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NEWSpoint austin continued from p.11Corroborating testimony was eagerly providedby a delusional, self-promoting“expert” who went on to make a personalindustry of “satanic abuse” and craziernonsense that persists to this day. Moreover,police investigators withheld fromthe prosecutors exculpatory evidence thatcontradicted their overheated imaginations– that alone, along with the doctor’sretraction, should require the courts toreopen the case.The entire investigation and prosecutionremains a shameful disgrace toAustin, Travis County, the police, and theprosecutors. Lehmberg and the courtsshould do whatever they can to undo thisconviction and provide to Fran Keller, asthe appeal asks plaintively, “other andfuller relief as may be just and proper.”Manufactured PanicThe satanic ritual abuse panic has subsidedsomewhat since it crested in the1980s, although it resurfaces periodically.We’d like to think we’ve gotten over theworst of it. Unfortunately, Austin will notbe able to say that with a good conscienceuntil the Kellers are out of prison.Mob madness is never very far away.Consider the aftermath of the Newtownschool massacre: Even the mildest proposalsfor gun regulation have been met withhysterical backlash from the worst of thegunmongers, undeniably reminiscent ofthe “satanist” craze: frenzied gun-hoardingagainst the coming apocalypse, threatsagainst public officials and others, cries oftreason and impeachment, calls for secessionand armed revolt – even crazed accusationsthat the school massacres weregovernment-sponsored or somehow magicallyinvented altogether.This is not spirited, necessary debateabout disputed public policy. It’s demagogueryof the first order, beginning withthe corporate gun lobbyists at the NationalRifle Association and running on throughour reflexively reactionary Texas politiciansright on down to our local fanaticalfearmonger and snake-oil salesman AlexJones. (Piers Morgan may be a pompousgit, but he had this much right: Jones onCNN “was the best advertisement for guncontrol you could wish for.”) Yet plenty ofcredulous people – credulous and armedpeople – listen to Jones’ rubbish and followhis lead.The Keller case and its nationwide kin,like the current gun hysteria, serve aspainful reminders that irrationality andmob hysteria are never far beneath thesurface of public life. It’s not surprisingthat a child’s misbehavior or a family’sunhappiness might break out into wildfears and accusations. Much more disturbingis that officials charged with publicsafety and the due process of law should beso gullible as to accept the wildest, impossiblefantasies as credible allegations, andshould fall prey to the very madness thatit is their responsibility to prevent.They ought to be ashamed.Follow @PointAustin on Twitter.nSouthlandseven neighborhoods TaKe imagine ausTin on a TesT runLast Saturday morning, more than 130South Austin residents walked through thedoors of the Crockett High School cafeteriato ponder the future of their neighborhood.The turnout on this damp morning mighthave been lighter than what city plannershad anticipated, but the significance of theSaturday confab was not lost on those whoshowed up: The South Austin CombinedNeighborhood Plan is the first such processto be developed under the newImagine Austin Comprehensive Plan, ablueprint for how the city will grow.As such, seven South Austin neighborhoodswill help determine the look and feelof their stomping grounds within the boundariesof Ben White Boulevard and WilliamCannon, and South First Street and WestgateBoulevard. Like many neighborhoods, thisarea holds a fair share of vacant lotsand storefronts, as well as rundownstructures along commercialcorridors that arebeing eyed for redevelopment.Residents will havea say in how and wherenew development andinfrastructure fixes getsaccomplished. Rankinghigh on the list of “don’tchange-a-thing”items isthe vast canopy of maturetrees that serve as one ofthe area’s most valued and enviableassets.In the long run, the planning process willserve as an interesting test case for howImagine Austin achieves its long-term goals –introducing and creating “complete communities”that are compact, sustainable, affordable,and connected, among other things.(See an image of the planning area withinthe context of the Imagine Austin growth conceptmap at austinchronicle.com.)CIVICS 101THENTHErE’STHISby AMys MITHT H ursdA y 17MONEY ≠ SPEECH CITY COUNCIL RESOLU TION RALLY to support aCouncil resolution “calling for a Constitutional Amendment and/or otherlegislative actions ensuring that money is not speech, and therefore theexpenditure of money to influence the electoral or legislative process isnot a form of constitutionally protected speech, and shall be regulated.”4-6pm. City Hall Plaza, Cesar Chavez & Guadalupe. Free. www.facebook.com/events/177669525690578.SAVE TEXAS SCHOOLS RALLY KICKOFFGet fired up for Save Texas School’s massive Feb. 23 March & Rally witha kickoff bash, featuring snacks, posters, fliers and inspiring words fromlocal public ed heroes including state Rep. Donna Howard. 6-8pm. NuevoLeon, 1501 E. Sixth. www.savetxschools.org.sATurdA y 19TEXANS UNITED TO AMEND is a network calling for passage of a constitutionalamendment that would stem the flow of money into elections.Join a rally in support of the Texas’ Lege’s resolutions. 1-4pm. South stepsof the Capitol, Congress & 11th. www.movetoamend.org/texans-united-amend.CITIzENS REDISTRICTING COMMISSION public information sessions forthose wanting to be on the commission, or on the panel which will selectcommissioners. 10:30am-noon. Carver Library, 1161 Angelina. (More meetingsJan. 22, 23, 24, 26; see www.austintexas.gov/10-ONE for locations.)DAt ES to RE m E mbERThu., Jan. 24: Creating Neighborhoods and Districts We Love,a talk by architect/urban designer Ellen Dunham-Jones, followedby a city-hosted open house to discuss the South Austin CombinedNeigh bor hood Plan. 6:30-9pm. First Evangelical FreeChurch, 4220 Monterey Oaks Blvd.Sat., Feb. 16: Visioning workshop, South Austin Combined NeighborhoodPlan. 9am-1pm. Crockett High School, 5601 Manchaca.Sat., March 23: Neighborhood Centers Design Workshop.9am-1pm. Crockett High.Now, you may be thinking, “I don’t live in thisparticular part of town – why should I care?” Iwould probably ask the same question if Ididn’t live in this section of the city; it’s one oftwo planning areas that, for whatever reason,are the last to craft a roadmap for enhancements.(The other remaining planning areaincludes Rosedale, Allandale, andNorth Shoal Creek.)The Big PicTureOnce you get involved in aneighborhood planning process,you start to see thebig picture – how one neighborhoodplanning area fitsinto the larger scheme ofplanning for the additional750,000 people who are supposedto be here by 2039. It’s notso much an attitude of “if you buildit, they will come,” but rather an opportunityto shape, reshape, and preserve neighborhoodsthat would attract people who shareAustin’s greater values, however quirky.“You’ve got this big, 30,000-foot view ofAustin in Imagine Austin,” says FrancisReilly of the city’s Planning and DevelopmentReview Department. “With these neighborhoodplans, we’re looking at what this isgoing to look like on the ground – how doesMoN d A y 21MLK DAY Commemorate the life andworks of Martin Luther King Jr. Bringflashlights for a silent vigil on the costof war. 5-8pm. Austin City Hall, 301 W.Second. www.propeaceaustin.org.INAUGURATION CELEBRATION Enjoya preshow of “Mitt Moments, ObamaDisses and Daily Show clips,” thenwatch the inauguration ceremony.You’ll come for the drink specials, butyou’ll stay for the Mitt dunk tank; $5gets you three throws, and all proceeds(plus 10% of bar sales) benefitPlanned Parenthood of Greater Texas.7pm. The North Door, 501 N. I-35. www.facebook.com/events/142132585941380.TOWN HALL MEETING ON 10­1DISTRICTING, held by North AustinCoalition of Neighbor hoods. 7-9pm.St. Albert Catholic Church, 12041Bittern Hollow.a m y s m i t htheplanningprocessstarts here.it function?” For example, an “activity center”in South Austin – the comp plan’s term for alive-work-play neighborhood area – could bedramatically different than an activity centerin North Austin. It’s up to the neighborhoodsto determine what purpose these activity centerswill serve. At least that’s the idea behindthis “empowerment” process.According to the 2010 census and otherdata, the South Austin planning area of roughly22,115 people is growing increasingly younger,with 25-to-34-year-olds making up nearly 21%of the population. At the same time, the povertyrate is at 17.7%, which may be due in part tothe influx of students and struggling musicianstaking advantage of the affordability factorbeyond the once-affordable 78704 ZIP code.On the whole, city demographer Ryan Robinsonsays, the area is experiencing “somesubtle but significant” demographic changesthat bear watching. “The greater neighborhoodis emerging as a middle-class enclave with arelatively high level of demographic diversity,”he wrote in an email. “And this rising affluence,although still gaining momentum, coupled withthe mix of household types, reflects somewhatsimilar dynamics currently afoot in UniversityHills and Windsor Park” – two centrally locatedneighborhoods that have grown in popularityalongside the long-term redevelopment ofMueller, the former site of the city airport. nTuE sdA y 22TEXAS TRIBUNE PRESENTS: FAMILY PLAN­NING & WOMEN’S HEALTH Join TribuneEditor Emily Ram shaw for coffee and adiscussion with Reps. Donna Howard andSarah Davis on the state of family planningand women’s health policy in Texas. RSVP byMonday, Jan. 21. 7:30am. The Austin Club,110 E. Ninth. Free. rsvp@texastribune.org,www.texastribune.org.AISD BOND HEARING NO. 1 Provide feedbackto the AISD board of trustees about a potentialbond program in 2013. 6:30pm. Crockett HighSchool, 5601 Manchaca. www.austinisd.org.W E d NEsdA y 23SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SONIA SOTO­MAYOR speaks about her journey from theprojects in the Bronx to the federal bench inher new memoir, My Beloved World. See websitefor details on tickets for the book signingportion. 6:30pm. BookPeople, 603 N. Lamar.www.bookpeople.com.12 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E JANUARY 18, 2013 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m