Headlines

• Early voting in the Democratic and Republican primary elections starts Tuesday, Feb. 16, and runs through Feb. 26; read up on the candidates in "Primary Intelligence," and consider the Chronicle's endorsements.

• The other election: Austin ISD board Vice President Vince Torres became the first elected official to confirm he will run in the May 8 municipal elections, seeking a second four-year term.

• Economic incentives designed to attract L.A.-based LegalZoom to Austin come before the City Council today, Thursday, Feb. 11, with a final vote scheduled for next week. Also up: creation of new four-day sound permits and possible action on the city recycling contract. See "City Hall Hustle."

• The nascent Waterfront Planning Advisory Board voted on its first case Monday, the controversial Park planned unit development at 801 Barton Springs, the former site of the Filling Station restaurant. Neighborhood activists oppose the PUD's 120-foot height and say the smaller lot size isn't a fit for PUD zoning. Ultimately, the board split, 3-3.

• Work is finally beginning on the redesign of the city of Austin website. Local contractors SteelSMBology "will define the initiative's future direction and contribute technological and design specifications," says the city; crowdsourced computers Open Austin have inked an alliance with the city to assist. This phase is expected to take six to eight months; the actual construction will follow.

• Staring down the barrel of a $64 million budget shortfall, Austin ISD officials Wednesday said they may need to trim more than 100 jobs and seek a tax rate increase in 2012. For more, see "Naked City."

• Fans of the Cactus Cafe have dug in for the long fight against the Texas Union by filing legal documents on Feb. 8 to create a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Friends of the Cactus Cafe. While UT officials have discussed plans to save the music venue, they remain silent on the cancellation of the informal classes program. See "UT Budget Cuts," and "Off the Record," Music.

• Travis County Commissioners Tuesday voted 4-0 (with Ron Davis absent) to mediate a civil rights complaint filed last month by former executive manager Alicia Perez, whom commissioners fired in 2009, citing her long-running dispute with human resources director Linda Moore Smith, who was also fired. Perez filed her complaint with the Texas Workforce Commission, claiming racial and gender discrimination.

• Bill White and Farouk Shami faced off Monday in the only televised debate between the Democratic gubernatorial frontrunners. Among the notable quotables from Shami, in regard to Texas border policy: "Without Mexicans, it'd be like a day without sunshine in our state."

• Former Texas Democratic Congressman Charlie Wilson (r), who helped funnel Pentagon cash to the pre-al-Qaeda Taliban in Afghanistan, died Wed­nes­day – two days after Pennsylvania Democrat and Vietnam War veteran Rep. John Murtha, whose opposition to America's involvement in Iraq galvanized the anti-war movement, died from complications from surgery.

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Quote of the Week

"Thank God I'm not a politician."

– Gubernatorial candidate Farouk Shami, during Monday night's debate with primary opponent Bill White