Morning Roundup: Virtual architecture edition

Good morning, Houston. We're happy to report that we've found out the AIA and Google have combined two of our favorite things: architecture and Google Earth. Now there's a Google Earth layer featuring 3-D models of some of the structures on the AIA's list of America's favorite architecture, which brings desktop tourism to a whole new level. Among the buildings on the AIA layer: Pennzoil Place, the Astrodome and the Williams Tower, the three Houston buildings that made the favorite architecture list.

>> End of the road for HPV plan?: The Texas House approved Senate changes to a bill blocking Gov. Rick Perry's HPV vaccine plan Wednesday, meaning the governor will be faced with the decision of whether to let the bill become law or veto it — a veto that would probably be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the Legislature. Perry's proposal, which would require all Texan pre-teen girls to be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted disease that has been linked to cervical cancer, has drawn fire since it was announced earlier this year. If the bill becomes law, it'll block the state from requiring the HPV vaccine until 2011.

>> Remembering David Beverly: Almost 700 friends and colleagues gathered yesterday for a memorial service for David Beverly, the NASA engineer killed during a hostage standoff at Johnson Space Center on Friday. Despite the tragedy, Beverly's widow, Linda, said she wanted the service to be an occasion for joy in David Beverly's life. "If you leave here without laughing today, we've done wrong to celebrate this man," she told the crowd. "I want to say thank you for the support you're giving our whole family through this. David had such a passion in working for NASA."

>> Turtle count: one: Officials reported that the first Kemp's ridley sea turtle of the year has nested on the Texas coast, at South Padre Island. Why is that a big deal? Because it looks like the endangered turtles are coming to Texas in greater numbers: Between 1979 and 1996, there were only 17 Kemp's nestings recorded along the coast; in 2005, there were 50, and last year there were 102. Yesterday's turtle, which laid 84 eggs, didn't have any tags or other markings scientists have used to identify Kemp's turtles found in recent years — another good sign.

>> Today's weather: Looks like today will be 100 percent better than yesterday: mostly sunny, an afternoon high near 80, and a clear night with a low around 60. Why not skip work and enjoy it?

Know what else is going on this morning? Well, find out ...