Adrian Jaimes found safe last night in North Austin; police are still searching for his kidnappers. Whole Foods: "more interested in cheap tomatoes than the well-being of those working to get produce to the store." Parents from NYOS charter school met with school officials this morning to discuss death of student last week; memorial service for Tevin Park-Flowers tomorrow. Convicted rapist escapes South Texas prison by leaving through an unlocked door. Women targeting businessmen at fancy Dallas hotels, slipping them the Mickey Finn to steal their watches....

"Unfortunately, no one watches it": NBC's head entertainment honcho seems pessimistic about the chances of a third season of Austin-filmed Friday Night Lights. KLRU's Tom Spencer to head up Austin Area Interreligious Ministries. All of the City's diesel fleet will soon run on bio-diesel. 17-year-old charged with two counts of sexual assault on the Texas State campus....

Unlike the faux-rockers American Hi-Fi from Boston, Massachusetts, American Mid-Fi are a similarly named musical collective from right here in Austin. A consortium of some eight bands, the American Mid-Fi label, or “movement,” as they’d like to be known, rep North Austin (why not?) and count the garage rock Dr. Zoom and lap-pop computer jams of Prices This Low Won’t Last amongst their associates. ...

Photo by *clairity* on flickrA public hearing is scheduled for tonight to discuss a proposed city-wide ban on panhandling. The ban would outlaw panhandling on roadsides and within 1,000 feet of all schools. The current solicitation ordinance prohibits panhandling in three zones of downtown, including the area around the University of Texas, a section of North Austin near the 51st Street day-laborer site and the Second Street District down to Lady Bird Lake. APD reported......

Photo by Patrick Dentler Barack Obama "Texas Countdown to Change"Saturday, November 17The Backyard (13101 W Highway 71)$25 General, $15 Students, 3pm[info] | [tickets]Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama dazzled over 20,000 Austinites last February at his Auditorium Shores rally, and this weekend he aims to do the same. Tickets to this Saturday's "Texas Countdown to Change" rally at the Backyard are still available for $25, and even cheaper ($15) if you're a student. Still, if you......

Photo of Divali celebration courtesy of Kokeshi President Bush visits wounded soldiers at Brooke Army Medical Center, demonstrates how to "shoot the bad guys" in Iraq--on a computer game, that is A 160-pound chimp attempts a daring escape from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, prompting a sweep of the entire 381-acre campus. He was later found; authorities were careful to point out that "Jake" wasn't carrying any diseases, and was merely there for "behavioral science"......

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......

Yesterday's afternoon standoff outside a North Austin apartment turned out to be much ado about nothing, after SWAT officers discovered that their target, Bravlio Briones, wasn't home. Briones, 34, is wanted on charges of aggravated assault. During an argument outside the El Tijuana Bar on North Lamar early Monday morning, he allegedly stabbed one of his friends, ran him over with his car, ran another guy over with his car, and, presumably to emphasize whatever......

An early morning altercation led to a man stabbing three of his friends and running over two of them in a North Austin parking lot. Department of Labor awards $509,937 in a grant to Austin-based non-profit, American YouthWorks. The city won't be billing the 3 UT students for their rescue from the cave this weekend. 1983 KFC mass-murder case finally comes to trial in Bowie County. Panhandlers in Boerne may soon have to purchase......

Austin SWAT has been deployed outside a North Austin home where a man has barricaded himself. According to the Statesman, the incident was precipitated by APD attempting to serve an arrest warrant. The Austin school district has asked the parents of Walnut Creek Elementary School students who live in the Longbranch Apartments at 304 Masterson Pass to make arrangements to pick up their children from school today. Students who ride the Austin school buses, Rabbit,......

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......

If you’re planning on attending the Austin Film Festival this weekend, you’re probably beside yourself with excitement about the lineup this year; with such highly-anticipated films such as Control, Juno and Reservation Road on the schedule, and appearances by legends like Oliver Stone and John Milius, who wouldn’t be? But one sorely-overlooked facet of the festival deserves special mention: the panels. Last year’s panel lineup featured some of the most powerful, if not famous, people......

As of this writing, 911 in Hays County is out. How much does that suck? A backup system (of sorts) is being used. The reason the fiberoptic line was cut and 911 is out? Bees. The fire at ACL was the result of a propane leak, AFD says. Austin is the most congested medium-sized city in the nation. Um, yay? Woman dies in North Austin house fire this morning. Remember the Houston office building......

The number of people injured by the (now extinguished) propane tank fire at ACL Fest has risen to 4, one of them seriously burned. Power is slowly being restored to the areas affected by Humberto. Tire slashings becoming more prevalent in Hyde Park area. Woman's body found in fountain of North Austin apartment complex. Bill Clinton was at BookPeople this morning. Texas high school football games shown on national television? UT hasn't been reporting......

Over the years, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones have accumulated several Grammy awards and many more nominations for the bluegrassy fusion jazz sound they so deftly create. They don’t do too bad as solo musicians either. As a group, they have been around for nearly 20 years, and still tour rigorously. The group is comprised of banjo pundit and band leader Béla Fleck, technical bass master and three-time winner of Bass Player Magazine’s “Bass......

North Austin peeps don't have to go south of Riverside Drive—or even 45th Street—to get their hair cut at Birds Barbershop. A second location recently opened at 6800 Burnet Road. The new store adheres to co-founders' Michael Portman and Jayson Rapaport's "Walk In, Rock Out" philosophy that inspired the original South Lamar store, providing Lone Star beer and live music entertainment on top of $19 Shortcuts and $39 Ladybirds. Birds North has an outdoor......

UT Austin professor receives national award for "distinguished service to education in librarianship" A kid in South Austin gets an explosive reaction after he attempts to use real bullet in toy gun Hurricane Dean looks like it's heading to Mexico, but FEMA says Texans should still look out A Dallas man allegedly murders his mother, keeps her decomposing body in the house for days until neighbors complain about "a stench" Austinite Lynne Smith successfully swims......

The Statesman is reporting that the APD SWAT team is responding to a call about a barricaded man near the North Austin Medical Center. Does anyone in that area know what's going on? Update: A commenter tells us it's over already.......

LaGrange, Texas says 'good riddance' to Houston reporter whom they believe responsible for the closing of the infamous Chicken Ranch (aka Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) Austin ranks 13th among office building sales in the US, with transactions totaling $1.44 billion in the first half of 2007 alone Fire Department officials believe the fire at a Dollar General in North Austin was arson The Feds discover another massive marijuana field near Dallas Elsewhere in......

Local media discovers, loves Craigslist 41-year-old drunk driver manages to slam into two houses in North Austin Just one of the sixteen amendments proposed for the November ballot in Texas: stripping the constitutional powers of the Inspector of Hides and Animals Roughly four percent of Texas bridges are considered "structurally deficient," says the Texas Department of Transportation Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo announces his executive staff A lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission calls......

The 81-year-old Austin Athletic Club is set to be demolished to make way for a skate park Dennis Wayne Harvey Jr., a carjacker who shot a woman in the chest last November while attempting to steal her car and subsequently forced another woman to drive him to Downtown Austin, was given a life sentence [Edited -- see comments] A toddler in Kyle was killed after being accidentally run over by his mother Austin's quirkiest......

Libya sentences 6 medics to death for "knowingly" infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. Detectives arrest another suspect in the Suffolk Strangler case. A small plane crashes near Connally High School in North Austin, killing one. A rapist is preying on young men in the Houston area. Rescuers in Oregon fear that two missing climbers may have fallen. Iran's president suffers election embarrassment.......

This Sunday two local interfaith events will take place. The first and largest gathering of the two is the Annual Interreligious Thanksgiving Service. This service is sponsored by Austin Area Interreligious Ministries and has been held for 22 years now. It is an amazing opportunity to see all the diverse faiths of our city represented under one roof. Our favorite part of the service is the call to worship, which has in the past......

We hardly think Wal-Mart will help revitalize anything. Say goodbye to the little shops in North Austin. Save Terra Toys! Dunkin' Donuts better step on the bandwagon. They're going to lose their biggest market to some greasy burgers. Anticipate headlines that read: Murders, Pedophiles and Stalkers on the Rise in Japan. They're getting MySpace. Soccer moms not the US Military will soon invade Iraq. Its safer than the suburbs. The FCC has decided that......

From the “Get The Pork Out Of Here” Files, one of this weekend’s best culinary bets comes from the good people at Congregation Agudas Achim who are rolling out their 2nd Annual Kosher Chili Cookoff on the grounds of the Dell Jewish Community Center at 7300 Hart Lane this Sunday from 12:30-4pm. It’s too late to register to compete, but you can still show up and eat. Make reservations online, or call (512) 735-8400.......

Continuing our look at the bonds up for vote in this election cycle. . . Proposition Three in ballot language:“The issuance of $84,700,000 in tax supported General Obligation Bonds and Notes for constructing, renovating, improving and equipping public parks, recreation centers, natural areas, and other related facilities, including, without limitation, playgrounds, hike and bike trails, sports courts, and swimming pools; and acquiring land and interests in land and property necessary to do so; and......

The Austin Business Journal reported earlier today that Tiffany & Co, purveyors of fine baubles and other really expensive polished minerals, will join the already swank establishments at the upcoming luxe retail development called The Domain. Opening next March and a mere stone's throw from Dell HQ, The Domain will be a massive 700,000 square foot haven of "luxury, couture, contemporary fashion and restaurant space," anchored by the city's first Neiman Marcus (budget masturbation......

While Austin is around 5,400 miles away from Munich, there's a little bit of Germany headed our way in the coming weeks. No, not Hasselhoff's "Hooked On A Feeling", thankfully. The wonderful pub food, delicious beers, and silly accordian music of Oktoberfest will hit four different Central Texas venues on upcoming weekends, so dig out your lederhosen and start humming "Country Roads" or "Hey Baby" (the most popular songs at the Munich event, bar......

Austin’s culinary scene loses big with the announced departure of Cathy Cochran-Lewis. Most recently the community relations guru for the flagship Whole Foods Market as well as their North Austin store, Cochran-Lewis helped turn this one-horse food town into the developing foodie lab it is today. If any of you nerdier food geeks remember Alton Brown coming to town, or Alice Waters, or Deborah Madison, or Martin Yan, or Paul Prudhomme, or Caprial Pence......

Four and a half years ago, Catellus Corporation was chosen as the developer for the site of the former Robert Mueller Airport in North Austin, which spans 700 acres along I-35 around the east 40's. Catellus specializes in constructing modern, urban communities that combine residential and business areas, and -- wisely -- art. (Check out their previous work in California here.) If you flip through the 1,000+ page agreement between Catellus and the City......