After years of declining greenhouse gas emissions, Texas and other states reported sharply higher levels of carbon dioxide in 2012 as electric generating plants began to use more coal when natural gas prices began to rise, according to a study released Thursday.
As Texas lawmakers prepare for a potential special session on redistricting, members of the Congressional Black Caucus have asked Gov. Rick Perry to protect the congressional districts represented by black officials.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has killed a bill that would have stripped him, Gov. Rick Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus of the power to award certain Emerging Technology Fund grants, the sponsors of the legislation confirmed Thursday.
The Boy Scouts of America on Thursday ended its longstanding policy of forbidding openly gay youths to participate in its activities, a step its chief executive called “compassionate, caring and kind.”
Texas should be the model for other states as officials seek to reduce the need to burn, or flare off, methane coming from oil and gas wells drilled by hydraulic fracturing, a top Senate Democrat said.
The state of Texas is turning down billions of federal dollars that would have paid for health care coverage for 1.5 million poor Texans.
With the fifth-largest population increase among all U.S. cities for the year ending July 1, 2012, Austin leapfrogged past Indianapolis and Jacksonville, Fla., to become the nation’s 11th-most populous city, according to population estimates released Thursday by the Census Bureau. Between 2011 and 2012, Austin’s population increased by 25,395, or an average of about 70 people a day. The Census Bureau estimated Austin’s 2012 population at 842,592.
Texas towns, including McKinney and Frisco, accounted for eight of the 15 fastest-growing “large cities” in the U.S. in the latest batch of population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Texas lawmakers broke their budget impasse Wednesday by advancing proposals to give more money to schools, create a constitutionally dedicated account for water infrastructure and dip heavily into the rainy day fund to fuel that water account.
A logjam on the budget broke swiftly late Wednesday as the House and Senate advanced water and school fund measures each was demanding of the other.
If all goes as planned, lawmakers will soon exempt themselves from certain gun restrictions in Texas.
Sen. Ted Cruz proclaimed on the Senate floor Wednesday that he doesn’t trust other Republicans to fix the country’s fiscal situation, explaining why he objects to sending the Senate budget to conference with the House.
All abortion-related bills were stopped before they could reach the Senate or House floor this session, marking a rebound for Democrats after Republican efforts successfully scaled back family planning funding and abortion resources in 2011.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz made a remarkable admission on the floor of the U.S. Senate Wednesday, admitting in a dispute with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that not only does he not trust Democrats, he doesn't trust Republicans, either.
Tessier was one of several gay activists who spoke at a news conference at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine on Wednesday afternoon. Speakers from the Inclusive Scouting Network, Scouts for Equality and other organizations called for an end to Boy Scouts of America’s ban on openly gay members.
Gold's slump has saddled the second-largest U.S. college endowment with more than $300 million in paper losses. But the swoon hasn't shaken the faith of Bruce Zimmerman, who since 2007 has been chief executive of University of Texas Investment Management Co.
Hours after a barrage of Democratic delaying tactics scuttled a drug-testing program for welfare recipients, Texas House Republicans grabbed a consolation prize Wednesday, approving a similar program for some Texans who apply for unemployment benefits.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook disclosed during a Senate hearing Tuesday that the tech giant will invest more than $100 million to build a factory in the Lone Star State, where it will assemble a line of Mac computers.
On Tuesday, rallies across the country to protest the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status recalled those glory days, drawing colorful crowds in three-cornered hats, with members singing patriotic songs and waving provocative signs like “Fire the Liars” and “I.R.S.S.” — the last two letters drawn like the lightning bolts of the Nazi SS.
Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, has a problem: although he's licensed to shoot semi-automatic weapons, he just gave his last semi-automatic gun away. And, under current law, since he tested with a semi-automatic gun, his concealed handgun license doesn't apply to his many revolvers.
A Galveston County judge has been indicted on eight criminal counts charging him with abuse of office, including retaliation against the attorney representing the judge's wife in a divorce case.
In a week when negotiations over a state budget have blown up again and again, when political bickering between the House and Senate has reached pitched levels, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst had been working another issue with laser focus, say senators.
A judge has ruled that a North Texas lesbian couple can’t live together because of a morality clause in one of the women’s divorce papers.
A Texas legislator has had an Austin police warrant out for his arrest for nearly a year for an unresolved speeding ticket, but paid his fine this afternoon within minutes of an American-Statesman inquiry. “It was an oversight on my part,” said State Rep. James White, a Republican from Hillister. “I’ve just taken care of it.”
Recent allegations of sexual assault by members of our armed forces have refocused national attention on a problem that is sadly familiar.
