The Evening Brief: Aug. 15, 2013

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Feds Award $10.8 Million to Help Texans Find Coverage: "With the rollout of many Affordable Care Act provisions approaching, the federal government announced Thursday that eight Texas organizations will receive a combined $10.8 million to hire and train 'navigators' to help the uninsured find coverage."

•    Cruz Staging Number of Events Across Texas: "U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will press the flesh with Texans over the next couple of weeks with town hall meetings and visits with business leaders across the state."

•    Pauken Attacks Abbott for Opposing Airline Merger: "Tom Pauken, waging a longshot bid to be the GOP nominee for Texas governor, attacked front-runner Greg Abbott Thursday for joining forces with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to block a proposed airline merger."

•    State Board of Education Will No Longer Approve Charter Applicants: "For the first time since the charter school system was created in 1995, the state education board will no longer play a central role in determining which charter schools get approved."

•    We've updated our Texas Campaign Finance Database with the most recent figures from the Texas Ethics Commission. Use it to find out how much high-profile candidates like Attorney General Greg Abbott and state Sen. Wendy Davis are raising and spending for the 2014 campaign, or to just check up on your local lawmakers.

Culled

•    Non-Clinton Dems ask: Why not me? (Politico): "And on Sept. 15, both Vice President Joe Biden — no stranger to the voters, or to the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner Circuit — and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will both speak at Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry, a traditional stop on the road to a presidential primary campaign."

•    A&M chancellor: Manziel’s 'heart in the right place' (Fort Worth Star-Telegram): "Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp defended his school’s embattled star quarterback, calling Johnny Manziel 'a good kid' and questioning why a college athlete can’t make money off his name."