Austin News (BETA)

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A story on Tuesday's Page One about toll scofflaws misstated the quantity of unpaid tolls. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, 140,000 vehicle owners have failed to pay 2.1 million times when they were charged.

By Asher Price

BUDA - From the ninth-floor catwalk of the cement kiln facility in Buda, a person can see the past and possibly the future of industrial manufacturing.

Central Texas toll scofflaws could get a pass on paying much of $56.1 million in late fees and fines under a still-in-the-works "amnesty" policy set for a vote July 30 by the Texas Transportation Commission.

The 1.5 million Mexican Freetail bats living underneath the Ann Richard's bridge on Congress Avenue are an estimated $8 million economic boost to Austin. But some have recently questioned if there are fewer bats under the bridge.

Officials say a 5-year-old died after drowning in a backyard pool. The woman who owned the house, who is not the child's mother, ran next door for help, and a neighbor performed CPR.

Funding totaling $1 million is going toward the launch of the San Marcos River observing system at the River Systems Institute at Texas State University.

Even trees native to Central Texas and used to drought conditions are in danger this time around. A local expert says homeowners can almost always tell by looking if trees are in danger. "If they look like they need a drink, they probably do need a drink," he said.

The Town Lake Animal Center needs your help -- it has too many cats. Center officials say there have been a lot of kittens in their foster care program, and now those kittens are coming back, ready to be adopted.

Broadband Internet access delivered more than $32 billion in benefits to American consumers last year, according to a new study released Tuesday.

Nine technologies developed at University of Texas System institutions were awarded Texas Ignition Fund grants totaling nearly $453,000.

Job losses and pay cuts are forcing many Americans to reexamine their expenses, get more organized and perhaps seek out ways to make a little extra money.

Getting around Northeast Austin and Pflugerville should get a little easier this week.

Environmental news and information group The Mother Nature Network has named Austin as one of the nation’s 10 greenest cities.

The number of Texans applying for unemployment benefits has tripled in the past year. The increased demand has created a shortfall. There is still some debate at the Capitol over how that shortfall should be funded.

Texas State University is starting a new, long-term project they hope will guarantee the future of the San Marcos River.

Business owners living on Seventh Street are excited the city of Austin will soon begin improving their road. But some of those same owners fear what construction will do to their business.

Filmmaker Ron Howard is set to receive the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking award at the Austin Film Festival this October.

The Mapsco map and travel center is offering a huge discount to those who will bring in their old street guides and maps. Those who recycle their old mapsco books will be able to purchase a new one for only $10. All proceeds will benefit the Dallas based, non-profit organization, MOSAIC.

Dozens of Austin police vehicles are sitting in the city repair yard instead of out patrolling the streets.

A music club owner in the Red River District in Downtown Austin will shut his doors at the beginning of next month, citing low revenue, and a lack of local music fans.

A 5-year-old boy drowned at 5317 Humphrey Drive in a Northwest Austin swimming pool.

When R. L. and his wife, Susan Blair, moved to Austin after a visit here two years ago, he quickly learned he has some fitting-in to do. But, Susan knew one way her husband could participate in the community.

The discovery of a body in Inks Lake is bringing new hope to solving an old, missing-persons mystery.

A five-year-old boy died late Tuesday afternoon in a backyard pool in southern Williamson County.

In a 3-2 vote, the Fredericksburg City Council voted to spend more than $200,000 on Christmas ornaments, designed to make the Hill Country town a world-class tourist destination.

The Texas Department of Transportation may be giving a break to thousands of people who have driven on toll roads without paying.

A Georgetown teenager died in a traffic crash overnight.

More than 19,000 pounds of goods and supplies collected at Central Texas grocery stores and banks will be packed and shipped to troops overseas on Tuesday.

Authorities in Williamson County say a 5-year-old drowned in a Millwood Subdivision near Anderson Mill and HWY 183.

LCRA officials say that the amount of water from the Colorado River flowing into the highland lakes is 25% less than in average. Some of the streams feeding into the river have even stopped flowing. FOX 7’s Rudy Koski reports the low water levels may soon affect water use Central Texans.

Police have arrested Juan Maldonado, 31, for theft after they say he left a store with over $80 of beer he did not pay for. Court documents say the incident happened at the New Flower Farmer's Market on Manchaca Road.

Texas wants $1.7 billion from the federal government to help develop high-speed rail service between its major cities.

City of Austin drivers ranks among the bottom in the recently released "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report." The report ranks America's 200 largest cities in terms of car collision frequency to identify which cities have the safest drivers according to Allstate data. Austin ranks 179 out of 200 cities polled for the report.

For one McCallum High student, every day is a sick day

• A month before the new academic year starts, Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott announced Wednesday he is closing Pearce Middle School , while ordering Austin ISD to hire "professional services" to assist with Reagan High . Scott said he ordered the closure because the school, in Northeast Austin, is entering its fifth year classified as "academically unacceptable."

• SO LONG, MARSHALL It's official: After a rocky decade as the president of the Austin Revitalization Authority – a nonprofit contracted by the city to redevelop East 11th and 12th streets – Byron Marshall is leaving to become chief administrative officer of Richmond, Va. The Richmond City Council approved his hiring on a 9-0 vote.

Lawmakers passed two key bills – then they went home

Martinez queries Cornyn on Sotomayor

The state unemployment insurance trust fund will run out of money next week, forcing the Texas Workforce Commission to borrow $643 million from the federal government to cover claims.

Investigators found explosives inside the home of a man they say shot and killed a Chambers County sheriff's deputy near Baytown.

Trinity Valley Community College officials are denying that student information security was breached in the theft of a computer.

NASA is hoping the weather finally cooperates for its sixth launch attempt for space shuttle Endeavour.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested Tuesday that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison may not run against him in the 2010 Republican primary, even though Hutchison said this week that she has $12.5 million in the bank and plans to challenge him.

Back to school shoppers will get some extra money in their pockets this coming school year.

SEVEN POINTS — Newly-elected Seven Points Volunteer Fire Chief, Joe Dobbs, has hit the ground running in an attempt to improve the controversial department, which recently went through a change of officers in a private vote of members.

SEVEN POINTS — Law-enforcement officials from the Henderson County Drug Enforcement Unit, the Gun Barrel City Police Department, the Henderson County Tactical unit and the Henderson County Sheriff’s office, combined efforts to make a huge drug bust last Thursday.

A tip led the District Attorney’s Office and Tool Police to a Cedar Crest Shores home Friday night, where a Colorado man was arrested for possession of child pornography.

KEMP- Henderson County officers try to keep the justice with the arrest of two more drug traffickers Monday.