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Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct is taking on Judge Sharon Keller's appeal of its sanction.

Your afternoon reading.

Pop quiz: Which elected official's spokesman argued that their workload "may not be evident through a simple review of listings on a calendar"?

With a friend like the federal government, who needs enemies?

Democratic officials in Senate District 22 got together in a Hillsboro restaurant Thursday evening and nominated John Cullar to run for the state Senate seat now held by Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury.

Texas will sue the federal government, yet again, if Texas-specific requirements are not removed from budget legislation that passed the U.S. Senate today, according to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

For his latest attack on Gov. Rick Perry, challenger Bill White has found the perfect messenger: Todd Rundgren.

Your afternoon reading.

It wasn't so much a grilling as a polite discussion this morning between Harris County officials and members of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Despite continued overcrowding at the county's four facilities and ongoing concerns about inmate conditions, the county is expected in November to ask the commission for permission to continue filling the jails with hundreds of so-called "variance beds" — beds beyond the capacity for which the buildings were designed.

Go ahead and quit while you're behind, Gov. Rick Perry is telling challenger Bill White for the second time.

For the second time, Gov. Rick Perry is calling on his Democratic opponent, Bill White, to drop out of the race.

Former State Rep. Pat Haggerty was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in San Diego on Saturday after failing a sobriety test at a police checkpoint. State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, was in the car with Haggerty when the driver was allegedly operating a rental car with a blood-alcohol level exceeding the .08 state limit.

Your afternoon reading.

"Static kill" has emerged as an early candidate for term of the year.

Our remarkable crop of summer interns — optimistic and high-spirited at a low moment for our business — are the future of this thing we do. Their schools should be proud of what they accomplished over the last two months. They themselves should be. We certainly are.