Politics
Many Obama voters ignored other Texas primary races
By WAYNE SLATER and GROMER JEFFERS JR., The Dallas Morning News, 9 March 2008
DALLAS – Backers of both Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton turned out with passionate support for their candidate in last week's Texas primary. But once they got in the voting booth, they did something different.
3 precincts' caucus votes won't count
By AMAN BATHEJA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 March 2008
FORT WORTH – Hundreds of people were crammed into the tiny cafeteria at Atherton Elementary School in Arlington on Tuesday night.
Voting isn't a private affair
By ALAN BERNSTEIN, Houston Chronicle, 8 March 2008
HOUSTON – Anthony Peña: You've got mail. And phone calls. And door knocks.
GOP says Democrats won't win back Texas
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 9 March 2008
AUSTIN – It's par for the course in El Paso – Democrats outnumbering Republicans at the polls– but in this reddest of states, the primary election turnout Tuesday has breathed new hope into the languishing Democratic Party.
At state convention, Democrats to consider future of caucuses
By KAREN BROOKS, Dallas Morning News, 8 March 2008
AUSTIN – The Texas Democratic precinct conventions – under fire across the nation for being slow, burdensome to voters and rife with potential for abuse – will be intensely scrutinized during the state convention in June, party officials said Friday.
Dems seek a simpler dance for the party
By LISA SANDBERG, Houston Chronicle, 7 March 2008
AUSTIN – Responding to pressure, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party on Friday called for simplifying the state party's confusing primary-caucus system after long lines and chaos plagued many local caucuses on election night.
Exploring the Texas voting system
By Jon Schroeder, Killeen Daily Herald, 9 March 2008
KILLEEN – Texas' primary voting system is one of the most complex in the nation, and it's one the average voter likely doesn't fully understand.
Wichitans tend to fund Republicans
By Trish Choate, Wichita Falls Times Record News, 9 March 2008
WASHINGTON – The blue comeback in Wichita Falls hasn’t brought much green stuff for Democratic presidential candidates, judging by Federal Election Commission reports.
Congressmen endorse Olson in GOP's District 22 runoff
By ALAN BERNSTEIN, Houston Chronicle, 7 March 2008
HOUSTON – Twelve Republican congressmen from Texas have endorsed former Senate staffer Pete Olson in the primary runoff for Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson's district, shunning a former colleague in the process.
Controversial Texas House speaker gains, loses backers in primary
By KAREN BROOKS, The Dallas Morning News, 9 March 2008
AUSTIN – Tuesday's primaries produced some big changes in the House, but they still didn't do much for House Speaker Tom Craddick's bid to keep his leadership position next year.
Resources, cash to mount in race for House seat
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 10 March 2008
AUSTIN – The contentious Republican race in El Paso is over, and now both parties turn their attention to winning the GOP's only legislative seat from the Texas-Mexico border.
Money didn't assure wins
By Enrique Rangel, Amarillo Globe-News, 10 March 2008
AMARILLO – Big money could not defeat state Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, in last week's primary, but it was a key factor in other legislative races critical to the political survival of House Speaker Tom Craddick.
Obama outspent Clinton 2 to 1 in broadcast TV ads in Texas
Austin American-Statesman, 7 March 2008
AUSTIN – About $15 million was poured into TV advertising aired over broadcast stations in the three weeks leading up to Tuesday's Texas Democratic primary between Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG, a Virginia-based company that tracks TV spots.
Democrats will select 182 to represent El Paso
By Ramon Bracamontes, El Paso Times, 10 March 2008
EL PASO – Now that the presidential primary is complete, the political focus in Texas turns to the Democratic Party county conventions where the fight over which presidential candidate gets Texas' final 67 delegates continues.
Given key ingredients, Texans vote Democratic
Houston Chronicle, 8 March 2008
AUSTIN – The state's primary answered a decade-old question: Will Texans ever show up in force again to vote for Democrats on a statewide ballot?
Northern Dallas suburbs overwhelmed by Democratic turnout
By THEODORE KIM, The Dallas Morning News, 8 March 2008
PLANO – Dallas' northern suburbs have long been Republican fortresses. But Tuesday, for the first time in nearly a quarter-century, Democrats showed muscle.
Ebb and flow of election night
Austin American-Statesman, 7 March 2008
AUSTIN – In a nation of collectors, is it any surprise that Austin has more than its share of people who gather political miscellanea?
Learn about candidates to cast informed votes
San Antonio Express-News, 9 March 2008
SAN ANTONIO – The question for 21,664 residents of Bexar County who voted in the Democratic primary is, "Why?" Why would you cast your vote for Gene Kelly in the race for a U.S. Senate candidate?
During the Texas caucuses, democracy got left out in the cold
By John Young, WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD, 7 March 2008
WACO – Voting invariably makes me proud. It's not just the act. It's also the accommodation.
Take note, Dawnna Dukes: Voters deserve better
Austin American-Statesman, 8 March 2008
AUSTIN – Congratulations to state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, on an impressive win last week against her Democratic challenger, Brian Thompson.
Government
Many Texas school districts reject merit pay for teachers
By TERRENCE STUTZ, The Dallas Morning News, 10 March 2008
AUSTIN – More than 100 school districts have changed their minds and dropped out of Texas' new merit pay plan for teachers – leaving just a third of the districts in the state to help launch the $148 million program next year.
Judge: Government must negotiate price before taking land for border fence
Dallas Morning News, 8 March 2008
BROWNSVILLE – The government must first try to negotiate a price with a South Texas landowner before seizing her property for the border fence, a federal judge has ruled.
Landowners a challenge for border fence deadline
By JAMES PINKERTON, Houston Chronicle, 7 March 2008
HOUSTON – Government auditors warned Congress this week that the Department of Homeland Security will be "challenged" to complete 670 miles of border fencing by a mandated December deadline, since scores of Texas landowners still refuse to allow surveyors on their property.
Protesters to march against Texas-Mexico border fence
By DIANNE SOLÍS, The Dallas Morning News, 8 March 2008
DALLAS – Protesters against the Texas-Mexico border fence will launch a nine-day march at the Rio Grande today, starting at Roma, Texas, and ending in Brownsville.
Judge blocks Round Rock schools' vote on graduation prayers
Dallas Morning News, 8 March 2008
AUSTIN – A federal judge has prohibited the Round Rock school district from allowing students to vote on whether to have prayers at graduation.
Bible committee faces tight deadline
By ELAINE MARSILIO, Odessa American, 7 March 2008
ODESSA – Following a settlement in a federal lawsuit over ECISD's Bible class curriculum, many defendants and plaintiffs said a committee formed to develop a new Bible curriculum has a huge task in front of it.
Judge to consider if deleted e-mails are public record
By TERRI LANGFORD, Houston Chronicle, 7 March 2008
HOUSTON – A judge wants a closer look at why the Harris County Sheriff's Office believes its mass deletion of 750,000 e-mails from employees' computer inboxes makes the correspondence exempt from the Texas Public Information Act.
Law expands Texas inmates' access to phones
By DIANE JENNINGS, The Dallas Morning News, 10 March 2008
DALLAS – When Joan DeLuca needs to talk to her brother-in-law, a Texas prison inmate, she has to drive three hours each way and spend $40 for gas to visit for two hours each month. Every three months he can talk on the phone for five minutes.
¿Como Se Dice Corruption?
Texas Observer, 7 March 2008
If a recent report by federal inspectors is any indication, the Bush administration’s eagerness to privatize prisons is endangering everyone from inmates to the public.
Treating Texas Teachers Well Should Be Priority
Tyler Morning Telegraph, 9 March 2008
TYLER – It's a fundamental lesson lawmakers must learn: Texas needs to keep its promises to its retired teachers.
New Ways to Measure Schools
Dallas Morning News, 10 March 2008
DALLAS – The mood was intense in North Texas classrooms last week: students' heads down, pencils in hand, tests on desks and teachers looking on – anxiously, in many cases.
Ways to improve Texas' school accountability system
BILL RATLIFF, Dallas Morning News, 10 March 2008
DALLAS – But over time, the system has become increasingly complex and cumbersome.
Abuse, neglect must end at the 13 state schools
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 9 March 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – Texas operates 13 schools across the state, including one in Corpus Christi, for the severely mentally retarded.
Citations vs. jail time
Dallas Morning News, 10 March 2008
DALLAS – A police officer typically makes dozens of significant decisions each day. Many save lives. Others can take them away.
Funding water projects
Dallas Morning News, 10 March 2008
DALLAS – Texans have a right to be proud.
News
Austin unlikely to meet new air standards
By Asher Price, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 8 March 2008
AUSTIN – The federal Environmental Protection Agency is poised to change its clean air standards Wednesday, which could lead to beefed-up vehicle tailpipe testing, greater permitting hurdles for businesses and higher gas costs in Central Texas.
Study finds pharmaceutical drugs in tap water
Dallas Morning News, 10 March 2008
AUSTIN – A vast array of pharmaceuticals – including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones – have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
UT gets $17 million grant from nuclear weapons agency
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 8 March 2008
AUSTIN – The University of Texas and four other universities will receive $17 million each during a five-year period to conduct research in the emerging field of predictive science for the federal agency that oversees nuclear weapons.
Texas ducking grim headlines about economy
Austin American-Statesman, 9 March 2008
AUSTIN – These were the headlines Friday afternoon on MarketWatch, a Dow Jones-owned Web site that covers business and the economy:
Bush library deserves all documents
By Joe Lieberman, Dallas Morning News, 8 March 2008
President Franklin Roosevelt announced in 1938 that he would build a library on his Hyde Park estate to house the papers and collections of a public life that stretched back to his election to the New York Senate in 1910.
People
Pioneering Texas woman to be honored in San Antonio
Austin American-Statesman, 8 March 2008
SAN ANTONIO – Frances "Sissy" Farenthold spent years as a "first" or as one of just a handful of women: in law school, in the state House of Representatives, as the head of a women's college, as a candidate for governor and as a serious contender for the vice presidential nomination.
Perry fills lottery board vacancy
Houston Chronicle, 7 March 2008
AUSTIN – San Antonio business leader Fernando Reyes Jr. was appointed to the Texas Lottery Commission on Friday.
Ex-TSU officials may be forced to testify against Slade
By BRIAN ROGERS, Houston Chronicle, 7 March 2008
HOUSTON – Seeking testimony about "insider conversations," prosecutors are expected to ask a judge Monday to force two codefendants of Priscilla Slade's to take the stand against the ousted TSU president at her retrial later this month.
Oversight, indeed: Perry rewards aide
Austin American-Statesman, 7 March 2008
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry has arranged to have one of his budget aides, Alfonso Royal, named chief of staff of the Texas Youth Commission.
