Headlines

A proposed ordinance is in the city hopper that would allow parkland parking spaces for businesses. A longtime dispute over parking for Casa de Luz patrons, shown in background, served as the catalyst for the proposal, which would apply to all city parks, with amenities for parks. (Photo by John Anderson)

› Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehm­berg was arrested Friday night, April 12, for driving while intoxicated. She announced she would enter a guilty plea and accept whatever penalty assigned by the court, but said she does not intend to resign. An Austin attorney on Tuesday filed suit, seeking to have her removed from office. See "Lehmberg: The D.A.'s DWI."

› The Austin Independent School District has announced that it has selected two finalists from the five organizations that applied to be potential partners in the latest restructuring of Eastside Memorial High School, as required by the Texas Education Agency. Talent Develop­ment Secondary of Johns Hopkins University and nonprofit American Institutes for Research will make presentations at Eastside this Sat­ur­day, April 20, 10am-5pm. Open to the public.

› The annual city budget cycle kicks off Thursday, with a preview laid out for City Council by Chief Budget Officer Ed Van Eenoo. Council next meets April 25 (work sessions April 18 and 23); see "Council Preview: What Can We Afford?" and "Then There's This."

› Austin Police and Travis County Com­mis­sioners have agreed together to pitch in more than $100,000 to clear a growing backlog of drug and blood tests pending at the APD crime lab. According to APD Chief Art Acevedo, some 1,250 tests connected to criminal cases are pending, some going back to last summer.

› Members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Tuesday considered the so-called Texas Racial Justice Act – House Bill 2458 by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston – which would allow a death row inmate the chance to prove his sentence was sought or imposed based on race. Several members of the committee appeared to struggle with the concept; the bill was left pending.

› As planned, Texas on April 16 put to death Ronnie Threadgill, sentenced to die for a 2001 carjacking that left 17-year-old Dexter McDon­ald dead. Threadgill became the 495th inmate executed in the state since 1982.

› A trial against alleged members of the Zetas cartel accused of laundering millions through American quarter-horse racing kicked off this week in federal court. The trial is expected to last several weeks.

› The White House announced that President Obama has been briefed by Senators John McCain and Chuck Schumer on a comprehensive immigration bill, negotiated by the "Gang of Eight," that addresses border security, worker identification, and a pathway to citizenship. Obama called the bill "commonsense steps that the majority of Americans support."

› On Wednesday, the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conserva­tion District declared a Stage III Critical Drought – its third in the past five years. They also warned that "flow from Barton Springs could eventually decrease to the point where ecological, recreational, and aesthetic uses of Barton Springs would be damaged."