Politics
Judge dismisses lawsuit against business group and allies
By Laylan Copelin, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – The slowly unwinding litigation against the Texas Association of Business has taken another decisive turn in the group's favor.
Judge dismisses lawsuit against business group over 2002 GOP campaign
Waco Tribune-Herald, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – A state district judge has dismissed a campaign finance lawsuit against a statewide business group, its contributors and a high-powered lobbyist over the use of corporate money in a handful of legislative races.
Leghmberg dismisses blogger as campaign consultant
By Laylan Copelin and Kate Alexander, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – Rosemary Lehmberg announced Friday that she's dismissed political consultant Kelly Fero because he had not told her about his anonymous blogs used in Lehmberg's campaign for Travis County district attorney.
Democratic voters to choose from novice, longtime hopeful in runoff
By R.G. RATCLIFFE, Houston Chronicle, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – The primary runoff for Texas Railroad Commission on Tuesday gives Democratic voters a choice between a novice candidate who has not voted in a general election for a decade and a candidate who has lost bids for the office as both a Republican and a Democrat.
Craddick question' looms over West-Lewis runoff
By Bob Campbell, Midland Reporter-Telegram, 6 April 2008
ODESSA – The rollicking Tuesday runoff between incumbent state Rep. Buddy West and his well-financed challenger, Tryon Lewis, is breaking all the turnout rules and may end up drawing as many voters as the April 8 Republican primary.
Democrat happy to stay out of GOP candidates' way in District 55 race
By Justin Cox, Killeen Daily Herald, 6 April 2008
KILLEEN – The negative campaigning by Martha Tyroch and Ralph Sheffield in the Texas House District 55 race might have alienated many voters.
Daniel raises twice as much as Hobbs
Austin American-Statesman, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – Legislative candidate Bryan Daniel is maintaining a 2-to-1 financial advantage over Dee Hobbs in the race to replace retiring state Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Williamson County.
Watchdog is buzzword in Travis County DA race
By JANET ELLIOTT, Houston Chronicle, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – A sharp debate over who would be the best public watchdog at the state Capitol has overshadowed the usual issues of crime and punishment in the race to replace retiring Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.
Prosecutors compete in runoff to become Earle's successor
Waco Tribune-Herald, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – The zealous Travis County prosecutor who took on Tom DeLay, Kay Bailey Hutchison and other Texas political heavyweights is stepping aside while two of his assistants battle for his job.
Wentworth spending is criticized
Gary Scharrer,
Austin Bureau, San Antonio Express-News, 4/5/8
AUSTIN — An ethics complaint filed against state Sen. Jeff Wentworth alleges the San Antonio Republican has used nearly $1 million in campaign funds on personal expenses, including $124,702 for luxury car leases, $102,010 on exotic travel and $18,211 for gatherings at an exclusive men's club near San Francisco.
Factions cause grand ole problem at GOP county conventions
By Marie Martin, Texarkana Gazette, 6 April 2008
TEXARKANA – The Texas Republican Party will decide who represents Bowie County at the state convention because the local party is too fractured to select delegates.
Superdelegates in Texas divided between Clinton, Obama
By ANNA M. TINSLEY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 April 2008
FORT WORTH – Hardly a day goes by without Norma Fisher Flores of El Paso opening up a letter or an e-mail – or getting a phone call – from someone telling her which Democratic presidential candidate should get her vote.
Politex: Wright says the vote of every Texan should be counted
By AMAN BATHEJA, JOHN MORITZ, MARIA RECIO and ANNA M. TINSLEY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 April 2008
FORT WORTH – Former U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright said he believes that everyone's vote should count this presidential primary season – including those in Florida and Michigan, states where leaders set their primaries too early and are being penalized by not being allowed to seat their delegates at the national convention.
Republicans top Democrats in Dallas County early voting turnout
By KEVIN KRAUSE, Dallas Morning News, 4 April 2008
DALLAS – Republicans have fewer races than Democrats on the Dallas County runoff ballot, but the contests were interesting enough to get GOP voters out to the polls in significantly greater numbers, according to the most recent early voting totals.
GOP finds 22,000 voted early in Harris County runoff
Houston Chronicle, 4 April 2008
HOUSTON – More than 22,000 people voted early for Tuesday's Republican primary runoff elections in Harris County, about a third of the number who voted early for the March 4 primary.
Few turn out to vote early in runoff
By MATTHEW STOFF, Nacogdoches Sentinel, 6 April 2008
NACOGDOCHES – Early voting has ended in the April 8 party primary runoff elections.
Turnout for runoff an 'anticlimax'
By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle, 4 April 2008
DENTON – Well under 1 percent of eligible voters took time to cast a ballot early in the primary runoff elections, a dismal turnout likely to become the lowest ever for a local primary, according to Denton County Elections Administrator Don Alexander.“Before that, the worst was about 1 1/2 percent,” Alexander said.
UNDER THE DOME
Austin American-Statesman, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – Until midweek, visitors waiting to see muckety-mucks at the General Land Office in Austin could page through magazines in the ninth-floor reception area or, what the hey, look up words in an old dictionary and a thesaurus.
This election really is about change
Austin American-Statesman, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – Monday is the filing deadline for one of the most unusual elections ever to be held in Central Texas, perhaps in the state.
Lehmberg, Henry, Daniel best choices in runoffs
Austin American-Statesman, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – After the stirring voter turnout on March 4 and the boisterous, if often confusing, district conventions last weekend, Tuesday’s runoff vote is somewhat anticlimactic.
The voters care, but not enough
Denton Record-Chronicle, 6 April 2008
DENTON – Reports of the anemic early-voting turnout in Denton County’s primary election runoff left us with two inescapable conclusions. First, voters need to be willing to work a little harder at exercising their franchise. Second, we badly need a viable two-party system.
Government
Texas' welfare privatization efforts snagged
By ROBERT T. GARRETT, Dallas Morning News, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – Lawmakers are worried that a partly privatized system for determining who receives public assistance is still shaky and may not be salvageable.
Plan to close TYC gathers support
By Mike Ward, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – A fledgling plan to close or drastically restructure the troubled Texas Youth Commission drew widespread initial support on Friday, as new details emerged about what Texas' new juvenile justice system would look like.
State senator suggests dismantling the TYC
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – Abolishing the Texas Youth Commission makes more sense than trying to overhaul it, the influential chairman of the state Senate committee overseeing Texas' troubled juvenile prison system said this week.
Social Security numbers found despite purges/But state's effort to clean online files gets expert's praise
By PEGGY FIKAC, Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau, 4/4/8
AUSTIN -- After the Texas Secretary of State's Office spent more than a quarter of a million dollars to remove Social Security numbers from business and financial documents posted online, an anti-fraud businessman said it took him just a few minutes to find documents that still appeared to have such numbers.
Mentally disabled population growth worries advocates
By Enrique Rangel, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – Two years ago, after the U.S. Justice Department investigated the Lubbock State School and the 12 other facilities in the state system for the deaths of 186 patients over an 18-month period, almost everyone blamed the massive budget cutbacks caused by the $10 billion shortfall the Legislature faced in 2003.
Scrutiny still surrounds Lubbock State School
By Enrique Rangel, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – By most accounts, the problems the Lubbock State School experienced three years ago are history.
Charter schools owe Texas $26M for overstated admissions numbers
By KAREN AYRES SMITH, Dallas Morning News, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – Texas charter schools have reaped $26 million in undeserved state money by filing incorrect student attendance reports, according to state financial records.
Charter schools owe state $26 million for overstated attendance
Waco Tribune-Herald, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – Nearly half of the charter schools in Texas have incorrectly reported student attendance, resulting in $26 million in undeserved payments that the state is trying to recover, according to state records.
You can be an official ratfink for TxDOT
By Charlie Edgren, El Paso Times, 5 April 2008
EL PASO – El Pasoan Kristen Cox got a letter in the mail the other day.
Texas Supreme Court to rehear workers comp case
Waco Tribune-Herald, 4 April 2008
AUSTIN – The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to rehear a case from Jefferson County dealing with the scope of the state workers' compensation law.
New Border Patrol facility reflects expanding agency
By Sean Gaffney, McAllen Monitor, 5 April 2008
McALLEN – A faint stone sign marks the dirt-stained U.S. Customs and Border Protection Facility on West Military Highway.
Good to Glow
By Forrest Wilder, Texas Observer, 4 April 2008
In February, hundreds of government regulators and businesspeople gathered in Phoenix for “Waste Management ’08,” the annual radioactive waste industry confab.
Toll road cameras looking beyond scofflaw drivers
By ROSANNA RUIZ, Houston Chronicle, 4 April 2008
HOUSTON – Harris County Toll Road Authority cameras are now on the lookout for more than just those drivers who blow through EZ Tag lanes without paying. County authorities promise new, upgraded cameras can help catch murderers and other violent criminals.
Texas Border Coalition ponders lawsuit against federal government
By María González-Escareño and Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian, 4 April 2008
LAREDO – The Texas Border Coalition is still pondering whether or not to take legal action against the Department of Homeland Security to thwart construction of the proposed border wall.
Border fence may cause demise of two Texas nature preserves
Dallas Morning News, 6 April 2008
BROWNSVILLE – Two nature preserves almost certainly will close after the announcement last week that the federal government would waive environmental protection laws for a fence along the border.
Committee hearings keep legislators abreast of issues
By Enrique Rangel, Amarillo Globe-News, 7 April 2008
AMARILLO – The start of the 81st Legislature is eight months away, but there is already plenty of movement at the Texas Capitol.
Foster children get electronic health "passport"
By Corrie MacLaggan, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – Many Texans don't have neat records of their medical history, but for foster children, that can make getting proper health care especially difficult.
Newest test for students evaluates health, fitness
By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE, Houston Chronicle, 4 April 2008
HOUSTON – Just what Texas students need: Another test.
Review appropriate in Jose Medellin case
San Antonio Express-News, 5 April 2008
SAN ANTONIO – The facts surrounding the murder conviction of Jose Ernesto Medellin are not in dispute.
Vaccination exemptions raise risks for everyone
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 4 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – There is a growing body of parents – not huge, but of significant size – who believe that their children are safer by not undergoing the series of vaccinations against a host of diseases that all other school-age children undergo. This is a worrying trend.
Lubbock State School staff receives praise
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 5 April 2008
LUBBOCK – We are pleased with the very positive report the Lubbock State School received recently from state lawmakers who are on a panel that recently toured the local residential facility for people with mental and physical disabilities.
Offenders need bridge to normalcy
Waco Tribune-Herald, 6 April 2008
WACO – Texas lawmakers keep surprising us — in a pleasing way — on matters of criminal justice and corrections.
FAA serves public, not airlines
Waco Tribune-Herald, 5 April 2008
WACO – The Federal Aviation Administration exists to protect the safety of the flying public.
Border fence stretching boundaries of federal arrogance
Austin American-Statesman, 4 April 2008
AUSTIN – Even for an administration infamous for doing things its own way, the announcement that the Department of Homeland Security will ignore at least 30 federal laws to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border is a breathtaking display of arrogance.
Mixed signals
Houston Chronicle, 5 April 2008
HOUSTON – Last month during a presentation to the Chronicle editorial board, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin was asked whether the planned phaseout of the space shuttle two years from now would have a negative economic impact on the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake.
Pension tension
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 April 2008
Fort Worth – The Texas Municipal Retirement System, which manages pension investments for 821 Texas cities, is seeking appreciably larger contributions from many of them to ensure adequate long-term funding to pay retirement benefits.
Why tax cuts mustn't expire
By Kay Bailey Hutchison, Dallas Morning News, 7 April 2008
DALLAS – Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman observed that "Congress can raise taxes because it can persuade a sizable fraction of the populace that somebody else will pay.
A bold idea
Houston Chronicle, 6 April 2008
HOUSTON – With a budget of more than $235 million, the Texas Youth Commission system currently holds about 2,800 young offenders. It maintains a costly bureaucracy with more than 4,100 employees, yet still cannot fill 440 positions to maintain an adequate guard/inmate ratio.
Are TYC's days numbered?
Amarillo Globe-News, 6 April 2008
AMARILLO – The dean of the Texas Senate has proposed a plan that at first blush makes great sense.
Don't blow it with wind energy
Amarillo Globe-News, 7 April 2008
AMARILLO – Amarillo residents scoff at the notion of Chicago as "The Windy City."
'Ghost voting' should end
Amarillo Globe-News, 6 April 2008
AMARILLO – Format State Rep. Tony Goolsby wants to end the practice of "ghost voting" in the Texas House of Representatives.
All legislative votes should be recorded
Bryan-College Station Eagle, 5 April 2008
COLLEGE STATION – State Rep. Tony Goolsby thinks when Texas legislators' votes are counted, they should be the ones actually casting them.
News
Nearly 200 taken from sect's West Texas ranch
By BILL HANNA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 April 2008
ELDORADO – After several anxious hours late Saturday, tensions appeared to be easing at the YFZ Ranch in West Texas as state troopers streamed past checkpoints and escorted another busload of girls from the secretive polygamist sect's compound.
Former polygamists tell of isolation and brainwashing
By JACK DOUGLAS JR., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 April 2008
FORT WORTH – The young girls who have been taken from a polygamist compound in West Texas, their stares wide-eyed but blank as they pass the fields of TV cameras, come from an intolerant faith that turns women and their young daughters into "baby factories" ordered to obey the men who abuse them or suffer the wrath of God, former polygamists said Saturday.
Law is changed with sect in mind
By JOHN MORITZ, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that settled in remote Schleicher County four years ago has been on state radar since it arrived in West Texas.
Polygamists focus of legislation's restrictions
By BILL HANNA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 March 2005
FORT WORTH – A Kerrville lawmaker is trying to make it more difficult for a polygamist group that is building a compound south of San Angelo to practice some of its more controversial beliefs.
Sect's Texas outpost looking permanent
By BILL HANNA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 January 2007
FORT WORTH – A secretive polygamous sect appears to be settling in West Texas for the long run despite the arrest of their prophet.
Nearly 200 women, children removed from polygamous sect's Texas ranch
By BILL HANNA and JACK DOUGLAS JR., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 April 2008
FORT WORTH – Child welfare officials say they have removed nearly 200 women and children from a secretive West Texas religious retreat built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
Teen's calls led to raid, search
By Paul A. Anthony, San Angelo Standard-Times, 6 April 2008
ELDORADO – Last week's joint raid on the Mormon splinter sect compound - which sent shock waves through Eldorado, as well as through Utah and Arizona, where the FLDS is based - developed out of phone calls from a teen claiming an underage marriage to a 50-year-old man, a local prosecutor said.
Lawmen enter temple Authorities prepped for worst
By Paul A. Anthony, San Angelo Standard-Times, 6 April 2008
ELDORADO – Local and state officials entered the temple of a secretive polygamist sect late Saturday, said lawmen blockading the road to the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado.
Eldorado residents help by giving food, comfort
By Paul A. Anthony, San Angelo Standard-Times, 6 April 2008
ELDORADO – The children taken from the Mormon splinter sect compound were housed Saturday at Eldorado's community center and the First Baptist Church fellowship hall, sleeping on donated cots and eating food dropped off by Eldorado residents.
FLDS members bar authorities from temple
By Paul A. Anthony, San Angelo Standard-Times, 5 April 2008
ELDORADO – State officials have now removed 183 women and children from the YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County, but a group of sect members have refused to allow law enforcement access to the compound's temple, local prosecutors say.
More children removed from FLDS Ranch
By Paul A. Anthony, San Angelo Standard-Times, 5 April 2008
ELDORADO – State officials confirmed this morning(0405) that more children were removed overnight from the YFZ ranch polygamist compound overnight, and that the total number of children taken away from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints church property is likely well over 100.
Official on children at FLDS ranch: 'It is not safe for them to remain'
By PAUL A. ANTHONY and MATT PHINNEY, San Angelo Standard-Times, 5 April 2008
SAN ANGELO – Accusations that a 50-year-old man illegally married and had sex with a now-16-year-old girl led to the removal Friday of 52 girls from a secretive Schleicher County polygamist compound.
52 children removed from sect's Eldorado-area ranch
By Paul A. Anthony, San Angelo Standard-Times, 4 April 2008
SAN ANGELO – A 50-year-old man is accused of marrying and fathering a child with a 16-year-old girl at the polygamist YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County, according to a search and arrest warrant released just before 5 p.m. by Tom Green County district court.
Polygamist sect blocks state in search for girl
Austin American-Statesman, 6 April 2008
ELDORADO – Sect leaders at a polygamist compound in West Texas refused Saturday to let authorities search a temple for a teenage girl whose report of abuse led to the raid, and authorities said they were preparing for the worst.
Entry to polygamist's ranch sought
Dallas Morning News, 6 April 2008
DALLAS – Nearly 200 women and children had been removed from a secluded West Texas compound Saturday evening as authorities prepared for a potential showdown at the ranch built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
Tensions calmed at West Texas polygamist compound
By PAUL MEYER and EMILY RAMSHAW, Dallas Morning News, 6 April 2008
ELDORADO – Texas child welfare workers said Sunday they have now removed 219 women and children from a West Texas polygamous compound, but still have no positive identification of the 16-year-old girl whose abuse complaint led to the sweep.
State removes 52 girls from polygamist ranch
By JANET ELLIOTT, Houston Chronicle, 4 April 2008
AUSTIN – Fifty-two girls, including 18 suspected abuse victims, were removed by state officials Friday from the West Texas compound where a religious sect kept them isolated from the outside world.
State still searching for children at polygamist sect's ranch
By PAUL MEYER and EMILY RAMHAW, Dallas Morning News, 7 April 2008
ELDORADO – Busload by busload, Texas child welfare authorities worked Sunday to find and remove all children from the compound of a polygamous sect, in an operation that relied on schools, churches and an abundance of rural good will.
GM to close Arlington plant for three weeks
Waco Tribune-Herald, 5 April 2008
FORT WORTH – General Motors will idle its Arlington plant for three weeks as it tries to reduce inventories of sport utility vehicles to match slower consumer demand for the big rigs.
American Airlines freezes hiring
Waco Tribune-Herald, 5 April 2008
DALLAS – American Airlines put a freeze on hiring management and support staffers this week as the nation's largest carrier grapples with high fuel costs and a slowing economy.
Ex-BP chief questioned about Texas City plant blast
Waco Tribune-Herald, 4 April 2008
HOUSTON – An attorney for victims of BP PLC's deadly 2005 plant explosion said the company's former CEO admitted Friday that budget cuts some blame for creating conditions that helped cause the blast were ordered so the oil giant could remain competitive in the petrochemical industry.
War of the Wells
By Rusty Middleton, Texas Observer, 4 April 2008
Neighbors say they move in quickly. Suddenly a tall, garish, mechanical contraption belching fumes and noise dominates the neighborhood.
Legislator says UTEP students were misled
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – A local legislator is accusing UTEP of misleading students about the quality of its graduate program for school counselors.
Texas company eyes Maine for wind farm
Waco Tribune-Herald, 5 April 2008
BANGOR, Maine – Aroostook County, already home to New England's largest wind farm, is being eyed by a Texas company for several more of the energy-producing facilities.
Trans-Texas Corridor foes march on Capitol
By Patrick George, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – For Peyton Gilbert, the battle over the Trans-Texas Corridor is reminiscent of the moment in 1836 when Lt. Col. William Travis drew a line in the sand at the Alamo and invited those willing to fight thousands of Mexican soldiers to step across.
Hundreds rally against toll roads at state
El Paso Times, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – A crowd of several hundred marched through the heart of downtown Austin to the state Capitol on Saturday to protest Gov. Rick Perry's plan for 4,000 miles of toll roads across Texas.
Houston day laborers vote to organize
Austin American-Statesman, 6 April 2008
HOUSTON – Nearly 200 men, many wearing creased baseball caps, worn work boots and paint-spattered and grass-stained jeans, raised their hands in unison.
Texas eighth graders stagnant on national reading test but improve on state test
Austin American-Statesman, 4 April 2008
AUSTIN – By the state's accounts, the number of students who have mastered the basics of writing has improved markedly in the past decade, even as the standard got tougher.
FAA watchdogs who fought short leashes
Austin American-Statesman, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – It’s not often that we salute folks for doing their jobs. But it is appropriate to applaud a few very courageous Federal Aviation Administration inspectors, who risked their careers by exposing problems at Southwest Airlines and the FAA, their employer.
People
Hutchison no stranger to being stalked
TODD J. GILLMAN, Dallas Morning News, 6 April 2008
WASHINGTON – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has spent most of her public career as an object of obsession. She thought that ended years ago, when a man who'd harassed her for a quarter-century died.
Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson does it one way: his own
By JAY ROOT, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 April 2008
AUSTIN – He carries a gun in his boot, likes the smell of burning diesel and observes "Confederate Heroes Day" like a religious obligation. He will ask but never beg for your vote, answer ridicule with scorn and dress down whiny liberals with a smile on his face.
Lawmakers say past of leader may hurt Tiguas
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 5 April 2008
AUSTIN – The criminal past of the Tiguas' governor could make the tribe's struggle to bring gaming back to the reservation even more difficult, some lawmakers said Friday.
Evidence heard in case of law firm operator Celis
By Denise Malan, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 5 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – A Nueces County grand jury heard evidence regarding law firm operator Mauricio Celis for several hours Friday but did not reach a decision.
U.S. Senate Considers New ET Prosecutor
By CASEY KNAUPP, Tyler Morning Telegraph, 6 April 2008
TYLER – The U.S. Senate is considering a Dallas attorney nominated to become the next top federal prosecutor in East Texas.
College of Communication Outstanding Alumnus award
BY ELIZABETH DEFEE, Austin American-Statesman, 7 April 2008
AUSTIN – The University of Texas College of Communication named David Weeksits 2007-08 outstanding alumnus.
Short of greatness
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 April 2008
FORT WORTH – Alphonso Jackson, secretary of housing and urban development, has submitted his resignation, effective April 18. Good.