The Capital Metro Board of Directors today announced that it intends to hire Linda S. Watson as the next president and CEO of Austin’s transit agency. Watson is currently CEO of the LYNX transit system that serves a three-county region in the Orlando, Fla., area.

The Capital Metro Board of Directors has just unanimously voted to hire Linda S. Watson, CEO of the LYNX transit system in Orlando, Fla., to be the new CEO of Cap Met. "You're going to be impressed" by Watson, said Board Member John Langmore, who took a last-minute trip to Orlando for further vetting of Watson on Wednesday. We'll have more on this decision soon.

Sometimes, you gotta take a a minute to take it all in. That's where the Hustle's at today. With no City Council meeting to occupy our attention, he's taking a breather to review all the week's developments.

The Totescast is back – but not in black – as the city budget is running $11 to $28 million in the red. With that in mind, is it the right time to be considering an $85 million transportation bond election?

The question posed this week by the announcement of transportation bond projects – what does this mean for future bond packages on urban rail and a comprehensive bond election? – got an answer this afternoon: Lee Leffingwell is calling for a combined rail and comp bond vote in 2012.

It must have been a glorious morning at Gov. Rick Perry's campaign HQ yesterday. Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner (aka mini-Karl Rove) comes up with a bright plan to hold a press event right in front of the Texas Democratic Party Headquarters. There's no way that could go wrong, right? Right? As Scooby Doo said, "Ruh-ro!"

The city held their first, and so far, only scheduled public forum on the 2011 budget yesterday. Some 100 people showed up, going from table to table in one of the center’s ballrooms to hear from different General Fund departments which cuts or add-backs would affect them most, before electronically voting on the proposals.

What happens when city regulations and an artistic vision clash? In the case of the Cathedral of Junk, artistic vision and the Austin cultural skyline lose. Yesterday Vince Hanneman, the artist behind the cathedral, announced he is tearing it down.

In campaigning, the devil is in the detail. Like Gov. Rick Perry standing in front of what looked like Soviet-era art at his Republican Party of Texas convention speech or Sarah Palin's plan to visit Margaret Thatcher – who now has clinical dementia. Just ask Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and challenger Hank Gilbert.