APD just released an Amber Alert for 5-year-old Adrian Jaimes, who they say was kidnapped around 7:45 this morning from his home in Northeast Austin. Jaimes was last seen wearing a green jacket, black t-shirt and blue pants, is about 4 feet tall, weighs about 50 pounds and tends to have a bloody nose because of allergies....

Photo not to scaleNow that we're finally settled into the new year, we're on the prowl for a few fine individuals to join our motley crew of writers and photographers. Specifically, we're recruiting contributors in the following areas: Arts & Entertainment Film, Art, Theater, Comedy/Improv News Local/State Politics, GLBT News, Items of an Offbeat/"WTF" Nature, Breaking News, Campus Shenanigans Other Cartoonists, Community and Volunteer Opportunities, Sports (UT) Photography Photo Essays, Special Events If you're interested,......

The Iraqi defense minister just said that the country will need US military help through at least 2018. That would make...oh...fifteen years of US involvement, total. Bush begs Saudi Arabia to produce more oil, help a brother out. Obama tries to stop the hatred between his campaign and Hillary's. Good luck, buddy. ...

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......

Image from MySpace Buttercup Mohawk ResidencyTuesday, November 20, 27 and December 4, 11, 18The Mohawk (912 Red River)$2, 9pm[info] For the next five Tuesdays, San Antonio band Buttercup will be The Mohawk’s guest-in-residence, and as always, the quartet will find a way to make these intimate performances unique. Grackle Mundys in San Antonio found the band performing each Monday, arguably everyone’s least favorite day, and augmenting the pain of a new workweek with themed performances......

Image from RG4N websiteResponsible Growth for Northcross Austin (RG4N) is in court today claiming the city helped Wal-Mart through illegal city planning. They claim the Northcross Wal-Mart development requires the removal of 29 trees (breaking tree ordinances) and that the development breaks a plat note controlling runoff and pollution into Shoal Creek. The Allandale Neighborhood Association had part of their anti-Wal-Mart lawsuit thrown out last week but RG4N remains undeterred. Each group will have 2......

Sagra (Italian) Location: 1610 San Antonio [map] Phone: (512) 535-3464 Cost: Apps ($6-$12), Pasta and Entrees ($9-$24 and market), Pizzas ($9-$12), Sides ($6), Salads ($7-$9) Atmosphere: Upscale but not uppity, the atmosphere at Sagra is understated and subtle - a classic modern Italian restaurant atmosphere, hold the stereotype. Food: The problem with some Italian food is that after you eat it, you're hungry again in three or four days. This can be especially true......

First things first: we must differentiate between the chutzpah of a band at Radiohead's level of critical distinction and popularity initially releasing their album for donation and making the most revolutionary music industry statement since the dawn of the Internet Age... (big breath) ...and the chutzpah it takes to make truly ground-breaking musical statements. In Rainbows does not employ the latter. Still, one leaves with the impression that the boys from Oxford are convinced that,......

Just when we thought Birds Barbershop couldn’t get any more creative, they give us two more awesome reasons to walk in and rock out. Starting today, the Burnet location is hosting “Bubblegum Humpday Happy Hours” every Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. DJ Super K is breaking in the turntables with his collection of bubblegum and saccharine-sweet pop 45s from the 60s. Even if you're not getting your hair cut, shake your tail-feather and sample......

Once in a while, we like to take some time to introduce you to bands -- both local otherwise -- that we think you'd enjoy. Le Diamont Brut aims to showcase those MySpace gems we hope to see shine. Recommend your local suggestions by emailing music@austinist.com. MiKenPike What’s the Deal: Don’t let the name discourage you - it’s a mash-up of the members’ names. Their story is one of the more miraculous musical 180s in......

The Good Life Help Wanted Nights (Saddle Creek) The Good Life’s Tim Kasher, also of Cursive, is one of the most prolific and consistent romantic anti-heroes of modern indie rock. He’s released many albums under both titles as well as contributing to his peers’ projects like Rilo Kiley and Bright Eyes (the singer of which got his start playing with Kasher in Commander Venus), and while much of his music is built on heart aching......

Bag the Bags Coalition is urging city council to pass an ordinance banning the use of plastic bags by large retailers and instead require those retailers to offer compostable bags. In April, city council passed a resolution directing the City Manager to evaluate and recommend strategies within 90 days for limiting the use of non-compostable plastic bags and promoting the use of compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper bags or reusable checkout bags. 90 days......

Another Friday means another round of fresh outta the box movies. With summer's end possibly mere weeks away, these are our last days to indulge in the pastime of escaping Austin's scorching good vibes to sit in distracted air-conditioned comfort. And in some parts of the country it's already fall, which means there's a bumper crop of new movies out! The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: On one hand, this period......

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors Usually at this time of year I’m hunting down the best afterparties related to ACL, stocking up on Emergen-C, and whispering sweet nothings to my liver like a good liver-beater does. But for some reason, this year the whole shebang-e-bang has taken me by surprise. Totally slipped my mind. I blame our......

Every fall, Austin looks forward to ACL Fest, and each year, there's always a point where two of your favorite bands are playing on different sides of the park at the exact same time. ACL Band Clash is a weekly series in which Austinist scribes Paige Maguire and Tom Thornton examine the worst ACL scheduling clashes, and try to provide good advice on finding a resolution. Well, good advice might be a stretch, but......

Welcome to the latest edition of Band Slam!, wherein I navigate the murky waters of Austin's club listings for the best and worst band names playing this week. The only rule: I can't know anything about the actual band, thus limiting my critique strictly to the band's chosen moniker. Let's git 'er done! Death Is Not A Joyride - Beerland, Thurs 09/06 Isn’t it though? A long, hot, smoky, barreling-through-the-inferno-in-a-stolen-car-with-a-gun-in-each-hand kinda thing? I guess......

Having directed some of the most tear duct-taxing movies in recent memory (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark), as well as some exhaustively think-y, Brechtian pieces (Dogville, Manderlay) director Lars von Trier would now like to make you laugh. Or would he? It's just sort of hard to tell in his latest film, The Boss of it All. There are some things that do not bode well for comedy. For instance, an affiliation with......

The Austonian threw itself a ground breaking party this morning in the parking lot on the corner of 2nd and Congress, where the shiny building designed by Houston-based Zeigler Cooper Architects will one day stand. The festivities, complete with mimosas and mini-quiches, celebrated the future ‘landmark’, and featured a whole lot of loving between the City and Benchmark Development. Senator Kirk Watson and Mayor Will Wynn showed up, and praised Benchmark’s contributions to Austin’s......

Every fall, Austin looks forward to ACL Fest, and each year, there's always a point where two of your favorite bands are playing on different sides of the park at the exact same time. ACL Band Clash is a weekly series in which Austinist scribes Paige Maguire and Tom Thornton examine the worst ACL scheduling clashes, and try to provide good advice on finding a resolution. Well, good advice might be a stretch, but......

Stay tuned this week for full-length review of the latest New Pornographers and Rilo Kiley albums. Caribou Andorra (Merge) Dan Snaith's project formerly known as Manitoba is the realization of a degree in mathematics, numerous electronic gadgets and a nothing if not agile companionship between the past and the present. Though Andorra is the product of Snaith's deft handling of quite modern equipment, the feeling of listening is more nostalgic than expectant. "Melody Day,"......

On Mondays and Thursdays, we syndicate comic strips from around the IST network. If you're an artist and would like to share your works with our readers, please email us. Today we're posting another comic from Washington, D.C.'s The Argyle Academy. It's "a comic strip about a vampire cat named Lionel, a lonely octopus named Matthew, two fireflies in a jar who are constantly breaking up and getting back together, remorseful robots, and other random......

We read a couple months ago about copper thieves breaking into local Habitat houses to steal copper: homes built by volunteers and new homebuyers damaged and defaced by people in for a quick buck. Austin Habitat for Humanity's houses are far from the only ones being targeted by copper thieves, but the non-profit being hit is a sign of how desperate the copper theft situation is getting. Today it was reported that the number of......

Eat More Anchovies: Ten Solutions to Save the Ocean. Breaking Taco News: Al Pastor (the truck and the restaurant) reviewed by Taco Journalism. You can 100%-unlock the iPhone using a Turbo SIM card, without depending on the version of your current carrier card. The Washington Post discusses salary, gender and the cost of social haggling. Houston Community Radio station KPFT 90.1 received a single bullet through a window this week, missing a DJ by......

On Mondays, we'll be syndicating comic strips from around the IST network. If you're an artist and would like to share your works with our readers, please email us. Today we're posting another comic from Washington, D.C.'s The Argyle Academy. It's "a comic strip about a vampire cat named Lionel, a lonely octopus named Matthew, two fireflies in a jar who are constantly breaking up and getting back together, remorseful robots, and other random stuff,"......

On Mondays, we'll be syndicating comic strips from around the IST network. If you're an artist and would like to share your works with our readers, please email us. Today we're posting another comic from Washington, D.C.'s The Argyle Academy. It's "a comic strip about a vampire cat named Lionel, a lonely octopus named Matthew, two fireflies in a jar who are constantly breaking up and getting back together, remorseful robots, and other random stuff,"......

On Mondays, we'll be syndicating comic strips from around the IST network. If you're an artist and would like to share your works with our readers, please email us. Today's inaugural post comes from The Argyle Academy. It's "a comic strip about a vampire cat named Lionel, a lonely octopus named Matthew, two fireflies in a jar who are constantly breaking up and getting back together, remorseful robots, and other random stuff," says its creator,......

I Know Who Killed Me: Oh LiLo, you are such a desperate mess. Shouldn’t the name of this movie be “I Know Who Killed My Career – Me!” There is a joke here somewhere about Lohan portraying a stripper, but we can’t quite put our finger on it…. No Reservations: Yes, Hollywood has absolutely no reservations about continuing to make trite, cliché rom-coms. This one is about two chefs and (GASP!) one of them......

Next year's Olympic Games in Beijing won't be quite as explosive as Neo-Tokyo's futuristic Games. From the title character's astonishing powers to Tetsuo's astonishing rage, Akira represents a truly revolutionary advance in anime, not to mention some prescient observations about the unchecked ruthlessness of government. A ground-breaking anime film, Akira was one of the first displays of truly excellent animation. Adapted from Katsuhiro Otomo's manga series (also called Akira), the movie follows both delinquents and......

In our ongoing efforts to make it as easy and intuitive for you folks to see just what's going on around town, today we're pleased to launch the newest version of our Weekly IST List. Instead of appearing on the front page with the rest of our daily articles, the Weekly IST List now has its own dedicated place on the site: you can access it through the navigation menu at the top, or......

Ready the coolers and swimsuits, for summer is soon upon us. Although technically summer doesn't start for a few more days it certainly feels like we're living it as we speak. Not that we're complaining, we love it, we're just pointing it out for those who might have not been paying attention. Barton Springs, the lakes, tubing, cold beer, ACL; count us in! It's not just a way to beat the heat, It's way......