The Midday Brief: April 19, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Remember that re-occurring scene in the 'Peanuts' cartoon where Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown only to snatch it away at the last minute, leaving him flat on his back? That’s the story of Texas politics for Democrats over the last decade." — Can Democrats win in Texas in 2012?, The Fix

• "Decades after the gay rights movement swept the country’s secular schools, more gays and lesbians at Christian colleges are starting to come out of the closet, demanding a right to proclaim their identities and form campus clubs, and rejecting suggestions to seek help in suppressing homosexual desires." — Even on Religious Campuses, Students Fight for Gay Identity, The New York Times

• "Maybe it's a green tea party. Former GOP governor's candidate Debra Medina is joining environmentalists in conducting a series of press conferences around the state protesting Waste Control Specialists plan to import low-level radioactive waste from 36 states to their site in Texas." — Strange bedfellows: The greens and the tea party, Trail Blazers

• "The 3.5 million Texans whose confidential, personal data was left unprotected on a state website should be alert for telephone scams, Attorney General Greg Abbott said today." — Attorney general warns victims of security lapse to be alert for scams, Postcards

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV was one of four TV stations to interview President Barack Obama. Toward the end, the president got testy with reporter Brad Watson." — Video: President Obama Gets Testy With WFAA Reporter

• "Two bills passed the state Senate today would change the way mentally and physically disabled people and children are restrained and cared for by law enforcement officers." — Senate Passes Reforms on How Police May Restrain Mentally, Physically Disabled

• "Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program could transition to a performance-based, rather than procedure-based, payment model, under bills the Senate unanimously passed today." — Senate Approves Health Payment Reform

• "Implementing a key piece of federal health care reform in Texas — something Gov. Rick Perry has expressed his firm opposition to — may be back on the table." — Ogden Revives Key Piece of Federal Health Reform

• "A proposed map for redrawing Texas House district boundaries could help fortify the Republicans' majority in the lower chamber in 2012." — A GOP Map Protects the GOP

• "Craft beer brewers came back to the Capitol today to ask lawmakers to grant them another way to get their beers in the hands of customers. But the chair of a House committee said they may have to wait until next year." — Small Brewers Ask Lawmakers To Open The Tap