That's Right, He's Not From Texas [1]
by Ross Ramsey, The Texas Tribune, 4 February 2010
Farouk Mohammed Shami, who's running for governor as a Democrat, has a strong Middle Eastern accent and a strange name. Some of his fellow Democrats are loathe to talk about it. He's not worried. "If a president can be named Barack Hussein Obama, a governor can be named Farouk Shami," he says. "If a president can be black, a governor can be brown."
Heir Apparent [2]
by Emily Ramshaw, The Texas Tribune, 4 February 2010
When State Rep. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, bowed out of her reelection bid on Wednesday to plead guilty to lying on a tax return, she handed what should be an easy victory to her opponent, Eric Johnson. It’s a good thing for Johnson, a neighborhood boy turned Ivy League attorney: He faced an uphill battle to defeat her.
Hodge’s guilty plea clears way for challenger Eric Johnson [3]
By GROMER JEFFERS JR., The Dallas Morning News, 4 February 2010
Terri Hodge’s guilty plea on Tuesday stunned friends and foes, while adding a new player to the political landscape in southern Dallas.
Dallas lawmaker pleads guilty, agrees to resign [4]
By Mike Ward and Jason Embry, Austin American-Statesman, 3 February 2010
State Rep. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas , ended her re-election campaign and pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from a widespread influence-peddling investigation at Dallas City Hall.
State lawmaker pleads guilty in corruption case [5]
By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 February 2010
State Rep. Terri Hodge pleaded guilty Wednesday to fraud and making false statements on an income tax return in connection with a bribery scheme involving Dallas city officials and developers.
Hodge's name to remain on ballot [6]
By GROMER JEFFERS Jr., The Dallas Morning News, 3 February 2010
Terri Hodge's guilty plea on Wednesday stunned friends and foes, while adding a new player to the political landscape in southern Dallas.
Medina has fundamentally changed GOP race for governor [7]
By Jason Embry, Austin American-Statesman, 3 February 2010
This isn't the governor's race we thought we were going to get.
McCaul pushes cybersecurity bill in Congress [8]
By Tim Eaton, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 3 February 2010
Congress debated a measure Wednesday that was designed to address weaknesses in the nation's computer security.
Hutchison's record is two-edged sword [9]
By STEWART M. POWELL, Houston Chronicle, 3 February 2010
WASHINGTON — Rarely do Texas senators try to trade in their Capitol Hill clout to become governor of the Lone Star State.
Survey: White trails GOP contenders [10]
By R.G. RATCLIFFE, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3 February 2010
AUSTIN — Former Houston Mayor Bill White may be trailing all three Republican candidates for governor in a new survey, but a top Democratic consultant said it shows him as well-positioned to start the general election.
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison sees runoff against Perry [11]
By Zahira Torres, El Paso Times, 3 February 2010
EL PASO -- U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison campaigned on the border Wednesday, and said she is preparing for a runoff election in the Republican race for governor.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison lines up education first in campaign priorities [12]
By Darren Meritz, El Paso Times, 4 February 2010
EL PASO -- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison called education the top priority in her bid to become Texas governor while at a campaign stop in El Paso on Wednesday.
Hutchison: Changing military policy on gays would cause 'discomfort' [13]
By Zahira Torres, El Paso Times, 3 February 2010
EL PASO -- A recommendation from two top military officials to end the "don't ask, don't tell" law met resistance today from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
A Hard Road [14]
by Abby Rapoport, The Texas Tribune, 4 February 2010
State lawmakers have their own special vocabulary for describing the Texas Department of Transportation: Intractable. Defensive. Secretive. Broken.
Comptroller cautious about budget shortfall predictions [15]
By ROBERT T. GARRETT, The Dallas Morning News, 3 February 2010
AUSTIN – Comptroller Susan Combs said Wednesday that she's not buying into predictions of a state fiscal meltdown – yet.
LaHood blasts state over high-speed rail [16]
By RICHARD S. DUNHAM, Houston Chronicle, 3 February 2010
WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood blamed Texas officials Wednesday for the state's failure to win federal aid for a high-speed rail system linking its major cities.
'Virtual' border fence plagued by glitches, long delays [17]
By JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press, 3 February 2010
PHOENIX (AP) - An ambitious, $6.7 billion government project to secure nearly the entire Mexican border with a "virtual fence" of cameras, ground sensors and radar is in jeopardy after a string of technical glitches and delays.
Department of Public Health expansion: Crucial building block [18]
By David Pittman, Amarillo Globe-News, 4 February 2010
A smile comes to Matt Richardson's face when he begins to show off the new digs for the Amarillo Department of Public Health.
Shell lays out plan for 1,000 more job cuts [19]
Bloomberg News, 4 February 2010
Royal Dutch Shell Plc laid out plans for 1,000 extra job cuts and savings of $1 billion this year because of a “challenging” outlook for refining.
Mourner bury Ciudad Juarez massacre victims [20]
By DUDLEY ALTHAUS, Houston Chronicle, 3 February 2010
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Nearly 1,000 mourners braved a driving rain Wednesday to bury many of the 12 teenage students and three family men whose massacre Sunday stunned Mexico and even this violence-jaded city.
Houston won't host RNC in '12 [21]
By JOE HOLLEY, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3 February 2010
OK, Houston, put the fine china back in the hutch; stack the new guest towels on the top shelf of the linen closet. The Republicans are not coming to Houston — not, at least, in 2012.
UTEP bucks donation trend [22]
By Adriana Gómez Licón, El Paso Times, 4 February 2010
EL PASO -- The University of Texas at El Paso is bucking a national trend in which universities saw a dramatic decline in donations by having a sizable increase.
1 in 5 in S.A. got emergency food aid [23]
By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, San Antonio Express-News, 3 February 2010
The largest study ever of hunger in America found that last year, 37 million people — or one in eight — regularly received food assistance through food banks, food pantries, soup lines or shelters.
Bus companies accused of immigrant smuggling [24]
By Susan Carroll, Houston Chronicle, 4 February 2010
HOUSTON — Federal agents, vowing to continue cracking down on smuggling organizations' transportation networks, have targeted more than a dozen local bus companies they say shuttled scores of unauthorized immigrants across the United States.
Austin journalist known for 'Capital Eye' [25]
By Michael Barnes, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 3 February 2010
Winston Bode, Austin journalist, broadcaster and biographer, died in a nursing home Monday. He was 84.
Texas doctor saving lives, easing pain, and wishing he could do more in Haiti [26]
By SCOTT FARWELL, The Dallas Morning News, 3 February 2010
PETIONVILLE, Haiti – Dr. Matt Johnson seems lost in a pool of isolation, arms crossed, looking down at a woman whose belly is rounded in the seventh month of pregnancy. She's twitching, foaming at the mouth and nose, eyes rolled back in her head.
Former Dallas mayor takes travel break, talks up 'smart trade' in D.C. [27]
By TODD J. GILLMAN, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Sometime before Christmas, Ron Kirk realized he had just circled the globe twice in a month pitching the Obama trade agenda: Singapore, India, China, home for Thanksgiving, back to Singapore, back to China.