The Midday Brief: Sept. 1, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "Controversy over a Texas gubernatorial debate has spilled over into a scheduled debate between candidates for the State Board of Education after state Republican Chairman Steve Munisteri urged his party's nominees to boycott the Austin chapter of the League of Women Voters debate." — Debate flap reaches State Board of Education races, Texas Politics

• Bill White's latest video targets Gov. Rick Perry for his characterization of the $18 billion budget shortfall as "a number somebody just reached up in the air and grabbed."

• "U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, is among six congressmen under investigation for their use of daily stipend cash received while on taxpayer-funded trips overseas, according to a Wall Street Journal article published Tuesday." — U.S. Rep. Ortiz's travel costs probed, Corpus Christi Caller-Times

• "State Rep. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) is considering filing legislation to close a loophole in state nepotism law revealed by a Texas Attorney General’s opinion released Friday." — Texas Rep. Hancock looking into clarifying nepotism law for school boards, superintendents, The Texas Independent

New in The Texas Tribune:

• The former Dallas mayor on her new life as an energy policy nerd, leaving journalism for the "dark side" of elective office, her continuing frustration over the Trinity River Project and her (lack of) political aspirations. — An Interview With Former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller

• The Environmental Protection Agency is considering new regulations for coal ash — the waste left over from coal-fired power plants. As Matt Largey of KUT News reports, those new rules could have a big impact in Texas, the nation’s number one coal consumer. — New Coal Ash Rules Could Have Big Impact in Texas