Headlines

Despite his arrest, this Occupy Austin participant appears to have the last word as police place him in a van at Occupy's Day of Action on Nov. 17. (Photo by John Anderson)

• The horn of plenty's gone empty this week at City Hall: City Council doesn't meet until Dec. 8, for its second-to-last meeting of the year. "City Hall Hustle" rounds up the scraps.

• Here's a holiday heart-warmer: Travelers can expect longer lines and advanced imaging tech­nology "body scanners" at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. ABIA officials advise travelers to get to the airport at least two hours early and note that the security queue for early-morning flights may take as long as 60 minutes. At least ABIA's new cell-phone waiting area – free parking for drivers waiting to pick up travelers, located off the airport service/cargo exit – is now open.

• On Monday, two Occupy Austin protesters arrested outside City Hall filed suit against the city, claiming that their subsequent "banning" from the premises was a violation of their First Amendment rights. Texas Civil Rights Project Director Jim Harrington, an attorney acting on behalf of plaintiffs Rudy Sanchez and Kris Slee­man, said, "The use of criminal charges plus the banning order is a 'one-two punch' against protesters' rights and creates an inherent potential of abuse and retaliation by city authorities, which is exactly what seems to be the situation." An "administrative bulletin" signed by City Man­ager Marc Ott on Nov. 1 – after the Occupy protests started – allows officials to "control and maintain" city property in part by issuing criminal trespass notices for a variety of "disruptive" acts.

• The Austin ISD board of trustees split 6-3 on Nov. 21 to create a resource-sharing and collaboration compact with charter school groups. At the same meeting, the board heard massive community push-back against their plans to turn the Eastside Memorial Vertical Team into an in-district charter run by the controversial IDEA Public Schools group. See "AISD Parents, Teachers a Tough Sell."

• Republican lawmakers are scrambling to find ways to protect their recent gerrymandering. On Nov. 17, a three-judge panel issued new Texas House and Senate maps, and at press time was working on new congressional maps, but Speaker Joe Straus has said he may go to the U.S. Supreme Court if the panel does not redraw their redrawn lines. See "New Map Tweaks Local House Seats."

• More bad polling news for Gov. Rick Perry's presidential aspirations: With the New Hampshire presidential primary scheduled for Jan. 10, Gov. Goodhair is in seventh place at 2%. With a 4.9% margin of error, that means Perry may actually be polling zero.

• On Nov. 17, Austin Water turned on the new reclaimed water system at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which the utility says will save more than 25 million gallons of potable water each year. Next in line is UT-Austin, scheduled to begin using reclaimed water in its cooling towers by next summer.

• The last showdown: With Texas A&M headed to the Southeastern Conference, Thanksgiving sees the final game in the century-old Aggies vs. Longhorns football rivalry. Kickoff is at 7pm in College Station.