Sandy Carson
Volume 28, Number 14
ON THE COVER:
news
How local entrepreneurs plan to weather the recession
BY KATHERINE GREGOR
The Fed chairman visits, and the news is very mixed
BY MICHAEL KING
News briefs from Austin, the region, and beyond
There are all kinds of ways to be a good citizen this week, Dec. 4-10
State environmental agency rejects science in favor of allowing sewage in creeks
BY JACOB COTTINGHAM
Kirk Mitchell of SOS sued for battery in federal court
BY MICHAEL KING
A rail line along the Austin-Manor-Elgin corridor could decrease traffic congestion and minimize air pollution
BY KATHERINE GREGOR
The contract would've helped the chief diversify the department – a bad thing, apparently
BY JORDAN SMITH
Where Texas Republicans went wrong, and what it'll take to go right
BY RICHARD WHITTAKER
House members try to outsmart Craddick in laying ground rules for choosing a speaker
BY RICHARD WHITTAKER
There's a 50-50 chance of seeing a 75-75 split in the House
BY RICHARD WHITTAKER
Shopping ideas from the Chronicle News staff
From Ugly Political Ads to the Beauty of Return Day; and Link Up With the Obama White House
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
food
HOLIDAY COOKBOOKS
Everything but the Elves
Santa's bag is full of books for cooks this Christmas!
Send those out-of-towners a little taste of Austin for the holidays
Forget the gadgets, and gift your teen with Central Market cooking classes
BY ROSALIND FAIRES
Celebrating Eat Local Week, clearing up some sub shop confusion, and more
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Your local foodie events for Dec. 4-31
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
music
Alan Govenar's blues tome doesn't need to correct blues mythos. Blues is myth and vice versa.
BY MARGARET MOSER
Reunion fever hits close to home: Faces, the Kinks, the Jesus Lizard, and more
BY AUSTIN POWELL
Rock & Roll Books
screens
Slipped Discs
DVD box sets
Gus Van Sant on the life of Seventies crusader Harvey Milk and the parallels between then and now
BY CLAY SMITH
The lasting power of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains
BY CINDY WIDNER
TNT's Leverage serves up justice week-to-week and in one tidy hour
BY BELINDA ACOSTA
Film Reviews
A heavy-handed melodrama that features a young, brooding antihero and Sissy Spacek as his emotionally paralyzed mom.
Gus Van Sant's deeply heartfelt Milk, which features a magnificent performance by Sean Penn as the crusading gay activist, is a finely wrought yet fairly standard biopic.
Marvel Comics' Frank Castle again comes to the screen as a one-man vengeance machine in this stylishly violent and gory opus.
arts & culture
Melissa Villareal's life was changed by Ballet East
BY JONELLE SEITZ
The whirlwind force behind Austin Figurative Gallery is spinning away to Jersey
BY WAYNE ALAN BRENNER
This December, Vestige goes ape for an offbeat rock musical with a hairy hero
BY HANNAH KENAH
Pack up the kids: Comedian Jim Gaffigan is back, taping his Austin shows for cable
BY STEVE BIRMINGHAM
Arts Reviews
Michael Mitchell's paired one-acts depict characters with a lot bottled up inside
These busy abstracts create visual fields that are active, festive, and seductive
columns
Nixon film and doc review response offer different kinds of surprises
BY LOUIS BLACK
A bounty to getting older is that you grow tired of the uselessly dramatic aspects of yourself, and most of your fears evaporate
BY MICHAEL VENTURA
Gay Place is calling in gay
BY KATE GETTY AND KATE X MESSER
Galveston is open for business despite being pummeled by Hurricane Ike just a few months ago
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
Stephen's gratitude is sincere, and we may thank some great news for it
BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER
Four reasons to jump on the Austin Toros bandwagon
BY JOSH ROSENBLATT
Health vs. length, Texas vs. New York, and more
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
Child Support – Trouble Getting Paid?
BY LUKE ELLIS
Momo's, Friday, December 5, 2008
BY THE LUV DOC
Letters to the editor, published daily