If you live in Precinct 206, this message from the Travis County Clerk is for you:

Please note the NEW Election Day polling place for Precinct 206.

Precinct 206 will be at Pfluger Hall - 203-B E. Pecan St. (instead of the Education Annex - 201-B E. Pecan St.).

There has been much media and legal speculation about how the State Department decided that they had the authority to grant private security consultants Blackwater USA functional immunity from prosecution over the deaths of 17 Iraqis on Sept. 17. It seems to have raised a fog of confusion over whether the U.S. government has the right to sue a private security firm responsible for potentially criminal activity in Iraq.

Which is interesting, another private security firm is being sued in the U.S. courts for potentially criminal activity in Iraq. The difference? The person who died was American. In October 2005, Army Specialist Christopher Monroe was hit and killed in Iraq by a vehicle driven by employees of Erinys International, a British-run and -staffed security firm that is currently estimated to have 1,000 personnel in-country. On the night of the accident, their vehicles were reportedly traveling at 80 mph down a darkened road with only parking lights. Monroe's family are now suing Erinys through the Houston courts. In a bitter twist, in January 2006, four month's after Monroe's death, Erinys opened a new office in Houston, specializing in "challenging oil and gas environments."

But the case could create a legal and political dilemma. Blackwater's defense could depend on saying the American courts have no jurisdiction, but that would cripple the prosecution over the death of an American serviceman. A decision either way could cause howls of outrage, either from security firms who will say they are being hamstrung by civilian law, or private citizens fearing an unfettered mercenary army, protected by legal precedent.

The first step toward eliminating the much-reviled 100-to-1 crack-to-powder-cocaine sentencing scheme will take effect tomorrow, Nov. 1, when federal sentencing guidelines for crack will decrease by an average of 16 months for most defendants.

The new rules, adopted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission earlier this year, downgrade possible punishments for crack by two so-called “guideline levels” and are expected to effect 80% of all federal crack defendants, said Mary Price, general counsel and vice president of the nonprofit group Families Against Mandatory Minimums, which has been at the forefront of the fight against disparate sentencing for crack-cocaine defendants. Notably, however, the new guidelines do not effect mandatory-minimums – rather, they effect all cases that fall above and below the mandatory sentence triggers, and they are not retroactive – although the commission is preparing to tackle the question of whether they should be. If they were to be applied retroactively, Price says that approximately 19,500 current federal inmates would be eligible to have their sentences reduced – including some 1,500 inmates that would be eligible for immediate release.

Something we should have posted hours ago, but better late than never: Infamous radio curmudgeon Sammy Allred has been canned from his position at KVET, which he has held for 35 years. The Sammy & Bob Show is no more. I guess for now it's just the "Bob Cole Show." We'll bring you details as we learn them.

This image from the John Edwards campaign is a sure to give you a sleepless Halloween night.

After last year's bitter campaign and divisive election, the SOS Alliance and ACLU-backed "open government online" city charter amendment was defeated at the polls, having been decried as too expensive and restrictive. City leaders promised to revisit the issue and provide greater transparency – and that was all we heard. Until now.

Tomorrow, City Council adopts a city website redesign with "the goal of significantly increasing the number of online services available to the public." It remains to be seen what those "online services" constitute. Updated access to lobbyist information, more meeting transcripts, and expedited development info, for instance, would be good; rinky-dink shit like paying parking tickets online, however, doesn't fit the bill for accountability and transparency. This press release makes clear the city's looking for your input:

Mayor Pro Tem Betty Dunkerley, along with Council Members Lee Leffingwell and Mike Martinez, will announce a major overhaul of the City of Austin’s Web site at a news conference 9:30am, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007, at Austin City Hall.

As part of the redesign effort, council members will detail plans for public involvement throughout the process and unveil a Web usage survey designed to gather ideas and suggestions. Council members will utilize computers at the event to be among the first to take the survey.

So there you have it. Continue the push for accountability, folks.

On another note, the presser notes Austin City Connection "was launched in early 1995 as one of the few municipal government sites in the nation." Courtesy of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, here's the city website from 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Whoa …

Today could see the last occurrence of an Austin tradition: Escuelita del Alma's annual Downtown Trick-or-Treat. The staff and students of the Congress Avenue child care center will be putting on their scary faces and visiting local businesses, as well as City Hall, from 3.30-5pm. However, since Escuelita is one of the businesses that will have to move out of their current home to make way for White Lodging Services planned Marriott hotel, the future of the walk may be in peril.

The center does have a new home picked out on E. Second, but still has to secure the funds. So it seems the Save Escuelita campaign may be hoping for something more than some gummy worms and a lollipop in their Halloween sack.

Lee Leffingwell's aide Andy Mormon, on an extended leave of absence in Ghana, checks in with this bloodcurling picture from the dark continent. As Andy writes, it "brings a whole new meaning to international development!"

Like our president says, we once thought our oceans could protect us, but sadly, no more. Suttle is everywhere.

Texas teens aren't necessarily bad drivers - if they can take the cell phone out of their hands.

The Texas Transportation Institute, as part of their Teens in the Driver Seat campaign, surveyed 4,400 teens at 18 Texas high schools to find out if they were aware of dangerous driving habits, and how often they were likely to indulge in them. 80% had either a driver's permit or license, and, in good news, most students knew about the big traditional risks and avoided them. Only 2% of students surveyed didn't know that any of the top bad habits – drinking/drugs, cell phone/texting, speeding, too many teen passengers, using a seatbelt and driving at night – might get them killed or increase the risk of a serious accident.

However, 67% have talked on the phone while driving, while 51% have either read or written a text while driving. However, there's a weird twist there: it seems that urban kids are a little bit smarter about the risks, because students polled from rural areas were twice as likely to be on the phone while barreling along the road.

But a bigger issue may be a lack of understanding of the law. Only 42% had taken a formal driving education class, and only 50% knew about the graduated licensing law, which sets different standards the longer a driver has held their license. This could explain why only one polled teen in five knew they had to have an accompanying adult if they had other teenagers in their car.

Visit the TTI website for the full results.