James Waller of Dallas got a pardon from Gov. Rick Perry after DNA tests proved he wasn't guilty of the aggravated assault that sent him to jail in 1982. He was released under mandatory supervision in 1993. Perry also commuted a death sentence for Doil Lane, who was convicted of murder but is mentally retarded. He'll spend his life in prison.
Former Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr. will get a Lifetime Steward award from the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association later this month.
Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, got the Bronze Star for his service in the Middle East last year. He's a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, will head the House Republican Caucus' policy committee. That panel makes recommendations on legislative votes, and the 15 members elected Taylor to lead them.
Kevin Holtsberry joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation as an analyst. He worked for a public utility commissioner in Ohio and as a legislative aide there before that.
The Guv appointed Troy Alley Jr. of DeSoto to the Texas Real Estate Commission. Alley works in real estate in that Dallas suburb.
Perry named four to the board that runs the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired: Caroline Daley of Kingwood, who coordinates care for special needs kids; Michelle Goodwin of Fort Worth, a caregiver for a special needs child; and Robert Peters of Tyler, retired dean of Tyler Junior College and a news and weather reporter for the paper and a radio station there. Perry reappointed Deborah Louder of San Angelo for another term on the board; she works for an educational service center.
The governor named four to the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists, which licenses and regulates people in that business: Charles Hallmark of Hearne, a professor at Texas A&M University; Ronald Kitchens of Harper, former executive director of the Texas Railroad Commission; Barbara Roeling of Austin, local operations manager for a consulting firm; and Gregory Ulmer of Houston, a partner with Baker & Hostetler.