Headlines

• Persistent severe drought conditions continue to stress Austin's public pools, and the shallow (children's) side of Deep Eddy Pool was closed last week due to low well flow; the upstream well currently remains sufficient to fill the deep side, which the city hopes to keep open while well maintenance work proceeds. Flows at Barton Springs Pool are also at historic lows, enabling swimming but delaying repair on the deteriorating Barton Creek bypass.

• The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Wednesday approved expansion plans for the BFI landfill in northeast Austin, over the objections of nearby residents; as part of the agreement, BFI will close its facility in 2015.

• All over but the shouting; City Council meets Monday, Sept. 14, to approve the city's fiscal year 2010 budget; its next full meeting isn't scheduled until Sept. 24. For more on the budget, see "City Hall Hustle."

• Valerie Menard (r), president of the Center for Mexican-American Cultural Arts, was among several local Hispanic leaders who last week addressed the findings of the city-financed Hispanic Quality of Life report; the group called on schools, elected officials, and residents to join forces to work toward, among other things, reversing the increase in high school dropout rates among Hispanic teens.

• Gov. Rick Perry's hands-on approach to Texas schools is coming under close scrutiny amid claims that he pressured two Texas Tech regents to resign because they backed Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's run for governor, while three UT System regents claim he privately pushed them to select former state Sen. John Montford as chancellor.

The Texas Tea Party Patriots bag another protest at the Capitol. The Sept. 5 rally drew more than 1,000 angry people opposed to health care reforms, among other proposals, proposed by the Obama administration. (Photo by Jana Birchum)

• The annual Texas Book Festival, running Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, has released its list of attending authors, with big-name guests including fiction writer Margaret Atwood and astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

• Austin deli owner and former mayoral candidate Marc Katz has thrown his pastrami into the ring, this time aspiring for the lite guv seat. Who knew? Katz, who steered his company through Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005, says he wants to run Texas like a business. On the white bread front, incumbent lieutenant governor zillionaire David Dewhurst announced his re-election bid. See "Naked City" for more state campaign news.

• Oh, Newt, they got to you too? Conservatives have been backtracking on their claims of presidential indoctrination after President Obama made his back-to-school speech this week, with even former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich saying he would "recommend it to everybody."

Quote of the Week

"The governor expects loyalty out of his appointees."

– Brian Newby, former chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry, to Texas Tech regent Mark Griffin, who was pressured to resign his Perry-appointed seat after endorsing rival U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor