� City Council is off this week, with its next meeting scheduled for Aug. 19. Although last week’s meeting was a light affair, council formally set a $90 million transportation bond election for November. See “City Hall Hustle.”
� Meanwhile, work continues behind the scenes on the city budget, as council’s questions are answered online at www.cityofaustin.org/budget. Council meets Aug. 18 for a budget work session going over the General Fund departments.
� The city’s completing its parking meter revamp by installing 500 single-space meters. Like their kiosk cousins, the meters are solar powered and accept credit card payments, which have accounted for 60% of kiosk sales.
� On Aug. 9, President Barack Obama made his first visit to Austin since winning the presidency. In a speech to more than 3,000 students at UT’s Gregory Gym, he pledged to improve college affordability and graduation rates.
� “The war stopped being a joke when a girl like you doesn’t know how to wear the latest fashion.” The UT Harry Ransom Center is taking Rhett Butler’s remark to heart by trying to raise $30,000 to restore five dresses from Gone With the Wind before they go on display in 2014.
� Sanity Break: Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, appeared on CNN this week claiming that unnamed former FBI agents had told her that illegal immigrants were having terrorist “anchor babies.” When asked for evidence, she produced none.
� The World Health Organization declared Aug. 10 that the H1N1 swine flu pandemic is over. There were 18,500 confirmed deaths worldwide due to the infection, including 240 in Texas.
� Attorney General Greg Abbott won’t say what he thinks about transgender marriage. The El Paso County Attorney’s Office in April asked Abbott for an opinion on whether the county clerk could issue a marriage license to Therese Bur and her partner, Sabrina Hill, who has undergone gender reassignment surgery but still possesses a birth certificate listing her as male. Abbott recently punted the issue to the courts.
� Aaron S. Williams, co-founder and director of the Austin Art + Music Partnership, died last week at his South Austin home. A memorial celebration is set for 2pm Saturday, Aug. 14, at the AAMP Creative Space, 411 W. Monroe.
Quote of the Week
“Just saying, might’ve had something to do with how the election turned out.”
– President Barack Obama, recalling his 2008 campaign visit to the University of Texas football locker room, where he gave the symbolic longhorns a lucky tap
This article appears in August 13 • 2010.