The Evening Brief: Oct. 17, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   Texas Joins Lawsuit Over Religious Banners at School: "The state of Texas is joining a lawsuit over East Texas cheerleaders' Bible-verse inscribed banners, the attorney general and governor said at a press conference Wednesday."

•   Dick Cheney to Help Raise Money for Romney in Texas: "Former Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Texas next week to raise money for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Cheney will be joined at events in Austin and Dallas by Romney’s son Josh."

•   Special Prosecutor Will Not Seek Death Penalty in Norwood Case: "The special prosecutor in the 1986 murder of Christine Morton has decided not to seek the death penalty in its case against Mark Norwood, a Bastrop resident whose DNA was identified at two similar murder scenes."

•   To Hold a Senate Seat, Democrats Must Vote for the Dearly Departed: "It's a cringe-inducing moment in politics: To keep his seat in the Democrats' column, voters in Houston will have to cast one last vote for the late state Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr."

•   Dallas Suburbs Lead State in Attempts to Deny Information Requests: "Among the state’s biggest cities, several Dallas-area suburbs tallied the highest rate of requests to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott last year to keep government information secret, according to a Center for Public Integrity investigation."

Culled:

•   Lance Armstrong stepping down as chairman of Livestrong, gets dumped by Nike (The Associated Press): "Lance Armstrong stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity and Nike severed ties with him as fallout from the doping scandal swirling around the famed cyclist escalated Wednesday."

•   Ron Kirk helping President Obama get out the vote in North Carolina (The Dallas Morning News): "U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk is campaigning for Barack Obama’s bid for another term. The former Dallas mayor has joined other Democrats, including Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, for bus tour Thursday in North Carolina."