At a TribLive conversation on April 14, I interviewed Dr. Daniel Podolsky the president of UT Southwestern Medical Center, about the state of medical education, the cost of health care cuts and the value of academic research.
April 2011
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Combs Hasn’t Mastered Fine Art of Eating Crow
The comptroller of public accounts has been ducking responsibility ever since revealing that her agency had put the names and Social Security numbers of 3.5 million people in a publicly available spot on its website.
Posted in
Demographics
Updated: Do Mexican Cartels Qualify as Terrorist Organizations?
A Texas congressman is seeking to designate seven of the top Mexican cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.” Critics of the proposal fear such a designation could harm Mexico’s ability to wage its own fight against the cartels.
Posted in
Energy
Drought-Plagued Midland Is Running Out of Water
A nasty drought is gripping all of Texas, but Midland’s situation is especially precarious. Since the beginning of October, barely one-tenth of an inch of rain has fallen, and regional reservoirs are getting close to empty.
Posted in
Health care
CDC: Southern States Lag in Smoking Bans
Though secondhand smoke leads to nearly 50,000 U.S. deaths among nonsmoking adults every year, no southern state, including Texas, has adopted a smoke-free law for worksites, restaurants and bars, according to a new CDC report.
Posted in
State Government
Lawmakers Say Simpson Broke “Rules of Decorum”
The rogue antics of freshman state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview — knocking three bills, including veteran Democratic state Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s contentious puppy mill bill, off of a fast-track House calendar — are attracting glares and backlash from his colleagues, some of whom are considering returning the favor.
Posted in
Health care
TribLive: Armstrong on the Doping Investigation
At this morning’s TribLive conversation, Lance Armstrong talked about the investigation into allegations that he doped as a pro cyclist — and whether the controversy has impacted his advocacy on behalf of cancer research funding and a workplace smoking ban.
Posted inState Government
The Midday Brief: April 21, 2011
Your afternoon reading: Senate committee passes budget; Perry designates days of prayer for rain; puppy mill bill off fast track
Posted in
State Government
Governor Declares Days of Prayer for Rain
With Texas in the throes of a terrible drought and wildfires raging across the state, Gov. Rick Perry designated April 22 to April 24 as official days of prayer for rain.
Posted in
State Government
“Daughters” Gets Early Victory in Fight Over Alamo
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas would continue to be the caretakers of the Alamo, under a bill the House gave preliminary approval to this morning.