Exclusive: Texas Gov. Rick Perry to run for re-election in 2010 1:44 PM CT [1]

By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News, 4/17/8

Gov. Rick Perry told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday that he would seek re-election as governor in 2010.

Perry gets Texas donors to give to Republican Governors Association [2]

By WAYNE SLATER, Dallas Morning News, 16 April 2008

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry has tapped big-money Texas donors, some with interests before the state, for contributions to the Republican Governors Association since he became chairman.

Democrat ruled ineligible to challenge Republican Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick [3]

By Tommy Witherspoon, Waco Tribune-Herald, 17 April 2008

WACO – A federal judge in Waco ruled Wednesday that a Democratic Midland City Council member is ineligible to challenge Republican Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick for his District 82 seat because he didn’t resign his city council seat before filing for the Legislature.

Judge rules in favor of GOP in House race dispute [4]

By Shanna Sissom, Midland Reporter-Telegram, 17 April 2008

MIDLAND – A federal judge ruled in favor of the Texas Republican Party Wednesday in a dispute over whether Midland City Councilman Bill Dingus, a Democrat, is eligible to run against Republican Speaker Tom Craddick for the Texas House of Representatives.

Craddick opponent not giving up on race [5]

Waco Tribune-Herald, 17 April 2008

MIDLAND – City Councilman Bill Dingus isn't giving up on his bid to run against Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick, despite a federal judge's opinion Wednesday that he isn't eligible.

Craddick opponent dropped from ballot [6]

Austin American-Statesman, 17 April 2008

AUSTIN – It seemed Wednesday that House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, wouldn't face a Democratic opponent for his seat, after a federal judge ruled that Bill Dingus should have resigned from the Midland City Council before filing as a state representative candidate.

Duncan may help define eminent domain [7]

By Eric Finley, LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 17 April 2008

LUBBOCK – State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, might sponsor a bill next year for a constitutional amendment protecting private property rights that would better define when private land can be taken for public use, known as eminent domain.

Texas prison candidate cons way onto Idaho primary ballot [8]

Dallas Morning News, 16 April 2008

BOISE, Idaho – A federal prison inmate in Texas has "conned" his way onto the ballot for Idaho's primary election May 27 as a Democratic presidential candidate, the state's top election official says.

If Cornyn had a wide stance and hailed from Idaho, Noriega would have stronger chance [9]

By W. Gardner Selby, Austin American-Statesman, 17 April 2008

AUSTIN – It's the gaping "if" season for Rick Noriega.

By the book [10]

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

FORT WORTH – Sometimes political activists pick the wrong issue. When that happens, it's better for them to switch to something else.

Texas Youth Commission aims to abandon large, remote prisons [11]

By EMILY RAMSHAW, Dallas Morning News, 16 April 2008

AUSTIN – The Texas Youth Commission's conservator is taking steps toward abandoning the state's long-time strategy of farming youth offenders out to large, remote prisons.

TYC moving to regional concept, lawmakers told [12]

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

AUSTIN – The head of the Texas Youth Commission says he's taking steps to move inmates closer to their hometowns as state lawmakers continue to press officials to improve the embattled juvenile prison system.

High court ruling sets stage for executions to resume in Texas [13]

By JOHN MORITZ, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

FORT WORTH – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected arguments that executing inmates by lethal injection violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment and paved the way for Texas and 35 other states to resume executions after a seven-month hiatus.

Texas can resume lethal injections [14]

By Allan Turner, Rosanna Ruiz and Richard S. Dunham, Houston Chronicle, 17 April 2008

HOUSTON – The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection Wednesday, clearing the way for the resumption of executions in Texas after a seven-month moratorium.

Supreme Court ruling opens door for Texas to resume executions [15]

By Logan Carver, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 17 April 2008

LUBBOCK – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled Kentucky's three-drug lethal injection process is constitutional, paving the way for executions in Texas to resume in mid-May.

Supreme Court opens door for lethal injections to resume, rules method constitutional [16]

By DIANE JENNINGS, Dallas Morning News, 17 April 2008

DALLAS – The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for lethal injections to resume by declaring that Kentucky's lethal injection process was not cruel and unusual punishment.

Death penalty gets new life [17]

By SARAH MOORE, Beumont Enterprise, 17 April 2008

BEAUMONT – The page on the Texas Death Row Web site that lists executions was empty Wednesday, but it is not likely to stay that way long.

Texas has no executions scheduled at this point [18]

By Holly Green, Huntsville Item, 16 April 2008

HUNTSVILLE – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of lethal injections Wednesday morning, but the ruling does not have a direct impact on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

States' death row injections get OK after high court ruling [19]

Waco Tribune-Herald, 17 April 2008

AUSTIN – Many states wasted little time trying to get executions back on track following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the use of a three-drug lethal cocktail.

Executions to resume after high court OK's lethal injections [20]

Waco Tribune-Herald, 17 April 2008

WASHINGTON – U.S. executions are all but sure to resume soon after a nationwide halt, cleared Wednesday by a splintered Supreme Court that approved the most widely used method of lethal injection.

Harris County gets ready to execute 6 killers [21]

By ALLAN TURNER, ROSANNA RUIZ and RICHARD S. DUNHAM, Houston Chronicle, 17 April 2008

HOUSTON – Buoyed by the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding lethal injection's constitutionality, Harris County prosecutors pledged Wednesday to move forward in seeking execution dates for six local killers.

E-mail complaint won't be pursued [22]

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

AUSTIN – The Travis County district attorney's office has declined to pursue a complaint regarding Gov. Rick Perry's policy of deleting e-mails every seven days despite an attorney's assertion that the policy ensures "that valuable public information is lost."

The Final Step [23]

By Kevin Sieff, Brownsville Herald, 16 April 2008

BROWNSVILLE – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has embarked on its final step before beginning construction of a border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border-purchasing land on which the structure will soon stand.

TxDOT, tollway authority clash on value of State Highway 161 contract [24]

By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER, Dallas Morning News, 16 April 2008

DALLAS – The Texas Department of Transportation and the North Texas Tollway Authority unexpectedly failed to agree Wednesday on how much the State Highway 161 toll contract should be worth, a development that could cause negotiations that have stalled for months to begin again from scratch.

Christmastime for Big Bend [25]

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER, Austin Chronicle, 17 April 2008

AUSTIN – Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has made good on his promise to allow better access to the Christmas Mountains Ranch, the remote stretch of West Texas maintained by the General Land Office that he had originally planned to sell to private owners.

Free to kill again [26]

Dallas Morning News, 17 April 2008

DALLAS – The Supreme Court decision yesterday allowing execution by lethal injection eventually will free the nation's busiest death chamber – the one in Huntsville, Texas – to pick up where it left off.

Overhaul of rating system long overdue [27]

San Angelo Standard-Times, 16 April 2008

SAN ANGELO – Texas lawmakers are right to explore new ways to measure the performance of public schools and students.

Border fence: Wetlands threatened by barrier [28]

El Paso Times, 17 April 2008

EL PASO – More than a dozen members of Congress and a couple of groups concerned about the environment are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the law that gives Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff the ability to circumvent laws in order to build his cherished border fence.

Judge's experience a match for massive FLDS case [29]

By Paul A. Anthony, San Angelo Standard-Times, 17 April 2008

SAN ANGELO – Barbara Walther smiled when she asked Gerry Goldstein whether he needed a copy of the Texas Family Code during a court hearing last week.

Women defend ranch life, plan to attend FLDS custody hearing [30]

By Matt Phinney, San Angelo Standard-Times, 16 April 2008

SAN ANGELO – At least five women from the YFZ Ranch said they will be in San Angelo on Thursday to follow the custody cases that will decide the future of children removed from the ranch starting two weeks ago.

City residents open their homes to lawyers [31]

By Jayna Boyle, San Angelo Standard-Times, 17 April 2008

SAN ANGELO – Griff Griffin isn't connected to the legal system in San Angelo - or any legal system at all, for that matter.

Granger wants inquiry of sect's financial ties to government [32]

By JACK DOUGLAS JR., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

FORT WORTH – U.S. Rep. Kay Granger formally asked Congress on Wednesday to investigate the business ties between the federal government and a polygamist sect that is the focus of one of the largest child custody cases in the nation's history.

Sect women vow to bring home their children [33]

By BILL HANNA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

ELDORADO – Women of a polygamous sect who have been separated from their children by the state vowed to be in court Thursday in hopes of bringing them home to their West Texas compound. The women dispu

A Q&A on the raid of the polygamist sect's compound [34]

By JAY ROOT, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

FORT WORTH – Acting on information about alleged physical and sexual abuse, state authorities conducted a raid of the YFZ Ranch, home to members of a secretive polygamist sect known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Legal journey to begin for children removed from Texas polygamist compound [35]

By KAREN BROOKS, Dallas Morning News, 16 April 2008

SAN ANGELO – Hundreds of children removed from a West Texas polygamist colony start an emotional journey through the legal system Thursday, as hearings begin on the largest child-welfare case in U.S. history.

Zion ranch mothers question CPS raid [36]

By TERRI LANGFORD, Houston Chronicle, 17 April 2008

ELDORADO – As Texas ranches go, the Yearning For Zion compound is beautiful.

Marathon hearing on Eldorado children starts today [37]

By Corrie MacLaggan, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 17 April 2008

AUSTIN – At a hearing today in San Angelo, Child Protective Services lawyers will try to convince state district judge Barbara Walther that they were justified in removing 416 children from a polygamous group's compound in Eldorado and that the children would be at substantial risk of abuse if they were to return.

Sect members live 'normal' life on polygamous church ranch [38]

Austin American-Statesman, 17 April 2008

ELDORADO – Members of the embattled polygamist sect said Wednesday that life was relatively normal on their West Texas ranch at the center of one of the nation's largest child-custody cases.

20 arrested in federal roundup [39]

By JAMES PINKERTON and SUSAN CARROLL, Houston Chronicle, 17 April 2008

HOUSTON – Houston's iconic Shipley Do-Nuts is known to generations of loyal customers for its sweet glazed pastries.

Raid nets 35 workers at Pilgrim's [40]

By Jamaal E. O'Neal, Longview News-Journal, 17 April 2008

MOUNT PLEASANT – About 35 workers were arrested on various aggravated identity theft charges Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials at the Pilgrim's Pride Mount Pleasant processing plant.

Officials say they hope FutureGen efforts not wasted [41]

By Kathleen Thurber, Midland Reporter-Telegram, 16 April 2008

MIDLAND – Three years of vying for the location of the FutureGen energy development project may not have been in vain as a private company is now looking for a place in Texas to develop a similar energy plant, officials said Tuesday.

Fire-safe cigarette paper coming to Texas in January [42]

By R.A. DYER, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

AUSTIN – Careless smokers will have a new safeguard against accidentally starting a house fire, thanks to new fire-safe cigarettes going on the Texas market in the coming months.

Tougher than ever for Texas students to get into college [43]

By KAREN AYRES, Dallas Morning News, 16 April 2008

DALLAS – High school seniors applying to college this year are facing the stiffest competition ever seen, leaving many top students shaking their heads in disappointment and others waiting until the last minute to make up their minds.

Death Threats and TAKS Tests Some TAKS tests are murder [44]

By Richard Connelly, Houston Press, 17 April 2008

HOUSTON – School officials in Houston, as elsewhere in Texas, take the TAKS basic-skills test very, very seriously.

Man cleared by DNA tests freed after serving 23 years for 1985 Richardson rape, burglary [45]

By JENNIFER EMILY, Dallas Morning News, 16 April 2008

DALLAS – Thomas Clifford McGowan Jr. walked out of a Dallas County courtroom Wednesday a free man after DNA tests proved he did not commit a rape and burglary more than two decades ago.

Wrongfully convicted man freed in Dallas County after 23 years by apologetic judge [46]

By MAX B. BAKER, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 April 2008

DALLAS – A victim of mistaken identity who was sentenced to life in prison 23 years ago walked out of a courtroom a free man Wednesday.

DNA frees Dallas man wrongly imprisoned for rape [47]

Houston Chronicle, 17 April 2008

DALLAS – After spending nearly 23 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, Thomas Clifford McGowan on Wednesday heard the words that set him free.

Rep. Miles out on bail after turning himself in [48]

Houston Chronicle, 17 April 2008

HOUSTON – State Rep. Borris Miles turned himself in to the Harris County Jail on Wednesday to face two counts of deadly conduct stemming from complaints that he brandished a pistol and made threats at a pair of parties in December.

Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright headed to Dallas [49]

Dallas Morning News, 16 April 2008

DALLAS – The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., presidential candidate Barack Obama's former pastor, is expected to speak in Dallas this month.

First Daughter pays a visit [50]

By CHRISTINE STANLEY, Odessa American, 16 April 2008

ODESSA – First daughter Jenna Bush made a stop Wednesday in Midland to help raise money for her father's childhood home and promote her book, "Ana's Story."

Jenna Bush returns to West Texas to inspire locals to make a difference [51]

By Kathleen Thurber, Midland Reporter-Telegram, 17 April 2008

MIDLAND – In many ways, returning to West Texas is still like coming home, Jenna Bush said Tuesday before speaking to more than 400 at the George W. Bush Childhood Home's fundraiser.

Cuellar, Salinas visit pope at White House [52]

By María González-Escareño, Rio Grande Guardian, 16 April 2008

Pope Benedict XVI visited the White House Wedensday, and among a delegation invited to greet the Pontiff were two of Laredo's top public officials.

Anti-abortion group will meet pope in Washington [53]

By JANET PHELPS, Bryan-College Station Eagle, 16 April 2008

COLLEGE STATION – A locally-founded anti-abortion organization will be represented Wednesday at a White House ceremony to welcome Pope Benedict XVI as he arrives for a private meeting with President George Bush.