Headlines

America's proudest creepy dad – not to mention our most prominent immigrant-basher – pulls out his shouting points at a rally in Dallas on Monday, Sept. 14. Good thing he remembered to jot down his catchphrase "make this country great again" – that wording can be tricky! For more pictures of his glorious mug, see "Donald Trump Rally in Dallas," Galleries, Sept. 15. (Photo by Gary Miller)

City Council, fresh from adopting the FY 2016 budget, returns to the regular order of business today (Sept. 17), with some testy contract matters, perhaps a discussion of pay raises for upper management, and the committee report on short term rental regs. See also "Council Wrap-Up," Sept. 18.

UT-Austin President Gregory Fenves fired Athletic Director Steve Patterson after nearly two years on the job, during which the AD hired new football and basketball coaches but raised ticket prices and reportedly angered or alienated many staffers. Fenves appointed attorney and former athlete Mike Perrin as interim AD.

The Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit working on sustainable energy solutions, has chosen Austin and Denver as the cities it will collaborate with in researching transportation and mobility technology solutions, city officials announced this week. Welcoming the partnership, Mayor Steve Adler said, "This partnership will give Austin the capacity to leverage these technologies on a broad scale to keep people moving and improve their lives."

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics has named local non­profit Girlstart a "Bright Spot" in the field. Girlstart, which has worked to get girls involved in STEM since 1997, will be included in a national catalog with 200 other organizations.

Jermaine Hopkins lost an appeal of his termination this Tuesday, Sept. 15. Hopkins was suspended indefinitely from Austin Police Department in Oct. 2014. For more, see "Hopkins Loses Appeal," Sept. 16.

The Texas Rangers report that freshman Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, filled out witness registration forms with names of citizens not present at the Capitol, when his staff added ghost witnesses to support his bill banning red-light cameras, but the House rules are not "specific enough" to result in prosecutable charges, the Department of Public Safety and the Travis County District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit concluded.

Islamophobia is alive and well in Irving, Texas – 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was arrested and may be charged with making a hoax bomb after the young electronics enthusiast built a digital clock and took it to class to show his science teacher. Final proof that you can be too smart and too Muslim for North Texas.

Chronicle News Editor Mary Tuma will be recognized at the Lilith Fund's Reproductive Equity Awards in October. We have to agree with them that her work covering reproductive justice and our state government's effort to stymie it is pretty great!