In case you're still curious about where to vote on Tuesday, we've reprinted the official list from the Travis County Clerk web site as of Monday evening. For up-to-date information, you might want to double-check the Office of the Registrar's database To find out which precint you're in, use their handy Voter Verification form. From the Elections Divison: Registered voters can vote with a voter registration card, driver’s license or any official photo ID,......

Designs from Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Zac Posen and Eskander will be showcased, but our interest level is definitely leaning towards mojitos, champagne, Italian cocktails, and snacks from The Steeping Room, North, Jaspers, The Daily Grill and Viva Chocolato. ...

Image from Fix290.org. Despite TXDOT's incessant bleating about lack of funds, they apparently still have plenty of cash to build the controversial Phase II toll roads, including the particularly controversial twelve-lane highway in the sky at the Y (71 and 290 in Oak Hill). In an era of concerns about budget cuts, pollution of Barton Springs and CO2 emissions, it seems like an egregious waste of resources to build this monstrosity that helps Hummer-drivers hurtle......

Logo from Edible AustinEdible Austin’s first annual Eat Local Week celebration runs from Saturday December 8th through Saturday December 15th. While you’re nourishing body and soul with locally-grown and handmade foods from an extensive list of participating restaurants and markets, a portion of proceeds will go to Urban Roots, a program which teaches sustainable agriculture fundamentals to East Austin youth. 15-20 participants aged 14-18 will be awarded a paid internship to grow food on an......

Rebecca Robinson won't sit still. In addition to her day job, Robinson is also an award-winning actor, garnering recognition as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama for the 2006-2007 B. Iden Payne Awards. Austinist asked Robinson some questions about The Wine and Food Foundation of Texas and her role as Executive Director of the Austin-based organization whose membership reads like a a who's who of heavy-hitters in the growing Texas culinary scene. How did......

Sip 'N' Stroll: As a warm-up for next spring's Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, the organization is sponsoring a very enjoyable-sounding Sip 'N' Stroll event at three of The Domain's new restaurants. The concept is simple: you wander from restaurant to restaurant in groups, and each of them serves you a flight of wines and some paired appetizers. NoRTH features Italian eats, so naturally they'll be focusing on Italy's wine varietals. Regan Jasper, the......

In the hopes of increasing registered and polite participation in our comments section, Austinist has decided to publish a "Top 5" list of our favorite reader responses from the past week. There are no prizes this week, but one never knows what might develop in the future. Now, on to the main attraction! 1 "I'm gazing into the abyss, but all I'm seeing is a 6-BR split-level mansion, with swimming pool & cabana in back."......

The Pier on Lake Austin, an old staple of Lake Austin boat cruisers and Hill Country folks since the 1920s, closed its doors back in 2005 after the restaurant/music venue/gas station lost its lease. Since that time, the place has basically sat unused. As we reported in April 2006, the original plan was to replace The Pier with a three-story development that consisted of a mix of casual and finer dining. Evidently this plan fell......

The Statesman is reporting that homeowners in western Travis County are shocked and appalled by a new proposal by the Lower Colorado River Authority to increase rates charged for water usage to reflect the high cost of providing water to the hilly, sparsely populated area. LCRA's general manager, Joe Beal, said that another problem is that "People out there use a boatload of water. They irrigate a lot, and they irrigate at the same......

Mercury Design Studio is raffling off eight I'm Not A Plastic Bag canvas totes, designed by Anya Hindmarch to encourage recycling. These limited bags are already sold out in major cities. (Read about the nation-wide craziness, paralleling Harry Potter-like mania, reported by our sister blog Gothamist.) The 2nd Street store is raffling two bags a week through August. Raffle tickets cost $5 apiece and all proceeds go to the Town Lake Trail Foundation. Tribeza......

RGK Ranch, a proposed suburban development in the Hill Country west of Bee Cave on the south side of Highway 71, was the subject of some protest at the Travis County Commissioners Court hearing last night. The commissioners delayed their vote on the project by at least two weeks. The project would add another 1,500 single family homes to the area. Two similar projects, Sweetwater Lazy 9 and West Cypress Hills, are already in......

The Hill Country flooding hits the national news. The kids are alright, indeed. The NYT consecrates the iPhone. Elizabeth Edwards vs. Ann Coulter. Fina-freaking-ly. Apparently that Die Hard movie is "fun but forgettable". Fine, but we're seeing it anyway.......

Either something's gone wonky with the Doppler Radar, or Mother Nature's feeling awfully gloomy: Austin's extended forecast indicates that we'll be dealing with hot, stormy weather through the July 4th holiday. Last night's thunderstorms, which delivered an estimated 18 inches of rain, flooded parts of Williamson, Lampasas, and Burnet counties, leaving many folks stranded on cars, roofs, and trees. Emergency rescue crews were forced to make their way by land, air, and, in several cases,......

(FIRST) THURSDAY [7] party • Official Space Launch Celebration at Salvage Vanguard Theater (9:30pm) music • Go Motion! at Beauty Bar music • The Dollyrots, Alright Tonight, The Sweethearts, Abby Birds at Emo's music • Vietnam and Greg Ashley, The Strange Attractors, The Golden Boys at Emo's music • Scott Miller, The Commonwealth, The Gougers at Stubb's music • An Evening with Old Crow Medicine Show at The Parish Room music • Locals @ La......

Way back in September 2006, we reported that some guy on a Jet Ski stumbled across a concrete-filled barrel with human remains spilling out of it out on Lake Buchanan. Nine months later, the identity of these remains has now been revealed. According to the results of DNA tests performed at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, the mysterious remains belong to one Charles Maynard Wyatt, age 62, of Travis......

In 2001, Californian Hans Boas set out on a road trip to Austin to teach German classes at The University of Texas when he stopped by Fredericksburg, the modest Hill Country town known for its good food, great shopping, and strong German heritage. Over lunch, he overheard a conversation spoken in an "interesting sounding German," a dialect that incorporated English words and English phrases, but was pronounced in a distinctly German accent. Investing further,......

We aren't certain why this trail of peaches was on a Fredericksburg sidewalk recently, but we do know peach season is here. Take a weekend drive to the Hill Country and pick up some fresh fruit.......

Unlike the recently discussed Westlake mothers driving with one hand and sipping wine with the other, the Austin Wine Festival is making it possible for you to combine the thrill of Texas roads with the taste of wine, all in a safely automobile-free environment. This Sunday night, watch The Wine Roads of Texas, a documentary from KLRU and Wes Marshall that tells the story of Texas wineries in an engaging and informative manner. Beginning in......

If you have already failed and re-upped your New Year’s resolutions more times than you can count, take heart – tomorrow is another day (to fail). No, but seriously, we're fortunate to live in a town where there's a whole subculture of masochists who organize events around such activities as running, biking, swimming, and various combinations thereof. Looking for a torturous fun way to get outside and get your body moving? Then why not......

WEDNESDAY [11] books • JoAnna Barrett presents The Men's Guide to the Women's Bathroom at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • Texas Doc Tour: "Fish Kill Flea" at Alamo Downtown film • Open Screen Night at Alamo Downtown film • Weird Wednesdays: "Marta" at Alamo Downtown film • Jim Jarmusch Film Series: "Dead Man" at Alamo Village film • "Babe" Organic Vegetarian Feast at Alamo Village film/discussion • Screening of Israeli film director Eytan Fox's "Walk......

Save Our Springs Alliance, long-time advocate for Barton Springs and other environmentally-sensitive zones throughout Central Texas, issued a press release yesterday stating that it's being forced into bankruptcy by a court judgment won against it by Central Texas residential developers. In 2004, SOS Alliance filed a lawsuit against Lazy Nine Municipal Utility District, seeking to prevent the district -- which is allegedly just a puppet-agent of Wilshire Homes and Forest City Properties of Cleveland, Ohio......

FRIDAY [30] music • The Skeletons at South Austin Speedshop (7pm) fashion/music • Couture de Amore with fashions by Loves, Mariessa; Stiletto Gold; Sea and Enemies; Amy Kline (Jewelry), and Clap!Clap!, Golden Bear, Haunting Oboe Music, The Valentines at The Parish Room ($10) music • Video/CD release for "The Projeckt" at Latitude 30 music • Bluebonnet Blues Festival, benefitting Historic Main Street Association of Marble Falls, at Marble Falls music • 3rd Annual Global......

Paula Disbrowe has been a food and travel writer in Manhattan and the cowgirl chef at Hart & Hind Fitness Ranch in Rio Frio, Texas. Her work has been featured in publications including the New York Times, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, and Saveur. She recently launched one of our favorite websites, Dishola, and her new book, Cowgirl Cuisine: Rustic Recipes and Cowgirl Adventures from a Texas Ranch, showcases her love for Texas food. Catch......

THURSDAY [29] theatre •Yellow Tape Construction Company presents I Am Not Tartuffe at play! Theatre (8pm) theatre •The City Theatre Company presents The Boys Next Door at The City Theatre (8pm) theatre •Ohio Trip, a "slide show adventure" by Elizabeth Cobbe at Women & Their Work Gallery (7:30pm) theatre •The Vortex presents Hamlet at The Vortex (8pm) theatre •Hyde Park Theatre presents Zell Miller III's My Child, My Child, My Alien Child at Hyde......

We are crushed that one of the hottest event at the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival - tonight’s Sip and Stroll done got sold out. We are completely missing out on both champagne and chatting up the Bubbly Professor - Jane Nickles. We are also missing out on wandering down to (sometimes yay, sometimes nay) Cru Wine Bar, where we would have been force-fed white wine. We are also, alas, not heading......

Barton Springs is currently closed after this week's rains flooded the pool. Meanwhile, on the other side of the watershed, the Save Our Springs Alliance points out that recent construction by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and the Hill Country Galleria Mall have left "huge amounts of sediment," much of which washed into the Edwards Aquifer earlier this week: More photos and descriptions are available on their website.......

WEDNESDAY [28] film •AFS presents "Grindhouse" at The Paramount Theatre books •Larry Speck presents Technology, Sustainability, and Cultural Identity at BookPeople (7:00pm) books •Mayor's Book Club, First Discussion of Around the Bloc by Stephanie Elizondo Griest at International Center of Austin (7:00pm) film •Third Coast Night screens "Sacco & Vanzetti" at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film •"Transformers: The Movie" at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film •Weird Wednesdays: "Erotic Adventures of Superknight" at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film......

Tomorrow marks the start of the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival. If you had any doubt that our town is becoming more foodie and cosmopolitan, you need only look at the myriad "SOLD OUT" announcements on the THCWFF's site to quickly lose that notion. But while many tastings are already full, we still see two events on the wine calendar well worth recommending as last minute bookings: A Wine Dinner w/ Simi......

austinist is an Official Media Sponsor of The Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival photo of Chef John Ash courtesy The Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival Sure, think about the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival and the Sunday Fair in Georgetown is the first thing to come to mind. One of our favorite events, though, is this Saturday from 10am-1pm - then outdoor farmers’ market-inspired tasting event - From......

Back in early 2006, foodies were abuzz about the pizzas and Italian food products on offer at Mandola's Market on 47th Street. The shop fast became a neighborhood mainstay and maintains a loyal following. When we recently became aware that they were also planning a combination winery and restaurant venture in Driftwood (home of The Salt Lick), we contacted Mandola Estates hospitality head Lynn Zeller to find out more. The upshot of our talk:......