Austin American-Statesman

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  • Deaths sadden social Austin

    austin360.com - Arts
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:10 pm
    A somber mood settled over local social gatherings the past two weeks. Several prominent Austinites we won't name names are seriously ill.

  • Internet criticism pushes China to act on pollution

    statesman.com - News
    Sharon LaFraniere
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:48 pm
    Weary of waiting for the authorities to alert residents to the city's most pernicious air pollutant, citizen activists in May took matters here into their own hands: They bought their own $4,000 air-quality monitor and started posting its daily readings on the Internet.

  • Museum event explores Central Texas shipwrecks

    statesman.com - Williamson
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:48 pm
    The state’s marine archaeologist will Central Texas shipwrecks during the February installment of the Williamson Museum’s monthly Salon speakers series. As the State Marine Archeologist at the Texas Historical Commission, Amy Borgens is

  • Mega Millions winning numbers

    statesman.com - Texas
    28 Jan 2012 | 12:26 am
    Here are the winning numbers selected Friday evening in the Mega Millions lottery: 03-05-30-36-48 (three, five, thirty, thirty-six, forty-eight) Mega Ball: 23 (twenty-three) ESTIMATED MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT $12 million ___ January 28, 2012 02:26 AM EST Copyright 2012, The Associated Press.

  • U.S. recovery slowly gained speed in late 2011, data show

    statesman.com - Business
    Catherine Rampell
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:08 pm
    The U.S. economy picked up a little steam last quarter, with output growing at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
 
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    statesman.com - Texas

  • Mega Millions winning numbers

    28 Jan 2012 | 12:26 am
    Here are the winning numbers selected Friday evening in the Mega Millions lottery: 03-05-30-36-48 (three, five, thirty, thirty-six, forty-eight) Mega Ball: 23 (twenty-three) ESTIMATED MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT $12 million ___ January 28, 2012 02:26 AM EST Copyright 2012, The Associated Press.

  • TX Lottery

    28 Jan 2012 | 12:21 am
    These Texas lotteries were drawn Friday: 06-13-17-23-32 (six, thirteen, seventeen, twenty-three, thirty-two) 4-4-1-4, Sum It Up: 13 (four, four, one, four; Sum It Up: thirteen) 2-2-0-0, Sum It Up: 4 (two, two, zero, zero; Sum It Up: four) 03-05-30-36-48, Mega Ball: 23 (three, five, thirty, thirty-six, forty-eight; Mega Ball: twenty-three) Estimated jackpot: $12 million 4 (four) 6-9-3, Sum It Up: 18 (six, nine, three; Sum It Up: eighteen) 8-2-7, Sum It Up: 17 (eight, two, seven; Sum It Up: seventeen) Estimated jackpot: $146 million ___ January 28, 2012 02:21 AM EST Copyright 2012, The…

  • Romney, Gingrich focus on Hispanic voters in Fla.

    STEVE PEOPLES
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:19 pm
    Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney urged conservatives to back off aggressive anti-immigration policies as the Republican presidential candidates vied for Hispanic votes Friday, a day marked by heightened tensions entering the final weekend before Florida's primary.

  • Beaubois, Odom lead Mavs past Jazz

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:11 pm
    With three starters out, the Dallas Mavericks were searching for offense from other sources. Reserve guard Roddy Beaubois and slumping Lamar Odom delivered.

  • Budinger, Scola lead Rockets past Wizards

    CHRIS DUNCAN
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:06 pm
    Chase Budinger stayed patient and quiet, while Houston coach Kevin McHale left him on the bench over the past three games.
 
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    statesman.com - Opinion

  • Weicker: God's assistant managers

    27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm
    God's assistant managers gingerly juggle self-assurance and blessed assurance. I took up my managerial duties at Bible school many years ago after my sister and I, wearing matching yellow organdy pinafores, marched down the center church aisle to the tune of "Onward Christian Soldiers." Observing my fellow humans, I notice I am not alone among the self-appointed, if not the anointed.

  • More anger; All the ships at sea; Uninsured motorists

    27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm
    More anger? In Monday's debate, Newt Gingrich said Washington could use another dose of anger.

  • Austinites love laughs, festivals

    27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm
    Fifteen years ago, Austin's comedy scene which was described at the time as "emerging" helped prompt the creation of "Austin Stories," a locally filmed situation comedy starring stand-up comics Laura House, Howard Kremer and Chip Pope.

  • Kallison: Texas needs school finance reforms

    26 Jan 2012 | 5:35 pm
    Bluff Dale school district, southwest of Fort Worth, is a rural, nearly all-white district with an enrollment of 94 students.

  • Church utilities; bank review; wives of Gingrich

    26 Jan 2012 | 5:35 pm
    Church utilities Some folks don't want to "subsidize" church utility bills.
 
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    statesman.com - Highschool

  • UT football recruit Johnathan Gray heads Class 4A all-state team

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:50 pm
    Aledo running back Johnathan Gray, a University of Texas recruit, and Denton Ryan defensive lineman Mario Edwards head the Texas Sports Writers Association's Class 4A all-state football team, which was released Friday.

  • Lake Travis football No. 3

    27 Jan 2012 | 3:13 pm
    The Lake Travis football team is No. 3 in the Texas Football magazine Class 5A preseason poll, released on Friday. Dave Campbell’s TF magazine picked Dallas Skyline and Southlake Carroll as 1-2 in the poll. Lake Travis, coming off

  • Six Texans earn spots on TSWA all-state team

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:44 am
    Brennen Blakemore has added two more accomplishments to his resume. Blakemore earned two spots on the Texas Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A all-state team on Thursday. Blakemore was honored as a second team wide receiver and a third

  • Prepped And Ready: New Coaches, New Challenges

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    What’s up world? How is everybody doing this morning? Are you enjoying this relaxing Friday morning? Well, enjoy the calm before the storm since Signing Day is scheduled for next Wednesday and realignment is set for Thursday. Man,

  • Doing the math on the UIL realignment

    26 Jan 2012 | 8:48 pm
    The University Interscholastic League pulls back the curtain on its biennial realignment and reclassification next week, and several Central Texas schools will be on the move.
 
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    statesman.com - Life

  • Trying to change fiánce's ways rarely turns out well

    27 Jan 2012 | 6:10 pm
    Dear Carolyn: My fiánce and I have been together for nearly five years. One of our biggest bones of contention has been his relationship with his friends.

  • The urge to purge: To free up space in homes, some turn to digital copies

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:22 pm
    Sometimes certain realities of physics make you take drastic steps. For Christina Gomez, it took 900 square feet, the size of the home she shares with her husband, to make her get rid of hundreds of books, DVDs and CDs part of three storage units of stuff she was holding on to and go almost completely digital with the music, TV shows, movies and books she consumes.

  • What I'm currently beating myself up about

    27 Jan 2012 | 12:17 pm
    My son, Ben, is 11. He’s always had this weird thing that he does: he replaces “R”s in the middle of the word with “W”s when he’s talking. It’s like he’s from Boston. I asked about it in kindergarten.

  • Seeing her first big Broadway production

    27 Jan 2012 | 7:21 am
    Eight-year-old Ava and I went to see ‘Wicked’ last night at Bass Concert Hall. It was her first big musical production and she loved it. Even things I thought would scare her (those creepy flying monkeys) fascinated her. She

  • Make your plans now for February

    26 Jan 2012 | 12:15 pm
    Here’s a few upcoming events we’re looking forward to in my house: 123 Geometry Lane and Ready, Set, Roll. Learn math and physics with new interactive exhibits. Through Sept. 13. $6.50-$4.50. Austin Children’s Museum, 201 Colorado St.
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    statesman.com - Books

  • Lemony Snicket author expounds on teen love and other unfortunate events

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pm
    Daniel Handler, the author more famously known as Lemony Snicket, has taken on teenage love and the angst that follows it in his new book, "Why We Broke Up." Handler and the book's illustrator, Maira Kalman, will be at BookPeople Saturday night to talk about and sign the book.

  • 'Fairy Tale' tracks last, quirky years of JFK Jr.

    23 Jan 2012 | 6:11 pm
    RoseMarie Terenzio, a brassy gal from the Bronx, worked as John F. Kennedy Jr.'s executive assistant from 1994 until his death in 1999 and saw the ups and downs of running the political magazine "George." She also became Kennedy's confidant and one of the best friends of his wife, Carolyn Bessette.

  • Mark Strand reading Thursday at UT.

    23 Jan 2012 | 9:29 am
    Poetry lovers: A reminder that Pulitzer Prize-winning, former Poet Laureate Mark Strand reads at 7:30 p.m. at Avaya Auditorium (ACES 2.302 on the UT campus). The reading is free and open to the

  • Newberry and Caldecott winners announced

    23 Jan 2012 | 7:49 am
    Jack Gantos’ “Dead End in Norvelt” picked up the John Newbery Medal for the best children’s book of 2011, while Chris Raschka’s “A Ball for Daisy” won the Randolph Caldecott award for best illustrated story, the

  • It is hard to imagine this is real but....

    23 Jan 2012 | 7:34 am
    Here’s Cormac McCarthy on Twitter. (Verification or debunking forthcoming, one
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    statesman.com - Gardening

  • Gardening: Still time to plant winter vegetables

    Diana C. Kirby
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:50 pm
    It's hard to believe that we still can plant a last round of winter vegetables right now. Instead of protecting our vegetables from freezes like we would in a "normal" winter, we might be shading them from the hot sun.

  • Garden calendar

    27 Jan 2012 | 3:48 pm
    "Tree Talk Winter Walk." 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Variety of presentations on trees, including planting and pruning.

  • Gardening Calendar

    20 Jan 2012 | 5:46 pm
    Bamboo Grove Grooming workshop. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. Bring hand clippers, loppers, saws and gloves.

  • Mr. Smarty Plants: Resolve to have a better garden this year with our tips

    20 Jan 2012 | 5:41 pm
    Q: My yard was a disaster last year grass and trees browning, early leaf fall on flowering plants, and water bills sky high, even with the limited watering days.

  • Gardening Calendar

    13 Jan 2012 | 5:26 pm
    10th Annual Fruits, Nuts and Berries Workshop. 10 a.m. today. Presentation by Jim Kamas. Natural Gardener, 8648 Old Bee Cave Road.
 
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    statesman.com - Style

  • Rev shopping engines - Le Garage is back

    26 Jan 2012 | 7:16 am
    The fabulous fashion extravaganza known as Le Garage Sale is back and is christening a new venue. Each year, local boutiques set up shop in a huge marketplace offering new inventory with drastically marked down prices. Serious shoppers show

  • 'Project Accessory' mentor talks style at Lake Austin Spa

    Courtney Sebesta
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:20 pm
    Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti is a style collector always hunting for that perfect fashion find. She has spent her life procuring stylish objects to decorate the body and home objects that tell a story, make a bold statement and, most importantly, inspire.

  • Style Matters: Le Garage Sale is back; spring cleaning for a good cause

    25 Jan 2012 | 5:18 pm
    Rev shopping engines - Le Garage is back The fabulous fashion extravaganza known as Le Garage Sale is back and is christening a new venue.

  • Chanel aims sky-high, and Armani courts A-list

    THOMAS ADAMSON
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:09 am
    On day two of Paris's frantic three days of haute couture collections, Chanel took the fashion crowd to the skies and highlights included super-sexy, celebrity-filled Armani Prive.

  • Look of old Hollywood glamour is a modern favorite

    SAMANTHA CRITCHELL
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:08 am
    In the Hollywood landscape of new, new, new, what really stands out is that today's starlets still emulate the looks of classic screen beauties, including Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth, who ruled the red carpet in the 1950s.
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    statesman.com - Travel

  • Fee transparency for airlines starts Thursday

    24 Jan 2012 | 10:38 am
    When you see an airline advertise a fare sale starting Thursday, you’ll see what you’re really going to pay for the flight. You’ll see taxes and fees, including bag fees — and not in small print, either. This is

  • Flight boards to go dark briefly at Austin airport

    19 Jan 2012 | 8:52 am
    Austin-Bergstrom International is going to take down its arrival and departure displays in the terminal as well as the cell phone lot and online at 11 p.m. tonight until 4 a.m. Friday. It’s for maintenance. You’re going to have

  • AA to offer free wine and beer on international flights

    18 Jan 2012 | 11:25 am
    Remember (fellow dinosaurs) back when we used to get free wine with our dinner in coach when we flew overseas on American Airlines? Well, it’s coming back. Starting Feb. 1: Free beer and wine in coach on international flights.

  • Colorado's finally getting snow

    16 Jan 2012 | 6:17 am
    So maybe it’s time to book that ski trip. Right now you can book a trip to Crested Butte (Gunnison-Crested Butte little ol’ airport) for $308 round trip on American including taxes and fees (except for the bag fee,

  • Explore affordable Atlanta

    14 Jan 2012 | 7:05 am
    Southwest Airlines' new nonstop flights to Atlanta beginning Feb. 12 (with prices starting at $219.40 round trip, taxes and fees included) should make the Southern city a more affordable destination for Austinites.
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    austin360.com - Arts

  • John Cage here, John Cage there -- Cage everywhere

    27 Jan 2012 | 9:46 am
    Groundbreaking composer John Cage would have turned 100 this year. And hopefully he would have been thrilled that his innovative compositions are getting star treatment by younger artists, particularly in Austin. This spring, Austin has a flurry of

  • Deaths sadden social Austin

    25 Jan 2012 | 5:10 pm
    A somber mood settled over local social gatherings the past two weeks. Several prominent Austinites we won't name names are seriously ill.

  • New festival aims to cement Austin's comedic standing

    25 Jan 2012 | 3:03 pm
    Late great comedians Bill Hicks and Mitch Hedberg came of age at the Cap City Comedy Club. Comedy legends and rising stars such as Don Rickles and Demetri Martin have consistently played to sold-out houses at the Paramount Theatre.

  • New comedy fest to feature head 'SNL' writer Seth Meyers...

    25 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm
    The Austin Theatre Alliance is launching an ambitious comedy festival this spring, one that organizers hope grows into both a major comedy event and a revenue generator for the nonprofit group.

  • McCall talks about becoming part of Zach team

    Claire Canavan
    25 Jan 2012 | 2:46 pm
    Since 1989, Meredith McCall has been gracing Austin's stages. She has hammed it up in comedies, tackled the challenges of serious dramas and belted out lyrical melodies in numerous musicals.
 
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    austin360.com - Food-drink

  • Foodways Texas to host symposium on preserving food culture in March

    26 Jan 2012 | 6:43 am
    Preserving Texas food culture is a big part of the mission of Foodways Texas, so it makes sense that the group’s second symposium (the first in Austin) is dedicated to just that: preservation. The nonprofit announced this week

  • Gourmands revels in the details

    25 Jan 2012 | 11:15 am
    Just a mile or so east of downtown, you'll find Gourmands Neighborhood Pub, a new restaurant filling a similar but entirely different niche as Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden.

  • Easy Tiger is off to roaring start with breads, beer garden

    25 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am
    David Norman is still thinking about those pretzels in Germany. It's been more than 25 years since he was a student of German literature studying abroad in Munich, but those perfect twists of yeasty dough he fell in love with at the university there have inspired a baking career that has led him to Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden, a new restaurant on East Sixth Street that, if you look closely, is an homage to the German foodways that connect Central Texas to its European roots.

  • Openings, closings 
& coming soon

    25 Jan 2012 | 10:59 am
    • Moving: The South Austin location of Kerbey Lane Cafe has moved from its home at 2700 S. Lamar Blvd.

  • Paula Deen should endorse healthful habits - not medicine

    24 Jan 2012 | 5:11 pm
    By now, you've probably heard that Paula Deen has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and is a new spokeswoman for a once-a-day noninsulin injection drug called Victoza.
 
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    Anders Meanders

  • Fee transparency for airlines starts Thursday

    24 Jan 2012 | 12:38 pm
    When you see an airline advertise a fare sale starting Thursday, you’ll see what you’re really going to pay for the flight. You’ll see taxes and fees, including bag fees — and not in small print, either. This is because of a new federal rule requiring the airlines to do this. So, the totals you’ll see in those fare sales will be higher than you’re accustomed to seeing. So, when you see those bigger numbers, breathe. Airlines: Please bring on the fare sales. We’re ready to go.

  • Flight boards to go dark briefly at Austin airport

    19 Jan 2012 | 10:52 am
    Austin-Bergstrom International is going to take down its arrival and departure displays in the terminal as well as the cell phone lot and online at 11 p.m. tonight until 4 a.m. Friday. It’s for maintenance. You’re going to have to rely on your phone or computer to find these things out during that time. I recommend flightstats.com, which usually has the most up-to-date info if you go to the DETAILS section for the flight. The good news is that not many folks will be affected. The last flight out tonight leaves at 11:56 p.m. Friday’s first scheduled departure is 5:30 a.m.

  • AA to offer free wine and beer on international flights

    18 Jan 2012 | 1:25 pm
    Remember (fellow dinosaurs) back when we used to get free wine with our dinner in coach when we flew overseas on American Airlines? Well, it’s coming back. Starting Feb. 1: Free beer and wine in coach on international flights. Cool.

  • Colorado's finally getting snow

    16 Jan 2012 | 8:17 am
    So maybe it’s time to book that ski trip. Right now you can book a trip to Crested Butte (Gunnison-Crested Butte little ol’ airport) for $308 round trip on American including taxes and fees (except for the bag fee, which is $25 extra each way) in a sale that ends next Monday. That’s good through April 2. The usual caveats, restrictions and blackouts apply. Nobody’s matched it so far (including United), but I’ll be on airplanes all day and can’t continue to track, so do your due diligence in comparing. That’s through DFW. Those of you who like to ski…

  • Delta might buy American (shiver) and other annoying news

    13 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am
    As we were waiting for the BART train to SFO yesterday, a fellow traveler and I were talking about airlines. We agreed Delta was our least favorite. He talked about lost luggage. I talked about delays and a three-hour wait for a customer service rep whom I needed to call when Delta rebooked my flight with an unmakeable 30-minute connection in Atlanta. (I will say that Delta has improved its customer service since that episode several years ago.) We were both unhappy that Delta is pondering trying to acquire American. The merger of these two airlines would, among other things, reduce…
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    Austin Golf: Backspin

  • City solicits opinions on Morris Williams

    27 Jan 2012 | 6:12 pm
    The City of Austin golf division, which is preparing to close Morris Williams Golf Course soon to plant new grass and reshape some greens, has released a public survey about the course. The 10-item survey includes questions about the length of the course, its level of difficulty, and the size, slope and elevation of the greens. There’s room to comment. Care to take it? Here it is.

  • Feherty returns for second season on Golf Channel

    26 Jan 2012 | 7:48 am
    North Texas resident David Feherty and his primetime interview show, “Feherty,” will begin a second season of longer, hour-long episodes next month on the Golf Channel. The show premieres Monday, Feb. 27, but Feherty and and his merry makers of golf humor will go to Indianapolis the week of the Super Bowl to produce a “special stage show titled Feherty Live, with Feherty performing before a live theater audience and welcoming a slate of guests from the world of sports and entertainment,” according to a news release. Golf Channel will broadcast the show Saturday, Feb.

  • When is an ace maybe not quite an ace?

    25 Jan 2012 | 6:01 am
    So we received this week a hole-in-one notice from Lions Municipal Golf Course. A player on the 13th hole Saturday dunked a sand wedge for an ace. Or was it? Work on No. 13 that day shortened the par-3 hole to 27 yards. Not 127. Twenty-seven. That, folks, is an 81-foot shot. Now I don’t want to take anything away from holing an 81-foot shot. But if you’ve played Barton Creek Cliffside, you’ve probably had an 81-foot putt. And making an 81-foot putt is a magical moment in golf. So is chipping in from 81 feet with, say, a sand wedge. But is it worthy of the Holy Grail of golf…

  • Golfweek: Texas men, women primed to contend in spring

    24 Jan 2012 | 6:03 am
    Golfweek.com previews the Big 12 conference this month and fancies the Texas golf teams at the beginning of spring. Julie Williams (who picked Texas senior Nicole Vandermade as her conference player of the fall season) on the Longhorn women, the defending Big 12 champions: “Martha Richards has been waiting for a season like this. Since coming to Texas from Vanderbilt five years ago, she knew there would come a time when all the pieces would click. What resulted is a Texas squad that Richards calls her best yet.” Ryan Lavner (who picked the team and senior Dylan Frittelli as the…

  • Indoor HD golf coming to The Domain

    23 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am
    And they say no one’s opening golf courses anymore. The Range Golf Center and Sports Bar will launch in March at The Domain, according to its website. The business’s Facebook page suggests the Twitter feed is active (@TheRangeGolf), the menu is complete, the decor has been established, testing of the HD golf simulators is under way and the list of courses to be offered includes Bethpage Black, Harbour Town, Kiawah Island, Pacific Dunes, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2 and Spanish Bay. If you click around enough, you’ll even discover a screen shot of a crowded football stadium,…
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    Bevo Beat

  • Crouser breaks school record in shot put

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:51 pm
    Freshman Ryan Crouser broke a 30-year old school record in the indoor shot put with a throw of 66 feet, 7 inches at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday. In his second college meet, Crouser topped the previous record of 65-0 by Oskar Jakobsson at the 1982 Sooner Invitational. Marquise Goodwin had the second-longest long jump in school history, coming up just shy of his own UT record of 26-81/2 with a first-place distance of 26-7, an automatic NCAA qualifying mark. In his first meet since 2009, Maston Wallace won the pole vault (17-23/4), and Rory Tunningley won the…

  • Wilcox Big 12 Swimmer of the Week

    26 Jan 2012 | 8:37 pm
    Jackson Wilcox, who helped lead the Longhorns to a 161-131 dual meet victory on the road against Auburn by winning the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events, was named the Big 12 Swimmer of the Week, giving Texas the honor in five of the six weeks in 2011-12. His time of 9:01.22 in the 1,000 free was at the time the fastest in the country by over three seconds. The second-ranked Longhorns are at No. 1 Arizona on Saturday.

  • Mack on his contract extension

    26 Jan 2012 | 6:37 pm
    Texas has released the following statement from football coach Mack Brown on the four-year extension of his contract through 2020: “I’m so fortunate to have great bosses like (Athletics Director) DeLoss Dodds and (President) Bill Powers and a Board of Regents who all have been so supportive of Sally and me for 14 years. We’re grateful for their continued support of our football program and are looking forward to many more wonderful years at Texas.”

  • Regents approve extending Brown's contract through 2020

    26 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm
    As expected, the University of Texas regents voted unanimously Thursday to extend the contract of head football coach Mack Brown through 2020, adding four years to his deal. Brown’s salary, which at $5.2 million annually currently is tops among college coaches, will remain the same. Under the terms of his deal, though, Brown receives an automatic $100,000 raise every year. Brown, 60, was recruiting on Thursday and did not attend the 50-minute meeting. The athletic department was represented by men’s athletics director DeLoss Dodds and women’s athletic director Chris Plonsky.

  • Where is Green-Beckham headed? Watch and learn

    25 Jan 2012 | 11:37 am
    Dorial Green-Beckham, the wide receiver from Springfield, Mo., who is rated the nation’s top prospect in the 2012 class by some recruiting services, reportedly has narrowed his choices down to Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Green-Beckham has kept mum so far. But he’ll announce his decision on ESPNU’s signing day coverage that begins at 8 a.m., Central time, on Feb. 1. The Longhorns are fighting to the finish for the services of the 6-foot, 6-inch, 220-pound receiver. Coach Mack Brown and wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt are expected to make their in-home pitch to…
 
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    Bohl Games

  • Did Brown need extension?

    23 Jan 2012 | 6:44 pm
    Mack Brown will receive a four-year extension when the Texas Board of Regents is expected to vote Thursday and advance his contract through the 2020 football season. Was it really necessary, though? Brown was already making $5.2 million under terms of a contract that ran through 2016 and would continue to have his salary increased by $100,000 each season. Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said last month that he was weary of hearing all the unsubstantiated rumors that the 14-year coach might retire and wanted to put a stop to them. But no one in the mainstream media really felt Brown was…

  • Leach adds to legal team

    19 Jan 2012 | 3:34 pm
    Washington State head football coach MIke Leach has retained Steve Heninger of Birmingham, Ala., as his lead attorney in his high-profile case against ESPN, former college football analyst Craig James and Texas Tech University after Leach was fired from the Lubbock school in 2009. The move comes on the heels of previous lead attorney Paul Dobrowski’s withdrawal from the legal team, which now includes Heninger of Heninger, Garrison, Davis, LLC. “I think it’s a phenomenal case against James and ESPN,” Heninger told the American-Statesman on Thursday afternoon. “I…

  • Leach lawyer resigns

    11 Jan 2012 | 6:36 pm
    Mike Leach’s lead attorney has filed a motion before the Texas Supreme Court withdrawing as the lawyer for the fired Texas Tech head football coach, Leach’s attorney in Lubbock confirmed to the American-Statesman on Wednesday. Paul Dobrowski had been arguing that Leach was fired without due cause by Texas Tech on Dec. 30, 2009, just two days after the school suspended him amid allegations he mistreated a player who had suffered a concussion. Dobrowski could not be reached for comment from his Houston office, but Ted Liggett of Lubbock said Dobrowski filed the motion on Wednesday.

  • A&M's SEC rival?

    9 Jan 2012 | 12:05 pm
    Even though Texas A&M opens its SEC football schedule with Florida and some have projected the Gators as the Aggies’ permanent rival from the East Division, that may not be the case. “There might not be a permanent rival,” said Charles Bloom, the SEC’s associate commissioner. “Don’t read anything into next year’s schedule. But we are staying with eight conference (football) games.” With two seven-team divisions in 2012 after A&M and Missouri join the SEC, the league will stick with an eight-game schedule that includes matchups against…

  • Playoff in future?

    9 Jan 2012 | 11:36 am
    NEW ORLEANS — College football appears to have a modicum of momentum toward some form of a playoff model, most likely a plus-one format, but BCS spokesman Bill Hancock said Monday that there is no leader in the clubhouse. The 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick will meet here in New Orleans on Tuesday to continue deliberations on how best to continue the FBS post-season and perhaps install a playoff, but nothing is imminent. “This is probably the start of the second quarter,” Hancock said at a breakfast of the Football Writers…
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    Homeroom

  • Report: Former president defends federal role in education

    12 Jan 2012 | 11:04 am
    With several GOP presidential candidates talking about abolishing various federal agencies, including the Department of Education, former President George W. Bush is defending his No Child Left Behind Act today on Time.com. In an exclusive interview with Time’s Andrew J. Rotherham published today, Bush said the country should not abandon the progress his administration made toward making schools more accountable. “In some circles, punching No Child Left Behind is a way to basically say, I’m against Big Government,” Bush said in the interview. “In fact, No Child…

  • Graham Elementary School honored by state

    9 Jan 2012 | 6:50 pm
    The Texas Education Agency announced that state Education Commissioner Robert Scott has nominated Austin’s Graham Elementary School for a federal Blue Ribbon Schools award. Schools are selected for either showing dramatic improvement or high achievement on state tests. This year Graham, which the Statesman featured in an article on Nov. 5, was one of 26 public schools nominated in the state of Texas. Agency officials said that since 1982, the program has more than 6,000 schools including 538 Texas public schools. “We’re very pleased that Graham Elementary is being recognized…

  • School custodian who reported gunman at Lake Travis fired

    6 Jan 2012 | 3:59 pm
    Lake Travis school district officials today fired a custodian who last month said she saw an unknown man with a gun inside Lake Travis Middle School, a district official said. The woman, who had been hired by the Lake Travis school district less than a month prior to the Dec. 9th incident, had been put on paid leave while district and police officials investigated the claim. The report triggered wide-scale searches of the 900-student middle school and neighboring 2,200-student high school by the Travis County sheriff’s office, SWAT personnel and dogs during an hours-long lockdown and…

  • Westwood teacher recognized for innovative teaching

    5 Jan 2012 | 3:19 pm
    Joy Killough, a biology teacher at Westwood High School in the Round Rock school district, has been chosen as the 2012 Outstanding Teacher Educator by the Texas Academy of Science. The Texas Academy of Sciences each year recognizes one educator from the state pool of Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science teaching, the nation’s highest recognition for math and science teachers. The Presidential Awards for Excellence recognizes teachers who are innovative and bring teaching to life in their classrooms. This is the second time Killough, who has more than 31 years of…

  • Austin school board approves hiring charter school operator to run East Austin schools

    19 Dec 2011 | 1:19 pm
    UPDATE at 1:25 a.m. Tuesday: The school board just voted 6-3 to approve a partnership with IDEA Public Schools to run an indistrict charter school at Allan Elementary School and Eastside Memorial High School. Trustees Annette LoVoi, Robert Schneider and Tamala Barksdale voted against hiring the South Texas charter school operator after six and a half hours of debate and discussion before an audience that — judging by the cheers and boos that punctuated the meeting — overwhelmingly opposed the idea. Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said from the dais that she is committed to…
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    Golden's Nuggets

  • Mack's contract extension wasn't about money

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pm
    With the news that Texas coach Mack Brown was in Springfield this week to visit with wideout Dorial Green-Beckham, Texas made a smart for granting its coach a long-term extension. Not because Brown will be here to coach in 2020 (he won’t) but because it was a nice piece of football chess, even for a coach who is 13-12 over the last two seasons. There is such a thing as negative recruiting and I guess all’s fair in love and five-star recruits. You can’t blame coaches for using everything at their disposal to try and lure the best players to their schools, outside of money of…

  • Lakers and Clippers getting chippy

    26 Jan 2012 | 6:26 pm
    Remember when the Lakers were the only real pro basketball team in LA? Well since the Clippers drafted Blake Griffin and signed Chris Paul, things have changed in Tinseltown. The rivalry is starting to heat up between the only teams in the league that share a gym. Check out the altercation that occurred after Lakers forward Pau Gasol patted Paul on head in the final seconds of a Laker win the other night. I’m not a lip reader but you can see Paul calling Gasol “soft.” Then watch what happens at the end of the game. Reaction from Paul. Reaction from Gasol It’s good to…

  • Did you hear Ray Lewis' postgame speech?

    25 Jan 2012 | 5:15 pm
    Ray Lewis put aside any rumors of his retirement soon after the Ravens lost to the Patriots in the AFC championship game. Moments before he met with reporters, Lewis, a first-ballot Hall of Famer whenever he decides to hang it up, delivered a great postgame speech. Check it out. You don’t have to be a Baltimore fan to appreciate the inspirational words of a true leader. Lewis did everything he could to absolve kicker Billy Cundiff, whose miss of a 32-yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter cost the team a shot at overtime and effectively ended the season. Well, he did…

  • My top five destinations for Peyton Manning

    24 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pm
    After reading Bob Kravitz’s column on Peyton Manning in the Indianapolis Star, it seems as if the future Hall of Famer could be finished with the Colts, though he made it clear he wants to retire with the franchise that drafted him. Which brings us to today’s discussion: what team would be the best fit for a soon-to-be 36-year-old four-time Most Valuable Player? Here are my five top choices, starting with the fifth choice. Tarvaris Jackson is the starter and they still managed to go 7-9. Pete Carroll is a quarterback’s coach and the NFC West is not the best division out…

  • Did Cundiff have help choking?

    23 Jan 2012 | 7:01 pm
    Championship Sunday was more about goats than heroes and Baltimore kicker Billy Cundiff has to be considered the biggest goat of them all after missing a 32-yarder that would have sent the AFC title game into overtime. Or was he? Check out this story from Deadspin. Apparently, Cundiff and the Ravens were confused by a scoreboard malfunction at Gillette Stadium that had the downs wrong. Far be it for anybody to accuse anything involving Bill Belichick to come under suspicion. Even if there were foul play afoot, Cundiff flubbing a chip shot field goal is inexcusable. The snap was ok, the hold…
 
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    Mama Drama

  • What I'm currently beating myself up about

    27 Jan 2012 | 2:17 pm
    My son, Ben, is 11. He’s always had this weird thing that he does: he replaces “R”s in the middle of the word with “W”s when he’s talking. It’s like he’s from Boston. I asked about it in kindergarten. I asked about it in first grade. I was told, “Don’t worry, he’ll probably grow out of it.” Well he hasn’t and I hadn’t really thought about it until his fifth-grade teacher asked us if we were concerned about it and if we had had him evaluated. Now, I’m feeling incredibly guilty that I wasn’t more…

  • Seeing her first big Broadway production

    27 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am
    Eight-year-old Ava and I went to see ‘Wicked’ last night at Bass Concert Hall. It was her first big musical production and she loved it. Even things I thought would scare her (those creepy flying monkeys) fascinated her. She loved the story, she loved the theatrics, she loved the humor, she also loved trying to figure out how things worked (like the screen on one of the balconies that shows the actresses the conductor so they can keep time with the orchestra.) It was a late night (no second-grader should really be expected to go to school after getting home at midnight), but on…

  • Make your plans now for February

    26 Jan 2012 | 2:15 pm
    Here’s a few upcoming events we’re looking forward to in my house: 123 Geometry Lane and Ready, Set, Roll. Learn math and physics with new interactive exhibits. Through Sept. 13. $6.50-$4.50. Austin Children’s Museum, 201 Colorado St. 472-2499, www.austinkids.org. ImaginOcean. A one-of-a-kind live black-light puppet show that takes place in the ocean. 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9. $13. One World Theatre, 7701 Bee Cave Road. 329-6753, www.oneworldtheatre.org Sesame Street Live “Elmo Makes Music.” Jenny, the new music teacher, arrives on Sesame Street to discover the…

  • Start whistling, Globetrotters are in town

    25 Jan 2012 | 9:13 am
    The Harlem Globetrotters will be hooping it up on Friday at 7 p.m. the Erwin Center. Tickets are $15 to $115. Find out more at uterwincenter.com This year’s rookie team includes three 7-foot-tall players: Paul “Tiny” Sturgess, Jermaine “Stretch” Middleton and Anthony “Biggie” McClain. Sturgess, at 7-foot-8 is the tallest Globetrotter ever. The new Globetrotters also feature the top three finishers from this year’s College Slam Dunk Contest, including the reigning champ Jacob “Hops” Tucker. At 5 feet 10 inches tall, Tucker sports a…

  • Kid-friendly music festival this weekend

    25 Jan 2012 | 9:03 am
    Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Dougherty Arts Center at 1110 Barton Springs Road becomes a place for traditional music from around the world. The Austin Friends of Traditional Music offers this schedule of performers: 12 pm Austin Mandolin Orchestra 1 pm Blue Buckskin Whinchers (old time and more) 2 pm Yuan Li Chang (Gu Zheng/Ancient Chinese Harp) 3 pm Agbadza Sogo (African drummers) 4 pm Hem & Haw (vintage honky tonk/bluegrass) 5 pm Fiddlisa (international) 6 pm 3rd Rail (bluegrass) 7 pm Good Old Timers with caller Sharon Isaac, square dance! 8 pm Hays County Gals and Pals (old time…
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    Salsa Verde

  • Spicewood Beach down to a few days of water, LCRA says

    24 Jan 2012 | 4:27 pm
    The well serving about 1,100 people around Spicewood Beach in Burnet County is estimated to run out of water in just a few days, the water system’s owner, the Lower Colorado River Authority, said today. The well level has been steadily dropping since the summer, the LCRA has said, due to prolonged drought conditions. On Monday, the LCRA said the well had two to three weeks of water remaining, but on Tuesday said that the well level dropped 1.3 feet overnight, after falling one foot over the past week. The LCRA moved the water system, which serves homes and businesses in the communities…

  • LCRA publishes proposed water plan, recommends more flexible management

    24 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    The Lower Colorado River Authority posted its proposed water management plan this morning, a 226-page document that details how the river authority that provides water for cities including Austin will manage it’s supplies in the future. The plan would allow more flexible management of the river basin by the LCRA, such as setting separate triggers for allocating water to downstream rice farmers’ first and seconds crops. The current plan allocates water for rice farmers based on a Jan. 1 trigger point. (Emergency actions by the LCRA allowed them to break from the current plan and…

  • LCRA: Spicewood Beach wells have two to three weeks of water remaining

    23 Jan 2012 | 5:43 pm
    The wells supplying water for about 1,100 residents near Spicewood Beach in Burnet County are at risk of running dry in two to three weeks because of prolonged drought conditions. The Lower Colorado River Authority, which owns and operates the wells that serve Spicewood Elementary School as well as homes and businesses in the communities of Spicewood Beach, Lakeside Beach, Lake Oaks and Eagle Bluff, is asking customers to “immediately reduce water use and to limit water use to absolutely necessary functions.” The LCRA said in a statement that it plans on trucking in water to fill…

  • LCRA pledges to increase water supply by 100,000 acre-feet

    18 Jan 2012 | 10:52 am
    The Lower Colorado River Authority’s general manager said in today’s board meeting that she plans to secure 100,000 acre-feet of new water supply by 2017. The LCRA currently has a maximum reservoir storage of 2.01 million acre-feet, but under the current drought, the LCRA’s two main reservoirs, lakes Travis and Buchanan, have 738,000 acre-feet of water. The new supply of water would be enough to supply roughly 300,000 households with water for a year or almost one-tenth the maximum storage of Lake Travis. “The basin, for its own economic help, has got to have new…

  • LCRA to publish proposed water plan revision next week

    17 Jan 2012 | 5:59 pm
    The Lower Colorado River Authority’s revised water management plan will be published next week, Jan. 24, Suzanne Zarling, the LCRA’s executive manager for integrated resource planning, said today. The plan will be posted on LCRA.org and folks can submit comments on the plan via email until Feb. 9. The LCRA board will likely vote on the plan at the Feb. 22 regular Board of Directors meeting, where people can comment on the plan in person. The new plan would place an annual limit on water for farmers and use separate triggers for providing water for rice farmers’ first and…
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    The Blotter

  • Police investigating traffic fatality on Springdale Road

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:32 pm
    Austin police are investigating a traffic fatality tonight on Springdale Road. A man riding a moped was killed in a collision between his vehicle and a 2004 Ford pickup truck, police said. Police said they were notified about the collision in the 1000 block of Springdale Road at 9:11 p.m. Further details were not yet available.

  • Police seek help in identifying copper thieves

    27 Jan 2012 | 3:59 pm
    FROM THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT: The Austin Police Department’s Burglary Unit is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying suspects stealing copper from rooftops of businesses. Since late August thieves have been climbing on the rooftops of businesses in large strip centers. They have cut and stolen over $10,000 in copper tubing from air conditioning systems. Detectives believe that several suspects described as White and Hispanic males act as legitimate servicemen with various company logos on their shirts and/or vehicles. The vehicles that have been seen are a white van,…

  • Gas smell in S. Austin not a concern, official says

    27 Jan 2012 | 11:17 am
    A Fire Department official said this morning that there is no gas leak in South Austin, despite many 911 callers reporting the smell of natural gas. Department spokesman Palmer Buck said it appears that the compound used to odorize gas was either spilled or that too much was used at the plant. Fire officials are working with Texas Gas to confirm, he said. Residents do not need to call 911 unless they smell gas inside a structure, Buck said.

  • Driver ticketed in Del Valle school bus crash

    27 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am
    Update: Police say they have ticketed the driver of an SUV who triggered a rear-end collision with a Del Valle school bus, an Austin police official said. That driver, who has not yet been identified, was cited with failure to maintain assured clear distance, the official said. 10 p.m. update: Emergency service officials now say 20 people were injured, including 13 students, in a Del Valle school bus crash with two other vehicles. Seven ambulances were used to take the injured to area hospitals, officials said. All injuries were considered minor, officials said. Earlier: A Del Valle school…

  • Police: 'Prime suspect' in Esme Barrera slaying found dead

    26 Jan 2012 | 7:45 pm
    UPDATE 7:45 P.M. James Loren Brown was found dead in his home in the 3000 block of Guadalupe Street on Jan. 12, blocks away from where three women were attacked early New Year’s Day, said police Cmdr. Julie O’Brien. One of those was Esme Barrera, a special education assistant teacher who was killed after someone broke into her home in the 3100 block of King Street. “Although I am not going to say definitively that the suspect … is absolutely the murderer of (Esme) Barrera, we are prepared to say he is a prime suspect,” Chief Art Acevedo said at a news conference…
 
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    The Goods

  • Rev shopping engines - Le Garage is back

    26 Jan 2012 | 9:16 am
    The fabulous fashion extravaganza known as Le Garage Sale is back and is christening a new venue. CREDIT: Rodolfo Gonzalez AMERICAN-STATESMAN Each year, local boutiques set up shop in a huge marketplace offering new inventory with drastically marked down prices. Serious shoppers show up at Le Garage Sale before the doors open Saturday. Many go for the extra savings on Sunday when many retailers mark prices even lower. This year’s participating stores include Adelante, By George, C.Jane, Bootleg, DuO, Edge Boutique, Kendra Scott, Sanctuary and many more. Enjoy a full bar and food and…

  • Don't be afraid to incorporate Tangerine Tango into your wardrobe

    19 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am
    Austin personal stylist Edith Henry gave us so many helpful hints for our story on the vibrant, reddish-orange, we couldn’t fit them all in print. Here’s to incorporating tangerine tango into your 2012 wardrobe! Statesman: “Many people don’t attempt to add orange to their wardrobe — thinking it won’t look good on them. (I’ve heard this from men especially.) As an orange-lover yourself, do you think tangerine tango is a tough color to pull off? Who looks good in it? Can anyone wear it?” Henry: “I am a huge fan of orange, you’re right!

  • Target unveils Jason Wu limited-edition collection

    17 Jan 2012 | 2:05 pm
    Ladies, prepare yourselves for another Target stampede February 5. Jason Wu’s collection of feminine pieces with a nostalgic nod to the 1960s is certain to attract hordes of Target’s loyal frugal fashionistas. A relative newcomer to the fashion scene, Jason Wu debuted his ready-to-wear collection in 2006 to much acclaim. He’s known for dressing luminaries like First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Natalie Portman — Wu recently dressed Michelle Williams for the Golden Globes. Wu was a finalist in the 2008 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and won the 2010 CFDA Swarovski Award for…

  • Eliza Page celebrates seven years with surprise city proclamation

    15 Dec 2011 | 1:02 pm
    Austin jewelry store Eliza Page celebrated its seventh birthday last week by hosting a shindig for loyal customers and various members of the community. However, the City of Austin had a surprise birthday gift for owner Elizabeth Gibson. Austin City Council member Mike Martinez appeared at the celebration, with proclamation in hand, declaring December 7 as Eliza Page Seventh Anniversary Day. In the proclamation, Mayor Lee Leffingwell noted Gibson’s support of local artists as a great example of a small, locally-owned business helping the downtown business district thrive. Gibson has…

  • Fill your 2012 social calendar with 250 Austin events

    13 Dec 2011 | 1:08 pm
    Not a month, weekend or even a day goes by without some sort of festival, art show or community get-together taking place in Austin. That’s why you’ve continued to tout the Capital City as one of the best places to live, right? It’s hard keeping an up-to-date events calendar on your own. Since 2007, Austinite Mike Stefanik’s spreadsheet-turned-calendar of Austin’s best events has served as a go-to guide for even the most well-informed Austinites. The 2012 Austin Events Calendar has more than 250 verified events including outdoor events, free events, food fests…
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    Statesman Business Blog

  • Chamber names 2011 Volunteers of the Year

    26 Jan 2012 | 1:50 pm
    The Austin Chamber of Commerce has selected eight Central Texas business leaders as its 2011 Volunteers of the Year. They’ll be honored Wednesday at the chamber’s annual meeting, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hilton Austin Hotel, 500 E. Fourth St. Volunteer of the Year recipients are: Regional infrastructure and development: Joe Cantalupo, area manager at Parsons Brinckerhoff, was on the chamber’s 2011 Transportation Executive Committee, and has worked to track commuter trends in Central Texas. Government relations: David Reiter, general counsel at Luminex, was…

  • Progressive to hire 185 workers in Austin

    26 Jan 2012 | 10:23 am
    Progressive Car Insurance plans to add 185 jobs in Austin as it expands its local claims and customer service operation. The new positions will be in sales, service and claims at Progressive’s contact center, which is off East Ben White Boulevard. The Austin hires are part of a national expansion for Progressive, which announced plans for a total of 1,100 new hires in customer service and sales. In addition to Austin, it’s adding 65 in Phoenix, 129 in Colorado Springs, Colo., 390 in Tampa, Fla. and 337 in Cleveland. Progressive is the fourth-largest auto insurer in the nation,…

  • NetSpend to sell prepaid debit cards at 7-Eleven stores

    25 Jan 2012 | 9:47 am
    In a move that further expands it reach, Austin-based NetSpend Holdings Inc. said it has signed an agreement to sell its Visa prepaid cards at 5,000 7-Eleven stores nationwide. The agreement, announced Wednesday, marks NetSpend’s largest retail distribution deal to date. It builds on another partnership with 7-Eleven, announced in November, which allowed NetSpend users to reload their cards at 7-Eleven stores. Founded in 1999, NetSpend sells prepaid debit cards and other financial services, targeting consumers who do not have traditional bank accounts but want an option other than cash…

  • Silicon Labs reports strong Q4 revenue

    25 Jan 2012 | 6:52 am
    Austin’s Silicon Laboratories Inc. finished 2011 with an upsurge revenue tied to increased sales of television-related chips and touch-screen controllers for mobile handsets, among other products. The company reported a profit of $12.8 million, or 29 cents a share, based on revenue of $126.7 million, which was up 13 percent from the same quarter a year ago. A year ago, the company made a $12.9 million profit on revenue of $111.9 million. The company’s non-GAAP earnings of $21.4 million, or 49 cents a share, were considerably above analysts’ consensus estimates of 43 cents.

  • AMD posts Q4 loss

    24 Jan 2012 | 3:39 pm
    Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reported a net loss of $177 million for the fourth quarter after taking one-time losses related to restructuring charges and an impairment of its investment in the GlobalFoundries Inc. spinoff. The company reported revenue for the quarter of $1.69 billion, which was up 2 percent from the same quarter a year ago. The results compared with a profit of $375 million on revenue of $1.65 billion from the same quarter a year ago. Its non-GAAP earnings of $138 million, or 19 cents a share, was ahead of analysts’ estimates of 16 cents. The company said it expects a…
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    Varsity News

  • Lake Travis football No. 3

    27 Jan 2012 | 5:13 pm
    The Lake Travis football team is No. 3 in the Texas Football magazine Class 5A preseason poll, released on Friday. Dave Campbell’s TF magazine picked Dallas Skyline and Southlake Carroll as 1-2 in the poll. Lake Travis, coming off a record five straight state championships — all in 4A — will be in 5A next year. The magazine chose Lake Travis QB Baker Mayfield as 2011 Newcomer of the Year in 4A. Colin Lagasse, who played six positions last season, was named Region IV Player of the Year. As for next season, Leander, which moves down to 4A, is selected No. 6 in the initial…

  • Six Texans earn spots on TSWA all-state team

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:44 am
    Brennen Blakemore has added two more accomplishments to his resume. Blakemore earned two spots on the Texas Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A all-state team on Thursday. A senior and three-year letterman at Wimberley, Blakemore was honored as a second team wide receiver and a third team kick returner. This season, Blakemore had 56 receptions, 1,206 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns catches on offense, four interceptions on defense and two special teams touchdowns. After Wimberley’s 21-14 win over Argyle in the Class 3A, Division II championship game, Blakemore was named the…

  • Prepped And Ready: New Coaches, New Challenges

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    What’s up world? How is everybody doing this morning? Are you having fun on this relaxing Friday morning? Well, enjoy the calm before the storm since Signing Day is scheduled for next Wednesday and realignment is set for Thursday. Man, I just started sweating thinking about the back-to-back combination of Signing Day and realignment. OK Danny, take some deep breaths and let’s get onto this blog. NEWS FROM ACROSS THE STATE Kerrville coach expected to go to Judson (via the San Antonio Express-News). Franklin High retires jerseys to honor brothers (via the El Paso Times). State…

  • Hendrickson football standout added to Team USA roster

    26 Jan 2012 | 9:20 am
    After he decides what college he wants to play for, Daje Johnson will have a chance to play for his country. Johnson, a senior at Hendrickson High, has been added to Team USA’s roster for next week’s International Bowl. Listed as a wide receiver on the roster, Johnson joins Wimberley wide receiver Brennen Blakemore, Cedar Park defensive back Zach Espinosa and Hays offensive lineman Boone Feldt on the 49-man roster. This past season, Johnson rushed for over 2,000 yards and he also scored three times on special teams. Johnson was one of two running backs to earn All-Central Texas…

  • Lexington trio joins Rogers' Weir on TSWA all-state team

    26 Jan 2012 | 8:41 am
    District 12-2A, Division II rivals became teammates on Wednesday after the Texas Sports Writers Association’s Class 2A all-state football team was announced. Lexington senior offensive lineman Will Holcomb, junior defensive lineman Todd Glass and senior linebacker Antonio Washington made the first team on the all-state team, which was voted on by media members from across the state. Joining Holcomb, Glass and Washington on the first team was Rogers senior running back Cody Weir. This season, Holcomb had 42 pancake blocks and he did not allow a sack while Glass and Washington combined…
 
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    Weather Watch

  • Sunny, mild Friday followed by cold front tonight

    27 Jan 2012 | 7:33 am
    Central Texas has another sunny and mild day on tap before a dry, cold front moves into the region tonight and bringing us a shot at chilly weekend temps. Today’s high will be 71, followed by a low of 42 as a front moves in, the National Weather Service said. On Saturday, our high will be 55, followed by a low of 33, the service said. On Sunday, we’ll see temps rise slightly with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s.

  • Bluebonnet Electric working to repair outages

    26 Jan 2012 | 7:04 am
    From Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative: Crews from Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative continue working to repair damage caused by yesterday’s severe storms. At 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Bluebonnet reported 18 outages affecting 180 members, primarily in the Washington County area where the strongest storms caused the most damage. “We greatly appreciate our members’ patience while our crews continue working around the clock to restore power,” said Mark Rose, Bluebonnet’s general manager. “The storms that blew through late Tuesday and early Wednesday were the most severe…

  • A new day for Central Texas: sunny and mild weather

    26 Jan 2012 | 6:52 am
    What a difference a day makes: Central Texas is in for a sunny and mild day. Today’s high will be 65, while our low will be 50 degrees, the National Weather Service said. There’s a slight, 20 percent chance for rain, the service said. This weekend is expected to be mostly sunny, with highs in the low 60s. It’s a dramatic shift from yesterday’s deluge of rain that flooded roadways and triggered water rescues across the region. Camp Mabry posted a daily rainfall total of 3.16 inches, while Austin-Bergstrom International Airport saw a record 5.66 inches. The service also…

  • Helicopter rescues under way; update on damage from tornado in Northeast Austin

    25 Jan 2012 | 7:00 pm
    9 p.m. update: A STAR Flight rescue helicopter from Travis County has landed on a drilling rig near Lexington, northeast of Austin, to rescue 14 people trapped by rising water, STAR Flight spokesman Glenn Anderson said late Wednesday. Lee County’s command post made the report about 8 p.m. The helicopter had just completed another rescue of a man from a car in Luling, southeast of Austin in Caldwell County, Anderson said. No weather-related incidents have been reported in Travis County, according to the Austin Fire Department. 4 p.m. update: At Commercial Park Drive in Northeast Austin,…

  • Road closures, school delays in Central Texas

    25 Jan 2012 | 11:30 am
    School delays | Travis County road closures | Hays County closures | Williamson County road closures | Bastrop County road closures School delays • Bastrop schools canceled classes today • The San Marcos CISD started school at 10 am today. Buses ran 2 hours late. • Elgin ISD will have a 2 hour delay. • Manor ISD had a 1 hour delay. • Pflugerville ISD: Elementary school ran 2 hours behind. Middle school and high school buses did not run this morning. Reported road closures as of 7:39 a.m. Travis County • Ross Road at Pearce Lane • 6345 Joe Tanner…
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    Austin Arts: Seeing Things

  • John Cage here, John Cage there -- Cage everywhere

    27 Jan 2012 | 11:46 am
    Groundbreaking composer John Cage would have turned 100 this year. And hopefully he would have been thrilled that his innovative compositions are getting star treatment by younger artists, particularly in Austin. This spring, Austin has a flurry of performances of Cage’s still avant-garde music. ‘Matrices & Entropy’ Music for percussion & electronics by Cage, Pluta and Vinjar featuring Line Upon Line Line upon Line percussion ensemble will play the rarely performed Cage piece ‘Variations II’ (1961). Written for any number of musicians and any number of…

  • Review: Trouble Puppet's 'Crapstall St. Boys'

    25 Jan 2012 | 4:27 pm
    With thunder in the sky and grimly funny stories on the stage, this year’s Frontera Fest Long Fringe is off to a mischievous start. Trouble Puppet Theater is up to its usual hijinks, providing a piece of biting social commentary wrapped in a cloak of adorable puppets. Creator and director Connor Hopkins’ new macabre fairy tale, “Crapstall St. Boys,” is decidedly in the vein of Edward Gorey and Lemony Snicket. The events in this play are anything but fortunate - which isn’t to say they aren’t delightful, but that may depend on your sense of humor and your…

  • In East Austin, Ink Tank Lab art collective celebrates 'Last New Year'

    24 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm
    Rogue pictures of it have already made the rounds of Facebook. And rubber-necking drivers along E. 11th St./Rosewood Ave. have nearly collided while gawking at it. The stream of found lumber gushing out of a worn bungalow at 1319 Rosewood Avenue is Chris Burch’s contribution to “Last New Year,” a temporary site-specific project by emerging art collective Ink Tank Lab. The 10-member Austin-based collective has occupied the spacious empty bungalow, a donated privately-owned space that also served as a location for the Texas Biennial last year. For “Last New Year”…

  • Review: Golden Hornet Project's 'Fugitive Visions'

    23 Jan 2012 | 6:43 pm
    Golden Hornet Project basically told Sergei Prokofiev, “Thanks for the melodies,” and then brought a New Orleans style jazz stomp right on top of the Russian composer’s head. Ten years ago, almost to the day, since they first played it, Graham Reynolds and Peter Stopschinski’s composing project took on Prokofiev’s “Visions Fugitives,” at Spiderhouse’s 29th Street Ballroom. In 1917, young Prokofiev published twenty short piano experiments, a stunning collection that tinker with dissonant harmonies, ungainly melodies and silence. Like a…

  • Review: Conspirare's 'Whitacre & Lewis'

    23 Jan 2012 | 1:02 pm
    In January, when most of the city’s arts programs are waking up from a mid-winter’s nap, Conspirare is chomping at the bit, with fierce programs that take over entire weekends. Last year, Craig Hella Johnson and company were racing out of the gate with a supremely ambitious mini festival of Renaissance and Baroque music, hours upon hours of material.This year the pace slowed only slightly. The choir’s weekend was booked with four concerts of Joby Talbot’s “Path of Miracles,” but they also managed to sneak in a single concert of U.S. premieres of work by…
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    Austin Movie Blog

  • High-profile picks at Sundance

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:09 pm
    Stephen Jannise, the film program director for the Austin Film Festival, is attending the Sundance Film Festival and is filing reports. Here’s the latest, from Friday, 01/27. Over the course of 10 days at Sundance, certain films with great word of mouth become hot tickets, making it very difficult to get into the additional screenings for those films. This is particularly the case with two films, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and “The Surrogate,” which generated a great deal of chatter on the streets of Park City after their initial screenings. Don’t worry…

  • Sundance update

    24 Jan 2012 | 5:16 pm
    Certain films are starting to pick up buzz at Sundance, sending audiences into a frenzy for tickets and distributors into bidding wars for the chance to put their name on the next “Like Crazy” or “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” But the films aren’t the only things making news. From angry Q&As to the loss of a beloved industry veteran, emotions have been running high in the past few days. “Compliance” has enjoyed very solid word-of-mouth with the added bonus of contentious Q&As, suggesting that the film will be a surefire conversation starter. When…

  • Producer with Austin ties gets Best Picture Oscar nomination for 'The Help'

    24 Jan 2012 | 11:01 am
    “The Help” received four nominations, including a best picture nomination for producer Brunson Green. A graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Green, who has a home in Austin, began his film career in Austin working on the Bill Witliff-penned “Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life.” Green said he, “The Help” actress Octavia Spencer, who received a best supporting actress nomination, and executive producer Tate Taylor had a slumber party Monday night and watched the nomination announcement together on Tuesday morning. “Whatever happens, we…

  • Oscars 2012: An early summary with Austin perspective

    24 Jan 2012 | 9:25 am
    Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” which was filmed in Smithville and Central Texas, earned three Oscar nominations on Tuesday for best picture, director and cinematography. The impressionistic tale about family life became the first Texas film to win the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May, but the movie divided audiences, and its nominations for best picture and director were considered longshots. “Bullhead,” a Belgian tale that was a hit at Austin’s Fantastic Fest, was one of five nominees for best foreign language film.

  • Oscars 2012: Cinematography

    24 Jan 2012 | 8:58 am
    “The Tree of Life” ended up with three nominations Tuesday. In addition to best picture and best director nods for Terrence Malick, Emmanuel Lubezki was nominated for best cinematography. The other nominees for cinematography are: Guillaume Schiffman for “The Artist”; Jeff Chenoweth for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”; Robert Richardson for “Hugo”; and Janusz Kaminski for “War Horse.”
 
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    Austin Music Source

  • Radiohead ACL taping set for March 6

    26 Jan 2012 | 1:49 pm
    As previously announced, Radiohead will tape an episode of “Austin City Limits” when the band is in town for their March 7 show at the Erwin Center. ACL announced Thursday that the taping will take place March 6. The announcement also said there will be a public ticket giveaway, which usually happens on the ACL blog a week or so before the show. The Shins, the Civil Wars and Rodrigo y Gabriela and C.U.B.A. will also be taping episodes for ACL’s upcoming season.

  • Weekend picks: Tia Carrera, Twin Sister and Ted Leo's shows for Esme

    26 Jan 2012 | 12:33 pm
    (Cody Duty AMERICAN-STATESMAN) FRIDAY Tia Carrera, A Giant Dog at Beerland. A stellar local bill, this. The headliner’s been cranking out improvisational psychedelic rock for most of the 21st century, the opener is one of the Austin’s best rising rock bands and this is their record release show for their debut album. 10 p.m. $6. 711 Red River St. beerlandtexas.com. — Joe Gross Also playing:Mutemath at Stubb’s K-NACK 20th Anniversary Reunion Party with Sixteen Deluxe, Sincola at ND Ingebrigt Haker Flaten CD release at Skinny’s Ballroom Beauty Ballroom Grand…

  • Tonight's picks: Franny & Zooey, Lola Cola, Riders Against the Storm

    26 Jan 2012 | 6:33 am
    Franny & Zooey at the Mohawk. Guitar and drums blues duo Jordan Webster, aka Mrs. Glass, and Eric Green look to Robert Johnson, Son House, and R.L. Burnside for music inspiration. With the Shivery Shakes. 9 p.m. $6 912 Red River St. mohawkaustin.com Also playing:Lola Cola, Smithers at Beerland 11:11, Boy, Final Exam, Three Leaf, GoGo Beware, Halaska at the Parish Riders Against the Storm, the White White Lights at Lamberts Whiskey Shivers, the Navasota String Band, Uncle Lady at Hole in the Wall

  • Chris Isaak to tape PBS special at ACL Live Feb. 13

    25 Jan 2012 | 10:19 am
    “Wicked Game” singer Chris Isaak will perform songs from his recent album, “Beyond the Sun,” which celebrates the music of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and others who recorded at Memphis’ famous Sun Studio, along with some of his other hits for a PBS special on Feb. 13, ACL Live announced Wednesday. Wanda Jackson will open the show. Tickets for the event are $39-$58 and go on sale at noon this Friday, Jan. 27, through acl-live.com.

  • Death Cab for Cutie to play ACL Live

    25 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am
    Death Cab for Cutie performing with The Magik*Magik Orchestra is scheduled to play Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater on Friday, May 4th, 2012. Youth Lagoon will open. Tickets go on sale Friday, Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. Special Transmission Entertainment presale on Thursday at 10 a.m. More info.
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    Digital Savant

  • The Linkdown for Friday, Jan. 27

    27 Jan 2012 | 1:01 pm
    The Linkdown was amused, but mostly disturbed, by the “Simpsons” episode where everybody crashed their cars because they were posting on SpringFace, a social network created by Lisa Simpsons (with help from Nelson and some computer geeks). Watch that and then check out these important events, links and SXSW Interactive news: Events: Data Privacy Day is tomorrow, but you’d know that if you had hacked into my computer earlier. Accessibility Internet Rally, a web design competition, is open for registration. Deadline for submitting a URL is Feb. 15. Geek Bowl trivia is coming…

  • Google+ and Pinterest: two very different, fast-growing social networks

    26 Jan 2012 | 3:38 pm
    Google+ Pinterest When you think of online social networks, the names that tend to come up are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and, perhaps, Tumblr. Two fast-growing social networks are poised to join that list. Google+, a network launched by search behemoth Google last summer, already has 90 million users and, some estimates suggest, could reach 400 milllion by the end of 2012. Pinterest, a much more niche network where people can post images of things they like (clothes, products, hairstyles), has had a scorching run the last two months, with about 17 million page views in January as of this…

  • Sims get sexy in 'Master Suite' update

    24 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am
    New video games this week: “The Sims 3: Master Suite Stuff.” — Most add-on packs for the long-running “Sims” franchise involve vacationing, pets, outdoor living and other seemingly trivial items. But EA Games is apparently bringing sexy back with this collection of romantic relaxation aids like virtual candles, a canopy bed and sets of lingerie and sleepwear for both female and male Sims. For those who use “The Sims” games as little more than excuses to plot out elaborate soap operas using digital dolls, this is the update for you. Rated T for Teen.

  • Keeping your info secure in the wake of the Zappos.com breach

    23 Jan 2012 | 11:53 am
    This week’s Digital Savant column in the Austin American-Statesman is about protecting your identity and knowing your options if your personal data is ever breached on a website or service you with which you do business. (And, in all likelihood, it’ll happen sooner or later.) A recent hacking attack on Zappos.com brought the topic up again after a large number of attacks last year on a variety of entertainment, banking and government websites. Austin has quite a few Internet security and ID theft-related companies and we spoke to two of them for the column. You can read the full…

  • SOPA officially shelved... but what comes next?

    20 Jan 2012 | 4:20 pm
    So, this happened and in large part caused this to happen today. There’s nothing like a chorus of all the people with the loudest megaphones telling you you’re wrong to change your mind about something (or at least cause you to see the writing on the wall and retreat). But, while technologists have flexed their muscle in proving they can block political change they find repugnant, the underlying issues haven’t been fixed. Media companies still are at their wits’ end over piracy, there are those in the government who want more control over the unruly Internet (they…
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    Out & About

  • Epic Reception at Delta Millworks

    26 Jan 2012 | 4:15 pm
    The Hill Country Conservancy just might have the coolest group for its young leaders. Epic organizes regular hikes, bikes, camp outs, fly fishing, hikes and other healthy outings. All this to support the nonprofit that helps preserve the Hill County, in part by purchasing conservation rights from ranchers, which allows families to continue as stewards of the land, but nixes future heavy development. (Why wasn’t this around 30 or 40 years ago?) Grace Hsieh and Casey Martinez Even a little Austin happy hour for Epic turns magical. A couple hundred people showed up at Delta Millworks, a…

  • Ronald Reagan Dinner for Travis County Republican Party at AT&T Center

    25 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm
    Social columnists love politicians. Especially shy social columnists, like me. Politicians can turn a conversation on a dime. And they like questions. Even from the press. They can’t help it. John and Ruby Alaniz The Ronald Reagan Dinner for the Travis County Republican Party took place at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center. Smaller than the Johnson-Bentsen-Richards Dinner for the Travis County Democratic Party at the Four Seasons Hotel the previous week, it blended a range of ages, dress and customs. Andy Barclay, Megan Hamilton and Will Hamilton The honoree was…

  • Rattle Inn Preview Party

    24 Jan 2012 | 7:26 am
    Live music is back — big time — on West Sixth Street. Monday, the Rattle Inn opened with a grand party that included a set by Asleep at the Wheel, co-owner Ray Benson’s act and pretty much the house band. Media and local celebrities rubbed elbows, as all three of the club’s spaces filled to the delight of Benson and his partners, Kevin Williamson and Matt Luckie. Kevin Williamson and Ava Late Luckie and Williamson are old nightlife hands, having opened their share of bars, clubs and restaurants in multiple entertainment districts. They were still putting finishing…

  • Profile: Gigi Edwards Bryant

    23 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pm
    Austin businesswoman Gigi Edwards Bryant visited her brother, Charles Henry Rector, every day the week before he was executed in 1999. “He told me more and more about his life,” Bryant remembers. “He believed society had no place for him, and he encouraged me to never give up.” Austin native Bryant never did. Even though she endured sexual assaults, teen pregnancy, separation from her mother at age 6, and a nomadic youth spent in 20 foster homes, she believes that the Texas system dedicated to abused and neglected kids, the one that swallowed up Bryant and her three…

  • Hitting the high spots on an Austin Saturday

    22 Jan 2012 | 1:26 pm
    What an evening. It started at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza next to Highland Mall. I arrived expecting the Firefighters Ball. No sign of it. The desk clerk informed me that male strippers were performing in one ballroom. Not the right event. Turned out that the actual Firefighters Ball, which raises money for scholarships, returns to the same hotel on Feb. 8. Sandy Abel and Steve Redman So I slowly headed down to West Sixth Street to cover the opening of an exhibition at Lytle Pressley Contemporary. Lytle Pressley surged ahead of the curve a few years ago, selling high-end, high-design…
 
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    TV and Radio Blog

  • 62 UT baseball, softball games to air on Longhorn Network

    27 Jan 2012 | 1:08 pm
    More than 60 University of Texas baseball and softball games will air exclusively on the Longhorn Network this season. Through May, LHN will broadcast 32 baseball games and 30 softball games, the network announced this week. The first telecast, the UT alumni game, is Saturday at 1 p.m, preceded by a 90-minute edition of “Longhorn GameDay” that begins at 11:30 a.m. The game will feature Brandon Belt, James Russell, Huston Street and Drew Stubbs. Roger Clemens and Brooks Kieschnick will serve as coaches. Next up on LHN is a three-game series against Duke Feb. 17, 18 and 19. LHN host…

  • Tie for Austin's most-played song

    26 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm
    Ladies and gents, we’ve got a tie. Ryan Adams: Sliding down the charts Rihanna’s “We Found Love” and Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling” were both heard 230 times on local stations Jan. 19-25, according to AllAccess.com. Both songs saw huge increases in airtime on Beat 102.3; “Feeling” had 49 more spins than the previous week, while “Love” had an increase of 51. Moving up the charts: Florence + the Machine’s “Shake it Out,” Gofye’s “Someone That I Used to Know,” DJ Khaled’s “I’m On…

  • New morning show debuts on Austin's Greatest Hits

    23 Jan 2012 | 5:06 pm
    There’s a new morning show on Austin’s airwaves. Bo Chase Bo Chase is now helming the wakeup shift on 98.9 FM Austin’s Greatest Hits, a station focused on oldies from the 1960s and ’70s. He debuted today in the 6 to 10 a.m. timeslot. This isn’t Chase’s first time on Central Texas radio, though. He was part of the “Bo and Bama” show on Z102 from 1990 to 1994, and has been heard on several other frequencies here in town, as well as stations in Peoria, Ill.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Kansas City, Mo. “We’ve been working hard to tailor this…

  • Comings, goings at KUT-FM

    22 Jan 2012 | 4:42 pm
    A pair of familiar voices will no longer be heard on KUT-FM. Nathan Bernier “Morning Edition” producer and backup host Crystal Chavez, a five-year veteran, headed to San Antonio earlier this month to serve as “Morning Edition” host for Texas Public Radio. Ian Crawford, the station’s news editor, has also departed, bound for Washington, D.C. He’ll serve as a community engagement project coordinator for AmeriCorps VISTA, a program designed to combat poverty. “This was an opportunity to get out of the newsroom and to face the challenge of day-to-day…

  • This week's TV picks

    22 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am
    Monday: “The Bachelor” 7 p.m., ABC: Bachelor Ben and his 13 suitors visit Park City, Utah. Maybe he’ll propose to all of them. “American Masters” 9 p.m., PBS: Protest singer Phil Ochs gets the documentary treatment as Joan Baez and other folkies offer commentary. Tuesday: “State of the Union Address” 8 p.m., all broadcast and many cable news networks: Would you like the bad news or the good news first? Bad news? This speech preempts “New Girl.” The good news? It also means no new “Celebrity Wife Swap.” Wednesday: “Are You…
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