Photo of the Walls Unit gurney from Britannica Student Encyclopedia 25 Years of Lethal Injection: What Have We Learned?Friday, December 7Texas Prison Museum (map) This Friday marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first execution by lethal injection in the United States. Naturally, Texas, along with the city of Huntsville -- sometimes referred to as the "execution capital of the world"-- took this honor. With executions effectively on hold in Texas while the U.S. Supreme Court......

Luciano Pavarotti, widely regarded as the world's finest living tenor, passed away this morning at his home in Italy. Pavarotti had been battling pancreatic cancer since 2006, and was hospitalized in August of this year as a result of ongoing struggles with the disease. Known as the 'King of High Cs,' Pavarotti popularized opera and classical music more than any of his contemporaries, particularly in the U.S., bringing the genre to the forefront of American......

As that old state tourism advertisement used to say, "Everything's bigger in Texas." Assuming you're speaking in stereotyped generalities, this is mostly true. The state itself is big, first of all. That's verifiable (with maps). The same goes for lots of stuff inside the state, like ranches, state fairs, trucks, steaks, livestock shows - you can find some really big versions of these things in Texas. We even have the 10-gallon cowboy hat, which is......

While the world focuses its attention on Paris Hilton's upcoming jailtime adventures, another member of the federal prison system is hoping to have himself a laugh—before he dies. The 39-year-old death row inmate in Livingston, Texas, convicted for brutally killing his neighbors nearly 16 years ago, has been running a rather macabre contest on a friend's website. Visitors are invited to submit their favorite jokes and one-liners; the inmate, set to be executed at the......

Democratic goobernatorial candidate Chris Bell is demanding that Carole Keeton Cougar Rylander Strayhorn return $29,500 she received from members of the Zachry Family, which owns Zachry Construction Corp. Zachry Construction is involved in a partnership to develop the first phase of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which includes 4,000-plus miles of tollways. What bothers Bell is that this is the same project that Strayhorn has spoken out against publicly. In other Grandma Cougar news: Kinky wants......

Spurred perhaps by the Travis County mother-daughter pair who filed that ludicrous lawsuit against them earlier this week, MySpace today announced that it'll be implementing new restrictions on interactions between "adults" and "younger users." From the Associated Press, via KVUE: The site already prohibits kids 13 and under from setting up accounts and displays only partial profiles for those registered as 14 or 15 years old. But under the new changes, MySpace users who are......

The Associated Press says that Lance Armstrong has been cleared on charges of doping ("using steroids or other performance-enhancers," for those of you who don't hablo sports-ese) in 1999. The Dutch investigators who completed the investigation and subsequent report not only let Armstrong off the hook -- they accused the "anti-doping authorities" of misconduct. The tests that led to the initial accusations were conducted on urine samples that were 6 years old at the time......

In a recent letter released under the Freedom of Information Act, the National Security Agency (NSA) revealed that it is paying two news agencies - Reuters and the Associated Press - for information. Other government agencies purchase news wire services, but no other agency presents the NSA's level of secrecy and defensiveness with such purchases. Is it possible that the NSA is influencing the media and free speech? The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF) has......

A Southeast Austin flea market or pulga is plagued by permit police. Know when to say when kids! An 18 year-old UT Freshman didn't. Garth Jones, long time writer for the Associated Press, dies of pneumonia in Austin. A new 3D interactive marketing and advertizing is deployed at Highland Mall. They call it Marketizing. Austin-based Plug-In Partners is parts of a grassroots effort that demands automakers put more emphasis on plug-in hybrid development to......

In a four minute session, Congress approved a brief extension to the Patriot Act through February 3rd, preventing its unconstitutional anti-terrorism provisions from running out at the end of this year. The PATRIOT Act, or "Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" (say that five times fast), previously faced a six-month extension that was blocked by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner's staunch refusal to agree to the terms: "A six-month extension,......

While our minds are primarily on the folks in Louisiana and Mississippi, we'd like to bring to light a tragedy that has gone under-reported here in the States. One of the most deadly events in Iraq's history occured yesterday. From the Associated Press: Thousands of people flocked to the funerals Thursday of the nearly 1,000 Shiite pilgrims killed in a stampede during a religious procession, as critics blasted the government for failing to prevent......

In The News Today: Austin Gets More Park Space: By the end of the year, Riverside near Auditorium Shores will be reduced to 2 lanes, and the area near Palmer Events Center will finally be made into a park.[Source] Jackson Verdict: "That's not to say he's an innocent man," [Jackson juror Raymond Hultman] said late Monday in an interview with The Associated Press, standing on the front porch of his Santa Maria home. "He's......

We at the Austinist aren't the only ones who have pointed out Tom DeLay's ethical lapses. The Public Campaign Action Fund, will be running two television ads in Sugar Land (DeLay's district) and Washington DC denouncing him, according to the Associated Press. (And y'all? Molly Ivins has something to say about it too.) The PCAF is going one step further than most of DeLay's critics and are calling for his resignation. The Austinist is amazed......