Headlines

An estimated 5,000 people, most of them wearing orange, crowded the Capitol grounds Monday, the first day of the Lege's second special session, to rally against proposed abortion legislation that state Republicans have vowed to push through this time around.

› Thousands of people rallied Monday at the Cap­itol in defense of women's rights, as Gov. Rick Perry's second special session gaveled to order, ready to impose extreme restrictions on abortion access that could close 37 of the 42 abortion providers in Texas. See "Special Assembly," and ongoing coverage at the Newsdesk blog.

› City Council is on summer hiatus, with the next formal meeting on Aug. 8, although the beat, in fact, goes on: Budget preparations are in full swing, there's a report on Downtown parks to be reviewed July 9, and the dust is still settling from the new Density Bonus Program and still rising from the Congress hotel fee waivers snafu. See "Council ...."

› The annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration takes place Thursday along Lady Bird Lake near the Long Center on Riverside Drive, with a concert performance by the Austin Symphony Orchestra at 8:30pm. Cap Metro will be running extra buses on some lines, because...

› Happy Fourth of July, and blow into this. Yes, APD has announced another no refusal initiative. running from 9pm, Wednesday, July 3 through 5am, Sunday, July 7. Any driver found with a blood-alcohol level of .15 or more faces up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

› Summer arrived with a vengeance late last week, driving temperatures to 106 degrees or higher, although a Saturday night rain brought cooler temperatures expected to last for a few days.

› Immigration reform debates in Congress triggered a dramatic protest Thursday afternoon by the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition in Downtown Austin, where several people were arrested after lying down on Sixth Street, in protest of the "anti-immigrant" positions of Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and moves to increase the militarization of the border.

› The Texas Supreme Court last week ruled that a defamation suit brought by Dr. Byron Neely against veteran TV investigative journalist Nanci Wilson and KEYE should not be dismissed. The court's majority concluded that a jury should determine whether Wilson overstepped in reporting that Neely had been disciplined for operating while under the influence of drugs. Chief Justice Wallace Jeffer­son's dissent argued that if Wilson's "news report is damning, it is because it conveys substantial truth."

› Visiting Judge David Peeples has appointed retired Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner as a special prosecutor tasked with considering whether Travis Co. D.A. Rosemary Lehmberg should be brought up on criminal charges in connection with her behavior in jail after her April DWI arrest. A civil suit seeking to oust her from office will not be postponed. (See Newsdesk, June 28.)

› Sen. John Carona, chair of the Senate Business & Commerce Committee, has asked A.G. Greg Abbott for his (nonbinding) opinion of the governing structure of Austin Energy, currently under City Council oversight. Committee member Sen. Kirk Watson has championed turning over control of the utility to an independent board.