Naked City C O N TIN UED FR OM P.13tion nearly doubles. Pumping and treating that water accounts for about 60% of allpower used by city departments. In May 2006, council passed a raft of water conservationpolicies, including mandatory watering restrictions that took effect in May, designatingtwo days a week when folks can water (odd addresses, Wednesday and Saturday;evens, Thursday and Sunday; apartments and businesses, Tuesday and Friday – allbefore 10am and after 7pm only). Beginning this Friday, <strong>Austin</strong>ites can call 311 to reportwater waste or watering violations. City conservation efforts, which also include fixing 12million gallons a day in city pipe leakage and providing customer rebates on efficient fixtures,are expected to save 32 million gallons a day and eliminate 19,000 tons per yearof CO 2 emissions. See www.waterwiseaustin.org for more.– Daniel Mottola› FLDS MEMBERS IN JAIL Five members of theFunda ment al ist Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints indicted by a Schleicher Co.grand jury last week have turned themselves in toauthorities. Four of the men are each charged withone count of sexual assault of a child, whichcarries a possible penalty of between five and 99years or life in prison. <strong>The</strong> fifth man, LloydHammon Barlow, is charged with three counts offailure to report child abuse, a class B misdemeanorpunishable by up to six months in prison.According to <strong>The</strong> Salt Lake Tribune, Barlow postedbail Tuesday and was released; the others remainbehind bars on $100,000 bond. FLDS prophetWarren Jeffs also faces a charge of sexual assaultof a child. He has been convicted of rape asaccomplice in Utah, for his role in marrying an underage girl to her cousin, and is currentlyin jail in Arizona awaiting trial on similar charges. <strong>The</strong> indictments against thesix FLDS members grew out of the investigation begun by Texas authorities this spring,which led to the state taking custody of more than 400 children from the FLDSYearning for Zion compound outside Eldorado. <strong>The</strong> children were subsequentlyreturned to their parents.– Jordan Smith› ROUGH PATCH FOR MONKEYWRENCH Six yearsago, a handful of activist-oriented UT students, alongwith the creators of underground activist weekly <strong>The</strong><strong>Austin</strong> Javelina, got their wish for a radical communityspace in <strong>Austin</strong>. Through fundraising, donations, and afew investments of personal funds, the group formed acollective and opened up MonkeyWrench Books withonly $3,000 to its name. Today, the modest space at110 E. North Loop has become a nationally recognizedDIY community hub, playing host to a variety of freeevents, including movie screenings, book talks, skillshareworkshops, kids’ reading groups, and meet-upsfor local organizations. <strong>The</strong> store is completely nonprofit:Book sales pay for the space and more books,while everything else is done through volunteers. “If we had to pay staff, we wouldnever survive,” says founding member Cale Layton. Whether it’s the floundering economyor just <strong>Austin</strong>ites fleeing the heat, the store is feeling the pinch this summer. Toboost funds, they’re hosting a book and yard sale on Sunday, <strong>Aug</strong>. 3, 8am-8pm. Formore, see www.monkeywrenchbooks.org.– Sara Robberson› TEACHER GROUPS BACK DOHERTY Democraticcongress ion al candidate Larry Joe Doherty, running forthe <strong>Austin</strong>-to-Houston District 10 seat currently occupiedby Republican Michael McCaul, received the endorsementsof major teachers’ unions last week, including theNational Education Association, the Texas State TeachersAssociation, and the American Federation of Teachers. Ina press release, Doherty attacked McCaul for voting “tostrip $806 billion in vital funding” from the No Child LeftBehind program and for voting against federal student-aidprograms. At press time, McCaul’s office did not return acall from the <strong>Chronicle</strong>.– Lee Nicholsres publicaTHURSDAY31PUBLIC MEETING: NORTH CENTRAL COMMUNITYHEALTH CENTER Learn about the new communityhealth center scheduled to open in 2010 at 1200W. Braker, and share your input with the folks fromthe Travis County Healthcare District. 7-8:30pm.St. John’s Episcopal Church, 11201 Parkfield.www.cityofaustin.org/traviscountyhd/northcentral.SO MANY DOCUMENTARIES,SO LITTLE TIME Join the <strong>Austin</strong>Perma-culture Guild tonight for afree screening of <strong>The</strong> Power ofCommunity: How Cuba SurvivedPeak Oil (7pm; Habitat Suites, 500 E.High land Mall Blvd., www.permie.us);head over to the Mexican AmericanCultural Center to watch Hard RoadHome, the story of a drug-dealingWarren Jeffs14 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E AUGUST 1, <strong>2008</strong> a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o mJOHN ANDERSONLarry Joe DohertyNEWSFOR MORE DETAILS AND EVENTS, SEE C OMMUNITY LISTING S , P.58.gang leader who dedicated his life to breaking thejail cycle (7pm; 600 River St., 478-6222; free); or jointhe <strong>Austin</strong> Film Festival folks for Uncounted: <strong>The</strong> NewMath of American Elections (7:30pm; AlamoDrafthouse Lake Creek, 13729 Research; $4).FRIDAY01WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK CELEBRATIONStop by for some music and tasty treats as youlearn all about the “I breastfeed because …”campaign. (For more, see “Breast-FeedingCampaign Kicks Off,” p.21.) 11am-1pm. <strong>Austin</strong>City Hall, 301 W. Second, 974-2220. Free.www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org/usa.htm.S A TURDAY02RIVER MONITORING TRIP Like being a hall monitorbut way cooler: Explore the Colorado River,CITY HALL HUSTLEBudget Time: Who You Gonna Cut?BY WELLS DUNBAROne week after the release of the proposed <strong>2008</strong>budget for the city of <strong>Austin</strong>, we know which cutsthe public can’t abide. Unsurprisingly, it’s all thosethe city’s proposing.That’s overstating it perhaps a tad, assuming that– with endless stretches of 100-plus days and multiplex-bustingsuperheroics – the citizenry’s trulyattuned to the finer points of its municipal budget.Despite the embankment of camera tripods and talkingheads at the budget work-session, followed byabove-the-fold coverage, why do I get the impressionthat most <strong>Austin</strong>ites have a mild impression that, uh,their trash bill’s going up, and that’s about it? It’sunsurprising, as pocketbook and quality-of-life issuesare always the big takeaways at budget time.Maybe it’s time to start looking at the biggerpicture: why we’re always scrambling toand help keep tabs on the birds and vegetationalong the way. (You’ll need your own boat; e-mailfor details: cgmorris@flash.net.) 8am-5pm. Centerfor Environmental Research, 2210 FM 973 S.CENTRAL WEST NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNINGMEETING 9am-1pm. Lower Colorado RiverAuthority, Red Bud Facility, 3601 Lake <strong>Austin</strong> Blvd.,974-2857. Free. victoria.craig@ci.austin.tx.us,www.cityofaustin.org/zoning/central_west_austin.htm.CHILDREN’S HEALTH COVERAGE BASICS Findout if your child is qualified for the CHIP programor Children’s Medicaid, and get help with fillingout applications at participating HEB stores. Call211 or visit www.chipmedicaid.org for details.CITY SERVICES COMMUNITY FAIR 10am-1pm.Hampton Branch Library, 5125 Convict Hill,892-6680. www.cityofaustin.org/library.play catch-up.Immediate attention focuses on theGeneral Fund departments – city endeavorslike libraries and parks that generallyfeel the first brunt of a tight budget year.But it’s the city’s enterprise departments –money-earning enterprises like the airportand <strong>Austin</strong> Energy – that see the most money-shiftingaction. Let’s return to the refuse: namely,Solid Waste Services’ proposal to boost fees on30-gallon trash tubs by $4.40 a month, with increasesalso slated for 60-gallon ($6.15) and 90-galloncontainers ($6.90). While the city argued it would bethe first fee increase in more than a decade, publicreaction appears to be solidly against it. While noone’s clamoring to pay extra, Rick Cofer, a SolidWaste Advisory Commission member and ramrod ofthe “Bag the Bags” campaign, issued an e-mailblasting the proposal on economic and environmentalfronts: “Customers should be incentivized to recyclemore and waste less by reducing the cost of the30-gallon carts and increasing the cost of only the60- and 90-gallon carts,” he wrote, also noting, “It isirrational to change the fee structure now, before single-streamrecycling has been introduced and beforeits effects are known.” As he surmised, “A one-time40% increase is beyond the pale.”Another sore spot with budget watchers – councilseemingly included – is Public Works’Transportation Fund, largely funded by road, parking,and meter fees. Contentious here is the cut in proposedstreet maintenance, shrinking from the currentgoal to maintain 9.5% of the city’s trafficlanes annually to a proposed 8% in fiscal year2009. While a small correction on paper, fallingbelow 10% establishes a tipping point at whichroad repairs steadily grow more backlogged andcostly. “We strive to reach a target of 10% [peryear], that being the magic number,” CouncilMember Lee Leffingwell said at the work-session.“And now we’re taking this giant leap backward.”Leffingwell announced his intention to closethe gap to the current 9.5% at least, a positionWill Wynn’s echoed.Aside from fee increases – that old budget-balancingstandby – another time-honored belt-tightenerwas cinched: shuttering all branch libraries oneadditional day. But as reported last week, theshocker here wasn’t decreasing libraryhours to shift city money elsewhere; it’sthat the juggling proposal came fromcityhallhustlelibrary staffers themselves, who hopeto improve much-needed janitorial,maintenance, and security services,as to remain habitable on the daysthey are open.It’s a reminder of the twofold failurethat unfurls every city budget season(well, every budget of late, at least): First,the lie at the state level that the clamor for shrinkingtaxes outweighs all other considerations. It’sRepublican starve-the-beast grandstandingresulting in nothing but constricted and abysmallocal policy, preventing cities from levying taxes afraction of a cent above a random rate without callinga special election. Which ties into the lie we tellourselves locally: that our unbounded growth willpay for itself. Train your attention on this budget,and it’s clear: It does no such thing.BLOCK THAT HOUSING!Last week’s City Council meeting was as notablefor what transpired as what didn’t: the promisedyearlong delay of the Mobile Loaves & FishesHabitat on Wheels program at Harold Courtoccurred, but zoning for the severely embattledCommunity Partnership for the Homeless developmenton Manor Road was postponed until council’snext meeting, <strong>Aug</strong>. 7. Back from break andalready taking time off?Not us. Everyday we’re hustling at wdunbar@austinchronicle.com.POLITICAL ACTION BOOK CLUBmeets to discuss Melody Petersen’sOur Daily Meds. 11am-noon. WellsBranch Community Library, 15001Wells Port Dr., 989-3188. Free.politicalactionbookclub@yahoogroups.com.SUNDAY03MONKEYWRENCH BOOK & YARDSALE See “Naked City,” above. 8am-8pm.MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop,407-6925. www.monkeywrenchbooks.org.MONDAY04BEYOND THE BARS: THE PRISON INDUSTRIALCOMPLEX kicks off a series of discussions onAmerica’s prison system. This week, you’ll hearfrom families of inmates on death row. 8pm.
P OINT AUSTIN CONTINUED FROM P.13Bruce Fein and former Rep. Bob Barr – whoitemized at length the executive actions thatshould be called to direct account by thisCongress, greatly abbreviated in Conyers’opening statement addressing the “imperialpresidency”: “the politicization of theDepartment of Justice; misuse of signingstatements; misuse of authority with regardto detention, interrogation, and rendition;possible manipulation of intelligence regardingthe Iraq war; improper retaliation againstcritics of the administration, including theouting of Valerie Plame; and excessive secrecyby the administration, including themisuse of various privileges and immunities.”Concluded Rep. Tammy Baldwin,D-Wisconsin, a few minutes later: “Althoughthe call to impeach is one that I take neithereasily nor lightly, I now firmly believe thatimpeachment hearings are the appropriateand necessary next step.”One Hand ClappingThat’s only the tip of a very large andsmoking volcano, but one quite beneath seriousmedia attention. I was of course wrongabout the “major” newspapers. A few fromcommittee members’ districts (Cleveland,Madison) mentioned the roles of Ohio’sKucinich or Wisconsin’s Baldwin. <strong>The</strong> NewYork Times, our presumptive national newspaperof record, mentioned the hearing notat all. <strong>The</strong> Washington Post – currently lecturingthe Russians and Chinese about officialaccountability – featured only Dana Milbank’scondescending recapitulation, leading with<strong>Austin</strong>’s gerrymandered GOP Rep. LamarSmith’s sneer, “It seems that we are hostingan anger management class.”At home, Our Local Daily – still fresh fromlast week’s editorial declaration of highreporting “standards” – provided only anational digest paragraph (“Bush critics airwoes at hearing”) redacted from an AssociatedPress commentary dismissing the hearing asa Dem effort to make impeachment charges“quietly fade away.” Despite public sentimentpolling for a Bush impeachment at50% or better for several years now, thenational media long ago decided the subjectis “off the table” – is it any wonder that theMonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop,407-6925. Free. www.monkeywrenchbooks.org.PUBLIC MEETING: NORTH CENTRAL COMMUN I TYHEALTH CENTER (See Thursday, July 31.) 7-8:30pm.St. John’s Episcopal Church, 11201 Park field.TUESDAY0521ST CENTURY TRANSPORTATION Take a peekinto the future of transportation in <strong>Austin</strong> at thismeeting of the <strong>Austin</strong> Regional Group of theSierra Club. 7pm. Texas State Teachers Association,316 W. 12th, 476-5355, 877/ASK-TSTA. Free.EARTH-WISE LANDSCAPE WORKSHOP If CityHall can be a wildlife habitat, so can you – or youryard, at least. Tuesday & Thursday, <strong>Aug</strong>. 5 & 7,8:30am-noon. Zilk er Botanical Garden, 2220 BartonSprings, 974-3032. $15.www.cityofaustin.org/greengarden/training.htm.Dem leadership should take its political bearingsfrom those prevailing winds?Two Plus TwoAs I said, I don’t doubt that the legal conditionsexist for impeachment. <strong>The</strong> politicalconditions are something else again, andmuch smarter politicians than I have understandablyconcluded that in the face of amedia blackout (or backlash), it makes littlesense to expend public energy on an effortdoomed not just to fail but to backfire on itssupporters. Certainly our own moral satisfactionat calling out Bush and company is insufficientmotivation for demanding headlinecongressional action; the best we can hopefor, it seems, is continued amplification ofthese charges in the public mind by whatevermeans we otherwise possess. “<strong>The</strong> questionfor Congress is this: What responsibility dothe president and members of his administrationhave for that unnecessary, unprovoked,and unjustified war?” asked Kucinich. “<strong>The</strong>rules of the House prevent me or any witnessfrom utilizing familiar terms. But we can puttwo and two together in our minds. We candraw inferences about culpability.”<strong>The</strong> Judiciary hearing, circumscribed as itwas, accumulated and narrow-casted thebasic public charges against the administration.<strong>The</strong> major U.S. media have made it clearthat such charges will not be widely disseminated,and certainly not reiterated, betweennow and November and, therefore, will notbe addressed as “impeachable” offenses. Ifthey are at least to be sustained as politicaloffenses, that will have to be determined atthe ballot box.For your enlightenment, major submitted testimonyfor the Judiciary Committee hearing is available atwww.judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_072508.html.<strong>The</strong> Kucinich impeachment resolution, as submittedto the House June 9, is posted with this column ataustinchronicle.com.Corrections: Last week I quoted Jeremy Scahillsuggesting that citizens “cheat [on Obama] with theConstitution”; more precisely, he said “with a little bitof conscience.” (Thanks to Rachel Farris of Mean Rachelblog.) And Omar Gallaga of the Statesman called toinform me that his interview with “Obama Girl” was thefirst video to be posted from the Netroots Nation convention,but not the daily’s first story on the convention.(Out of professional courtesy, I had omitted his byline,but no good deed, etc.)T H URSDAY07THE FUTURE OF WATER IN CENTRAL TEXAS <strong>The</strong>LCRA wants your input tonight, on long-term plansfor meeting regional water demands. Call to reserveyour seat. Open house, 6-6:30pm; discussion,6:30-9pm. Dalchau Service Center, 3505 Montopolis,Bldg. A. www.lcra.org/watersupply.AUSTIN TELETHON EXECUTIVELOCK-UP Police Chief ArtAcevedo joins local businessleaders behind fake bars to helpraise funds for Jerry’s Kids, akathe Muscular DystrophyAssociation. 9am-4pm. Eddie V’sEdgewater Grille, 301 E. Fifth.Attend the <strong>Austin</strong> Energy Green BuildingGreen by DesignWorkshopWhatever your style or budget,you can have a green home.Saturday <strong>Aug</strong>ust 16, <strong>2008</strong>8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center4801 La Crosse AvenueCost is$35 perperson,includinglunchRegister online forthis popular workshop.www.austinenergy.com/go/greenbuildinga u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m AUGUST 1, <strong>2008</strong> T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 15
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