Headlines

• It's election time again: voters in Austin ISD, Austin Community College district, and Del Valle, Eanes, Leander, Lake Travis, and Round Rock school districts go to the polls Saturday, May 8, to pick their newest trustees, while several municipal utility districts and emergency service districts vote for directors. See "'Chronicle' Endorsements" for voting information and our endorsements in the local races.

• City Council is off this week, but a proposed boycott of Arizona, slated for its May 13 meeting, is already sucking all the air out of council chambers. See "City Hall Hustle."

• The disciplinary fate of Austin Police Officer Leonardo Quintana, arrested in January for drunken driving, was still up in the air Wednesday. See "Naked City."

• At press time Wednesday, City Council's Public Health and Human Services Committee was taking up potential new regulations on food carts and trailers, a burgeoning segment of local foodie culture. No date has yet been set for the entire council to act on the committee's recommendations.

• New watering restrictions took effect May 1, with residential water customers on a twice-a-week cap, before 10am or after 7pm. Odd-numbered addresses water on Wed­nesdays and Satur­days; even-numbered addresses water on Thursdays and Sundays. Hand watering can be done at any time.

• The Austin Community College board this week approved its first tuition increase in five years. For more, see "ACC Hikes Tuition."

• A new "forever home" for the Town Lake Animal Center breaks ground at 10am Friday at the site of the new campus, 7201 Levander Loop, just west of Highway 183. The $12 million facility is slated for completion in the fall of 2011.

• The city Neighborhood Partnering Program is closer to initiation. Proposed by Council Member Bill Spelman, it leverages public funds for projects like pocket parks and trails by asking neighbors to donate labor and other resources. For more, see the NPP page on www.cityofaustin.org.

• The Statesman reported Friday that two candidates for the CEO position at Capital Metro dropped out of the running after the daily made an open records request for the applicants' names. Manage­ment searches are often private, as most candidates are already employed in the industry.

• Texas has joined Alabama, Florida, Louisia­na, and Mississippi to form the Gulf States Coalition to coordinate a response to the BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. While current forecasts do not have the oil slick reaching Texas coastal waters, that could change if the weather shifts.

Quote of the Week

"The law they passed in Arizona is not only anti-immigrant; it's anti-American."

– from a statement issued by labor leader and lieutenant governor candidate Linda Chavez-Thompson, who spoke at a May 1 immigration rights rally at the state Capitol