All Ablog Austin

It’s safe to say that hardly a day has passed since we removed reader commenting from our stories last year that we haven’t heard from one of you about what’s taking so long to restore them. You have been quick to point out that we said we would. Journalists can’t be the only innate skeptics out there, so it’s only fair that some of you wonder and voice that our intent might have been to never bring them back. Not so. If that were the case, you wouldn’t still be able to comment on our blogs. Here is an update on the situation.

It is our full intention to return commenting on stories. As a refresher, we had to remove them because with the anticipated arrival of a new web production platform late last year, we cancelled our contract with the vendor that made commenting possible. We did this because their system was not going to be supported in our new web environment and a contract had to be renewed or cancelled. The new software we plan to roll out will be able to accept comments, and includes good tools for moderation. We’ve learned from experience that we need the ability to verify users and manage abusive comments effectively to keep dialogue within our guidelines. We hoped for a short window between the old and new systems but that window has unfortunately become significantly longer than any of us expected. Software development, like custom home building starts out easy and can become a formidable task in short order. We’re doing our best but are still months away. I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks for your patience.

Zach Ryall Digital managing editor

John Aielli, creator and longtime host of KUT’s popular morning show, “Eklektikos,” suffered a heart attack Wednesday night and is recovering in an area hospital, a University of Texas spokeswoman said.

“KUT looks forward to John returning to Eklektikos as soon as his doctors give him the green light, and right now that looks like early next week,” said Erin Geisler, a spokeswoman for UT’s College of Communication.

Jody Denberg hosted the show this morning, and will host the show Friday, but it’s not clear yet whether he will do so next week, until Aielli returns, Geisler said.

The radio station announced the news via Twitter this evening, saying: “KUT’s John Aielli is in the hospital recovering from a heart attack. He is in good spirits with a good prognosis. Thanks so much.”

Aielli has been with the station for more than 40 years and is probably one of the most recognized radio hosts in Austin. True to its name, his show plays an eclectic mix of music across genres, from Led Zeppelin to Tchaikovsky.

An accomplished vocalist, he has performed with the Texas Early Music Project for many years.

“We are eager for him to come back and his fans miss him,” Geisler said. “He is one of a kind, and he is really one of those folks who helps define KUT.”

From Austin Water:

Austin Water will begin a major project this week to repair a 66 inch water main. The large main primarily transports water to north Austin customers. Austin Water crews discovered a leak in the main near MLK and Regency street on the city’s eastside.

Considering the size of the main Austin Water staff will take the main out of service to make the necessary repairs. During this time water will be rerouted to the north Austin customers normally serviced by the 66 inch main in need of repair.

Austin Water is asking residents to assist in this repair by reducing water use during the weekends. Some residents may experience a drop in water pressure but no customers are expected to have water services completely interrupted.

The repair will take place at the corner of MLK and Regency Drive. Austin Water is preparing the area for excavation while providing adequate access to the neighborhood that Regency Drive serves.

The repair is expected to take approximately 3 weeks to complete. Currently crews are gathering data and preparing the area for excavation. Once the line is exposed Austin Water engineers will determine the extent of damage and the best repair solution.

Austin Water and its partners provide some of the best repair expertise in the country. This along with the cooperation from area residents will help crews make the repair quickly, efficiently and with the least amount of inconveniences to customers.

October 24-26— Preparation and excavation
October 25 - November 8— Equipment ordered and received
November 8-15 — 66 inch main repaired and returned to service. Work area restored.

Austin Water’s mission is to provide safe, reliable high-quality drinking water services to its nearly 900,000 current customers, and to ensure reliable water services to its future customers.

From the City of Austin:

Waterloo Park will close on November 1, 2011 and remain closed until fall of 2015 while construction crews build the Waller Creek tunnel inlet. The inlet will be built adjacent to Waller Creek on the southern edge of the park.

The inlet will capture and direct flood waters to a maintenance and debris handling facility for filtering and passage into the tunnel. During dry weather, pumps in the facility will introduce water from Lady Bird Lake into the creek to maintain tunnel water quality. Currently, the creek dries out during periods without rain, and can flash flood quickly during rain events.

This will help in keeping the creek at a constant year round base flow. The project scope of work includes a 20,000 sq.ft. maintenance and debris handling building and creek channel enlargement. The City will host an information meeting on Thursday, November 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in room 105 at Waller Creek Center, 625 E. 10th Street, Austin, TX 78701.

Protesters with “Occupy Austin” rallied in front of the Bank of America branch downtown this afternoon, a spokeswoman said.

A few hundred protesters marched from City Hall, where the rally began yesterday, to the branch on Congress Avenue between Fifth and Sixth streets about 4 p.m. The group marched back to City Hall about 45 minutes later.

Spokeswoman Lauren Welker said the bank was targeted because it is one of several that head the Federal Reserve, which Welker said is a private corporation owned by private banks, not a public entity.

“A lot of people were angered by Bank of America’s new debit fees,” Welker said. “This is to show you can have a profit but you don’t need to take advantage of your customers.”

Like yesterday, protests have remained peaceful, and no arrests have been made, Assistant Police Chief David Carter said outside of the bank

“It’s still a First Amendment activity,” Carter said. “Everyone here is obeying the law.”

One northbound lane of Congress Avenue had been closed near the bank to make room for the protesters, who had been marching in circles, chanting, “We got sold out, banks got bailed out.”

Earlier: A few dozen protesters gathered at Austin City Hall at noon today for the second day of “Occupy Austin” protests, a much smaller crowd than just a day earlier.

About 40 protesters, including about a dozen holding up signs challenging “corporate greed” in front of City Hall, were met with random honks and cheers from passersby.

Some were friendlier than others.

“Three people yelled ‘Get a job!’ ” said Karyn Mayhew, 49, who moved to Austin three weeks ago from Vermont. “And I ask, ‘You have one?’ “

Occupy Austin, which began Thursday, was inspired by the thousands of people who began demonstrating on Wall Street on Sept. 17. The original intent of the movement was to denounce the role that large corporations had in the financial crisis.

The protesters have described themselves as the “99 percent,” saying the financial system rewards the richest 1 percent at the expense of everyone else. Hundreds of protesters were arrested over the weekend in New York.

In Austin, police said about 1,300 demonstrators came to Austin City Hall on Thursday, growing significantly in the afternoon from about 150 protesters at 10:30 a.m.

Today’s demonstration, while sparse, also retained its peaceful tone from Thursday.

Protesters said they expected more to join the demonstration this afternoon when a march was planned to Bank of America’s downtown branch, where some planned to close their banking accounts to open new accounts at a local credit union.

Patrick George AMERICAN-STATESMAN

UPDATE 5:45 P.M.: On the steps of the City Hall plaza, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said that the Occupy Austin event has reached 1,200 people. The demonstration has remained peaceful, and no arrests have been made.

Traffic going towards Mopac on Cesar Chavez Street past City Hall is extremely slow-moving, due to rush-hour and motorists stopping to stare and honk horns at the demonstrators.

“From our end, I think it’s going about as well as it can,” Acevedo said. “To me, the people of Austin have shown how to exercise their right of assembly and right of free speech.”

One woman thanked Acevedo, saying that she was glad police and protesters have not clashed as they did in New York City. The Austin demonstrators have mainly stayed on the plaza and have not wandered into the streets to impede traffic.

The whole event took on a festival-like atmosphere as people danced and sung everything from Beatles songs to “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Around 5 p.m., a New Orleans-style jazz ensemble began wandering through the crowds.

Police are anticipating more people will show up later as they get off work.

EARLIER: The number of people at Occupy Austin has swelled significantly in the past few hours, and there are now about a thousand people at the plaza in front of City Hall downtown.

Link to the full gallery. Ralph Barrera AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Spokeswoman Lauren Welker had said she expected the numbers to peak around 3 p.m. when they have a General Assembly, where their next steps will be planned out.

“It’s going great,” Welker said. “It’s just going to get bigger and bigger. Today is about getting people involved in the process.”

Relations between the demonstrators and police remained cordial. Police officers, including Chief Art Acevedo and several commanders, kept watch on the crowd at City Hall and mingled with members of the movement. The department was even praised by some in the crowd.

Ralph Barrera AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Many stepped up to air grievances about the income gap in America, the influence of corporate money in politics, the lack of jobs, and a wide variety of other issues.

“I’m mad as hell about corporate control of our lives,” said David Van Os, a lawyer and perennial political candidate. “The people have had enough. The people are rising.”

The crowds included people of all ages and backgrounds. Some wore suits and ties, and others wore the Guy Fawkes masks popularized by the comic book and film “V for Vendetta.”

“The richest two percent in America have stolen from all of us,” said Austin dance instructor Daniel Llanes.

Others had grievances with specific companies. Bill Edwards, an 80-year-old retired military veteran, carried a sign denouncing Bank of America, which he called “a parasitic organization.” He said he was also angry with the influence of large banks and corporations in politics.

“I believe 99 percent of us are being stolen from by the one percent,” Edwards said. “If you have the people ground down, you could have a revolution.”

EARLIER: Turnout at an Occupy Austin demonstration at City Hall got off to a slow start today. As of 10:30, about 150 people were at the plaza in front of the building, many sitting on the steps and standing up to take turns to speak.

While turnout started low, the anger among some of the crowd was palpable.

Many were carrying signs that said, “Why isn’t Wall Street in jail?” “End the Fed” and “Boycott standardized testing.”

People speaking were met with chants and applause, and people driving past honked horns or waved in support.

“I blame the wealthy people!” one man shouted during a speech. “If you are job creators, where are the jobs?” That was met with chants of “Where are the jobs?”

The event got started at 10 a.m. outside City Hall, 301 W. Second St., and similar rallies will be held today in other Texas cities, including Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Occupy Austin is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, an ongoing protest in New York that denounces the role that large companies played in the country’s financial crisis, the influence of corporate money in politics and the growing wealth gap. Since thousands of people began demonstrating on Wall Street on Sept. 17, satellite groups have sprung up in other major cities, including Boston, San Francisco and Chicago.

Occupy Austin spokeswoman Lauren Welker said the rallies will continue until national political leaders acknowledge their movement.

By Wednesday evening, more than 4,200 people had indicated on the group’s Facebook page that they would attend the event.

The ‘Great Lawn,’ the area of Zilker Park where the Austin City Limits music festival is held, should reopen Friday, said Victor Ovalle, a spokesman with the city’s parks and recreation department.

Crews have been aerating and irrigating the lawn to restore it after the three-day festival that began Sept. 16, Ovalle said. He said that the festival’s promoter, C3 Presents, as it does every year, will pay to repair any damage to the park. An assessment has not yet been determined.

“Until Friday, we are asking people to stay clear of the lawn as our tractors and workers are still repairing the lawn,” Ovalle said.

New team. Same name.

United Soccer Leagues is reviving the Austin Aztex, announcing plans Monday to bring development league soccer to Central Texas next year.

David Markley, chair of team owner ATX Soccer, helped found the original Aztex franchise in 2008. That team started out in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League before advancing to the professional division. It relocated to Orlando, Fla., last year and is now known as the Orlando City.

League president Tim Holt says the new Aztex squad will likely move to the professional division at some point, as well.

“Austin is a fantastic soccer market with a loyal and fervent fan base,” Holt said. “We couldn’t be more excited that those deserving fans will once again have a team to support.”

The Aztex have not yet named a coach or announced where they’ll play.

The Premier Development League this year has four conferences with 64 teams, including franchises in Laredo, the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas.

?Austin Christian Fellowship is collecting and distributing items for Steiner Ranch residents who have been displaced by the wildfire.

The organization is seeking donations of non-perishable snacks, heavy duty trash bags, work gloves, cleaning products, diapers, socks, underwear and gifts for children. It is asking volunteers to meet at 10:30 this morning at Austin Christian Fellowship, 6401 6401 River Place Blvd. Call 512-381-5700 for information.

YMCA of Austin is offering free child care for Bastrop-area families from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today on a first-come, first-served basis at Bastrop Christian Church, 1104 Church St. Children must be potty-trained.

While the rest of the country may have celebrated National Night Out a few weeks ago, Austin’s version of the event will again be held in the hopefully cooler month of October, city officials said today.

On Oct. 4 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., residents in neighborhoods throughout Austin and across the nation are asked to turn on their porch lights, lock their doors and spend the evening outside with their neighbors, police officers, firefighters and paramedics, city officials said.

National Night Out is a yearly crime and drug prevention event designed to foster dialogue between police and residents. Resident can sign up to host block parties at the city’s website by clicking here.

“That night, I hope you will all come out and show that we are united against crime,” Police Chief Art Acevedo said at a news conference this morning.

For additional information, please contact Rosie Salinas at the Community Liaison Office at (512) 974-4900 or by e-mail at nno@ci.austin.tx.us.

As temperatures soared past 100 degrees Sunday, workers at the Austin Humane Society were trying to keep hundreds of animals cool after their air conditioning broke.

Because the animals are braving such high temperatures, the society is waiving all adoption fees today and Monday.

The air-conditioning unit blew out about 4 a.m. Sunday. Volunteers have brought in fans and ice, but employees hope to adopt out twice as many pets as normal, said Amanda Ryan-Smith, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society. She said there were 219 animals at the society this morning.

“We just want to get as many animals into homes as possible,” Ryan-Smith said. “We have temporary solutions, but it’s still a really long, hot day.”

Animals can be viewed online or can be visited at the society, at 124 W. Anderson Lane.

UPDATE: Staff writer Omar Gallaga weighs in on reader blogs and commenting in Digital Savant.

To our readers:

Some technological changes are coming to statesman.com and austin360.com in the near future that will disable story commenting. Comments on blogs will not be affected. You can read more about the reasons below, but first know this: Story comments will return when we launch our new software, scheduled for late this year.

We publish news in both story form and as blogs entries. To many of you, there is no distinction — they’re all stories. Our blog software allows us to publish and edit breaking news much quicker than the system we use to publish stories. Breaking news blogs often become the stories you see in the next day’s newspaper.

Later this year, the technical underpinning of our websites, the CMS (Content Management System), will change and it will not support our current system of story commenting. It’s necessary to get a head start on that process and as of the end of August, all story comments and the ability to post new ones will disappear. As mentioned, blog commenting remains.

Feel free to leave questions or comments on this blog entry. Allow me to prime the pump by anticipating an obvious question.

Q: Are you really doing this because you’re sick of people violating your visitor’s agreement and posting offensive material?

A: No, there is no subplot to this and while we wish everyone would remain within bounds while they comment anonymously on our sites, we realize the world is not perfect. We place a high value on hearing from our readers and building online community, so commenting will return to stories on our sites once we launch the new CMS.

From the moment an April 17 fire began torching a wide swath of the wooded hills of Southwest Austin’s Scenic Brook area, neighbors responded compassionately, forging bonds in tragedy.

Whipped by strong, swirling winds, the fire destroyed 11 homes and damaged another 10. At least two homeowners, Lilly Henric and Doug and Janice Todd, had no insurance. (In the photo, Henric’s bronzed baby shoes lie in the fire’s rubble.)

But the fire also kindled a far-flung collection of efforts to help the victims, everything from bake sales to garage sales that continue today.

The efforts are beginning to take shape in the first steps to rebuild Henric’s home, thanks in no small part to a group calling itself the Oak Hill Wildfire Relief Committee. After tearing down the home and knocking down the fireplace — a task that filled seven 30-yard-long dumpsters — volunteers have begun re-framing the structure. Gary Hunt, one of Henric’s neighbors and a co-chairman of the committee, thinks it’s possible Henric could be in a rebuilt home by the end of the year.

“I think that’s pretty good for a bunch of volunteers,” Hunt, a wise-cracking, retired former Marine, said Friday. “I was golfing four times a week when this happened. This is uncharted territory for everybody.”

Hunt counts more than 120 volunteers in the group, including about a dozen who are leading fund-raising efforts that have raised about $20,000 so far.

A massive garage sale last week at Southwest Family Fellowship Church, which donated the space, raised about $6,000. About $3,000 was set aside for a fund to help Henric and to pay for materials like hardwood, and on Friday the committee mailed out $800 checks to seven other victims and families who either lost everything or had 50 percent losses, Hunt said. After a fund-raiser in June, the group sent out $300 checks to 21 families.

While the group’s focus is on helping the uninsured first — it hopes to help the Todds later this year — it decided early on to help everyone who suffered major losses, figuring that those who lost homes, even if they were insured, still have major out-of-pocket expenses.

Hunt said the volunteers, the fund-raisers and those who are giving money are stepping up because it’s the right thing to do and because they recognize they, too, could have been victims, to the whim of the 30 mph winds that fanned the fire.

“You change the wind direction two degrees, you have maybe 10 more houses destroyed,” Hunt said. “It’s but for the grace of the wind direction, there go I.”

If you’d like to help the Oak Hill fire victims, Hunt says you can reach him at ghunt@austin.rr.com or 512-659-1650. For more information on the committee’s efforts, visit www.oakhillwildfirerelief.org

You can read our earlier story about rebuilding efforts in Oak Hill here:
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/neighborhood-comes-together-to-help-oak-hill-fire-1505021.html

Updated at 3:40 p.m.: SeaWorld officials said the ride is 12 feet tall and crew took five minutes to respond to a call for help. This post has been updated to reflect that.

Earlier: After fun turned to fright, an 11-year-old Elgin girl is credited with saving a toddler from jumping 20 feet off a ride at SeaWorld San Antonio Monday.

Teir Swaney was visiting the theme park with her grandmother and brother Bradley, 6. The two got on “Elmo’s Dolphin Dive,” a ride that goes up 12 feet before dropping.

After the ride went up a second time, an 18-month-old boy sitting next to Teir got scared, cried for his mother, stood up and tried to jump out of the ride, Teir said.

Teir said she thought of what the mother would think if she lost her child. That’s when Teir grabbed the boy and clutched him in her lap.

“I just held on to him and was singing to him songs … like ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ and ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat,’” she said.

Many of the other children on the ride were crying, said Belle Williams, Teir’s grandmother. Park crews stopped the ride and took about five minutes to lower it slowly to the ground.

The boy and his aunt came and thanked Teir and all were on their way, Williams said. She said she didn’t learn who they were.

SeaWorld officials, who confirmed the account, say they are looking into how to prevent such situations from happening again.

For Teir’s heroism, they gave the family season passes and a free buffet dinner at the park.

PHOTO CREDIT: Belle Williams

Correction: According to Dakota Meyer, he lived in Austin from March to May 2011, and now resides in Kentucky.

Felicia Gilliam didn’t know her son was selected as a Medal of Honor recipient — the first living Marine to receive the nation’s highest award for valor in 41 years —- until reporters called her Kentucky home Wednesday morning.

President Obama had called Dakota Meyer on Monday to tell him the news, she said.

That’s Meyer: an adventure-seeking but humble 23-year-old who doesn’t brag about his accomplishments, she said.

“He’s very humble about it,” said Gilliam, 42. “He doesn’t see himself as a hero. This isn’t for him. It’s for the men that died that day, his friends.”

Obama will present the Medal of Honor to Meyer for braving enemy fire in a bid to find and retrieve the bodies of three missing Marines and a Navy corpsman on Sept. 8, 2009, in Ganjgal, Afghanistan, a remote village near the Pakistan border in violent Kunar province.

He charged into a kill zone on foot and alone and carried the four men out of the area, which had been under fire for hours, The Military Times reported.

“He was very close to them,” Gilliam said of Meyer’s Marine comrades. “These men live, eat and sleep together and they become very close.”

Killed in the September battle were Gunnery Sgts. Edwin Johnson, 31, and Aaron Kenefick, 30; 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, 25; Hospitalman 3rd Class James Layton, 22; an Afghan interpreter and at least eight Afghan security forces members, according to the Military Times.

Meyer, originally from Greensburg, Ky., signed up in 2006 for the Marines out of Green County High School, where he played football. He was drawn to the Marines thanks to his appetite for adventure, Gilliam said.

“Dakota has been the adventure-seeker and the military offered him everything he wanted and it would give him goals and skill and an opportunity to serve his country,” she said. “I think he chose the Marines because they were the biggest and the baddest.”

Growing up, he enjoyed four-wheeling, skydiving and rock-climbing, she said.

Meyer said he moved to Austin in March and left in May.

Only two living recipients — Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta and Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry — have received the award for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to The Associated Press.

“We are all very proud of Dakota,” Gilliam said. “He went above and beyond the call of duty and to say that his actions were selfless is an understatement. But he did what he did because he loved the men he worked with.”

Update, 1:45 P.M.

An H.E.B. official says the grocery store chain remains willing to offer the symphony “what it takes” to make the July Fourth event happen downtown, fireworks or no. Leslie Sweet, director of public affairs for H.E.B.’s Central Texas operations, called the course of events over the past few days “frustrating.”

“I called them this morning to tell them our offer and say, ‘Is $50,000 going to cut it?’ ” Sweet said. And they told me that they had cancelled it last night at their board meeting. But if they need the full $75,000, its available to them. That’s in writing this morning to the symphony.”

Sweet said H.E.B. last year had put $75,000 into the show, half the overall cost. The offer this morning was smaller, she said, because the symphony’s budget for the revised event would not have the $20,000 for the fireworks. But she said that slotting in replacement entertainment — Blue Lapis Light, which puts on aerial ballet on the sides of buildings, was one possibility, she said — might raise the cost back toward the original numbers.

H.E.B. provides financial support for 20 fireworks shows in Central Texas, Sweet said.

Both the symphony and its sponsors have been scrambling since June 9, when the Austin Fire Department decided that the drought and the resulting dry conditions made firework displays unsafe.

“There’s a lot of emotion involved, a lot of work involved and we’re making a decision on a quick time frame with a lot of unknowns,” Sweet said. “We don’t know if people will show up without fireworks.”

Earlier:

Austin Symphony officials, who had hoped to put on their July Fourth concert despite cancellation of the accompanying fireworks show because of the drought, said today that the music will be silenced as well this year.

The symphony has produced the show for the past 34 years, and for many years before that furnished the music when the Jaycees were in charge of the event. Typically about 100,000 Central Texans converge on the Lady Bird Lake area downtown to listen to the hour-long program of patriotic music and the 20 to 30 minutes of fireworks that follow.

The symphony for the past several days had been working behind the scenes to put on the music program anyway, perhaps accompanied by some sort of laser light show to make up for the absence of fireworks. But that effort failed.

“It’s mainly because of funding,” said Don Hill, a symphony spokesman. “We talked to our sponsors for the event, and since we could not guarantee the kinds of crowds we normally get they didn’t want to fund it to the level that they had funded it before. And we just couldn’t afford to do that.”

Hill said the show at Auditorium Shores and the Long Center for the Performing Arts normally runs about $150,000 and that sponsors, led by the H.E.B. grocery store chain, typically cover about half of that. The fireworks show, he said, costs between $25,000 and $40,000. The remaining cost covers paying the musicians, parks fees, portable toilets, road closures and other costs.

Hill said that the symphony’s fireworks contractor had agreed to transfer a deposit to next year’s show, assuming drought conditions don’t get in the way again in 2012.

Get your coffee cup ready for dunking: It’s National Doughnut Day, and Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts are celebrating by giving out some freebies.

Sure, they might make you a little more doughy in the mid-section, but mmmmmm, doughnuts….

To get your Dunkin’ Donut, you have to purchase a drink (you get one free donut per purchase). Krispy Kreme is giving one away to each customer, no purchase required.

Although this sounds (and tastes) like a gimmick to sell more doughnuts, there actually is some history behind this day. It started in 1938 by the Salvation Army as a fund-raiser to help the needy during the Great Depression. It also honored Salvation Army “Lassies” of World War I, who served donuts to soldiers.

Each franchise has three Austin-area locations, so roll on over there if you’re in the mood for a free doughnut, and don’t mind waiting in line.

What would happen if you woke up and the world was filled with brain-eating zombies: Would you be an easy meal or a gritty survivor? The usually serious Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used the hugely popular fictional horror mechanism to prepare the public for real-life emergencies. Or they know something that we don’t …

The CDC posted a day-of-the-living-dead survival guide called “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse” on its Public Health Matters blog. The idea, we think, is to give some tips that would work well during either a zombie invasion or a more realistic pandemic or natural disaster.

Among the CDC’s recommendations:

• Prepare for the apocalypse ahead of time by having enough supplies on hand. The CDC recommends water, medications, important documents, etc. be ready to go. They left out baseball bats, which always seems to do well in the movies.

• Have an evacuation plan for when the zombies are at your doorstep. Know how to get to a zombie-free zone (or a shelter in any other emergency). Don’t forget the boards for the windows and doors, though they don’t usually last very long.

• Don’t fear, the “CDC is ready.” Really, now? Those of us who watched the first season of “Walking Dead” know that the CDC was totally useless during the zombie apocalypse.

It’s nice to know the CDC has a sense of humor. We hope that’s what this is about, anyway.

The picture above, by the way, is from Austin in 2009. Someone got into the keyboard for the construction sign and played a little prank.

It’s not what you think, says Natasha Wang. She’s the new U.S. pole dance champion, and she’s a 1994 graduate of Westlake High School, where she was an honor student.

Though careful not to denigrate those who make a living with, um, clothing-optional dancing (“It’s a sensitive topic among those of us who regard this as a sport”), Wang says she’s “definitely not part of the strip culture.”

Wang, who turned her advertising and French degrees from the University of Texas into a public-relations career in Los Angeles, says she began pole dancing 6½ years ago after a friend “literally dragged me” to a class. Her initial opinion of the fitness trend that eventually would land her on the national TV news? “I thought, ‘That’s so stupid.’ “

Last Friday, the Austin native won the U.S. Pole Dance Championship in New York — her first trip to nationals — with a routine reminiscent of “Black Swan.” By Sunday, she was featured on CBS News in a piece about pole dancing’s efforts to shake the strip-club stigma and be recognized as a legitimate sport.

If you’ve ever been to Franklin Barbecue just a little after the lunch rush, you know what Der Fuhrer is griping about about. The former trailer eatery that now has a brick-and-mortar restaurant on East 11th runs out of barbecue relatively quickly, and it’s not like they can smoke some more up for you in a hurry.

This clip from the German movie “The Downfall” has been used in countless Internet memes, on subjects from the Dallas Cowboys to iPhone apps.

The party’s over for the University of Texas.

UT, Playboy’s No. 1 party school in 2010, tumbled to No. 5 this year.

The University of Colorado-Boulder tops the latest list, which will be featured in the magazine’s May issue.

Rankings are based on a number of factors, including male-female ratios, success of sports teams (Uh … thanks, Mack Brown), proximity to “cool” recreational amenities and, allegedly, academic excellence.

Top 10 party schools

• 1. University of Colorado-Boulder
• 1. Penn State
• 1. Arizona State
• 1. University of Western Ontario
• 1. University of Texas-Austin
• 1. University of Wisconsin
• 1. University of Georgia
• 1. University of Tennessee-Knoxville
• 1. University of Central Florida
• 1. University of California-Santa Barbara

Saturday afternoon promises to be doggone fun for pooches — and their owners.

KLBJ-FM will present Dog Day Afternoon, a free event, from noon to 4 p.m. in the courtyard at the Triangle development, 4700 Guadalupe St.

The station has a variety of activities planned, including the Rockin’ Weenie Dog Races at 1 p.m. Other offerings include pet massages, doga — yes, you read that right — demonstrations, doggie treats and goodie bags, and a pet psychic.

Area rescue groups will also be offering dogs for adoption.

Get more details at klbjfm.com.

Austin grew by 20.4 percent during the past decade to remain the state’s fourth-largest city, according to 2010 Census data released this afternoon. Austin’s population in 2010 was 790,390.

Travis County grew by 26.1 percent, to 1,024,266 during the decade, making it the fastest-growing county among the five most populous counties in Texas.

Williamson County grew by 69.1 percent to 422,679, moving from No. 16 to No. 12 among the state’s most populous counties. That rate of growth was the greatest among the state’s top 20 counties.

Nine Central Texas counties were among the fastest-growing in the state, posting growth rates of 25 percent or more. Among the five counties that comprise the Austin metro area — Travis, Williamson, Hays, Caldwell and Bastrop — only Caldwell did not have growth of 25 percent or more. It grew by 18.2 percent over the past decade.

According to the Census Bureau, the state’s largest county is Harris, with a population of 4,092,459. Its population grew by 20.3 percent since 2000.

Over the past decade, Texas’ population grew 20.6 percent — more than twice as fast as that of the nation as a whole — to 25.1 million, an increase of about 4.3 million. As a result, the state will gain four congressional seats, more than any other state. (The national population grew 9.7 percent, to 308.7 million.)

The data, released Wednesday to state leaders, are used to redraw congressional and state legislative districts based on population and racial makeup.

The population of the state’s five largest cities (growth from 2000):

• Houston: 2,099,451 (7.5 %)

• San Antonio: 1,327,407 (16 %)

• Dallas: 1,197,816 (0.8 %)

• Austin: 790,390 (20.4 %)

• Fort Worth: 741,206 (38.6 %)

The sounds of live outdoor music will not waft into the Rainey Street nights ­— at least for now.

The Austin City Council voted late Thursday to uphold a neighbor’s appeal of an outdoor live music permit for the Lustre Pearl, which in 2009 became the first bar to open in the historic Rainey Street neighborhood located on downtown’s southeastern edge.

The 7-0 vote on a motion by Council Member Mike Martinez shortly before midnight means that bar owner Bridget Dunlap’s permit to host live, outdoor music is revoked. Dunlap was issued a city permit last August to host live, outdoor music at the venue on 97 Rainey St.

Martinez said he wanted to give the city, neighborhood residents, Dunlap and other bar owners an opportunity to seek both short-term and long-term fixes to parking, traffic, pedestrian safety and other issues impacting the neighborhood. Opponents of the permit said adding live outdoor music would bring more people into the neighborhood, making those problems worse.

“I’m going to ask that we engage in this process and encourage the venue operators to come back and apply at a later date once we’ve seen these improvements,” Martinez said. “I believe we can compromise and come together … once we’re able to come back with a comprehensive plan.”

Martinez said that he and Council Member Chris Riley had been talking with city staff about possible infrastructure improvements on Rainey Street, steps that might include allowing surface parking on vacant lots, continuous sidewalks, more street lighting and creating a parking improvement district. He said council members hoped to bring a resolution addressing improvements to their next meeting.

Thursday night’s vote overturned the recommendations of city staff.

Gene Sanchez, who lives just south of Lustre Pearl, appealed the permit based on the proximity of the music stage to his home, traffic problems on Rainey Street and the public health risk associated with the inability of emergency vehicles to reach individuals on the street.

Sanchez said he and his elderly parents have lived on Rainey Street for 45 years in a house located about 20 yards from Lustre Pearl. “The decibel level is going to affect our quality of life,” Sanchez said.

City staff, however, said traffic is not part of the review process for an outdoor music venue permit. It recommended denying Sanchez’s appeal because the venue is located in the downtown zoning district and because outdoor music hours at the venue would be adjusted to end at 10 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday, 11 p.m. on Thursday, and midnight Friday and Saturday. In its recommendation, staff said Lustre Pearl would build a music stage that will be oriented north and away from residences and speakers would be mounted low and at a downward angle.

Dunlap handed council members a petition she said was signed by 496 people supporting live music at her bar. She said she was more than willing to make concessions and to work with opponents, “but I do feel that we did get that permit fair and square.”

“I’m responsible for making Rainey Street the pretty gem that she is today,” said Dunlap, who owns two other bars in the neighborhood. “When I found her she was down and needed a little love.”

About half a dozen people spoke in support of the live music permit. About the same number spoke in support of Sanchez’s appeal.

In the city that bills itself the Live Music Capital of the World, complaints about live music creeping into residential backyards are not uncommon, but the Rainey Street flap was seen by some as the latest concern tied to the neighborhood’s recent transformation — from a sleepy residential enclave into a burgeoning entertainment destination, a metamorphosis that has brought complaints about parking, traffic, noise and pedestrian safety.

The sounds of live outdoor music will not waft into the Rainey Street nights ­— at least not for now.

The Austin City Council voted late Thursday to uphold a neighbor’s appeal of an outdoor live music permit for the Lustre Pearl, which in 2009 became the first bar to open in the historic Rainey Street neighborhood located on downtown’s southeastern edge.

The 7-0 vote on a motion by Council Member Mike Martinez shortly before midnight means that bar owner Bridget Dunlap’s permit to host live, outdoor music is revoked. Dunlap was issued a city permit last August to host live, outdoor music at the venue on 97 Rainey St.

Martinez said he wanted to give the city, neighborhood residents, Dunlap and other bar owners an opportunity to seek both short-term and long-term fixes to parking, traffic, pedestrian safety and other issues impacting the neighborhood. Opponents of the permit said adding live outdoor music would bring more people into the neighborhood, making those problems worse.

“I’m going to ask that we engage in this process and encourage the venue operators to come back and apply at a later date once we’ve seen these improvements,” Martinez said. “I believe we can compromise and come together … once we’re able to come back with a comprehensive plan.”

Martinez said that he and Council Member Chris Riley had been talking with city staff about possible infrastructure improvements on Rainey Street, steps that might include allowing surface parking on vacant lots, continuous sidewalks, more street lighting and creating a parking improvement district. He said council members hoped to bring a resolution addressing improvements to their next meeting.

Thursday night’s vote went against the recommendations of city staff.

Gene Sanchez, who lives just south of Lustre Pearl, appealed the permit based on the proximity of the music stage to his home, traffic problems on Rainey Street and the public health risk associated with the inability of emergency vehicles to reach individuals on the street.

Sanchez said he and his elderly parents have lived on Rainey Street for 45 years in a house located about 20 yards from Lustre Pearl. “The decibel level is going to affect our quality of life,” Sanchez said.

City staff, however, said traffic is not part of the review process for an outdoor music venue permit. It recommended denying Sanchez’s appeal because the venue is located in the downtown zoning district and because outdoor music hours at the venue would be adjusted to end at 10 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday, 11 p.m. on Thursday, and midnight Friday and Saturday. In its recommendation, staff said Lustre Pearl would build a music stage that will be oriented north and away from residences and speakers would be mounted low and at a downward angle.

Dunlap handed council members a petition she said was signed by 496 people supporting live music at her bar. She said she was more than willing to make concessions and to work with opponents, “but I do feel that we did get that permit fair and square.”

“I’m responsible for making Rainey Street the pretty gem that she is today,” said Dunlap, who owns two other bars in the neighborhood. “When I found her she was down and needed a little love.”

About half a dozen people spoke in support of the live music permit. About the same number spoke in support of Sanchez’s appeal.

In the city that bills itself the Live Music Capital of the World, complaints about live music creeping into residential backyards are not uncommon, but the Rainey Street flap was seen by some as the latest concern tied to the neighborhood’s recent transformation — from a sleepy residential enclave into a burgeoning entertainment destination, a metamorphosis that has brought complaints about parking, traffic, noise and pedestrian safety.