Gubernatorial candidate White talks education, budget during Waco campaign swing [1]
By Michael W. Shapiro, WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD, 4 August 2010
Democrat Bill White hammered Republican Gov. Rick Perry on the state’s dropout rate as he brought his gubernatorial campaign through Waco on Tuesday.
Local Democratic Party leaders to decide soon on challenge to Birdwell [2]
By Michael W. Shapiro, WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD, 4 August 2010
Democratic Party chairs from McLennan County and the nine other counties that form Senate District 22 will decide in the next three weeks whether to nominate a candidate to run against state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury.
Texas officials denounce EPA on two fronts [3]
By Asher Price, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 3 August 2010
Consolidating the fronts on which they're doing battle with Washington, Texas officials sent a defiantly worded letter to environmental officials Monday that merged attacks against greenhouse gas regulation and federal disapproval of the state's air permitting program.
University of Texas' use of race in admissions goes before court [4]
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 3 August 2010
Three federal appeals court judges gave no clear signal Tuesday of how they might rule in a case challenging the University of Texas' consideration of race and ethnicity in undergraduate admissions.
Fort Worth clears way for air pollution testing at drilling sites to begin this month [5]
By Mike Lee, FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 3 August 2010
A highly anticipated series of tests for air pollution around natural gas drilling sites in Fort Worth will start this month.
Fraud found at some colleges [6]
By Melissa Ludwig, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4 August 2010
An undercover congressional investigation into recruiting tactics at for-profit colleges and universities found fraudulent and deceptive marketing practices at 15 institutions in six states, including Texas, and in the District of Columbia.
Dallas city budget expected to include hundreds of layoffs, deep cuts [7]
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4 August 2010
Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm will brief the City Council on Monday on her recommended budget for the coming fiscal year.
Collin County DA: District clerk's office padded time, attendance records [8]
By Ed Housewright, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3 August 2010
Incoming Collin County District Clerk Patricia Crigger rewarded five supervisors in the clerk's office who campaigned for her with a trip to Oklahoma and falsified records to indicate they were on the job during the two-day trip, according to court documents.
Officers would take 3 days without pay [9]
By Marty Schladen, EL PASO TIMES, 4 August 2010
The City Council probably will force almost 1,100 police officers to take off three days without pay in the coming budget year.
El Pasoans question police leave [10]
By Daniel Borunda, EL PASO TIMES, 4 August 2010
El Pasoans were uncertain Tuesday whether a potential three-day furlough for police officers was the best way to deal with a municipal budget crunch.
BP: Mud pumped into well is holding back the oil [11]
By Harry R. Weber and Greg Bluestein, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 4 August 2010
In a significant step toward stopping the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, BP said Wednesday mud that was forced down its blown-out well was holding back the flow of crude in the Gulf of Mexico and it was in a "static condition."
To restore Gulf Coast, ‘real work begins now’ [12]
By Matthew Tresaugue, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4 August 2010
With BP’s troubled well finally stopped, the next great challenge facing the Gulf Coast is the restoration of a marine ecosystem that was under stress even before the disaster.
Low-oxygen area now deeper into Texas waters [13]
By Eric Berger, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3 August 2010
The dead zone off the Texas coast is larger this year than scientists have ever measured, stretching offshore from the Mississippi River to Galveston Island.
Fifth largest dead zone invades more Texas waters [14]
By Sarah Moore, BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE, 3 August 2010
The Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" this summer is the fifth largest it's been since monitoring of it began in 1985, and Texas waters has the largest portion of it ever experienced.
Ex-judge says prison unfair, 'cruel' to him [15]
By Lise Olsen, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3 August 2010
As a prisoner, former U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent has been shunted into solitary confinement, forced to hear the screams of another inmate being raped and ordered by a "cruel" sergeant in the Florida prison system to do calisthenics in the nude, according to allegations in a federal court memorandum filed Tuesday.
Blast probe finds 20 safety violations [16]
By Matthew McGowan, LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 4 August 2010
Texas Tech investigators have linked a Jan. 7 laboratory explosion that severely injured a doctoral candidate to 20 surrounding violations of the university’s safety policy, according to documents released Monday.
Zeta lieutenant arrested in Brownsville [17]
THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD, 4 August 2010
Law enforcement officials say they have captured a top Zeta lieutenant who tried to swim across the Rio Grande on July 24.