After an automobile accident Sunday morning in San Antonio, paramedics placed a yellow tarp over the body of Texas State student and Austinite Erica N. Smith, thinking her dead. When the medical examiner came to investigate the scene of the accident over an hour later, she discovered that Smith was still alive. Smith was immediately sent to a hospital, where she died from her wounds Monday afternoon. more ›

This weekend human rights activists protested against the family immigration detention center in Taylor. Body left for San Antonio medical examiner after traffic accident wasn't dead yet. McKinney man caught after following UPS trucks and stealing packages left outside homes. Was Jessica Simpson's appearance at the Cowboys game yesterday the reason they lost? If not, can we blame her anyway? more ›

Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators. If you missed your chance at tickets to his ACL taping, you can catch him, along with bassist Benny Thurman, drummer John Ike Walton, and producer Walt Andrus at BookPeople this Saturday. Image from Southern Records Paul Drummond and Roky Erickson present Eye MindSaturday, November 10th BookPeople (603 N. Lamar)Free, at 7pm[info] There are plenty of routes to fame in the world of music, and talent certainly plays... more ›

Several dozen employees at Dell Financial in North Austin were exposed to what authorities believe was pepper spray earlier today. From the Blotter: Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services is reporting that 40 Dell employees have been exposed to a toxic chemical, believed to be pepper spray discharged in an enclosed area at 12234 N. Interstate 35. One person with a history of asthma was taken to St. David’s Hospital. All others refused treatment, according to... more ›

The Statesman is reporting that a gunman walked into a business in North Austin this afternoon and began shooting. The Travis County/Austin STARFlight Rescue team has been deployed. The incident happened at the 13500 block of US-183, near Anderson Mill Road. Update 1: The shooting occurred at a car dealership service center. The gunman reportedly shot himself after leaving the building. Update 2: The gunman, an ex-employee of the service center, attempted to shoot the... more ›

Doctors plugged an Italian tourist into a drip-feed of vodka to save him at a hospital in Australia that ran out of the medicinal alcohol it would normally have used for treatment. Plants chatter amongst themselves to spread information, a lot like humans and other animals, new research suggests. Actor Nick Nolte is a father again at age 66 after his British girlfriend of several years, Clytie Lane, gave birth to the couple's first... more ›

DPS will let the neighbors know that an Austin couple (mentioned in yesterday's Extra Extra) are not sex offenders. Because of "grade issues" and injuries, Johnston High's football season may already be kaput. So teens can't vote? A former Texas Secretary of State thinks they should be able to work at the polls anyway. City of Austin releases schedule for free flu shots; check eligibility requirements. Some North Texas sex offenders arrested for posting... more ›

Austin couple wants neighbors to know that they are not sex offenders. Large community turnout last night for forum on the future of Johnston High. The ER at Dell Children's hospital is already overwhelmed. Horses are allowed to stop at state-owned livestock pens at the border on their way to Mexico to be slaughtered. In other border news: Mayors of some Texas border towns are trying to stave off the border fence by not... more ›

Have you been missing out on NBC's Friday Night Lights? Did last season's Wednesday night showing time not gel with your schedule? Well, we're going to give you five reasons why you should make time to watch this award-winning, but low rated, show. 1. The show is filmed in Austin. Local landmarks show up on the show, from EZ's in the opening credits to the Dairy Queen on Manor (where Matt works) to Brackenridge Hospital... more ›

When Will Stewart of Austin bought a ticket in the outfield seats for the Chicago White Sox-LA Angels game on Sunday, he had no idea he was about to become a part of history. But he was in the right place at the right time as Jim Thome's game-winning home run bounced off the rows behind Stewart and into his hands. It was Thome's 500th career home run, a mark that only 23 players in... more ›

Presidential candidates make campaign stops in New Orleans this week. The Taliban is saying they will free the remaining South Korean hostages. Turkey elects new President with Islamist past. Greek forest fires lead to conspiracy theories and anger at politicians. Part-time Austinite Owen Wilson is in hospital recovering from a reported suicide attempt. Texas prison officials scared of the power books may have over inmates? Professionals use social networking sites, too.... more ›

If there is one thing that we love, it’s a good party. There are stipulations of course: there needs to be great people, great food, great drinks, great entertainment and of course, the crowning factor, we must have had absolutely nothing to do with organizing it. Thankfully, we can always count on the Austin Film Festival to do the heavy lifting for us and on Wednesday, October 10th, they are serving up just what we... more ›

The Cribs Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever (Warner Bros) Yorkshire's Cribs are a three-piece outfit made up of three brothers, each equal parts befuddling and beguiling. On their major-label debut, the brothers Jarman find themselves channeling everyone from Malkmus to Johnson (that's Calvin), combining sharp-tongued irony with trademark British snarl, shining most when their catchy, sharp hooks let their claws out. The Cribs aren't necessarily doing anything new, but the finely polished pinnacle of... more ›

Two girls paddling a rented canoe on Town Lake nearly drowned this morning, when their tiny watercraft was sucked under the floodgates at Longhorn Dam. A 9-1-1 caller watched as the canoe was pulled past the floodgates: EMS officials say the caller continued to watch as one victim surfaced almost immediately and was swept downstream. The second victim was caught in the spillway turbulence for up to several minutes, and was later pushed downstream.... more ›

In a lot of ways, Trinidad, Colorado isn't so different from other small towns. They've got a population of 9,000, the local economy is transitioning away from once-prosperous mining and ranching, and Christ is Lord. But Trinidad, like many of its visitors, has a little something extra: Over the past forty years, six thousand people have traveled there to undergo sex-change operations. Dr. Stanley Biber secretly began performing genital-reassignment surgery, or GRS, in 1969, hiding... more ›

Downtown Austin played host to a minor car chase this past weekend, when a man who'd approached several people at gunpoint attempted to flee in his SUV. A some point around closing time early Saturday morning, a 9-1-1 caller alerted police that a man waving a gun had been hassling a group of folks in the Red River District, between Sixth and Seventh streets. Police later tried to flag down his Ford SUV after they... more ›

After an intensive manhunt to find the perpetrators of the Juneteenth murder of David Rivas Morales, Austin Police announced on Tuesday that they've arrested the man believed to have delivered the fatal blow that left Morales unconscious. Kurtiss Colvin, a 20-year-old former high school athlete, has been charged with manslaughter—a second-degree felony—as well as several lesser charges. His bail has been set at $215,000. Morales was leaving a Juneteenth celebration when the Ford Taurus he... more ›

Twenty-one people were taken to the hospital this morning after being exposed to a hazardous material at a dental appliance office near Cameron Road and 290 East. Not many details are available yet, but our first guess for the material is nitrous oxide, which can be harmful in high concentrations. But that's just a guess. Hopefully more information will be available soon . . . 1:30 Update: 24 people from the office have been... more ›

An act of anger and violence marred Juneteenth this year. After a Juneteenth celebration ended in central East Austin last night, a man called Victor ran into a kid in a parking lot at 900 Thompson St. Details are still sketchy, but it seems that a group of men began to assault the driver after the accident. The passenger in the car, David Rivas Morales, tried to halt the angry reaction by the men... more ›

An elderly woman plowed her car into a West Austin Randall's market yesterday, after becoming disoriented in the parking lot. Much like the man who crashed his Buick Le Sabre through a Santa Monica farmer's market several years ago, the woman reportedly experienced a bout of "pedal error," stepping on the accelerator instead of the break. Four people inside the market were injured by flying debris, including the woman's son, who ended up pinned under... more ›

More on the bus accident this morning . . . A Capital Metro bus crashed into an office building earlier today after hitting an SUV; the SUV's driver didn't yield at a side street. The bus driver and one of the passengers were seriously injured on their Medical Parkway route, between 45th and 38th Street; four other passengers are in the hospital with minor injuries. A few more passengers and the driver of the SUV... more ›

Details are still scarce, but the Statesman is reporting that a Capital Metro bus has crashed into a building at Medical Parkway and West 39th Street, near Seton Medical Center. At least half a dozen victims are now in the hospital, with 9 more people treated on-site for minor injuries. Anyone working or living in the area know more information?... more ›

Tonight, Alamo Music Mondays presents Times Square, Allan Moyle's two-against-the-world teen drama set in the grimy, x-rated heart of late 1970s Manhattan. Featuring music by Gary Numan, XTC, Roxy Music, The Ruts, Patti Smith, the Ramones, and the Talking Heads, the film follows two teenage girls who escape from a psychiatric hospital, take up residence in an abandoned warehouse and form an underground punk band called "The Sleez Sisters". With the help of a hip... more ›

APD needs your help in solving a homicide case that happened in downtown Austin over a week ago: at approximately 3:22am on Saturday, March 10th, 28-year-old Jeremy Anderson and another guy were leaving 6th Street when they became involved in an "altercation" with three black males. Anderson was struck in the process, falling to the ground. Last Saturday, March 17th, at Brackenridge Hospital, he was pronounced dead. The indicident took place at East 7th and... more ›

In our effort to help you sort through all of the excellent screenings at SXSW Film Festival, we've partnered up with Austin-based B-Side Entertainment, who create nifty online program guides for film festivals all around the world. Locally, they're responsible for the interactive schedules you might have encountered at Austin Film Festival, the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival, and Fantastic Fest. Here are just some of the things you do over at... more ›

An man collapsed in a 6th Street bar and later died in a nearby hospital early Sunday morning, according to the Austin Police Department. Officers were investigating a disturbance at The Co-Op Bar, at 6th and Nueces, and talking to individuals involved when one of the men "passed out." After begin rushed to the hospital, the man--who remains anonymous pending notification of family members--was pronounced dead. Authorities are awaiting autopsy results before discussing the... more ›

THURSDAY [11] Some of you have asked that we publish the Weekend IST List on Thursdays, in order to better help you plan your goings-on. We're happy to oblige. Starting today, we'll be including Friday-Sunday listings both on Thursday and Fridays. --Ed. Note party/fundraiser • Kickoff party for 2007 Hill Country Ride for AIDS at La Zona Rosa (7:30pm) party/theatre • Launch party for film/theatre magazine Caught in the Act at Molotov Lounge (7-10pm)... more ›

Or so the people at HappyNews.com like to think. Today they released their Top Ten Happy Stories of 2006. Some of these items are genuine "news" items, such as NBA player Dikembe Mutombo donating millions of dollars to start a hospital in his native Congo, Warren Buffett's ginormous donation to the Gates foundation, and Google allowing free book downloads. The website also includes some random human interest stories on the list, such as "Boy... more ›

It is with heavy hearts that we come to you with news that we have lost a dear member of the Ist family. Phillyist co-editor Star Foster passed away Sunday morning. She had been complaining of a pain in her foot, which she thought had to do with some bad moves she'd made at dance class, but it turns out there was a tumor in her leg which metastasized and went to her heart. She... more ›

Our own Austin Energy will snip the ribbon to their newest, most greenest power plant on Tuesday. Christened the Mueller Energy Center, part of the gigantic Mueller redevelopment project, the design and function of the building sports some pretty radical new fuel-saving developments. Utilizing the best technology available, the capabilities of this project point down exciting new avenues in energy conservation. Then again, this is what people have come to expect from Austin. This... more ›