NEWS@jcutrer.com

Dana Falconberry's debut long-player gets "Fluorescent"

Paula Nelson will kick your ass

Making the rounds for the third annual HAAM Benefit Day, while the Black Angels walk with a zombie

Death Magnetic

Rubber Repertory's Casket of Passing Fancy makes you 500 offers you can't reuse

Q&A with Rubber Repertory's Matt Hislope and Josh Meyer

The Austin playwright unearths the inspiration for her spooky new play

Two different trios of African-American sopranos sing in Austin in two weeks

Acting great Charles Dutton closes out BAM, and Cap City holds a comedy caucus

Texas Democrats say this could be their November

Seven key races across the state could turn the House back to Democratic control

Democrats and Libertarians find common ground in their grudge against Republicans

News briefs from Austin, the region, and elsewhere

A new Gallup Poll of likely voters has Democrat Barack Obama with a 49 percent to 47 percent lead over Arizona Sen. John McCain.

The price for unleaded gasoline in Arizona has fallen to $3.166 per gallon — a drop of 15 cents from last week and the largest single-week decline since 1999.

Arizona has lost 65,600 private sector jobs over the last year with 47,900 of them in the Phoenix area, according to September state employment figures.

Limelight Networks Inc. has reached a delivery capacity of 2 terabits per second, and company officials say that will further push content on the Internet to reach broadcast standards.

Foreign stock markets posted losses Thursday as the Dow bounced around and nipped at the 9000 mark again at the close of trading. US Airways Group Inc. made one of the day’s largest gains among Arizona stocks. (LCC)

Sol Melia Vacation Club, the Orlando time-share subsidiary of Solia Melia Hotels & Resorts, will open a new project in the Dominican Republic in December.

A new outdoor bar and restaurant is slated to open Oct. 18 at the Enzian Theater.

Liberty Lodging, a franchisee subsidiary of Liberty Investments in Maitland, plans to open its 14th Value Place extended stay hotel in Fort Walton Beach in the Florida Panhandle.

The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s worldwide campus program has received the 2008 Saba customer excellence award for best overall academic deployment.

Keiser University has a $542 million impact on Florida's economy, according to a report commissioned by the school.

Umpqua Holdings, the parent company of Umpqua Bank, announced third-quarter earnings Thursday that represented an increase compared to last year’s third quarter and compared to the second quarter. (UMPQ)

The sale of Sacramento’s Airco Mechanical Inc. to APi Group Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., has been “put on hold for 90 days,” Airco president Steve Humason said Thursday.

The average retiree will have about $750 more coming to them next year thanks to a rise in Social Security benefits.

Downey Savings and Loan, the last major holder of option adjustable-rate mortgages, will cut about 200 jobs as it shuts down its wholesale lending department and make reductions in the retail loan department, the company said Thursday. (DSL)

Sacramento County is revamping development-related services as the result of a performance audit that made 99 suggestions for improvement.

Delinquent payments have led to a total of 11,526 foreclosure filings so far this year in the San Antonio metro area, according to the latest analysis by Addison, Texas-based Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.

San Antonio Water System has approved the purchase of a new automated fuel-management system to help better manage fuel consumption for the water company’s fleet of nearly 1,100 vehicles.

Medical Protective (MedPro) has lowered its medical insurance rates by an average of 6.2 percent for physicians throughout the Texas.

The Competitor Group Inc., operator of the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon, says Verizon Wireless has signed an agreement to become the official wireless partner of the inaugural event. (VZ) (VOD)

Dr. Norman Kalmin, president, CEO and medical director of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, has been elected to serve as the vice president of the International Society of Blood Transfusion through 2010.

Micki Hidayatallah, Allis-Chalmers Energy Inc.’s chairman and chief executive officer, has sold 400,000 of his company shares to satisfy a margin loan, the company said Thursday. (ALY)

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP says it has successfully tested what could become the nation’s first transmarket ethanol pipeline. (KMP)

High fuel prices and the effects of Hurricane Ike contributed to a third quarter net loss for Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL) (CAL) (LUV)

A unit of KBR Inc. has been awarded an engineering contract by Georgia Power. (KBR)

Mazak Corp. has purchased 4.4 acres in the Greens Crossing Distribution Center for a new 35,000-square-foot technology center.

The Democratic National Convention created a regional economic benefit of $266 million in direct and indirect spending, according to an estimate report released Thursday by the office of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

Lack of public financial support for colleges and universities and lack of progress on transportation system improvements remain chief economic worries in the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce’s fourth annual study of the the staet’s economic competitiveness.

Copper Mountain Resort reported Thursday that it plans to open one week earlier than planned, on Nov. 7.

Advances led declines Thursday among Colorado’s most heavily traded public companies, with 35 of the 50 on the list posting gains for the day.

Qwest Communications International Inc. is introducing interactive kiosks in shopping centers that are designed to let consumers experience what it’s like to combine the high-speed broadband, voice service and satellite television technologies it sells. (Q)

Foreign stock markets posted losses Thursday as the Dow bounced around and nipped at the 9000 mark again at the close of trading.

The value of goods and services in the Midwest last month held steady in September from the month before, though it remains nearly 5 percent higher than a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday.

All three Democratic Montgomery County Commissioners have endorsed Issue 5 and are encouraging Ohioans to vote yes for the payday lending reform. The County Commissioners Association Ohio is also asking citizens to vote yes on Issue 5.

Dolco Packaging in Troy is packing up permanently.

A national retail organization is reporting that holiday spending will be up this year, but at the lowest increase since 2002.