Prodigious Songcraft Blooms in Sarah Jarosz - The Austin Chronicle

More documents

Recommendations

Info

NEWSPrecinct 4 It’s good to be the incumbentLongtime incumbents may suffer the slingsand arrows of angry constituents, but theyoften prove to be formidable fixtures duringan election year. Just ask Raul Alvarez, whoby now – some six weeks before the March 2primary – had hoped to have acquired morepolitical traction in his effort to unseatPrecinct 4 Travis County CommissionerMargaret Gómez, who has served on thecommissioners court since 1995.Gómez has already picked up endorsementsfrom a number of influential and wellfinancedpublic safety unions. Alvarez, a formertwo-term City Council member and currenttrustee on the Austin Community Collegeboard, had been rumored to be a likely winnerin the Central Labor Council’s candidateThe weekend’s cold snap was a testingtime for Austin’s water supply. Between theevening of Jan. 8 and the morning of Jan. 11,Austin Water Utility received more than600 customer calls for broken or frozenpipes, 243 requiring emergency cut-off. Butthe bigger structural issue was the 45 watermain breaks in three days, accounting foralmost 10% of what the utility expects in ayear. “What we’ve seen, whenever you havethese temperature swings, is this increase inmain breaks,” said George Calhoun, assistantdirector of pipeline operations.screening process last weekend. But the CLC– the umbrella group of the Austin AFL-CIO –took a pass on endorsing in the Precinct 4race, based in part on recent polling resultsthat raised doubts about Alvarez’s ability totopple Gómez in the Democratic primary.The nonendorsement, however, clears theway for the two dozen or so member affiliatesto make their own endorsements, solabor-friendly Alvarez is likely to pick up supportfrom individual unions – possibly includingthe one that represents Capital Metroemployees, who were often at odds withGómez during her tenure on the transit agencyboard, where she most recently served aschair. While the Central Labor Councilendorsed Gómez in previous elections, theDemocratic Endorsements: SADIn the first round of Democratic club endorsements, the South Austin Democrats on Tuesdayannounced its slate in the judicial and county commissioner races. A candidates forum, which includedan unusually wide field of judicial hopefuls, preceded the vote tally. Incumbent Margaret Gómezpicked up the club’s support in the Precinct 4 commissioners race. The group’s judicial picks includeCliff Brown, 147th District Court; Amy Clark Meachum, 201st District Court; Karen Sage, 299thDistrict Court; David Crain, 331st District Court; and John Lipscombe, County Court at Law No. 3.Frozen AssetsAWU and thebusted pipesAustin Water Utilityworkers responded tohundreds of burstpipes, like this onein the 4400 block ofDuval Street in Hyde Park.RICHARD WHITTAKERThe issue is materials. The utility isresponsible for 3,631 miles of mains, splitbetween transmission lines (at 16 inches orgreater) and smaller distribution pipes. Theoldest parts of the system are cast iron,with newer stretches mixing ductile iron pipeand PVC. All these materials have theirstrengths and weaknesses, but while onlyabout 900 miles – or about 25% – of thesystem is cast iron, it accounted for 41 ofthe 45 breaks (about 91%). “It’s a more rigidpipe,” explained Calhoun, “and it’s more susceptibleto point pressure and dramaticswings in temperature.”Every year, AWU loses roughly 11% of thewater it carries. While some of this can beaccounted for by unmetered public projectslike road construction and firefighting, the biggestsingle cause is cracked pipes. Out of the46 billion gallons supplied to customers in2007, 3.6 billion (almost 8%) was lost due toleaks. The utility has a detection program anda “prioritized list of replacements,” saidCalhoun. The utility tracks total usage andlocal repairs rather than just age. Somestretches of cast iron have served theDowntown area for nearly a century and, if correctlyinstalled by the original engineers, maylast another 50 years – longer than some newPVC might last. Nonetheless, due to the higherfailure rate, the replacement program isconcentrating on those stretches. Whileurgent, it’s also costly, and though Calhounwould like the project completed ideally within10 years, he said, “Everything that we do ispaid for by the funds we get from the water wesell and the wastewater we collect and treat.”In the long run, customers can help extendpipe lifespan with simple conservation techniques.Calhoun said, “It may be the differenceof when you’re brushing your teeth oryou’re shaving, you don’t just let the waterrun in the sink.” – Richard WhittakerCommissionerMargaretGómezWynn, who hosted a fundraiserfor Alvarez, and formerMayor Pro Tem BettyDunkerley mixed in amongseveral prominent environmentalactivists. Precinct 4includes parts of Downtown,South Austin – including keyboxes in the 78704 ZIP code– and southeast Austin.On the Democratic club circuit,Gómez picked up theSouth Austin Democrats’endorsement Tuesday night ina close contest following acandidates forum at the Gardner BettsJuvenile Center. SAD was the first Dem groupto kick off the rounds of club endorsementsbefore early voting begins Feb. 16. Gómez, alifelong resident of South Austin, deliveredher remarks in the confident, measured toneof an incumbent who’s spent most of heradult life on the campaign trail. She focusedon her accomplishments while Alvarez honedin on work that still needs to be done. Ifcounty commissioners are going to be makingdecisions about landfills, he told thecrowd, they should also be crafting zerowasteroad maps for the future. – Amy SmithCONJURING THE RADICAL DR. KINGQuick quiz: Malcolm X or MartinLuther King Jr.?1) Who said: “Somebody told a lie oneday. … They made everything black uglyand evil. Look in your dictionary, and seethe synonyms of the word ‘black’ – it’salways something degrading and low andsinister. Look at the word ‘white’ – it’salways something pure, high, and clean”?2) Who said: “We have been repeatedlyfaced with the cruel irony of watching Negroand white boys on TV screens as they kill anddie together for a nation that has been unableto seat them together in the same schools. Sowe watch them in brutal solidarity burning thehuts of a poor village, but we realize that theywould never live on the same block in Detroit”?3) Who said: “I have a dream that my fourlittle children will one day live in a nation wherethey will not be judged by the color of their skinbut by the content of their character”?If you said 1) Malcolm, 2) Malcolm, 3)MLK, you would be … wrong! In fact, MLKsaid all three.“The portrayal of MLK we see most oftenstops at 1963 with ‘I Have a Dream,’” saysJonathan Mahone, one-half of the husband-and-wifehip-hop duo Riders Againstthe Storm (aka, RAS). He and his wife,Ghislaine Jean-Mahone, recently relocatedfrom Providence, R.I., to pursue their lovein the world’s live music capital.“‘I Have a Dream’ is an important speech,”says Mahone, “but Dr. King began talkingbeyond race in America and how Americanpolitics was affecting other countries, howimperialism was infecting the globe.”So while the traditional Austin AreaHeritage Council parade and festivitiesPHOTOS BY JOHN ANDERSONRaulAlvarezgroup’s nonendorsement this time aroundcan still be viewed as a positive for theincumbent, said political consultant DavidButts, who is supporting Gómez but is notcurrently employed by her campaign. The CLC“recognized that Raul has to swim a lot harderif he wants to get there,” Butts said ofAlvarez’s slow campaign start. Still, Buttsallowed that Alvarez is an experienced campaignerwho has demonstrated his greateststrengths at the grassroots level. Additionally,his support list carries strong whiffs of hisold City Hall stomping grounds, with high-profilebackers such as former Mayor Willpreceding Martin Luther King Jr. Day will befilling Austin with the uplifting message ofthe man’s legacy, the Orun Center ofCultural Arts – a small, unassuming newarts locus that the Mahones have becomeinvolved in – will not-so-quietly honor thecivil rights leader with excerpts from someof his more controversial speeches, theones not usually taught alongside his bestknown,more optimistic orations.Whereas most MLK Day celebrationsallow a cursory, even academic observanceof King’s radicalization, the young people atOrun embrace and run with it. “Leaders aresupposed to give you that strength to breakthe barriers. That’s the MLK I look to,”Mahone says. “When Dr. King went toChicago and saw the poverty, he couldn’tbelieve it. The people forced him to change,to radicalize. That’s a true leader. Willing toanalyze and change. He was ready to standup and rep for them. Civil rights leadersgave him a lot of flak – thought he wasrocking the boat. Once Dr. King started talkingabout the politics of America abroad,that’s when he became a threat.”Divine & Conjure: A Musical Tributeto MLK Jr. will feature performances fromRAS, hip-hop artists BlacklistedIndividuals, and acid-jazz-funk bandMakalani Movement. The Orun Centeropened in November and is home to thenonprofit Project Abundant Life, foundedby capoeira master Dorian Layssard. Thisevent also kicks off its bimonthly urbanmusic series.– Kate X MesserDivine & Conjure, Friday, Jan. 15, 8:30pm, OrunCenter of Cultural Arts, 1401-B Cedar, 294-7872. $5,all-ages. www.projectabundantlife.org.Watch Dr. King’s speeches with the quotes above online with this article at austinchronicle.com/webextra.18 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E JANUARY 15, 2010 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m
the hightower reportBY JIM HIGHTOWERHORSE AND SPARROW ECONOMICSTime for another Gooberhead Award – presentedperiodically to those in the news whostarted their mouths running 100 miles perhour … but forgot to put their brains in gear.Today’s Goober is a repeat winner – RudyGiuliani. The former New York City mayor haslong been a stalwart defender of the WallStreet crowd that has lavished campaignmoney on him over the years. So – eventhough workaday Americans are absolutelyoutraged and exasperated by the extravagantbonuses that failed Wall Street bankers arepaying to themselves, using our bailoutmoney for their self-enrichment – Rudy hasstood tall for banker excess. “If somehowyou take that bonus out of the economy, itreally will create unemployment,” he cried.For the bankers? No, for the little people,says Giuliani. He almost teared up as heexplained that the multimillion dollar payoutsto high-flying Wall Streeters trickledown to waiters in swank New York restaurants,to clerks at Tiffany & Co. and Gucci,to sales staff at Lamborghini dealers, and toreal estate agents selling mansions in theHamptons. Even gardeners and garbage collectorsget their cut, Hizzoner claimed.He is spouting the age-old theory of“horse and sparrow” economics. Thisapproach says that if you let horses gorgeon oats, some of that grain will passthrough their systems and be deposited onthe ground for the sparrows to enjoy.Not everyone shares our Gooberhead’senthusiasm for the horse and sparrow theory.Republican Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, forexample, is calling for a strict limit on the payof bank executives who are getting our bailoutmoney. “The way they have spent it,” he said,“is getting close to being criminal.” And Sen.Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, is even moreblunt about the rank greed of top bankers.Demanding that no bailout banker should bepaid more than the president of the UnitedStates, she added: “These people are idiots.”FREEDOM TO PROTESTThe American establishment loves protesters.Foreign protesters, that is – thosecausing trouble for regimes that our officialsdon’t like.Here at home, however, the establishmentis much less fond of protesters. Curiously, anation born of democratic rebellion systematicallyresorts to knee-jerk police repressionto crush legitimate public dissent. Notonly does this make a mockery of ournation’s founding principles, but it usuallyends up being quite costly for taxpayers,who later must foot the legal bill for policeexcesses against our laws and people.The most recent example stems from a2002 protest in Washington, D.C., againstthe corporate autocracy of the InternationalMonetary Fund and World Bank. Hundredsof peaceful protesters and innocentbystanders were attacked by police forces,roughed up, cuffed, and taken away forhours of interrogation about their politicaland even religious beliefs.Consequently, lawsuits happened. Thecity has already paid more than a milliondollars in fees and settlements for thepolice repression. As usual, authorities triedto cover up their actions with lies and moresuppression – including mysterious gaps inofficial audiotapes and the disappearance,destruction, and doctoring of police records.Last November, the city paid another bigsettlement to eight protesters who hadbeen illegally detained and grilled by the FBIin a parking garage. For years the FBI andcity police flatly denied that this interrogationever happened. But – oops – as thecase was headed to trial, lawyers for theprotesters dug out police logs documentingthe role of a secret FBI unit in this assaulton American liberties.The price of liberty is, indeed, eternal vigilance,for the Powers That Be are eternallystriving to shut down our freedoms. To keepup and act up, visit the American CivilLiberties Union website at www.aclu.org.For more information on Jim Hightower’s work – and to subscribe to his award-winning monthly newsletter,The Hightower Lowdown – visit www.jimhightower.com. You can hear his radio commentaries onKOOP Radio 91.7FM weekdays at 10:58am and 12:58pm. of Minimum BalanceTWENTY YEARS OF AUSTIN’S BEST4604 BURNET ROAD (1 BLOCK N OF 45TH)512-452-3883 www.barknpurr.com Online Banking of Monthly FeesIntroductory Checks Visa ® Check Card IBC ATM ServicesBill Pay IBC Mobile IBC VoiceCheck Images eStatements512-397-4506www.ibc.coma u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m JANUARY 15, 2010 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 19
Page 1 and 2: VOLUME 29★ NUMBER 20 JANUARY 15,
Page 3 and 4: a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o
Page 5 and 6: WITH YOUR HELP - CARE IS PROVIDED F
Page 7 and 8: a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o
Page 9 and 10: Catch upon reality TVsomewhere farf
Page 11 and 12: Behind the Lens:White House Photogr
Page 13 and 14: Naked City› EPA GETS TOUGH ON SMO
Page 15 and 16: Ignite Your Soul !A SPLENDIDLY SILL
Page 17: certain what’s going to happen in
Page 21 and 22: A Simple StorySitting in a corner b
Page 23 and 24: That witnesses were sometimes incon
Page 25 and 26: NEWSprosecution, and he said no, he
Page 27 and 28: THEarts28 Keith Johnstone 30 After
Page 29 and 30: “Improv is improv, it’s all pre
Page 31 and 32: ARTS THE ARTSBOOKSBOOKSRANSOM: A NO
Page 33 and 34: food34A Great Wine forFrench Beginn
Page 35 and 36: The Limerick-Frazier House at 810 E
Page 37 and 38: FRIDAYthJANUARYTICKETS00ON SALEMUSI
Page 39 and 40: screens40HE’S NOT A LAWYER,BUT HE
Page 41 and 42: Sink or Swim?BY B ELINDA ACOSTA“T
Page 43 and 44: OFF THE REC RDmusic44Deborah Gill (
Page 45 and 46: THANKS TO SHINER BOCK FOR PROMOTING
Page 47 and 48: AUSTIN BAND OF THE YEAR:AUSTIN MUSI
Page 49 and 50: LEAD STORYNatives of the Erromango
Page 51 and 52: CALENDAR ( COMMUNITY SPORTS ARTS FI
Page 55 and 56: sportsBY MARK FAGAN“One Man”Mik
Page 57 and 58: SEASON2009-2010The Austin Symphony
Page 63 and 64: The Movie from the million other do
Page 65 and 66: CALENDA R ( COMMUNITY SPORTS ARTS F
Page 67 and 68: CALENDA R ( COMMUNITY SPORTS ARTS F
Page 69 and 70:
CALENDAR ( COMMUNITY SPORTS ARTS FI
Page 71 and 72:
LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF SAN MARCOSTri
Page 73 and 74:
ENCORE611 RED RIVER • WWW.ENCOREA
Page 75 and 76:
WALLER CREEKAMPHITHEATERFRI JAN 15B
Page 77 and 78:
11 LOCAL DRAFTS 2 full bars2 stages
Page 79 and 80:
DON’T MISS THE2ND ANNUAL TOCELEBR
Page 81 and 82:
Yee Haw!It’sDollarDollarThursdays
Page 83 and 84:
METAL?AUSTINKatherineKisiel &
Page 85 and 86:
$3 DRAFT ’TIL 7PM & $3 SHOT SPECI
Page 87 and 88:
MR. SMARTY PANTSKNOWSHarry S. Truma
Page 89 and 90:
ATTENTION TOBACCOCONSUMERSDo you co
Page 91 and 92:
Downtown Living for ONLY$900!! S/S
Page 93 and 94:
CENTRAL2/1 Duplex behind CapitalPla
Page 95 and 96:
HANDYMANRent-A-Husbandcan help you
Page 97 and 98:
will, on the 2nd day of February,20
Page 99 and 100:
2006 DODGE Ram 1500Pickup Truck- $8
Page 101 and 102:
TASTES LIKE CANDYStill haven’t fo
Page 103 and 104:
ENTER TO WIN! Place a FREE PROFILE
show all

Prodigious Songcraft Blooms in Sarah Jarosz - The Austin Chronicle

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?