Results tagged “bus”

• Car collector dies… in a car accident.
• Be careful whom you shoot when they are coming into your condo!
• Skip class=find true love.

As gas prices continue to rise and the bimonthly resurrection of the lightrail debate goes on-and-off, Austinites are left with the option of riding Capital Metro buses. What can sometimes be a nuisance for some and a necessity for most, Cap Metro has a love-hate relationship with the City of Austin and its drivers. Whatever your thoughts of the bus system in our city, they did have some good news to report this month: ridership is up! Over 675,000 more people rode Cap Metro buses this year than in 2007—that's an increase of over 6%. The amount of people who choose to park-and-ride went up, as well, over 13%. Reports of full buses and long waits have filled Cap Metro inboxes and, in response, the company hopes to add between 10 to 15 more buses to its fleet. Additionally, Cap Metro says they hope to use these to create new, more rider friendly routes.

Photo by Merrick Brown on flickr City charter revision committee wants your input on single-member districts. Executive director of CAMPO resigns effective January 15. Man attacks cop with screwdriver after the policeman catches him breaking into cars at the Highland Mall parking lot. A Hutto man is the first to be treated under Jessica's Law, legislation which deals harshly with child predators. Two adolescent boys (aged 11 and 14) have been charged with attempting to...

Photo by Lorrie McClanahan on flickrWarning to today's travelers: if you are flying to DFW today, or stopping there on your way somewhere else, get ready to wait. A software issue this morning blocked communications to the East and West Towers at DFW for about twenty minutes. To deal with that, air traffic controllers increased the space between flights. As a result, your wait to fly out from or land at DFW could be long;...

Image from Myspace Matthew Zapruder and Jeff TietzFriday, November 9Follett's Intellectual Property (2402 Guadalupe)Free, 5:30pm[info]Matthew Zapruder’s new collection of poetry is called The Pajamaist. We’re still not sure if this one of those cosmic coincidences, or if Zapruder meant to sing the lyrical praises of all things “IST.” In any case, the collection is excellent, as is his previous work, and we will be out in our most stylish PJs to watch him read at...

On October 17, a UT student committed suicide in the Gregory Gym pool. Austin unveiled Texas' first hybrid school bus yesterday. Those helicopters flying over Austin yesterday were "supposedly" practicing for this weekend's football festivities. New study finds that most Texas High School graduates are not prepared for college. Clever: Give inmates jobs. Borderline: Give them jobs cleaning cars. Not-so Clever: Leaving the keys in the ignition. Even more proof that in this day...

Overheard in Austin is back! If you've heard anything worthy of repeating, or good for a laugh, send your quotes to [email protected] and we'll publish the best ones. Girl eating brunch across from a guy:Try this. Guy:It’s okay. Girl:You don’t know how to taste food right. You know why? It’s because you leave a little bit of food in your mouth from your last bite. (Pause) You know what I mean. Photographer at Fun Fest,...

FRIDAY: Mohawk: Cracker / Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit Club Deville: Robbers on High Street, Great Northern - FREE! Sponsored by The Onion/Sweet Leaf Tea Beauty Bar: DJ Tim Sweeney (DFA records), Learning Secrets, Farah SATURDAY: Red 7: The Paper Chase, Stinking Lizaveta, Death Is Not A Joyride Club Deville: Mates of State, Small Sins, Immaculate Machine Mohawk: Murder City Devils, Those Peabodys Beauty Bar: Bus Driver, Daedelus, Antimc (DJs Mel and Klassen)...

Mac Lethal has been called a “contemporary cross between a folk singer and a stand-up comic” by Rolling Stone – and that dichotomy of inane observation and thought-provoking insight defines his debut album, 11:11. We spoke with Mac Lethal from his tour bus while on the road for the Everybody Loves a Clown Tour with label-mates Grayskul and Atmosphere. That tour bus is currently parked outside of Emo’s, where the Everybody Loves a Clown...

House Speaker Pelosi was in town this morning to talk about energy issues. Have you voted early already? Did you even know election time was upon us? A construction worker was trapped underground for an hour yesterday as he worked on a tunnel for a downtown condo project. Travis County-area man died when the bus he was unloading from his tow truck crushed him. Local car thieves are seemingly in accord over their preferred...

Round Rock ISD announces another case of MRSA. Wash your hands, y'all! (see video at right) Woman attacked and sexually assaulted by man and two women in her South Austin apartment earlier this week; Police think she was specifically targeted, but didn't know her attackers. Laura Hall won't get a new trial, but her family isn't giving up. Southwest Key moves to their new facility. Local Ron Paul supporters ask Leslie to participate in...

Zombie fans and flash mob enthusiasts, take heed: there's a walk of the undead taking place at Congress Avenue this Sunday afternoon.

Mayor Wynn says, "We're taking action today that will lower the cost of utility bills, make housing more affordable, help improve air quality and take critical steps in the fight against global warming," as City Council adopts codes to make new homes zero energy capable. El Paso high school student collapses and dies after finishing the PSAT. Blanco High School pranksters put bloody deer carcass in Comfort High School bus. Bird conservationists are opposed...

Pflugerville band students participate in contest with loaned instruments after bus carrying students and instruments was hit by drunk driver over the weekend. Construction slowing down at some downtown condo projects? We admit to driving a little fast on Chestnut; neighborhood residents ask drivers to take it slow. City leaders are hoping that local retailers will phase out plastic bags in a year. Will this lead to an official city ban on plastic bags?...

Britain creates new drug to combat obesity...dog obesity. Dear Abby supports gay marriage. A London judge has found nine lies in Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, orders disclaimer to air before being played in schools. The Empire State Building will glow green for the end of Ramadan this year. In China, there is a 95-year old woman growing a horn out of her forehead. Houston ISD is thinking of charging students (and their parents)...

• Tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 21) is an Ozone Action Day, so bus rides are free! carpool.
• Speaking of Capital Metro, their board does endorse a rate hike in January.
• Federal investigators are in town looking into APD's use of force.

One truly is the loneliest number. We prefer things in multiples: beers, potato chips, orgasms (was that taking it too far? Eh, fugetaboutit.) And we definitely enjoy the chance to experience two landmark films in one compact bundle. Tonight, the Austin Film Society presents not one, but two sensational films as part of their gritty Essential series Blokes 'n' Birds: British Realist Cinema (1958-1965). In the past several years, you may have noticed that a...

Dallas native Ben Kweller is an interesting tangle of contradictions. He's 26, but his first major label album was released a decade ago. Kweller is an indie rock star, but lives in a Brooklyn brownstone with his longtime wife and young son. And his music is accessible and catchy, yet it hasn't quite found the large audience it deserves. Kweller returns to the Austin City Limits Festival for two shows this weekend to bounce...

Just hours before venerable Hoboken indie rock institution Yo La Tengo descend upon The Parish on September 17th, they'll be all up in your Alamo as part of the Alamo's Cinema Under the Influence Series. In a dazzlingly cross-referency evening, Yo La Tengo will present Four Flies on Grey Velvet, the Dario Argento flick that most influenced them as a band. Also on the bill is Cockaboody, an animated film drawn by YLT drummer...

In 2005, Bloc Party released their debut album Silent Alarm, a glorious highlight of the postpunk revival that the New York Times described as "angsty and urgent, with jagged guitars and sexy dance-punk drums." Unlike many of their British rock contemporaries, the band have aggressively toured America in the interim, stopping in Austin for both SXSW and ACL Fest in 2005 and 2007 and at Stubb's in 2006. This approach may help explain why...

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take...

For 2008, Capital Metro is planning to double bus fare for adult passengers from 50 cents to $1. Other fares would increase in proportion (students would have to pay 50 cents instead of 25 cents for local/rapid routes); the Dillo would remain free for everyone. In their informational brochure(.pdf), Capital Metro makes a point of saying that the current fares have been the same since 1985, while operational costs keep going up. Is this...

Wall Street has faith in the Texas economy Dell scores low in the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index A boy swimming in Lake LBJ contracts a fatal strain of meningitis and is now fighting for his life at the Dell Children's Medical Center. Austinist wishes you well, kiddo. A 9-year-old was responsible for one of the Dollar General fires Is Whole Foods buying Wild Oats just to take 'em out? Customs officials in Hidalgo confiscate...

Many of us have been confronted with the same challenge when trying to get to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport: "How can I save money by bumming a ride off a friend or relative and not have to take a cab or park at the airport?" It's really not that far of a drive, especially when compared to other cities, but still, it'd be nice if there was a cheaper (or free) way to get to the airport without have to ask anyone to do you a favor. Yeah, usually there's that really loyal friend who'll always offer you a ride to the airport, but you always feel a little guilty for asking so much of him...unless you give him gas money or something, but, let's be honest, that never happens.

It's not often that an indie blues-rock combo from Northwest England go from garage band to a Mercury Music Prize, but that's exactly what happened to Gomez nearly a decade ago. Formed for fun in late 1996, the band's demos ignited a bidding war in the post-Britpop era and produced a classic debut album, Bring It On (hear two singles by clicking on the YouTube links below.) Since then, the band has produced four...

Rain, rain, go away, we need to mow the lawn someday?! Aww, who are we kidding. We weren't going to mow it anyway, thank goodness the rain gave us a great excuse. There's way too much internet to surf and music to be heard to be working. Although we would like to go back outdoors at some point. Until then we'll just keep searching CL to bring you the best of last week's Missed...

Austin native Rebecca Rosenberg has been living in South Korea teaching English, and she wants to share her experiences abroad with all of Austin. Austinist believes that we could all use some Korean culture. After nine months away from Austin, working as an English teacher in South Korea, I most miss lying on the grass with a margarita, relaxing at the meat market that is Barton Springs, with a Shady Thing pilfered from the...

Teachers working in impoverished schools get paid less and are less experienced than teachers in more affluent schools, making it harder for them to help students. Vicious cycle. Maybe they can save money by going green? Have you stocked up on mega-mushroom face serum yet? No? Then you are so not ready for summer. KJI was totally ornery after almost 5 years without a U.S. visit. Hopefully Hill can console him. And take away...

Brian B. is convinced he's a messiah--but only a "local" messiah, his powers limited to a 100-mile radius. What good is a local messiah, you might ask? Well, Brian's not too sure, either, but he's raising money to help himself--and his town--find out. The Proper Care and Feeding of an American Messiah follows Brian's quest to prove himself, raise funds, and gain "a posse" of apostles. The film's funnier than a nun on a pogo...

Last Friday, Governor Rick Perry's office made it public that our Governor has vetoed -- among many other laws that have come to his desk from the Legislature this year -- House Bill 3457, a simple bill that sought to grant the State of Texas the power to prohibit the drivers of diesel school buses from allowing the engine to idle while the bus is parked "at a school or school event." The bill was...