Politics
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison undecided on running, but foes aren't
By Tom Benning, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 28 May 2010
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison hasn't decided whether to retire at the end of 2012, and the possibility that she'll run again leaves a major question mark over the already competitive field of candidates lined up to replace her.
Bexar Democrats battle again
By Gilbert Garcia, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 30 May 2010
The Bexar County Democratic Party is less than four weeks into the Dan Ramos era, and party leaders already are in a familiar position: at each other's throats.
Government
Reports cheer reform for uninsured Texans
By Cindy George, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 31 May 2010
Two new reports herald the federal health system overhaul as a bargain for Texas, but one government agency warns the state could be left with a bigger bill than predicted.
EPA re-airs 1990s debate
By Asher Price, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 31 May 2010
In a letter dated Oct. 20, 1994, the director of a Texas environmental research group accused the state environmental agency of turning "Texas' well-established and fairly effective air quality permitting system upside down."
The Pollution "Police"
By Andrew Kreighbaum, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE, 1 June 2010
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has nearly doubled its number of administrative enforcement actions against polluters in the last five years — yet critics charge the agency still levies penalties too small to act as a deterrent.
The Ditch: Do It Yourself
By Ben Philpott, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE, 1 June 2010
On Friday, state agencies were told to cut another 10 percent from their budgets as a way of closing what could be an $18 billion biennial shortfall. But those cuts will only scratch the surface of what's needed, so what to do next? Ben Philpott, who covers state politics for KUT News and the Tribune, posed that question to Austinites enjoying Memorial Day.
ICE fines Medina $30K over errors in worker files
By Maggie Ybarra, EL PASO TIMES, 29 May 2010
Former city council member and county commissioner Larry Medina said he is appealing a $33,000 fine imposed on his insurance company last year by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Split opinions greet board training sessions
By Matthew Haag, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1 June 2010
As the school year ends, school board members across Texas are heading to class.
Vote on EPISD tax hike begins
By Gustavo Reveles Acosta, EL PASO TIMES, 1 June 2010
Early voting starts today on the El Paso Independent School District's proposal to raise taxes.
News
Texans protest Arizona law
By Claire Osborn, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 29 May 2010
Opponents of Arizona's new immigration law had a message for President Barack Obama at a rally Saturday at the Capitol in Austin.
Experts: Texas' textbook clout inflated
By Paul J. Weber, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 31 May 2010
Pop quiz: Does the school curriculum adopted in Texas really wind up in textbooks nationwide? If you answered yes, you might get a failing grade.
Robots prepare well for next attempt
By Jennifer Latson, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1 June 2010
Underwater robots worked Monday to clear away clutter from the wellhead where BP officials hope as early as today to begin cutting broken pipeline in their latest bid to stanch the gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP in 2008: We can handle immense spill
By Allison Fitzgerald, BLOOMBERG NEWS, 31 May 2010
BP said in permit applications for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that it was prepared to handle an oil spill more than 10 times as large as the one now spewing crude there.
Threatening the Safety Net
By Emily Ramshaw, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE, 1 June 2010/h5>
The biggest consumer benefit of federal health care reform — adding millions more Americans to insurance rolls — could spell disaster for some public hospitals. At best, they’ll face an identity crisis, as they’re forced to compete with private doctors and hospitals for newly covered patients. At worst, some of the state’s safety-net hospitals could hemorrhage money and shut their doors all together.
'Spiritual but not religious' becoming more common self-identification
By Joshunda Sanders, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 31 May 2010
Recently released research focusing on millennials, people between the ages of 19 and 30, shows that they are increasingly likely to move away from the faiths they grew up in and blend multiple faiths and spiritual practices as they go through college.
Fishers, residents worry about reports of piracy on South Texas lake
By William Booth, THE WASHINGTON POST, 31 May 2010
International Falcon Reservoir is famous for its monster bass and for the maniacal obsession of the fishermen who come from all over Texas and the world to stalk them. Now this remote reservoir that straddles the international boundary is known for something else: pirates.
Massacre suspect back at Fort Hood
By Sig Christenson, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 31 May 2010
Seven months after “5-11,” as the day is called in Killeen, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan returns to Fort Hood for only the second time since the shooting there that killed 13 people and wounded dozens. The other time he was on the post, under heavy guard, was to meet his defense counsel.
Juárez: 2 boys slain during attack at intersection
By Daniel Borunda, EL PASO TIMES, 1 June 2010
Two boys were among a dozen people killed during the weekend in the Juárez area.
Airborne feds hunt cartels on drug war's loneliest front
By Dane Schiller, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 31 May 2010
The Houston Chronicle was aboard the flight for a rare first-hand look at a little-known program that costs about $49 million annually to operate. It turns 25 this year and is aimed at derailing some of the world's biggest loads of illegal narcotics long before they reach U.S. shores.
Report cites gap between wages, affordable rental homes
By Alex Branch, FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 31 May 2010
The gap between working families' wages and the cost of quality and affordable rental housing is growing and causing hardships nationwide, according to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Houston region closer to large storm surge project
By Eric Berger, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 31 May 2010
As Houston today enters its second hurricane season since Ike devastated the region, there appears to be an increasing sense of urgency to protect the upper Texas coast from future storm surge events.
Dallas library backers rally to fight city's proposed cuts
By Steve Thompson, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1 June 2010
Supporters of Dallas libraries are marshalling their forces to wage a public relations campaign against drastic cuts to libraries proposed by city officials battling a sizable budget shortfall for next year.
Ticket time: Enforcement of booster seat law begins
By Cindy George, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 31 May 2010
Starting today Texas drivers can be ticketed if certain youngsters aren't strapped into booster seats.
People
Accident set Texas Attorney General Abbott on path to politics
By Theodore Kim, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 31 May 2010
Greg Abbott was elected attorney general in 2002. But his political trek began decades earlier – in agony.
Barbara Ann Radnofsky turns trademark intensity to attorney general race
By Theodore Kim, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1 June 2010
Friends and colleagues say Barbara Ann Radnofsky, 53, simply brings to reading the same quality she does to much of her life and work: intensity. The Democrat now has trained her vigorous mind on toppling incumbent Attorney General Greg Abbott.