Two more Austin residents were injured Sunday evening in an apparent bombing, local police confirmed Monday. This marks the latest in a series of explosions that has kept Texas’ capital city on edge.
March 2018
Posted inPolitics
Here’s who’s running for Texas House Speaker and who may soon join the race
The Texas House is in the midst of a months-long scramble for control. Here’s an updated look at who is running to lead the chamber after Speaker Joe Straus steps down in January as well as who may soon throw their hats in the ring.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: For Texas Republicans, winning in November might mean outrunning Trump
Lots of Texas Republicans outperformed Donald Trump on the 2016 ballot, and many of them wouldn’t be in office if they hadn’t. In a presidential midterm year, overcoming the president’s shortcomings might be the key to re-election.
Posted in
Texas Elections 2018
Court dismisses Empower Texans’ lawsuit
Empower Texans was not able to demonstrate a credible fear of prosecution stemming from tactics it used in a closely watched Texas House race, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Exploding packages tap into simmering tensions over Austin’s racial segregation
The three package bombs that have exploded in the city this month, killing two people and injuring two others, share at least one other thing in common: They hit black and Latino families east of I-35.
Posted in
Politics
Texas AG Ken Paxton ramps up fight against schools’ “illegal electioneering”
Education advocates and some officials who have received cease-and-desist letters and open records requests from the state’s top lawyer say the actions are politically motivated.
Posted in
State Government
State Sen. Carlos Uresti got 11 felony convictions for a Ponzi scheme. The Texas Ethics Commission added a $500 fine.
The commission said Uresti improperly disclosed income from FourWinds Logistics, the Ponzi scheme that earned him 11 felony convictions last month.
Posted in
Politics
Analysis: Not a blue wave, but deep enough to get some Republican feet wet
Republicans outnumber Democrats in Texas, if your measure is turnout for the two major party primaries. But in three of the state’s largest counties — Bexar, Dallas and Harris — Democrats outran Republicans this year.
Posted in
Public Education
Will Texas school finance panel tell schools to do more with less? Some members think it’s predetermined
As Texas’ school finance commission is set to hold its next hearing, some members and policy experts are arguing the hearings seem set toward a predetermined outcome — making schools do more with the funding they have.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas prisons to update LGBT policy after lawsuit from transgender inmate who was beaten, raped
Lambda Legal has settled with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in the case of Passion Star, a transgender woman who claimed prison officials didn’t protect her from sexual and physical abuse while incarcerated in male prisons.