Our "heavy" rains have dripped into the burned out Governor's Mansion. Driver dead after hydroplaning and hitting an 18-wheeler head-on in Bastrop. EPPICard/Texas Debit Card users a target for identity thieves. UT team working on a pen-shaped probe that could someday help detect skin cancer. San Angelo judge orders Warren Jeffs' teenage wife to be removed from her mother's care and placed in foster care. exas musician Pat Green knocked out by thrown beer can during a Michigan concert after asking, "Anyone got a beer?"...

Northwest Austin condo complex under construction catches fire this afternoon off of 2222. Williamson County deputy shot an 82-year-old man in the groin yesterday morning after the man aimed a rifle at the responders. APD is searching for a man who reportedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted his former girlfriend in mid-July. Dog dies as speeding San Marcos driver is detained by a cop. KBH won't say she's not running for governor in 2010. ...

In the last week there have been not one but two arrests at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport for attempts to pass through security with a weapon. Though Texans sure love their handguns, the Transportation Safety Administration isn’t having it....

Johnston High receives ridiculous long new title: Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus. Issues already with two-way Cesar Chavez. Man attacked and left for dead in early July on Seventh St, between San Jacinto and Brazos. 20 abuse cases and 50 bigamy cases related to members of the FLDS are being investigated by the Texas Rangers. "Chupacabra" caught on tape in DeWitt County. Houston man arrested for taking pics of topless sunbathers near Hippie Hollow....

This couple has so far cost HEB $10,000 in forged checks. Cyclist who ran a red light at N. Lamar and Rundberg is in the hospital after being hit by a police car. Billy Carroll will be granted a public defender after all. Authorities trying to piece together what caused a bus full of Vietnamese religious pilgrims from the Houston area to crash near Sherman this morning....

Your trash collection fee is likely to increase, perhaps by as much as 36%. Planned Oak Hill development would impact water quality, environmentalists and residents say. UT Alumni Center employee threatens that he will blow the building up because his check isn't ready, freaks co-workers out, is arrested. Criminal charges filed against Houston woman who kept 5 children from their mother after helping the family post-Katrina. First out-of-Texas Alamo Drafthouse franchise to be built in Winchester, VA....

A woman was sexually assaulted on Saturday after leaving a Hyde Park Walgreens; police searching for the suspect. Multi-vehicle wreck this morning on Bee Caves at Barton Creek results in one death. Cesar Chavez St. set to turn two-way on Monday, August 11. Fickle Edouard floods areas of Southeast Texas, only sends some light showers our way. Girl, you know it's true: Jammin' 105.9 is now up for sale....

Edouard wimps out after hitting the coast, but should still help our rain chances. Rep. Michael McCaul is facing a closer re-election race than he would like. Sen. "Big Bad" John Cornyn wants soldiers' votes counted. Bank of America at Anderson Lane and Shoal Creek robbed this afternoon. One of the founders of Austin Community Gardens has died....

Electric Reliability Council of Texas and PUC ask you to reduce your energy usage tomorrow between the peak hours of 3pm and 7pm. Rep. Michael McCaul making campaign stops at local gas stations today. Gov. Perry issued a disaster declaration this afternoon before Edouard hits tomorrow. Kingsland resident will be charged with aggravated assault after firing his gun at suspected burglars. Multiple businesses in North Lamar strip mall affected by overnight fire....

Results from the Wildflower Center's study show that having a green roof can knock 20% off your electric bills. APD searching for 2 men accused of swindling Austin-area immigrants. Judge rules that Gov. Perry's travel records can be released to newspapers. Locally-filmed Friday Night Lights looking for paid extras to play players, cheerleaders, and football fans. Snoop Dogg's tour bus was pulled over yesterday near Corsicana and two passengers were charged with marijuana possession....

Back in February there was a particularly gruesome and heartbreaking murder in a south suburban Chicago Lane Bryant store. Five women in the store were killed execution-style while a sixth victim who was shot in the neck escaped – amazingly – by playing dead. One of the victims, Rhoda McFarland, was the store manager credited with making the 911 call before the shootings took place. Six months later, the gunman has still not been apprehended. Yesterday, it was announced that a group of investigators are in Austin to find and interview numerous friends of McFarland who have since moved to Texas. ...

Details are still sketchy at this time, but reports say that three people were kidnapped earlier today near the Southpark Meadows area (9300 S. IH35). One person escaped, but two are supposedly still captured. APD will hold a press conference at 3pm to go over more of the details. [Statesman via Twitter]......

The accident this morning in Smithville happened when a crane being used to dismantle an old bridge fell into the Colorado River. Red light cameras have caught 400 drivers going through red lights in the past 2 months. Traffic on Cesar Chavez may be a bigger mess than usual tomorrow. APD searching for man believed to be a serial groper....

State public utilities commission issues a yellow alert, asking Texans to conserve energy. It may not be a CapMetro shuttle you take to ACL later this summer. Pilot project in Travis and (part of) Williamson counties has found that 25% of drivers pulled over have no auto insurance. Yikes! Capital Area Food Bank running low on donations this summer. Austin author Bill Bishop (The Big Sort) stops by The Daily Show tonight....

DPS releases report on security at Governor's Mansion at time of the arson; sole DPS trooper on duty named and timeline revealed. Arsonist arrested after Friday's apartment fire that ruined 12 units off Jollyville. CapMetro wants buses to have "signal priority" so that lights will stay green when a bus is close by (which means you might want to stay behind that bus after all). It's summertime and the Central Texas Blood and Tissue Center needs your blood. The floating banana may not get off the ground after all....

Bush declares area of Texas hit by Dolly to be a major disaster. University Towers evacuated last night after someone burned popcorn. US Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey makes a stop at Fort Hood. 51st District Judge Barbara Walther splits up the FLDS child-custody cases 119 ways, grouped by mother. Work on Cesar Chavez is two months behind schedule because of pipe installation....

KEYE's team becomes the news when they are injured in their coverage of Dolly at South Padre. Tornado hits the south side of San Antonio. George P. Bush, presidential nephew, is moving his business to Austin. Whoop? Oakwood Cemetary vandalized; at least 20 headstones (some as old as 150 years) broken. Baylor's Board of Regents fires current university President Lilley....

City Manager Ott presented his proposed 2009 budget to the city today. Expect higher garbage and water rates, as well as rotating library branch closures. Public library usage up this summer. O ho, the Wells Fargo Tower has been sold. It looks like the Rio Grande levees will hold up after South Texas received a battering from Dolly....

In a report released Tuesday, the Central Texas chapter of the ACLU confirmed many Austin citizens’ suspicions: APD could stand to better manage their resources....

Two men arrested in San Marcos after using credit cards stolen from California, Michigan and Texas residents. Woman killed in a hit-and-run accident off of Steck last night. Ponderous: Feet found at Lake Travis linked to possible suicide case. 59-year-old Round Rock woman gives birth. Gov. Perry's flight to D.C. in June paid for by Bo Pilgrim, as Perry was going to get a waiver on ethanol mandates. Shady!...

An Austin Police Department employee may have dipped his hand into Santa’s toy sack. APD civilian supervisor Nicholas Medina was charged with theft by a public servant for stealing $959.17 worth of Wal-Mart gift cards from APD’s Blue Santa fund. ...

Oh, ExpressJet, we hardly knew ye. Oops: Federal officials in town to talk with CapMetro about commuter rail were on a train when it derailed today. 29-year-old driver walked away from a car accident in March, leaving his 19-year-old sister to die. Woman found the man suspected of stabbing her sister last night and brought him back to the Southeast Austin crime scene. Brazoria County investigator injured by the bullet used by another man to commit suicide....

Is a music festival really a festival if no one shows up? Dreary attendance numbers for Saturday's Exit Fest. A man from Pearland drowned over the weekend after an attempt to untangle the anchor of a friend's boat in Lake Travis. Inmate escaped from Gillespie County Jail on Saturday; the outdated facilities may be partly to blame. Roxanne Paltauf has been missing for two years since she walked out of a Budget Inn in North Austin after a fight with her boyfriend. Neighbors feel out of the loop on the purchase of land off Braker for a new Northeast Austin Health Center....

Road closures downtown for tomorrow's festivities. City of Austin needs more lifeguards to keep summer water programs operating. Holly Street neighborhood concerned about five-story condo development set to be built across the street from the old power plant. New Leander high school will be named after a soldier (and Leander High grad) killed in Iraq. A woman may have lured a man into a Fourth Street alley where he was robbed and beaten by two men Monday night....

A toy rocket was close to nailing a Continental flight over Houston. Just In Time For The 4th of July! Watermelon and Viagra contain similar makeup! Chemical used in production of plasma screen TVs is said to be extremely harmful and contributes to increased global warming. Police are turning towards text messages to help fight crime. Yes, it's gotten that bad: Prayer vigils at gas stations. $144 a barrel--exactly what Bin Laden wanted. 12th......

A man shot at multiple vehicles at traffic lights in the towns of Garland, Mesquite, Plano and Richardson earlier this week, and on Tuesday night he walked up to a Garland restaurant and started shooting at customers inside. Luckily the shooter's aim is lacking; no one was hurt in any of the shootings....

Man who escaped Fayette County jail over the weekend found in Houston. APD chief fired a detective today for insubordination (keeping up financial investigations when he had been told to stop). This sort of thing seems to work better on TV. Three men from Central Texas are sentenced to two years in prison for identity theft after cashing fake checks. Grand jury rules that the Pasadena man who shot the two men robbing his neighbor's house shouldn't be charged. District Judge rules that Democrat Bill Dingus can run against current State Speaker of the House Craddick for his seat....

evso/Flickr The City of Austin has set up a site online to serve as a local carbon reduction resource. Austin Public Library Foundation hires new Executive Director. Dripping Springs Rep. Patrick Rose testified about the Pedernales CoOp before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in D.C. today. Swimsuits, sleeping masks and more were found at the home of Billy Dan Carroll and said to be used in his crimes against children. Alleged gang leader......

U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of the 2nd Amendment. San Francisco in the process of naming it's sewage treatment plant after George W. Bush. Hundreds of people arrested, and over twenty children rescued, in 5-day bust of child prostitution rings in 16 American cities. 'Bad economy' to blame for no 4th of July celebration in Florida city. 24-year old woman caught speeding 22 times in 45 days. Obama adviser calls McCain too fat.......

Texans want better roads but don't want to pay higher gas taxes or tolls for them, a recent poll shows (and we already assumed). Men's Health says Austin is the #7 best city for men to live. Georgetown makes This Old House's top-12 list of best cities to buy an old house. Police say the Austin hotel manager who is accused of sexually assaulting two boys showed the children threatening photos in an attempt to keep them quiet. Cottondale man duct-tapes his stepdaughter to a tree (with tape over her mouth), says they were "playing". Sunset Advisory Commission thinks DPS needs a management overhaul. Secret proceedings taking place under tight security while the grand jury (possibly) looks into alleged sexual abuse at the Eldorado FLDS compound....