Classes continue, budget crumbles, and Wentworth eyes the Senate door Credit: Photo of Sen. Jeff Wentworth by John Anderson

Good news can seem like a rarity, but this week saw the surprise announcement that UT’s Continuing and Innovative Education Department will save the Informal Classes program. Originally canceled by the Texas Union as a cost-cutting exercise, it seems like no one saw this reprise coming.

Oh, yeah, and about that bad news …

On Friday city staff released the online voting results for its citizen’s budget survey. The good news is that they issued such a survey: The bad news is that it’s necessary because of a tighter-than-ever budget: The big question is whether an online survey is with the paper it’s written on.

The city might want to think about setting a little cash aside to deal with another gathering storm: Local prosecutors have had to inform defense attorneys that the National Institute of Justice is going to give Austin Police Department’s DNA lab what’s being politely called “the once-over” (and that’s all as if the latest developments on the whole Fleet Services/tire mound of mystery debacle weren’t bad enough.)

Just because the legislature is out of session, doesn’t mean there’s no time for shenanigans. With campaign finance reports due this week (more on that in next week’s issue) the November horse race really kicked off, but there were weird movements in the Senate. First Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst re-arranged a bunch of committee appointments that by-passed talents and rewarded some loyalists. If that didn’t leave Austinites scratching their heads, there was the shocking news that local Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, might quit before the next session.

So was it any of those major events that got the local activist community excited? Nope, that was reserved for the argument over a hotdog stand.

Of course, a sad pall was cast over the entire week by the loss of an old friend to the Chronicle, Harvey Pekar. Read tributes to the grand man of American underground and indie comics by Robert Faires, Raoul Hernandez, Ausin Powell and Louis Black, or browse through his contributions over the years here.

This article appears in July 16 • 2010.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.