The Midday Brief: June 9, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

"BP continues to pull in about 15,000 barrels of oil a day from its well in the Gulf of Mexico, and will soon begin burning off additional crude at the surface with the addition of more production capacity." — BP to burn oil as production capacity maxes out, NewsWatch: Energy

"Mexicans are seething over the second death of a countryman at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol agents in two weeks, an incident near downtown El Paso that is threatening to escalate tensions over migrant issues." — Mexicans seeting over Border Patrol killing of teen, The Associated Press

"Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said this morning in Austin that he expects a prosecution to result from the ongoing investigation of two Dallas County constables operations." — Dallas County DA Craig Watkins says prosecutions are coming in investigation of constables, Trail Blazers

"A Houston-area Republican in the House is urging President Obama to lift the emergency six-month moratorium on deepwater offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico imposed in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon blowout." — Rep. John Culberson asks Obama to lift Gulf drilling moratorium, Texas on the Potomac

New in The Texas Tribune:

"Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, under fire at home for his handling of an investigation into Democratic county constables, played defense before an Austin crowd this morning in a TribLive interview with the Tribune's Evan Smith." — TribBlog: Watkins Plays Self-Defense

"'Since when is zero-for-29 a winning record?' asks the South Texas schoolteacher who wants to replace Boyd Richie as chair of the Texas Democratic Party. He talked with the Tribune on Monday about why he's running — and how Barack Obama has let his supporters down." — Michael Barnes: The Texas Tribune Interview

"As the Texas Department of Transportation heads into a House Transportation Committee hearing today to review a highly critical 628-page audit, the value of the $2 million report is being called into question." — Been Down This Road Before