No one likes a know-it-all, but it beats being ignorant. Brush up on a few stories people will surely be chattering about this weekend. 

Six-year-old Boy Survives Mountain Lion Attack
As Farzad Mahshood of the Austin American-Statesman reported, six-year-old Rivers Hobbs and his parents, Kristi Harris and Jason Hobbs, were walking on a paved walkway at the Chisos Mountain Lodge when a mountain lion swooped in and grabbed the youngster. Wrote Mahshood:

The lion dragged Rivers Hobbs into a bush next to the walkway, Harris said. Jason Hobbs jumped on top of the lion and was hitting it while Harris gripped its hind legs; Hobbs eventually stabbed the lion’s chest with his pocketknife, Harris said.

The lion dropped the boy and ran away, Harris said.

Rivers was treated for puncture wounds and cuts, but the boy survived.

As of Wednesday, three campsites in the area of the attack remained closed “until further notice,” and park officials were tracking the lion with a dog team. 

When Do We Vote?
The re-emergence of Rick Santorum in the Republican presidential primary race makes it more likely that Texas could count for something, but first there has to be a date to hold the Texas primary, which was originally scheduled for March 6, then rescheduled to April 3. 

While Attorney General Greg Abbott announced on Monday that the state had made a deal with several parties challenging the legislature’s maps, the judges in San Antonio currently tasked with settling on new maps said that there had to be one hundred percent agreement for it to actually be approved. There will be a hearing on February 15.

“The April 3 primary date is dead. It’s not doable,” Republican party redistricting committee member Paul Bettencourt told Nolan Hicks of the San Antonio Express-News. “Even April 17 is doubtful.”

GTT: The Frugal Traveler 
The New York Times‘s Seth Kugel, aka “The Frugal Traveler,” is making his way around the state. His coverage started with a $100 weekend in Austin, while his latest post finds him on the road, hitting Louie Mueller in Taylor, the Czech Stop in West, and the Waco Suspension Bridge to toss some tortillas (not a euphemism).

He then spends a day in San Angelo, where Fort Concho wowed him, and he enjoyed both the Mexican food at Armenta’s Cafe and the surf and turf (fried catfish and pork ribs) at Packsaddle.

The next installment of Kugel’s Texas trip will run on February 21. 

A Vindicated Armstrong Speaks
Lance Armstrong gave his first interview since a federal investigation of him ended with no charges, speaking to the Associated Press on Thursday. “It’s over,” he said. “I’m moving on.”

“I hugged my kids, hugged my girlfriend and went and opened a cold beer,” Armstrong said of what he did when the heard the news.

There’s something of a Groundhog Day effect to the whole story, however, as the World Anti-Doping Agency and the US Anti-Doping Agency both wish to examine the federal government’s files. Those organizations don’t have meet the same standards as the legal system.

“I’m not concerned with that. I’m not going to worry about that,” Armstrong said.

This weekend Armstrong will race in his first triathlon, in Panama City, Panama.

And ICYMI in the TM Daily Post
Some penguins “Wanna Get Away;” a documentary, which recently screened at Sundance, looks at Houston’s newest artificial heart; and Hannah Overton, the subject of Pamela Colloff’s January TEXAS MONTHLY feature, will have her case reexamined.