Things have been pretty quiet on the Dan Ramos front over the last couple of weeks, and word is that the exiled former Bexar County Democratic Party chairman is experiencing a thinning of his rebel ranks.

The name sounds innocuous enough — "alternative staffing strategies for the Adult Detention Center" — but the agenda item for tomorrow's meeting of the Commissioners Court explains the Sheriff's recent media jabs at County leaders, whom he claims are forcing him to board inmates out of Bexar and using the empty beds as an excuse to shrink his workforce.

It's no secret that San Antonio political observers are plenty fascinated by the District 35 congressional contest between Joaquin Castro and Lloyd Doggett, but it appears to be having the same effect on the folks over at CNN. Word is that the cable news channel will soon begin shooting a documentary on the Castro-Doggett Democratic primary race.

As he gears up to run for state Rep. Joaquín Castro's Texas House seat, former Councilman Justin Rodriguez will test the Austin scene of power brokers and lobbyists a second time in late August. The last time didn't go so well, featuring as it did a surly Steve Mostyn, a wealthy Houston trial lawyer. This time, the 36-year-old Democrat will have a meet-and-greet at the Austin Club a few blocks from the Capitol on August 24; seven state reps are hosting, including Trey Martinez Fischer, Castro, Carol Alvarado of Houston, and Rafael Anchia of Dallas.