� It’s Austin City Limits Music Festival weekend, and a new economic impact study by Angelou Economics estimates the three-day event has dropped some $316 million into the local economy each year since 2006.
� City Council is off this week, returning to the dais Oct. 14 to name its top choice among firms angling to oversee a planning and redo process for Airport Boulevard. See “City Hall Hustle,” for what went down at last week’s meeting.
� Eastside neighborhood activists Wednesday voiced opposition to the city’s plans to relocate the Pease Park disc golf course to the Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Park, saying it conflicts with original plans calling for “a balance between nature and humanity.” The group also cited the city’s 2008 purchase of an adjacent 25-acre parcel that was zoned for affordable housing and mixed-use projects.
� The city of Austin is no longer shipping its recyclables out of town. On Oct. 1, the city effectively switched its single-stream waste business to locally based Texas Disposal Systems; under the old contract with Greenstar North America, Austin’s recyclables were hauled to either San Antonio or Garland.
� Hurry, hurry! Austin Energy has $4 million in funds available for solar energy incentives for homes and businesses looking to upgrade to solar electric (photovoltaic) and solar hot water systems. The increasingly popular rebate program operates on a first-come, first-served basis, so call AE at 482-5346 to learn more.
� From sunny solar news we turn to the concrete reality of new road construction. This project, involving flyover bridges at MoPac and Highway 290, is supposed to be good for us, because it will help traffic flow in Southwest Austin, including Sunset Valley, home of (on a brighter note) the Sustainable Food Center’s farmers’ market.
� Bad news for Ralph the Cactus Planter: After a three-year legal fight over whether an Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight-turned-cactus planter parked in front of the Planet K store in San Marcos is a work of art or a junked car, the U.S. Supreme Court this week declined a petition to review the case, meaning Ralph must go.
� Gov. Rick Perry is facing tough questions over his discretionary use of the Emerging Technology Fund after The Dallas Morning News reported that some recipients also happen to be big contributors to Perry’s campaign. Now even Tom DeLay’s criminal defense lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, is calling for a Public Integrity Unit investigation.
Quote of the Week
“Only Rick Perry could make competence seem edgy.”
– Democrat Bill White, on the Republican governor he is trying to unseat
This article appears in October 8 • 2010.