The Midday Brief: May 25, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• “Texas child welfare workers are struggling to respond to a spike in abuse and neglect reports that's overlapping with the effects of a hiring freeze, according to a key state official.” — CPS system strained by complaints, 2009 hiring freeze — Austin American-Statesman

• “More than 22,000 Texas secondary students who stopped showing up for class in 2008 were excluded from the state's dropout statistics because administrators said they were being home-schooled, according to Texas Education Agency figures.” — Home school stats called into question — Houston Chronicle

• “A conference call Tuesday morning will feature three recent graduates talking about her support for public service -- including a Texan described by the White House as a Republican political consultant, Sarah Isgur, class of 2008.” — Texas GOP activist vouches for Elena Kagan, her former Harvard Law dean — Trail Blazers

• “Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Chris Lippincott says the agency has suspended redrawing the stripes on existing roads due to the shortage of a resin-like material called methyl methacrylate. Manufacturers have notified Texas about production and demand delays.” — Texas roads part of highway paint shortage — Associated Press

• “William ‘Bo’ Byers, who asked a generation of politicians tough questions as one of the Texas Capitol's most respected journalists, died Sunday in Austin. He was 90.” — Capitol journalist fulfilled dreams after retirement — Austin American-Statesman

New in The Texas Tribune:

• “A new Rasmussen Reports poll finds that 57% of Texans favor casino gambling as a means to draw down an expected budget shortfall that could be as much as $18 billion in the coming biennium.” — TribBlog: Texans Back Casino Gambling, Oppose Taxes

• “Texas has among the most restrictive ballot access laws of any state, which is why the Green Party hasn't put its candidates before voters here since 2002. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that party activists hope to end the dry spell this year.” — Collared Greens