AUSTIN, Texas

Drop in lake’s water level spells doom for restaurant

A well-known Lake Travis restaurant will be closing its doors after experiencing an estimated 50 percent drop in business attributed to near-record low lake levels.

Gary Manley, co-owner of Carlos ‘n’ Charlie’s, told the Austin American-Statesman that the low lake levels have made it impossible for boaters to reach the restaurant by water.

“There’s no way to do it anymore,” Manley said. “We haven’t had boat parking in three years. Every year we kept trying to hang on, hoping it’d come back.”

He says the restaurant’s final day in business will be Labor Day.

NEW YORK

Big gain at Microsoft lifts Dow in lackluster month

A big jump in Microsoft helped lift the Dow Jones industrial average Friday. Microsoft had its biggest gain in four years after CEO Steve Ballmer said he will retire. The giant software company is part of the 30-member Dow and its surge contributed more than a third of the index’s advance.

The Dow closed up 46.77 points, or 0.3 percent, at 15,010.51. The index closed down 0.5 percent for the week and is 3.2 percent lower for the month.

Stocks have sagged in August on concerns that the Federal Reserve will start to pull back on its economic stimulus. The Fed has been buying $85 billion in bonds every month to hold down long-term interest rates and encourage lending.

– From news service reports