Politics
Perry not happy with insurance reform
By Gary Scharrer, San Antonio Express-News, 25 April 2008
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry used earthy language to express displeasure with the pace of insurance reform in a casual conversation with San Antonio lawmakers this week — and hinted he's ready to take a much tougher stand with the industry, say two legislators who were there.
Perry asks Washington to waive ethanol mandate
By W. Gardner Selby, Jason Embry, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 26 April 2008
AUSTIN – Citing higher corn and food prices, Gov. Rick Perry asked the federal government to reducefor a year a national standard mandating more ethanol at the gas pump.
GOP convention cut short
By MOLLY BALL, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 27 April 2008
RENO – The state Republican convention was called off Saturday evening without electing national delegates, prompting protests from a record crowd that included many supporters of presidential candidate Ron Paul.
Ron Paul is down but not out
By JONATHAN MARTIN, Politico, 26 April 2008
WASHINGTON – Two candidates not named John McCain got a combined 219,913 votes in the Pennsylvania Republican primary Tuesday, and one of them is still in the race.
Nev. GOP recesses state convention, angering Paul supporters
Waco Tribune-Herald, 27 April 2008
RENO, Nev. – Outmaneuvered by raucous Ron Paul supporters, Nevada Republican Party leaders abruptly shut down their state convention and now must resume the event to complete a list of 31 delegates to the GOP national convention.
Paul has a novel idea for his campaign leftovers
By PATRICK BRENDEL, Houston Chronicle, 26 April 2008
WASHINGTON – Ron Paul failed to translate an impressive fundraising operation into widespread support for his 2008 bid for the presidency, but the Lake Jackson Republican still may end up hitting pay dirt.
Sen. Cornyn criticizes McCain's gas-tax holiday proposal
By TODD J. GILLMAN, Dallas Morning News, 27 April 2008
WASHINGTON – There's more pain at the pump than ever.
Moody lifts self-imposed campaign funding limits
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 28 April 2008
AUSTIN – Democratic Texas House candidate Joe Moody said Friday he has changed his mind about limiting contributions to his campaign, a promise he said before would show El Paso voters that he was not for sale.
Perry will attract GOP challengers
San Angelo Standard-Times, 27 April 2008
SAN ANGELO – No politician's decision to seek re-election sets off dancing in the streets, but Gov. Rick Perry's recent declaration was greeted with especially low enthusiasm.
Young women unseat 2 veteran state lawmakers
By J. Antonio Marquez, El Paso Times, 27 April 2008
EL PASO – After reading a recent article in the San Antonio Express written by Gary Scharrer, Austin bureau correspondent, I felt compelled to make these comments.
Government
State faces shortfall in roads money
By Gustavo Reveles Acosta, El Paso Times, 26 April 2008
EL PASO – Texas is between $40 billion and $60 billion short of its transportation needs for the next decade, and El Paso's roads will be affected, state officials told regional leaders on Friday.
Border fence target: 300 miles in 8 months
By DAVE MONTGOMERY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 April 2008
WASHINGTON – At a cost of up to $4 million a mile, the concrete and steel fence rising along the Southwest border constitutes one of the most ambitious public works projects in years, encompassing legions of federal bureaucrats and a lineup of blue-ribbon contractors.
Foster to testify at Monday's border wall hearing in Brownsville
By Joey Gomez, Rio Grande Guardian, 26 April 2008
Texas Border Coalition Chairman Chad Foster will tell a U.S. congressional field hearing Monday that the border fence plan has been developed on a false premise – that one size fits all.
Hearing on border fence along Texas-Mexico border set Monday
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 April 2008
BROWNSVILLE – A congressional panel on Monday will hear about a plan to limit the federal Homeland Security Department's ability to speed up the process of building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
State business tax draws concern
By TERRENCE STUTZ, Dallas Morning News, 28 April 2008
AUSTIN – Hundreds of thousands of Texas businesses, fresh from paying their federal income taxes earlier this month, are now busy calculating what they owe the state under its new business tax – and many don't like what the numbers show.
State bets lottery can cash in on Flintstone
By Karisa King, San Antonio Express-News, 26 April 2008
SAN ANTONIO – They're a modern Stone Age family from the town of Bedrock.
Border Patrol agents combat rock-throwers with paintball guns
Dallas Morning News, 26 April 2008
TUCSON, Ariz. – Some U.S. Border Patrol agents along the Mexican border are packing paintball rifles, but they're not being used for games.
El Paso says state environmental agency unfairly met with smelting company
Austin American-Statesman, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – City of El Paso attorneys say meetings between members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and lawyers for a copper smelting company may have broken state rules.
Lewisville red-light cameras stalled while TxDOT reviews
By JAY PARSONS, Dallas Morning News, 27 April 2008
LEWISVILLE – This city's efforts to install red-light cameras have been slowed by a long yellow light.
Texas roads
Lufkin Daily News, 27 April 2008
LUFKIN – "It is an abdication of responsibility." That's what Gov. Rick Perry thinks of the possibility that the Texas Legislature might again stand in the way of his efforts to privatize the construction of toll roads across Texas.
Interstates shouldn't be turned into toll roads
Beaumont Enterprise, 28 April 2008
BEAUMONT – As a recession looms and state budgets get tighter, more state legislatures are thinking about a quick source of revenue - installing toll booths on their interstate highways. Congress should put a stop to those thoughts before they go any further.
Sound ruling
Houston Chronicle, 26 April 2008
HOUSTON – In a reversal of a previous recommendation, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board unanimously accepted Commissioner Raymund Paredes' recommendation that it deny an application by the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research to offer master's degrees in science education to its students.
The double trouble of taxation
By Ron Paul, Victoria Advocate, 21 April 2008
VICTORIA – Taxes were on the forefront of many Americans’ minds this week as they scrambled to meet the April 15 deadline to file their returns.
News
Lawyers: 2 sect kids missing
BY MIKE BAIRD and DAN KELLEY, San Angelo Standard-Times, 25 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – A Corpus Christi attorney representing two mothers from the Schleicher County polygamist retreat raided this month claims that child welfare authorities cannot account for two bo ys.
Catholic Charities takes in 35 kids seized from polygamous sect
By CHRIS VAUGHN, Fort Worth Star-Te legram, 26 April 2008
FORT WORTH – Almost three dozen children removed by state officials from a polygamist compound near Eldorado arrived in Fort Worth on Friday afternoon, taking temporary shelter at a former orphanage.
Children from West Texas polygamist sect find shelter in Waco
By Emily Ingram, Waco Tribune-Herald, 26 April 2008
WACO – Four buses hauling some of the 462 children taken from a West Texas polygamist sect arrived at Waco’s Methodist Children’s Home on Friday afternoon, the latest chapter in a controversial saga that has riveted the nation.
Attorney: 2 sect kids are missing
By Mike Baird, Dan Kelley, Corpus Chrisit Caller-Times, 26 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – A Corpus Christi attorney representing two mothers from the West Texas polygamist retreat claims child welfare authorities cannot account for two boys, but the state says that's not true.
Lubbock unlikely to house kids from polygamist sect
By Robin Pyle, LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 26 April 2008
LUBBOCK – It is likely none of the children seized from a polygamist compound near Eldorado will make Lubbock their new home, local children's home officials said.
Care of sect could top $5 million
By Nancy Martinez and Janet Elliott, San Antonio Express-News, 25 April 2008
SAN ANTONIO – Bus convoys carrying 265 children bound for foster homes around the state pulled out of San Angelo at midday Friday, ending a three-week emergency shelter operation launched in the wake of a raid on a West Texas polygamist sect.
Local lawyer, child welfare staff assist in polygamist sect case
By Jeremy Roebuck, McAllen Monitor, 27 April 2008
McALLEN – Johnathan Ball's career was defending clients in minor civil suits and criminal charges - until he found himself involved in the largest child welfare case in state history.
Eldorado children's fate in hands of little-known process
By Chuck Lindell, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – The fate of 462 children who were separated from their parents in a polygamous sect will be decided in a little-known, highly regimented legal process in the civil court system.
Did Texas go too far in polygamy case?
By Chuck Lindell, Corrie MacLaggan, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – After a long night interviewing children inside a polygamist ranch near Eldorado, Child Protective Services caseworkers made a crucial decision as the police-backed raid entered its second day.
Remaining children from West Texas polygamist sect moved to foster homes
By Andrea Ball, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 26 April 2008
AUSTIN – For the more than 460 children removed from a West Texas polygamist sect this month, life has changed yet again.
Still more boys slated to stay at Boys Ranch
By Sean Thomas, Amarillo Globe-News, 26 April 2008
AMARILLO – Cal Farley's Boys Ranch is taking in 18 more boys taken from a raid on a polygamist sect outside Eldorado.
Educating FLDS children
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 April 2008
FORT WORTH – Come Monday, a team of administrators and educators from the Midland Independent School District will begin evaluating FLDS children at the High Sky Children's Ranch.
Caretakers get pointers on handling sect's kids
Bryan-College Station Eagle, 27 April 2008
COLLEGE STATION – From Amarillo to Houston, children from the polygamist ranch in West Texas are settling into new surroundings, and caretakers are getting cultural pointers on how to deal with them – such as no television, no movies, no radio and nothing red.
Polygamist sect pleads for Perry's help to get children back
Houston Chronicle, 26 April 2008
HOUSTON – Acting as a representative for the women and children of the Yearning for Zion ranch near Eldorado, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Willie Jessop again asked Texas Gov. Rick Perry to "block the separation of our 437 children from their mothers" in a letter sent Saturday.
Debate grows over polygamists' case
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – In a debate that is likely to linger for years, lawyers are arguing whether the state of Texas went too far in removing all children, down to infants, from a polygamist retreat in West Texas.
Laredo case involving slain 13-year-old will test Texas' 'castle law'
Dallas Morning News, 26 April 2008
LAREDO – A man who shot and killed a 13-year-old breaking into his mobile home has been indicted for murder in a case that could test a new law giving Texans more leeway to defend themselves with deadly force.
Cook saw dragging at boot camp
By Mary Ann Cavazos, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 26 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – A witness testified on Friday that she saw two Christian boot camp officials abuse a 15-year-old girl last summer at a Banquete ranch, including dragging her behind a van.
Continental ends merger discussion
By TERRY MAXON, The Dallas Morning News, 27 April 2008
DALLAS – Continental Airlines Inc., rumored to be in merger talks with United Airlines Inc. parent UAL Corp., told its employees Sunday that it has decided not to merge with any other carrier.
Continental chooses to fly solo, for now
By BILL HENSEL JR. and BRETT CLANTON, Houston Chronicle, 27 April 2008
HOUSTON – Continental Airlines decided Sunday not to merge with any of its rivals for now, although officials said it could forge stronger ties with other carriers as the industry struggles to solve mounting fuel costs.
Continental Airlines tells employees it won't seek merger
Waco Tribune-Herald, 26 April 2008
DALLAS – Continental Airlines Inc. said Sunday it would not pursue a combination with another carrier right away, a surprising move after weeks of growing speculation that it would join with United Airlines to create the world's biggest airline.
'You're not a bad kid'
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – With the exception of the time he spent locked up in various juvenile detention programs, Billy has spent his entire life in government subsidized housing.
Counting dropouts
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – For kids like Billy, who left Travis High School in ninth grade, dropping out represents more than a missed opportunity to learn geography and math.
Explaining bipolar disorder
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – With his mood disorder diagnoses, Billy represents a growing issue for the Texas Youth Commission.
The cost of dropping out
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – Billy started skipping classes in middle school.
A man with a record
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – In a 6-by-4-foot cinder block room in the courthouse basement divided by a glass security window — jail on one side, free world on the other — Billy weighs his options.
In trouble again
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – 'Oh, my God," Charlie, the mother of Billy's daughter, said one day in the fall. "In three months, I'll be 20. But I don't feel 20. I feel ... 13."
A constant struggle
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – Billy left Crockett State School in June with a General Educational Development certificate and high hopes, but by late July, he seems stalled.
Struggling on parole
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – The entire family accompanies Billy on his first visit to the Texas Youth Commission's parole office on East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
'Everything's gonna be new'
By Eric Dexheimer, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, 27 April 2008
AUSTIN – "Byers!" the guard shouted one day in June. "Your ride is here."
State acted responsibly in taking sect's children
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 27 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – The state's Child Protective Services has come in for plenty of criticism in the past for its failures to take action.
Boys Ranch answers the call
Amarillo Globe-News, 26 April 2008
AMARILLO – When Cal Farley established and chartered "America's First Boys Ranch" in 1939, the goal was to help boys find a "shirttail to hang onto."
Corrosive iron gall ink threatens Austin's papers
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 27 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – Stephen F. Austin is called the "Father of Texas" with good reason.
Cleaner, cheaper, safer
Houston Chronicle, 25 April 2008
HOUSTON – ''We need all of it.'' That's the mantra of the energy giants as they defend plans to build at least five new coal-fired power plants in Texas.
People
Celis indicted on two charges
By Denise Malan, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 26 April 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – A Nueces County grand jury handed up two indictments Friday against former law firm operator Mauricio Celis, charging him with money laundering and impersonating a lawyer.
Washington says he's innocent, will fight shooting charge
By BRIAN ROGERS, Houston Chronicle, 26 April 2008
HOUSTON – Flanked by more than three dozen lawyers and supporters, former U.S. Rep. Craig Washington declared his innocence on the courthouse steps this morning.
Former congressman indicted in shooting
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 April 2008
HOUSTON – Former U.S. Rep. Craig Washington was indicted this week on an aggravated-assault charge, accused of shooting at an 18-year-old man in January.
Ex-official says he's innocent
Bryan-College Station Eagle, 26 April 2008
HOUSTON – Former U.S. Rep. Craig Washington proclaimed his innocence Friday to a charge that he fired a gun at an 18-year-old's car as the teen was driving on a downtown Houston street.
Former Obama pastor preaches in Dallas
By SAM HODGES, Dallas Morning News, 27 April 2008
DALLAS – The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, longtime pastor of presidential candidate Barack Obama, preached to a full and very supportive house at Friendship-West Baptist Church in South Dallas this morning.
Obama's former pastor Wright speaks in Dallas
By AMAN BATHEJA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 April 2008
FORT WORTH – Urging the black community to stand up to injustice and stem the tide against rape, Rev. Jeremiah Wright delivered two sermons at a South Dallas megachurch in South Dallas on Sunday morning.
Obama's pastor preaches in Dallas
Waco Tribune-Herald, 27 April 2008
DALLAS – The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the embattled pastor of presidential candidate Barack Obama, gave a 45-minute sermon on Sunday that included a reference to his "public crucifixion" for past comments from the pulpit.
Tech's Whitmore on short list for San Jose State
By Marlena Hartz, LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 27 April 2008
LUBBOCK – Texas Tech's departing president could be tapped to lead San Jose State University.
Bush library isn't SMU President Gerald Turner's first brush with controversy
By HOLLY K. HACKER and PAUL MEYER, Dallas Morning News, 27 April 2008
DALLAS – R. Gerald Turner is no novice when it comes to handling academic and social controversy.
Come on, critics: Make Texas Land commissioner's day
By JAY ROOT, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 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.
Texas license plates promote presidential candidate
By EMILY RAMSHAW, Dallas Morning News, 28 April 2008
AUSTIN – Rachel Farris isn't superstitious, but she knew the 666-HXX license plates on her Scion tC were a bad omen.
Lena Guerrero, once a rising star in Texas politics, dies after battling cancer
By W. Gardner Selby, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 25 April 2008
AUSTIN – Lena Guerrero, whose historic rise in Texas politics raised bright expectations before she tumbled in a self-induced résumé flap, withstood inoperable cancer for eight years. She succumbed Thursday at age 50.
Lena Guerrero was shooting star
Waco Tribune-Herald, 27 April 2008
WACO – The first time I met Lena Guerrero, the former Texas railroad commissioner and former state representative who died last week, she was on top of her game.
