Headlines

• City Council is still away from the dais but returns Monday, Sept. 13, to adopt the new city budget and set property taxes, utility rates, and more. See "City Hall Hustle" and "City Budget: Here's Your Adoption Punchlist."

• KUT Austin has selected Matthew Muñoz to lead venerable music venue Cactus Cafe into its new future. A former record label and promotions manager, Muñoz takes over the duties of longtime booker Griff Luneburg. See "Off the Record."

• Tropical Storm Hermine washed over Texas this week, causing widespread flash flooding, road closures, and other havoc across Travis County and the surrounding Hill Country. And if you haven't seen the weather photo in "Naked City" yet, note the swollen Shoal Creek surging through Downtown.

• It's raining cats and cats! The Austin Humane Society this week issued a plea for cat lovers to adopt a kitten or two during Austin's extra-long "kitten season," which typically runs from late spring through early summer. AHS has also extended its reduced feline adoption fees through Sept. 26. See www.austinhumanesociety.org for more info.

• The Austin Community College board on Tuesday set the ACC district's tax rate at 9.51 cents per $100 valuation, which translates to a $2 decrease in property taxes for many homeowners; the board also bumped up the property tax exemption for senior citizens and homeowners with disabilities.

• Andy Mormon, a former aide to Lee Leffingwell, has been named to fill the slot of Austin's first chief service officer – a grant-funded city position crafted to encourage and coordinate volunteerism. The $200,000, two-year grant is provided by Cities of Service, a national coalition of service-minded mayors founded in 2009.

• The state's money till is running dangerously dry, prompting Sen. Kirk Watson (above) to ask state Comp­troller Susan Combs to break her pre-election silence on the gloomy budget outlook, because Gov. Rick Perry's campaign claims of Texas' rosy economic climate don't exactly jibe with reality.

• With less than two months before the Nov. 2 election, a new poll by Republican polling firm Hill Research Consultants has Gov. Rick Perry narrowly leading Democratic challenger Bill White, 42% to 41%. See "The Man Who Wasn't There (If Only)," for more on the governor's race.

Quote of the Week

"It was an ass-chewing. ... I'd never been talked to like that before in this department."

– former Austin Police Officer Leonardo Quintana, referring to a discussion he had with his lieutenant about a photo he had posted to Facebook (see "APD vs. Quintana," for more)