The FBI has begun an inquiry into the police shooting death of 88-year-old Kathryn Johnston, who was killed in her Atlanta-area home during a questionable drug raid last week. Reportedly, Atlanta narco squad cops busted into Johnston’s small home armed with a so-called no-knock warrant, allowing them to forgo announcing their presence before busting down the door. By the time they busted in, Johnston was there, armed with a revolver, which she fired, striking three officers. Predictably, that led police to unload on Johnston, who died from a bullet wound to the chest. (The wounded officers are expected to recover, reports The New York Times.)

The Associated Press reports that the Dec. 12 date set for the Congressional District 23 runoff is being challenged by Latino groups because it coincides with the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a major religious holiday for Latinos. According to the story, Texas is simultaneously asking the U.S. Justice Department to approve the date because pushing it back further is impractical, and also claiming the state doesn't need federal approval because the court decision that created Dist. 23 this summer ordered that the runoff be held at the earliest date possible, which is Dec. 12. The League of United Latin American Citizens fears that holding the election on that date will suppress turnout in this San Antonio-to-El Paso district that is heavily Hispanic and deeply affect a race expected to be close: Republican Henry Bonilla led the first round of voting in the special election at 48.6%, while five Democrats combined for 48.7%, led by former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez, who previously represented Dist. 28. Given that the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Dist. 23 redrawn because the previous, Tom DeLay-engineered boundaries violated Hispanics' voting rights, it would be surpassing idiotic if this race were influenced by reduced Latino turnout. EDIT: The AP now reports that a federal judge has ruled that counties in the district may extend early voting through Saturday, Dec. 9, and the Rodriguez campaign has dropped its opposition to the Dec. 12 date.

While hard to swallow, there's some doubt as to the authenticity of Brewster "Emcee" McCracken's MySpace page. For one, we're sure Brewster has way more friends than just Tom. But dig this – it looks far more likely Mike Martinez is the real deal. He's even gone far enough to fill out one of MySpace's omnipresent surveys. Too bad his YouTube HTML skills are a little lacking.

Hmmm. Last login 11/29. At least he's not getting his MySpace Jumpoff on from the dais.

With Council seemingly going into hibernation early, the only fireworks prior to today's Redeemer zoning debate at 4pm (Hi Rich!) was an unexpected, ad hoc debate on the proposed "urban" Wal-Mart at Northcross Mall. Bloodletting, really. Members of Responsible Growth for Northcross, speaking during citizens communication, opened the entire loss-leading, family-sized can of worms, with their ire shared by most on the council.

Following up on the post below about Texas Dems' need to field more candidates statewide and in tough races, comes news from Paul Burka that one long-shot may not be that long at all. The Mustached One cites Survey USA numbers that describe Sen. John Cornyn as 89th in popularity of 100 senators, with an approval rating of 45 percent and a disapproval rating of 42 percent – good prospects for a possible pickup in 2008 if the D's are so inclined.

Launched but a few days ago, What's the Matter with Texas? has already accumulated a deafening buzz in the state blogosphere. What is the matter with Texas? The state Democratic Party, of course. Meant as part postmortem on the party's flagging statewide fortunes, and part bitch session, the blog has already accumulated some big readers. Like Chris Bell.

Responding to a post titled ”The Problem with Chris Bell” blaming Bell's lack of vision and dearth of small donors for his loss, Bell kicked some knowledge of his own – mainly that WTMWT blogger Smarty Pants' small donor numbers were wrong, and the vague inspirational drivel cited was from the early days of the campaign. (Bell's letter, published last night, has since been taken down at his request.)

No, considering what he had to work with (nada), Bell ran one hell of a campaign. As the blog makes abundantly clear elsewhere, “we fielded a weak, inexperienced, and under-funded slate of state-wide candidates, and the party's largest donors backed a Republican running a misguided independent campaign for governor. We did very little to build the base, and those same mistakes threaten to happen again in 2008.”

The TPM Muckraker is reporting the Bush twins' vacation adventures in Argentina have caused such a commotion, the U.S. embassy there has advised them to leave the country.

No, seriously.

UPDATE: This may explain things.

Monday, former Austin Community Television Executive Director John Villarreal was sentenced to 7 years in jail for embezzling $354,000 from the public access station, bringing a nearly two-year cycle of accusation and investigation to an abrupt end.

Villarreal was suspended for nonperformance of duties December 21, 2004. Yet unbeknownst to the ACTV board, Villarreal had drafted a letter of resignation the day before, a cryptic, two-line note saying he was unable to perform his duties. His fast departure fueled speculation around the station that he pocketed operating funds from ACTV's bank account. Following investigation by the City Auditor's office and the District Attorney in March 2006, Villarreal was indicted for aggregated theft over $200,000, a felony. (With Villarreal's legacy firmly tarnished, ACTV was reborn under new management as Public Access Community Television, or PACT, in September of 2005.)

Gov. Rick Perry has set Dec. 19 for a special election to determine a replacement for Rep. Glenda Dawson, R-Pearland, who died in September. Dawson's name remained on the November ballot and her fightin' spirit went on to win the election in House District 29, thanks in part to a slick mailer that her campaign sent out just before E-Day. The mailer, which featured a photo of a smiling Dawson with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, urged voters to turn out for Dawson but neglected to mention that she was dead.