The Evening Brief: March 15, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

• Feds to Halt Funding for Women's Health Program: "Federal health officials announced Thursday what state leaders have predicted for weeks: that they are halting funding for Texas' Women's Health Program."

• Technical College System Working to Link State Funds to Student Jobs: "Texas State Technical College and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board are developing a bold new outcomes-based funding model. But do they have the necessary data to make it work?"

• Anthony Graves Story on "48 Hours" Saturday: "Former death row inmate Anthony Graves and his fight to be compensated for the time he spent wrongfully imprisoned will be the subject of an episode on the CBS news show 48 Hours Mystery this Saturday. We've got a sneak peak."

Culled:

• Rick Santorum, Ron Paul On Track To Get Most Of Iowa's Delegates (The Huffington Post): "Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are best positioned to win the most delegates in Iowa as the Republican primary process moves forward, making Mitt Romney the odd man out, state insiders told The Huffington Post."

• Dewhurst launching TV ad Friday that blasts spendthrift boomers (The Dallas Morning News): "Dewhurst spokesman Enrique Marquez declined to say how widely the new campaign ad is running. But ad tracker reports supplied by a rival campaign suggest that the Dewhurst camp has made a light buy over the next 11 or 12 days, so far consisting of just time on cable channel Fox News in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston markets."

• Rodney Anderson endorses Kelly Hancock in state Senate race (Fort Worth Star-Telegram): "State Rep. Rodney Anderson, R-Grand Prairie, has endorsed fellow Republican state Rep. Kelly Hancock for the state Senate District 9 race. Anderson, who once was a candidate for this Senate district, said voters have a choice in this race that pits Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, against state Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, for the Republican Party's nomination. The winner will face Democrat Pete Martinez in November."
  
  
  Read more here: http://startelegram.typepad.com/politex/#storylink="State Rep. Rodney Anderson, R-Grand Prairie, has endorsed fellow Republican state Rep. Kelly Hancock for the state Senate District 9 race. Anderson, who once was a candidate for this Senate district, said voters have a choice in this race that pits Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, against state Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, for the Republican Party's nomination. The winner will face Democrat Pete Martinez in November."