Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 23

wc mm TO STATE 'IT'S AN AUSTIN THING FirstTex8sHonda.com 381-1330 1301 W. Koanig Una Sunday, February 11, 2007 Austin American-jtatesman statesman.com Section uman wall against Wal-Mart John Kelso from On statesman.com: See more photos from the protest at statesman.com multimedia. Intel-henge choice: cons or snobs? i 1 Crowd forms chain around Northcross to protest plan to make over aging mall By Isadora Vail AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Sofie Cruse and five of her middle school friends, spending their Saturday as neophyte activists, jumped up and down and screamed at drivers waiting at the busy intersection of Anderson Lane and Burnet Road to look at their sign. "No Wal-Mart SuperCenter Do it neighborly. Do it right," the sign read.

The girls were among what organizers said was a crowd of about 2,500 at Northcross Mall in North Austin lending their voices to a growing spat between an Austin neighborhood and a worldwide corporation. "If they put that Wal-Mart here, it's going to ruin the feel of my neighborhood. That's where I skate and I get parts for my bike right there," Sofie, 15, said as she pointed at different parts of Northcross Mall. Cruse and her red-clad fellow activists formed a human chain along the streets ringing Northcross Mall on Saturday morning in protest of a planned Wal-Mart that would anchor a makeover of the long-struggling mall. Responsible Growth for Northcross, a coalition opposing the project, organized the protest, which began at about 10 a.m.

The single line of demonstrators was about a mile long, organizers said. The hand-to-hand chain remained linked for about 10 minutes. But the anti-Wal-Mart protesters stayed for about a half-hour after breaking the chain, yelling and cheering at cars as they passed. Many of the motorists honked their horns in a seeming show of support. "I had my first kiss at this mall.

I don't want to see it go," said Kelly Brenich, who has lived for most of her life in the A1-' landale area, which lies to the south of the mall. "Now I lake my kids ice skating here." Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and land owner i.s$m Ralph Ban-era AMERICAN-STATESMAN Neighbor Kate Stevens joined a crowd estimated at 2,500 Saturday to rally against plans for a Wal-Mart to anchor a makeover of Northcross Mall. 'Since it is my childhood home, I believe it should be developed in the right way, or at least a better way, Stevens said. See PROTEST, B4 i fi If 'I 1 Wf Another shift for EMS in Bastrop Commissioners will vote on replacing firm that pulled out i 5, i V-.

Who would you rather have as a downtown neighbor? A loft dweller in Gucci shoes carrying a man bag, or a bag man and his attorney? Great choice, huh? It's like asking, "Would you prefer a scumbag, or, how about a scumbag?" Still, the hot debate these days has been over what to do with that pile of concrete at Fifth and San Antonio streets known as the Intel shell. I always thought Intel-henge (my name for it) should be preserved as a historic relic. After all, it really is the Alamo of the high-tech bust, a reminder of what happens when everything turns to poop after it becomes apparent that your company has no discernible product. But preserving the Intel structure (if you can call something without walls or a ceiling a structure) wasn't one of the choices. Some people say the spot should be sold to private enterprise for more high-dollar condos, while others think it should be used for a federal court-' house.

So the big philosophical question is this: Who would you rather have as a downtown neighbor; a group of self-absorbed egocentric Wi- Fi weirdos on MySpace? Or a bunch of crooks whose space is fixing to be 6 feet by 9 feet i with a toilet in the middle? The old applause-o-meter would have a hard time dis-. cerning much of a difference on those two, huh? See, here's the deal. Mayor Will Wynn wanted to delay the scheduled Feb. 25 implo- sion of the Intel pile o' con- crete because developers offered to buy the property for $13 million. The thinking here is that there's more money to be made off yet another downtown high-rise with a heated pool and elevated nostrils than there is off a big ugly gray concrete building with a metal detector and frisking.

On the other hand, the federal government has put the kibosh on Wynn's proposal and plans to go ahead with the implosion on schedule. The government says that a delay would cost the $65 million federal courthouse project too much money. I'm kind of glad the courthouse won over condos. Are you getting the feeling that we have too many high-rise lofts downtown as it is? Has it ever occurred to these builders that some of these buildings might not fill up and we might run out of yuppies? What then? Are they going to turn one of these deals into the world's tallest Wal-Mart? Let's face it. Condos attract a bad element.

You know what drives me nuts? It's when I walk into one of these cappuccino joints downtown and everybody's got an iPod stuck in his ear. And suddenly I'm invisible. I mean, I could drop dead on the floor, and they wouldn't notice I was there unless they tripped over my corpse on their way to the men's room. The solution? Carry a tiny pair of scissors and clip their little iPod wires. If they gripe, just say, "Hey, loft boy, I thought this dump was supposed to be Another reason I favor the courthouse? At least the criminals will be headed up the river, so they won't be taking your table at Eddie Vs.

But the loft dwellers? 1 We'd be stuck with them. i Trust me. They ain't moving to Waco. John Kelso's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 445-3606 or ikelsostatesman.com.

Ricardo B. Braniell AMERICAN-STATESMAN Cantrell Daniel, 16, says that despite Johnston High School's the junior said. So are former students and Superintendent Pat poor academic performance for the past three years, students Forgione, who will present a plan to the Austin school board are motivated to stay there. 'We're still fighting for our school, Monday to give the school another year to raise its scores. To students, Johnston is a family By Molly Bloom AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Bastrop County plans to hire its third emergency medical services provider in three years after the company that now provides ambulance service announced its plans to pull out.

Austin-based MetroCare, which also provides nonemergency services in Travis and Williamson counties, Austin, Round Rock and other areas, says it is losing about $100,000 a year under its current contract with Bastrop as calls for service have increased since it agreed to provide service for the entire county in 2004. County commissioners plan to vote Monday to hire Columbus-based Guardian EMS to take over a year of Metro-Care's contract. That contract was set to expire in October 2008, but the company last month gave commissioners a 90-day notice of their intent to terminate it. MetroCare began talking to commissioners in August about increasing the county's $383,500 annual payment or finding other ways to help MetroCare stay in Bastrop, company General Manager Bob Riley said. But the talks went nowhere.

"I feel that they didn't really have an understanding of the resources involved in serving the county," Riley said. EMS providers operate under slim margins, and it can be hard for companies to turn a profit in less densely populated areas, said Jim Fowler, regional operations manager for Guardian EMS, which specializes in providing EMS services to rural and See CONTRACT, B5 sense of personal struggle has brought them together. For many, Johnston shaped them in immeasurable ways. And that is why they are rallying around a plan to keep the school open. Superintendent Pat Forgione will present it to the school board Monday.

Lonnie Limon, a 1992 graduate who went on to attend the University of Notre Dame, attended Johnston with four of his cousins at the same time. At least four of his uncles also have Johnston ties. His mother and grandfather still support the school's baseball team. "This is more than just a school. People are rallying around the community," See PRIDE, B4 closing the school because students failed to make enough progress on high-stakes exams, she wanted everyone to know that Johnston matters.

"The students still want to be here," Daniel said. "We're still fighting for our school." Johnston's struggle to rise above lagging test scores and negative perceptions is well-known in the Austin school district. But for many students and alumni, the campus is more than a failing school. It is a family. For some, "Ram Pride" was part of their upbringing; the school colors ran, if not through their blood, then at least their bloodlines.

For others, the shared Pupils, alumni put faith in each other, proposal to keep struggling high school open By Raven L. Hill AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Standing before a crowd gathered in Johnston High School's cafeteria last week, Cantrell Daniel grew more emphatic as she explained why she never questions her decision to attend the struggling school. The 16-year-old junior said students are motivated by more than test scores. And even now, as state officials consider On statesman.com: See a Statesman interactive report on Johnston High's struggles at statesman.compassorperish. Suspect in 2000 murder arrested in Austin Lj L.m The story so far October 2003: RuralMetro of Scottsdale, signs a five-year contract to provide EMS services to Bastrop County.

May 2004: MetroCare of Austin takes over RuralMetro's contract January: MetroCare gives 90-day notice of its intent to end the contract February: County begins negotiations with Guardian EMS of Columbus to assume contract Monday: County set to approve revised contract with Guardian. in a baseball hat found at the crime scene. They also said the suspect matches two composite drawings released at the time of Belrose's murder, based on eyewitness testimony. Bridges told KSDK-TV that Luster is cooperating with investigators and is not expected to fight extradition during a hearing scheduled for Monday. Tom Belrose, 54, Joyce Belrose's widower, told the Post-Dispatch that it was good news that an arrest had been made.

However, Belrose said, "It doesn't solve any of our problems. Joyce won't be at breakfast with me tomorrow." pgeorgestatesman.com; 445-3851 Additional material from staff writer Isadora Vail. teacher and mother of four, was shot to death during a daytime attempted carjacking in a Des Peres shopping mall, according to the Post-Dispatch. Des Peres is a St. Louis suburb.

Luster twice spent six months in Texas prisons on drug charges, once in 2001 and again in 2006, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons. Des Peres Police Chief William Bridges told St. Louis television station KSDK that second-degree murder charges have been filed against Luster. Bridges said that Luster submitted a DNA sample upon release from a Texas prison. His DNA sample was entered into the Combined DNA Index By Patrick George AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Austin police have arrested a man believed to be responsible for the murder of a teacher in a St.

Louis suburb that happened almost seven years ago. Derrick Luster, a 30-year-old transient, was arrested in downtown Austin on Friday night by Des Peres, police, Austin police and U.S. marshals, according to De Peres Police Department officials. Court records indicate that Luster is being held in the Travis County Jail on felony charges from Missouri. Luster was wanted in connection with the Aug.

29, 2000, death of 57-year-old Joyce Bel-rose. Belrose, a fourth-grade Derrick Luster His DNA said to match sample found under Belrose's fingernails. Joyce Belrose Missouri schoolteacher was shot to death during carjacking. System, which matches evidence in unsolved crimes to DNA taken from convicted offenders. De Peres police said Luster's sample matched DNA found under Belrose's fingernails and.