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?...

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

Hillary plants one again, this time at the Republican debate. Broadway re-opens tonight. The newly proposed tuition hike brings about protests from the UT student body. Family lawyer claims "Baby Grace" was murdered for not saying "Please" or "Yes, sir". Iran is cracking down on rap music. Half of immigrants in Texas are illegal. We may be late on this one, but has anyone seen the man that is turning into a tree? Click......

Photo by MotherPie on flickr Attorney General Greg Abbott says the rate of foreclosures in Texas is at crisis level; foreclosures in Travis County have gone down since last year, though. Hit-and-run on Airport Blvd. Sunday morning leads to the deaths of a motorcyclist and his passenger. Fredericksburg wants you to be quiet when you visit. State red-light fines that should be going towards medical trauma centers aren't. Del Rio high school student suspended for......

Late night fire at police commander's house in Northwest Austin leaves over half a million dollars worth of damage. Firefighters from various regions of the country attend Central Texas wildfire training school. Hays County Area Food Bank starts their Thanksgiving food drive. Hannah Hawley, announced missing yesterday, is back with her family. Notice a different taste to our tap water? Sen. Cornyn votes against bill that would grant citizenship to young illegal immigrants who......

The construction worker who fell 30 feet yesterday at a downtown condo construction site died today. The City of Austin is being sued by various groups over the plans to move the animal shelter. Federal officials arrested 22 immigrants in Austin today. Texas Youth Commission failed to adequately oversee lockup run by private contractor; teen criminals were suffering unhealthy conditions at the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, closed only yesterday. Louisiana company will build......

Warning to UT season ticketholders with seats on the north end zone: Porta-potties will be used at the stadium because of unfinished construction. 27-year-old man dies when his canoe tips over in a Hutto pond. The Chronicle live-blogged the city council budget talks today. Mommymixers help Austin mothers meet up with college students willing to babysit to pay for books. Texas lawmakers may lengthen the tax-free time to two weekends. Received a jury summons......

BBC actors posing as escaped inmates in Travis County freak out local residents, prompting jail lockdown Study finds downtown Round Rock is less than walkable Might this be the end of the ugly butt-crack contest? Andre Jones claims he's a victim of mistaken identity APD chief Art Acevedo launches internal audit after the Statesman reveals the department's 2006 budget was padded with funds seized during criminal investigations Officials in South Texas discover a tractor......

In 2001, Californian Hans Boas set out on a road trip to Austin to teach German classes at The University of Texas when he stopped by Fredericksburg, the modest Hill Country town known for its good food, great shopping, and strong German heritage. Over lunch, he overheard a conversation spoken in an "interesting sounding German," a dialect that incorporated English words and English phrases, but was pronounced in a distinctly German accent. Investing further,......

Okay, okay—so it's not that big a deal that the Alamo Downtown is relocating. All it really means is that we have to walk a few extra blocks to get there, which, quite frankly, will be good for our waistline. Plus, there'll be more seating and bigger screens, so we guess we'll learn to cope. But we're definitely sad to see the old theatre go; we've spent a lot of nights eating, drinking, laughing, cheering......

A father and son were walking home from church last night in the Capital Plaza area (around Cameron Rd. and Reinli) when they were robbed. After taking everything the immigrant family had on them, the robbers shot and killed the teenage boy, in front of his father. If you were in the area behind Popeye's Chicken and the Austin Cornerstone Church last night around 10pm and witnessed anything, please call 477-3588 (the homicide tip......

Good news: Texan lawmakers propose package of sweeping reforms, important enough to hit the national section of the New York Times! Bad news: Said reforms are all aimed toward stripping illegal immigrants of their rights and humanity. Oh, well. We might soon be able to recharge our wireless devices wirelessly (that means no more fighting over outlets at Starbucks). Is there anything Nikola Tesla can't do? iPhone. Surprised? Queen Elizabeth has promised to visit......

City counsel members from Farmers Branch, a suburb of Dallas, unanimously approved fines for landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, making English the city's official language and allowing local authorities to screen suspects in police custody to check their immigration status. Mexico's largest airline, Aeroméxico, will launch the only nonstop international service from Austin, with four weekly flights starting Dec. 15. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has made the first step in......

A Love to Hide (Un Amour A' Taire)Drama, Dir. Christian Faure, 2006 Screens: Tuesday, October 3rd at 7pm "An elegant, nuanced drama with horrific subject matter, A Love to Hide is set in Paris in 1942. Jean and Philippe, two young gay lovers in occupied France, risk their lives to hide a childhood Jewish friend, Sarah, whose family has been killed by the Gestapo. They struggle to survive as a makeshift family in a......

The Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition will hold a March and Vigil on tonight at 7pm at the Capitol as part of a national week of action for immigrant rights. With comprehensive immigration reform stalled in Congress and the deportation and detention of undocumented workers tearing apart families and communities, hundreds of thousands are expected to take to the streets in various cities across the US. “We hope to clarify for the Austin Community the reasons......

The following is commentary from Austinist contributor Truecraig, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Austinist or its staff. Except for the part about Finland. -- The Editors This will not stand. Shame. Shame upon us all. Our fair city is one built by winners. Winners and immigrants. Immigrant winners. And probably some Germans, but whatever. But definitely not the French. Nay, never the French. Regardless of who ISN’T a winner, we here......

Last night we were watching Treasure Hunters (yeah, yeah) when a crawling message from KXAN popped up at the bottom of the screen saying that a SWAT team had opened up the neighborhood that they had previously closed off. Hello?! Apparently there was a standoff outside a duplex in North Austin yesterday afternoon which resulted in the arrest of nine people. Immigration officials have taken over the case, hinting at charging these people with......

We know how you love to support local artists. It's our primary raison d’être and the reason you keep coming back to Austinist. With that in mind, we wanted to let you now about a small film opening this weekend at the Dobie. Fall to Grace is an independent film that was shot entirely in Austin and features music from local musicians (Travis Weller & Jonathan Meiburg). University of Texas graduate Mari Marchbanks attempts......

We still need a few drinks before doing any kind of karaoke, even if our jobs depend on it. Several employees at a Vietnamese Oil Company are being punished by their employer for not participating in the festivities. Perhaps they just hadn't gotten to the Jager shots yet. The Texas French Bread on 29th and Rio Grande is feeling the effects of a raid on illegal immigrants. Several employees were arrested, some deported. Some......

Several teachers in Dallas got to experience the joys of marijuana this week. Muffins left in the teacher's lounge helped to expand the consiousness of the administrators. We'll call that a special delivery. The Pink Taco Restaurant is opeing a second location in Scottsdale, Arizona. Apparently the city fails to find it humourous. We wonder if we need to enlighten them with some muffins. In the Vatican, Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado is being punished......

The whole world is at your fingertips. Check it out... Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does too have a music scene. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorito bananas and white guys shopping for wives. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers. Bostonist sees Boston and Somerville each whip out......

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Our favorite posts for the week: D&D's dog has some problem with visiting local pet stores. BOR posts their endorsements for the local elections. Urban Grounds heads out a little too early to catch the immigration protests. Eeyore was a horse this year, and nonplussed has the picture to prove it. Metroblogging Austin professes their love for Jim Spencer. We're still upset at him for interrupting Lane's wedding on Gilmore......

Remind us to make plans to spend next summer in Cabo! The recent legalization of drugs in Mexico is expected to increase tourism, especially by college students. Aside from the economic benefits of increased tourism, perhaps legalization could crack down (no pun intended) on the violence associated with drug trafficking. Women in Cyprus created the world's longest Bra Chain in an effort to increase breast cancer awareness. The Stars are out! Some teams in......

It has recently come to our attention that, like your old crusty uncle who's too mean to die, the John Birch Society, which spent those good old Red Scare years faithfully outing pinkos and defending our borders, is still crouched in the corner in a rocking chair, issuing periodic proclamations about them damn immigrants and the necessity of keeping our precious national bodily fluids pure. Their national PR director, John F. McManus, is giving......

Vince Young has caught a lot of flack for hiring Major Adams, a family friend, to be his agent. One of the few cool people paying attention to the Stanley Cup Playoffs? There have been a couple surprising wins in round two of this series. We hope it stays this exciting. A flea market in East Austin, popular among Mexican immigrants, erupted in chaos when it was thought that the Immigration and Naturalization Service......

It's a mad, mad world out there, folks. If you don't believe us, just check it out for yourselves... LAist tracks an award-winning TV writer who worked on Good Times to a homeless shelter and sees a Little Old Lady get a jaywalking ticket because she can't get across fast enough (in the same post!). Poets invade Metro and an LAist contributor's new book asks WWJB. Gothamist gets down with the immigration rally and......

Austin is getting a new public Art Installation. Today at 11am, Mayor Will Wynn and Gibson Guitars will be part of a ceremony kicking-off the project in front of City Hall. Austin GuitarTown is going to feature guitars scattered around the city, placed in front of landmarks and significant businesses, that are painted by local musicians and artisans. NASA is planning to bomb the moon in order to study dust particles that come from......

The Senate is really close to finalizing the controversial immigration bill. The proposed bill separates illegal immigrants into three categories and just seems like it will be a big mess. A teacher who kept a 40mm shell on his desk as a fancy-schmancy paperweight, tried to squish a bug with it and blew off his hand instead. We are hoping the bug survived because, now, we believe in karma. We think, that between "M^!*#r......

President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox continue talks today over the immigration issue. Bush is urging a program that allows more immigrants to take on jobs in the US. The heated debate over immigration is causing many to publicly protest, including local area students. Former San Antonio Spurs player Alvin Robertson is getting in to trouble with the law again. Ryan Seacrest and Teri Hatcher apparently 'idolize' eachother. (I know. I know...boo, hiss.)......

Texas - Texas Independent Gubernatorial Candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn sued Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, a Perry appointee, last Friday, claiming Williams' plan to manually examine her petition signature by signature instead of using a statistical sampling method violated her constitutional rights. Williams also refused Strayhorn's request to be allowed to turn in an initial batch of signatures and then add to that before May 11. Carole Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman have until......