Naked City

• Leader of the TLAC It's official, folks: Last Friday, City Manager Marc Ott announced that Abigail Smith (pictured) will be taking over the city's animal services office on March 15. On paper, Smith seems like the perfect fit for the city: For the past four years, she's been the executive director of the Tompkins County SPCA in Ithaca, N.Y., one of the most successful "no-kill" shelters in the country, and last March City Council approved an implementation plan to make Austin no-kill. But Ithaca is a small city, with a shelter that sees barely 3,000 animals in a year, while Austin's Town Lake Animal Center takes in approximately 23,000. And Smith took over Tompkins long after it had become a no-kill facility; here in Austin she'll be the one overseeing the whole transition process – from implementation to community relations to budgetary sleight of hand – all while under intense, some might even say rabid, scrutiny. In other words, after an extensive interview process, a grueling meet-and-greet forum with the public, and a visit by city staff and community stakeholders to her shelter in Ithaca, Smith's real evaluation starts in two months. Welcome to Austin, Miss Smith, but beware the Ides of March. – Josh Rosenblatt

Courtesy of City of Austin/Neal Douglas Photography

• R.I.P. Emma Long The first woman to serve on the Austin City Council died Jan. 16 at 98. Emma Long "will be remembered for her love of Austin and her work to maintain our unique quality of life," declared Mayor Lee Leffingwell Sunday. Long fought for racial equality and the needs of Austin's working people, serving on council from 1948 to 1959, and again from 1963 to 1969. She's shown here with another historic figure, Walter E. Seaholm, former superintendent of the city electric department. – Michael King

• Bridging East and West "Today is a celebration of not just the legacy of Dr. J.J. Seabrook [pictured] and of Dr. Martin Luther King; today is a day where we celebrate a legacy to create one Austin – not an East and a West." So said Council Member Sheryl Cole on Monday in dedicating the bridge over I-35 at Martin Luther King Boulevard in memory of Huston-Tillotson President Emeritus Seabrook. Seabrook collapsed of a heart attack in 1975 while at City Council. He was speaking in support of upholding the recent renaming of 19th Street – in its entirety – in honor of MLK Jr.; Seabrook died later that evening. – M.K.