White rips into Perry for no-show in governor debate [1]
By R.G. Ratcliffe, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5 July 2010
Gov. Rick Perry, absent from the first candidate face-off of the general election, became the target of the Democratic and Libertarian nominees for governor Monday night as they chided him for being unwilling to take questions from taxpayers.
Perry, White trading video jabs [2]
By R.G. Ratcliffe, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6 July 2010
They look like television commercials for Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic challenger Bill White, but they actually are Internet videos that the campaigns and partisans churn out on a weekly basis.
Texas GOP Incorporates Some Tea Party Positions [3]
By Morgan Smith, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE, 6 July 2010
If the rainbow flavors of the Tea Party feature a common taste, it’s that of fiscally restrained government — and the anti-Washington and pro-state fervor that comes along with it. Not coincidentally, that was the overwhelming theme of the Republican Party of Texas’ recent convention, setting the tone — as the Democrats did in their state gathering — for the November general election.
In Fort Worth and beyond, Coffee Party tries for more civil approach [4]
By Anna M. Tinsley, FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5 July 2010
As people nationwide connect with the Coffee Party, Park and others believe they are getting closer to that calm dialogue. On Facebook, nearly 230,000 have signed on to the "Join the Coffee Party Movement." At least 680 have signed on to the movement in Texas and more than 100 in Fort Worth, according to their Facebook pages.
Tea Party holds Independence Day event [5]
By Michael Barajas, VALLEY MORNING STAR, 4 July 2010
Families gathered at the Harlingen Public Library on Saturday afternoon to ring in Independence Day with songs, face painting, ice cream and patriotic speeches in an event put on by the Harlingen Area Tea Party.
Government may end hands-off approach to disaster planning for offshore drillers [6]
By Dave Michaels, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6 July 2010
Little oversight has been given to contingency planning in recent years, even as oil companies such as BP and Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp. pushed deeper and deeper into the Gulf of Mexico, lawmakers and environmental groups say. Now, that laissez-faire approach to disaster planning may be ending, as Congress and federal agencies rewrite the regulation of offshore exploration.
Human smugglers showing violent upswing, ICE says [7]
By Susan Carroll, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5 July 2010
ICE Assistant Special Agent Sean McElroy said in the past year investigators have seen an upswing in cases involving weapons and an escalation in the level of violence in Houston's human smuggling trade. McElroy said ICE does not specifically track instances of smuggling-related violence, though he rattled off a string of recent cases to prove his point. There was the bust that rescued the 11 illegal immigrants from El Pelon and his accomplices, a case scheduled for trial in federal court this fall.
Texas may have utilities replace steel gas lines to prevent explosions [8]
By Elizabeth Souder, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6 July 2010
Natural gas utilities might have to dig up neighborhoods across Texas to replace hundreds of thousands of steel service lines to prevent explosions.
Schools' stimulus spending tough to track amid varied reporting rules [9]
By Jessica Meyers and Karel Holloway, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6 July 2010
Districts must report whom they've paid when they spend at least $25,000 in stimulus funds, but don't have to say what they've purchased. Anything less than that doesn't require federal reporting.
Red-light cameras spark debate in Texas cities [10]
By Theodore Kim, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5 July 2010
Red-light cameras, which have split the driving public like few other topics of the road, are reaching a public opinion crossroads.
Murguía will lead Juárez again [11]
By Adriana Gómez Licón, EL PASO TIMES, 6 July 2010
Juárez residents' message was clear at the polls on Sunday: They wanted Héctor "Teto" Murguía back in power.
Counting phase of census winding down with few major problems [12]
By Steve Campbell, FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5 July 2010
The two-month-long door-to-door campaign to tally the 48 million households that didn't return the 2010 Census form is 98.8 percent complete, officials said Friday.
E-mails show ex-Farmers Branch official warned of expensive fight over immigration ordinance [13]
By Dianne Solís, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5 July 2010
The Farmers Branch City Council was warned by its former city manager that litigation over its immigration ordinance would be costly and that similar issues were already being litigated by the city of Hazleton, Pa., "with somebody else's money," according to e-mails disclosed in lawsuits against the city.
Texas program aims to help ex-inmates re-enter society [14]
By Alex Branch, FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5 July 2010
Under the Out4Life plan, coalitions will be formed in communities and will be designed to help ex-offenders overcome the most common barriers to re-entry: the inability to find stable jobs and housing, and turning to substance abuse.
Austin may require future employees to work longer for pensions [15]
By Sarah Coppola, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 4 July 2010
To bolster its largest, ailing pension fund, the City of Austin might require future employees to work longer than current employees must to retire and collect a pension.
Texas beaches see first tar balls from spill [16]
By Richard Fausset and Bob Drogin, LOS ANGELES TIMES, 5 July 2010
Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill was reported on a Texas beach for the first time as stormy weather Monday plagued new cleanup plans in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil hits all Gulf states; Texas tar balls found [17]
By Juan A. Lozano, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 6 July 2010
More than two months after oil gushing from a blown-out well on the ocean floor first reached Louisiana, the relentless spread of crude has now washed up on every Gulf state after a bucket's worth of tar balls hit a Texas beach.
Juárez Elections Don't Translate To Hope For Many [18]
By Julian Aguilar, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE, 6 July 2010
Cuidad Juárez's mayoral election has Texas' economic leaders intrigued as the border city plans to bid its current mayor farewell in October. For residents in the city plagued by cartel violence, little change is expected, and many brace for continued bloodshed.
Lawsuit Between Rival Lobby Shops Shakes Profession [19]
By Morgan Smith, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE, 6 July 2010
HillCo's lawsuit against two of its departing partners is threatening business as usual in the insular world of the Texas lobby, raising the specter of open combat in an industry that prefers to settle its fights behind closed doors. But as its allegations make plain, HillCo believes that two rogue employees are the ones that crossed the line, turning competition for clients into espionage and biting down hard on the hand that fed them.
Firm chosen to build Bush library has ties to donor [20]
By Lori Stahl, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5 July 2010
One of former President George W. Bush's top financial donors has close ties to the construction company picked to build the presidential library at SMU, Bush officials have confirmed.
UT's 'Mr. Anonymous' a force behind research [21]
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 4 July 2010
Peter O'Donnell, 86, is the university's best-known anonymous donor. He and his wife, Edith, who established the O'Donnell Foundation in 1957, have contributed more than $135 million to UT, placing them among the university's most generous benefactors.
'70s scandal opened the door for Briscoe [22]
By Joe Holley, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4 July 2010
For Dolph Briscoe Jr., who died last Sunday at age 87 at his home in Uvalde, Sharpstown in the early 1970s signaled opportunity. The wealthy Brush Country rancher and former state legislator had run for governor in 1968, finishing fourth in a 10-man race for the Democratic primary. Four years later, with top Texas Democrats embroiled in scandal emanating from Houston's Sharpstown State Bank, the stage was set for an outsider unencumbered by ties to the bank and its wheeler-dealer owner, developer Frank Sharp.