At a House hearing Wednesday, lawmakers learned that undocumented immigrants have almost no way to earn permanent residency status in the U.S. through employment and that a much-touted system to verify that employees can legally work here is flawed. (Aug 19)

A teenage girl in foster care who collapsed at a Houston-area residential treatment center about a month ago has died. (Aug 19)

In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben talk ethics and the Texas House, the newly noted $1.3 billion budget deficit and whether terror babies have much of a political impact. (Aug 18)

At least two elements of last session’s safety reforms at Texas’ institutions for the disabled — random drug testing and mandatory FBI fingerprinting of all potential employees — appear to be having a direct effect. (Aug 18)

Your afternoon reading. (Aug 18)

When he warned of terror babies on Anderson Cooper 360 last week, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, told Cooper that he and comedian Jon Stewart could “have their fun” with him. So Stewart did. (Aug 18)

Candidates, with ethics attacks in hand, are looking to screw more than just their opponents' weeks. (Aug 18)

The mud-throwing season is underway, with candidates on both sides working overtime to tie their opponents to controversial people, acts and money, hoping the negative mojo rubs off. Democrats are pushing anchor-baby videos of state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler. Republicans slam their Democratic foes for taking contributions from ethically suspect U.S. Reps. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif. "Both sides have folks who do what they do," says a rueful Texas Republican who doesn't want his name next to those of his party's outspoken officeholders. (Aug 18)

Can't get enough of Texas lawmakers and the "terror baby" threat? Neither can we. We trimmed down and mashed up the most memorable moments from the appearances by state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, on CNN last week. Cue Mr. Beethoven... (Aug 18)

Comptroller Susan Combs' quiet acknowledgment that Texas will show a $1.3 billion deficit at the end of the budget year contrasts with the happy face she's put on state finances leading up to the 2010 elections. The numbers are the worst since 2003, when the Legislature responded with $10 billion in spending cuts, and increased fees, tuition and other revenue sources. (Aug 18)

In the wake of high-profile incidents of abuse, state health officials want to boost payments to Texas' institutions for the disabled by $25,000 per patient per year. But the proposed Medicaid rate change has drawn the ire of Texas’ disability community, which wants to see the facilities shuttered rather than propped up. (Aug 18)

Your afternoon reading. (Aug 17)

The day that universities have been waiting for — some eagerly, others with a healthy dose of dread — is finally here. The 2011 edition of U.S. News & World Report's influential (and often controversial) college rankings have finally been released. (Aug 17)

The Department of Information Resources appears to be giving up on IBM — once and for all. (Aug 17)

If you're keeping a running tally of Texas ethics scandals (and who isn't?), that's one in and one out. (Aug 17)

Rio Grande Valley officials are fighting to hold a special election in November to fill a seat on the Hidalgo County Commissioners' Court — even though the secretary of state and a district judge say they have no legal authority to do so. (Aug 17)

The Justice Department has ended a six-year criminal probe of onetime U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, without filing charges. But as Andy Uhler of KUT News reports, that doesn’t mean the controversial former congressman is off the legal hook. (Aug 17)

Along the border, the beheadings and bombings carried out by drug cartels are drawing comparisons to murders by Muslim extremists — not surprising, given the war-like death toll of 8,100 so far this year in Mexico, including about 50 casualties last weekend. Yet diplomats from both sides reject the notion raised regularly by government officials and media outlets that Mexico is a "failed state." The horrors of some communities, they told a border security conference last week in El Paso, overshadow the fact that parts of the country remain stable and are thriving economically. (Aug 17)

It's late August in Texas, which means triple-digit temperatures and air conditioners everywhere cranked to the max. No wonder that, on Monday, the state set an energy consumption record — for the second day in a row. Peter Babb of KUT News has this report. (Aug 17)

There's big spending going on in Texas Supreme Court races, according to a new study. (Aug 16)