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News For January, 2011

  • The Constant Gardeners

    By Kate Galbraith

    From the highways of Texas to the San Jacinto Battleground, state agencies now aim to maximize the use of native grasses rather than opting for whatever was cheapest or fastest-growing, as they did decades ago. Full Story 

    Bill Neiman, owner of Native American Seed, at his seed-cleaning facility in Junction, TX, Jan. 18, 2011.
    Credit: Callie Richmond

  • Texplainer: What is UTIMCO?

    By Reeve Hamilton

    The simple answer: It's the acronym for University of Texas Investment Management Company, a nonprofit company with a single client, the University of Texas System (and, to a lesser extent, the Texas A&M University System). With the universities it serves under pressure not to hike tuition rates even though fewer state dollars are flowing their way, the company's performance will be under intense scrutiny this session — and UTIMCO officials are still recovering from last session's showdown over their generous bonuses. To explain all this for us, we called in an expert: CEO Bruce Zimmerman. Full Story 

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  • Testing the Evidence

    By Brandi Grissom

    In police departments across Texas, tens of thousands of rape kits have been sitting on the shelves of property storage rooms for years — thanks to strained budgets, overworked crime labs and a law enforcement philosophy that such kits are primarily useful as evidence if a stranger committed the assault. Victims’ rights advocates and some lawmakers say they'll work to pass legislation this year to take that evidence out of storage and create a DNA database that would help track rapists and perhaps even identify those who have been wrongly convicted. "I think we owe it to every person who has been raped," says state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth. Full Story 

    A sexual assault evidence collection kit
    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Fair Game?

    By Ross Ramsey

    Are families out of bounds in politics? A newspaper columnist's recent unflattering piece on Anita Perry has what passes for a Royal Court at the Capitol debating that question. Full Story 

    Inaugural of Texas Governor Rick Perry on the south steps of the Texas Capitol 01-18-11.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Business: Hands Off Public Education

    By Erika Aguilar, KUT News

    Lawmakers will soon take an ax to the state budget, but business leaders are hoping one big-ticket item will be spared. At its annual conference in Austin this week, the Texas Association of Business sounded warnings about potential cuts to public education. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports. Full Story 

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  • Williams: Dewhurst Isn't the Frontrunner

    By Evan Smith

    After officially announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate at our TribLive conversation this morning, Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams took issue with the presumed frontrunner status of his potential GOP primary opponent, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Full Story 

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  • John Zerwas: The TT Interview

    By Emily Ramshaw

    The state representative and anesthesiologist from Simonton on why he filed the House's first bill to implement a key piece of federal health-care reform and was the first in his party to openly suggest that dropping out of Medicaid wasn't such a great idea after all. Full Story 

    State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton
    Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

  • Mental Notes on the Budget

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    For mental health and retardation centers like Round Rock's Bluebonnet Trails, state budget cuts will have a direct effect on the number of people they serve — and help keep in school or employed and out of state hospitals and emergency rooms. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • Controversial? Just Wait

    By Julián Aguilar

    The voter ID legislation passed by the Texas Senate on Wednesday night may be controversial, but it’s a familiar debate, as is the issue of “sanctuary cities.” Less well known but no less controversial are many of the provisions found in more than three dozen immigration-related bills filed so far. Some Hispanic Republicans in the Texas House say they are not going to support bills they believe are too extreme. Full Story 

    Protesters hold signs reading "No Arizona Hate in Texas" — a reference to a recently passed law in that state — during a 2011 demonstration against "sanctuary city" legislation in Austin.
    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Voter ID Passes: The Highlights

    By Justin Dehn

    Watch our abbreviated version of the daylong Senate debate, the dismissal of three dozen amendments and the ultimate passage of Senate Bill 14, a.k.a. the voter ID bill. The measure's now headed to the House. Full Story 

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