Laura Rice, KUT News

Update: The Amber Alert has been discontinued. The Department of Public Safety says Calvin Lincecum voluntarily came in to the Terrell Police Department with his three children last night.

Should Texas take money from the state’s so-called Rainy Day Fund for water projects? It’s an idea that will get a closer look today.

Lawmakers in the House Appropriations Committee are holding a public hearing this morning on the proposal. The bill would set aside $2 billion from the economic stabilization or "Rainy Day" fund for water projects.

The bill’s author – Rep. Allan Ritter (R-Nederland) – says prolonged statewide drought has revealed the importance of developing a dedicated source of revenue for the state’s water plan.

HOPE Farmers Market is hoping to become a more central part of the East Austin Community.

It's holding a Grand Opening on Sunday at it's new location—at Plaza Saltillo on East 5th Street and Comal Street.

For the past three years or so, the farmers market has been at Pine Street Station. Organizers say they believe their new spot will give them more visibility and help make the farmers market a more integral part of the community.

A bill filed in the Texas Senate Thursday would allow elected officials to hold discussions online instead of in person. It already has the support of two state leaders from two parties.

Right now, if elected officials discussed government matters online they’d be violating the Open Meetings Act. State Sen. Kirk Watson, a Democrat and former Austin mayor, wants to change that by letting elected officials legally meet in online chat rooms, if it’s shown live on the Internet and archived for the public.

The Texas law that requires women wait twenty-four hours after receiving an ultrasound to get an abortion is not causing them to change their minds but is causing “excessive hardship.”

That’s according to a new survey by researchers at the University of Texas and a Massachusetts research group that favors women’s reproductive rights.

Update: You can now read the full letter HUD sent to its grantees around the country, including Austin. 

Original Post (12:05 p.m.): Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell says the federal spending cuts known as the sequester will have an effect on affordable housing in the city.

Mayor Leffingwell says he was notified of the cuts by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Update: The special meeting will take place this afternoon at 12:30 p.m .

Original Story (Feb. 27, 7:34 a.m.): The Austin City Council is holding a special-called meeting on Friday to vote on whether to approve a settlement with Austin Energy customers who live outside of the city limits.

The group Homeowners United for Rate Fairness or "HURF" appealed to the state’s Public Utility Commission—saying the Austin Energy rate increase that went into effect in October was too high and the new rate structure was too complicated.

The State of Texas executed 48 year-old Carl Blue Thursday night. He was put to death for killing his former girlfriend in 1994.

Blue was convicted of setting 38 year-old Carmen Richards-Sanders on fire at her Bryan apartment.

According to information on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's death row website, Blue threw gasoline on Richards-Sanders when she opened the door to her apartment. He then ignited her clothes with a lighter. Blue also threw gasoline on a man in the apartment—who caught on fire when he tried to help Richards-Sanders.

Slaughter Creek Trail in southwest Austin off of Ranch to Market 1826 will be closed all day today because of a planned prescribed burn.

Austin Water Utility’s Wildland Conservation Division plans to burn about 70 acres of land in the area in order to manage brush and encourage the growth of native grasses.

The burn is expected to take five to six hours. It's not clear when the burn will begin.

Update: City Auditor Kenneth Mory says only nine of the 66 people who have applied to sit on a redistricting review panel are qualified to serve – and all of those people are white.

A three-person panel of accountants is being assembled to select a pool of qualified applicants that may serve on the redistricting commission. (Click here for an overview of the redistricting process.) Mory says it has been hard to get qualified CPAs interested because it is tax season. And many CPAs have or want to work with the city – which would be a conflict of interest.

Mory says he thinks his office has done as much as possible to recruit a diverse group.

Some travelers at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will soon be able to get through security faster.

A Transportation Safety Administration spokesman tells KUT News this morning that ABIA is being added to the TSA’s “Pre Check” Program.

Pre Check allows frequent fliers who’ve met certain requirements to pass through a designated security check point where they may not have to take off their shoes, jackets and belts. They also may not have to remove laptops or liquids from carry-on items.

The first-ever international Modern Quilting Convention – QuiltCon – starts right here in Austin today. So what exactly is “Modern Quilting”?

Quilting has moved out of the attic and into the realm of cool. Just ask the millions of people on websites like Pinterest and Etsy.

QuiltCon organizer Heather Grant says the craft started its internet revolution in 2005… when it became easier to share photos online.

Update: Seven sports figures—including two former University of Texas at Austin Longhorns and a Central Texas native will be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame this evening.

The inductees will be at tonight's banquet at Baylor University's Ferrell Center in Waco.

Seven is the final count of inductees for the Class of 2012—originally, an eighth inductee was to be announced but plans apparently did not work out (see below).

Update: The council gave preliminary approval to an independent Austin Energy board Thursday night. You can read more here.

Original Post:The Austin City Council has made short work of today’s agenda, passing most items early.

One agenda item is still outstanding, and should create some sparks: a resolution calling for an independent governance board to oversee operations at Austin Energy.

A group of Austin students from Eastside Memorial High School plan to deliver a letter to Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams this morning.

They want to meet with Williams to share their concern over proposals to have the school taken over by a charter school operator.