It's not official yet, but yesterday evening Nikke Finke reported on her blog that NBC is making a deal with DirecTV to keep airing critically-acclaimed and locally-filmed Friday Night Lights. ...

We here at the Austinist Film Section believe that holidays should be extended for as long as possible, which is why we are just now bringing you all the news that is fit to be released regarding SXSW 08. Don't judge us. Everybody needs a little vacay now and then. That said, we are super pumped about the 2008 opening night film, 21 and the slew of other titles that have been released for this year's festival....

Photo by Merrick Brown on flickr City charter revision committee wants your input on single-member districts. Executive director of CAMPO resigns effective January 15. Man attacks cop with screwdriver after the policeman catches him breaking into cars at the Highland Mall parking lot. A Hutto man is the first to be treated under Jessica's Law, legislation which deals harshly with child predators. Two adolescent boys (aged 11 and 14) have been charged with attempting to......

Photo by jmtimages on flickr Help out: Volunteers needed to take people with mobility issues through the Trail of Lights. Austin/Travis County EMS asks people to not block the driveways at fire and ambulance stations; it's not against the law, but it does slow their response to emergencies. The NY Times thinks the Justice Dept. needs to take a look at the Texas Youth Commission. Body of murder victim's mom found in San Marcos. Jerry......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

Image from MySpace Clipd Beaks, iKiLLCaRS & Daniel Francis DoyleFriday, December 7Emos (603 Red River St)Inside, Doors at 8pm, Show at 10pm[info] | [iKiLLCaRS MySpace] | [Clipd Beaks MySpace] | [Daniel Francis Doyle MySpace]iKiLLCaRS At Ease With Your Haste In case the name embodying misplaced aggression spelled in an unorthodox fashion that says, “You know what, I don’t have to follow your stupid rules of capitalization!” coupled with members' pseudonyms like Johnny Law didn’t clue......

Photo by mirsasha on flickr In June an APD officer sped 139 miles/hour through a funeral procession on Mopac; he resigned in November. Ford recalling over a million trucks and SUVs because of a faulty engine sensor. The Austin Energy Alt-Car Expo is coming next October. Texas Legislative Conference (who?) names Lt. Gov. Dewhurst as Texan of the Year. New state law set to go into effect January 1 charges $5 per each strip club......

Still from The Public Enemy The Public Enemy w/ White Ghost Shivers LiveWednesday, December 05Alamo Drafthouse Downtown (320 E 6th Street)9:30pm, $12, 21+[info] | [tickets]Calling all boozehounds! December 5th is your day to party 1930s style, as we celebrate the ratification of the 21st amendment to the U.S. constitution. You know--the end of prohibition! On December 5th 1933, the Twenty-first amendment was officially ratified, out-amending the sucky, unpopular 18th amendment which outlawed the sale of......

Image from www.sustain-a-ball.org Sustainable Shopper’s Ball, "Have a Green, Green Christmas!" FestivalSaturday, December 1Burger Center (3200 Jones Road)9am-2pm, FREE[info]It's time for the second annual Sustainable Shopper's Ball Green Holiday Festival! Over 60 local vendors will be at the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market at Burger Center this Saturday with plenty of sustainable products and gift ideas to choose from. You can finally buy that sun oven for your brother-in-law, or an electronic motorcycle for yourself. You......

Photo by clickykbd on flickr Two state pension fends haven't yet divested from Iran, even though Perry asked them to. Kelso takes on Hyde Park Baptist Church's treatment of the Austin Area Interreligious Ministries Thanksgiving service. Mother of weekend murder victim is still missing. Drivers of both vehicles involved in Burnet County wreck this morning died at the scene. UK organization working with Texas law enforcement officers to set up Trace.com, which keeps records of......

Image from Team Fabrication’s MySpace Emo’s is just one of the places you could be this Friday evening. Local experimental act, The Octopus Project released their latest full-length, Hello, Avalance on Peek-A-Boo Records last month and will be providing nuggets of electronic mayhem from the new album and past releases, no doubt. Cue and Horse+Donkey round off this bill of unique Austin acts on the outside stage. Inside at Emo’s, Those Peabodys will be on......

Stay away from the Denver International Airport. Major anti-abortion group endorses that Law & Order guy. Ship spills more than 1.3 million gallons of oil into the Black Sea. As if Russia's environment wasn't effed up enough... New studies show that children who are identified as troubled in kindergarten might end up doing fine in elementary school. So give the kids a chance, okay? Having good friends at work makes you less stressed out.......

Photo by DESMONDWYSON on flickrGov. Rick Perry and his staff are holding off on hitting the "delete" key, thanks to the work of a political activist. John Washburn of Milwaukee programmed his computer to automatically send out two requests a week for all government e-mail generated by Perry staffers. Under state law, records aren't supposed to be destroyed once somebody has asked for them. The governor's office said they will comply with Washburn's requests, which......

Image by the "Subway Cyrano," from GothamistNew York City was at its strangest and swellest this week. On Sunday, tens of thousands people ran in the NYC Marathon, including Mrs. Tom Cruise, aka Katie Holmes, who ran it in just under 5 hours, 30 minutes. Gothamist also found out that limes in Corona are sometimes illegal, the weird maple syrup might be back and a famous punk music pioneer-turned-real estate broker was possibly killed by......

Power lines by Frenzied Vole on flickr"Texans have shown little interest in nine billion dollars worth of initiatives." Have you voted yet? Sorry, Ice Bats. Cedar Park has another team in mind for their arena-to-be. Upcoming 2008 state anti-pollution law is causing problems already; if TCEQ is too lax on coal/power plants, cities and school districts stand to lose a lot of money. Fed Chairman gave speech in San Antonio today. This morning a suspect......

What did you dress up as for Halloween? 911 Dispatcher that fielded the first calls about the North Carolina beach house fire is now receiving death threats (w/ creepy audio). Want to beat cancer? No red meat. No wine. Eat less. The Canadian dollar is worth more than the American dollar. Double, oh no way. UK comes out with invisible tank (w/pictures). Dog The Bounty Hunter gets yanked from A&E due to Dog's racist......

A new 668-page report by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission has declared that Texas has too many state reports. The 18-month-long project surveyed over 170 agencies, public colleges, and universities, all of whom are required by the State Legislature to generate a periodic report of some sort. The task force anticipated dealing with about 400 of these reports; the final tally exceeded 1,600 before investigators evidently decided they'd had enough. "At first, we......

UN issues their Global Environmental Outlook report, GEO-4, while population blogs about Britney Spears' new tattoo. The U.S. dollar continues its downward spiral. Wildfires continue in California, but firefighters say they are gaining ground. Iran remains defiant in the face of new U.S. imposed sanctions to prevent their nuclear dream. Supreme Court of Georgia frees teen in controversial sex case. Texas gas prices are up for the second week in a row. Astronauts begin......

This fall, you may begin noticing our local law enforcement looking a bit more, well, stylish. Austin Police Department is revamping its uniforms and vehicles, in the hopes of "creating a new version" of the organization, says Police Chief Art Acevedo. Part of the changes include larger badges, which will feature the Star of Texas above the Capitol. Gone are any traces of red on the uniforms themselves—in some cases, they'll be replaced with a......

An early morning altercation led to a man stabbing three of his friends and running over two of them in a North Austin parking lot. Department of Labor awards $509,937 in a grant to Austin-based non-profit, American YouthWorks. The city won't be billing the 3 UT students for their rescue from the cave this weekend. 1983 KFC mass-murder case finally comes to trial in Bowie County. Panhandlers in Boerne may soon have to purchase......

Britain creates new drug to combat obesity...dog obesity. Dear Abby supports gay marriage. A London judge has found nine lies in Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, orders disclaimer to air before being played in schools. The Empire State Building will glow green for the end of Ramadan this year. In China, there is a 95-year old woman growing a horn out of her forehead. Houston ISD is thinking of charging students (and their parents)......

Math teacher at Bowie high school wins a national education award worth $25,000. Last night, the Planning Commission voted against proposals made by CWS to develop land so close to Lady Bird Lake. TxDOT used cameras hidden in orange barrels to collect license plate data for a transportation study. Staph infections making the rounds at Austin high schools; 10 Anderson football players have been affected in recent weeks. As if we needed another reason......

Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho will remain in the Senate despite calls for his resignation. Myanmar junta summons U.S. envoy for talks. Ig Nobel awards celebrate jet-setting Viagra-using hamsters and our military's attempt to make a "gay bomb." East Sixth Street, between Pedernales and Robert Martinez, now open after yesterday's train accident caused it to be closed. North Korea agrees to dismantle "all" of its nuclear facilities by the end of the year.......

Last Friday in Houston, a young girl brought a loaded 9mm pistol to school and started pointing it at people. She is 12 years old. The U.S. Supreme Court's new term starts this week. Why exactly is socialized medicine such a bad idea? Interesting article... The guy who tried to extort $1 million from Tom Cruise commits suicide. Article about the bloggers who helped bring the story of recent government oppression in Burma to......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. Bostonist got a crash course in what not......

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” ...(but) F. Scott never met our president....

Lee Nichols has a nice article in this week's Chronicle about destruction of the urban forest resulting from infill development. Mature trees are a key factor that makes older neighborhoods more pleasant than suburban sprawl. Unfortunately, large trees are often taken down when an old house is replaced with a larger new house. Austin's Tree and Natural Area Preservation Ordinance requires a permit for removal of a tree with a 19-inch diameter. Removing (or killing)......

Hillary Clinton compares Dick Cheney to infamous science fiction character. Guess which one. Thousands are gathering in Jena, LA today in support of the 'Jena 6.' Republican representative claims just too many mosques in this country. The UN's General Assembly is next week and Iranian President Ahmadinejad asked to lay a wreath at Ground Zero. The NYPD is not having it. One heck of prank or one heck of a hangover. 100,000 cans of......

O.J. Simpson is just weird. Bush to appoint new legal yes-man, er, we mean Attorney General. Greenspan says Iraq War was mostly just about gettin' our grubby hands on some of that cheap oil. The world's top 10 most polluted places, according to Scientific American. Get your iPhone unlocked for, like, $50. Our legs are really, really sore from ACL. Another effect of global warming: The unthawing of prehistoric mammoth dung, which stinks!......

ACL Previews Interview: Ghostland Observatory Previews: The Broken West, Big Sam’s Funky Nation & Rose Hill Drive Previews: Billy Joe Shaver and Fionn Regan Previews: Brandon Rhyder and Ocote Soul Sounds Interview: The Broken West Previews: Sylvia St. James, Jeffrey Steele, and Amy Cook Interview: Bloc Party ACL Fest Updates: Google Mashup, Contests, Eco-Chic Previews: Augustana, Amos Lee Interview: Peter, Bjorn, and John ACL Band Clash, Round 3: Wilco Vs My Morning Jacket Travis......