Headlines

• City Council meets today (Thursday) for the first of several public budget hearings – just how much is that trash pickup worth? See "City Hall Hustle."

• Capital Metro moved closer to a systemwide fare increase, as a local government committee endorsed a plan to raise most fares over the next two years. See "Committee Approves Bus Fare Hike."

• On Wednesday night, the Austin Independent School District trustees were contemplating their new budget numbers, including a proposed tax rate that would require a public vote.

• In defiance of international law and our treaty obligations – a phrase increasingly common in discussions of American governance – Texas executed murderer José Medellín Tuesday night, clouding the fate of accused travelers everywhere. See "Medellín Executed."

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Quote of the Week

"Most of us try to make our mark, in some small way. But it's a rare group of human beings who can look themselves in the mirror and know, beyond any doubt, that the world is a far worse place for their having lived in it." – Cartoonist Tom Tomorrow, on the 20th anniversary of the Rush Limbaugh talk show