After a string of local and national accidents involving construction cranes, Austin's City Council will decide tonight if it should ask the city manager to study whether the city should regulate the safety of cranes. Cranes have towered over Austinites in greater numbers these last few years, showing a city in flux with a dramatically altered skyline. The Statesman counts two dozen on a given day. Of late, however, the greatest concern has not been the long-neck steel eyesores, but whether the cranes won't come down on your head, or the lunchroom in your office building. ...

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Naked_Guy_Screams_BUTT_SLIDE_After_Breaking_Glass_Tasered'; Zilker area residents watched in horror last week as a naked man, seemingly mentally deranged or under the influence of a mind-altering drug, used his body to shatter a window at Barton Hills Market and subsequently proceeded to roll around in the nearby bushes while shouting "Butt Slide!" Police later arrived and had to taser the man three times before finally subduing him. [Video by heinedancer]......

"Political Pundit" Toby Keith: Black society thinks Obama "talks, acts, and carries himself as a Caucasian." The jobless keep getting joblesser! Unemployment tracking at 6-year high. Favre: When you're a jet you're a jet all the way. China to Bush: Mind your own biz. Typhus in Texas! Madonna, Kirk Watson and Prince Albert walk into a bar... Austin based Whole Foods Market stock loses 17 percent....

In a 6-to-4 vote Monday night, an oversight committee made up of local government officials voted in favor of a fare hike, causing base fares to go up from 50 cents to 75 cents. Under the proposal, a second planned increase is scheduled for 2010 when base fares would go up to $1.00. ...

Scientists in the Congo discover a previously unknown group of 125,000 gorillas Over the objections of pretty much everyone, Texas executed a convicted rapist and murderer Tuesday night Perchlorate (a salt used in rocket fuel) found in Martian soil Hackers steal more than than 40 million credit and debit card numbers Gas prices at the pump fell nationwide for the 20th straight day U.S. cyclists apologize for wearing masks upon arrival in Beijing Paris......

Edouard wimps out after hitting the coast, but should still help our rain chances. Rep. Michael McCaul is facing a closer re-election race than he would like. Sen. "Big Bad" John Cornyn wants soldiers' votes counted. Bank of America at Anderson Lane and Shoal Creek robbed this afternoon. One of the founders of Austin Community Gardens has died....

Language Room fans rejoice: their new handmade EP is available at shows (next gig is Sept. 13 @ Red Eyed Fly), and they're heading into the studio soon to start work on a full-length, to be produced by Blue October's Matt Novesky....

Dolly officially heralded the start of hurricane season in the Gulf Coast, and now, not two weeks later, we're about to get hit by another storm....

ThoofThoof, an Austin-based social news site, has gone out of business. Founded in 2007 by former Revver co-founder Ian Clarke and backed by Austin Ventures, Thoof was designed to deliver news tailored to your interests, based on what you click on rather than voting buttons or other preferences.......

Austin police are on the hunt for a transient man who hijacked a bus this morning, forcing the driver to take him from 5th and San Jacinto to Southwest Austin. The homeless-looking man, described as "dirty" and wearing a backpack, is believed to have fled into a nearby trailer park or woods and claimed to be carrying a knife (though one was never actually seen by the bus driver). Anyone with helpful information is asked......

McCain security detail removes sole black reporter from event. At least nine feared dead on K-2. Obama fights for Florida and Michigan's right to party. Oh, Joe, you wild card, you! 7-year-old Round Rock boy makes film debut. Abducted Austinites rescued in Dallas. Scientist finds world's smallest snake, which is as thin as a spaghetti noodle, and probably as dangerous....

Results from the Wildflower Center's study show that having a green roof can knock 20% off your electric bills. APD searching for 2 men accused of swindling Austin-area immigrants. Judge rules that Gov. Perry's travel records can be released to newspapers. Locally-filmed Friday Night Lights looking for paid extras to play players, cheerleaders, and football fans. Snoop Dogg's tour bus was pulled over yesterday near Corsicana and two passengers were charged with marijuana possession....

Back in February there was a particularly gruesome and heartbreaking murder in a south suburban Chicago Lane Bryant store. Five women in the store were killed execution-style while a sixth victim who was shot in the neck escaped – amazingly – by playing dead. One of the victims, Rhoda McFarland, was the store manager credited with making the 911 call before the shootings took place. Six months later, the gunman has still not been apprehended. Yesterday, it was announced that a group of investigators are in Austin to find and interview numerous friends of McFarland who have since moved to Texas. ...

Emmylou Harris has canceled her Wednesday, August 6 performance at Stubb's. If you bought a ticket online, you will be automatically refunded. Paper ticket holders will be refunded. At this time, there is no reschedule date. All other ticket buyers please contact Front Gate Tickets at 512.389.0315. ...

Photo by daveiam on flickr Police are seeking three men who kidnapped three people South Austin today 4-year-old pronounced dead after being found in apartment pool on Wells Branch Parkway The Edwards Aquifer is in an 'alarm stage' status for the first time since 2006 Teenager crossing the road in Dripping Springs killed by drunk driver Attorney General sues Sunmart gas stations for price gouging Irving-based Exxon Mobil made $11.7 billion in profit last quarter......

The accident this morning in Smithville happened when a crane being used to dismantle an old bridge fell into the Colorado River. Red light cameras have caught 400 drivers going through red lights in the past 2 months. Traffic on Cesar Chavez may be a bigger mess than usual tomorrow. APD searching for man believed to be a serial groper....

A crane fell this morning in Smithville, and there are reports of one death and one injury. This is the latest in a run of crane accidents this year throughout the country (there was one in Houston earlier this month as well as the NYC crane collapse in March). Our state does not require crane operators to be licensed, and crane operation in Texas isn't under local or state oversight. [KXAN via Twitter]......

Los Angeles gets back on its feet after yesterday's earthquake President Bush signs massive housing relief bill 82-year-old Alaska senator Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens indicted North Carolina man charged with murdering pregnant soldier China will block some Internet access for Olympic journalists Lance Armstrong and Kate Hudson decide to go their separate ways In happier news, Cheech and Chong patch things up and plan a tour......

State public utilities commission issues a yellow alert, asking Texans to conserve energy. It may not be a CapMetro shuttle you take to ACL later this summer. Pilot project in Travis and (part of) Williamson counties has found that 25% of drivers pulled over have no auto insurance. Yikes! Capital Area Food Bank running low on donations this summer. Austin author Bill Bishop (The Big Sort) stops by The Daily Show tonight....

Forget the old Monica scandal, what about this new Monica? She's way worse. Military reverses itself, admits to killing innocent Iraqi commuters. Blackwater: the friendly face of your local small business? In what sounds like it should be a political no-brainer, Congress agrees to ban nasty toxins from kids' toys. Remember when you swore you'd quit smoking when they invented a functional jetpack? Get your gum ready... Christopher Nolan gets all modest on us.......

DPS releases report on security at Governor's Mansion at time of the arson; sole DPS trooper on duty named and timeline revealed. Arsonist arrested after Friday's apartment fire that ruined 12 units off Jollyville. CapMetro wants buses to have "signal priority" so that lights will stay green when a bus is close by (which means you might want to stay behind that bus after all). It's summertime and the Central Texas Blood and Tissue Center needs your blood. The floating banana may not get off the ground after all....

United States Art Authority, the mixed-use space adjacent to Spiderhouse, announced today that it is closing its doors, owing to "unforeseen issues" with the City of Austin....

UPDATE: Austin 360 reports that Graham has been upgraded to "good" condition. Texas Music Matters is reporting that popular Austin-based singer/songwriter Jon Dee Graham is hospitalized at Brackenridge's trauma unit after a car accident early Saturday morning. The singer was returning from Dallas when he fell asleep at the wheel and collided with an embankment on I-35. Andy Uhler speaks with Graham's wife. ...

John McCain: Orphanages better than homo parents. Drunk British women go on airplane rampage. Media tougher on Obama than McCain? Bombs strike Turkey. More bombs in India. Gunman strikes church. Old rich guys in spaaaaace!......

Bush declares area of Texas hit by Dolly to be a major disaster. University Towers evacuated last night after someone burned popcorn. US Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey makes a stop at Fort Hood. 51st District Judge Barbara Walther splits up the FLDS child-custody cases 119 ways, grouped by mother. Work on Cesar Chavez is two months behind schedule because of pipe installation....

Bears eat workers at remote Russian mine. Moon-walker claims alien contact cover-up. Enquiring minds want to catch John Edwards and his secret love child. Judge champions Max Mosley's right to hold S&M orgies. Amy Winehouse is doing great. Rep. Kucinich gets his day to air impeachment article. Here is your weather for the weekend.......

KEYE's team becomes the news when they are injured in their coverage of Dolly at South Padre. Tornado hits the south side of San Antonio. George P. Bush, presidential nephew, is moving his business to Austin. Whoop? Oakwood Cemetary vandalized; at least 20 headstones (some as old as 150 years) broken. Baylor's Board of Regents fires current university President Lilley....

After an accident this afternoon involving an 18-wheeler and a bus left oil on the road, the northbound side near 11400 IH-35 (near Onion Creek) is currently closed while crews clean up. [KXAN via Twitter]......

Local label Chicken Ranch Records has a lot going on. the Yuppie Pricks have just released their new full-length, Balls (one look at the cover might explain the title choice), Mr. Lewis & the Funeral Five are about to hit the road for a short tour, and the label itself has been invited to showcase at Next Big Nashville in mid-September. They plan to feature The Clutters, We Were The States, Willie Heath Neal and Tiger! Tiger!...

Ex-Austinist Gary Osoba established the new world record for longest freestyle flight in an ultralight glider plane last Saturday, soaring across the skies of Texas for some 615 miles in a small, engine-less aircraft. As the Statesman points out, the only fuel consumed during this flight was by another plane, which was used to bring the glider to a sufficient cruising altitude. The glider then followed thermal pockets of warm air, much like birds do,......