Headlines

• Change Austin co-founder Brian Rodgers filed a complaint with the county attorney claiming violations of the Open Meetings Act by the Austin City Council, after a report in the Austin Bulldog raised similar issues. Council has set a special-called meeting Friday, Jan. 28, to privately discuss "legal issues relating to the Open Meetings Act." See "Naked City."

• Back to our regularly scheduled programming: At its Thursday, Jan. 27, meeting, City Council will consider an item relating to parking and pedestrian issues along emerging Rainey Street. See "City Hall Hustle." For a complete agenda rundown, see "The Daily Hustle: 1/27/11" online at austinchronicle.com/newsdesk.

• Single-member districts – where City Council members reside in and represent specific areas – are suddenly on everyone's minds. Mayor Lee Leffing­well reiterated his plans for a 2012 SMD vote – previously announced last summer – to the Statesman this week, while a new group called Austin Vote Action is urging passage of San Antonio Sen. Jeff Wentworth's Senate Bill 380, instituting SMDs sooner than that. After six failed tries, is the time for SMDs nigh?

• In what may be the first of many job losses, the Austin ISD board of trustees has voted unanimously to move on cutting 485 classroom, library, and campus-level positions. So far, trustees have identified $50 million in cuts, and maybe another $15 million if the state allows extraordinary actions like four-day weeks and unpaid furloughs. See "AISD: Long on Ideas ... Short on Funds."

• After Gov. Rick Perry declared voter ID an emergency item for the new legislative session, the state Senate dutifully took up the contentious issue on Tuesday, with much of the debate centered on Democrats' many questions and bill author Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, consistently referring the questions to the secretary of state. See "Identity Crisis."

• Perry has declared the sonogram bill – which would force women seeking abortions to submit to the medical procedure – an emergency item; meanwhile, the Senate draft budget slices money out of most health care agencies but adds $300,000 more to the equally hectoring Alternatives to Abortion program. See "It's Raining Mama Money."

• The head of the troubled Texas Department of Transportation is on the road out, just weeks after a state-commissioned report criticized the agency's leadership. TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz will leave TxDOT in late August.

• Get a jump on your kite-making skills so you can fly your craft in the 83rd annual Zilker Park Kite Festival on March 6. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department hosts four workshops during February in various parts of town, kicking off Saturday, Feb. 5, at the South Austin Recreation Center, 1100 Cumberland.