Duane Buck, sentenced to death for a 1995 double homicide in Houston, is breathing a little easier this morning. Two hours into last night's six hour execution window (he'd even eaten his "last meal" already), the US Supreme Court stayed his execution. Gov. Perry and other officials had made no move to even postpone the execution date after questions of his race being a factor in his sentencing were raised. Buck's lawyers assert that he is due a new sentencing hearing; the Supreme Court has temporarily postponed his execution while they review the lawyers' claims. You can read more about Buck's case in yesterday's post. more ›

Among the other, louder happenings yesterday, the Supreme Court turned down the appeal of a Texas high school cheerleader. A member of the Silsbee High School squad -- who has gone by her initials H.S. throughout the case -- was dismissed from the squad after she remained silent when the basketball player who she said had raped her made a free throw. Her family sued the school district, claiming her silence was a form of free expression. An appeals court decided against their case, and federal courts have ordered her family to reimburse the school district the costs of defending against the suit. The Supreme Court's refusal to hear this case seems to send the message that perhaps we haven't come such a long way, baby. [SF Gate] more ›

• Gaddafi involved in shady financial dealings? You don't say.
• Fighting between rebels and Gaddafi's forces continues in Libya.
• Clashes in Yemen.

• International pressure on Gaddafi increases
• Gaddafi threatens "Thousands" will die if West intervenes
• Will proposed GOP budget cuts kill jobs?

Disgraced former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling won a small victory Thursday. Yesterday the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that restricted prosecutors' use of an anti-fraud law making it a crime to "deprive another of the intangible right of honest services." Skilling had argued the unconstitutional vagueness of such an honest services law being used by prosecutors in his case. more ›

• Nuclear proliferation summit convenes in D.C.
• Our Dangerous World: Could terrorists get hold of a nuclear bomb?
• Pilot error suggested in Polish plane crash

• Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retiring.
• Teabag Party pressure forcing Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak to retire.
• Ignorance over health-care reform spurs rise in threats against Congress members.

• President Obama knows what The Google is. But can he haz cheezburger?
• Trapped under layers of earthquake rubble? There’s an app for that. No, really.
• Supreme Court campaign finance ruling = $300 mil stimulus package for media

• Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor returns for second day of senators' questions
• All 168 aboard believed to be dead in Iranian plane crash
• Federal investigators say Southwest jet's design limited tear's damage

Partisan lines drawn in Sotomayor nomination debate Obama selects Alabama family doc, Genius Grant recipient for Surgeon General Dems nudge harder for CIA/Cheney investigation Kim Jong-Il diagnosed with pancreatic cancer Obama's "tough love" message to Africa In wake of protests, Philadelphia swim club asks kids back Alcohol cuts dementia risk... except when it doesn't more ›

• GM = Government Motors? U.S. could own as much as 70% of carmaker
• Republicans face delicate task in opposing Supreme Court pick Sotomajor
• Amid Prop. 8 protests, advocates begin planning next phase of same-sex marriage fight

• Seeking an "unfiltered forum", Palin signs book deal to write her memoirs
• Americans not concerned with diversity on Supreme Court, poll shows
• Records show billions withdrawn before Madoff arrest: Why this may be good news

• MoPac open again after fatal accident this morning.
• Items the Austin City Council approved Thursday.
• Police seek man on the run after SWAT call in East Austin.

• Case with Austin ties coming up before the Supreme Court tomorrow has some wondering if the Voting Rights Act is needed in the Obama era.
• UT Law Prof Stefanie Lindquist discussed the case with KUT's Jennifer Stayton.
• Bill up before the Texas Legislature would ban usage of cell phones in school zones.

• Obama asks donors to help pay Clinton campaign debt
• Florida buying out the sugar business to help save the Everglades
• Six dead in shooting spree at Kentucky factory

The good thing about Bush's State of the Union speech tonight: it will be his last! St. Austin's Church turns 100. Judge decides against landowners in Brownsville border fence dispute. This has us baffled: Harris County assistant district attorney sends out e-mail using "Canadian" as a racial slur. more ›

Having won the Iowa Democratic Primary, U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama appears to be rocking and rolling with new momentum. The latest numbers show Obama leading the pack in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary, with Hillary Clinton lagging in second place by a 10 point gap. What's going on here? more ›

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... more ›

Photo by dground on flickr City Council considering the gathering of information about Austin's homeless and the expansion of services that help them. The council may also merge Park Police, Austin Aviation Police and City Marshals with APD. Travis County officials aiding Hays County officials in the search for a woman who may have witnessed the murder of her son. Williamson County man on the run from child sexual assault charges captured in Costa Rica.... more ›

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and... more ›

Have a happy and safe Halloween! If you're headed to Sixth Street, leave your light saber/fake gun/billy club at home. Williamson County won't kick privately-run immigration detention center out of Taylor now that they aren't liable for it. Some Texas prosecutors will wait for the Supreme Court's decision next year before asking judges to set execution dates. After a soldier died in a Ft. Hood training exercise, his supervising officer is facing court martial.... more ›

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... more ›

Governor Rick Perry today announced his official support of Republican presidential candidate and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose pro-abortion stance has enraged many conservatives. Perry, in today's declaration, admitted that reconciling the hot-button issue was the biggest obstacle in his endorsement. Giuliani, in turn, pledged to nominate hard-line "strict constructionist" judges to the Supreme Court. Perry replied that he was "comfortable" with this answer. "For the last six months, I have cogitated,"... more ›

CAMPO approved the toll roads . . . who didn't see that coming? UT's statue of Cesar Chavez was unveiled today. GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee was in town over the weekend. Austin resident Marion Jones has given back her 5 medals from the 2000 Olympics and may have to give up $100,000 of prize money after admitting to steroid use. The Supreme Court won't hear the appeal re: the 1999 Aggie bonfire deaths... more ›

Yesterday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals - the state's highest criminal court - decided to stay the lethal injection of Hilberto Chi, a 28-year-old Honduran man convicted of killing a men's store manager in Arlington back in 2001. This ruling comes one week after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether a specified form of lethal injection constituted the infliction of "cruel and unusual punishment," a practice prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. Last... more ›

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... more ›

Old Pecan Street Festival, UT home game, Silicon Labs Marathon Relay, and Alzheimer’s Memory Walk are all in the downtown area this weekend. Watch for street closures! Sheryl Cole's Safe Surrender program will allow people with outstanding warrants to turn themselves in at area churches. APD is supporting Jennifer Kim's anti-panhandling ordinance; a public hearing on the ordinance is set for October 18. The US Supreme Court stopped the execution of Carlton Turner Jr., who... more ›

Burma continues to adopt China's interpretation of "restraint" when it deals with protests. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf continues to be the bee's knees of Pakistan with the recent ruling from Pakistan's Supreme Court. Jena 6 Defendant Released on Bail. Holy crap! The FDA is understaffed and overwhelmed. Laura Hall's attorney asks to be replaced in order to appear as witness for the defense. If Gov. Rick Perry lives outside Austin city limits, are we... more ›

Tonight, unless an unlikely eleventh-hour reprieve is granted, Texas will execute its 400th inmate since the state resumed the practice in 1982. Johnny Ray Conner32-year-old Johnny Ray Conner was convicted for murdering Houston resident Kathyanna Nguyen during a grocery store robbery in 1998. Nguyen, the store's owner, had been trapped behind the counter and was surrounded by a bulletproof enclosure; the killer reached his gun through the change slot and shot her in the head.... more ›

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too—two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the city's Congonhas... more ›