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News For December, 2010

  • Interactive: House Travel

    By Matt Stiles

    Retiring state Rep. Joe Crabb, R-Atascocita, led all Texas House members in government-funded travel expenses in the last fiscal year, according to a Texas Tribune review of expense reports obtained from the state comptroller. Crabb spent $48,400, versus a per-member average of about $11,000. In all, 14 members spent more than $30,000. View a sortable table of travel totals by member. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Cellar Dwellers

    By Ross Ramsey

    Texas Democrats have become a political version of the Baltimore Orioles. If Ann Richards were alive, she and Earl Weaver would be comparing notes — in salty language — on what went wrong with their old teams. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Inside Intelligence: Lawmakers Should Be Paid...

    By Ross Ramsey

    For this week's installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether whether lawmakers ought to be paid full-time salaries instead of the $600 per month they make now — and whether they should be required to disclose more details about their personal income and assets. Full Story 

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  • Gone With the Wind?

    By Elise Hu and Emily Brown

    The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association offers homeowners along the Texas coast their only coverage against potential hurricanes. But some lawmakers say the pool is paying out too much — and they want to limit what sort of coverage it offers in the future. Full Story 

    U.S. Air Force member conducted search and rescue operations on Galveston Island after Hurricane Ike on Sept. 13, 2008.
    Credit: Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

  • Fat and Skinny

    By Ross Ramsey

    That steady drip, drip, drip in the biennial Scare the Speaker thing has been plugged for the moment. Scratching around for other amusements, we came upon a congressional map for Texas showing who's got too few and too many people in their congressional districts. Full Story 

  • Open for Business

    By Julián Aguilar

    So much for the economic impact of headline-making violence. Despite being on track to exceed 3,000 homicides this year, Juárez has seen its manufacturing sector flourish, regaining since July 2009 a quarter of the jobs lost during the height of the recession. More than $42 billion in trade value moved through the ports that the city shares with El Paso last year, and that number should be higher in 2010. And the amount of of tractor-trailer traffic hauling goods through the region was 22 percent greater in the first six months of this year than it was in the same period last year. Full Story 

    Factory workers in Ciudad Juárez assemble components for hair dryers on a manufacturing line managed by El Paso-based TECMA, an outsourcing company that had one of the best years on record in 2009. Last year’s success came despite Ciudad Juárez logging more than 2,600 murders.
    Credit: Julián Aguilar

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Ross Ramsey

    Galbraith on wood chips and green energy, Aguilar on why conservatives might get the appeal of medical marijuana, Philpott on an effort to uncloak the hidden costs of government, Ramshaw and Galewitz of Kaiser Health News on federal plans to send less money to Texas for Medicaid, Aaronson visualizes who's currently covered by Medicaid and how the billions are spent, E. Smith's interview on higher ed and the "speaker drama" with Dan Branch, Hamilton on the costs of a losing football season, Grissom on Hispanic farmers' reaction to a federal settlement in a widespread discrimination case, Hu on what's ahead for Democratic legislators after an electoral drubbing, Chang on the rise of hepatitis B among Asian-Americans and M. Smith on the cuts likely for Texas classrooms in the wake of a record budget shortfall: The best of our best from Dec. 6 to 10, 2010. Full Story 

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  • Deflated?

    By Reeve Hamilton

    Over the last 12 years, the University of Texas has increased its merchandising royalties from $600,000 to, most recently, a one-year haul of more than $10.1 million. Not coincidentally, during that period the Longhorns excelled on the football field. This year, however, saw the team’s first losing season since 1997, ending without a bowl game. After enjoying the financial benefits of prolonged success, what will be the cost of failure? And how will it impact UT’s $3 billion capital campaign? Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Farmers vs. the Feds

    By Brandi Grissom

    A decade after Hispanic farmers in Texas and other states sued the USDA, alleging discrimination in the awarding of loans and other federal benefits to minorities, the government has tendered a settlement offer. The plaintiffs think it's laughable. Full Story 

    Victor Elizando and Noe Obregon rest in the shade during a visit to the farmland Obregon used to tend before the USDA's discriminatory loan practices put him out of business.
    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • Cut!

    By Erika Aguilar, KUT News

    State officials have denied incentive funding after the fact for Robert Rodriguez's film Machete, citing its allegedly unkind portrayal of Texas. Ironically, Gov. Rick Perry signed the bill creating the program into law at Rodriguez's Austin studio, with the director at his side. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports. Full Story 

    Robert Rodriguez
    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller