A YouTube posting of a May K-EYE investigative report on Texas lawmakers voting multiple times for each other has caught fire after BoingBoing posted about it this morning. The comments range from outrage to people who know it goes on and shrug their shoulders.

The point of the report is that it’s a little hypocritical of Rep. Debbie Riddle to introduce voter integrity legislation when she can’t be trusted to adhere to the voting rules in the Texas House. Of course, she’s a Republican, a party with a long tradition of howling for voter integrity which ultimately means voter suppression.

I doubt we’ll hear from any legislators themselves, though I’d bet that if you asked any of them, they’d admit to the practice. Anybody work at the legislature and want to elaborate on this? No big deal? Is this just a result of a broken system? I’ll ask my Rep., Eddie Rodriguez, the next time I see him. It seems like half of the stuff that’s passed through the US House and Senate is never even read by the people voting for it.

This is a picture taken inside the Erwin Center without a flash. Those people are all wearing red, not burnt orange. Hoping to hear the Ohio State band, we walked from the East Side, went under the overpass, and headed up to the Erwin Center, in a stream of others doing the same thing. Many Longhorn fans were comfortable outdoors in chairs set out under their EZ-ups. We saw a pair of the red-wearing carrying as much Bud Lite as they could. All those they met who were also wearing red asked where they’d found the refreshment. We walked right in to the Erwin Center without being asked to present a ticket. On a big screen were being shown past Ohio State games. There were racks of T-shirts for sale. The refreshment lines, and the restroom lines as well, were very long. A kindly Buckeye informed us that the band had come and gone well before five o’clock, so we headed east again, where most of the neighbors had blocked their driveways with folding chairs to keep the riffraff from parking there. Among the several limousines spotted was the second Hummer limo I’ve ever seen; the first was in the movie Quinceanera.

On evenings when the Congress Avenue bridge isn’t blockaded for a bat-themed Pecan St. Festival knock-off, it is simply one of Austin’s better-known tourist destinations. Last night’s visitors were treated to a bat feeding exodus under a full moon, delightfully recreating the opening splash for the old Scooby-Doo cartoon.

Technically last night’s lunar event was the Corn Moon, which sounds much less appealing than the traditional September Harvest Moon, but nonetheless seemed appropriate to host wierdness along the bridge. After a short bat-free lull, APD closed the bridge for the immigration rights demonstration making its way from the Capitol. The presence of a couple hundred chanting Latinos came as quite a shock to some, not least the Ohio State fans who could only interpret this as a rogue UT plot to toss their Buckeye asses over the rails. A few wayward SoCo revelers got caught up in the mix, and appeared surprised that nobody was offering them a margarita. The parade demonstration ultimately steered West down Barton Springs, relieving the pent-up traffic along Congress and depriving observers of a full-on First Thursday juxtaposition.

The hubbub quickly died down and the bridge returned to what passes for normal on a First Thursday. The Mexican Freetail Bats went about their business, unfazed by tourists and protests. It makes you wonder how such hardy creatures would ever need saving, unless they’re particularly sensitive to a proliferation of gratuitous shindigs thrown in their honor.

Too many new stories today not to start a new post:

• The Statesman has an article with a lot of good discussion, The Forgetting: 40 years later, the story of the Tower sniper has grown hazy at UT.

• KVUE has an interview with Ramiro Martinez
• A story from the Wichita Eagle
• News8Austin has an interview with KTBC photographer, Gordon Wilkison, who filmed during the event for the only television station in town at the time.
• KEYE has a compilation of KTBC radio coverage from that day.
• Burnt Orange Report’s Karl-Thomas posts his weekly column which focuses on the tower this time.
• Daily Texan, of course, has several articles today.

Check out Part 1 and Part 2.

I wrote last week about tomorrow being the 40th anniversary of the UT Tower Shooting. I’ve been updating that post periodically over the past week as new posts have cropped up. I’ve got a few more today:

• K-EYE reports on a retired APD officer who auctioned off one of Whitman’s bullets over the weekend and it sold for $250k. So, if I’ve got this right, an APD officer stole a piece of evidence and then decided to auction it off 40 years later to make himself $250k. Neither of the K-EYE stories mention what’ll happen to the proceeds, but if he’s keeping it all for himself, it seems a little slimy to me.
• Tomorrow has been designated Ramiro “Ray” Martinez Day by the Austin City Council.
• I’ve linked the six-part story on News8Austin in my original post, but here’s a summary page for all of their coverage.

Lastly, thanks to the Austinist for marking my original post as one of their Best of the Austin Blogs picks last week.

Check out Part 1 and Part 3.

With the news a week or two ago that Kinky Friedman and Carole Keaton Strayhorn are both officially on the ballot as independents for this fall’s governor’s race, I’ve been expecting hear more from both candidates. The newest flap is whether or not the Secretary of State Roger Williams will let “The Kinkster” use his nickname on the ballot. If Kinky loses out, be prepared for voter challenges as tens of people are confused by this new candidate, Richard Friedman. Look for Strayhorn to petition to be listed as “one tough grandma” if Williams grants Kinky his wish.

Honestly, it all seems like a formality. I had no idea the man’s real name was Richard until today. While I signed the petition to get him on the ballot, I don’t think I have any intention of voting for him. I’ll keep an open mind, but it’s not very likely. I’m certainly not voting for the woman responsible for inflicting former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan on us. I suppose it’s inevitable that Texas would give California and Florida a run for their money in election weirdness. Let the games begin!

The State Theatre downtown has suffered devasting flooding following the bursting of a water main. This is yet more evidence of the condition of our aging infrastructure and the quality of maintenance. What will be the effects when all those additional towers are built? How are the wastewater lines? I’m fond of the State and used to see movies there and enjoy the display windows of Venus Wigs, which shared that block and may even have been in part of the same building. A bond election is on its way. Are the priorities what they should be?

I just got a breaking news alert from News8Austin. Traffic on I-35 is bound to suck for the next several hours. If it’s bad enough, it’ll affect downtown Austin as well as those travelling anywhere between Austin and San Antonio. All you Buda, Kyle, San Marcos, New Braunfels commuters are in for a fun afternoon. Let’s hope nobody gets hurt and they get it cleared up in time for rush hour.

Update (2006.06.12 14:02 CDT): K-EYE reports a vehicle carrying radioactive material rolled over at Exit 221 near FM 1327 in Buda. The closing is a precaution, nothing’s actually escaped or leaked or whatever the appropriate term may be.

I half-jokingly made fun of K-EYE last week about their headlines, but we appear to have had a rough weekend in South/East Austin.

A man was stabbed to death in an apartment complex across the street from Travis High School on Sunday and another man was shot during a home invasion yesterday. It appears there was a second shooting later in the day. I think the Statesman story last week on Mission Hill, a street only a few blocks from my house and notorious among the neighbors, has made me somewhat hypersensitive, but this still seems like another outlier weekend for crime by Austin standards. I personally thought the Mission Hill story was a bit exaggerated in its description of the street.

It doesn’t appear to be a full moon. Is it the heat? These are some of the headlines in the last 24 hours from KEYE:

• Man Jumps From Cop Car Into Town Lake
• Man Charged With Aggravated Sexual Assault
• Woman Says Man Touched Himself As She Swam

We’re currently gym shopping for the family and 24 Hour Fitness was one of the places we were considering. After their reaction to that last story, not so much.

P.S. Did K-EYE decide to just start doing a direct feed of the police blotter or what?