Who's Conservative? New Group Ranks Lawmakers
The Texas Conservative Roundtable's first legislative rankings are out, and the group has a different view of who is conservative and who isn't than some others who rank lawmakers. Full Story
The Texas Conservative Roundtable's first legislative rankings are out, and the group has a different view of who is conservative and who isn't than some others who rank lawmakers. Full Story
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will vote Wednesday on whether to prohibit state agencies from participating in contested case hearings on permits and licenses issued by the commission. Full Story
After a sluggish few months on the campaign trail, Ron Paul today returns to his roots. Full Story
Showing no signs of quitting the 2012 race, Ron Paul is attacking his Republican rivals in a new ad as a "debt-raising fiscal liberal," a "moon colony guy" and a "moderate from Massachusetts" — and playing up his Texanness. Full Story
In conjunction with Morgan Smith's "Death of a District" series, the Tribune presents a special video report on the role of accountability and whether the state's current standards are helping or hurting failing districts in Texas. Full Story
With the drought receding, at least temporarily, some scientists have turned their focus to the state's waterways, where mussels have been disappearing. KUHF News' Dave Fehling reports for StateImpact Texas on the future of the organism that some consider a biological indicator of the health of the state's water system. Full Story
University of Texas President Bill Powers is looking outside of academia for recommendations on improving the efficiency of his university, assembling a new task force of corporate executives to study its operations. Full Story
Your evening brief: Paul to campaign in Texas this week; Dewhurst camp demands apology from Cruz over Tea Party leader's comment; former death row inmate wins bid for DNA testing Full Story
A judge today granted Kerry Max Cook's request for more DNA testing in the 1977 murder of Linda Jo Edwards, but the former death row inmate will have to fight to prove his innocence in the same place where he was twice sentenced to death. Full Story
With the state's voter ID law still tied up in court, another voting-related controversy has surfaced. Full Story
Voters don't seem to mind the gray hair on their incumbents in two North Texas districts, but Ralph Hall and Sam Johnson seem to attract competitors who think they've passed retirement age. Full Story
When Walmart, one of Texas’ largest private employers, dropped out of the state’s workers’ compensation system, it was a heavy blow to advocates of the system who have watched more large companies offer private injury benefits. Full Story
Plagued by financial and academic troubles, Wilmer-Hutchins ISD was closed six years ago. Now, the area appears to be on the verge of academic transformation, with three new Dallas ISD campuses. Full Story
Premont ISD in South Texas has made drastic moves to improve its finances — including cutting high school sports. But critics fault the state's accountability and school finance systems, which they say punish districts that serve largely low-income populations. Full Story
The first two parts of M. Smith's series on failing school districts (plus Murphy and Seger's interactive on how districts' characteristics relate to ratings), Root on lagging GOP candidates for president trying to shore things up in Texas, Ramshaw on a "fiscal switcheroo" to get federal money for women's health programs, Galbraith talks to a West Texas farmer about crop insurance and climate change and Aguilar on the money behind a lawsuit on long rifle sales: The best of our best content from April 2 to 6, 2012. Full Story
Your evening reading: Santorum met Perry privately in Texas for "courtesy visit"; Bernard Rapoport, Texas Democratic stalwart, dies at 94; the politics of a winner-take-all primary in Texas Full Story
Officials gathered at a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board forum to begin a conversation about tweaking the state's primary need-based financial aid program for college students. Full Story
Redistricting has cost Texas taxpayers nearly $1.5 million in legal expenses so far — a total that could rise as more invoices are filed. Use our interactive to compare spending by category or to see the number of hours billed for legal work. Full Story
At our Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, state Reps. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa, and state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, discussed cuts to public and higher education and other by-products of the 82nd Session. Full Story
Bernard Rapoport, an outspoken liberal and a stalwart of Texas Democratic politics, died late last night in Waco. He was 94. Full Story