Enlarge credit: Bob Daemmrich

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott accused the federal government of putting U.S. citizens' lives at risk following a reported cross-border shooting Thursday in Hudspeth County. During the incident, first reported by the El Paso Times, at least one Mexican gunman allegedly shot toward Hudspeth County workers in rural West Texas who were doing maintenance on a desolate road.

If the lieutenant governor's job comes open in 2014, Comptroller Susan Combs is interested. But that's a long way off, she says, and everything has to line up just right.

Your afternoon reading: Tea Party weighs in on the Senate race, and Jerry Patterson looks to move up

On the heels of Kay Bailey Hutchison's announcement that she won't run for another term in the U.S. Senate and rampant speculation that David Dewhurst will run for her seat, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson today walked up to the edge of saying he plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2014.

The KBH guessing game is over (finally). Now comes the fun part.

Your afternoon reading: Hutchison to retire; Pitts on the budget; Berman targets Sharia law

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, issued a letter to supporters announcing that she will not be seeking re-election in 2012.

Trib CEO Evan Smith spent the morning interviewing House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, at a TribLive event. And Pitts made some news. Here are a few headlines. 

The Legislature quieted down Wednesday, but changes to state government were afoot.

State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, announced Wednesday she had filed legislation to make the sale, manufacture and possession of fake marijuana, commonly referred to as K2, illegal. The bill, SB 331, would outlaw six synthetic compounds that mimic the effects of THC, or Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana.

The Sunset Advisory Commission met today and recommended that the Railroad Commission be renamed the Oil and Gas Commission, and that its top structure shrink from three elected commissioners to one.

A federal court has denied Texas' request to halt a federal takeover of greenhouse gas regulations in the state.

Your afternoon reading: Senate postpones rules debate; court stops death penalty hearing; Perry talks franchise tax

The Sunset Advisory Commission today unanimously recommended consolidating the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission into one single youth justice division.