Politics
Dems seek seat held by elder Bush
By JOSH KRAUSHAAR, Politico.com, 4/1/8
Democrats are eyeing one of the most reliably Republican seats in the heart of Texas — Rep. John Culberson’s suburban Houston district, once held by President Bush’s father — and have a candidate who is causing a stir due to his prolific fundraising.
Clinton's Texas campaign says Obama may be ahead in delegates
By W. Gardner Selby, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 2 April 2008
AUSTIN – Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's Texas campaign conceded Tuesday that if nearly complete results from weekend Democratic conventions hold, Barack Obama stands to take more delegates from Texas to the party's national convention than Clinton.
Rump group members protest
By Denise Malan, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 1 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI -- Members of a group who led a separate meeting Saturday at the Republican county convention said Monday they were trying to protest rule violations by the county chairman, not take over the convention.
Web site: Obama won county vote
By Dan X. McGraw, Denton Record-Chronicle, 1 April 2008
DENTON – Denton County is Obama country, at least among Democrats. Unofficial results Tuesday showed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the Denton County Democratic Convention by a 94-48 delegate tally over New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to the Web site Burnt Orange Report.
Obama Wins Smith County Delegates
By ROY MAYNARD, Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2 April 2008
TYLER – The Democratic and Republican parties of Smith County have released their lists of delegates to their respective state conventions.
Barack Obama wins the Bowie County caucus
By Kristi Jordan, Texarkana Gazette, 1 April 2008
TEXARKANA – Bowie County’s caucus results are opposite of its popular vote, with Barack Obama receiving 18 of the county’s 32 votes.
Commissioner Price named twice on Democratic delegate list, sealing his spot
By Gromer Jeffers Jr., Dallas Morning News, 2 April 2008
DALLAS – Some people never get on the list once.
Aide: Kay Bailey Hutchison planning to run for governor
Dallas Morning News, 1 April 2008
WASHINGTON – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison may be moving a step closer to running for Texas governor.
Hutchison testing gubernatorial waters?
Austin American-Statesman, 2 April 2008
AUSTIN – U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who might run for governor in 2010, confirmed Tuesday that she's quietly asked teams of experts to advise her on what's best for the state.
Senate candidate visits Kerrville
By Alyson Chapman, Kerrville Daily Times, 2 April 2008
KERRVILLE – Rick Noriega says Texans and Americans are fed up.
Sekula Gibbs, Olson swap jabs on service
By ALAN BERNSTEIN, Houston Chronicle, 2 April 2008
SUGAR LAND – Seeking a public salary of about $165,000 a year, congressional candidates Shelley Sekula Gibbs and Pete Olson revealed differing views Tuesday of the wisdom gained from drawing a salary from taxpayers.
West, Lewis raise big bucks
ODESSA AMERICAN, 1 April 2008
ODESSA – Campaign contribution forms released Tuesday by the Texas Ethics Commission are starkly different in the runoff for the District 81 Seat in the state House of Representatives.
A bruiser of a battle in GOP runoff between Button, Dunning
By Gromer Jeffers Jr., Dallas Morning News, 2 April 2008
DALLAS – For those who like their politics raw and uncut, consider the District 112 Republican runoff for the Texas House.
Mail ballots remain a South Texas problem
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 2 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – The investigation of alleged voting irregularities in Jim Wells County should be prompt and thorough.
Democrats must revamp delegate selection
San Antonio Express-News, 1 April 2008
SAN ANTONIO – Democracy is a cumbersome, inefficient process, and that represents both its beauty and its curse.
Government
Plan to waive environmental laws to build fence sparks outrage in border region
By DAVID McLEMORE, Dallas Morning News, 1 April 2008
DALLAS – The announcement by the Homeland Security Department on Tuesday that it plans to waive 30 environmental laws to expedite construction of 267 miles of border security fence sparked outrage from environmentalists and elected officials in most of the region.
Deep South Texans hold firm against border fence
By JAMES PINKERTON, Houston Chronicle, 1 April 2008
HOUSTON – Texas border land owners, mayors and wildlife groups blasted the Bush administration's sweeping plan to waive nearly three dozen federal laws to speed construction of a border fence by year's end.
Rules will be broken to build border fence
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 2 April 2008
AUSTIN – El Paso officials were frustrated and disappointed Tuesday after the Bush administration said it would waive legal and environmental challenges that could impede construction of 670 miles of fence by the end of this year.
Texas Border Coalition outraged by Chertoff’s waiver
By Steve Taylor and Joey Gomez, Rio Grande Guardian, 1 April 2008
McALLEN – The chairman of the Texas Border Coalition says that in trying to force through construction of a border wall, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is attempting the largest environmental waiver in U.S. history.
Bush administration to bypass laws to build border fence
Dallas Morning News, 1 April 2008
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration will use its authority to bypass more than 30 laws and regulations in an effort to finish building 670 miles of fence along the southwest U.S. border by the end of this year, federal officials said Tuesday.
DHS issues news release about Chertoff waiver
Rio Grande Guardian, 1 April 2008
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a news release about Tuesday's decision by Homeland Security Michael Chertoff to waive all environmental laws in order to speed up construction of a fence along the southwestern U.S. border.
Enrollment of children in Texas state schools surging
By EMILY RAMSHAW, Dallas Morning News, 1 April 2008
AUSTIN – The number of children living in state schools for the disabled has grown by 80 percent in the last five years, a trend advocates say threatens decades of work to move Texas' most fragile youths back into family homes.
Letter opens door to Park Service transfer of Christmas Mountains
By R.A. DYER, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 April 2008
AUSTIN – In what may be a softening of his position on the issue, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has signaled his willingness to transfer the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service, although he also has requested the tract's designation as a national preserve so the public can hunt and carry firearms on the property, according to correspondence obtained by the Star-Telegram. Addressed to Big Bend National Park
Texas land official backs down on Christmas Mountains
Houston Chronicle, 2 April 2008
AUSTIN – The state land commissioner blocking a proposal to transfer the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service because he wants to permit hunting on the land appears ready to let the transaction proceed, documents show.
Audit of PEC must steer clear of board influence
Austin American-Statesman, 1 April 2008
AUSTIN – Like Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, we would prefer to see the state auditor do a thorough financial and governance audit of Pedernales Electric Cooperative Inc. rather than the consultant agreed to by Pedernales’ own board.
A better border patrol
Houston Chronicle, 1 April 2008
HOUSTON – In 1924, when the U.S. Border Patrol was founded, it needed workers who could ride, shoot and track, who knew the area and who had the stamina to fight criminal activity in a neglected part of the country
On the Border
Texarkana Gazette, 2 April 2008
TEXARKANA – So far, about 309 miles of the border fence between the United States and Mexico is in place.
News
'Dead zone' off Texas coast poses threat to marine life
By JACK DOUGLAS JR., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 April 2008
FORT WORTH – A dead zone of oxygen-depleted water has lurked off the Louisiana coast for years, but a Texas A&M scientist now says the same condition exists off Texas.
Some State Farm rates could rise 21%
By Laura Elder, Galveston County Daily News, 2 April 2008
GALVESTON – After months of legal disputes, the Texas Department of Insurance approved rate increases for State Farm that could cost some Galveston County consumers on average nearly 21 percent more.
People
Alleged stalker of Kay Bailey Hutchison arrested in Dallas
By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN and TODD J. GILLMAN, Dallas Morning News, 1 April 2008
DALLAS – Dallas police arrested a 57-year-old Weatherford man last month after he repeatedly threatened U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in telephone messages and visited her Dallas home, according to police records.
University of Texas System names interim chancellor
Dallas Morning News, 1 April 2008
AUSTIN – The University of Texas System on Tuesday appointed Kenneth I. Shine as interim chancellor to succeed Mark Yudof, who has been named president of the University of California system.
Skilling has shot, experts say
By KRISTEN HAYS, Houston Chronicle, 1 April 2008
HOUSTON – Jeff Skilling suffered a knockout when he faced a Houston federal court jury two years ago. But he's flexing more potent muscle in his appeal, scheduled for court argument today.