Photo by liewcf on flickrHeads up, Texans -- the sales tax break you've been getting by buying online at Amazon.com may be in jeopardy. The Dallas Morning News reports that officials from the state comptroller's office are investigating whether Amazon's Irving-based distribution center establishes a "physical presence" in Texas, which would put the online retailer under a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that allows states to collect sales taxes from out-of-state retailers under those conditions. Amazon......

BookWoman has relocated and been in dire financial straits in the past, but soon when they take their sign down, it might stay down. Photo by tpacific on stock.xchngBookWoman, Texas's only femenist bookstore, is in trouble and in it fifty-large deep. If the store is unable to raise $50,000 by mid-December, they will likely close their doors for good. Austin will lose another independent business to that nebulous mantra of "progress and growth." The road......

Proposition 12 on the November 6 ballot would authorize the Texas Transportation Commission to issue up to $5 billion in general obligation bonds for highway improvement projects. That means TTC could borrow $5 billion dollars, spend it building new highways and require that the $5 billion be repaid by general revenue (taxes). This is being widely touted as a "stopgap" measure allowing the state to put off making a decision on how it will pay......

The Northcastle Apartments (8100 North MoPac) have become the newest front in the affordable housing/density wars. Trammell Crow Residential is seeking a zoning change in connection with a plan to demolish the complex and replace it with a larger, denser, more expensive complex. The Zoning and Platting commission will be hearing the request at their meeting tomorrow (item 13). Some residents aren't happy to be displaced, but other residents don't seem to like living there......

Thanks to a sharp-eyed anonymous tipster, we just found out that ACL has released another set of 3-day passes for this year's music festival. Screw the scalpers on Craigslist peddling these for upwards of $250 apiece—Front Gate has 'em for the normal price of $145, with all fees and taxes included. But you'd better act quickly if you plan to take advantage of this offer; we're guessing they'll be sold out before day's end. [ACL......

Between claiming that we need more highways no matter how we pay for them and promoting Smithville as an affordable alternative to living in Austin (commute to Austin, Houston or San Antonio!), it was easy to miss the Statesman's publication of a new rant by developer Ed Wendler, Jr., in which Wendler points out that downtown condos are expensive and says that "Austin should abandon the idea that it is encouraging downtown living to......

Several East Austin groups are asking the city to wait to implement the VMU ordinance until October 1. Their primary concern is that "East Austin is experiencing rampant gentrification ... and that the application of vertical mixed-use zoning will further speed the loss of affordable housing and locally-owned businesses." East Austin is certainly experiencing rampant gentrification. Property values (particularly in 78702) have risen faster than almost anywhere else in the city. However, VMU zoning......

The Texas House of Representatives voted 118-16 for a bill amendment that would suspend the $0.20 per gallon gas tax for three months. This would cost the state $500 million to $700 million, which would come funds earmarked for transportation and public education. The amendment has not yet passed in the Senate. As far as taxes go, the gas tax sucks less than most. People generally have some level of control over how much......

So much urban development is happening in Austin, we barely have time to hit the highlights. We'd love to offer more fulsome coverage, but we need help. If you are interested in writing urban development posts for Austinist.com, email urban(@)austinist.com (remove the parenthesis) with a few sample posts and some information about yourself and why you want to write for Austinist.com. Villa Muse Development: Villa Muse (shown right) is a proposed 681-acre mixed-used development......

Austinist took a trip to McKinney Falls State Park this morning to find the tourists bluebonnets out in full regalia. If you are hoping to commune quietly with nature during the month of April, be prepared for the throngs of young families with screaming babies that are allergic to having their Easter pictures taken in the sea of blue foliage. Update: For more excellent coverage, check out what Don't Mess With Taxes had to......

Everyone’s already crying about wristbands and how many pallets of stacked cash the sinister Black will be shipping off to his uncharted volcano island in the Pacific. What no one here in Austin wants to admit is that this festival is not for locals. I’m not willing to dig deep on this, but the festival itself is likely funded in some way, publicly. Why? ...

On Thursday, City Council will hear a presentation from city staff regarding land banks, land trusts and funding options under the Homestead Preservation Act (HB 525), which was passed in the State Legislature after being filed by East Side state rep Eddie Rodriguez. The details are "complicated," but from what we understand, homeowners in the designated district (Town Lake to Manor Road, and I-35 to Airport Boulevard) would be able to donate or sell......

Come celebrate indigenous and mestizo contributions in the 3rd Annual Dia de la Raza celebration tonight from 7-10:30 at the Pavilion at Fiesta Gardens, featuring East L.A. band Quetzal and Austin-native Maneja Beto. Poetry readings, a Latino community group fair and refreshments are included. The latest hot-button issue: Christian Deitering, president of the Longhorn Hellraisers, used his Capitol connections to destroy the Texas A&M University pep rally traditionally held on the South side of......

Blogtastic local(ish) posts this week: You can tell it's hot when your energy bill hits $300; Don't Mess With Taxes posts on energy-efficiency. Omar is not moving to California. Prentiss informs us that SxSWi wants public input into their panel selection. An Austinite currently in Guatemala finds herself getting accustomed to her situation there. Quel is on a mission; she just knows you'll love Love Jones. Random Favorite Blog of the Week: Happy Furry......

An anti-tax group called Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes ("CLOUT") has filed suit against state lawmakers alleging illegal spending of our tax dollars over the last 28 years. According to CLOUT, lawmakers use inflated budget numbers to overspend and this leads to Texans being overtaxed. Democratic goober nominee Chris Bell has reported that his campaign received a donation of $100,000 from Houston oilman A. Earl Swift. According to the Texas Ethics Commission for the......

At his last meeting as a member of City Council, Raul Alvarez is taking one more shot at getting approval for his proposal to "save" East Austin from gentrification. With his plan, essentially, families of four earning under $21,350 a year and who have lived in the same East Austin for home the last 15 years would get $5,000 to fix it up and a 10-year freeze on city property taxes. Although "gentrification" is......

Lovers of liberty and cutting-edge film unite! The Alamo Downtown - that righteous purveyor of cinematic bad-assedness and, um, beer - needs your help! After ten years at 409 Colorado, the Alamo Downtown’s lease is almost up. Facing doubled rent and tripled property taxes, owners Tim and Karrie League have formed a non-profit organization called The Heroes of the Alamo Foundation in an effort to keep the nationally renowned theatre’s doors open. You're all......

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. Ah, Houstonist. They're biking to work, that is, if they can figure out how to get there. That's right, Mapquest says "Houston had the......

The BBC mistakenly interviewed a cab driver instead of the computer expert they intended. Check out the video. South Texas is hot, but when you perspire tar, its time to get checked out. Morgellons Disease has many doctors and scientists stumped. In England, a court ruled that patients can get reimbursed for the cost of their surgery if they have to travel to a foreign country to get it done in a timely manner.......

We did a post last week on the upcoming state toll tags and thought that the map on the TxTag site accurately depicted all the toll roads set for Austin. Later in the week we went to the Pink Party and met DeWayne Lofton (candidate for City Council Place 6). We had a short discussion with him about toll roads and other East side issues. We weren't prepared enough to do an on-the-record interview,......

Austin - The city's proposal to build $227 million water plant on 30 acres of the Roy G. Guerrero River Park is heading for the scrap heap. A majority of the Austin City Council members who opposed the plan, will now begin to look at other alternatives such as stricter water conservation rules and drawing from other water sources. The city has said that it will need more drinking water by the year 2011.......

Procrastinate much? We sure do. But it's getting down to the wire now -- you've approximately thirteen hours left to file your taxes! Unless you happen to be reading this from Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont or the District of Columbia; slackers in these states are off enjoying Patriots Day today and thus have until tomorrow to get their act together. But back in Texas where we've all-but forgotten about the shot......

A few weeks ago Rick Perry announced that he was determined to lower taxes for all Texans. Hold the phone there, Rick. A closer look at the proposal reveals that Perry's smooth political move will likely offer no financial relief to households making less than $53,000 a year. That's quite a few folks. [from the Statesman] Previous estimates released late last month showed Perry's plan cutting taxes for households of all income brackets, a......

Rick Perry unveiled his school financing plan yesterday and it looks like the smokers get the short end of the stick, again. In his efforts to devise a plan to fund schools and give property tax relief, Perry has suggested cutting property tax by $6 billion, the largest reduction in history, and broaden the franchise tax to apply to more companies and raise cigarette taxes by $1 a pack. Critics of the plan say......

Our favorite local blog posts of the week: Brotha Buck got an interesting gift for Valentines Day. Kristin went to Roy's for V-day. Don't Mess With Taxes reflects on why she thinks Texas is better than #45. Beth discusses how to sexually harass others. It's worth it for the images. Dan is having an allergy attack. Random favorite blog of the week: Note This! Martin lives in Austin and writes about his life. The blog......

Our buddies at The Statesman have written an article about the increase in gas prices, complete with a FAQ list of sorts. If you want to know why gas prices are so high, etc., check it out. If you just want to bitch about it, you know what to do. We hate when people say "you know what to do" on answering machines. Sorry, we digress. Police are investigating a possible homicide at an......

A few month's ago we sold our tiny house in North Loop and leaped across Lamar to rent an even tinier house in Brentwood. The official parameters of Brentwood are North Lamar and Burnet to the East and West, and Justin Lane and 45th Street to the North and South, but much like Hyde Park and other neighborhoods the lines tend to get stretched and muddled. We were fond of the North Loop area.......

Too little too lateThe city is trying to restore some jobs in Austin, as many were lost because of budget cuts since 2001. But, Austin just made panhandling legal in all areas of town...so, who needs a 9 to 5 working for the man when you can make make $500/day tax free off all the people with their commuter coffee mugs and brown bag lunches? These same workers will end up paying more in......

Austin's burgeoning reputation as a major film hub is largely bolstered by massive blockbuster directors like Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez, but at the other end of the spectrum are a plethora of local filmmakers with a wealth of unexhibited talent. To showcase the latter works - which are often entertaining and sometimes briliant - is a local film collective called Screen Door. They exist largely to "showcase the talents of local and national......

We've given the IST list a fab makeover - now with pictures, music links, and more! exclamation! marks! Whether you love it or hate it, let us know - we do this for you, after all. And we apologize for the delay in posting this; one word: meetings. Another word: narcolepsy. We're bummed that We Are Scientists decided to bail on their Austin show, but nevertheless there's a full week ahead of us. Pace yourselves,......