In Saturday's runoff election for the Place 3 seat on Austin City Council, Kathie Tovo ended up with 56% of the vote (to incumbent Randi Shade's 44%). She'll be sworn in with Laura Morrison and Chris Riley on June 28th. [KUT News] more ›

• Incumbents out, upstarts in as primary elections deliver jolt
• Bangkok burns after Thai protest leaders surrender
• Taliban attack American military base outside Kabul

• Another earthquake, this time in China, kills 400 in remote area
• Toyota stops selling Lexus SUV deemed "unsafe" by Consumer Reports
• Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens want to arrest the pope

• Two senators and a governor said they would not seek re-election in 2010
• Yemen captures key Al-Qaeda chief as embassies reopen
• Google debuts Android-powered Nexus One ‘superphone’

• Republicans win governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia
• Maine voters repeal their state's new law allowing same-sex marriage
• Warren Buffett buys a railroad: Berkshire Hathaway acquires Burlington Northern Santa Fe

The FBI has opened an inquiry into Gov. Rick Perry's claims that his campaign website was hacked last week during a re-election announcement, according to the Associated Press. more ›

• Mother of dead assault victim (from March attack on Sixth Street) wants access to his sperm to produce a grandchild through a surrogate.
• 19-year-old arrested for assaulting a student at Lamar Middle School as part of gang initiation.
• Note to Georgetown city workers: maybe don't leave the keys in the trucks next time?

BOR has put together a nifty map of Austin locations accepting voter registration til the midnight cut-off. Have we emphasized this enough today? Please register to vote! The city's new single-stream recycling program starts today! Shooting this afternoon near Jordan Elementary School in Northeast Austin. Bomb threat made at the North Austin Muslim Community Center yesterday. Fire this morning at the Pickle Research campus. South Austin seems the best place to get gas right now (two locations have it for below $3/gallon). Gov. Rick Perry: "My instinct is if you gave every governor truth serum across the country that they would all dearly love to have the Texas economy in their state." more ›

Registering to vote is simple and important. If you're a student and have moved since the first time you registered, you must update your address. If it's been a while since the last time you checked, you need to make sure your information is correct. Visit the Travis County Tax Office to register, verify your registration, change your address, find polling places, search for volunteer opportunities and much more. more ›

Today is your last opportunity to register to vote in November's Presidential election. If you aren't sure about your current registration, check on it here. If you are going to be a new voter, you can pick up a voter registration application here. If you just moved and need to change your address, you can do that on the Secretary of State's site (only if you moved within the county you were already registered in). This election is a historical one and your vote could make a difference. New registered voters could have a strong effect on the turnout of the election. [Travis County Tax Office] more ›

Abbott's office has seemed to focus the investigation on highly Democratic areas of the state and has "prosecuted 26 cases – all against Democrats, and almost all involving blacks or Hispanics," yesterday's article points out. People who mailed ballots for disabled or elderly people have been fined, and only 8 of the cases have involved real suspect activity such as voting for a dead relative, an attempt to double-vote, and registering non-existent people at actual addresses. more ›

State officials say that over half the teenage girls removed from the Eldorado FLDS compound are either pregnant or already have children. FLDS sect leader sends a letter asking Perry to block judge's order keeping kids away from the compound. 2 former Sigma Alpha Epsilon frat members will serve time in jail after the death of Tyler Cross in 2006 brought to light the hazing going on in their fraternity. Two other former members were put on probation. more ›

Unlike past primaries where the Presidential nominees were already decided by the time we voted, Texas' votes are quite significant this year. After the polls close this evening, the party's not over; it's precinct convention time! This whole caucus thing is new to us, so we thought it was worth posting a refresher. more ›

• Today's the day! This is it! Ya es el dia! Voila!
• Israel has now said that they might go into Gaza and reoccupy it.
• The Monkeywrench Gang is alive and well.

Brian Thompson seeking an injunction against Dawnna Dukes; her campaign ads say he's never voted. New KXAN statewide poll of Democratic voters has Obama with 50%, Clinton with 47% and 3% undecided. McCain will hold a town hall meeting with Dell employees tomorrow in Round Rock. New City Manager Ott made two appointments today. Someone at Liberty Hill ISD hasn't heard of a shredder. more ›

Travis County DA candidates debate tonight at Dell Jewish Community Center. On Friday when a Secret Service agent wouldn't let a Capitol employee into the building, she got upset and . . . threw a bowl of egg salad at the agent. Man who sold candy to kids at his Austin apartment complex accused of raping two girls 8 years ago. "Scouting ought to be about building character, not about sex": Our own Gov. Perry interviewed in this weekend's NY Times magazine. more ›

Red light camera locations announced this afternoon. New TYC conservator rules out the use of pepper spray in youth prisons, except for in emergency cases. Dallas cop serving in Hillary's motorcade this morning killed after his bike hit a retaining wall. Little Walnut Creek library location is opening tomorrow after almost a year of renovation. more ›

Texas Huckabee supporters aren't giving up. Early voting starts tomorrow and goes through Feb. 29. Two Austin High teens die over the weekend after the car they are in is hit by a hydroplaning truck. USDA finally recalls beef already sent to Central Texas schools. more ›

Police on the lookout for Adrian Jaimes and his three abductors; his older sister recognized one of the abductors as someone who had harassed her and her brother in January on their way home from school. Sorry, Texas GOP Primary voters planning to vote for Romney! He's dropped out so that his campaign won't help the terrorists win. Or something like that. A lot of Texas GOP voters not happy about having to vote for McCain. more ›

Super Tuesday's results mean our state's primary actually has an impact on the Presidential nomination this year. Anyone remember the last time that happened? SxSW founder on unofficial SxSW parties: "Knowing that our continued existence is far from guaranteed makes us willing to fight (when we can) what we see as damaging to SXSW." Name of boy who died at Austin charter school has been released by his family; Tevin Park-Flowers was seven-years-old when he died on Friday. Update on a fall post: Parents who left their babies in the car while they enjoyed margaritas in Hutto have been sentenced to one year in jail. more ›

Lots of young people got their voter registration cards in on time. News?: Door-to-door magazine salesmen harassing Austinites. Farmer's Branch city leaders sued over their anti-(illegal) immigrant ordinance. Meat from abused cows in California sent to Round Rock and possibly Austin schools. more ›

Welcome to Ask Austinist, the feature wherein we answer questions from our readers. Today we take on this question: Could Austinist please provide some tips on bars or other not so serious venues where political junkies can watch their favorite change-agent, decider, hope salesman and sycophants and wonks stumble their way through presidential primary election nights? more ›

• Democrats debate in Iowa, everybody yawns.
• Al Gore blames you.
• "If you wanna get down, down on the ground..."