The Midday Brief: March 24, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

“Results released Wednesday on the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicated that Texas students had the 33rd highest average score for fourth graders and the 34th highest for eighth graders when compared with other states.” — Texas students get average marks in 'Nation's Report Card' reading exam — Dallas Morning News

“In 2003, evangelical Christian sculptor Max Greiner had a godly vision of a mammoth cross sitting atop a hill at the gateway to the Guadalupe River town of Kerrville. Now Greiner’s vision appears to be coming true. That’s thanks to the not-so-divine intervention of State District Judge Keith Williams, who on March 1 blessed a settlement, ending a legal dispute between Greiner’s The Coming King Foundation and local residents.” — Kerrville’s Cross to Bear — Texas Observer

“With his wife by his side and soft music playing the background, Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, calmly explains that he was angry that "the lives of unborn children were used as a bargaining chip" by Stupak to pass health care.” — Rep. Neugebauer: 'I will continue to speak' out — USA Today

“French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero says ‘our ambassador in Washington has asked the governor of Texas to pardon Skinner’ or to suspend the execution and heed Skinner's request for further investigation.” — French ambassador asks Texas to halt execution — Associated Press

New in the Texas Tribune:

“Senior leaders from the United States and Mexico agreed the two countries will begin swapping intelligence on suspected terrorists and Mexican felons following discussions in Mexico City on Tuesday.” — TribBlog: Mexico-U.S. Launch New Programs

“Dr. J. James Rohack isn’t just the president of the influential American Medical Association, an organization that carried the torch for the health care reform bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed this week. He’s a Texan.” — What the Doctor Ordered

“Primary night was humming along swimmingly for Humble school board president Dan Huberty, and after the early vote he seemed headed to victory. Then the numbers dipped and his fortunes changed, and now he's in a heated GOP run-off contest with anesthesiologist Dr. Susan Curling.” — The Runoffs: HD-127

“It has been a year since news broke that staff at the Corpus Christi State School were forcing mentally disabled wards to fight each other. State lawmakers raced to enact new accountability measures. Those measures are being implemented now, including additional surveillance measures that at least one disabled patient says may have gone too far.” — After the Fight