For the 10th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the state senator from Austin about the budget shortfall, the road funding hole, why Barack Obama is unpopular in Texas and the prospect of Bill White beating Rick Perry. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, former Houston Mayor Bill White, 44 percent to 35 percent in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, which was conducted May 14 to 20. Fifteen percent of the 800 registered voters surveyed are undecided about which of the gubernatorial candidates to support, while 7 percent prefer "someone else." Perry leads among men, women and Anglos. White leads among African-Americans and Hispanics. In five other statewide races polled, each Republican leads his Democratic opponent by a double-digit margin. Full Story
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Let's say you served time for a crime you didn't commit: How much is each year you lost really worth? A new law increases the state's payout to exonerees, but the process of getting compensated is its own form of punishment. Full Story
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Today the former San Antonio mayor, former HUD Secretary and recent social studies textbook reject publicly backed the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in a big, iconic state with a screwed-up Capitol culture and an incumbent governor who is occasionally the subject of unkind comments elsewhere in the country. No, not that candidate. Full Story
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Thevenot on the ideological backbiting at the internationally famous State Board of Education; Stiles, Narioka and Hamilton plumb employee salary data in Texas colleges and universities; Grissom looks at the problem of insufficient indigent defense; Cervantes on the push for "veterans courts" emphasizing treatment and counseling over punishment; Aguilar finds border congressmen asking the governor for a fair break on federal homeland security dollars; M. Smith on another BP rig in the Gulf; Ramshaw reports on nurse practitioners trying to get permission slips from doctors; Hu follows up with lawmakers poking at whistleblower allegations of trouble in the state's workers' compensation regulation; Hamilton stops in on Luke Hayes and his efforts to turn Texas into a political powerhouse for Obama; and Ramsey writes on generation changes at the Capitol and on political pranksters: The best of our best from May 17 to 21, 2010. Full Story
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You know that prayer that before today's State Board of Education meeting, which some found so inappropriate? It was read by arch-conservative Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond — but not written by her. In a gag on her detractors, she lifted the text from U.S. Supreme Court Justice and liberal icon Earl Warren. Full Story
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After a series of bombastic speeches, the State Board of Education just approved the social studies curriculum on a party line vote of 9-5, with Geraldine Miller, R-Dallas, absent. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is pushing hard for the FAA to approve a second aerial drone to surveil the Texas-Mexico border — holding an Obama nominee hostage until Texas gets its way. Full Story
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The State Board of Education instructs students to "contrast" the intent of the Founding Fathers with the modern legal interpretation of the separation of church and state. Full Story
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At long last, Thomas Jefferson returns to the State Board of Education’s world history standards, where he had been excised to great controversy earlier. Full Story
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In a morning prayer to open the State Board of Education meeting, social conservative member Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, mixed worship with a constitutional argument against the separation of church and state — previewing the politically charged debate to come later today, as conservatives tackle their last big agenda item before approving the state social studies standards. Full Story
As the Division of Workers' Compensation heads into a public hearing at the Sunset Advisory Commission next week, Commissioner Rod Bordelon is blasting his former employees for their allegations reported by the Texas Tribune. Full Story
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The number of Texans working was up in April, but so was the number of people looking for work. Full Story
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The SBOE's last day, Dallas could turn all "wet," El Paso ranked one of the safest cities in the U.S. and the truth behind the BP oil spill. Full Story
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In Texas, nurse practitioners’ livelihoods are tied to physicians: By law, they can’t treat patients without a doctor’s permission. That means if they want to open their own practice, they must petition, and pay, a doctor to grant them “prescriptive authority” — to essentially keep an eye on their work and, in some cases, to be held liable for it. Doctors say this is as it should be. Nurse practitioners and their allies say doctors don't want the competition and charge them enough to run them out of business. “It borders on an immoral situation,” says state Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center. Full Story
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A member of the State Board of Education's internationally notorious conservative wing trotted out Barack Obama's middle name late in a marathon meeting Thursday, a fitting end to a debate over social studies curriculum standards that was marked by irritable outbursts and inane dialogue. Members fought over slavery, Jefferson Davis, Joseph McCarthy — even over when they could finally adjourn. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says he feels “pretty good” that the coalition of states suing to halt health care reform will triumph, partly due to concerns raised during “HillaryCare” in the 1990s. Full Story
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Search our updated database of Gov. Rick Perry's more than 2,000 current appointees to state boards and commissions. Full Story
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Have you ever wanted to see Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White's family photos? Full Story
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Calderon and Obama talk immigration and cartels, fun times with the SBOE, Bill White's cheat sheet and the smoking ban that wasn't in San Antonio. Full Story
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