Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • A1

IN THE NEWS Nation World The U.S. Postal Service is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action A2 Typhoon Talas dumps record amounts of rain in western and central Japan, killing at least 20 people and stranding thousands more A2 Tropical Storm Lee leaves more than a foot of rain in New Orleans and spins off tornadoes elsewhere as its center comes ashore in a slow crawl that raises fears of inland ash flooding. A3 Many gay men and lesbians who were discharged under the ask, policy want to rejoin the armed services, but it may not be easy A7 Metro State An East Austin labor of love is the earthbag house she is building herself out of bags of adobe B1 A Liberty Hill woman stuck overnight in a chair is rescued by her paper carrier B1 TechMonday Many consumers using their smartphones for shopping, in part because they fear data theft B4 HE WEE a HE ad Today Labor Day Gov. Rick Perry will participate in the Palmetto Freedom Forum a presidential candidate gathering organized by tea party favorite U.S. Sen.

Jim DeMint in Columbia, S.C. Tuesday Trial begins on Texas redistricting lawsuits in San Antonio. Texas University System regents are expected to make John appointment as chancellor of cial. Wednesday Second public hearing on Central proposed budget 5:30 p.m., 1111 E. Cesar Chavez St.

Gov. Rick Perry participates in his first GOP presidential debate 7 p.m., MSNBC. Sunday Patriot Day, 10th anniversary of the terror attacks. Weather Cooler temperatures, but windy conditions mean Central Texas is still at risk for fires, B6 Deaths B3 Editorials A12-13 Life Arts D1 Sports C1 TechMonday B4-5 Classifieds D7-17 To subscribe to the American-Statesman, call 445-4040 2011, Austin American-Statesman 9 statesman.com EDITION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2011 $1.00 Tips for women to defend themselves if attacked D1 A look at some of the hottest gadgets under the sun D1 Austin Startup Week spotlights tech scene B4 By Mike Ward AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF SUGAR LAND When the local soap factory closed last month after more than 45 years in business, 95 workers were without a job and a thriving business with as much as $4 million in sales left town. But unlike other businesses here, this factory was located inside a state prison, one of six prison factories in Texas that have closed in recent months because of the struggling economy.

In the case of the soap factory, the prison that housed it has closed, as well. The closures are part of a national trend, officials say, as government agencies that run prison industry programs experience budget cuts and government agencies that buy prison- made goods scale back their purchases, also to cope with tighter state budgets. question is how do you keep convicts busy if the plant said Tony Fabelo, an Austin-based statistician who tracks criminal justice trends. has implications for prison management, beyond just the closing of a plant here and In Texas, prison of cials have always prided themselves on the robust prison-industry program. It is among the largest, where convicts make everything ranging from furniture, highway signs and soap to garments, license plates and shoes at 41 plants.

But now some officials worry that increasing numbers of idled convicts could lead to new disciplinary and security problems inside sprawling system of 111 state prisons. The current economic turmoil on Wall Street is now affecting Mean Street, it seems. And prison agency managers are responding by trying to streamline operations to weather the turbulent economy, and perhaps position themselves to gear up production when the economy recovers. are using the closures as an opportunity to combine some plants and gain said Jerry Mc Budget cuts hit prison plants Texas Idle hands could lead to security issues, some fear See PRISONS A By Simon Denyer The Washing on Pos WESHTATA, Libya Libyan rebel forces massed for an attack on one of ousted leader Moammar last bastions Sunday night, as their effort to negotiate the surrender of the desert town of Bani Walid broke down. my side, negotiations are the chief negotiator, Abdullah Kanshil, told reporters at the site of earlier roadside talks with tribal elders from the town.

said they want to talk; they are threatening everyone who moves. They are putting snipers on high-rise buildings and inside olive groves. They have a big fire The town of 60,000 people, 104 miles southeast of Tripoli, has no electricity, water or fresh food and is desperately short of medical supplies, of cials said. Rebels had offered to bring in ambulances, doctors and supplies, but they insisted their ghters had to enter the town at the same time, a condition tribal elders did not accept. Col.

Ahmed Bani, spokesman for new Defense Ministry, told al-Jazeera on Sunday night that the town would be in hours but added that he hoped people in Bani Walid would rise up to greet anti-Gadha forces, as happened in Tripoli. In the capital, the Transitional National Council announced plans to integrate 3,000 rebel ghters into the police force and nd training and civilian jobs for others. That move may partly be a re ection of the fact that many Libyan rebels prepare to assault one of Gadha last strongholds north africa a lexandre Meneghini asso ia PR ess A rebel signals for victory Sunday outside Bani Walid, Libya, which is without electricity, water and fresh food. Forced entry could cost many lives in heavily armed town See BASTION A catastrophic of fires in area Central te a By Patrick George, a ndrea Ball and Melissa aboada AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF In a summer where brush fires have become a near- daily occurrence, firefighting of cials said the multiple wildfires that raged across Central Texas on Sunday were the worst the region has seen all year. Numerous wind-driven res pushed fire departments to their limits and forced evacuations in Bastrop County, the Steiner Ranch subdivision, Pflugerville, Spicewood and other areas.

Scores of residents were left wondering whether they had homes to return to as many of the res continued to burn Sunday night. The largest and most destructive re was in Bastrop County, where a blaze burned 14,000 acres and grew to an estimated 16 miles long by the end of the day, said Mark Stanford, fire chief of the Texas Forest Service. Stanford said of the Bastrop County re. a major natural Forest Service spokeswoman Lexi Maxwell said that re began about 2 p.m. in the Circle subdivision off Texas 71.

It merged with another re north of there that pushed south and crossed over Texas 21 and Texas 71, Maxwell said. Aerial units estimated that at least 300 homes had been damaged or destroyed by the fire. Maxwell said another, unrelated re was reported in the Colony subdivision in Bastrop County, which also forced evacuations. was far and away the most catastrophic day for Central Texas Maxwell said. Residents in Bastrop County were told to evacuate to Bastrop Middle School, the First Flames engulf a house in the Steiner Ranch subdivision on Sunday.

The blaze destroyed dozens of homes and forced hundreds to evacuate. High winds and the drought also fueled res in uger ville, Cedar Park, Bastrop County and Spicewood. Jay Janner photos AMERICAN-STATESMAN See FIRES A hundreds of homes damaged or razed; no known injuries 16-mile-long blaze in bastrop county worst among many Yolanda Rodriguez, left, comforts neighbor Virginia Esquivel in front of gutted home on Bois Lane in Cedar Park on Sunday. Two homes on the block were destroyed, and a third was damaged. The Red Cross and a church are helping residents.

statesman.com See staff and reader photos from the fires online. In SI de Two dead as more wildfires spark across state, A6 residents describe walls of smoke Crews fight to keep up with blazes By Patrick George, a ndrea Ball and Melissa aboada AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF As res devastated Central Texas on Sunday, re ghters found themselves stretched to their limits. John Durham, an assistant chief at Lake Travis Fire Rescue, said his crews spent their Sunday morning and early afternoon assisting with res in Pflugerville and the Pedernales area. But when a large fire broke out in their own neck of the woods, in the Steiner Ranch subdivision, they found themselves without much help. quickly became a situation of having no resources available throughout the Durham See CREWS A.