• Scientists assigned a new genus to this creature they recently discovered in the ocean. We're thinking it would taste good with some garlic butter. ***Don't be fooled, a tabloid posting says that some NASA Scientists are calling it an alien life form.
• Tragically, 5 UT students were killed in a car accident this weekend on their way to a medical school convention in St. Louis. None of them were wearing their seat belts.
• A woman was attacked and sexually assaulted and left with serious injuries in the Bull Creek Greenbelt.
• Freescale announced that it is dropping its sponsorship of the Freescale Marathon. It will, of course, continue to be an important running event, but it will now be known as the Austin Marathon with several different corporate sponsors.
• The death of Milosevic has brought on a critical eye to the hotel jail in which Mr. Milosevic spent his final years. Though tests show that he died of a heart-attack, a foreign drug has been found in his body leading to speculations of poisoning.
• American's debate over abortion is getting hotter.
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• Former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd is an active proponet for road cyclist safety as he recovers from his November accident.
• There aren't that many good reasons to wake up at 5:00 am on an icy Sunday morning, but runners and volunteers all braved the frigid weather on Sunday morning for the Freescale Marathon and Half Marathon.
• Tiger Poop could very well be the next pest repellant. It might even work on your little brother.
• Another reason to shop locally; larger companies don't care about the consumers.
• Almost an Austin icon by now, Leslie Cochran got arrested in Iowa last week. No worries, though, he'll return soon.
• Former UT All-American Baseball pick and recent Baltimore Oriole, Brooks Kieschnick decides to retire after 13 years of the game. more ›

F R I D A Y [17] [DJs/party] Caps and Jones at Barcelona (link) [music] Zykos, The Black, Evangelicals, and Michael Kingcaid at Emo's (link) [film] John S. Rad's "Dangerous Men" at Drafthouse Village (9:45pm) (link) [books] Anthropologist Jenny White presents her first novel, The Sultan's Seal at Bookpeople (Free, 7pm) (link) [party] Freescale Marathon kick off party at Runtex Riverside (Free, 5-7pm) (link) [music] Zookeeper, Sad Accordions, Alex Dupree & The Trapdoor Plan, Meryll... more ›

A piece of birdshot in Harry Whittington's heart caused a mild heart attack yesterday; he's in stable condition. The Austin Lawyer was shot in a hunting accident this weekend by his friend Dick Cheney. The Texas Longhorns were honored at the White House yesterday. Governor Rick Perry is posing a fitness challenge to Texans; the Texas Round-Up is a program being implemented to help Texans make healthier lifestyle choices. More locally, Mayor Will Wynn... more ›

*image borrowed from www.marathonkids.com 2001 photo gallery more ›

The annual Men's Fitness survey of America's Fittest and Fattest Cities just came out again, and lo and behold, Austin remains among the top 25 of the former. Austinist is hardly surprised by these findings: on our once-yearly morning traipse around Town Lake this morning we exchanged pleasantries with dozens of fellow runners, all no doubt preparing for February's orgiastic Freescale Marathon. And just last week our spiffy and intimidating-as-hell gym, 5th and Lamar's... more ›

While we’re on the topic of running, we came across this rather astounding – and uplifting – fundraising event happening at Town Lake this Sunday (courtesy Freescale Marathon's site):Beginning at 5am, Austinites Dr. Alan Brock and Jay Hilscher will be running for sixteen straight hours around Town Lake in order to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina victims. 5am? 16 hours of running?? Both are figures that our vice-addled brains simply cannot comprehend. We salute... more ›

We completely missed this newsworthy running-related bit when it first came out, but that's probably because after the SiLabs Marathon Relay we've gradually replaced the PowerAde with scotch. The next big race, after all, isn't until next month (although you might consider participating in this weekend's Aquarena Sprint Triathlon in San Marcos). more ›