fire in South Austin yesterday, saving the life of the passenger. Austin man steals $178,000 worth of NASCAR tickets and tries to sell them on Craigslist. Body found 26 years ago finally identified. Austin marathon will have many streets closed on Sunday. City Council postpones public hearing and vote on Wildflower Commons. How the recession will affect Texas social services programs. more ›

City Manager Ott's budget shaving would cut library hours from 50 a week to 40. Spansion seized for $9 million owed in taxes. House committee assignments made today: Rep. Strama to chair the Technology, Economic Development and Workforce committee. Travis County authorities trying to get a 23-year-old woman extradited from Mexico for the videotaped sexual assault of two children. City Council says no to South Texas Nuclear Plant expansion. Lesbian couple tries to get a marriage certificate in Dallas County, taking part in National Freedom to Marry Day. Preservation Texas announces the most endangered historical buildings in the state. more ›

Storm system that brought tornadoes to OK this afternoon is headed our way. Two women robbed a man in his North Austin apartment and attacked him with a frying pan and knife; one of them has been arrested. Speaker Straus making House committee assignments this week. Texas Medical Association joins class-action lawsuit against CIGNA and Aetna Insurance companies. AMD not able to reach shareholder quorum on spinoff vote. Peanut Corporation of America suspends operations at its Plainview plant after the salmonella outbreak. Obama Interior Sec. Salazar scraps W's offshore drilling plan. more ›

• ExxonMobil posts record $45.2 billion profit.
• IL Senate votes 59-0 to impeach Rod R. Blagojevich.
• Alaska volcano appears headed toward eruption. Say it ain't so, Joe.

Freescale will cut 90 jobs in March. Texas Instruments to cut 1,800 jobs. Austin's Capital Area Food Bank makes an appearance in WaPo article on how best to serve the hungry. Bikers visit Capitol today to protest helmet laws. wo Pflugerville students accused of hacking into the district's system Today's fog factored in to almost two dozen crashes. The misty weather is also blamed for power outages in various areas of town. Federal court grants stay of execution to Texas inmate Larry Swearingen, who had been scheduled for execution tomorrow. more ›

Lee Leffingwell joins the Austin mayor's race. City of Austin under a hiring freeze as of today. The Austin woman accused of hitting a police horse with her shoe has been sentenced to 5 years probation. Austin-based B-Side Entertainment lands millions in new financing and will soon enter the feature distribution business. Environmentalists want more regulation of coal ash disposal in Texas. No Special Session this year on KLRU. San Antonio Toyota plant still on single shift as part of the automaker's national slowdown on vehicle production. more ›

Israel hit the UN refugee agency in Gaza earlier today, then said that was a "grave mistake." Roland Burris officially takes Obama's Senate seat today. Bishop Gene Robinson talked to Rachel Maddow last night about Rick Warren and the Inauguration (video). I think the argument that this is a failed presidency is just dead wrong": Dick Cheney, we will miss you not a bit. Apple's Steve Jobs taking medical leave of absence. Oakland transit shooting leads to former cop being charged with murder. Ricardo Montalban has died. more ›

• Troubled Ill. Gov. Blagojevich makes his pick for Senate: former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris.
• Israel's air attack on Gaza just first stage of several.
• Divorce sucks, but especially in a recession.

Gov. Perry wants you to "choose life" (license plates). Speaking of Perry, as of tomorrow afternoon he will be Texas' longest serving governor ever. And he can run again in 2010! This morning's fog blamed for at least 75 area accidents. Former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk to be named as US Trade Representative under Obama. More controversy in the Pedernales CoOp inquiry. Texas names its first Hispanic chief of the Texas Rangers; he's also the youngest ever. Caterpillar bringing a plant down to Seguin. more ›

Gov. Perry makes an aside about $15,000 retreat taken by UT Board of Regents. Texas House Speaker hopefuls want a secret ballot. City Council members remember Jennifer Gale. Rodney Reed's appeal rejected by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Judge says that Dallas red-light-camera firm needs an investigation license. Larger numbers of homeless needing help in Austin. Spanish clothing retailer Zara headed to Austin in 2009. more ›

Round Rock woman leaves 4 kids (all under 3 years old) from her in-home daycare alone at her house while she goes shopping, and later gets in a car accident. Man driving his scooter downtown on Saturday morning was hit and killed by a driver who ran a red light. ACLU doesn't like the new state drivers license rules. A former employee of a Steiner Ranch steakhouse shot and killed a current employee there yesterday; police are still searching for him. Area of Southeast Austin currently under a boil water notice. Whole Foods is suing the FTC. Texas' dental health ain't great. more ›

93-year-old former Texas Supreme Court justice almost drove into Lady Bird Lake today. Current Texas Supreme Court Justice Hecht facing ethics charges after accepting a dicey contribution. Nine major companies (including GE, Dell, IBM and others) are partnering with the Pecan Street Project to bring clean energy & green jobs to Austin. Tech company Analog Devices Inc. shutting down its Austin location. Former American Cancer Society employee involved in cell phone fraud, swindling $590,000 from the non-profit. New York Times fashion critic stops in Austin before Thanksgiving weekend, really likes the Counter Cafe. Farm-to-table dinner tonight at Cipollina. more ›

Candidates for U.S. Senate Cornyn and Noriega will participate in a debate to be televised statewide on public television tomorrow evening (KLRU, 8pm). See Noriega and his mom cook Spanish rice in the video to the right. Record number of Austinites registered to vote in the crunch-time Oct. 6. Five people taken to Brackenridge Hospital after a multi-vehicle wreck on IH35 today. City of Austin sets up website to plug locally-owned small businesses. State Court of Criminal Appeals refuses to hear Pitonyak's case. Too bad if you wanted to get one of those fish pedicures in Texas. Death toll from Ike in Texas up to 37. more ›

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