Headlines

• City Council gathers today, Thursday, Sept. 1, for the last public hearing on the proposed city budget and property tax rate, plus controversial rate hikes for both Austin Water and Austin Energy. The fun starts at 4pm, which means you have plenty of time to read "This Is Your City Budget" before you head to City Hall. Budget adoption begins Sept. 12.

• Council deserves a bit of a break after last week's meeting, which included a pressing discussion of when the next city election will fall (see "City Hall Hustle"). Council members are also poring over a nearly 400-page report on the costs of suspending the construction of Water Treatment Plant No. 4 (see "WTP4 Work-Stop Costs Under a Microscope").

• You're forgiven if you didn't notice it – because City Council didn't mention it – but last week also saw approval of a 3%, $7,250 raise for City Man­ager Marc Ott. The quiet approval, minus any criticism or praise, and the size of the raise, considering council held Ott's pay unchanged last year, have watchers wondering how satisfied council is with the performance of the city's top executive.

• Federal Judge Sam Sparks this week issued an injunction against legislation mandating ultrasounds for all women prior to obtaining abortion procedures. The bill was one of Gov. Rick Perry's priorities for the 82nd Texas Legislature; Sparks wrote that it "compels physicians to advance an ideological agenda with which they may not agree, regardless of any medical necessity."

• After years of quietly searching to fill the grocery store void in the Mueller community, developers finally found a grocer: H-E-B announced this week it will open a store in the quasi-New Urban­ist center by 2013, filling a needed niche for Mueller residents and other northeast Austinites.

• The Longhorn Network launched on Aug. 26 to much fanfare but few viewers. So far, none of the major cable or satellite providers have picked up the joint UT/ESPN venture, and it seems unlikely that anyone will sign on before Saturday's football game against Rice.

• Legendary Austin funnyman and broadcaster Richard "Cactus" Pryor died Aug. 30. He was 88. His career was one long highlight reel and included making movies with John Wayne, broadcasting live from Congress Avenue on V-J Day, and working as a mainstay on Lady Bird Johnson's TV and radio stations.

• Cincinnati Bengals running back and former UT Longhorn Cedric Benson has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge connected to his allegedly punching a Sixth Street bar employee last year. As part of the plea, Benson will serve 20 days in jail (likely to be cut for good time) and pay a $4,000 fine. He also agreed to a year of deferred prosecution to resolve a second assault charge involving a former roommate.

• Austin's first Formula One race has been formally pushed back to Nov. 18, 2012. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Motor Sport Council voted unanimously Aug. 31 to approve the shift from the June 17 date.

• Mike Levy is back on the Public Safety Commission, appointed last Thursday by Council Member Chris Riley. Levy had previously been Randi Shade's appointee, and in her behalf had viciously slammed Kathie Tovo during the recent City Council election campaign. When Tovo ousted Shade, it was a no-brainer that she didn't reappoint the outspoken former Texas Monthly publisher. Now, with Riley accepting the resignation of his previous appointee to reseat Levy, you have to wonder what that means about relations between those two council members, who ought to be allies on most issues. (Tovo has not yet named her PSC appointee, nor has she named a new Water/Wastewater Commissioner; Shade's appointee was chair Mario Espinoza, whose term expired July 31.)

• The Electric Cab of Austin controversy is back on the front burner as recent City Council candidate Kris Bailey succeeded in his avowed intent – getting arrested Friday night Downtown for accepting a $4 tip for giving a passenger a ride. Company owner Chris Nielsen claims he's been trying to get the city to permit his street-legal, low-speed, electric vehicles for over three years – to operate essentially the same way pedicabs currently do. The city has countered that the LSEVs don't fall under the same regulations as pedicabs – presumably because they're street-legal, DMV-licensed vehicles – but they're not taxicabs either, because they work for tips only and operate only in the Downtown area, taking short-haul business that licensed taxis often don't want. As Nielsen and his drivers have refused to stop operating, the city has held to its position that the unlicensed and unregulated service is illegal and will be stopped, it seems the issue is not going to go away until City Council steps in to declare the electric cab service either fish or fowl.