Politics
Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he'll skip border governors meeting if it's moved out of Arizona
By Christy Hoppe, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 13 July 2010
Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that he won't attend a meeting of border state governors if it isn't held in Arizona, which some of the participants are boycotting in protests of the state's tough new illegal immigration law.
White: Cops aren't immigration agents
By Gilbert Garcia, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 13 July 2010
Bill White tried to create some daylight between himself and Gov. Rick Perry on the hot-button issue of immigration Monday whiley denouncing Arizona's controversial new crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Democrats mulling whether to vie for Averitt's former seat
By Michael W. Shapiro, WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD, 13 July 2010
Waco-area Democratic activists are eagerly waiting to hear whether their party will nominate a candidate to run for state Senate District 22 in November.
Candidate loses spot on ESPN radio show
By Corrie MacLaggan, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 12 July 2010
Local ESPN radio co-host Dan Neil said Monday that he's off the airwaves until November while he runs for the Texas House of Representatives and he blames his opponent, incumbent Donna Howard.
Government
Texas, hospitals work to address nurse shortage
By Jason Roberson, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 12 July 2010
The state is facing a shortage of 71,000 nurses by 2020 as demand continues to outpace supply, the Texas Department of State Health Services says.
Texas Teachers pension fund invests in bankrupt mall giant
By Kate Alexander, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 12 July 2010
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas is buying into the mall business.
Texas Community Colleges Try 'Achieving The Dream'
By Reeve Hamilton, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE, 13 July 2010
The majority of students who enroll in community colleges never make it out with a credential. Some Texas schools are turning to Achieving the Dream, a national initiative that requires them to own up to their problems and improve those success rates.
Coast Guard lifts ban on news coverage near booms
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 12 July 2010
The Coast Guard has modified a policy on safety zones around boom deployed on oiled coastlines, a policy news organizations had said unnecessarily restricted coverage of the impact of the BP oil spill and efforts to clean it up.
Out of chaos comes Houston's term-limit proposal
By Bradley Olson, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12 July 2010
Houston's Term Limits Review Commission voted Monday night to recommend changing the existing limits from three 2-year terms to two 4-year terms.
S.A. doctor blames Medicare woes for decision to close practice
By Patrick Danner, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 13 July 2010
The unpredictability associated with Medicare reimbursements, the recurring threat of cuts in Medicare payments to physicians and mounting bureaucratic hurdles in health care are all to blame for the closing, he said.
Federal housing official in S.A. to offer praise
By Josh Baugh, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 13 July 2010
The secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development hailed the effects of federal stimulus spending on job creation and help for families in need after touring a San Antonio Housing Authority senior-living facility that's being renovated on the city's South Side.
City, state iron out issues on weatherization
By Tracy Idell Hamilton, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 13 July 2010
The city of San Antonio and the state agency that oversees a $327 million stimulus-funded federal weatherization program worked through their difficulties Monday morning, with both sides pledging to make the program a success.
News
BP prepares to test new cap installed on oil leak
By Colleen Long and Harry R. Weber, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 13 July 2010
After securing a new, tight-fitting cap on top of the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP prepared Tuesday to begin tests to see if it will hold and stop fresh oil from polluting the waters for the first time in nearly three months.
2 shootings near bridge not related, officials say
By Maggie Ybarra and Daniel Borunda, EL PASO TIMES, 13 July 2010
A shooting by U.S. agents at the Zaragoza Bridge and a shootout between armed men and Mexican law enforcement officers near the bridge are not connected, the FBI said Monday.
Non-profit says politics might play role in shooting
By Eva Ruth Moravec and Guillermo X. Garcia, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 13 July 2010
San Antonio police insist the semi-automatic rifle fire sprayed at a Southwest Workers Union facility early Sunday, injuring an intern, was meant for a nearby residence. But Genaro Rendon, director of the nonprofit social justice advocacy group, said the shooting at the organization's Solidarity House on the East Side was not a mistake.
Former coach of pair of men killed in Vietnam seeks to have their names placed under correct war on city's war memorial
By Adam D. Young, LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 13 July 2010
A Lubbock war memorial recognizes nearly two dozen area men and women as being killed in action in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The only problem is, two of the men died more than 35 years earlier in Vietnam.