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Members of the ongoing Occupy Austin protest have issued a statement saying they are petitioning city officials to power wash their City Hall site less frequently. Occupiers say that their area is power washed three times a week between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., which leaves them sleeping on wet concrete in the chilly January weather. About 30 or 40 people still sleep at City Hall every night as part of the protest, police officials have said. Many of them are homeless. Protest members say they have created an online petition that asks the city to power wash only once...

Police have arrested a man accused of starting a fire early Thursday at the Occupy Austin camp outside of City Hall. Robert Alex Mittenholzer, 29, was charged with criminal mischief and bail was set at $5,000, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Witnesses told police they heard Mittenholzer saying he was going to build a bonfire to keep warm and that it would be OK because “this was a concrete jungle,” the affidavit said. Firefighters arrived at the area about 3:15 a.m. and were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, the document said. Damage to the property was estimated at...

Dear , The mayor and city council of Austin, Texas have pledged to make the city coal-free. This is an incredible step toward sustainability in a very coal-heavy state. Please send a note to Austin's mayor, telling him you support his no coal pledge. Mayor Leffingwell recently pledged to phase out Austin's dirty Fayette coal plant and begin moving the city toward a clean energy future. Shortly thereafter, the entire city council joined the pledge, setting a huge precedent for cities all over the country. In the coming months, we'll need to convince Austin Energy to support Mayor Leffingwell's pledge....

The City of Austin might enact one of the broadest bag bans in the nation and prohibit disposable paper and plastic bags at all checkout counters starting in January 2016. In the meantime, starting in 2013, retailers could continue to offer thin, so-called single-use bags, but customers would have to pay 25 cents apiece for them, according to a draft of the ban. That three-year period would give the public and retailers time to prepare for the ban, city officials say. More than two dozen U.S. cities have enacted bag bans since 2007. Most prohibit plastic only, or ban plastic...

Update, 5 p.m. Occupy Austin protestors left the Capitol peacefully after Texas Department of Public Safety troopers notified them that they could only stay for three hours in a 24 hour period without a permit. DPS officials weren’t immediately available to comment on the rules surrounding protests on Capitol grounds. Troopers at the Capitol declined to comment. Update, 3:50 p.m. About 30 protestors have now gathered at the Capitol. Ihor Gowda, who has participated with Occupy Austin since its inception in October, said that troopers with the Department of Public Safety have informed protestors that there is a 10 p.m.-6...

As part of a restructuring plan, the Statesman Co. on Tuesday laid off 53 employees, company officials said. The Statesman Co., a subsidiary of Cox Media Group, publishes the Austin American-Statesman and several smaller Central Texas newspapers, including the Bastrop Advertiser, the Westlake Picayune, the Round Rock Leader and the Pflugerville Pflag.

On Sunday, I wrote a story detailing the presence of the La Familia cartel in Austin, and in particular a group led by men from the central Mexican region of Luvianos.On Monday, after reading the story, officials with the Austin Independent School District canceled a scheduled football game between Travis High and the team from Monterrey Tech, citing safety concerns. If the game really was nixed simply on the basis of our story, it struck me as a curious decision. While I tried to explain how and why La Familia came to use Austin as a distribution hub, the presence...

AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas teenager was charged with assault after six students were hospitalized when they ate marijuana-laden brownies he served them at a school band practice, myFOXaustin.com reported Wednesday. Kevin Coffey, a 17-year-old student at Austin's Lake Travis High School, told authorities he didn't know the brownies contained drugs when he handed them out -- but police said text messages he had sent to friends proved otherwise. Police said many of the students were unaware of the brownies being laced with pot and six were transported to the hospital by their parents. ...

Dear TX Freepers, Son is entering Navy in December. Has been training in Austin with fellow recruits. Needs to find room to rent in Austin to avoid drive (expense of driving 60+ miles too much). Any contacts we could present him to would be most apprciated. The young man doesn't smoke, drink or chase women (and yes, he's normal). He's in superb condition, but wants to max out to be ready. Please freepmail me if you can help us find some contacts.

Dear Freepers, I really need someone's assistance. One of my sons has signed up to go into the Navy. He has some VERY high aspirations and the drive and physical ability to attain those goals. Need assistance helping him transfer his work skills to Austin near Town Lake to be near training facilities: Excellent waiter/busboy at several different jobs already, construction, carpenter's helper, etc. The young man needs to be able to have some flexible hours to have morning available to swim and run (which he has been driving to Austin to do) AND then go to work -- which...

UPDATE 7:30 P.M.: Mark Stanford, the fire chief for the Texas Forest Service , said subdivisions have been evacuated there but they have no estimate on what structures have been lost. People are being told to evacuate to the First Baptist Church in Smithville and Bastrop Middle School, Stanford said. In addition, State Highways 71 and 21 in Bastrop County have been closed, Stanford said. Update, 6:48 p.m.: Wildfires have consumed more than 6,000 acres in Bastrop County, and firefighters are still working to get the blazes under control. According to Bastrop Police Department Spokesman Michal Hubbard, hundreds of homes...

Down at the local firing range. Governor Rick Perry has a posse of bloggers bearing arms and using them. Roger Simon talks to Andrew Breitbart, Patrick Ruffini, and more.

Conservatives hail it and liberals dispute the story, but one thing is certain about the Lone Star State's employment success: The number is real. According to the Dallas Fed, Texas generated 43% of the net new jobs in the U.S. from June 2009 through May 2011 - an enormous share when you consider that the Lone Star State accounts for about 8% of the nation's economy. ...conservatives were quick to celebrate, embracing the jobs tally as powerful evidence of the superiority of Republican ideas as well as proof that Texas Gov. Rick Perry would make a good president. Texas is...

<p>Austin Police say the body of missing person Jamie Minor was found in a Perry's Steakhouse exhaust duct at 114 West 7th Street.</p> <p>Police said there is no evidence to indicate foul play was involved in her death.</p> <p>Detectives discovered a deceased person in the duct between the first and second floors of the building in an area that was not readily accessible.</p>

Time Saturday, June 11 · 3:30pm - 6:30pm Location South steps of the Austin Capitol. Created By Charles Paschal More Info A Sanctuary City Legislation rally has been planned for Saturday, June 11th - 3:30pm - 6:30pm on the south steps of the Capitol in Austin. We are on the verge of getting the sanctuary city legislation our state needs to save lives. Several of our state reps and senators have filed sanctuary city bills and e-verify bills during the special session. It is up to Governor Perry to put them on the agenda and we need to show support...

The Austin Parks Foundation has canceled tonight’s showing of Napoleon Dynamite at Republic Square because of complaints about an offensive word in the movie. According to an email the foundation sent out: “The Austin Parks Foundation is canceling tonight’s (Wed, 5/25) showing of Napoleon Dynamite at Republic Square. A new movie will be shown next month. A number of people contacted us objecting to a word used by actors in the movie. We didn’t recall that this word was used and we did not mean to offend anyone. Our apologies for this as well as for the last minute cancellation.”...

Areli Carbajal Escobar, a violent 32-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, had a long rap sheet. Over the years in the sanctuary city of Austin, Texas, police and prosecutors had many contacts with him. Yet Escobar was never deported. Now, immigration problems are the least of Escobar's worries. Last week, a Travis County jury sentenced him to death for the brutal rape and murder of a high school honor student. Texas may lead the nation for executions, but most condemned murderers aren't from Austin, the capital, and surrounding Travis County -- for both are enclaves of liberal Democrats in an otherwise...

AUSTIN — The ceremony was brief and drew few mourners, but the Trans Texas Corridor is finally dead. The Senate unanimously passed a bill that strikes from state law any language, reference and authority once connected to the massive highway envisioned to slice a swath through Texas. The same measure already has passed the House. There are some minor differences that still need to be reconciled, but the bill is expected to go to Gov. Rick Perry, who will have to decide whether to join in the final rites for his once-prized project. Legislators did keep a provision that was...

Senators ask him to review wildfire devastation. Obama will be in Austin on Tuesday evening. He first visits El Paso to give a speech on immigration. He will head to Austin to attend a fundraiser for his 2012 presidential campaign. The private event will be at the ACL LIVE! at the Moody Theater , housed in the W Hotel at 310 W. Willie Nelson Blvd. While seeking money from people in Texas, last week the Obama Administration denied a request to declare a disaster in Texas because of the wildfires, which would make the state eligible for federal funds. Friday,...

Led by union workers from across Texas, thousands of chanting marchers converged on the Capitol on Wednesday to protest the recently passed House budget's deep spending cuts to education, health care and state jobs. "We are all in this together," Judy Lugo, president of the Texas State Employees Union, told the raucous, cheering crowd on the south steps of the Capitol. "Every Texan, now and for years to come, will suffer the consequences if the Texas Legislature does not change course." Shortly before the rally, conservative and tea party activists held a news conference on the other side of the...

CAIRO (AP) — Syrian authorities have detained two Americans amid an unprecedented wave of protests in the repressive Middle East nation, relatives and state media said Saturday. Syria's state news agency Sana alleged that a man with dual U.S.-Egyptian citizenship had "confessed" to selling the footage to a Colombian woman. He was later identified by relatives as Mohammed Radwan, 32, of Austin Texas. ... Meanwhile, a Vermont man said his 21-year-old son Pathik "Tik" Root — who had been missing since March 18 — has been found to be safe in Syrian custody. Tom Root said his son, a Middlebury...

Pinetop Perkins, 1913- 2011 Legendary piano player Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins , who gave Austin a walking, talking monument to the blues when he moved here in 2003, died from cardiac arrest Monday at his home in North Austin. The oldest-ever Grammy winner, Perkins was 97 when he accepted the award for best traditional blues album last month . When the Rolling Stones played Austin for the first time in October 2006 at Zilker Park, the sight they most wanted to see was Perkins, Muddy Waters' longtime piano player, backstage at their show. Even in failing health, Perkins went to...

Hilderbran: Use Rainy Day Fund appropriately, and only for intended purpose This week, the governor, state comptroller, and House speaker announced a plan to withdraw up to $3.2 billion from the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund in order to help cover the $4 billion shortfall Texas faces this year. This is the appropriate decision for our current economic problem, but we must find other alternatives for addressing the $13 billion shortfall projected over the next two years. In 1988, voters approved the creation of the Rainy Day Fund, as it is more commonly known, via an amendment to the Texas Constitution....

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Police in the state capital will bring back its very popular Guns4Groceries, a "no questions asked" gun buyback program that drew an overwhelming response last summer during its inaugural run. The second run for the program doesn't come as much of a surprise for many after Austin police said the massive turnout last year was a good sign that it would return. "It is not about infringing on rights to bear arms, it is about collecting unwanted firearms off thre streets," said Lt. Ely Reyes with Austin Police Department. February 26th from 9 AM to 1 PM,...

Public's help sought in solving governor's mansion fire in TexasFebruary 17, 2011 | By the CNN Wire Staff Public safety officials in Texas Thursday released a video of a man throwing a Molotov cocktail at the governor's mansion in 2008, hoping it and a suspect sketch will lead to his identification. The Department of Public Safety and its Texas Rangers division are offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the arson. "We're quite confident someone knows who this suspect is," Steven McCraw, director of public safety, said...

An Austin-based anarchist group whose members were prosecuted for plotting to bomb the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., three years ago has been linked to the unsolved June 2008 arson fire that gutted the Texas Governor's Mansion, officials said Thursday. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said that a white Jeep Cherokee photographed by surveillance cameras at the mansion four days before the fire has been "connected to people who were part of that anarchist group." The connection was confirmed about three months ago, he said. The Jeep is believed to have been doing...

For a decade now U.S. city planners have obsessively pursued college graduates, adopting policies to make their cities more like dense hot spots such as New York, to which the "brains" allegedly flock. But in the past 10 years "hip and cool" places like New York have suffered high levels of domestic outmigration. Some boosters rationalize this by saying the U.S. is undergoing a "bipolar migration"--an argument recently laid out by Derek Thompson in The Atlantic. On the one hand the smart "brains" head for cool, coastal cities like New York and Boston, while "families" and "feet"--a term that seems...

Update 11:35 a.m. A Travis County jury this morning convicted Juan Romero of murder and tampering with physical evidence in the August 2009 shooting death of a man who had stolen a 12-pack of beer from the South Austin convenience store where Romero worked. Romero did not react to the verdict. Members of Jorge Vielma’s family began crying so loudly that they had to be escorted from the courtroom. Vielma, 22, died from a gunshot wound to the back after Romero followed him out of the store and began firing. The punishment phase of the trial begins this afternoon. Romero...

Two men were arrested for driving while intoxicated on 6th Street Friday night. One was riding a horse, while the other was riding a mule. Austin police say the ment were both intoxicated. They were apparently trying to lure people out of bars and into the street to take pictures with them and their farm animals. Bartender Brian Matthews thought he'd seen everything, that is until he walked outside to have a cigarette Friday night. "There were these two guys on horses, or mules, or something, outside of Shakespeare's," he said. "(It) looked like they were being pulled over for...

This may be one of the most eventful days of the 2011 legislative session, which is something, considering that the session doesn’t even start until tomorrow. Much of the drama of the day will focus on the so-called speaker’s race. Tea partiers are coming to Austin for two rallies. In fact, someone sent me a picture of a car they saw Sunday along Interstate 35 in Temple. It was headed toward Austin with a large sign on the side of the trunk that said, “Ken Paxton for TX Speaker.” Will members catch any grief from tea-partiers as they head into...

Earlier this month we reported Austin police solved a cold case murder from 1978. After 32 years, the family of the murder victim was able to gather for the Christmas holidays and share the gift of closure. Lella Moulder has to turn to pictures three decades old to rekindle Christmas memories of her mother Hazel Ivy. "She was so good, and did not deserve to die that way," said Moulder. In 1978, Ivy was 66 years old, wheelchair bound and living in a South Austin apartment when police say she was raped and murdered by Lester Ray Guy. He's 58...

City Council passes an ordinance banning selling of cats, dogsCity Council passes an ordinance banning selling of cats, dogs Share | By Kate Hull Thursday, 16 December 2010 AUSTIN — As part of its efforts to make the City of Austin a no-kill city, Austin City Council approved an ordinance establishing a fine for the improper breeding and selling of live animals, specifically cats and dogs. According to the ordinance, the illegal selling and breeding of live animals pertains to pet traders who sell cats and dogs for the sole purpose of making a profit. This excludes “the City of...

Jurors considering the political money laundering case against former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Tuesday delved deep into the evidence, but asked so many legal questions that the judge warned them that they were getting off track... DeLay had with him a copy of Empire of the Summer Moon, a recent nonfiction book about the Comanche people and their famed chief, Quanah Parker, and a TouchPoint Bible that allows readers to find Scripture relevant to their lives. "No demons, nor angels nor DAs can keep you separated from the love of Jesus Christ," DeLay said, playing off of...

AUSTIN (KXAN) - KXAN Austin News has uncovered dozens of cases in which unpaid tolls have turned into bills as high as tens of thousands of dollars. Toll roads first came to Central Texas four years ago. There are now a total of five tollways, including Texas Toll 130 in East Travis and Williamson counties. The bottom line is the toll bills were not paid, and they ended up becoming criminal cases. Although drivers can pay with cash at most tolls, use their TxTag or Pay by Mail as the signs say, some drivers contend the last option poses a...

Colton Joshua Tooley, 19, dressed himself Tuesday morning in a button-down white shirt, a dark suit coat, a ski mask and an AK-47. Tooley then terrorized the University of Texas campus for more than 30 minutes by firing four shots into the air before running into the Perry- Castañeda Library, dashing up a stairwell screaming, and taking his own life with his rifle on the sixth floor. The shooting caused a campus lockdown as differing witness descriptions prompted a search for a second shooter. Helicopters circled overhead. Classes were canceled for the day. And when police finally allowed people to...

We just got breaking news out of Austin Texas, where gunshots have been heard coming from a library at the university of Texas. Reports have indicated that someone brought a gun to the Perry-Castañeda Library at the intersection of East 21st Street and Speedway.

How many DWI convictions does it take for an illegal alien to be jailed on an "immigration detainer" by ICE? One? Two? Three? Nope. Try FOUR + a homicide. Robert Benn of TN was struck and killed soon after he landed in Austin for a business trip by Jaime Bonilla, an illegal with 3 prior DWI convictions, yet roaming free in the sanctuary city of Austin. The people of TX and TN must DEMAND answers from ICE, DHS and the City of Austin as to why this illegal alien slimeball felon was free to drink and drive (and KILL) again...

The White House asked St. Edward’s University if it was interested in hosting President Barack Obama for his speech in Austin on Monday, but the university declined, a spokeswoman for the school said today. “St. Edward’s University is honored to have been considered a potential venue for President Obama’s recent visit to Austin,” said a statement issued by spokeswoman Mischelle Diaz. “Regretfully, it was not a good time for us to consider this. With the short notice provided - only 3 to 4 days - a visit of this importance and magnitude would have been difficult for a campus of...

US President Barack Obama speaks on higher education and the economy at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Obama urged Americans Monday to crack the books and boost post-secondary graduation rates, arguing that higher education achievement was key to US economic health. (AFP/Jewel Samad)

President Barack Obama is coming to Texas to raise money for the Democratic Party with stops in Austin and Dallas on Monday, August 9th. Our response? The biggest Hands Off Texas! rally we’ve held yet at the Texas State Capitol to tell him and his Democrat friends to go home and keep their HANDS OFF TEXAS! WHEN: Monday, August 9th, 5:30 p.m. Rain or shine WHERE: Texas State Capitol, South Steps Austin, Texas Featuring: Ted Cruz Former Texas Solicitor General Chris Covo Director of Young Professionals, Americans for Prosperity Dr. Donna Campbell GOP Nominee, Congressional District 25 David Porter GOP...

President Barack Obama is coming to Texas to raise money for the Democratic Party with stops in Austin and Dallas on Monday, August 9th. Our response? The biggest Hands Off Texas! rally we’ve held yet at the Texas State Capitol to tell him and his Democrat friends to go home and keep their HANDS OFF TEXAS! WHEN: Monday, August 9th, 5:30 p.m. Rain or shine WHERE: Texas State Capitol, South Steps Austin, Texas NOTE: We respect the Office of the President and look forward to hosting a respectful and peaceful demonstration.

The Gallup folks tell us that Americans, by a 17-point margin, oppose the Obama administration's decision to go to court to challenge the legality of Arizona's controversial immigration law. On this one, Americans are wrong. Regardless of where you stand on the Arizona law, there is plenty of room for discussion of it. And, we believe, the courthouse is a good place for that discussion. This one is worth making a federal case over. "Emotions run high on both sides of the issue," Gallup said in reporting that 50 percent of respondents oppose the lawsuit and 33 percent favor it....

Break with the Past: Changing a dorm name makes a good Step towards healing UT's troubled racial history After several months of discussion within the University of Texas community in Austin, UT President William Powers Jr. will ask the school's board of regents today to consider renaming a dorm that now honors a former law professor, William Stewart Simkins, along with a neighboring park dedicated to his brother Eldred, a judge and UT regent. The reason? Simkins was not only a legal educator at UT from 1899-1929. He and his brother were members of the Ku Klux Klan during a...

Infamous Texas humorist, Jewish cowboy, and recent candidate for both Texas Governor and Agriculture Commissioner , Kinky Friedman, plans to make an official endorsement in the Governor’s race, according to a number of sources. During his political career, Friedman has campaigned as a Republican, Democrat and Independent, so this endorsement could finally shed a little light on where his true political motivations lie. Turns out it does, sort of. Kinky is forgoing the two top candidates in the governor's race to endorse Woodrow, a once-homeless rescue dog. The Woodrow for Texas Governor Campaign, united behind the motto "How Ruff Could...

AUSTIN (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) ― Capitol staffers were evacuated at around 11:30 a.m. because of a bomb threat. Austin Police got a phone call from a pay phone warning them of a bomb threat against the capitol or the capitol complex. All state personnel and the public were told over the loud speaker to evacuate the building immediately.

The rows of officers snapped to attention, arms raised in a salute, at 4:35, when a van pulled up to deliver the seven members of Ablanedo’s family who will witness Powell’s execution. For four minutes, they held the salute as Bruce and Judy Mills, Ablanedo’s 87-year-old mother Betsy and other family members were greeted by hugs from Acevedo. After reviewing the assembled officers, sometimes waving, the family was led inside the unit. Once the doors closed, the officers broke ranks and milled around, talking and mopping their brows. Suddenly, the protesters fired up their microphone: “We are here because in...

Demonstrators called for similar policy in Texas A group called Texans For Arizona's New Immigration Law rallied on the south steps of the Capitol on Saturday afternoon. The event had speakers and a band and counterprotesters. Texans for Arizona, numbering more than 100, according to event organizer Catherine Smith , set up a stage for The Watts Brothers Band and speakers from other groups, including the Texas Sons of Liberty , the Coalition For an Illegal Free America and the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas. But just as the first speaker, demonstrator Brenda Jacobs , got on stage about noon,...

There was an overwhelming response to the Austin Police Department's first ever "Guns for Groceries" event. Hundreds of people turned out Saturday to exchange unwanted guns for vouchers to buy groceries. "The line is very shocking to me. We had people in the parking lot at 7:30 a.m. waiting to turn their guns in, and the event did not start until 9 a.m," APD's Sgt. Ely Reyes said. Department officials ran out of grocery vouchers after about two and a half hours. APD asked the community to turn in any gun, no questions asked. In exchange, people got anywhere from...

Austin, Tx. A horrific accident in Phoenix that killed four motorcyclists in March has touched hearts worldwide, even right here in Austin. Now bikers in this area are remembering their fallen friends and reminding drivers to pay attention while on the road. On Sunday, the roars of more than 200 motorcycles sliced through the morning stillness at Barton Creek Square Mall, as riders of all ages with neon-colored shirts came together to spread a message. "People seem to overlook us on the road alot and they really need to realize we're on the road and we're in more danger than...

Growing number vow not to do business in AustinAUSTIN (KXAN) - The city council’s decision to boycott travel to Arizona is resulting in organizations and individuals boycotting the city of Austin in protest. A growing number of political organizations, including the Odessa and Burleson Tea Parties, have decided not to do business with the city of Austin until the council resends the Arizona boycott they passed a few weeks ago. “We will try to minimize what the city gets from our stay there,” said Hood county Republican Party Chairman Randy Shelton. “We will not stay in hotels inside the city...