Daily - The Austin Chronicle (2024)

Last FLDS Custody Case Closed

After more than a year of legal wrangling, the massive child protection action taken against Texas members of the Mormon breakaway sect the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to a close July 23 when the last of more than 400 children removed from the FLDS' Eldorado ranch was ordered into permanent custody of her aunt, state District Judge Barbara Walther ruled in San Angelo last week.The 15-year-old girl was allegedly married to polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs, the now-incarcerated leader of the FLDS, when she was just 12. The girl was the last child remaining in state custody after last year's raid on the FLDS' Yearning for Zion ranch just outside Eldorado. State investigators flooded the ranch in April 2008 after receiving a phone "tip" that children were being abused at the ranch. The phone call turned out to be a hoax, but investigators still removed hundreds of children from the ranch. (The 3rd District Court of Appeals later ruled the raid was unwarranted, an opinion the Texas Supreme Court shared, but the damage was already done.)

Norris Makes MLB Debut

It probably wasn't the circ*mstances young Bud Norris dreamed of for his Major League Baseball debut – entering the game with the Astros trailing the Cubs 9-0 after four innings – but the setting was splendid, historic Wrigley Field, and his performance lived up to the hype. Norris threw 52 pitches (33 for strikes) in three innings allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts. With Roy Oswalt leaving Tuesday's game in the second inning with a back injury, Norris appears to be in line to take Oswalt's spot in the starting rotation. If the Wizard is still on the mend, Norris should get the nod Sunday in St. Louis vs. the Cardinals.

Now You, Too, Can Own the House on Haunted Hill!

A report on this morning's National Public Radio announced a once-in-a-deathtime real estate deal that's just too cool not to mention here, connoisseurs of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecturally unique Ennis House and William Castle-style ballyhoo that we are.

Suddenly, It Makes Sense?

Pearce Vote Monday

Confirming what we reported on Tuesday, AISD has announced the details of how they plan to proceed with the Pearce Middle School repurposing.Superintendent Meria Carstarphen will present the repurposing proposal at a special meeting of the Board of Trustees, starting at 7.45pm, Aug. 3 in the Board Auditorium, 1111 W. Sixth.AISD is working to have the plan up on their website before the weekend, so stakeholders can look it over. On the night of the meeting, citizen communication will start at 8.20pm: Sign-up to speak will run 7.45am-4.45pm at the Superintendent's office, then 4.45-7.45pm in the Board Auditorium. Comments can also be left at the Pearce website or at 512/414-9101.If the board approves the plan on Monday, it will be sent straight to Commissioner of Education Robert Scott. If he approves it in time, that means Pearce will re-open, in some shape, form or manner, for the new school year.There are two big questions pending about this proposal. One, what will be in the instructional plan: Two, who will actually be running the place?Full press release after the jump.

Aztex Let One Get Away

The Austin Aztex lost a golden chance to make up ground in the playoff chase Satur­day, giving up two goals to the Montreal Impact in the last 13 minutes and settling for a 2-2 draw that felt more like a loss by the end. The Aztex dominated early in the second half, and got a goal and an assist each from Gifton Noel-Williams and A.J. Godbolt, before the meltdown. Montreal actually put the ball in the net five times in a 12-minute span, but three strikes were ruled out for offsides. Then after all that, the Aztex appeared to have snatched back a win in extra time, but Ryan Caugherty was judged to have fouled the Montreal keeper before scoring. So begins a tough three-game road swing, starting with Charleston and Carolina this Thursday and Saturday. The good news: the Aztex will have striker Jean Alexandre back on loan from Real Salt Lake; he nailed the probable goal of the year last month in Puerto Rico.The Aztex U-23s bowed out of the PDL playoffs last Wednesday with a 2-1 loss to West Texas United.Throughout the Gold Cup tournament, folks were talking about how young and green the U.S. was. In Sunday's final, they showed just what can happen to such a team, as a troubled Mexico roared to life, and totally dismantled the Americans in front of 80,000 fans in Giants Stadium, with five second-half goals, and their first win on U.S. soil in over 10 years. Next: a key World Cup qualifier Aug. 12 at the Azteca in Mexico City, where no American team has never won. It'll be a whole different U.S. squad, but a stronger Mexico as well, and 5-0 is a powerful motivator, both ways.

Laying It on 'Thick'

Armando Iannucci's new political satire In the Loop has been getting a lot of love in the press since it opened in New York and L.A. We won't get the film in these parts till Aug. 14, which gives you plenty of time to do your homework by boning up on the source material, the BBC show The Thick of It, which the Alamo Village will be screening in August.Set in the made-up Ministry of Social Affairs and Citizenry, The Thick of It brilliantly depicts life in and around Downing St. as one spectacular co*ck up after another. The beleaguered Minister Hugh Abbot (Chris Langham) is forever sticking his foot in his mouth, while the PM's vicious cleanup man Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) tries to pry it out and Abbot's shambling team of aides and speechwriters jams it right back in. Sorta like The West Wing, if you replaced those beautiful dreamers with absolute dunderheads and let the four-letter-words fly. Good stuff, that.Go here for info on the free screenings at Alamo Village on Aug. 3, Aug. 10, and Aug. 13.And check out the trailer for In the Loop below.

Hot Wheels

Banked track Roller Derby is like any other sport: Just knowing you're on a hot streak can keep the streak going.Take Sunday's TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls' bout. From the initial roll on to the tracks on Sunday night, it was obvious that the Cherry Bombs thought it was their night. More assured, more aggressive, far more confident than the Rhinestone Cowgirls. Of course, it's reasonable to be confident when you're running on a 3-0 perfect season, but with the Cowgirls running 2-1, they were also motivated. If the Cherry Bombs lost, then that would leave both teams plus the Hellcats tied 3-1 heading into the championship.But the Cowgirls in crimson couldn't do much to stop the yellow-clad rockers. The first six jams yielded six straight lead jammer slots for the Cherrys, and 15 points. The Cowgirls struggled to put much on the board: What's worse, due to the mercurial nature of the penalty system, what they did put on kept coming off (getting on the wrong end of a push-kart duel will do that to you).

KBH Says N-O on Sotomayor

Interesting times for Texas Senators when it comes to the nomination hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. First, Republican Junior Sen. John Cornyn got Sen. Jeff Sessions to vote against her for him when he didn't bother turning up to this morning's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting (in fact, three of the six nay votes actually had something better to do and voted by proxy instead). Now Republican Senior Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announces she'll vote no when the nomination reaches the Senate floor.First, let's all be very clear: Barring some utterly unforeseen circ*mstance, Sotomayor will be the next appointee to the U.S. Supreme Court. That said, there are two obvious ways to look at this decision.One: Hutchison has taken a principled stand against a judge that she really doesn't feel should sit on the nation's highest court.Two: Hutchison is heading into a brutal primary against Gov. Rick Perry and, frankly, she is late to the dance. Her latest statements to right-wing talk radio station WBAP indicate she's thinking of stepping down in October or November, but she needs to get her profile back up fast. Recent polls show her and the incumbent in a statistical tie, so she's failed to capitalize on her early anti-Perry momentum. With centrists arguably lacking from the Republican primary, she may have to start tacking to the Right to get back in the nomination game.