While most of Monday night's Republican presidential debate featured the top-tier candidates sniping at each other, Gov. Rick Perry was just trying to stay relevant. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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Thirty-five years ago today, the state of Utah restarted the death penalty in the United States when Gary Gilmore was executed. Texas followed suit in 1982 and since then has executed 477 men and women, more than any other state. Full Story
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With Texas' redistricting maps still the subject of court battles, the date of the primary elections remains uncertain. And that is causing a fundraising hurdle for a number of candidates. Full Story
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The 16th debate of the Republican presidential primary season ended Monday with front-runner Mitt Romney bruised but not beaten. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry's frenetic campaign schedule suggests he is not thinking much about the moment his presidential run will come to an end. But in an interview before a studio audience Monday in Myrtle Beach, Perry sounded somewhat less certain of victory and finally willing, perhaps, to look beyond a campaign that started off with such hope but quickly went off the rails. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Perry calls on Romney to release tax returns; Paul's backup plan; Huntsman bows out Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith said in a press release on Friday that he plans to remove controversial provisions in the Stop Online Piracy Act. As Andy Uhler of KUT News reports, some online-business leaders say the legislation, introduced by Smith, R-San Antonio, could cause economic damage. Full Story
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Ahead of what could be his final days on the campaign trail, the bad news is piling up for Rick Perry. Full Story
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For our latest nonscientific survey of government and political insiders, we asked about the sliding primary dates, who it helps and hurts, and whether there is still a need for federal review of the state's political maps. Full Story
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Starting Feb. 1, drillers will have to report many of the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing. But a less-publicized part of the regulation is what some water experts are most interested in: the mandatory disclosure of the amount of water needed to “frack” each well. Full Story
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You might come to believe that Ted Cruz, the former state solicitor general, is the reason the stone monument to the Ten Commandments is still standing near the northwest corner of the Texas Capitol. It's not so. Full Story
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It's no longer unusual for juries to see evidence from decades-old cases, because of DNA testing and other technological advancements. But the cases present myriad challenges to defense lawyers and prosecutors alike. Full Story
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Rick Perry, trying to rescue his presidential campaign in South Carolina, got some unwelcome news Saturday from back home, where influential evangelical leaders threw their support behind former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Full Story
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Tan and Root on the Texas presidential candidates returning to the state where Rick Perry started his campaign, Philpott on Perry's swipes at Mitt Romney, Ramshaw on Griffin Perry's tweets, M. Smith on the next round of fights over student testing, E. Smith's TribLive interview with Michael Quinn Sullivan, yours truly on the sliding primary election calendar, Hamilton on higher-education efforts to bolster the Texas work force, Grissom's interview with John Raley, Galbraith on the greenhouse gas wars and Aguilar on making it easier for immigrants to return to the U.S.: The best of our best content from January 9 to 13, 2012. Full Story
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The conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation today wrapped up its annual legislative primer, which has become a must-attend for state Republican leaders. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on how the group is already working to influence next year's legislative session. Full Story
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A federal judge's decision not to allow Rick Perry and three other presidential candidates onto Virginia's GOP primary ballot "disenfranchises" the state's voters, Joe Nixon, the Texas governor's lead counsel, said Friday. Full Story
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Texas abortion providers were hoping they'd have a few more weeks to start abiding by a state law requiring them to play the heartbeat of the fetus and describe its image on a sonogram before performing the procedure. They're not going to get it. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Paul's relaxed schedule draws scrutiny; Perry again flubs government-agencies question; evangelicals scale back goals for anti-Romney meeting Full Story
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Two weeks after it was originally scheduled to go in to effect, Texas’ voter ID law is back in the hands of the U.S. Department of Justice. Full Story
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At yesterday's TribLive conversation, conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan explained why Empower Texans doesn't post its financial records or disclose its donors on its web site. Full Story
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