Has Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson just admitted to breaking federal firearms laws? In a press release issued last night, Patterson said, "When I'm in a state or national park, I'm armed." Slight problem. Except in a small number of select national parks, guns must be kept unloaded and locked away in vehicles: breaking those rules is punishable by $5,000 in fines and/or up to 6 months in jail. When asked about this, General Land Office staff said Patterson "means just what he said; he carries, and he goes to national parks (he was out in Big Bend just this week, hiking through to the Christmas Mountains)." When pressed again, staff said, yes, he had taken a gun with him. Patterson compounded his own admission with a statement that could get other people into trouble. "'Texans who can lawfully carry a firearm in state parks can now carry in federal parks, including Big Bend National Park" – which is not true. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne is trying to steamroll a change to the gun rules for parks that would extend state laws onto federal land, a change opposed by seven former National Park Service national directors, including Bush 43 appointee Fran Mainella. In the release, staff did add that the proposed rule change is still under public review, but when asked whether they would issue a correction of Patterson's statement, they said no. Anyone who wants to comment on the proposed rule changes (which are opposed by the Association of National Park Rangers, the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees and the National Parks Conservation Association) can do so via the Department of Interior website.

The Outlaws wasted no time setting the tone for their game last Saturday against the North Texas Fury. In the first drive of the first series, defensive linewoman Diane Cardile and linebacker Bridgette Brown sacked Dallas’ quarterback for the first of six total sacks. Possession soon changed, and the offense followed suit. This left Dallas no time to reconsider their shotgun formation (or their choice in centers), and the game ended with an Outlaws’ shutout: 33-0. In the first quarter, tight end Tracey Suire christened the Outlaws’ improved passing game – scoring their first touchdown off a 15-yard pass. And in the last two minutes of the first half, running back Monica Gauck intercepted the ball twice, once for a 64-yard touchdown return and again for a 53-yard touchdown return. In the second half, wide receiver Becky Lahmann kept up the Outlaws’ momentum with two touchdowns: one off a 33-yard pass and another off a 37-yard run, during which she beat two Dallas defenders. In the end, Dallas just couldn’t get through the Outlaws' defensive line, and they couldn’t respond to the Outlaws’ stacked running game and some of the Outlaws’ best passing of the season.

Four days down, five to go in early voting for the May 10 elections, and according to the Travis County Elections Division, ballots cast finally cracked the magic "1% of all registered voters" mark. Woot! Numbers stayed pretty consistent in the 1,700 to 1,800 voters per day range. Fans of mobile voting can probably count the results as a victory, because the four mobile voting teams have collected 748 ballots: that's over 10% of the total votes cast. Four-day results
Total early voting: 7,034
Percentage of registered voters: 1.29%
Early voting in person votes: 6,857
Mail ballots received: 177 Monday voting: 1,765
Tuesday voting: 1,685
Wednesday voting: 1,803
Thursday voting: 1,781 Highest turn-out voting location: Randalls Research and Braker (645 voters)
Lowest turn-out voting location: Round Rock ISD Performing Arts Center (12 voters, although, to be fair, it does only collect votes for a tiny corner of Round Rock.)

Just got the word from the Austin Police Dept. that they have decided they will not be embracing the legal changes enacted by the Lege last year when it comes to making minor pot possession a cite-and-release offense. To refresh: Legislators last year passed H.B. 2391 (by Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, and carried by Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo), as a means to ease jail overcrowding, making a host of minor criminal violations eligible for citation-and-release as opposed to a direct ticket to the county jail for adults in their "home county" at the time of the violation -- including possession of up four ounces of pot. The Travis Co. Sheriff's Office immediately embraced the new law. In 2006, some 7,000 people were booked into jail for offenses listed under the new law and making those defendants eligible for cite-and-release would save the county about $1.2 million. Last fall, APD said they were still "reviewing" the new law to decide whether it would be jiggy with APD policy. That review is apparently complete and the verdict is in: its a no-go for pot cite-and-release within city limits. According to APD Cmdr. Sean Mannix, the department decided against following the provisions of the law because APD actually operates in three counties -- Travis, Williamson and Hays, where portions of the city now lie -- and in two out of the three counties officials have decided not to honor the new law. Thus, only Travis has "embraced the practice," Mannix said. In order to "maintain a consistent" policy citywide the APD has decided to side with WilCo and Hays (which together cover only a small portion of the city) and to diss Travis Co. Go figure.

After a bit of a rough start, the Wranglers have hit their stride. On April 20, Austin got their first win over the Rio Grande Valley Dorados. This past weekend, the Wranglers showed what they are capable of by demolishing the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, 57-27. The previously vulnerable Wranglers defense was the story of the night with Demetrie McCray grabbing three interceptions. Austin also sacked the Yard Dawgz quarterback, Evan Gray, five times to go along with the three interceptions. Also encouraging was the success of the Wranglers offense. Newly acquired quarterback Andy Hall threw for more than 300 yards and six touchdowns. Their 57-point outburst was the first time all season the Wranglers scored more than 50 points. Leading receiver John Roberson scored four more touchdowns and increased his season total to 13.

Message from Travis County's Elections Division: "[Travis County Clerk Dana] DeBeauvoir asked the media’s help to dispel what has become an Internet 'urban legend' – that there is a constitutional amendment related to seniors' homestead exemptions on the ballot. In fact, this proposition was on the ballot in May 2007, and there is nothing this year, which suggests the email may have been circulating for the past year!" To see sample ballots of what actually is on the May 10 ballot, and other election information, go to www.co.travis.tx.us/elections/. Early voting is already underway and continues through Tuesday.

A friend of mine recently made me a mixtape for my birthday that included a song by Arthur Russell. I wasn’t familiar with Russell, but “That’s Us/Wild Combination” immediately caught my ear and hasn’t since let go. Russell’s voice moans in melodic reverb, sounding almost disjointed from the bed of electronic beats like a remix of a minimalist composition. It’s beautifully unsettling. I have since dove into as much of Russell’s work as I can find and, thanks to recent reissues of his albums, there is a wealth of amazing material available. Russell passed away from AIDS in 1992, but gets a second look via Matt Wolf's recent documentary, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, and the new tribute vinyl EP, Four Songs by Arthur Russell, which features Jens Lekman, Taken by Trees (Victoria Bergsman of the Concretes), Vera November, and Joel Gibb of the Hidden Cameras.

DJ Million turned up the volume 30 minutes after Holy Fuck's instrumental beats drifted off the stage and the opening scripted Asian threat to action subsided, and the crowd went epileptic. It had been a year and a half since Maya Arulpragasam last graced the La Zona Rosa stage – before her soaked Austin City Limits set last year – and in that time, M.I.A. turned the world on its ear with her lyrics steeped in politics, world beats, and revolution. I dare you to find a show steeped in gunshots and air horns as fashionable as M.I.A.'s.

Without question, her sophomore LP, Kala (Interscope), released last year, peeled back the ceiling, tossing out everything from dancehall to Bollywood in one gust. Last night was no different. From the opening burn-up of "Bamboo Banga" to last shoot-out "Paper Planes," M.I.A. owned that crowd. I've never seen so many American Apparel-clad twentysomethings aiming guns into the air with smiles as wide as the Indian Ocean.

The ladies came on stage for "Boyz," the gentlemen followed – or more precisely, mixed – for "Birdflu," and everyone sang along to the Pixies-inflected "20 Dollar." True debut Arular (XL) made a quick showing of "Pull Up the People," but the night was all about M.I.A.'s newest crowing glory. That chick had the crowd wrapped around her little finger, and she was loving every minute of it.

By the time the last encore closed, with M.I.A.'s projections up against the wall, La Zona was a sauna, and everyone was giddy, drenched, and laughing. Proof that shows are still fun, music still effective, and no one has to understand what you're saying on stage to get the message. It was awesome. Click through the gallery to see more from the night.

If you haven't heard, there's been an ethics complaint lodged in the increasingly acrimonious Place 3 Jennifer Kim/Randi Shade duel. On Thursday, Kim's camp lodged a formal ethics complaint against Shade for failing to report "bundled" money from firms. I'm not a lawyer, but on its face, this complaint looks hella weak. It says Shade didn't report the contributions as bundled, but there's seemingly no evidence to suggest they were. It simply looks like several members of the firms in question – Endeavor Real Estate Group, Ambrust & Brown, and Reagan Advertising – gave to Shade's campaign, which, politically connected players with money to burn are often wont to do. If anything, it looks like an attempt to highlight Shade's politically unpopular donors – and if there was any question, this quote from campaign manager Elliott McFadden removes all doubt:

"We have firms involved in unpopular projects, which Jennifer Kim has opposed, like tax giveaways for corporate retail, the Wal-Mart at Northcross, and billboards on scenic roadways, and Randi Shade appears to be hiding her direct association with these firms.”

There's also this unconfirmed report of greasy anti-Shade robocalls, which you can read about here. Just keep telling yourself: only eight more days of this! Full press release from McFadden below the fold. UPDATE: Oops! In Fact Daily reports Shade has copped to a bundling oversight:

Shade campaign comptroller Susan Harry issued a statement Thursday night, saying "It was an honest oversight on the part of our campaign. We determined this afternoon that we had four people who met the criteria of a bundler in the last reporting cycle, and we will be amending that report tomorrow. We will also be reporting two new bundlers in our new report, due tomorrow.”

Like I said, I'm not a lawyer.