Headlines

Reproductive rights advocates marked the 40th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment with a march from the south gate of the Capitol to the 11th Street I-35 overpass, where they dropped a banner proclaiming them "united to lift the bans that deny abortion coverage." The amendment, which denies abortion coverage under Medicaid except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment, affects an estimated 29 million women in the U.S. (Photo by Jana Birchum)

City Council convenes today (Oct. 6) over a middling agenda, featuring a long-delayed public hearing on the latest amendments to the Champion Tracts settlement, a half-dozen annexation hearings, and enough morning contracts for consent agenda non-consensus. See "Council: Coyotes, Garages, and Manure."

A grand jury declined to indict former APD Officer Matthew Michael­son last Thursday for the March 20 North Austin shooting of William Mann.

The state executed Barney Fuller on Wed­nesday, marking the first execution since Pablo Vasquez on April 6. Fuller, 58, was sentenced to death for a grisly 2003 double murder in Houston County. See Sept. 23's "Death Watch" for more.

The Travis County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday that it has received a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department to create an Intimate Partner Sexual Assault Prosecution Unit, which will work in conjunction with SafePlace and Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid to handle "the legal and factual complexities" of intimate partner/acquaintance sexual assaults.

City prosecutors dismissed charges against activist Joshua Pineda two days before his case was set to go to trial. The Peaceful Streets Project member was arrested in April for disregarding a police order while copwatching on Sixth Street. Interestingly, prosecutors indicated the dismissal came after Pineda accepted a plea bargain, which Pineda's attorney Millie Thompson says never happened. Thompson has filed a motion rejecting the city's dismissal.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor Wage and Hour Division announced Wednesday that it will require dozens of Austin restaurants to pay about $300,000 in back wages to several hundred employees who were subject to sub-minimum wages, unpaid overtime, illegal deductions, inadequate pay records, and similar violations of federal labor law.

Muny golf course has been named one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. See www.savingplaces.org for more info.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to rehear the Obama administration's plea to allow millions of undocumented immigrants to continue to live in the U.S. and apply for work permits under the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program.

VP candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence faced off Tuesday night, for an extended and occasionally abrasive debate over whether Pence's running mate Donald Trump has said the racist and misogynist statements he has, in fact, said. This was the only vice-presidential debate; Trump and Hillary Clinton debate again this Sunday, Oct. 9.