The Evening Brief: March 2, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

• Hot Seat: Estes, Crownover on Not Backing Ron Paul : “At Monday's Hot Seat conversation in Denton, state Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, and state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, talked about their unwillingness to support a certain Texas congressman in 2012.”

• Hard Times Claim Storied Press Outpost in Austin: “The last Austin bureau chief, Dave Montgomery — Davey Joe to his friends — is expected to take a buyout this month and will probably end up freelancing, perhaps for the Star-Telegram. It’s hard to imagine the Austin press corps without Dave, who has spent 46 years in the newspaper business, 31 of them at the Star-Telegram.”

• Texas Higher Ed Coalition Gathers in Austin: “Speakers on the closed-door meeting's agenda include a who's who (or perhaps the usual suspects) list from last year's debate. It includes former President George W. Bush adviser Karen Hughes, former U.S. Ambassador and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board chairwoman Pam Willeford, former presidents of both UT-Austin and A&M, and outspoken A&M professor Jaime Grunlan.”

Culled:

• Suehs responds angrily to Planned Parenthood activists (Austin American-Statesman): “Planned Parenthood encouraged members to send Suehs an email telling him to “stop playing politics with women’s health.” And according to emails obtained by the American-Statesman, the commissioner responded to a couple of them.

• Analysis: Latino Prospects in Senate Dwindle (NBC Latino): “Not only is (Ted) Cruz the underdog to wealthy Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, but Cruz is in danger of finishing third in the initial primary, behind the former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert, and missing the run-off altogether. Cruz has raised over $3 million, but it’s nowhere near enough to raise his profile with campaign ads in such a large state with multiple expensive media markets.”

• Fewer in Juárez live in fear: Residents' perception of city improves (El Paso Times): “A recent survey found that 89 percent of the residents feel very or completely unsafe in the city, compared with 95 percent in 2010.  However, researchers were encouraged by a high level of willingness to participate in neighborhood efforts to prevent crime.”