Criminal Investigation Launched Into West Explosion
The Texas Rangers and the McLennan County sheriff's office are launching a criminal investigation into the fertilizer plant explosion last month in West. Full Story
The Texas Rangers and the McLennan County sheriff's office are launching a criminal investigation into the fertilizer plant explosion last month in West. Full Story
A political scientist's analysis of Texas legislators' votes through April, and where those votes locate lawmakers on the partisan scale. Spoiler alert: The Republicans and the Democrats don't overlap much. Full Story
Full video of my 5/9 TribLive conversation with first-term state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands. Full Story
Lawmakers are talking seriously about a 21.5 percent pay raise for state district judges, which would increase the pensions of those same lawmakers by that same amount. Full Story
As state and federal regulators analyze the patchwork of policies governing the fertilizer plant that exploded in West, the incident has prompted a closer look at communities that lie near stockpiles of chemicals. Full Story
Another major House deadline has gone by, ending that chamber's consideration of major legislation filed by its own members. We've updated our House Bill tracker, showing which bills stalled in committee and which ones stalled in the full House. Full Story
UPDATED: The legislation authored by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, that would require court approval for most requests to view or copy crime scene photos that show murder victims passed the Senate Monday without debate. Full Story
President Obama's visit to Austin on Thursday has again highlighted Texas' economic growth. But the renewed focus on the "Texas miracle" has also underscored a persistent concern in the state: higher rates of unemployment among Hispanics. Full Story
After President Obama's visit to Austin put Texas in the spotlight on Thursday, attention turned back to the state Capitol, where a major deadline loomed. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry will soon receive a bill the House approved Thursday that will provide a free breakfast to all children at Texas’ poorest schools. Full Story
A bill that would have increased vehicle registration fees to generate money for transportation projects met its demise in the Texas House on Thursday. Full Story
Your evening reading: Obama praises Austin during swing through city; Abbott says spending limit includes Rainy Day Fund; Cruz makes stand at immigration hearing Full Story
On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: President Obama's trip to Austin was all about jobs, but it also inevitably highlighted Democratic efforts to turn Texas into a battleground state. Full Story
President Obama said Thursday that Austin was the perfect spot to kick off his “Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity” tour because the city was doing so many things right economically. Obama stopped by Manor New Tech High School and also visited a pair of Austin companies, Applied Materials and Capital Factory. Full Story
Death row inmate Robert Pruett will get a 60-day reprieve from his May 21 execution date after his lawyers filed a request for DNA testing Thursday, arguing that it could prove Pruett did not murder a prison guard in 2002. Full Story
Hey, Texplainer: I heard that Texas A&M University currently allows campus carry. Is that true? Full Story
At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth; Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford; and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, talked about the coming race for lieutenant governor and whom they'd back in a Cruz-Perry presidential primary showdown. Full Story
At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth; Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford; and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, explained their objection to dipping into the Rainy Day Fund to jump-start the state water plan. Full Story
A transparency bill that would require lobbyists to disclose the names of lawmakers who pay them using campaign funds for services, including political consulting, is headed to Gov. Rick Perry's desk. Full Story
Spending from the state's Rainy Day Fund does, in fact, count against a constitutional limit on growth in the state budget, Attorney General Greg Abbott advised on Thursday. Full Story