Headlines

U.S. Marine vet Larry Singleton shows off his Occupy Austin 2011 tattoo at the Occupy encampment site at City Hall. (Photo by John Edwards)

› City Council meets again today (Thursday), with second and, potentially, third readings for approval of the Downtown Austin Plan, as well as possible approval of a one-year contract with Austin Pets Alive! to operate the Town Lake Animal Center for adoptions as city shelter operations move Saturday to the new Betty Dunkerley Campus on Levander Loop. (See this week's "Beside the Point" and "Walking the No-Kill Tightrope," Nov. 4.)

› Travis County voters approved $215 million in parks and transportation bonds in the Nov. 8 elections. However, statewide, voters rejected three of the 10 constitutional amendments on the ballot (see "Election Results: Travis Props Win Handily").

› It's back to the drawing board for the Texas congressional and state Senate and House maps. On Nov. 8, a federal three-judge panel declined to "pre-clear" the GOP-gerrymandered plan for violations of the Voting Rights Act, ordered a trial, and instructed judges in San Antonio to draw new districts before the end of November (see "Texas Ordered To Redraw Maps).

› Austin ISD administrators have formally unveiled a plan that could see Garcia and Pearce middle schools turned into single-sex schools as early as the 2013-14 school year. If approved by the board of trustees, the change would leave much of East Austin without a coed middle school.

› It could be a tough primary season for GOP Sen­. Jeff Wentworth, whose San Antonio-based district covers southwest Travis County. Not only is he being challenged by failed con­gres­sional candidate Donna Campbell, but Railroad Com­missioner Elizabeth Ames Jones has dropped her U.S. Senate campaign to run against him.

› Local officials Wednesday lauded Austin's first affordable housing complex that's located in a transit-oriented development district. The M Station project, at 2906 E. MLK near the MetroRail Red Line, was developed by nonprofit Foundation Communities, with the city kicking in $2 million in bond money.

› A suspect identified by police as Mark Alan Norwood has been arrested in connection with the 1986 murder of Christine Morton, whose husband Michael Morton was wrongly convicted and spent 25 years in prison.

› A Travis County jury Wednesday handed accused Hyde Park tire slasher Tommy Kelley a 10-year prison sentence after finding him guilty of one count of unlawful use of a criminal instrument.

› Mary Helen Berlanga, the senior member of the State Board of Education, announced Nov. 8 that she will step down after 30 years. The Corpus Christi Democrat and board secretary has been regarded as a strong voice against the politicization of the public school curriculum and a bulwark against the fringe right.

› Polling shows Herman Cain and Mitt Romney locked in a statistical tie for the GOP presidential nomination, even though Cain faces a barrage of sexual harassment and assault allegations. Gov. Rick Perry still languishes in fourth, with 10% support.