Headlines

A few tables, some pieces of green floor covering, and passersby helped transform two parking spaces in front of the Royal Blue Grocery on Congress Avenue into a pleasant "parklet" as part of worldwide PARK(ing) Day Sept. 21 – an endeavor of the local chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism to encourage more urban open space. (Photo by Jana Birchum)

• City Council meets today (Thursday) with a plentiful agenda, including a resolution in support of "marriage equality in the State of Tex­as" and consideration of another proposed economic incentives deal. For more, see "City Coun­cil: All Free Men ... Have Equal Rights."

› The Cap Metro board this week adopted a $274.5 million budget for fiscal year 2013, which includes nearly $20 million in grant funding for the agency's new MetroRapid routes between North Lamar and South Congress, and Burnet and South Lamar.

› The Texas Open Meetings Act does not infringe on free speech. That's the conclusion of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2006 suit brought against the state by several local officials in West Texas, who'd argued the law was unconstitutional after they were fined for communicating about city business via email. The state law, the court ruled, is neither overly broad nor vague and does not restrict speech based on content.

In its latest sustainability effort, IKEA Round Rock unveiled its 6,664-panel solar array this week. The company estimates the system will produce enough energy to power more than 200 homes yearly. It joins the outlets in Houston and Frisco to make the Swedish furniture giant the state’s largest solar owner. (Photo by Devaki Knowles)

› An Austin police officer shot and critically injured a man that police say was driving a stolen SUV toward the officer after a short foot chase in the parking lot of a South Austin motel. Maurice Chad Paladino, wanted on a felony warrant when he allegedly stole the SUV Tuesday afternoon, was spotted on a balcony last night, and police set off after him on a foot chase before the shooting. At press time, the officer had not been named.

› Speaking of APD, Police Chief Art Acevedo this week announced several major policy changes, including requirements on who will respond to calls involving an emotionally disturbed suspect, what approval must be granted before instigating a so-called "consent search," and a ruling that officers are no longer allowed to put themselves in the path of a moving vehicle.

› Occupy Austin member Ronnie Garza is still waiting to see whether a Harris County court will conclude that undercover Austin police investigators illegally entrapped him and several other protesters into using a so-called "lockbox" at the Port of Houston last winter. Judge Joan Campbell has reset a hearing in the case until Oct. 4, to give herself extra time to review documents from APD. For more on the story, see "APD Infiltrates Occupy,"
Sept. 7.

› Veteran Austin criminal defense attorney Keith Hampton is turning up the heat in his race to unseat Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller with the launch of www.votenosharonkeller.com, dedicated to detailing Keller's judicial "decisions, and opinions, as well as her ethics violations."

› In the run-up to next Wednesday's initial presidential debate, President Barack Obama continues to hold a lead over Mitt Romney in most national polls, including in "battleground" states. On Tuesday, Nate Silver's The New York Times FiveThirtyEight blog declared Obama has "slightly more than a 5-point lead in the national race."