Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 29

Flaming pans What home cooks from students to kitchen veterans can do to avoid calls to the fire department. WEDNESDAY IN FOOD LIFE Going organic Austin textile designer Nancy Mims is doing her part to make 'green' cotton fashionable. THURSDAY IN LIFE STYLE As Austin considers making bicycle helmets mandatory for all, proponents and opponents shift into high gear Life A Arts jVusfm American-Statesman statesman.com Tuesday, August 22, 2006 Section Jane I I 6re'S -4 yj UrryKolvoord AMKitK 'AN-s'i atksman Former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd, a helmet law proponent, credits this helmet (held by wife Elizabeth Christian in February) with saving his life. Debate comes to a head By Pamela LeBlanc AMKK'K'AN-ST ATKSMAN STAKF icycle helmet laws are old hat in Washington state. Starting in 2003, Seattle required cyclists of all ages to wear a helmet.

The rural areas of King County surrounding Seattle have had a helmet rule even longer since 1994. The rule in Seattle a board of health regulation, not a city or county ordinance was adopted after local studies showed that helmets reduced the number and severity of head injuries. A public awareness campaign followed, touting the money-saving and lifesaving virtues of helmets. Now Austin is wrangling over whether it, once again, should require all cyclists to wear helmets. Deck wedding halls with personalized glass ornaments My daughter is planning a December wedding.

She would like to give each guest a gold glass ball Christmas ornament with the bride and the groom's names and the date embossed in red. Who could do that for us? Elaine Calkins Al Several resources can handle this job. Contact Nuptial Necessities of Armadillo Advertising, 542-9095, to order 3'4-inch ornaments (various colors, including gold) and have them customized. Prices range from $2.35 (125 ornaments) to $2.25 (250 ornaments) each plus a setup fee. Smaller quantities incur an additional fee.

At Bells Promotional Products, (800) 822-0114, a custom imprinted gold glass Christmas ornament (gold or other colors) is available in two sizes 3V4 inch ($4.80) or 2 inch Minimum order? 100 ornaments. Want to buy the ornaments yourself? Check the stock at the Famous Christmas Store, 452-0939. Take them to Personally Yours, 5416 Parkcrest Drive, for customizing ($1.50 each). I bake a lot of chocolate chip cookies and use white sugar as well as brown sugar. However, after opening the package of brown sugar, it becomes hard and lumpy.

What do I need to do to keep the brown sugar from being lumpy? Gladys Hermanson Here is the advice of Domino Sugar: The brown sugar is hard because it has lost moisture. Keep it moist by storing it in an airtight container. Restore moisture to brown sugar in the microwave. Place one-half pound of sugar in a bowl with two damp paper towels and a tight layer of plastic wrap. Heat on high for one minute.

Experiment with the time depending on the power of your microwave. Or forget the microwave. Use the same damp paper towel method and let the sugar stand overnight at room temperature. Fluff with a fork. Is the man who does the recorded voiceover promos for KASE radio (100.7 FM) actor Matthew McConaughey? It sure sounds like him.

C.L.Smith Nope. You are listening to Jack Ingram, an artist who started his performing career while a psychology student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Contact Ingram in care of Capital Sports Entertainment, 98 San Jacinto Suite 430, Austin, TX 78701. Catch Ingram at the Austin City Limits Festival, Sept. 15-17.

UpshotUpdateUproar: Amalia Rodriguez-Mendoza, Travis County district clerk, reminds readers that the clerk's office, 1000 Guadalupe Room 305, is an authorized agency for accepting passport applications, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. "In addition to the photos and identity documents required, applicants should be prepared to pay the federal application fee in the form of a check or money order payable to the Department of State (and) the district clerk, as agent, receives a separate processing fee, and we accept cash, check or money order," Rodriguez-Mendoza says. Contact Jane Greig at P.O.

Box 78767; (512) 445-3697; e-mail jgreigstatesman.com or fax (512) 445-3968. For more Jane Greig, visit www.statesman.comlifegreig. On statesman.com: Do you think the Austin City Council should require adult bicyclists to wear helmets? Go to statesman.comtalkofaustin to post your comments. Helmet law debate For more information on both sides of the helmet issue, go to www.bikesafeaustin.org and nohelmetlaw.org. consider the matter at a public hearing at 6 p.m.

Thursday at City Hall. Council members won't decide Thursday if they will amend the code; they could call for more studies before making a decision. They could even require helmets only on major highways. 'Helmets good, Todd doesn't remember much about what happened on a weekend bike ride along U.S. 183 near Lockhart.

He suffered broken bones and a concussive head injury, and was hospitalized for three months. Along the way, he incurred about $300,000 in medical bills. He and his doctors credit his helmet with The issue is not new. Austin adopted an all-ages helmet law in 1996, when Bruce Todd was mayor. But the city code was amended shortly after Todd left office in 1997, and now applies only to cyclists 17 and younger.

The fine is $20 for a first offense or $40 for a repeat offense, and can be dismissed if the cyclist shows proof of acquiring a helmet within 30 days. Even Austin's 17-and-younger law is a rarity in Central Texas. Georgetown, Round Rock and San Marcos don't have bike helmet laws. Dallas adopted an all-ages ordinance in 1996. If Todd has his way, that will change.

The former mayor, seriously injured in a bike accident last November, wants the law broadened to again include adults. The City Council will saving his life. Todd says an all-ages helmet law would help lower the amount of money taxpayers and insurers must spend to care for other head injury victims. It also would save lives, he says, noting that a motorist has 2 tons of steel to protect him, but a cyclist has nothing but air. "This is not just about bicycles.

It is about the See HELMETS, back page They walk among us, bellies aglow with promos for CW Diane Holloway 1 I On TV piwiiimwuiipiniiiwiiuiin mmmmmmmmi hi "wiJm 7 V. i CX I i Next month, one Austin television station will assume two identities, but make no mistake about which one will be the dominant personality. Think green. The new CW is splashing onto the air Sept. 18 in a sea of lime green.

And the green will spill over to billboards, print ads and other nonbroadcast media. KNVA, currently our WB affiliate (remember the is about to swarm Central Texas with green-suited folks sporting flat-screen TV sets on their tummies. They, will be flashing videos, asking questions and crowing about the CW network, a joint venture of CBS and Warner Bros. Think live Teletubbies without the plush or the girth. Dubbed "ad walkers" by the British company (appropriately named Adwalkers PLC) that invented them, the promotional brigade will descend on our music and arts festivals and Longhorn football games in September, flashing video clips of coming attractions.

More about this cool new hype mechanism later. The rebranding, as it is called in the industry, is intended to alert Central Texans to the new identity of KNVA Channel 54, which wjll air new episodes of series from the old WB Happy birthday, WWW and the equally defunct UPN from 7 to 9 p.m. The lineup includes "Veronica Mars," "Gilmore Girls," "Smallville," "Everybody Hates Chris" and "America's Next Top Model." Plus a couple of newcomers, "Runaway" and "The Game." But KNVA also is carrying another new network, Fox's MyNetworkTV, which will air two telenovela-style serials back-to-back each weeknight. The MyNetwork shows "Desire" and "Fashion House" will air tape-delayed, from 9 to 11 p.m. weeknights, with recaps on Saturdays when the CW is dark.

KNVA, which operates under a license management agreement with NBC affiliate Believe it or not, the World Wide Web has just turned 15 years old. We want to know how the Internet has changed your life. Did you meet your mate through online dating? Start an eBay business? Find friendship in an online community? Send your testimonials to Sarah Lindner at slindner statesman.com or P.O. Box 670, Austin, TX 78767. AIWAI.KKI! As their name implies, ad walkers will stroll around town, encouraging people to touch their screens and learn more about the network.

See HOLLOWAY, E3.