What was to be an "urban" Wal-Mart built over the remnants of Northcross Mall now looks like it will be a pretty standard Wal-Mart. The main changes from the original plan are that it has shrunk from 200,000 sqft to 100,000 sqft and the parking garage has been removed - only lots and lots of surface parking remains. Whether those changes are the result of protests by nearby residents or the economic downturn is a matter of contention. more ›

• Mayor Leffingwell announces his downtown plan. (PS - No mention of condos!)
• Five arrested in alleged gang rape at homecoming dance in California.
• Get ready for ski season!

• You can package it "green." You can market it as "sustainability." It is still Wal-Mart.
• Palin is just a wolf/pitbull/hockey mom in $150,000 worth of clothing.
• World Series: Phillies up one.

In a video sent to donors on Friday, David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s campaign manager, claimed that the Senator received 100,000 contributions in the wake of a new McCain campaign ad portraying Obama as an out-of-touch celebrity. The ad, which juxtaposes images of Obama against images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and which calls Obama the “biggest celebrity in the world,” drew ire from the Obama campaign. Plouffe told donors that, of the 100,000 contributions they received on Thursday, over 1/3rd were from first-time donors. more ›

Two big wins for the patriots fighting to keep Allandale among the least dense, slowest growing neighborhoods in central Austin. First, Wal-Mart has abandoned any pretext of urbanity at their proposed Northcross location. Second, City Council acceded to Allandale's demands to opt out almost all of its eligible tracts from VMU zoning (all that they added was the Wal-Mart/Northcross location and a lot that is already VMU). more ›

As seen in the past, shopping at Wal-Mart can on rare occasion be a scary proposition, but the last thing we'd expect is to get screwed by the discount retailer itself. more ›

Londonist prepares a Happy Birthday bath for Buddah this week and then things get all cliched. A madman goes on a rampage while axe-wiedling and London's mayor warns an American diplomat to avoid the kitchen if the heat bothers him so much. LAist has finally come around to purchasing tickets for Clipper Train. Hyper local dating sites are spamming L.A. neighborhoods and the fascinating Dame Darcy talks with LAist about art, the city and earthquakes.... more ›

There is a place on Burnet called the Knife Sharpist. It's a knife store. They deal with knives--kitchen knives to fantasy knives. No, we don't know what fantasy knives are, you'll have to ask them. Oh, and they also carry swords. Gotta love a place that stocks swords. I don't think you can get them at Wal Mart, you know. more ›