The Evening Brief: Oct. 9, 2012

Culled:

•   Minority organizations throw support behind UT in Fisher v. Texas case (The Dallas Morning News): "Leaders of several minority organizations echoed sentiments in defense in favor of the University of Texas at Austin’s race-conscious admission process brought before the Supreme Court in Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas. … 'I sympathize with litigants like Fisher who believe that college classroom should have been available to her several years ago, but I also say that to the voiceless children who are coming out of high schools and don’t have the tools and resources to compete at the collegiate level with other school’s across the state,' said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio."

•   Official: Body of slain Mexican drug lord stolen (The Associated Press): "Mexican marines gunned down of one of Mexico's most feared drug lords outside a baseball game in a state on the Texas border, but the body was stolen from a funeral home in a pre-dawn raid by a group of armed men, officials said Tuesday. The theft of the body believed to belong to Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano adds a bizarre and embarrassing twist to one of the most significant victories in Mexico's militarized battle with organized crime, two months before the man who sharply expanded it, President Felipe Calderon, leaves office."

•   Ted Cruz says Paul Sadler more liberal than President Obama (The Dallas Morning News): "Republican Senate candidate Ted Cruz on Tuesday said Democrat Paul Sadler supports tax increases that would adversely impact small businesses and average Americans. 'Indeed, he’s running to the left of Barack Obama,' Cruz said in Dallas after receiving the endorsement from the National Federal of Independent Business. 'He has said he is willing to consider raising taxes on every single American who pays taxes. It is a courageous position, but it is a foolhardy position which would do enormous damage to the state and to the nation.'"

•   Lawyer again criticizes USADA for banning Lance Armstrong for life (The Associated Press): "With U.S. anti-doping officials set to issue their report on the Lance Armstrong case, a lawyer for the cyclist on Tuesday again criticized the process which led to Armstrong being banned from the sport for life."

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   Hearing on Smart Meters Draws Impassioned Testimony: "A Texas Senate committee heard sometimes emotional testimony about smart-meter installations, as opponents of the installation argued that their rights had been violated and the meters carried health risks."

•   Mental Health of Veterans is Focus of House Panel's Hearing: "Amid a recent increase in suicides among military veterans, Texas lawmakers are looking at ways to address mental health challenges for veterans as they return home from Iraq and Afghanistan."

•   Bobby Guerra: The TT Interview: "The new state representative for the Rio Grande Valley's House District 41 on his unusual path to office, what he hopes to accomplish before his re-election bid in November and how he's approaching the general election."

•   Updated Data App: Government Salaries: We've updated the data for 13 agencies in our government employee salary database, bringing the number of employees to more than 674,000. This update includes new information for the Austin Community College system, the Alamo Colleges system, Austin ISD, Houston ISD, the city of San Antonio, the state of Texas and Angelo State University.