On Thursday night, the University of Texas at Austin opened four massive open online courses for registration. By Monday morning, total enrollment in the free courses stood at 14,000 — and counting. Full Story
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About a dozen freshman Republicans in the Texas House have filed dozens of amendments to the state budget with the same goal: defunding various programs and agencies and putting that money toward retired teachers. Full Story
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The Texas rhetoric around a key tenet of federal health reform reached a high-water mark on Monday, with back-to-back press conferences at the Capitol featuring political leaders on both sides of the aisle. Full Story
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In their quest to woo minority voters, Republican leaders are missing something important: Most of those voters won't buy the party's anti-government message. Full Story
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Expanding Medicaid in Texas would weaken it, and weakening Medicaid would be a disservice to the Texans who now depend on it. Full Story
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The undercurrents of the bickering between Gov. Rick Perry's administration and UT-Austin President Bill Powers offer a gold mine for the conspiratorial set, with fuel for every obsession: politics, deep school rivalries, policy and governance. Full Story
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Dueling events at the Capitol today will pit Texas' top Republicans against the state's two highest-profile Democrats. Full Story
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UPDATED: As debates over gun control intensify across the nation, state senators on Tuesday tentatively approved a measure allowing Gov. Rick Perry to offer economic incentives to gun manufacturers that want to move to Texas. Full Story
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The strong message sent by Texas lawmakers to UT System regents about their plan to pay for an external review of UT-Austin is summed up in the first song on this week's news-based playlist: Sister Hazel's "Change Your Mind." Full Story
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This week in the Newsreel: The Legislature makes progress on key education and water bills; Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, is busted for barratry; and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst bares his partisan teeth. Full Story
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Aaronson on a new front in the war over abortion, Aguilar on narco cinema, Batheja on budget riders, Galbraith and Henry of StateImpact Texas on fracking and wastewater wells, Grissom on the Norwood verdict, Hamilton on the Texas Senate vs. the UT regents, Murphy and Galbraith update their app tracking Texas reservoir levels, Ramsey on the battle of St. Augustine, Ramshaw on bipartisan support for transparency, Rocha on a state lawmaker's arrest, my sit-down with the UT and A&M system chancellors and M. Smith on the passage of sweeping education legislation: The best of our best content from March 25-29, 2013. Full Story
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Your evening reading: Castros to deliver rebuttal to Republicans on Medicaid expansion; Texas politicians denounce Alaska congressman's use of racial slur; business and labor close to deal on immigration reform Full Story
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UPDATED: U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, and his twin, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, will hold their own event at the Capitol on Monday to promote the Medicaid expansion provision of federal health reform. Full Story
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Texas added 80,600 new jobs in February, but the state's unemployment rate still increased slightly to 6.8 percent. Full Story
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State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, the Republican chairwoman of the House Public Health Committee, gives a whiteboard math lesson in this video posted by Gov. Rick Perry's office. Full Story
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Full video of my 3/28 TribLive conversation with University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa and Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry torments Democrats and disparages trial lawyers, but he likes Aggies. Even if they're Democratic trial lawyers. Full Story
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Multiple amendments to the budget pre-filed by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, would limit the spending authority of the University of Texas System regents. Full Story
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The state House this week passed legislation that would alter the courses students must take to receive a high school diploma. The bill has drawn mixed reactions from education experts, some of whom are worried about the effects on minority students. Full Story
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State Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, has filed legislation that would encourage Texas educators to learn how to help the state's estimated 1 million public school students struggling with mental illnesses. Full Story
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