TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

Root and Galbraith on a Dallas billionaire's radioactive waste dump victory, Grissom on the passage of eyewitness ID reform, Hamilton on the old grudges bedeviling the debate over higher ed, Philpott on the status of congressional redistricting, Ramsey on Rick Perry's un-campaign for president, Ramshaw on why medical schools are the scorned children of the state's education budget, my session-wrap interview with three veteran Democrats, M. Smith on why Rob Eissler can't pass mandate relief for school districts and Stiles on who's giving what to which Texas candidates in 2011-12 congressional races: The best of our best content from May 16 to 20, 2011.

By Evan Smith

May 21, 20115 AM Central

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Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons could get a little richer if state lawmakers hand him what he wants: a bill expanding the right of his company to accept low-level radioactive waste from several states — and the power to set the rates it charges them.

The Senate approved a measure that would reform the way law enforcement officers conduct identification lineups, a measure that criminal justice advocates hope will mean fewer wrongful convictions in the future.

As the debate over the future of Texas’ higher education continues to swirl, old political rivalries and long-held grudges and resentments are surfacing.

The legislative session ends in less than two weeks, and lawmakers won't take up a bill to redraw the state's congressional districts until later this week. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on how the delay could affect how the new lines are drawn.

Gov. Rick Perry is in a great position in the race for president. His name is in the conversation. He’s in place if there’s a draft, but not at risk of an embarrassing loss. How can you lose a race you’re not running?

Texas medical schools feel like the scorned children of the state’s education budget. Lost amid the pleas of parents to restore funding for public education, and the demands of college students to preserve financial aid, the state’s health care institutions say few seem to understand the drastic situation they face.

At Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, and state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio — about how they and their Democratic colleagues fared this session.

State Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, is a widely liked Republican chairman with a supermajority to back him up. So why has his signature education bill this session, a mandate relief package for school districts, stumbled so badly?

Candidates running for U.S. House and Senate races in Texas have raised millions of dollars to fund their campaigns during the 2011-12 election cycle. Use this news application to see which individual donors are helping finance those contests — or download the raw data filed by the candidates to the Federal Election Commission.

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Evan Smith

Co-Founder and Senior Adviser

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