• City Council passed the fiscal year 2009 budget in one stage-managed swoop Monday, boosting road repairs and social-service contracts while cutting corners elsewhere. See “City Hall Hustle.”

• Having battered Cuba, Hurricane Ike looks to bypass New Orleans for Texas – maybe Royal-Memorial – instead, with landfall expected by Saturday. See “Texas Prepares for Ike.”

• No lipstick on this pig: Presidential polling shows that Sen. John McCain got a postconvention bump, but neither he nor Sen. Barack Obama leads out of the margin of error.

• An Austinite arrested during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul for possessing Molotov cocktails is reportedly being investigated as the cargo-pants arsonist behind the Governor’s Mansion fire. (After all, how many arsonists could there be?)

• We heard he wasn’t tired of riding – just ask Ashley Olsen! Now it’s official. Lance Armstrong will try for an eighth Tour de France win in 2009.

Quote of the Week

“I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” – John McCain, speaking last October about Sen. Hillary Clinton’s health-care plan – 11 months before his campaign this week accused Barack Obama of making a sexist remark about Sarah Palin


This article appears in September 12 • 2008.

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