Independent . . . self-reliant . . . going it alone.  Alot of Texans love to describe this state that way.  But in the 1840s, Texas needed all the friends she could get and that included France.  Texans had broken away from Mexico and formed their own country.  The new country was flat broke, short […]

Shoal Creek meanders a dozen miles through Austin, collecting near a Chuck-E-Cheese north of town, before dumping into the Colorado River near the old Seaholm Power Plant, picking up bits of litter and worse along the way.  This ancient stream, like many in this part of Texas, ordinarily does not carry a great deal of water and operates