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All American Tennis Shootout
I hope you're ready for some top-notch tennis action because Austin will play host to the No. 1 American (singles) talent, James Blake, as well as the world's top doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan. Blake will take on Mardy Fish in a singles match and then team with his brother Thomas Blake (who is a former Harvard All-American) in a doubles match against the Bryans. The speed of the game doesn't translate to TV and this is an excellent chance to catch our country's best talent right here in Downtown Austin. Click here or call 866/443-8849 for your tickets. Fri., Dec. 15, 7pm. Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez St., 404-4000.
4:44PM Mon. Dec. 11, 2006,Mark fa*gan Read More | Comment »
Perry Shuffles Press Offices
Gov. Rick Perry has promoted his long-serving (and long-suffering, no doubt) press secretary, Kathy Walt, to special assistant for communications, while Robert Black – Perry's officious spokesman during this year's election rout – advances to chief talker for the governor's office. Ted Royer, a Perry speechwriter, will become deputy press secretary. In her new job, Walt, a statehouse reporter for The Houston Chronicle before she jumped to Perry's office in 2000, will help direct the Governor's Competitive Council, the latest of Perry's economic development initiatives. The new council will combine the wisdom of private industries and the higher ed and K-12 communities in an effort to fatten Texas' economic opportunities. And just think what it might do for Perry's political career as a potential vice presidential nominee. To be sure, Walt will have her work cut out for her. Her new duties will also require her to cajole state agencies into doing their part to bang the drum for Perry's public policy initiatives, no matter how costly or half-baked some of them might be. In other gubernatorial staff changes, Luis Saenz, the strategic brains behind Perry's re-election campaign, will start the new year as a lobbyist, the Statesman reports.
3:59PM Mon. Dec. 11, 2006,Amy Smith Read More | Comment »
Not 250-Thread Count Organic Cotton Sheets?
This FAQ from the City Manager's office to Council regarding the Northcross/Wal-Mart controversy is disappointingly matter-of-fact:
What does the developer mean by the term "new urban model"?
A Wal-Mart representative indicated that its use of the term refers to a store with multiple stories or a store that has a parking garage.
Shucks. And we thought it meant they had imported cheeses. (Well, pretty much everything there is an import, but regardless...)
What it really means, however, is squeezing bucks out of non Wal-Mart shoppers John Q. Hipster and Sally WholeFoods, because Wal-Mart's market reach is so massive, they can't open a new store without cannibalizing profits from another one. At sone point, they have to reach outside the Larry the Cable Guy demographic. As a recent story in the Washington Post put it, "Wal-Mart's biggest competitor may still be itself. In areas where the chain has two stores, the opening of a third siphons off 20 percent of sales from the other two."
3:48PM Mon. Dec. 11, 2006,Wells Dunbar Read More | Comment »
TODAY'S EVENTS
Austin Tattoo Festival
Austin Convention Center
Ventana Ballet and The Cathedral Present: Night Birds at The Cathedral
MUSIC | MOVIES | ARTS | COMMUNITY
Northcross Item Posted
An addendum to this week's council meeting has been posted on the city's Web site. It reads:
82. Staff presentation regarding the answers to questions from Council and the public regarding the proposed development at Northcross Mall and consideration of direction to the City Manager. (Council Member Brewster McCracken, Council Member Jennifer Kim and Council Member Sheryl Cole)
The language is easily broad enough to allow for action – denial of the site plan due to public notice violations ranking high on neighbors' Christmas lists. We'll find out Thursday if they get a big box under the tree, or what they really want – a smaller or nonexistent Wal-Mart.
UPDATE: We initially titled this Northcross Resolution Posted, when the municipal hair-splitter in us pointed out it's actually an item. So there.
1:15PM Mon. Dec. 11, 2006,Wells Dunbar Read More | Comment »
Love Ya, Vince
I think we finally saw Vince Young sweat.
Forget the last-minute Rose Bowl prance into the end zone. This wasn’t as easy, but it sure seemed to mean more to the man who sees himself as snubbed by the guys who pretend to be his hometown team. No sir, Vince doesn’t take kindly to being excluded.
With his Tennessee Oilers, ur, Titans needing two touchdowns to pull it out, Vince was just warming up. Sure he got a little help from the sure hands of a beefed-up Ahmad Hall from the Longhorn glory days. Vince then ran for a couple of yards to secure a first down, before handing off the ball to let someone else score. Twice. After the second one, Vince let out a huge puff of air. This wasn’t as easy as college. The guys trying to rip him apart were bigger, faster than in the Big 12. Vince had something to prove
Then the Vince folks in Austin know so well came out of the closet nationwide to reveal his Teflon coating. Zip. Thirty-nine yards. Untouched. Anointed as the next God of professional football. The guy people want to touch in hopes that some of that greatness can rub off.
1:03PM Mon. Dec. 11, 2006,Joe O'Connell Read More | Comment »
Wal-Mart a Go-Go
The Responsible Growth for Northcross blog points to a pretty incendiary interview Brewster McCracken delivered to KVUE over the weekend. Dude does not mince words:
"We do have grounds, in fact, a legal responsibility to stop this site plan," McCracken said.
He said a city memorandum may hold the key to legally stopping the go-ahead for the Wal-Mart site plan. He says it's not what's in the memo that's most important, but what was left out.
"We've learned from our own staff that we did not follow the law in the city of Austin in providing legally required notice to impacted neighbors," he said ...
McCracken said if the site plan is rejected, he does not believe Wal-Mart of (sic) Lincoln Development would file suit, because he says both companies are interested in continuing to do business in Austin.
Couple that with the word on RG4N's front page ("City Council members were planning on presenting a resolution for the December 14 council meeting that would suspend the site plan for Northcross. On Friday, we learned that they have changed their minds because they are afraid Wal-Mart and Lincoln Property might sue the city."), and it's an all-out speculation frenzy!
10:02AM Mon. Dec. 11, 2006,Wells Dunbar Read More | Comment »
NEWSLETTERS
Has Anyone Even Read the Damn Thing?
For something that's engendered such a level of commotion and controversy, it's possible that precious few have actually read the Big Box ordinance. Find it and more back up information here.
9:47AM Mon. Dec. 11, 2006,Wells Dunbar Read More | Comment »
Adventures in Journalism: Let’s Go to the Roller Derby!
When the dust finally settled after last Saturday’s (Dec. 2) important flat-track Roller Derby match between the hometown Texas Rollergirls Texecutioners and the skating Saddletramps from Tucson, Ariz., a few things were abundantly clear.
First, if I am to really bite into this sporting press gig, I am going to need Full Access. We’re talking press passes and gear. Much gear. So much gear, in fact, that I’ll need to enlist the aid of at least two friends to handle it all. Microphones, recorders, cameras, lenses … perhaps some lighting. But more about this foul angle later. I’ll have to talk to my editor first.
The important lesson of Saturday night was that these gals are having way more fun than the rest of us. I’ll confess, up until Saturday, when I was handed the prestigious Roller Derby assignment (a sure sign that my work for the Chronicle is at least noticed) I had not attended a Roller Derby bout. I had tried a couple of times, only to find the events either sold out or lacking proper parking. And, as a proud and loyal Southerner, I make a point to avoid crossing the river whenever possible. When was the last time I was in North Austin anyway? And why?
6:04PM Sun. Dec. 10, 2006,John Razook Read More | Comment »
Texas Bows Out of Playoffs
All evening at Gregory Gym, it seemed like Texas was hanging on to the cliff by their fingernails. In game 4, the fingers finally got tired: At the NCAA regional on the UT campus at Gregory Gym, the Stanford Cardinal ended the Longhorns' season three games to one, by scores of 30-28, 34-32, 31-33, and 30-24.
Nonetheless, the Longhorns were impressive. Outside hitter Jen Christian was a rock – it seemed like every time she went up for a kill, that ball hit the floor, and 19 times it did. Ashley Engle was right behind her with 18 kills, and Destinee Hooker had 16. Good lord, Hooker is intimidating – she hits the ball with such power. If I ever faced her and saw her jumping up and aiming at me, I'd wet my pants.
Just a few years ago, the Horns didn't even make the playoffs. Last year they got knocked out in the second round. This year they made the Elite Eight. Nice turnaround, ladies – I'm already looking forward to next season.
9:10PM Sat. Dec. 9, 2006,Lee Nichols Read More | Comment »
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