Republican U.S. Senate candidates David Dewhurst and Tom Leppert are neck and neck in cash-on-hand totals, according to third-quarter FEC filings, outpacing next-closest candidate and fellow Republican Ted Cruz. Full Story
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An amendment to the Texas Constitution on the ballot next month will lower property taxes for landowners who practice good water stewardship. It received unanimous backing in the Legislature. Full Story
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A series of bold moves could give Rick Perry the reboot he's looking for. Full Story
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Though Gov. Rick Perry's economic speech today is expected to focus on his proposal for a national flat tax, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the governor is also expected to push for a balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Full Story
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The same state law that allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Texas universities also allows some to be given publicly funded grants to pay for their education. Full Story
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With many fiscal conservatives already praising the flat tax proposal Gov. Rick Perry is set to unveil today, the Texas presidential contender is relishing finally being in the headlines for something other than debate gaffes. Full Story
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Early voting has begun for the Nov. 8 election, in which Texans will vote on 10 constitutional amendments. Matt Largey of KUT News has a look at Proposition 1, which would extend tax benefits to the spouses of disabled veterans. Full Story
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A successful challenge to the state's primary business tax would throw lawmakers into special session to try to find enough money to pay for public schools, a lawyer for the state told the Texas Supreme Court today. Full Story
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Following a hearing today in federal court in Amarillo, a lawyer for death row inmate Hank Skinner said it will likely be up to the state courts to decide a fight over DNA testing in his case. Skinner is scheduled to be executed Nov. 9. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Perry camp adds former Bush campaign manager; Romney pushes back against health care story; Perry ads to start running Tuesday in Iowa Full Story
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Joe Allbaugh, who ran George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign and later led FEMA, will make a return to big-league politics as a senior adviser to Rick Perry. Allbaugh, and several other heavy-hitters, will try to get Perry's campaign back on track after the Texas governor fell hard in opinion polls. Full Story
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Since the passage of sweeping medical lawsuit reforms in 2003, liability insurance rates have plummeted, doctors have flocked to our state in record numbers and nursing homes and hospitals are again operational. That's good for patients — and good for Texas. Full Story
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The sweeping medical lawsuit reforms of 2003 had two demonstrable effects: Doctors, hospitals and malpractice insurers got richer; and many contingent fee lawyers were put out of business. Which was exactly what proponents of the reforms wanted. Full Story
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This week could give Gov. Rick Perry the first pages to his comeback story. Full Story
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For our latest nonscientific survey of political and government insiders, we asked about the governor's performance as a presidential candidate and checked to see who they think the Republicans will nominate for its top two offices next year. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and his staff repeatedly downplayed the severity of abuse and neglect allegations at Texas’ state-run institutions for the disabled — until conditions became so dire that federal authorities intervened. Full Story
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Proposed cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's budget could shutter the Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, where researchers work to ensure the safety of products that cross from Mexico to the U.S. Full Story
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Hamilton on efforts to boost faculty productivity, Grissom on newly uncovered evidence in an old murder case, Galbraith on a wind-powered construction boom, Dehn unfurls the new Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, Aguilar on this year's record number of deportations, Ramshaw and Tan on budget cuts and cervical cancer screenings, M. Smith on local control over student grades, Root and Ramshaw on Rick Perry's latest debate performance, Philpott on an issue that didn't get its due in that debate and Titus and Murphy on fundraising and spending in congressional races: The best of our best content from October 17 to 21, 2011. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry released his 2010 tax return Friday, showing modest family income of about $217,000. Perry also reported losing about $6,000 on the sale of a home in College Station and charitable gifts of $12,500. Full Story
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Michael Morton's legal team responded today to claims from the exonerated man's original prosecutors that they cannot be forced to testify as part of an inquiry into how Morton was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife. Full Story
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