If you still haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President Al Gore's documentary on the global warming crisis, there will be numerous watching parties nationwide on Saturday, Dec. 16, sponsored by AlGore.com and MoveOn.org, including several here in Austin. To find the one nearest you, click here and type in your ZIP code.

We received this note from a friend of OCEAN, the Organization of Central East Austin Neighborhoods this afternoon. Due to the timeliness of the notice, we're reprinting it below.

UPDATE: Question mark added to title. As a member of our news team writes, "They're in the very earliest stages of a public planning process to simply consider their alternatives. They are 6 -12 months away from taking a recommendation to their Board, as to whether or not it may make sense to redevelop the site. So it's no crisis," but your input will still prove valuable tonight.

Please mark your calendars to come to one of two very important public hearings on December 12, at 11am and 5:30pm, at 1124 S. IH-35.

The Housing Authority of the City of Austin has released plans to demolish the Thurmond Heights apartments, which is home to 144 low income families. The Housing Authority has indicated this is the first of several apartment complexes it plans to redevelop over the upcoming years as a mixed-income development, with no plans for 1-for-1 replacement of the affordable units. Lakeside Apartments in downtown Austin has been discussed as another development on the chopping block along with Chalmers in Central East Austin. Lakeside, by the way, which is reserved for seniors, is probably the last remaining affordable housing in downtown Austin for persons earning less than $24k/year – other than the homeless shelters.

From the Chronicle newsbunker to you...

Re: City Council Agenda, Thursday, December 14, 2006

Item 13: $130,000 for Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas, Inc. for TOD Station Area Planning. Buys plans for Plaza Saltillo, Martin Luther King and Lamar-Justin.

Item 14: The West Austin Neighborhood Group's name is WANG. For real.

Item 41: Approve a resolution creating a Bond Oversight Committee for the City of Austin bonds approved on November 7, 2006.

Item 43: Spends $1,415,000 of that money for an Eastside park at Oak Springs Drive.

Item 44: Public Safety Task Force creation.

BIG ITEM 82: Northcross Resolution! North Austin's SOS moment at Council? The Omelettry's Last Stand? Burnet, durn it, learn it!

10:30: Briefing Presentation by Cid Galindo regarding the 2030 Town Center Initiative.

Citizen Communications: El Concilio kicking up dust as to who was the duly elected Holly Neighborhood Planning Area.

2pm: Briefing on homeless services

Zoning: A clutch of homes clamoring for historic designation, Redeemer Church returning on second and third reading.

5:30 Proclamations: Senator Gonzalo Barrientos Day, Farewell to the Cadeau.

6pm Public Hearings: Big Box ordinance. Bring a blanket.

Only one seat in Congress hasn't been settled yet, there's reason to believe it may further pad the Democrats' margin of power in the House, and it's right here in Texas. District 23, which stretches from western San Antonio to eastern El Paso County, pits the two top vote-getters in a run-off from Nov. 7's special election, Republican incumbent Henry Bonilla against Democrat (and former Congressman) Ciro Rodriguez. You can follow the results by checking back in here at Chronic tonight after the 7pm poll closing (of course, since El Paso County, Hudspeth County, and part of Culberson County are in the Mountain Time Zone, a few polls won't close until 8pm Austin time); or you can also go directly to the Secretary of State Web site.

Following up Brewster McCracken's assertation in a KVUE interview that Wal-Mart and Lincoln Properties wouldn't sue if council intervenes at Northcross, because "both companies are interested in continuing to do business in Austin," today comes more word from the Granola Cosa Nostra: Jennifer Kim's Statesman statement: "If (Wal-Mart) wants to have other developments in Austin, it's in their best interest to do this one right."

The Toros sent a distress signal out into the farthest reaches of the basketball universe last Friday in an attempt to right their badly teetering ship and make something out of a season that’s in danger of spiraling wildly out of control:

“SOS! SOS!”

(Which, in this case, didn’t stand for “Save Our Ship” but rather “Shit! Oh and Six!”)

Taking pity on the flailing D-Leaguers, the basketball gods heard these lamentations and sent them what could be a miracle: former Duke superstar and No. 2 NBA draft pick Jay Williams. Now I say “could be” because Williams is a question mark if there ever was one: a once-great prospect blessed with a deep well of talent and potential but cursed with afflictions that would give even Job pause.

Just when you think Rick Perry is really trying hard to change his polarizing ways, he appoints a controversial gay-baiting preacher to his 2007 Texas Inaugural Committee. Aren't inaugurations supposed to be festive? Not with a buzz kill like Dwight McKissic on the team. Both Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst appointed the inaugural committee and its leaders. McKissic was Perry's pick. He’s always a big hit at right-wing hate rallies, but you have to wonder what Perry was thinking when he tapped the angry rev to help plan the Jan. 16 event around the theme: "Texas: Imagine the Possibilities." With McKissic on board, we imagine that anything is possible. The last time Perry and the preacher shared a stage together, McKissic created an ugly uproar by suggesting that gays and gamblers were to blame for Katrina's deadly destruction in New Orleans. Afterward, a Perry spokesman said the governor, who was running for re-election at the time, didn't agree with the sentiment but that he couldn't go around muzzling every idiot with whom he shares a stage. No, he just appoints him to his inauguration committee.

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.

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.