The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for Feb. 24, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "A 20-year-old Saudi Arabian national arrested by the FBI in Lubbock for allegedly plotting to carry out terrorist attacks planned to target the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush, documents show." — FBI: Saudi student’s bombing plans mentioned Bush’s Dallas home, The Dallas Morning News

• "Texas’ prison system, to meet state leaders’ demand for immediate budget cuts, will eliminate 555 jobs, most of them administrative and support posts." — Prisons will cut 555 positions to help ease Texas’ budget plight, The Dallas Morning News

• "An Austin-based anti-abortion group’s foray into the Northeast media market is causing quite the controversy. According to Texas Secretary of State records, Heroic Media founder Brian Follett is the registered agent for Life Always, the group that paid for a three-story high billboard that’s part of Follett’s campaign targeting African Americans in urban areas." — Austin anti-abortion group targets African Americans in NYC, causes controversy, The Texas Independent

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Republican Rep. John Zerwas' suggestion that he'd get a 'spanking' in his district if he cut education and health care to the bone but didn't touch the Rainy Day Fund has drawn the ire of one conservative activist group: Michael Quinn Sullivan's Empower Texans." — Zerwas' Rainy Day Proposal Draws Conservative Critics

• "U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Reps. Randy Neugebauer and Sam Johnson are among the most conservative members of Congress, according to National Journal's annual ranking of votes." — National Journal: Texans Among Most Conservative in Congress

• "With major state funding cuts looming, for many school districts, it's not a question of if — but how and when — teacher layoffs will occur. A new bipartisan bill from education leaders in the state Senate could temporarily change how schools go about that." — Senators Try to Buy Time for Teachers

• We’ve pushing the first update of the New Year to The Texas Tribune’s government salary database, which now includes data on more than 650,000 employees from more than 100 entities. This update refreshes the salaries of more than 20 public agencies and adds 13 new entities — everything from UT's MD Anderson Cancer Center to the University of Texas Medical Branch. — 650,000 Employees Now in Government Pay App