Headlines

• It's go time: With Election Day less than two weeks away, early voting's doing blockbuster business. Rumors of straight-ticket voting troubles are rampant, but nothing's been substantiated: Voting straight-ticket is safe. Following the advice of strangers and e-mail forwards, however? Maybe not so much. See "Naked City."

• Despite some tightening, Barack Obama retains a consistent lead over John McCain nationally and leads or is tied in several traditionally Republican states (Virginia, Colorado, North Carolina). Obama's campaign bought 30 minutes of network television for Wednesday, Oct. 29 (bumping up game six – if necessary – of the World Series by 15 minutes).

• Ads and accusations on either side of the Proposition 2/Stop Domain Subsidies debate are flying. For one take, see "City Hall Hustle;" if that's not enough, see "Developing Stories."

• So much for recession-proof Texas: Gov. Rick Perry has requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency extend federal financial assistance for Hurricane Ike cleanup by 18 months and has warned state agencies he'll be looking to slash spending again.

• Will Wynn unveiled a revised version of his energy-saving measures for homes – this time with the blessing of the Austin Board of Realtors. The crux of it is an energy audit for homes being sold or leased.

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Quote of the Week

"Clearly some progress has been made when the Texas Association of Business admits to criminal behavior six years after the fact. Yet, $10,000 is a small price to pay for stealing an election that profoundly reconfigured Texas politics – and even that of the nation as a whole." – Texans for Public Justice's Craig McDonald, responding to TAB's guilty plea to a ­misdemeanor charge of ­violating campaign finance laws in the 2002 elections. TAB paid a $10,000 fine.