Politics
Local caucus numbers are in: 123 for Obama, 97 for Clinton
By TYESHA BOUDREAUX, Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, 13 March 2008
NACOGDOCHES – Almost 1,200 people attended the local Democratic caucuses, which resulted in Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton receiving 97 delegates and Sen. Barack Obama receiving 123 delegates, according to Tim Garrigan, Nacogdoches County Democratic Party chairman.
Macias asks for recount
By Mitzie Stelte, New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, 14 March 2008
NEW BRAUNFELS – State Rep. Nathan Macias, R-Bulverde, sent a petition to the Texas Republican Party Thursday to request a recount in the District 73 race.
Lewis-West race heats up
BY DAVID J. LEE, Odessa American, 13 March 2008
ODESSA – There will be no debate between incumbent Buddy West and challenger Tryon Lewis in the runoff for District 81 state representative.
Lykos-Siegler runoff heating up
By ALAN BERNSTEIN, Houston Chronicle, 14 March 2008
HOUSTON – Harris County district attorney candidate Pat Lykos on Thursday accused opponent Kelly Siegler of taking several ethical missteps, prompting Siegler to paint Lykos as blind to courthouse reality because she has never been a prosecutor.
Texas boots Democratic caucuses
Amarillo Globe-News, 14 March 2008
AMARILLO – Can there be any better reason to scrap the Texas caucus system for selecting presidential nominating delegates than what we've seen in recent days?
A school voucher sneak attack
Waco Tribune-Herald, 14 March 2008
WACO – Supporters of public schools really need to keep an eye on the Texas Legislature and surreptitious efforts to undermine school funding by shifting dollars to private and church-run schools through school vouchers.
Government
Texas should aid small businesses, lawmaker says
By JANET ELLIOTT, Houston Chronicle, 13 March 2008
AUSTIN – Texas should diversify its economic development efforts, which center on offering incentives to large corporations, to fund microlending for small business development, a key lawmaker said Thursday.
Los Ebanos residents horrified by border wall map
By Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian, 13 March 2008
LOS EBANOS – Residents saw a map of where the border fence would go in Los Ebanos at a town hall meeting and barbecue hosted by attorneys offering pro bono legal advice on Wednesday evening.
Los Ebanos family says border wall would wreck their community's way of life
By Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian, 13 March 2008
LOS EBANOS – Jorge Luis Garcia does not believe the federal government will ever build a border wall on land his wife’s family has owned for generations and so he sticks to he and his wife's dream.
Group: CHIP enrollment up in Valley
By MELISSA McEVER, Valley Morning Star, 14 March 2008
EDINBURG – After years of diminishing enrollment, the Children's Health Insurance Program finally is seeing gains in the number of Rio Grande Valley children signing up, the Children's Defense Fund confirmed Thursday.
CHIP changes spur enrollment increase
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 14 March 2008
AUSTIN – Enrique Chavez Sr.'s children are among the 17,300 in El Paso who now have low-cost state health insurance and are part of an increase of more than 3,000 children from the same time last year, according to state health agency statistics released this week.
Moving target
Houston Chronicle, 13 March 2008
HOUSTON – If Houston's air is to be cleaned and made safe to breathe, industry and government must work together. In some instances industry and government are working together, but toward the opposite end.
News
Southwest Airlines finds cracks in 4 grounded planes
By Trebor Banstetter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 March 2008
FORT WORTH – Southwest Airlines discovered fuselage cracks on four of the airplanes that it grounded for inspections Wednesday, the airline said today.
Will problems end passengers' love affair with Southwest Airlines?
By ANDREW D. SMITH, Dallas Morning News, 13 March 2008
DALLAS – No passengers died. No planes crash landed. No pilots even reported malfunctions.
Southwest Airlines says schedule back to normal
By TERRY MAXON and DAVE MICHAELS, Dallas Morning News, 13 March 2008
DALLAS – Southwest Airlines Co. resumed normal operations Thursday, a day after the carrier had to cancel 126 flights while it hurriedly performed overlooked inspections on several dozen jets.
Panel rejects merit pay for Arlington teachers
By Shirley Jinkins, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 March 2008
ARLINGTON – An advisory committee that has been working on a plan to distribute state-funded teacher merit pay surprised the school board tonight by telling trustees not to take the money.
People
Texas lawmaker uncovers GOP committee fraud
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 March 2008
WASHINGTON – Republican Rep. Mike Conaway, relying on his experience as a certified professional accountant, followed his usual routine of asking for audit reports when he started looking at the finances of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Conaway blows whistle on fraud at GOP panel
By Trish Choate, Abilene Reporter-News, 14 March 2008
WASHINGTON – In January, U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway was 30 minutes from what he thought would be a routine meeting he had requested for two months with the firm that a trusted consultant claimed had audited the National Republican Congressional Committee's finances.
Conaway uncovers fake NRCC audit
By Bob Campbell, Midland Reporter-Telegram, 13 March 2008
MIDLAND – U. S. Rep. Mike Conaway of Midland has found himself in the eye of a figurative hurricane in Washington since finding financial discrepancies at the National Republican Congressional Committee, starting a forensic audit and calling in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Congressman Neugebauer named top Texas conservative
By Stewart Doreen, Midland Reporter-Telegram, 13 March 2008
WASHINGTON – According to the 2007 vote ratings by the National Journal, a nonpartisan publisher of political, policy and government information, Congressman Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, has received the high distinction of being the most conservative Texan in the U.S. House of Representatives.
