The mud-throwing season is underway, with candidates on both sides working overtime to tie their opponents to controversial people, acts and money, hoping the negative mojo rubs off. Democrats are pushing anchor-baby videos of state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler. Republicans slam their Democratic foes for taking contributions from ethically suspect U.S. Reps. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif. “Both sides have folks who do what they do,” says a rueful Texas Republican who doesn’t want his name next to those of his party’s outspoken officeholders.
August 2010
Posted in
Higher Education
TribBlog: How Texas Colleges Stack Up [Updated]
The day that universities have been waiting for — some eagerly, others with a healthy dose of dread — is finally here. The 2011 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s influential (and often controversial) college rankings have finally been released.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Seeking a “Smarter” Contract?
The Department of Information Resources appears to be giving up on IBM — once and for all.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Aug. 17, 2010
If you’re keeping a running tally of Texas ethics scandals (and who isn’t?), that’s one in and one out.
Posted in
Energy
The Heat of the Moment
It’s late August in Texas, which means triple-digit temperatures and air conditioners everywhere cranked to the max. No wonder that, on Monday, the state set an energy consumption record — for the second day in a row. Peter Babb of KUT News has this report.
Posted in
Demographics
The Optimist Club
Along the border, the beheadings and bombings carried out by drug cartels are drawing comparisons to murders by Muslim extremists — not surprising, given the war-like death toll of 8,100 so far this year in Mexico, including about 50 casualties last weekend. Yet diplomats from both sides reject the notion raised regularly by government officials and media outlets that Mexico is a “failed state.” The horrors of some communities, they told a border security conference last week in El Paso, overshadow the fact that parts of the country remain stable and are thriving economically.
Posted inState Government
Ballot Brawl
Rio Grande Valley officials are fighting to hold a special election in November to fill a seat on the Hidalgo County Commissioners’ Court — even though the secretary of state and a district judge say they have no legal authority to do so.
Posted inState Government
Justice DeLayed
The Justice Department has ended a six-year criminal probe of onetime U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, without filing charges. But as Andy Uhler of KUT News reports, that doesn’t mean the controversial former congressman is off the legal hook.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: High Court Bucks
There’s big spending going on in Texas Supreme Court races, according to a new study.
