Headlines

• City Council decides on the Hanger Orthopedic Group incentives deal today (Thursday, Jan. 28), hears a presentation on Austin Energy's generation plans, and more. See "City Hall Hustle" and "The AE Generation Plan's Latest Monkey Wrench." And good news for council junkies: Venerable community radio KAZI 88.7FM will begin airing council meetings from start to finish, beginning at 10am today.

• While local boosters may be ecstatic over the prospect of a prosthetics company coming to Austin (see above), the city of Cedar Park is poised to make a bigger splash today with the announcement that Schlitterbahn Waterparks is poised to plunk millions into an "experiential entertainment resort" in the little city to the north.

• Austin hit the No. 1 spot on Portfolio.com's list of best places in the U.S. to open a small business and scored a No. 9 ranking on the list of Advocate magazine's 15 gayest cities. No matter how cosmopolitan Austin becomes, the magazine noted, "gay and lesbian residents will always take their barbeque, two-stepping, and live music culture seriously." Seriously.

• The state's unemployment numbers have inched upward again. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 8% in November to 8.3% in December as the state lost 23,900 nonagricultural jobs.

• Lawmakers are discussing possible security increases at the Capitol in the wake of the Jan. 21 shooting on the Capitol's south steps. Fausto Cardenas was arrested for allegedly firing a small-caliber handgun. There were no injuries. He has been charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony.

• STAARS over Texas: Education Commissioner Robert Scott has announced that the unpopular Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests will be replaced by the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness starting in the 2011-12 academic year. The high school class of 2015 will be the first students to be faced with the new graduating requirements.

• All aboard? Finally? For reals? Capital Metro sent a Jan. 21 letter to the Federal Railroad Administration with word that the transit agency intends to open the MetroRail Red Line to Leander for paying passengers in mid- to late March. See "MetroRail Watch."

• With the second Republican gubernatorial candidates' debate scheduled for Friday (Jan. 29), Gov. Rick Perry is already grabbing headlines with his announcement he will not seek any newspaper endorsements. Meanwhile, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has added former President George H.W. Bush to her list of supporters.

• A gentle reminder if you want to vote in the March 2 primary: Voter registration closes Monday, Feb. 1. Early voting starts Tuesday, Feb. 16, and runs through Friday, Feb. 26.

• Monday, Feb. 1 is also the deadline for paying property taxes in Travis County. Payment options abound: in person at any county tax office, after hours in drop-boxes at 5501 Airport, online at www.traviscountytax.org, or by mail (must be postmarked Feb. 1 or earlier). Call 854-9473 for more info.

Quote of the Week

"While American demo­­cracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics."

– Justice John Paul Stev­ens, dissenting from the Supreme Court's ruling on campaign finance laws