• The Austin Independent School District has selected Meria Carstarphen, superintendent of public schools in St. Paul, Minn., as the sole finalist to replace retiring Superintendent Pat Forgione. See “Meet the New Superintendent to Be.”
• Highland Mall Death Watch: Dillard’s announced it will close its two Highland Mall stores this year, dealing a massive blow to the ailing retail destination. Another establishment announced it was moving to the vicinity: Male strip club LaBare signed a lease at neighboring Lincoln Village.
• City Manager Marc Ott presented a revised proposal of $20 million in budget cuts, sparing branch libraries from additional closures – yet council members, led by Mike Martinez, have begun to question the wisdom of Ott’s public-safety cuts. See “City Counseling.”
• The perfect forum attendance of mayoral front-runners Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken has spread to the Internet: Burnt Orange Report (www.burntorangereport.com) queried both candidates extensively this week on the future of solar energy.
• This week in the Legislature, Democrats backed away from an argument on committee appointments, but a new fight is brewing over who is in charge of allocating the federal stimulus cash. See “Dutton Retreats on Swap Squabble” and “One Pol’s Stimulus Is Another’s Crack Cocaine” for more.
• Tom Schieffer, ambassador to Japan and Australia under George W. Bush and brother to CBS’ Bob Schieffer, announced he is considering a Democratic run for Texas governor, inspiring excitement among … who, exactly? Other Dems are trying to draft Texas Sen. Leticia Van de Putte.
• Former Dallas mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Ron Kirk became the latest Obama nominee to fall prey to the back-tax curse: Kirk, tapped to become U.S. trade representative, has promised to square up on an approximately $10,000 tax bill.
• The homogenization of TV news arrives in Austin with the announcement that KVUE (ABC), KTBC (Fox), KEYE (CBS), and KXAN (NBC) will begin sharing their news videos of “routine” stories.
Quote of the Week
“My staff likes to call this resolution the ‘porn-free Internet’ resolution, but I guess we all know that will never happen.”
– Rep. Vicki Truitt on House Concurrent Resolution 54, urging Congress to enable a technology system that would allow consumers to exclude adult content
This article appears in March 6 • 2009.