Headlines

• City Council sits down to a full plate of weighty issues today (Thursday, Aug. 4) to consider and possibly vote on a proposed settlement of a lawsuit challenging the city's historic property tax exemptions, a ban on plastic bags, Downtown parking hours, the appointment of a committee to review single-member districts, and other potential charter changes. See "Point Austin" and "Council Notes: When To Park That Election."

• Mixing a hot debate with triple-digit temperatures, City Council members will head to Northwest Austin next Wednesday, Aug. 10, for a special-called meeting at the Water Treatment Plant No. 4, which is currently under construction. See "City Hall Hustle," for last week's fireworks over WTP4.

• With daytime temperatures breaking 100 degrees and nighttime lows in the 90s, the city of Austin has taken the extraordinary measure of initiating phase one of its Heat Emergency Plan, which involves monitoring at-risk populations for heat-related illnesses. The city also issued the commonsense reminder to stay cool, hydrated, and informed about the weather conditions.

• Extreme temperatures mean extreme electricity consumption. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas recorded peak usage of 67,929 megawatts on Tuesday, Aug. 2, beating the previous record set the day before by more than 1,000 MW. ERCOT recommends that homeowners and businesses set their air conditioners to 78 degrees and use small fans to increase airflow, especially at peak usage time, between 4 and 6pm.

• Hot weather is having some other unexpected consequences: KVUE announced that it will be cutting back on its number of outdoor live shots, while Austin Pets Alive! has canceled all off-site adoptions until it can upgrade the air conditioning in its vans.

• A revised Formula One schedule for 2012 was distributed over the weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and it has the inaugural Austin race pushed back from June to November. See "Ecclestone Wants Later F1 Date," for more details.

• Good news for Laura Croteau, whose certified Wildlife Habitat yard has been targeted by Code Compliance officers for alleged code violations (see "Nature Violates City Code," July 1). Council is expected to vote unanimously on Aug. 4 to instruct City Manager Marc Ott to create policy recommendations "to resolve conflicts that exist between the provisions of the Code and the program."

• Austin ISD continues to contend with the state's budget and staffing cuts. On Aug. 1, the board of trustees adopted staffing ratios that maintain the current 22-1 student-teacher ratio in elementary schools, but because of the district's cash crunch, the board increased the prekindergarten numbers from 18-1 to 20-1, and middle and high school numbers from 28-1 to 29-1.

• Gov. Rick Perry starts praying for votes this weekend with his tent revival/presidential primary gathering – "The Response" – at Houston's Reliant Stadium. Out of all the Republican governors he invited, only Kansas reactionary Gov. Sam Brownback has agreed to show up. Meanwhile, local Democrats will march and rally against Perry, although the State Preservation Board, citing security issues, has moved the noon rally from the Capitol rotunda to the south steps. See "Res Publica," for the particulars.