A month before primary, Hutchison already predicting a runoff [1]
By Kelley Shannon, Associated Press, 2 February 2010
SAN MARCOS (AP) — Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, suggesting a Republican runoff may be in the offing between her and Gov. Rick Perry, urged supporters Monday to recruit nontraditional GOP primary voters for the March 2 election.
Shami overcame personal, professional obstacles early in life [2]
By Corrie MacLaggan,AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 2 February 2010
When Farouk Shami's parents learned that he was training to become a hairdresser, they threatened to disown him.
Farouk Shami's business has landed in court often [3]
By Claudia Grisales, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 1 February 2010
Farouk Shami's life story Palestinian immigrant turned chairman of a major Houston hair care products company epitomizes the classic journey to the American dream. But Shami's road to success has been paved with plenty of legal potholes.
Shami's style radiates patriotism, passion [4]
By Corrie MacLaggan, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 1 February 2010
Just when you thought Texas politics had plenty of outsized personalities (Exhibit A: a candidate named Kinky, black cowboy hat atop head, trademark cigar brandished), here comes Farouk Shami.
Obama, Hensarling spar over national debt [5]
By TODD J. GILLMAN, The Dallas Morning News, 2 February 2010
WASHINGTON – Last Friday during a riveting, televised question-and-answer session between the president and House Republicans, Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling had a testy confrontation with Barack Obama over fiscal policy.
Houston a key player in race for governor [6]
By R.G. RATCLIFFE, Houston Chronicle, 1 February 2010
AUSTIN – Whether the next governor is a Democrat or a Republican, the greater Houston area will play a major role in deciding that outcome.
Hutchison blasts Perry as arrogant, out of touch [7]
By Gilbert Garcia, San Antonio Express-News, 1 February 2010
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison blasted Gov. Rick Perry Monday as a “hard-right, harsh person” and called his refusal to seek endorsements from Texas newspapers a symptom of a leader who's been in office too long.
Let the family feuds begin [8]
Associated Press, 1 February 2010
WASHINGTON -- 'Tis the season when Democrats and Republicans eat their own.
Perry, Hutchison dominate big Tarrant County donations [9]
By ANNA M. TINSLEY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 February 2010
FORT WORTH -- Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison have dominated high-dollar campaign donations from Tarrant County during the last half of 2009 as they campaigned for governor, collecting more than half a million dollars from local families.
Gubernatorial hopeful Bill White says he sees signs of change in Fort Worth. [10]
By MIKE LEE, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 February 2010
FORT WORTH -- Bill White, a Democrat running for governor, opened an office Monday in staunchly Republican Fort Worth, saying he thinks people across the state are tired of partisanship and declaring himself unworried about the possibility of a runoff in the primary.
Candidate Medina sells her platform [11]
By Alyssa Dizon, LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 2 February 2010
Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina stopped at Texas Tech on Monday evening to speak on her mission to uphold constitutional rights and state sovereignty.
Dinner with Perry [12]
BY DOMINIC GENETTI, Odessa American, 2 February 2010
In an effort to extend his time as the leader of the Lone Star State, Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be in Odessa next week for an invitation-only reception.
Dallas Floodway Extension Project again cut from budget [13]
By TOM BENNING, The Dallas Morning News, 2 February 2010
WASHINGTON – The Dallas Floodway Extension Project, never a favorite of President George W. Bush, can't gain the support of the Obama administration, either.
Odor in the Court [14]
by Morgan Smith, The Texas Tribune, 2 Febraury 2010
Forget all the rhetoric about the Jacksonian premise of a popularly elected judiciary. The public wants cash out of the courtroom — and that could mean pushing elections out, too.
NASA reaffirms JSC's importance [15]
By RICHARD S. DUNHAM and STEWART M. POWELL, Houston Chronicle, 1 February 2010
WASHINGTON — Top NASA officials claimed Monday that Houston's Johnson Space Center will remain at the heart of manned space operations for the coming decade despite the President's proposal to kill the agency's marquee program to return astronauts to the moon.
Money for roads sought [16]
By Gustavo Reveles Acosta, El Paso Times, 2 February 2010
EL PASO -- State legislators on Monday began what will be a long and difficult process to create new revenue streams for highway construction in Texas.
Budget includes millions for S.A. bases [17]
By Gary Martin, San Antonio Express-News, 2 February 2010
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama released Monday a $3.8 trillion budget that includes millions in construction spending at South Texas military installations and more resources to strengthen U.S.-Mexico border security.
Legislators debate road funding [18]
By Josh Baugh, San Antonio Express-News, 1 February 2010
AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers on Monday hammered home that without a new funding method, the Texas Department of Transportation will be unable to build any new roads beyond 2012 and will not have enough money to properly maintain existing roads within two to three years.
Census chief tries easing immigrant fears [19]
Associated Press, 2 February 2010
LAREDO - Police cars and large white vans rumbled down the unpaved road toward the ramshackle houses, where illegal immigrants are among hundreds living in San Carlos, a slapdash neighborhood.
Obama 2011 budget outlines $3.83T in spending [20]
Associated Press, 1 February 2010
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama unveiled a multitrillion-dollar spending plan Monday, pledging an intensified effort to combat high unemployment and asking Congress to quickly approve new job-creation efforts that would boost the deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion.
North Texans revive push for local-option transportation funding bill [21]
By DAVE MONTGOMERY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 February 2010
AUSTIN -- Undaunted by failure in the last two legislative sessions, North Texas leaders are organizing another push behind a local-option transportation bill that would authorize local elections to finance millions of dollars in road and rail projects.
A Matter of Degrees [22]
by Brian Thevenot, The Texas Tribune, 2 February 2010
As it recruits students, Austin Community College makes pitches similar to those of two-year schools statewide, which now educate more than half of Texas collegians. ACC’s slogan — “Start here. Get there.” — implores students to take advantage of its inexpensive and flexible course offerings before moving on to get their university degree.
Mayor believes massacre at Juárez party that killed 16 was random [23]
Associated Press, 1 February 2010
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico – The mayor of this violent Mexican border city said Monday that he fears a shooting that killed 16 students at a birthday party may have been random because the victims were "good kids" with no apparent ties to drug gangs.
3,800 fewer soldiers may be on way to Fort Bliss [24]
By Chris Roberts, El Paso Times, 2 February 2010
EL PASO -- Fort Bliss may not get 3,800 soldiers it had banked on.
Pentagon penalizes Lockheed for F-35 delays [25]
By BOB COX, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 February 2010
The Pentagon will withhold $614 million from Lockheed Martin in "award fees" for the continuing problems and delays in development of the F-35 joint strike fighter, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today.
NASA to refocus, moon program killed [26]
By T.J. Aulds, The Galveston County Daily News, 2 February 2010
NASA’s budget received a $6 billion boost over five years in President Barack Obama’s proposed budget Monday, but the increase in overall spending comes with a price.
El Pasoan named Environmental Protection Agency regional chief [27]
By Zahira Torres, El Paso Times, 2 February 2010
AUSTIN -- Cleaning up the old Asarco smelter and making sure that state-issued air-quality permits meet federal standards are some of the challenges facing the El Paso native who is the EPA's new regional chief.
Killer's penalty now is life term [28]
By Craig Kapitan, San Antonio Express-News, 2 February 2010
Capital murder convict Gabriel Gonzales returned to the same Bexar County courtroom Monday where, 13 years earlier, a jury had condemned him to die for killing a pawnshop owner during a robbery.
A musical life [29]
By Tim Sampson, The Kerrvilee Daily Times, 2 February 2010
All the Kerrville residents who were shocked by the sudden injection of “sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll” brought forth by the first Kerrville Folk Festival in 1972, may have been even more shocked to find out the rebellion was organized by a classical music fan.