Headlines

› City Council meets today (Thursday) with a relatively light but possibly meaty agenda: The morning features a briefing on the redevelopment of the Green Water Treatment Plant site, and the afternoon brings formal consideration of the tax incentives for Apple Inc.'s proposed expansion of its Parmer Lane campus. See "Point Austin," and "How Many Apples for $8.6 million?."

› Council's Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday voted in favor of allowing Austin Pets Alive! to take over the former Town Lake Animal Center site. If City Council approves, the group could move in at the end of May, and the agreement would be reevaluated after six months.

› Mayoral challenger Brigid Shea has announced a plan for campaign finance reform with an emphasis on restricting bundling and increasing transparency in reporting. Shea said her proposed reforms go beyond the recommendations of the Charter Revision Committee.

› On Sat­urday, a Capitol march and rally to Save Texas Schools will begin at 12th & Trinity at 11am, with a noon rally on the south steps. See "Back by Popular Demand: Save Texas Schools."

› South by Southwest provided a bumper ridership for Cap Metro's Red Line: The agency reports 34,734 boardings during the nine days of the Festival – while average monthly ridership is only 35,000. However, some riders experienced ticketing woes with out-of-service machines.

› Thousands were left without power around Austin after a major thunderstorm blew through overnight on March 20. The downpour raised the level of Lake Travis by two feet.

› Texas politics is at high risk for corruption, according to a study by the State Integrity Investigation. The project, run by the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity, and Public Radio International, gave the state a D+ rating, with high marks for internal auditing but an F for open records and (no surprise) redistricting.

› A homeless man has been arrested in connection with a firebombing incident outside the Fort Worth office of state Sen. Wendy Davis Tues­day. Davis' staff reportedly told police the man had visited the office twice wanting to speak to Davis but was turned away because his behavior led staffers to believe he wasn't "completely stable."

› Jesse Joe Hernandez is slated for execution on March 28. An appeal to halt the execution, based on a claim of ineffective assistance of his lawyers, is pending.

› The three-judge panel reviewing the state's tough voter ID law had a conference March 21, but are weeks from a ruling. Meanwhile, lawyers expect a ruling in the separate redistricting preclearance trial over new maps this week; any changes could push the May 29 primaries back to late June.

› Mitt Romney won Tuesday's Illinois primary. However, he's still less than halfway to the 1,144 delegates he needs for the nomination.