A local battle over politics and access to the media has led one candidate to leave his weekday spot on sports radio. Dan Neil had been a co-host of ESPN Radio’s morning show in Austin. But the Republican’s bid for a State House seat will leave him on the sidelines because of equal access rules. Ben Philpott is covering this November’s elections for KUT News and the Tribune.
July 2010
Posted in
Criminal Justice
The Long Arm of the Law
Curbing the practice of barratry — “ambulance chasing,” in the vernacular — has prompted an uneasy alliance between tort reformers and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association: They agree on reform … just not on the form it should take.
Posted in
Energy
Back on the Ban-wagon
As BP tests the latest attempt to plug its runaway oil well, the Obama administration is taking another shot at forcing a pause in deep water drilling. This week, the government issued a new moratorium on some kinds of drilling in the Gulf… after a federal judge criticized one put in place in May. Matt Largey reports on how the oil industry in Texas is reacting to the new ban.
Posted in
State Government
Mark Jones: The TT Interview
The chairman of the political science department at Rice University recently ranked Texas House members’ partisanship based on their 2009 legislative votes. Our interactive chart highlights what he describes as Texas’ increasingly polarized political environment.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: New Doc at Workers’ Comp
After the exodus of at least half a dozen employees and swirling questions about its lack of enforcement against unscrupulous doctors, the Division of Workers’ Compensation has put a new man in charge of the investigations. The former executive director of the Texas Medical Board, Dr. Donald Patrick, started Monday.
Posted in
Public Education
TribBlog: Not Cool With School
Texans overwhelmingly reject the way the State Board of Education sets requirements for textbooks and curriculum, which ignited a nationwide controversy earlier this year, according to a statewide survey the Texas Freedom Network released today.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Napolitano to Visit Border
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will visit Texas’ border with Mexico on Thursday when she meets with customs officials and local law enforcement in Laredo.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: Not That Kind of Shot
What do college students and preschoolers have in common?
Posted inState Government
The Brief: July 13, 2010
The Texas heat is proving too much for anything chicken-suit-related at the moment.
