The Statesman

In Case You Missed It: May 11-12

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:45:37 -0500

Some of the best stories you might have missed over the weekend:

(Photo by Ralph Berrera / Austin American-Statesman)

Bees are the buzz at the W Hotel: Walter Schumacher, of Central Texas Bee Rescue, has started a new apiary atop the W Hotel in downtown Austin. The honey these bees produce will be used in the hotel’s bar and restaurant in specialty cocktails, desserts and appetizers.
Drug violence: A look behind the Juarez nightmare: In his new book, “The Fight to Save Juarez,” University of Texas psychology professor Ricardo Ainslie returns to the scene of the crime and gives us a far more nuanced look at how Juarez descended into hell.
Chinese investors checking out Texas, Austin: 11 members of a Chinese delegation met with state and local officials on Thursday and Friday to hear pitches for investments and get a first hand look at Texas for their wealthy clients back in China.
Feds demand UT student pull 3-D gun blueprints from website: UT student Cody Wilson hopes to find a lawyer to take up his cause, which is to supply the know-how to people who want to make their own guns.
Public encounters many hurdles when seeking risk information: Federal law requires companies that keep dangerous chemicals, such as the West Fertilizer facility that exploded last month, killing 14 people, to produce a risk management plan so local residents can know what threats sit in their neighborhoods. Our investigative team looks at what it takes to see those plans.
West paramedic ‘vigorously denies’ link to explosion: A paramedic accused of possessing bomb-making materials after he responded to the massive fertilizer plant fire in West has denied any connection between the fire and the charges he faces.
Kelso column: Mayor could rent out City Hall for zoo: After the news that Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell proposes leasing the airport to raise cash for urban rail for Austin, columnist John Kelso has some other ideas.

(Photos by Jay Janner / Austin American-Statesman)Restoring...

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:19:00 -0500

(Photos by Jay Janner / Austin American-Statesman)

Restoring Rundberg

Austin police have spent the first part of 2013 working to combat crime in the Rundberg area in North Austin - generally the collection of neighborhoods north of U.S. 183 that straddle North Lamar Boulevard and Interstate 35. Last year, Austin police secured a three-year, $1 million federal grant to revitalize the area.

The Statesman looked at recent efforts in the Rundberg area in a package of stories this weekend.

Reporter Dave Harmon looks at APD’s ambitious Restore Rundberg project:

“Cmdr. Mark Spangler, who’s leading the effort for the Austin Police Department, worked in the area as a young patrol officer 26 years ago. He’d like to see it return to what it was in the 1970s: a working-class neighborhood where people watched out for each other and crime wasn’t nearly the problem it is now.

“We look back 20 years and say, ‘What the hell happened?’” he said.”

A number of revitalization efforts and police operations have been tried in the past, but problems remain:

“Today, 9 percent of the city’s crime happens in the Rundberg area, which covers just 2 percent of the city’s footprint. “

Dave Harmon also spoke with managers of motels in the Rundberg area about their efforts to deter crime. One example story:

“Running a motel on Interstate 35 near Rundberg Lane is not for the faint of heart.

Ralph Gudbaur learned that in the summer of 2008 when he confronted a man he suspected of dealing drugs in the parking lot of the Budget Lodge, where he’d just become the manager: “Who are you and what are you doing here?” Gudbaur, 65, asked. He said the man unleashed a string of profanities, then hit him in the chest so hard that he staggered backward into a wall.”

An online interactive also looks at APD calls to Rundberg area hotels.

Read both stories, and see more photos from the Restoring Rundberg package

AISD bond election round-up, 5.6.2013

Mon, 06 May 2013 19:30:34 -0500

Early voting began last week, and some are already casting their ballots on the Austin Independent School District’s proposed $892 million bond proposal. Here’s a round-up of some of our stories leading up to the election:

Austin school district faces tough choices with underenrolled schools: AISD is asking voters to pay for three new schools to ease overcrowding, but also dealing with underenrollment at other schools - enough that one school is being temporarily shuttered.
AISD’s current proposed bond is up for a vote, but taxing entities have other plans for November and next May that will pad that average tax bill. The Statesman looks at how much of a tax increase Austinites might see.
The League of Women Voters has released a voters’ guide for the bond election, and Politifact Texas checked two claims in the guide: one made by proponents of the bond and one by opponents of the bond. Both were only half-true.
The Statesman has published four stories looking at the four propositions in the bond:

Schools’ Prop. 1 asks for $140.6 million for tech upgrades - including $10 million for solar field

District pledges better planning as it request $234 million to alleviate overcrowding in Prop. 2

In Prop. 3, majority of proposed bond would pay for repairs, renovations

Wish list and list of firsts: Prop. 4 to create new academic programs, bolster fine arts and athletics

austin 360: Austin360's May Month Ahead Round-Ups

Fri, 03 May 2013 17:33:17 -0500

austin 360: Austin360's May Month Ahead Round-Ups:

austin360:

Our regular first-of-the-month guides to music, drinks, comedy and more in Austin:

Music: big festivals include Pachanga Fest and Pecan Street Festival, while some of the big acts passing through Austin include Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift. But don’t forget to look for local…

Houston toad making a comeback at Bastrop State Park

Wed, 01 May 2013 16:42:00 -0500

Houston toad making a comeback at Bastrop State Park:

On Tuesday, 6,500 tadpoles were carefully released into a pond at Bastrop State Park, and, with any luck, 10 of them will survive to become full-grown Houston toads.

Biologists have been concerned about the future of the endangered Houston toads since the 2011 Bastrop County wildfires ripped through their habitat.

In Case You Missed It: April 27-28

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:11:34 -0500

Some of the best stories from the Statesman over the weekend:

(Photo by Ralph Berrera / Austin American-Statesman) More photos from the 50th anniversary of Eeyore’s Birthday Party, plus video

With 30 days left, legislators pick up pace: ”Capitol regulars have talked for weeks now about how slow this legislative session has been, with few fiery debates, no late nights and lots of unfinished business.”
AISD prepares for bond issue: We reported that a number of items in the $892 million bond package before voters in May would be firsts for AISD; We also reported that some cost estimates - upon which the price tag of the bond issue is based - are still being worked on.
Trial offering glimpse into Zetas world: A trial involving a multimillion-dollar money laundering investigation that funneled money through the American quarter-horse industry has been going on for two weeks now.
In online letter, Lehmberg says she won’t seek re-election, will seek “professional help:” Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg posted an open letter from jail apologizing again for driving while intoxicated and promising to get help upon her release.
Does Austin’s base of publicly traded companies need some new blood? If Dell Inc. does go private, Austin’s list of publicly traded companies would be down to just one Fortune 500 company — Whole Foods Market Inc.
Questionable investigations, little oversight in state hospital deaths: A Statesman analysis of about three dozen deaths that occurred between 2005 and 2012 at state mental health hospitals reveals that deaths are rarely investigated by anyone other than the hospital in which the patient died and the state agency that runs it, among other issues.
Buda Weiner Dog Races photo gallery

The Statesman

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In Case You Missed It: May 11-12

(Photos by Jay Janner / Austin American-Statesman)Restoring...

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AISD bond election round-up, 5.6.2013

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Houston toad making a comeback at Bastrop State Park

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In Case You Missed It: April 27-28

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