Headlines
Fri., Oct. 22, 2010
• Speaking of WTP4: The water utility has recently touted a decision to change its Spicewood Springs shaft from a "working site" to a "retrieval site," meaning fewer trucks rumbling through the neighborhood, but neighbors still oppose the project. The Parks and Recreation Board will hold a hearing Tuesday, Oct. 26, to consider whether to approve the use of parkland to site the shaft. (The meeting notice had not been posted at press time.)
• As the city dumps its resources into WTP4, Travis County tries to preserve the ones it has. Commissioners on Tuesday approved a one-year ban on new development in areas that would rely on water from the Trinity Aquifer. Margaret Gómez and Ron Davis were MIA for the vote.
• Wildflower Terrace, a new residential development – this one an affordable rental community for seniors – broke ground Wednesday at the Mueller neighborhood project, near the site of the former airport's control tower. DMA Development Co. plans a four-story, multifamily complex for folks who have made it to 55 years and up.
• While local boosters sing Mueller's praises, investors are keening over the troubled redevelopment deal at the former site of Concordia College: The University Park office building, the lone structure on the barren property, is now slated for the sales block; tenant Texas Monthly, meanwhile, considers an exit strategy.
• The Texas Tribune announced Tuesday a new content deal with The New York Times, while on the same day, the Austin American-Statesman tooted its horn about a new business partnership with The Onion.
• Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has again slain the dragons that sought to dismantle the righteousness of Texas: The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals sided with the A.G. last week when it ruled that the recently amended state pledge – to which the phrase "one state under God" was added in 2007 – does not violate the U.S. Constitution.
• A new study by the Center for American Progress alleges that the direction and results of research at Texas universities – including UT-Austin – were compromised by Big Oil. The report found that the terms of several industry-sponsored research alliance agreements allowed oil firms to subvert the grant allocation process and disregard necessary academic peer review.
Quote of the Week
"Regrettably, incumbent Governor Rick Perry has declined to join us for this debate, and for that I believe we are all the poorer."
– The Dallas Morning News' Austin bureau chief, Christy Hoppe, who moderated Tuesday's debate
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