Politics
Democratic Party officials expect big turnout for delegate conventions
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER, Dallas Morning News, 15 March 2008
DALLAS – The presidential candidates are long gone from Texas, but the fight over how many delegates Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will take from here has only just begun.
Tarrant County Democrats say delegate selection will be fair and open
By AMAN BATHEJA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 March 2008
FORT WORTH – County Democratic Party leaders promised a fair and open process as they prepared Thursday night for Senate district conventions that will help determine how many delegates presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will receive from Tarrant County.
Texas delegate battle is still up in the air
By R.G. RATCLIFFE and CLAY ROBISON, Houston Chronicle, 16 March 2008
AUSTIN – They called the Democratic primaries and caucuses the "Texas two-step," but it is more like a long waltz as Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton continue the fight for the state's presidential nominating delegates.
Hinojosa: Clinton right to call for verification of caucus signatures
By Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian, 15 March 2008
McALLEN – A state senator says he backs a call from the Hillary Clinton campaign to get signatures from the March 4 caucuses verified before party conventions are held around the state later this month.
Clinton campaign wants Texas to postpone party conventions
Dallas Morning News, 16 March 2008
DALLAS – As final results from the Texas Democratic caucus remain unknown, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign wants signatures from the March 4 contest verified before party conventions are held around the state later this month.
Texas Democrats excited by turnout in suburbs
By Andrea Lorenz, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 17 March 2008
AUSTIN – Texas Democrats voted in record numbers in the March 4 primary — even in areas where being a Democrat isn't something you'd traditionally admit.
Craddick in tight battle for Texas House speaker's job
By Laylan Copelin, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 16 March 2008
AUSTIN – Neither Speaker Tom Craddick nor any opponent is likely to emerge the night of the Nov. 4 election as the presumptive speaker-elect for the 2009 legislative session, which will begin two months later.
Speaker math: The races to watch
By Laylan Copelin, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 16 March 2008
AUSTIN – The 2008 election will determine the strength of Speaker Tom Craddick's hand coming into the 2009 legislative session. These are the most prominent races that both sides are targeting early.
Speaker math: one scenario
By Laylan Copelin, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 16 March 2008
AUSTIN – Speaker math is the arcane art of deciphering the deep-seated motivations of 150 politicians and trying to determine if one candidate has the 76 votes to lead the Texas House of Representatives.
Buddy's health
BY DAVID J. LEE, Odessa American, 14 March 2008
ODESSA – When Buddy West stood on the State House floor in the last legislative session nearly a year ago, he didn't know if he'd be back.
Based on McCain age jokes, it won't be VP Hutchison
By TODD J. GILLMAN, Dallas Morning News, 15 March 2008
WASHINGTON – She's done just about everything to tamp down veep chatter.
Record voter turnout likely will be followed by a record falloff
By Clay Robison, San Antonio Express-News, 16 March 2008
AUSTIN – This is a quick civics quiz. How many of you know who Mark Thompson is? Or Dale Henry?
All quiet on the Margo-Moody front
By Joe Muench, El Paso Times, 16 March 2008
EL PASO – There's a reason why Republican Dee Margo and Democrat Joe Moody haven't started campaigning against each other for District 78 state rep. And it's not because election day is still eight months away.
Don’t let Craddick hide behind his gavel
Austin American-Statesman, 16 March 2008
AUSTIN – Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick has beaten every attempt to take his gavel away, and now wants to use it to bang down any questions he doesn’t like in a lawsuit against him personally. The judge in the case should not let him get away with it.
Texas two-step leaves Democrats flat-footed
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 16 March 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – Pity the thousands of Texas Democratic Party precinct chairmen.
Government
Dallas inmates' crack cocaine terms may get cut under new guidelines
By JASON TRAHAN, Dallas Morning News, 15 March 2008
DALLAS – Prison doors are opening early for some federal inmates in North Texas and around the U.S.
Hidalgo border fence suits head to court
By Jeremy Roebuck, McAllen Monitor, 17 March 2008
McALLEN – More than 25 Hidalgo and Starr county landowners are set to appear before a judge today in an attempt to block border fence surveys on their property.
Study: Lives will be lost if Valley's levees are topped
By Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian, 16 March 2008
EDINBURG – Lives would be lost if the Rio Grande Valley’s levees are breached by a hurricane or tropical storm, according to a new study.
Border fence opponents join 9-day march against wall in South Texas
By DIANNE SOLÍS, Dallas Morning News, 15 March 2008
MISSION – As the group nears a campground after the day's 12-mile march against a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, a red-cheeked man yells out of his vehicle: "Stop the drugs! Build the fence!"
South Texas landowners slow border fence's progress in court
Dallas Morning News, 16 March 2008
McALLEN – South Texas landowners fighting border fence surveys have gained traction in court and could keep the federal government from meeting Congress' demand for 670 miles of Mexican border fencing by the end of the year.
Shapleigh brands U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission an abject failure
By María González-Escareño, Rio Grande Guardian, 14 March 2008
LAREDO – The U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission has been a failure, state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh said in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
State files contempt order against Tiguas
Austin American-Statesman, 15 March 2008
EL PASO – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is accusing the Tigua Indian tribe of running illegal gambling with slot machines in a casino his predecessor shut down six years ago.
Disputed 'Bible bill' up for interpretation
By Gary Scharrer, San Antonio Express-News, 16 March 2008
AUSTIN – Fiercely debated legislation last year to put a Bible course in public schools has landed in the hands of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for an opinion on what it means.
Prosecutors fear castle law's 'presumption' will allow real murderers to go free
By STEVE THOMPSON, Dallas Morning News, 16 March 2008
DALLAS – For many Texas legislators, last year's castle law seemed like a no-brainer. Anyone breaking into your home, car or business poses a grave threat; you should have the right to shoot first – and ask questions later.
Texas' senators part ways on effort to rein in earmarks
By ANNA M. TINSLEY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 March 2008
FORT WORTH – Texas' senators part ways on effort to rein in earmarksphoto Texas' two Republican senators wrangled this week over whether a one-year moratorium should be placed on the often controversial practice of "earmark" spending.
Dallas' red light cameras may face changes as revenue estimate drops
By DAVE LEVINTHAL, Dallas Morning News, 14 March 2008
DALLAS – Dallas City Hall has idled more than one-fourth of the 62 cameras that monitor busy intersections because many of them are failing to generate enough red light-running fines to justify their operational costs, according to city documents.
Keep the light on
Brownsville Herald, 16 March 2008
BROWNSVILLE – U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, over the protests of President Bush, very smartly wrote the Open Government Act last year to place the compliance officer in the office of the National Archives, an independent organization that is dedicated to historical records, not presidents.
Sex education that can last a lifetime
Austin American-Statesman, 15 March 2008
AUSTIN – Teenagers are having sex. That is not news; it’s been going on as long as people have been on the planet.
TTC-69
Lufkin Daily News, 16 March 2008
LUFKIN – The Texas Department of Transportation is taking a lot of heat these days. Much of it is deserved, but the truth is the agency is between multiple rocks and hard places.
News
Bush grants federal aid for Texas counties scorched by wildfires
Dallas Morning News, 15 March 2008
DALLAS – President Bush is making federal aid available to more than 70 percent of counties in Texas after wildfires spread across the state.
Raging Texas wildfires threaten some homes
Dallas Morning News, 16 March 2008
DALLAS – Twenty homes were evacuated Saturday in Dimmitt County as the Texas Forest Service continued battling wildfires raging across thousands of acres of the Lone Star State.
Texas sales tax income still strong
By Kate Alexander, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 15 March 2008
AUSTIN – National economic woes have not stopped the continued growth of Texas' sales tax revenue.
Nearly 200 arrested in Corsicana cockfighting raid
Dallas Morning News, 16 March 2008
CORSICANA – Nearly 200 people were charged with gambling after authorities raided a cockfighting operation Saturday that included bleachers for spectators and even a concession stand, authorities said.
Texas home insurers are reaping record profits
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 17 March 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – Texas legislators in 2003 passed insurance reform legislation that was supposed to lower rates for Texas homeowners.
People
Rosenthal 'unable to rely' on memory in testimony
By BRIAN ROGERS, Houston Chronicle, 14 March 2008
HOUSTON – Rosenthal's statement to federal judge Former District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal has filed an affidavit in federal court saying part of a sworn statement was incorrect and that he is "unable to rely" on his own memory in testifying about the steps he took in deleting more than 2,500 e-mails after they had been subpoenaed in a civil rights lawsuit.
Ken Magidson to take over as top prosecutor
By JANET ELLIOTT, Houston Chronicle, 14 March 2008
AUSTIN – Kenneth Magidson, a federal prosecutor in Houston, was named today as interim Harris County district attorney to serve until the end of this year.
Political blows haven't stalled fight from the right
By KATHRINE SCHMIDT, Houston Chronicle, 16 March 2008
WASHINGTON – Republican lawmakers no longer await his orders, and Democratic lobbyists no longer fear his wrath, but Tom DeLay still has lots of fans.
Ex-legislator turns up in 'No Country for Old Men'
By Laura Tillman, BROWNSVILLE HERALD, 15 March 2008
BROWNSVILLE – Hector Uribe grew up moving between Miami and Brownsville, between acting and varsity baseball, student government and track.
Inside the Bush library, view to a legacy
By BRENDAN McKENNA, Dallas Morning News, 15 March 2008
WASHINGTON – Compassionate conservative. September 11. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The Global War on Terror. Hurricane Katrina. No Child Left Behind.
High court hears case of Texan denied a lawyer
Laredo Morning Times, 16 March 2008
LLANO – Three weeks after Walter Rothgery arrived from Arizona to manage an RV park in the Texas Hill Country, the work offer evaporated. He lost not only his job but the place at the park where he and his wife were to live.Then things got ugly.
