The Midday Brief: November 23, 2009

Your afternoon reading:

• “Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer is getting out of the race this afternoon, sources said Monday morning, and will endorse Houston Mayor Bill White in the primary.” — Sources: Schieffer's Out, Will Endorse White — The Texas Tribune

• “Bill White is the sort of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer had hoped to be.” — Moderate Democrat 2.0 — The Texas Tribune

• “Houston Mayor Bill White has yet to announce he is running for Governor but that has not stopped state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh from endorsing him.” — Shapleigh endorses Bill White for Governor, ending speculation that he may run — Rio Grande Guardian

• “Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison continues her gun rights push - probably her strongest claim to the affections of conservative voters.” —Gun rights for all, Hutchison says — Trail Blazers

• “Veronica Castillón's desk at the Laredo Independent School District's communications office is laden with letters from fourth-graders hoping to persuade a Fifth Avenue executive their border city is worthy of a big-name bookstore.” — Laredoans issue bookstore pleas — San Antonio Express-News    

New in The Texas Tribune:  

• “We and other political watchers need the same thing, without the partisan ingredients. So we cooked up the Texas Tribune Index.” — 2010: The Texas Tribune Index — The Texas Tribune

• “A mounting number of state employees are retiring from work then getting rehired to the same jobs, padding — and in some cases nearly doubling — their state salaries with pension checks.” — Retired, Rehired — The Texas Tribune

• “That kind of ‘Us vs. Them’, ‘True Republican vs. Moderate’ battle was invisible during the Republican Governor's Association meeting in Bastrop County.” — Peace, Love, and Understanding — The Texas Tribune