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The Lead: Austin Pet Registration, North Texas Earthquake, The Top Bars for DWI Arrests

Good morning. The National Weather Service says Austin will warm to the mid 60s today before scattered showers and thunderstorms blow in this weekend. Here’s KUT News’ top overnight stories:

The group that advises Austin City Council on animal matters met to consider the possibility of having a new rule: that every year, pet owners register their cats and dogs with the city. If Austin Animal Services’ Abigail Smith is able to sell her idea to city staff and then to city council,  Austin will start a huge database with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of pet owners – along with the animal’s information.

"People love Austin. They are moving here in droves. And they bring their kids with them. And they enroll their kids in the local school district. But the school district can’t build fast enough to accommodate everyone. So some campuses are getting really, really crowded. The Austin school district will build two new elementary schools in north Austin over the next couple of years and add classrooms at other campuses. But that’s not going to be enough to fix the problem."

"The US Geological Survey recorded a small 2.6 magnitude earthquake east of Burleson, Texas earlier tonight, occurring around eight miles deep. … While it’s difficult to link any individual quake to a specific cause, North Texas has seen a significant uptick in seismic events since hydraulic fracturing technology opened up the area to widespread oil and gas drilling. Many scientific studies have linked earthquakes to disposal wells used to store drilling liquid, including one study that StateImpact Texas reported on just last week."

"Clinton’s speech to Dell users and investors touched on topics ranging from fighting cancer in Africa to the exploits of the Mars rover. But he also shared one bittersweet story closer to home: how Texas lost out on the supercollider thought to have found the Higgs boson particle."

And here’s more stories that have folks talking:

  • Strict Requirements For Single-Member District Commission May Yield a Small, Homogenous Pile Of Applicants (Austin Chronicle)
“Council Member Chris Riley brought up the fact that just shy of 26,000 Austin residents would be automatically disqualified from service because they live in areas of the city that have been annexed in the last five years – meaning they won't meet the requirement for consistent voting in municipal elections. Conflict-of-interest prohibitions remain vague as well, with a ban in place on people who have performed ‘paid services under a professional or political contract’ with the city or Council members, but a lack of clarity about what exactly that might mean, or how broadly it might be applied.”

  • Dell Quits Smartphone Business (Forbes)
“Earlier this year, the Round Rock, Texas-based computer company stopped selling its mobile devices in the U.S. Although some could still be found in China where Dell hoped to continue. But that’s all over now as well. Now in the 5th year of its ‘transformation,’ Dell’s mobile strategy looks very much like it was before its push in the consumer business and the adoption of Google‘s Android system for most of its mobile devices (Streak, Aero, Thunder).”

  • Austin’s Top Bars for DWI Arrests in 2012: Kung Fu Saloon Leads Pack (KVUE)
"For eight years Austin police have kept a list of establishments where suspected drunk drivers told officers they were drinking at before they were stopped. Austin police sent KVUE the most up-to-date list which had data up to October 30, 2012."

Wells has been a part of KUT News since 2012, when he was hired as the station's first online reporter. He's currently the social media host and producer for Texas Standard, KUT's flagship news program. In between those gigs, he served as online editor for KUT, covering news in Austin, Central Texas and beyond.
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