The Evening Brief: Oct. 10, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   SCOTUS Takes Aim at Key Question in UT Case: "How to define a 'critical mass' of minority students was the question of the day on Wednesday during a heated Supreme Court oral argument on the consideration of race in the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions processes."

•   DeLay's Appeal Hinges on What "Funds" Are: "Attorneys for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Sugar Land Republican convicted two years ago on conspiracy and money-laundering charges, took his appeal to court on Wednesday."

•   Hinojosa Admits Errors, Will Change Gears on Mileage Reimbursement: "State Sen. Juan 'Chuy' Hinojosa, D-McAllen, acknowledges he made errors in how his campaign reimbursed him for the use of his personal vehicle. He says he plans to now keep a log of his miles."

•   Democrats Look to Reclaim House Seat in Bexar County District: "In 2010, Republican John V. Garza defeated David Leibowitz, the incumbent Democrat, in HD-117, a fast-growing section of western Bexar County. Now, Garza’s is at the top of Democrats’ list of seats they would like to take back."

•   Shelton Ad Calls Davis "Lifelong Tax Liberal": "In a new ad, Mark Shelton's campaign depicts his SD-10 opponent, Fort Worth Sen. Wendy Davis, as a 'lifelong tax liberal' who takes money from the pockets of seniors. Cue the vacuums."

Culled:

•   Armstrong Was at Center of Doping Program, Agency Says (The New York Times): "The United States Anti-Doping Agency on Wednesday released details of its investigation of Lance Armstrong, calling it the most sophisticated doping program in recent sports history — a program in which it said Armstrong played a key role by doping, supplying doping products and demanding that his top teammates dope so he could be successful."

•   Rick Perry OK with upping performance standards further for universities (The Dallas Morning News): "Five editorial page editors and writers had lunch today at the Governor’s Mansion with Gov. Rick Perry. Call it the Olive Branch Lunch, since we represented the same big-city newspaper editorial boards whose invitations Perry snubbed two years ago when he was running for re-election for the third time. Bygones behind us, he gave us a grand tour — upstairs and down — of the beautifully restored mansion, just recently re-opened after the big arson fire. Then we had a pleasant lunch and wide-ranging conversation about his main issues going into the next legislative session. Topic Number One was higher ed and his push to drive down costs."

•   Obamacare Jags Rick Perry’s Lobbyist Sister (The Texas Observer): "The glaring media scrutiny that helped derail Rick Perry’s presidential campaign never revealed that the governor’s older sister is a lobbyist embroiled in a national health-care debate. Milla Perry Jones is vice president of government relations at United Surgical Partners International, an Addison, Texas company that runs hospitals and surgery centers co-owned by doctors."