TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

Aguilar on a change in law that affects applications for state-issued IDs, Galbraith on how the drought is taking its toll on wildlife, Hamilton on an outsider's attempt to lower the cost of higher ed, Murphy visualizes the partisanship of House members, Ramsey on who becomes Lite Guv if David Dewhurst takes another job, Ramshaw on life in the colonias and three stories about Rick Perry — Grissom on how his death penalty stance might play in a 2012 presidential race, Root on how he cemented his reputation as one of the state's most powerful governors and Tan on the growing demand for him to speak elsewhere: The best of our best content from July 4 to July 8, 2011.

By Evan Smith

July 9, 20115 AM Central

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An amendment attached to SB 1 during the special session will require applicants for driver's licenses and other state-issued identification cards to produce government-issued documents affirming their legal status.

It may be a bad year for hunters: The number of wild turkeys, quail and even squirrels will be down due to one of the worst droughts in state history. One bright spot is that feral hogs, a statewide nuisance, will also decrease.

Michael Crosno is working on lowering the cost of higher education by applying pressure from the outside. He is not a policy wonk. He is a businessman who has built and sold a string of successful companies. His latest is called MyEdu.

Mark P. Jones, chair of the political science department at Rice University, analyzed nearly 1,000 votes during the 2011 regular and special legislative sessions to rank members of the Texas House from most liberal to most conservative. Compare your state representative to the other 149 using our visualization.

If Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst moves into another job — and he’s got two ways to do that — the 31 senators will elect one of their own to serve the rest of his four-year term.

Conditions have clearly improved in Texas' colonias since devious developers first established them for migrant workers in the 1950s. But many efforts have fallen short, the result of bureaucratic nightmares and a spiral of confusion and fees.

In tough-on-crime Texas, Rick Perry has overseen the executions of 230 prisoners — more than any other modern governor. As he eyes a White House bid, his support of the death penalty could have mixed consequences.

Gov. Rick Perry may or may not try to become the leader of what was once called the free world. In the meantime, he has cemented his reputation as one of the most powerful governors ever to walk the corridors of the Texas pitol.

Now that the legislative session is over, Gov. Rick Perry can leave the state as much as he wants. We've created the PerryTracker map to follow his travels, but what's behind the demand for his appearances? We talk to event organizers to find out.

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Evan Smith

Co-Founder and Senior Adviser

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