The Midday Brief: Aug. 9, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Texas Gov. Rick Perry will speak Sunday at a fundraiser hosted by the Black Hawk County Republicans, his campaign has confirmed. The Lincoln Day Dinner event in Waterloo will mark Perry’s first visit to Iowa as a potential 2012 presidential candidate." — Rick Perry to make Iowa speech on Sunday, Des Moines Register

• "Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for sexually assaulting an underage follower he took as a bride in what his church deemed a 'spiritual marriage.'" — Polygamist Leader Gets Life in Prison for Assault, The Associated Press
  

• "Perrymania came to Iowa today in the form of seven University of Texas Republicans and their sponsors in a hastily decorated van. The volunteers came on behalf of Americans for Rick Perry, a California-based committee to draft the governor of Texas into the Republican race. They parked next to the State Capitol, across from the Values Voter tour bus that was about to announce its pre-straw poll social conservative jamboree, and proceeded to crash the party." — Perrymania: Catch It!, Slate

• "A Texas House budget writer on Tuesday defended the state's cuts-only approach but said that won't do in the future. Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, said a faltering business 'margins tax,' the state's population boom, the awful drought and Texas' need to improve transportation and water systems will force state leaders to change their fiscal approach." — Texas budget writer: From here, state budget can't be balanced just with cuts, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "As the heat index statewide soars above 100 degrees day after day, Texas inmate advocates say complaints about sweltering conditions are increasing along with concerns about prisoners’ health and are now the subject of a lawsuit pending before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals." — Inmates Complain of Sweltering Prison Conditions

• "DAY 9 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Lawmakers expanded protective orders to include pets and victims of teen dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking." — 31 Days, 31 Ways: Protective Orders Expanded to Cover More Texans