Vol 31, Issue 39 Print Issue

Quotes of the Week

You get down there and you begin to see humanity. You can set up here and watch Fox News and say ‘these alien bastards, we need to shut the border down.’ But what I saw coming through Brooks County was humanity.

Former border militia member Charles Gilbert to the Texas Observer on what led him to rethink the mission

Let me just say that one word in a very long legal document which I know nothing about and would never have read and I'm vilified coast to coast. It's a normal day at the office for me.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker on the outrage at a subpoena issued to five pastors allied against the city's equal rights ordinance that included a request for their sermons

If my brother were to be vice president, I’d have to shave my head.

U.S. Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-San Antonio, on growing speculation that Julián, his twin brother and HUD secretary might be on the shortlist for veep in 2016

You British always sound so darned smart and refined, no matter what you’re saying. And it’s not just because of your many cultural exports: from James Bond and Julie Andrews to Simon Cowell and One Direction.

Gov. Rick Perry, concluding a foreign policy address in London with some admiration for his hosts

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

Two nurses who had helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan, who developed the first case of Ebola ever diagnosed in the U.S., were in turn infected. The news rattled the public's confidence in the precautions taken against spread of the often deadly virus, leading to renewed calls for travel bans from the West African countries that are the epicenter of the outbreak.

Gov. Rick Perry cut short an economic development trip to Europe in order to come home to help manage the state's response to the Ebola infections in Dallas.

Abortion clinics across Texas are cautiously reopening after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstituted much of a stay against enforcement of the state's new abortion law. Those clinics can operate while the constitutionality of requiring clinic doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and clinics themselves to meet ambulatory surgical center standards is determined.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas can continue to require photo ID to vote in the upcoming November general elections. A district judge ruled last week against the consitutionality of the state's voter ID law, but the appellate court ruled that the decision came too close to the start of early voting for it to be applied immediately.

A state audit found the governor's office amended Texas Enterprise Fund awards given to private firms 36 times between 2003 and 2013, often in an effort to reduce the penalties the firms had to pay for falling short of job creation goals.

Political People and their Moves

Steve Hughes of El Paso was appointed justice of the 8th Court of Appeals by Gov. Rick Perry for a term to expire at the 2016 general election.

Karen Robinson has announced her retirement as executive director for the Texas Department of Information Resources and the state's chief information officer. Her retirement becomes effective at the end of the year.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott won the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business/Texas, an organization that advocates for small businesses.

GOP lieutenant governor candidate Dan Patrick won the endorsement of the political arm of the Department of Public Safety Officers Association (DPSOA).

GOP state comptroller candidate Glenn Hegar won the endorsement of the political arm of the Texas Oil & Gas Association.

Democratic HD-94 candidate Cole Ballweg won the endorsement of the Texas Parent PAC, an organization dedicated to electing public education-oriented lawmakers.

GOP SD-18 candidate Lois Kolkhorst won the endorsement of Terri Hall, anti-toll road activist and executive director of the grassroots group Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF).