• City Council meets today (Thursday); among the tasks, reconsidering the design teams for the new central library. See “City Hall Hustle.”

• Who will be the new House speaker? Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview (who wants the job himself), has called a summit of all 10 candidates for the job. Arm-wrestling tournament? See what Austin’s state reps think of the fight for the gavel in “Who Wants to Be ‘Anybody but Craddick’?“

• Red WilCo no more: Fresh off its victory in House District 52, the Williamson Co. Democratic Party voted Friday to turn its campaign headquarters into a permanent office.

• UT Medical Branch at Galveston began firing 3,800 employees on Nov. 18, at a rate of 600 employees a day; the UT Board of Regents blames financial losses after Hurricane Ike.

Quote of the Week

“She couldn’t get elected if two of her opponents died.”

– Political consultant Peck Young, quoted in PolitickerTX.com, on former Austin mayor and state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn (above), who’s considering another run for mayor

This article appears in November 21 • 2008.

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