The Midday Brief: Jan. 26, 2012

Your afternoon reading:

• "Ron Paul appears headed toward reaching his latest fundraising goal: $250,000 to help end the Transportation Security Administration. The GOP presidential candidate began a 'money bomb' shortly after his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, got stopped at the Nashville airport on Monday after setting off an alarm on a body-scanning machine. The younger Paul declined a pat-down search by the TSA but was allowed to board a later flight." — Ron Paul raises campaign cash to 'end the TSA,' USA Today

• "The growing controversy between Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and gay and lesbian groups in the city will spill on to City Hall Plaza Friday night. The gay groups say they're organizing a 7:00 p.m. protest of Rawlings' refusal to sign a pledge to fight for gay marriage. And Rawlings says although he'll meet with them, he's not backing down." — Dallas mayor says he'll meet group over gay marriage pledge refusal, WFAA

• "Texas taxpayers pay an average 23 percent more for state prisons than the state’s annual corrections budget reflects, a first-of-a-kind national study shows." — New study: Texas spends 23 percent more on prisons, Austin American-Statesman

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "In a rare move in a state where the football field is hallowed turf, Premont ISD has suspended all athletics — including football — to improve its struggling finances. But the decision has brought little backlash from the community in South Texas, perhaps a measure of how dire the school's circumstances have become." — Texas District Suspends Sports to Stay Afloat

• "Despite opposition from state Rep. Larry Taylor, who co-chairs the Windstorm Insurance Legislative Oversight Board, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's board decided today to hire a third party to assess its financial structure." — TWIA Board Approves Third-Party Financial Review

• "There were 5.7 million Texans — nearly a quarter of the population — who lacked health insurance in 2010, according to the latest American Community Survey data. This visualization shows you who the uninsured are in Texas. It's not always who you'd expect." — Interactive: Who Are the Uninsured in Texas?

• "In rural Val Verde County, defendants who are too poor to afford their own lawyers have waited years for resolution of their cases. As a new legal battle between their lawyers and the county begins, their day in court remains elusive." — Legal Dispute Leaves Poor Defendants in Limbo