Pilgrim's Pride files for bankruptcy; perhaps Bo Pilgrim should have spent his lobbying monies better? Fed Chair Bernanke was in town and spoke at the Chamber of Commerce lunch this afternoon. UT Center for American History will now be named for former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe in recognition of/gratitude for his $15 million gift to the school. APD going after street musicians? Prayers at Austin Hindu Temple for victims of Mumbai attacks. Texas Dems suing over recount in House District 105. Parents suing Lake Travis ISD over the system used to check the sexual offender database. ...

Protesters refuse to leave Thai airport until changes in government are made; tourists stuck in Thailand as no flights are leaving. Bailouts: white-collar favored over blue-collar? Food stamp use close to an all-time high. Robert Gates will stay on as Defense Secretary for at least the first year of the Obama administration. Former First Lady Barbara Bush hospitalized in Houston last night. Why a California woman abandoned her teenage son in Nebraska. Girl group......

Thousands are expected to attend the Feast of Sharing downtown this evening. On this busy travel weekend, APD is keeping an eye out for aggressive drivers. City of Austin now looking into the financial impact of city employees who drive their work vehicles to their out-of-town homes. Next year's Parade of Homes will focus on million-dollar homes in the Mueller area. Jim Mattox's body laid in state at the Capitol yesterday; his funeral was today. Texas' renewable energy economy likely to benefit when Obama's economic team takes over. Teen mother from the FLDS compound refuses to tell authorities where her child is....

Potential new RNC chair belonged to whites-only country club. In other news, bears tend to choose forested areas to relieve themselves. Ironically, just when we finally get a president who believes in science, the economic downturn may threaten climate initiatives. Still don't care about global warming? Maybe the thought of never eating moules frites again will change your mind. Police in Afghanistan have arrested men charged with throwing acid on schoolgirls. Zimbabwe is not......

As if flying isn't bad enough these days, pilots are now having in-flight mental breakdowns. Huckabee = FAIL. Again. Cabinet talk. Gremlins do exist! How low can it go? Can it go down low? All the way to the floor? Just when you thought W's hellish destruction was over... Flash back to our childhood Thanksgiving holiday.......

Revelation for rich people: not having money makes marriage hard! Now, this just doesn't seem right. As many as 4 million people may pack the National Mall for Obama's inauguration. As if the UAW needed any more bad press... Troops in Congo plan, as of now, to let aid through. Boy in Brazil survives rabies; becomes superhero. (Not that last part.) Jack Donaghy is responsible for this one - you can tell by the......

24 hours after being elected, Obama faces a threat from Russia, a warning from Israel... and an armed guard to go to the gym. President-elect Obama to hold press conference this afternoon after meeting with his Transition Economic Advisory Board. Unemployment rate at 14-year high after big October losses. Thousands in Los Angeles protest gay-marriage ban. Palin must cough up the clothes, say Republican lawyers. 2 suspects still at-large after Austin police search shuts......

Today is most likely the busiest day of early voting in Travis County; in the end, half of the county's registered voters are expected to have voted early. Long lines to vote early in Williamson County. Review of DPS released yesterday comments on communication problems as well as other issues. New red light camera added off of Howard Ln/Wells Branch and Mopac. The bearded bank robber strikes again! This time at a Wells Fargo bank off William Cannon. Earthquake hits North Texas last night. 16.5% of Texans owe more than their house is worth, a new study says. That's still less than the national average....

News Flash: Obama is not Muslim. REMINDER: Early voting ends tomorrow. GO! GO! GO! In case you missed it, the Phillies win the World Series for the first time in 25 years. Face it, this is called a recession. Record profits for Exxon yet again. Netflix and Tivo are gettin' it on. Gross!......

Report: Republican National Committee shells out $150,000 on Palin's wardrobe Stocks slumped this morning as fear of a recession mounted Hacker who published provocative Miley Cyrus photos raided by FBI India blasts off for a moon mission San Francisco considers decriminalizing prostitution Yahoo to dump 1,500 workers as slump deepens Philadelphia and Tampa Bay meet tonight in World Series opener......

Obama to leave the trail for two days to visit his grandma. Bush wants to close down Gitmo? Depends on what you mean by "wants." Department of the Obvious: The downturn's not so bad, if you have money. Gun control's Roe v. Wade? And they say that Americans are litigious... Love it when news stories include the phrase "a shadowy figure." Send your pop cult costume pics to EW. Win...fame?......

NPR presidential debate fact check. Does Joe the Plumber know Joe Sixpack and Jane Winebox? Hurricane Omar is now a Category 3 storm. Now, this is the kind of religion we can wrap our head around. Housing prices haven't hit rock bottom...yet. Max's "baby wee" helps minimize swelling. The Phillies are headed to the World Series.......

Stakes are high as Obama and McCain head for final debate President Bush says he's confident that the economy will come back "in the long run" Hurricane Omar nears Puerto Rico with 80-mph winds Easing winds aid firefighters' effort in San Fernando Valley blazes A new line of Apple computers: the metal MacBook That bottled water may not be as pure as you think Reports say Madonna and Guy Ritchie to announce their divorce......

McCain introduces his economic plan today. Are we living through a fundamental reorganization of the concepts of government and the market? Obama proposes a couple of breaks. 106-year-old nun who told the media that she was going to vote for Obama is now really tired. Nebraska is getting visitors it might not desire. So what do we do if public figures just keep on lying? Mel just really is too old for this sh*t.......

Cindy McCain accuses Barack Obama of endangering her son in Iraq. Pickens brings energy plan to Austin. Economy going to hell in a handbasket. Is Biden finally acting like he has a backbone? NATO to hit drug trade in Afghanistan. US nears removing North Korea from terror list. The mighty Red River Rivalry!......

White House tells you to "get a job!" Diddy is pissed at McCain. The economy is shot but the Neiman Marcus Holiday catalog wants you to buy a life-sized Lego replica of you and your partner for $60K. Hef is shocked one of his bunnies has left the ranch. Didn't the 54-year age difference give him a clue? How long would an unchained bike last in Austin before it got stolen? Hash or Chocolate? Canadian Border Control can't tell. Mighty Murder Morphin Power Ranger Trial....

The second presidential debate: "remarkably sedate", "low-voltage", "tedious" The Federal Reserve and other world banks enact an emergency rate cut Work with glowing jellyfish leads to Nobel Prize in chemistry Caution: No cold medicine for kids under 4 Wal-Mart says shoppers are sticking to necessities Vanishing Saturday Night Live sketch stirs controversy Esquire names Halle Berry as this year's Sexiest Woman Alive......

Chaos in Bangkok as groups protest a speech by the new Prime Minister. It's the credit markets, stupid. At least a quarter of world's wild mammal species are facing extinction thanks to over-harvesting and habitat destruction. Some rally attendees at McCain and Palin's speeches are keeping it classy. Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley does a radio ad for Obama in Virginia - is that why his poll numbers are up there? Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley does a radio ad for Obama in Virginia - is that why his poll numbers are up there? NPR visits Topolobampo, favorite restaurant of the Obamas. It will make you hungry for interior Mexican food! McCain to reconcile with Letterman, reports say....

BOR has put together a nifty map of Austin locations accepting voter registration til the midnight cut-off. Have we emphasized this enough today? Please register to vote! The city's new single-stream recycling program starts today! Shooting this afternoon near Jordan Elementary School in Northeast Austin. Bomb threat made at the North Austin Muslim Community Center yesterday. Fire this morning at the Pickle Research campus. South Austin seems the best place to get gas right now (two locations have it for below $3/gallon). Gov. Rick Perry: "My instinct is if you gave every governor truth serum across the country that they would all dearly love to have the Texas economy in their state."...

Palin gets back on track, but Biden wins debate. Pro-war group offered cash for Frats to demonstrate at VP debate. Another swing state yielded to Obama. House readies for its second bailout vote. Stocks rebounded slightly with the purchase of Wachovia by Wells Fargo. Seven-year-old found hanging from hook at Austin school may have died playing game. Schwarzenegger to U.S.: State may need $7-billion loan.......

Who's responsible for the financial crisis? Republicans? Dems? Or a culture of unfettered capitalism? Obviously not that last one. Sarah Palin is huddled on McCain's ranch in Arizona right now, getting brainwashed (oops, we meant "prepared", of course) for that debate at the end of the week. Maybe Sarah Palin hasn't seen this video? China arrested several people it thinks are responsible for that tainted-milk scandal. Brazil is about to face criminal charges for......

"A nasty recession is possible, but the bailout will not cure that." - economist James K. Galbraith Bailout plan stalled by Republican leaders in Congress. WaMu FAIL. "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go?" - erudite statement made by GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin during her interview by Katie Couric "It makes you realize how addicted you are to convenience." - Liz Clasen-Kelly from North Carolina on the gas shortage in the Southeast More Chinese food products found to have used tainted milk in production. Swiss man becomes the first one to cross the English Channel with a jet-propelled wing....

Apparently our economy is being "fundamentally reordered" and the executive branch is getting even more power than it got from the Patriot Act. Happy Tuesday! Harry Reid promises that bailout won't go through without Dems putting their thumbs on it. Unexpected side-effects of financial crunch, part 56. At least Obama and McCain agree on climate (guess Palin never got the memo). NYC property tax to go up. Et tu, George Will? McCain's proposed transition......

Deadline approaches for evacuees to leave Austin Convention Center. APD officers head to Houston to help police streets. Some Ike victims may not be allowed to rebuild. Polls show Palin is starting to drag down McCain. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to take "tactical steps" in dealing with financial woes. Stocks soar worldwide on U.S. action. Here is the music lineup for the Pecan Street Festival this weekend. Happy Friday to all.......

wili_hybrid/Flickr Austin firefighter files discrimination suit against the City of Austin. Hope Andrade sworn in as Secretary of State, becoming the first Latina to hold that office. Registered sex offender pretended to be Ike evacuee to get into the Delco center with his girlfriend. Impact of current economic situation on Texas investments. Four Texan National Guardsmen killed in a military chopper crash in Iraq. Billy Joe Shaver indicted in shooting at a Lorena bar last......

Central banks doing their part to help world's money markets And just how did we get into this mess, again? AP isn't handing hacked Palin emails over to the Secret Service. Rachel Maddow on McCain and the women's vote (video). Are you a C.J. or a Charlie? Ike has claimed 55 lives - 6 of those in Texas. Use of female suicide bombers growing more prevalent in Iraq.......

The Federal Reserve lends insurer AIG $85 billion to stay afloat Howard Stern pranksters make out behind live news report from Wall Street 16 die in attack on U.S. Embassy in Yemen McCain adviser: McCain helped invent the Blackberry T-Mobile to show off the first Googlephone on September 23 Austin hurricane shelters not as well-stocked as elsewhere World's shortest man meets world's leggiest woman......

Global markets don't look good. Joe Biden is very disappointed. (Join the club.) Palin won't talk to the Troopergate investigators. Well, that's one way to handle it. The Bridge to Nowhere is still in the works. Why they gotta be so unkind to Willy Wonka? New iPod Nano is vaguely eco. Palin Darque.......

9-year-old girl died this morning after being pulled out of Lake Travis. 13 positions cut at Texas Monthly today. Don't forget tax-free weekend started today and goes through Sunday! The area of Cesar Chavez between San Antonio St. and Congress Ave. will be closed this weekend for crosswalk work. This year's BatFest will be held on the First Street bridge....

The dollar headed for a fifth weekly gain against the euro. Start packing for London. Germans try to slow glacier melt with giant screen. What to do with traumatized elephant stirs up Dallas. Hillary Clinton's name to be placed in nomination at convention. Poland pisses off Russia. Harry Potter film delayed eight months. Two Georgians say they have bigfoot’s body.......