Players Scores Big With Generations of Hungry Hamburger Customers

Walk into Players (300 West MLK) on the UT campus in central Austin and you'll likely by greeted by one of these gentlemen, Daniel and his uncle, Carlos Oliveira.  Carlos and partner Eddie Hempe started Players nearly 30 years ago and obviously has a winning recipe for great hamburgers, excellent customer service, affordable food and easy access to a wide variety of people.  The Longhorns graduates know how to cater to their audience.  You may spot the Longhorns head football coach Mack Brown or any number of sports team members eating a Players burger, maybe a politician or two, workers from neighboring businesses, and of course plenty of college students.  The name comes from the arcade games in the dining room, the number of sports team members who love to eat there, and the large flat screen TV you can always be sure to catch a game on!

I first walked into Players several years ago because someone I worked with recommended I go there immediately.  I did and yes, it's one great burger.  I've been in to dine many other times, so when I walked in Thursday with the intention of reviewing Players, I ordered a burger I normally don't get - the jalapeno cheese burger.

What you'll notice eating the burger right off the bat is that it's juicy and is loaded down with the fixings.  But what you'll notice after getting all the way through it is it stays enjoyable and juicy the entire time!  Some burgers will start off great, juicy, and full of flavor but gets less juicy and flavorful the closer to the end you get.  That's a big difference!

Daniel and Carlos say the secret ingredients to their success include fresh products, made to order burgers and patties cooked over an open flame.  Carlos says he also doesn't salt the fries, but rather leaves them plain so the customer can decide how salty to make it.

The affordable price is worth mentioning again.  Customers rarely can find a meal under $10 for lunch these days.  My jalapeno burger, along with a half order of french fries and a soda, cost me $7 flat.  For comparison, last week at Your Mom's Burger Bar, I paid a little over $14 for a hamburger, soda, an order of regular fries for me and an order of sweet potato fries for the little guy.  Carlos told me he knows workers nearby and college students can't afford to pay $10 or more for a hamburger.  He keeps his prices low and the burgers tasting great.  That, along with his winning combination of tasty food and being a truly local business in Austin, means you can't go wrong with Players.

Give Players a call at (512) 478-9299 and drop by to get a burger.  This is one Austin staple you can't afford to pass up.  You can listen to the podcast with Carlos and Daniel by clicking the play button above, and scroll through the pictures on the slide show below.

Under new Federal Trade Commission guidelines, which require bloggers to disclose information regarding potential conflicts for items reviewed in their blogs, the Austin Citysphere was not compensated for this story.

Gubernatorial Candidates Battle Over Budget

Dallas-based public television and radio station KERA talked to the two candidates in a showdown for Texas governor.  Specifically, the budget is of big concern.  News director Shelley Kofler sat down with each candidate to discuss how Gov. Rick Perry and his opponent, Democrat Bill White, will lead Texas through budget cuts.

The former Houston Mayor told KERA Governor Rick Perry is trying to hide the state's financial problems until after election day.  White says he believes the deficit is probably double what Perry claims, and that Texas should anticipate an additional shortfall this year, according to KERA News.


Friday, Governor Rick Perry told Kofler the upcoming budget gap is expected to be around $11 billion.  He also said there is no televised debate planned.  Still, each candidate is keeping budget talks on top of their priority list.

Is Perry downplaying the severity of a funding crisis?  Listen to KERA's interviews and decide for yourself.  Then let us know what you think.

Texas.gov Launches New Voting Website

With less than three weeks until the voter registration deadline, the state's website, Texas.gov, has launched a new voting portal at Texas.gov/voting.

The portal is aimed at helping Texans find information about voting and their polling place. Voters will also be able to learn if they are eligible to vote at this time, verify their voter registration, change their address of record, complete a voter registration form, and find election results.

The voter registration deadline is Monday, October 4 in order to participate in early voting between Monday, October 18 and Friday, October 29, or to vote in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Education Top Priority for Texas Politicians, iTunes U Initiative Announced

Gov. Rick Perry recently tackled the topic of education, just as millions of Texas students go back to class.   He announced the formation of Texas Education on iTunesU.  It's a "modern approach" for keeping teachers and students in the know by providing free educational material accessible anywhere.

“iTunes U will easily and efficiently distribute Texas-based educational materials to teachers, parents and students statewide, and will help improve Texas education and secure our position as the best place to live and work in the years to come,” said the governor.  “The quality of education in Texas is steadily improving as we continue to combine tried and true teaching methods with new technology to achieve educational success.”

Teachers will be able to see professional development and support materials, according to a report from the governor's office.  Students will be able to get more information to understand subjects better.

Texas Education on iTunes U expands Project Share, a collaborative effort with the New York Times and Epsilen LLC, which will enable the creation and delivery of high quality professional development in an interactive and engaging eLearning environment. The online platform, unveiled this spring, also provides access to online resources, online course content, academic networking and professional learning communities. The Project Share initiative currently supports more than 146,000 teacher accounts, and the website (www.projectsharetexas.org) will link directly to Texas Education on iTunes U.

Perry's opponent in the upcoming gubernatorial election, Democrat Bill White, wants to hold schools, teachers, and students accountable from the top down, according to the candidate's web site.  White outlines his plan for education on his web site, which includes expanding pre-kindergarten programs, targeting drop out students to get them back in class, allowing teachers to teach writing, reading and problem-solving skills instead of teaching to a test, and making college affordable.

White says Texas is just about in last place in the country for the number of adults with high school diplomas, and cites a report that says Texas is not globally competitive. 

Gov. Perry wants to put education issues in front of state legislators next year when the session begins.  Perry is calling for a multi-million dollar expansion for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program and requiring high school students to be enrolled in school or working toward a GED to be eligible to keep a Texas driver license, to name a few.

Regardless, politicians view education as one of their top priorities on both sides of the aisle, and many are taking steps to improve education standards in Texas.

See more info on the governor’s education priorities and on the iTunes U initiative.

Too Hot or Too Cold, Americans Are Never Happy With the Weather

The middle of the summer's got plenty of people feeling a little hot under the collar.  Bob Rose, a meteorologist with the Lower Colorado River Authority, says although the heat in central Texas began moving into the 90s in May, the absence of rain concerned him.  Since then, however, rain covered the region and helped us climb out of the despair of a drought like last year.

But the rest of the country has experienced a scorcher of a summer.  Despite the heat in Texas, places like the northeast went through a heat wave.

It never bodes well for anyone when the country is too hot or too cold, as Steve Hartman found out in a story he had to go back in time to tell.  Watch his story from CBS News.

Texas Governor Joins Forces to Fight Cancer

 Recently, Governor Rick Perry applauded the efforts of a major joint cancer research initiative, which includes Texas A&M System's National Center for Therapeutic Manufacturing (NCTM) and the University of Texas System's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.  The goal is to combine the resources of each institution to advance cancer research in Texas.

“With this new collaboration, the NCTM will accelerate the work of M.D. Anderson’s world class researchers by giving them access to an adaptable and efficient facility for the testing and production of promising new drugs and treatments,” Gov. Perry said. “The facility is already enhancing our state’s growing stature in the world of biotechnology, moving us closer to our goal of Texas being the place where researchers can conceive, develop, test and enter full production on new medicines without ever leaving the state.”

Texas A&M University System Chancellor Mike McKinney and University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa joined Perry in the announcement.

According to the Office of the Governor, NCTM, a biological pharmaceutical manufacturing, research and education facility, is currently under construction on the Texas A&M University campus.  The facility will provide rapid, cost-effective, FDA-compliant and scalable pharmaceutical manufacturing that will allow an array of new products to enter clinical trials, initially focusing on therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer.

“This partnership exemplifies the clear commitment of both systems to utilizing our research and educational resources to the fullest in service to our global community,” Texas A&M System Chancellor Dr. Mike McKinney said. “M.D. Anderson and the NCTM are and will be the standard-setters in their research areas, and combining the capabilities of these two institutions has the real potential to radically advance the search for a cancer solution in this generation.”

“This is a wonderful day for Texas and for global health,” said UT System Chancellor Dr. Francisco G. Cigarroa.  “We are celebrating the collaboration of two great university systems, joined in battle against one of the most feared diseases of our time, and with this connection, we mark the potential for new victories over this old enemy.  We also reflect on the power of human intelligence and higher education to overcome obstacles and chart new paths for medicine and our economy.”  


For more information about the NCTM, click here.

The Score is Settled But Don't Look for Good Sports

The lesson this week could be a hugely ironic one.  Think back to little league and your team has just lost.  The coaches still make you line up and slap hands with your winning counterparts, all the while repeating "Good game" over and over.  It hurts, but it makes a good sport out of a little kid.

This week can be amounted to a game of t-ball.  The players here are members of the State Board of Education.  The teams are made of up the conservatives and the liberals.  15 members played hard ball with each other all week, finally ending up with a final score Friday to adopt new standards for 4.8 million kids in grades K-12 in a 9 to 5 vote.

Just don't expect each side to slap hands just yet.

The board's conservative bloc, which dominates the board, pushed forward with a vote despite many requests to delay until more research could be completed over the subject matter.  However, educators like mother-daughter team Linda and Monica Neely,  who sat in on the hearings this week, said this debate's been waging on for two years.  "It's not rushed," said Linda.  "What's rushed," she added, is the number of people speaking up at the last minute.

As reported by Dos Centavos, Arne Duncan, President Obama’s Secretary of Education, said, “Curricula should be written by educators who know the subject matter, know the standards and know what it takes to prepare our children for college and careers in the global economy.”

Instead, a board comprised of less than half of actual educators, adopted new standards for Texas elementary, middle and high school curricula.  Public reaction blamed controversial debate and so-called ignorance on the fact that the board simply did not know what it was voting on.

SBOE member Rick Agosto, D-San Antonio, expressed his outrage during the meeting, calling the board's behavior laughable and "embarrassing."  

"Take this power away from us," he said Friday.  "We're children playing in a shed full of knives.  I'm appalled by it."

The Changes

One standard largely adopted by the board's majority calls for high school students to learn about instances of institutional racism in American History.  Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands, said not all Americans should be linked to discrimination.  Another example of the board's curriculum amendments, which is said to also affect children outside of Texas because of the pull the state has with textbook publishers, added Thomas Jefferson back into high school World History textbooks.  He had previously been stricken from the list of Enlightenment thinkers and replaced with John Calvin. 

"Within ten minutes, we go in there and we change the whole political philosophy in writings.  I don't know what's going on in here!" said Agosto.

But Terry Leo, R-Spring, knew exactly what was going on, assured that she and her conservative colleagues would get the votes needed to pass the guidelines.  “The buck stops at the board," said Leo.  "I would ask that you (opposing members) consider that we’ve added more minorities than ever before, and more events involving minorities.”

Political web site Mother Jones lists some of the other changes, and you can read them by clicking here. 

Bill White, the Democratic candidate for Texas Governor, said the vote is going to have consequences not only inside school houses, but everywhere else, too.  

"When people see Texas as a place with political agendas in schools, it hurts our ability to attract entrepreneurs and new businesses," he said.

No immediate response about the curriculum guidelines could be found of Governor Rick Perry.

Everyone's Got a Laptop and a Twitter Account

The day's vote also went viral with web heads posting comments to Facebook and Twitter.   "SBOE makes me so embarrassed!  How to explain to out-of-state freinds that we're not all f***ing idiots!" wroter Twitter user pambaggett.  MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann also chimed in.  "Texas SBoE has decided that the Amendments to the Constitution shall be referred to as 'Yada-yada-yada'. 

More than half the day on Friday was spent on finishing amendments for high school curriculum requirements.  The vote, which began in the late afternoon, started with high school.  It passed, as did the subsequent vote for K-8th grade curriculum revisions, each with a 9 to 5 vote, with one abstention (the absence of Republican Geraldine Miller).  The vote follows party lines.

However, ultra-conservative board member Don McLeroy will be leaving his SBOE seat after being narrowly defeated in the March Republican primary against Robert Thomas Ratliff, who is running against Jeff McGee, a Libertarian, for McLeroy's District 9 spot in November.

Conservatives want to sway the board back to the right after they say liberals controlled the board for too many years.  The preceding statement may be why many believe the board's decisions are over-politicized.

Cast Your Vote

District 10's Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, will not be returning either, as well as District 12's Geraldine Miller, a Republican, who, like McLeroy, did not win the March primary election.  Republican Ken Mercer in District 5 will face Rebecca Bell-Metereau, a Democrat.  Bob Craig, R-Lubbock, will face John Pekowski, a Libertarian. 

On the Democratic side, Agosto decided to step down from the board in District 3.  District 1's Rene Nunez of El Paso, will be running for re-election against Republican Carlos Charlie Garza.  In District 4, Lawrence A. Allen, Jr., D-Houston, is running unopposed.

Regret or Determination?

Mary Helen Berlanga, a Democrat from Corpus Christi, who tried like might to get the board to recognize key Hispanic figures in history, and who is the longest-serving member of the board (since 1982), may have a different opinion of her position after this.   To the Texas Tribune, she said, “I’m sorry I’m a part of this board.  What we have done, a classroom teacher would throw in the trash.  As for Hispanic kids, I feel worse.  I feel like I’ve let you down, more than two million kids in Texas schools.  When they go to college, they’ll learn the real information for the first time.  If you look at this history, you might as well say Hispanics don’t exist.”

Borlanga hasn't announced any plans to step down.  She's served 28 years on a board that's undoubtedly been through many ups and downs.  Borlanga may just wait for a new day at the State Board of Education.  "Wait 10 minutes and it'll change," goes the old adage of Texas weather.   The only difference - it'll be 10 years before the board takes up new standards on curriculum changes.