Texan Round-Up

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman on Fri Jul 07, 2006 at 19:12:32 PM CDT

• Could streetcars finally be coming to Austin connection downtown, UT, and development sites around the city? Maybe so with the help of potential funding from the University of Texas.

  Officials said last spring that the proposed plan could enhance commuting options for UT students, easing the burden on the UT Shuttle System.

  The transit option could also provide an easy commute for students between various campuses in the city, provide a way to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium without parking hassles, and provide a safe alternative to driving to downtown clubs and music venues.

  The proposed rail system will run in both directions across six-and-a-half miles that stretch from the Seaholm Power Plant on the north shore of Town Lake, alongside the Texas Capitol and the University on San Jacinto Boulevard and end at the development area at the former Mueller Airport.



• A Travis County Judge is hearing a lawsuit filed by NAACP, Nelson Linder, Sonia Santana and David Van Os about local electronic voting machines. They are pushing to require a paper ballot of some sort or revert back to the optical scanners of yesteryear.


• Summer Daily Texan columnist Brad Gray writes an interesting piece on Ken Lay and what his death may mean.

  God apparently was in control Wednesday when He summoned Lay to the highest possible court of appeals with an apparent major heart attack.

  Lay, the son of a Baptist minister and founder of Enron, frequently invoked religion when talking to reporters during his four-month trial. But he seemed to have conveniently forgotten the verses that mention repentance and humility. According to the Christian faith that he professed to believe in, if he truly repented his misdeeds before the Lord, he is forgiven and is spending the rest of eternity in a blissful state of reconciliation with the Lord.

  If not, he's on Day Two of the longest prison sentence imaginable.