Top 10 - The Austin Chronicle

10 the hightower report 12 top 10sLocal Democrats gathered at the Driskill hotel in November to celebrate a re-election victory for president obama and (mostly) favorable outcomesfor travis County Democratic candidates and city bond propositions.Top 10 Quotes of the Week1) “The gap between what was expected of[Gov. Rick Perry] and what he delivered …makes Perry a clear choice for worstcandidate of 2012.”– The Washington Post’s political column,“The Fix,” published Nov. 19(Nov. 22 issue)2) “Four years from now, Texas is going to bea so-called blue state.”– Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, explaining toNew York magazine how Texas’ rapidlyexpanding Hispanic population could repaintour predominantly Republican state by 2016(Oct. 18)Bill Spelmanj o h n a n d e r s o nj o h n a n d e r s o nrick perry3) “This separation of church and state isjust false on its face.”– Gov. Rick Perry, who blames Satan forgetting in the way of his “Biblical responsibility”to “proclaim God’s truth” in thepublic arena (Sept. 27)4) “Sausage.”– Council Member Bill Spelman, filling apause on the dais as council membershaggled over a budget item (Sept. 13)5) “This is not the military. This ispublic education.”– Education Austin President Ken Zarifis,condemning AISD for running summer STAARtest “boot camps” (June 21)6) “Put bluntly, I believe you are a snake oilsalesman; a narcissist that would sayanything to draw attention to himself.”– Dallas Sen. John Carona, in an emailexchange with fellow GOP Sen. DanPatrick of Houston (May 10)7) “Remember, you can be me, becauseI am you.”– Exoneree Michael Morton, telling anaudience that anyone can be wrongfullyconvicted (April 5)8) “They can’t just say, ‘I love babies, and Ilove public schools.’”– Allen Weeks, on Save Texas Schools’mission to hold legis lat ive candidatesaccountable for their campaign rhetoric(March 22)9) “There are more UFO and Bigfootsightings than documented cases of voterimpersonation.”– State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston,applauding the U.S. Department of Justice’srejection of Voting Rights Act preclearance forthe Texas voter ID law (March 14)10) “It’s my uterus … bitch!”– Leslie Tisdale, with sign, at a Feb. 17 rallysupporting Planned Parenthood(Feb. 23)Leslie tisdalej o h n a n d e r s o nj a n a B i r c h u mHeadlines› Austin Police are investigating the suspiciousdeath of a 13-year-old girl who wasfound unconscious outside a home (not herown) in South east Austin on Jan. 1. Police areworking to determine the circumstances surroundingher death. The girl was taken to DellChildren’s Hospital, where she was pronounceddead. An autopsy has been performed,but police said a final ruling will haveto wait until toxicology results are returned.› A father and his 13-year-old son becameAustin’s first two traffic fatalities of the yearJan. 1. Police say the boy was riding on theback of a motorcycle driven by his father whenthey hit a parked car in the 1100 block ofBerger Street in East Austin. A third trafficfatality – this one of a 19-year-old man –occurred Jan. 3 on I-35. The city recorded 78traffic fatalities in 2012.› If you’re one of 7,900 lucky customers includedin the pilot program, Austin ResourceRecov ery this week will begin curbside pickupof “organics” – food scraps and othercompost able items – collected in a new greencart. The pilot program is slated to last a year.› KUT 90.5FM turned all talk and news thisweek with the launch of the NPR affiliate’s sisterstation, KUTX 98.9FM, which will programall music.› On Monday, Dec. 31, visiting district JudgeGary Harger declined to issue a temporaryrestraining order to halt the state of Texasplan to ban Planned Parenthood clinics fromthe new Texas Women’s Health Program,saying the dispute could wait until a Jan. 11hearing for an injunction. The ruling left PPclinics – and nearly 50,000 Texas women – inmedical limbo, as the Health and HumanServices Commission insisted it can serve allpatients without the banned clinics. See“Texas Women’s Health Program Starts –Without Planned Parenthood,” p.10.› Longtime Central Austin Constable BruceElfant was sworn into office Tuesday as TravisCounty’s newest tax assessor-collector, replacingTina Morton, who served as interim afterNelda Wells Spears’ retirement in late2011. See p.10.› Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst last week accusedlongtime friend and political aide Buddy Barfieldof embezzling as much as $1.3 millionfrom Dewhurst campaign accounts over thelast several years. The trouble could embroilother officials charged with monitoring thefunds, and the case has been turned over tothe Travis County District Attorney’s office forinvestigation.› On New Year’s Day, the U.S. House voted toconcur with a Senate bill enabling some taxincreases on highest incomes and a one-yearextension of unemployment benefits, therebyavoiding the “fiscal cliff” of automatic taxhikes and spending cuts – postponed at leastfor a couple of months, pending the nextdebt ceiling battle. See “Cliff Notes: HappyNew Deadline!” p.11.› The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012(aka “fiscal cliff” bill) also contained roughly$30 billion in tax pork for various privateinterests, according to Taxpayers for CommonSense, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group.These last-minute gifts included one designedfor “one and exactly only one facility -- the newCircuit of the Americas in Austin,” accordingto University of Illinois Law School professor(and racing fan) Bob Lawless, writing on theacademic fiscal blog www.creditslips.org (“CoTAand the Fiscal Deal,” Jan. 2).a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m JANUARY 4, 2013 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 9