Juan Castillo 1	Juan Castillo 2

Statesman reporter Mike Ward got an exclusive preview of the $140,000 rennovation of the Texas House of Representatives member’s lounge funded by state tax dollars and not open to the public.

Statesman reporter Mike Ward got an exclusive preview of the $140,000 rennovation of the Texas House of Representatives member’s lounge funded by state tax dollars and not open to the public.

Statesman reporter Mike Ward got an exclusive preview of the $140,000 rennovation of the Texas House of Representatives member’s lounge funded by state tax dollars and not open to the public.

Statesman reporter Mike Ward got an exclusive preview of the $140,000 rennovation of the Texas House of Representatives member’s lounge funded by state tax dollars and not open to the public.

Statesman reporter Mike Ward got an exclusive preview of the $140,000 rennovation of the Texas House of Representatives member’s lounge funded by state tax dollars and not open to the public.

Hands shot up across the room, illustrating the difficult financial position in which school districts across the state find themselves under the current school finance system.

Legislative leaders promised the educators a little bit more money in the upcoming budget.

There will be $2 billion of new education money in the base budget, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick said at a pre-session seminar of the Texas Association of School Administrators and Texas Association of School Boards.

That amount will be in addition to the $1.5 billion in additional money needed to pay for the new students who will come into the Texas public schools during the 2010-2011 budget.

Such an increase could boost the per student spending by 2 percent.

Want to see teens fall on their faces as they face the ordeal of parenting, then watch “Baby Borrowers,” NBC’s new reality show premiering tonight at 8.

The premise is to fast-track teenage couples into adulthood “by setting up a home, getting a job and becoming caring parents first to babies, toddlers, pre-teens and their pets, teenagers and senior citizens.” More after the jump

The schools have cut back on junk food and turned off the vending machines. But what happens when the kids go to summer camp?

According to this New York Times article not a lot that is healthy. Camps focus more on making sure kids don’t get food poisoning than they do on nutrition and parents, packing lunches for hot field trips, essentially do the same. More after the jump

While on vacation last month, I picked up a compilation of Grimm’s Fairy Tales at a used book store. The goal was to start reading to Ayanna at night to get her used to the rhythm of books.

I know my parents read these stories to me as a child. I do not remember them being quite so dark. Tom Thumb dies from a spider bite. More after the jump

AUSTIN

Police: Driver fell asleep

A 35-year-old man died early Saturday, police said, after falling asleep at the wheel on Ed Bluestein Boulevard.

The man, whose name is not being released while relatives are being notified, was driving north in the 2500 block of Ed Bluestein Boulevard in East Austin when the vehicle went into a ditch, Austin police Sgt. Richard Stressing said.

Stressing said the man was ejected from the vehicle.

Man injured in shooting

A man was hospitalized Saturday after a disagreement at a Pflugerville nightclub led to a shooting at a North Austin gas station, police said.

The man, whose name was not released, was shot in the chest multiple times outside the Race Trac at 15100 FM 1825, Austin police Lt. Paul Christ said.

The man was taken to University Medical Center at Brackenridge.

The 3:30 a.m. shooting followed a dispute at Club Illusion that continued as a fight in the gas station parking lot, Christ said.

Descriptions of the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting were not available Saturday.

Austin police are investigating, Christ said.

77-year-old killed in wreck

Austin police investigated a fatal collision in South Austin on Friday night, Lt. Eddie Byford said.

Byford said the two-vehicle collision happened just after 10:15 p.m. at the intersection of Manchaca Road and the south frontage road of West Ben White Boulevard.

A 77-year-old man died at the scene, and another person was taken to South Austin Hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, police said.

The victim’s name is not being released while relatives are being notified.

ROUND ROCK

Police arrest 9 in alcohol sting

Round Rock police arrested nine people Friday night in an operation that targeted employees of local businesses who sell alcohol to minors.

Employees at Round Rock-area Wal-Mart, H-E-B, Randalls and 7-11 locations, among others, were arrested and charged with sale of alcohol to a minor, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and/or a $4,000 fine.

The businesses could lose their alcohol sales permits.

During the operation, several minors worked as operatives. Along with police officers in plain clothes, they entered every Round Rock business licensed to sell alcohol for off-premises consumption. The minors attempted to purchase alcohol using identifications that show them to be younger than 21.

The stings are often timed to coincide with the spring break holiday, proms and other events when alcohol consumption by teenagers tends to be more prevalent, police said.

BASTROP

Official: 3 toxin victims are kids

Three victims of the shiga toxin that caused severe diarrheal illness in the Bastrop area were children, Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Doug McBride said Saturday.

One child died and two others were sickened from the toxin, which also made four other people ill, McBride said. Officials have not identified a source of the shiga toxin that caused the illness, which is characterized by severe or bloody diarrhea. Residents of Bastrop, Fayette, Lee and Caldwell counties have been affected.

The severity of the illness varies, but it tends to be worse in people who are very young, elderly or have weakened immune systems. It can cause death by dehydration and kidney failure, McBride said.

Sketch released of woman

Police have released a sketch of a woman who was kidnapped Thursday outside a Whataburger restaurant on Texas 71 in Bastrop.

Witnesses described her as a Hispanic woman in her early 20s who is about 5 feet 7 inches tall. They said she was wearing a blue top and white pants.

The sketch shows multiple earrings in each ear and a star-shaped nose ring.

Police said a restaurant employee saw the woman, described as a regular morning customer, arguing with two men in the parking lot about 9:15 a.m. Thursday.

When an employee approached the woman, one of the men waved a gun and threatened to shoot.

One of the men then pulled the woman into a black Dodge quad-cab pickup with a white cross painted on the rear passenger window and drove off, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Bastrop police at (512) 321-5550.

TEMPLE

Man arrested in wife’s shooting

Police in Temple arrested a man early Saturday who is accused of fatally shooting his wife.

James Graham, 56, of Temple was taken into custody about 12:30 a.m. at his home in the 200 block of South 27th Street, police said.

Officers found the victim, 56-year-old Rosie Graham, in the living room. She had been shot.

Emergency crews took her to Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple, where she died of her injuries, police said.

James Graham was arrested and taken to the Bell County Jail on murder charges. His bail has not been set.

Compiled from staff and wire reports

Speaking of the Super Bowl, Quigley forced Cedric Golden and Kirk Bohls back into our converted video studio this week. They debated the underrated and underestimated prowess of key players on the Patriots and Giants rosters, and discussed the chances for one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history.

They also made Longhorns scoring predictions now that Major is back in burnt orange.

The board is ready for you to disagree. Stop by and leave your comments.

A little blog in Willco Wired about the East Round Rock community of Forest Creek, where the homeowner’s association meeting Tuesday turned into a screaming match over the election of two board members, drew probably the most heated comments of the week.

Commenter “Resident” had this to say: “I do think it’s funny that so many feel this is a class issue or that the value of the home one lives in reflects one’s financial status. Some in FC are in debt beyond what they could pay in 2 lifetimes, and some are very wealthy people living far below their means. The real issue here is more of a mob mentality, with many people acting and speaking in ways they would never dream of if alone. It reflects a deeper issue in America in general, and specifically in the way we teach our children to behave.”

It was another crazy weather week, with highs in the 70s, then the 30s and crazy wind that started wildfires all over the state (all in one day). We had a mess of blogs during the biggest one in our area, north of Liberty Hill that took more than 10 fire departments from Williamson and Burnet counties to put out.

In other news … Britney was back in a hospital psych ward, ‘Lost’ returned to the airwaves (thank God) with another forward flash centered around Hurley.

We got tired of waiting on AP to move us some more pics of Germany’s baby polar bear, so we decided to supplement the gallery with other zoo babies, including a koala, giraffe and panda. Just as we were starting to think perhaps this was the end of cute Flocke photos, AP came through. As you can see, Flocke has learned how to smile.

Check out our baby zoo animal photo album