Early voting for the Nov. 6 election begins today and runs through Nov. 2. On the Travis County ballot are 16 proposed amendments to the state constitution (see the Oct. 19 issue for endorsements) and, depending on your precinct, special elections in Cedar Park, Jonestown, Lakeway, Manor, Sunset Valley, bond elections in the Dripping Springs, Leander, and Pflugerville school districts, certain county Emergency Services districts, the East Travis Gateway Library District, and the Lakeside, Lakeway, and Lazy Nine municipal utility districts.

For voting locations, hours, sample ballots and other info, go to the Travis County Elections Web site.

The proposed North Burnet/Gateway Area Master Plan may by the biggest urban development project in Austin in decades: an infrastructure and rezoning exercise intended to create a new, second downtown in North Central Austin. Yesterday the council took steps toward adopting it, with a first vote on three items: adding it to the Austin Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan, rezoning the area, and making the appropriate use and development regulation changes. It would have gone straight through to third reading, but there's still some tweaking on the plans, so it just got a 6-0 first approval.

The big question mark about the plan has been UT Austin. In addition to the J.J. Pickle Research Campus in the middle of the map, it also owns a slab of land west of Mopac. Known as PRC West Tract, it's basically unused parkland with a couple of structures. The city had been looking at it for residential mixed use, but UT envisions it as commercial mixed use. The city staff were clear they were OK with that, as long as the rewritten plan still restricted commercial services and destination retail (with the Gateway and Domain shopping centers right next door, the council may be worried about keeping the mix balanced.)

Amending that new balance will be first order of business, plus some tweaking on off-street parking and infrastructure improvement costs. (Hey, someone has to pay for the drains.) Then the masterplan will start its projected 35-year push to housing 80,000 new residents within city limits.

"I've been testifying before this committee, so long it's like family time," Texas Youth Commission Ombudsman Will Herrell told the House Corrections Committee on Wednesday. They were meeting to discuss the sweeping reforms of the juvenile jails set in place under Senate Bill 103 last session, and Herrell's message was clear. The reforms were working, but that didn't mean they worked perfectly, and it definitely didn't mean the system was fixed.

Herrell stressed to the committee that his biggest task was site visits. However, he was somewhat hamstrung by the fact that, six months after he was appointed as ombudsman, he still hadn't hired his staff, and didn't even know where they would be based yet. He stressed the value of having people on the ground, noting that the recent closure of Coke County Juvenile Justice Center came about because of facts discovered during his visit, not from complaints. In fact, he was actually supposed to be visiting Coke County back in May when he met with the committee. He singled out facility's operators GEO Group for criticism, saying "They didn't cut corners, they didn't bother building the corners to cut."

He warned the committee there were serious problems at Victory Field Correctional Academy, but there were problems at every facility.

What is it with Texans and Rudy Giuliani?

First comptroller Susan Combs became his state campaign chair: now Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Michael Williams joins as vice-chair. But the big announcement came yesterday, when Gov. Rick Perry decided that “pro-choice East Coast politico” isn’t a term of abuse and formally endorsed the former mayor of New York in his run for president. Explained Perry, "I’m looking for a proven leader, who has been successful in disrupting, dismantling criminal enterprise, individuals that threaten our families and our way of life."

Backing Rudy for the issues that might get out the Texas party faithful (low taxes, small government, border security), Perry steered clear of matters that may induce ire (abortion). Of course, there’s a theory that Giuliani has always had an eye on Texas support and Texas cash. Back in 2005, Giuliani joined Houston-based law firm Bracewell & Patterson LLP, which suddenly transformed into Bracewell & Giuliani LLP. His Texas connections have provided him with $4.7 million in campaign donations so far this year, almost double his nearest in-state rival John Edwards on $2.4 million.

But it seems that Perry may not have been following the talking points. "Our nation’s leader must be able to stare down the criminal element,” he said in his endorsement speech, “whether they’re trafficking in drugs or whether they’re planting roadside bombs." Now, correct Chronic if he is wrong, but isn’t one of the key points of the war on terror that terrorists (traditionally classified as criminals and dealt with through the criminal justice system) are not criminals, but the nebulous and still ill-defined 'enemy combatants'?

While other animal shelters in the area run for cover in thunderstorms of controversy, the nonprofit Humane Society of Williamson County in Leander is celebrating sunny days, poetically speaking. The society recently won a top prize in the second annual Community TechKnowledge annual 5-7-5 Haiku competition with the apt and rapturous entry, “raining cats and dogs/ our umbrella breaks their fall/ shelter from the storm.” The puppy poetry purse was pretty precious – $2,000, which will help fund the HSWC adoption program.

The umbrella metaphor has another layer of meaning, for the HSWC recently formed a countywide shelter coalition: “We are trying to bring public and private shelters in Williamson County under a more formalized umbrella organization,” says board member Julia Whitley. The new coalition, Pet Alliance of Central Texas, will hold a pet expo and adoption event Saturday, Oct. 20, 10am-2pm at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown, which, among other things, will include a “Blessing of the Pets” and demonstrations by bird dogs, agility dogs, and fly-ball dogs. For more info, check out their website at www.hswc.net or download the flier here.

There was probably a collective gulp in the State Department this morning after the Turkish parliament gave its government permission to launch military operations against Kurdish rebels in Iraq.

The Turkish logic is that this is not an invasion: they're going after Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK, roughly translated as Kurdistan Workers Party) terrorist camps in Northern Iraq. But the idea of Turkey throwing troops into Iraq, especially the one region that has been perceived as showing even passing stability, is a disaster that could destabilize the whole region, and have serious consequences for Europe.

After last week's ugly and lengthy show-down over the relocation of the Town Lake Animal Shelter, it seems the council isn't up for another nasty fight over an unpopular issue. The roadside panhandling ordinance has been pulled from this morning's agenda and rescheduled for Nov. 29. According to the council staff, council member Jennifer Kim withdrew it for further consultation.

Agenda highlights for the Thursday, October 18 council meeting:

Items 9 and 19: Finally getting $2,655,000 to the Library Department Capital Budget for the Twin Oaks Branch Library Replacement project and $3,416,972 for the construction contract with Williams and Thomas L.P.

Items 13-14: More federal funds and overtime payments for the Austin/Travis County Human Trafficking Task Force.

Item 22: Start the negotiations with Jackson and Ryan Architects of Houston for the re-located Town Lake Animal Center. Watch for angry placard-waving.

Item 30: New 36-month contract for Austin Midnight Basketball worth $216,600, with three 12-month extension options in an estimated amount of $72,200 per extension.

Items 50 and 83: Public hearing and private legal consultation over future water supplies from the Lower Colorado River Authority, delayed from last week.

Items 51-52: Private consultations with the city attorney about the search for a new city manager.

Items 61-63: Adopting the North Burnet/Gateway 2035 Master Plan by adding it to the Austin Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan, begin re-zoning for the proposed "Downtown North"and introduce the required use and site development regulations.

Items 85-89: Construction time again. Public hearings on adopting the 2006 Uniform Solar Energy Code, the International Energy Conservation Code and the 2006 International Residential Codes, plus amendments to the city electrical and plumbing codes.

Item 90: The now-infamous roadside panhandling amendment.

But the real fun could come with the citizens communications, including "Austin City Limits & the Criminal Activity Associated with it" (yeah, $2 for a small bottle of water and The Killers sucking was pretty criminal) and "Communist Government Spying on U.T. Campus."

As of midnight last night, KOKE 1600 AM – the Air America affiliate for Austin – was sold by Border Media Partners to Encino Broadcasting, thus ending the tenuous tenure of progressive talk radio in Texas' most liberal city. Jose J. Garcia, the managing partner (and the previous owner of KOKE before BMP purchased it) said the new format will be Mexican Norteño music.

BMP Austin market vice president Jerry Del Core said his company sold KOKE and some of its other Austin properties because they were lower-powered FM signals, and wanted to focus on its stations with stronger signals. He said BMP has no further plans to carry Air America in Austin.