Last week, Texas resident Hillary Adams posted a distressing video of her father, Aransas County family court judge William Adams, beating her with a belt. According to Hillary Adams, who has cerebral palsy, she was 16 at the time and was being punished for illegally downloading music from the Internet. more ›

Earlier this week the Electric Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT called on Texans to draw back on power usage. more ›

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles may soon expand its vanity license plate offerings to include the Confederate flag. The request for the plates comes from the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), a nonprofit group dedicated to honoring a preserving the legacy of Confederate soldiers. more ›

UT-Austin and its five sister campuses hope to institute a new program that will shorten the amount of time for prospective undergraduates to earn their bachelor's degree and guarantee high-performing college entrants a spot in one of UT's medical schools.The hope is to link a medical education more closely with the medical field, as well as produce more Texas doctors. more ›

An Arlington teacher was arrested last week on five second-degree felony offenses for having sexual relationships with students. more ›

In response to the wildfires that have ravaged over 700,000 acres of Texas Governor Rick Perry sent a 10-page letter to President Obama on Saturday, requesting that the state be issued a "major disaster declaration." more ›

Seven days after areas of West Texas started burning, it seems that emergency workers have the majority of a large Ft. Davis-region fire contained. Working tirelessly since Saturday, firefighters from all across the state descended upon Presidio and Jeff Davis Counties to battle the so-called Rockhouse fire. The high winds and drought-like conditions of West Texas made battling the already rampant fire even harder and by the time it was contained, it had burned over 100,000 acres, destroying buildings, incinerating crops and killing livestock. Luckily, no one has died as a result of this fire. more ›

If the evidence is to be believed, Jesse Bernard Johnston III, 26, was extremely brazen, a liar, lucky, or all three. The Associated Press reports that the Texan was able to enter the Army Reserves at the rank of sergeant, despite being unqualified to hold that rank due to having no service record -- save for attending part of a 12-week Marine officer candidate course for college students in 2004. more ›

• You might not remember the details from Halloween on 6th Street, but it really happened!
• Be careful what you put on Facebook. That’s especially true if you do super-tacky things!
• Look at the planning for this incredible wedding that was scheduled for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead.)

• The explains what Saturday’s Longhorn Game really meant in the grand scheme of things.
• Dell Children’s Medical Center has so many flu patients that they are setting up outside tents to deal with the overflow!
• Political Smackdown: Governor Goodhair vs. Senator Goodhair.

• Trash Dance: The Forklift Danceworks’ Trash Project performance attracts over 700 people to a “trash truck ballet.”
• The New York Times visits our Guadalupe Mountains, falls into a West Texas cactus.
• Even with the start of this $135 million Texas beach enrichment plan, Austin’s own Okkervil River will still be singing “Lost Coastlines.”

• SMU v. condo owners: the property dispute over the land where SMU wants to set up George W. Bush's presidential library is far from settled.
• A federal appeals court has sided with LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) against the Texas Democratic Party's "Texas Two Step" delegate process. LULAC says the TDP's process should be subject to the federal Voting Rights Act.
• One of the memes circulating today after Sen. Ted Kennedy's death last night is a video of him singing a snippet of "Ay, Jalisco, no te rajes" at a 2008 Laredo campaign stop for Obama.

• City creates grace period after confusion over new parking meters.
• Water break shuts off service for 500 in W. Travis County.
• Midland deputy fired over Twin Peaks photo.

• Man shot in Austin by TABC officers, after a pursuit where a TABC agent was nearly run over.
• Police in Southlake, Texas are looking for a late model Bentley in conjunction with a road-rage incident that started in the drive-thru lane of a Chick-Fil-A. (In 2008, Forbes reported that Southlake was the most affluent suburb in the country.)
• Police officers and the city manager in Taft, Texas are in trouble for facilitating this rap video about “Swangn.” We admit the video is boring, but should a city worker be in trouble for allowing it to happen?

• Report cites violations in the raid of Ft. Worth's Rainbow Lounge.
• APD fusion center has many worried about privacy.
• Arrest made after South Austin home invasion.

The T. Don Hutto Residential Center will no longer be a detainment center for families awaiting judgments on their immigration cases, the Obama administration announced this morning. more ›

Mad gymnastic skills help a San Marcos man land in jail for stealing copper. Even the oil companies are "suffering" in this recession. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" amendment removed from Congress. Like a scene from a movie set: craziness on I-35 yesterday included guns, bank robberies and hostages. Texas librarians are wild & crazy! For $15M, you too could own a piece of architecture history. Bud Light, really, Mr. President? more ›

G8 set global warming targets (while we swelter in Austin). Help the homeless survive the heat. Young punks: two teenagers responsible for the loss of 150,000 gallons of water in Johnson City and 420,000 gallons in Blanco. Sen. Cornyn could care less about what you think of his travel expenses. LA's tax dollars hard at work to remember MJ. Madoff won't appeal because he is about to hop the next jet to Ken Lay's private island. The size of the signs will definitely do the trick. more ›

Today, along with the attorneys general of 32 other states, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief asks the court to clarify whether the right to bear arms, guaranteed by the Second Amendment, extends to non-federal enclaves like states and cities. Abbott filed the request on behalf of a Chicago resident who has been prohibited by city ordinances from obtaining a handgun. more ›

In "Where is the Bush administration now?" news, the Statesman today noted that former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be instructing a Political Science class this fall at Texas Tech University. The class will cover "contemporary issues in the executive branch." Who gets to broach the issue of torture? [Statesman] more ›

• MJ's kids will go to his mom, for now.
• Jubilation as US troops pull out of Iraq.
• One child survives Yemeni plane crash.

• Iranian Cleric: Protesters at War With God.
• Record heat prompts weather advisories, all-time energy consumption.
• New 'no refusal' DWI legislation for Texas.

Rick Perry makes Rush Limbaugh honorary Texan, saying, "God bless Rush Limbaugh!" A disturbing record: 200 executions under Gov. Perry (so far). 27-year-old Lance Cpl. Matthew G. Reza from Austin was killed in Afghanistan over the weekend. 30-year-old man charged with capital murder in recent death of 17-year-old LBJ High School student. Mother caught on tape at Dell Children's Hospital repeatedly putting feces through her 3-year-old daughter's feeding tube. Teenager smoking in bed starts a fire in South Austin apartment complex. Blanton Museum has a new director: Dr. Ned Rifkin, former undersecretary for art at the Smithsonian Institution. Councilmember Martinez wants you to stop texting while driving. more ›

At South Austin Marriott hotel, man posed as a cop and sexually assaulted a woman who had placed an ad on Craigslist. A third arrest made for the Spiros violence last week: Wendon Earl Candrick is accused of stabbing a music promoter before the shootings took place. The family of Nathaniel Sanders is suing the City of Austin, as well as the cop who shot Sanders. A community meeting was held last night on the Sanders shooting. A new HR Director for the city. Space Shuttle Atlantis made a pit stop in San Antonio today. DPS has to clarify confusing new booster seat law. more ›

Yesterday was Sine Die for the Legislature, but the State Senate skipped out before passing legislation to cover the operations of state transportation and insurance agencies through 2011 (the next legislative session). With this hanging over his head, Gov. Rick Perry will have to come up with some sort of solution. Does this mean a Special Session in the near future? Many suspect that one may have to called to resolve this issue, but neither the Governor nor House Speaker Straus think it necessary. . . yet. [Dallas Morning News] more ›

Some survivors of WWII’s Bataan Death March got their first in-person apology from Japan's ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki. Some surviving POW’s at the San Antonio event were still angry about having been on a “Death March.” Today is the last day of the Texas Legislative session. Chances are they won’t get everything done. Dude who helped finance the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" campaign in the 2004 election is now bringing actual toxic sludge to Texas. Hog wild huntin' in Milam County. Turns out there’s no bag limit or season on the capture of wild hogs. Them’s good eatin’, too. (Don't forget to notify your local game warden if you'll be huntin' hogs at nighttime with spotlights!) BBC Scotland’s political editor compares Texas to Scotland. The Scots in the BBC’s comment section are mostly not amused by this. Conan remembered to visit the Alamo when he was recently in San Antonio. No word if he asked to visit the basement. Hey Austin, wake up and smell the transition to digital TV! A Nielsen report claims that -when it comes to the upcoming analog-to-digital tee-vee switchover--Austin is the fourth least-prepared city in the nation! more ›

Legislature passes a TV recycling bill: "A zombie TV can rot your brain, literally." It's official: Perry's appointment of a creationist dentist to the State Board of Education has been rejected by the Senate. Gov. Perry says he will veto the CHIP expansion bill if the Senate passes it. Rick Perry among the Political Junkie's "Most Endangered of Getting Knocked Off in the Primary Next Year" list. 24-year-old woman in trouble with the law after leaving her 4-year-old alone in their apartment for hours at a time. AG Abbott charges Conn's with aggressive and deceptive sales tactics. A paint spill closed down IH35 Northbound in Round Rock for a while today. more ›

AMBER ALERT Time Warner breaks up with AOL. Sotomayor on the abortion fence? 'Cuz we totally need another war. Madoff scam keeps innocent people behind bars? Dog custody battle. Frozen mom found in fridge 20 years later. more ›

House Dems spent the weekend "chubbing" various bills to put off the vote on the Voter ID bill. State Rep. Raymond shares why he is doing his part to block the Voter ID Bill. McLeroy, Perry's pick for Chair of State Board of Education, may not make it through Senate confirmation. Texans react to Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. KXAN: "Naked man bites cop, shot with Taser." NAACP meeting tonight will focus on community involvement and the shooting death of Nathaniel Sanders. Does Austin have too many non-profit organizations? more ›

J.W. Lown, who served three terms already as mayor of the town of San Angelo, announced that he was resigning his office before being sworn into his fourth term this week. He chose his personal life over his political one; he has been romantically involved with a non-citizen since March (the relationship started after the filing deadline for this past election), and is currently in Mexico while his partner tries to get a visa allowing him back to the States. Town leaders seemed stunned by Lown's decision, speaking to his accomplishments as mayor. Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem Jon Mark Hogg told the San Angelo Standard-Times, "I think it goes without saying we lost a great public servant with Mayor Lown." [San Angelo Standard-Times] more ›