As Texas recovers from the severe drought of the last two years, water experts say that conservation is the easiest way to make sure the state has enough water for future growth. But conservation doesn't always come naturally. Full Story
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State Republicans are defending their support for a guest-worker program, which they say is the most reasonable proposal that either party has put forward in decades. Full Story
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A report calling for a new temporary state agency to oversee the state's community colleges has leaders at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board fuming. Full Story
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Your evening reading: Dewhurst hits Cruz again over patent case; pro-Obama Super PAC launches ad blitz targeting Hispanics; state prepping for voter ID court battle Full Story
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David Dewhurst again criticized U.S. Senate runoff rival Ted Cruz’s involvement in a patent case — pitting a Chinese company against a U.S. inventor — saying Monday that “this is a terrific insight into the character of Mr. Cruz.” Full Story
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Politics reigned at the state political conventions over the weekend, but another common thread ran through both Republicans and Democrats' festivities. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Transportation announced this year that it had an extra $2 billion in funding. And that could hurt the agency's attempts at getting extra funding next session. Full Story
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Later this year, a plant in Big Spring will become the state's first facility to process wastewater and send it back into the drinking water system. This is the ultimate use of "reclaimed water" — a source crucial to Texas' future. Full Story
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So much for sure things: David Dewhurst was expected to walk away with the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, even in a field of nine candidates. Now he's in a runoff — and it's been a good year for insurgents like opponent Ted Cruz. Full Story
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The U.S. Air Force is planning to move its C-130 cargo planes, which were used to douse flames during last year’s wildfires, out of Texas. But as Era Sundar of KUT News reports, officials are warning that the move could leave Texas and other Gulf states unprepared to deal with major emergencies. Full Story
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Desalination has become a buzzword in water discussions around the state, amid concerns over future supplies. But tapping salty aquifers, or even seawater from the Gulf of Mexico, carries costs. Full Story
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Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst both addressed the Texas GOP convention Saturday, but the two Senate candidates offered a study in contrast. Cruz got a rock star reception. Dewhurst got booed after targeting his opponent. Full Story
Texas Democrats made Gilberto Hinojosa their first Hispanic chairman Saturday, closing a convention peppered with questions about the viability of the party that once dominated the state's politics. Full Story
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There's something new in the Texas Republican Party platform: a call for a national guest-worker program. Full Story
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Our reports from the Republican convention in Fort Worth here, here and here, and from the Democratic convention in Houston here and here, Batheja on what the losers in the first round of the U.S. Senate primaries will do, Murphy compares campaign spending and results, Galbraith finds the state's cities raising rates for increasingly scarce water, Ramshaw on a California hospital company's past and its move into Texas, Aaronson maps food stamps and food insecurity in Texas, and Dehn's Weekend Insider looks at transportation funding and political conventions: The best of our best content from June 4 to 8, 2012. Full Story
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Courtesy of WFAA-TV in Dallas, here's the full video of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's speech Friday at the state Republican Party convention in Fort Worth. Full Story
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Rick Santorum avoided aggravating an already divided group of fellow Republicans on Friday night and instead regaled the crowd with tales of campaign misadventures and hopes for the party's future. Full Story
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Your evening reading: Dewhurst cheered, Romney jeered at convention; Castros, Parker hopeful about future of Democratic Party; Greens, Libertarians also meeting this weekend Full Story
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In initial results from the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, just more than half of students working on a ninth-grade level met the passing standards for writing, while 87 percent passed biology. Full Story
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Julián and Joaquin Castro and Houston Mayor Annise Parker — at the Texas Democratic Party's convention in Houston — have some ideas about what Democrats will have to do to be viable again. Full Story
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