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Thursday, March 18, 2010

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Brian Thevenot spent a dozen years at The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, most recently as special projects editor. As part of a team that covered the worst of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, Thevenot contributed multiple bylines to two winning entries for Pulitzer Prizes, in breaking news and public service. His Katrina reporting also won the Mongerson Prize for Investigative Reporting on the News, from Northwestern University, and the Medal of Valor from the National Association of Minority Media Executives. In 2009, an eight-part series Thevenot edited, chronicling the investigation into an all-too-routine murder of a New Orleans teenager, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in local reporting. In 2005, just before Katrina, Thevenot spent a month reporting on Louisiana soldiers in Baghdad, Iraq and produced a three-part deadline narrative about squad of soldiers hit by a deadly roadside bomb, which was a finalist for Livingston Award. In 2003, Thevenot won a National Headliner Award for education reporting for his 2002 five-part narrative tracking an eigth-grader's struggle to pass Louisiana's high-stakes standardized test. Before joining the Times-Picayune, Thevenot worked as a suburban reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Oklahoma City, Thevenot has a degree in journalism from The University of Missouri-Columbia.

bthevenot@texastribune.org
512-716-8622

Recent Contributions

Re-Educating Austin

by Brian Thevenot  |  3/17/2010

Austin ISD chief Meria Carstarphen talks bluntly about the poisonous politics between the state and the district over the bungled “repurposing” of Pearce Middle School (spoiler alert: she blames the state) and how it informs her efforts to reform the city's failing schools. 

Carstarphen Clip Four

by Brian Thevenot  |  3/15/2010

Carstarphen Clip Two

by Brian Thevenot  |  3/15/2010

Carstarphen Clip Three

by Brian Thevenot  |  3/15/2010

Carstarphen Clip One

by Brian Thevenot  |  3/15/2010

"We're Outnumbered"

by Brian Thevenot  |  3/12/2010  |  7

At Thursday's State Board of Education meeting, as conservatives had their way with social studies standards, voting to limit the discussion of race and gender issues and to challenge the notion of separation of church and state, Democratic members were left to sulk and seethe — and walk out.

The SBOE Gets Medieval

by Brian Thevenot  |  3/11/2010  |  4

When State Board of Education members ventured into world history curriculum at Wednesday's meeting, they carried their modern-day political agendas with them.

The Elefante in the Room

by Brian Thevenot  |  3/4/2010  |  6

Railroad Commission Chairman Victor Carrillo, a seven-year incumbent with a background in the industry he regulates, got trounced in the GOP primary on Tuesday by an unknown, David Porter, who spent little money on the race. He's not the only one who thinks his Hispanic surname cost him his job.

Game On: It's Perry vs. White

by Ross Ramsey, Brian Thevenot and Ben Philpott  |  3/2/2010  |  2

Gov. Rick Perry and former Houston Mayor Bill White claimed their parties' gubernatorial nominations Tuesday night. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison conceded the GOP primary, congratulating Perry on his 11th consecutive statewide victory. White, meanwhile, had enough votes to call an early victory over Farouk Shami and five other Democrats, declaring, "We're gonna have some fun, and Texans are going to come together." Later, he sent a message about a conversation with Shami: "Just spoke to Farouk Shami. Very gracious. He'll help me. I do like his idea of building solar panel factories in Texas."

Primary Color: HD-52

by Brian Thevenot  |  2/26/2010

The GOP smackdown in this Republican-leaning district, now occupied by a freshman Democrat, is really a disagreement over focus. One leading candidate, a Capitol insider, has his sights trained on statewide concerns. The other, a Williamson County insider, focuses more on local concerns — and denigrates his opponent's experience.

Primary Color: The Final Five

by Reeve Hamilton, Ross Ramsey, Brian Thevenot, Julian Aguilar and Andrew Kreighbaum  |  2/26/2010

This is the final day of early voting — a period in which many more energized and engaged Texans cast ballots for their favorite candidates than their counterparts did in 2006. During the last two weeks, we've published fifteen installments in our Primary Color series, analyzing the marquee contested party primaries for Texas House and Senate seats, for Congressional seats, and for slots on the State Board of Education and the Texas Supreme Court. Today we present the last five of our stories. Brian Thevenot reports on the face-off between very different GOP insiders to take on state Rep. Diana Maldonado, D-Round Rock, in House District 52. Julian Aguilar looks at the ideological purity test in HD-43, where incumbent Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, has been called a "closet Republican" by her Democratic challenger. Reeve Hamilton explains how Democrats have to choose between an Agriculture Commissioner candidate with ranching experience and one who's the consummate promoter. Andrew Kreighbaum weighs in on the six-way free-for-all to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Harriet O’Neill in Place 3. And Ross Ramsey contemplates the potential karmic payback of state Rep. Chuck Hopson, of Jacksonville, who quit the Democratic party and filed ...

Talking Back to the Feds

by Brian Thevenot  |  2/24/2010  |  3

"Teachers should be chasing us around," the Texas high school senior told the official from the U.S. Department of Education. "We shouldn't be chasing them. But that doesn't always happen here."

Primary Color: SD-5

by Brian Thevenot  |  2/23/2010

Forget about issues. The GOP primary for this Senate seat in Central Texas is all about honesty and integrity. Incumbent Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, says of his challenger, Ben Bius, "I can't remember the last time he said something truthful." Bius says of Ogden, "I can forgive a man a policy difference if he keeps his word."

The Old College Try

by Brian Thevenot  |  2/19/2010

Since 1999, the number of "dual-credit" students — those who take college courses while still in high school — across Texas has ballooned from fewer than 12,000 to more than 91,000. It's a trend that's likely to continue as state and local policymakers search for ways to better align curricula and to push more kids to continue their education. “Schools have started to look at it as great for kids who might not have thought they were college material,” says an official at the Higher Education Coordinating Board. “It’s both a gifted-and-talented program and a college-accessibility program.”

For Their Own Good

by Brian Thevenot  |  2/18/2010

With a new policy of firing teachers whose students fail to improve, Houston ISD is "is without a doubt the most data-driven district not just in the state, but in the country,” says school board president Greg Meyers.
 
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TribBlog: History with Chuck Norris!

by Brian Thevenot | 3/17/10

TribBlog: Colbert on the State Board of "Edjukashun"

by Brian Thevenot | 3/17/10

TribBlog: SBOE = State Beatniks of Education

by Brian Thevenot | 3/12/10

TribBlog: SBOE Rejects Church-State Wall (Updated)

by Brian Thevenot | 3/11/10

TribBlog: TEA Rips Fox News

by Brian Thevenot | 3/10/10

Brian’s Wire