Health care providers across Texas are submitting proposals to transform the way they care for the poor and uninsured. But the complicated bureaucratic process for achieving these lofty goals to transform the system has led to disagreements over how to distribute money. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-1115waiver019.jpg)
For the last week of the year, we picked a sampling of our best of 2012: Hamilton on four-year graduation rates from Texas colleges, Ryan and Galbraith map the troubling levels of the state’s water reservoirs, Galbraith on groundwater fights in the Panhandle, Aaronson on the state insurance commissioner’s turbulent first year, Grissom, Ryan and Dehn on prosecutorial errors in Texas, M. Smith on what to do with failing school districts, E. Smith’s “Satan” interview with Gov. Rick Perry at TribFest, excerpts from “Oops!” — Root’s book on the governor’s presidential campaign, Rocha on the tussle over the Women’s Health Program, Ramshaw on a controversial effort to control Medicaid costs, Batheja examines the boom in toll roads, and Aguilar on “restorative justice” on the Texas-Mexico border. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/BestOfYear-3.jpg)
Criminal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Kenneth "Buddy" Barfield, a top aide to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Dewhurst's campaign accounts. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/20120731_dewhurst_watch_party_0094.JPG)
Death row inmate Max Soffar says his 1980 murder confession was coerced. As his lawyers say his case highlights a broader debate about false confessions, police and prosecutors say he told them details only the killer would know. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/MaxSoffar.JPG)
Third parties — outsiders — can't vote in the race for Speaker of the House. But the lawmakers who will actually elect the speaker next month are listening, and acting, on what's going on outside. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4a7f9ed421e4bb79ab8bc211a47ea1db/BD%20INC%20SImpson%20Straus%202012)
Some Texas legislators are emphasizing the need for teachers and other school personnel to have increased access to firearms on campus. Ahead of the 83rd legislative session, bills have been proposed with that mission in mind. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-SchoolSecurity002.JPG)
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who has waged a vociferous legal battle with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its regulation of industries and pollution, said he is hopeful for change at the EPA with the departure of its leader, Lisa Jackson. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/04bd6a24fa4ebf94906e24b573740782/BD%20INC%20Jackson%202011)
For health care in Texas, 2012 was a year rocked by scandals, budget cuts, legal challenges and major policy shifts at the state and national levels. Here's a look back at the year's biggest stories on health care. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/YearInReview2012-Health_1.jpg)
Prosecutorial misconduct, the politics of immigration and continuing bloodshed in the Mexican drug war dominated Tribune headlines in 2012. Here's a look back at the crime, immigration and border stories of the year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/YearInReview-Crime-Immigration.jpg)
Gov. Rick Perry's strikingly disastrous presidential bid, U.S. Sen.-elect Ted Cruz's surprisingly successful campaign and a Legislature full of fresh faces were among the top political stories of 2012. Jay Root and Ross Ramsey take a look back. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/YearInReview-Politics.jpg)
For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in politics and government, we returned to the subject of gun laws, asking the same set of questions posed after July's theater shooting in Colorado. After Connecticut's schoolhouse shooting, the answers have changed. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/inside_intelligence-logo-Hahn-sponsorship.jpg){kind=logo}
In this very special episode, a varied cast of TribCasters revisit the highlights and lowlights of Texas politics in 2012. As a holiday bonus, we've included the previously unaired recording of this year's biggest TribCast blooper. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/08/27/Tribcasters-ReeveEvanRossEmily.jpg)
Drought, oil and gas production, fast lanes and toll lanes made headlines in 2012 in the Tribune. Here's a look back at the year's biggest stories on energy and the environment and transportation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/YearInReview-Energy_1.jpg)
For public education in Texas, 2012 was the year of accountability. At the state's universities, the competition for dollars to boost research and status heated up. Here's a look back at the year's biggest stories about public and higher education. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/YearInReview-Education.jpg)
With plenty of fodder from the elections, redistricting, the ongoing drought, massive cuts to family planning and major expansions in toll projects, the Trib development and data teams was busy in 2012. Here's the best of what we built. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/YearInReview-Data.jpg)
The year 2012 in Texas Tribune videos: From Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign to rock-and-roller Ted Nugent, the U.S. Senate campaign, prosecutorial misconduct and pre-legislative prognostications, our cameras were running. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TribuneMixTape.jpg)
The courts aren't expected to finish their work on school finance until after the regular legislative session, giving lawmakers an excuse for leaving some expensive work incomplete for now. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/MoneyPavedRoad_1.jpg)
State Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, and Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat and former Harris County commissioner, are the front-runners in a special election to to replace state Sen. Mario Gallegos, who died in October. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Alvarado-Garcia.jpg)
In a growing trend across Texas, municipalities and public agencies are reaching out to the private sector for funding. Advocates say it's the only way to meet Texas’ growing water needs, but critics worry about accountability and rising water rates. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/LakeMeredith_121812_0004-2.jpg)
The regents of the University of North Texas System fired Dr. Scott Ransom, the president of the UNT Health Science Center, at a Friday meeting called expressly for that purpose. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/UNT-healthsciencecenter.jpg)