There are lily pads and launch pads in Texas government, and the Railroad Commission is a launch pad. Being a railroad commissioner is less an end than a means — a way to propel yourself into a better, higher-profile and more powerful job. Which is why a serious reform effort is afoot. Full Story
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After years of playing one on TV, Chuck Norris is now a Texas Ranger in real life, at least honorarily. Full Story
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The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons may continue its lawsuit against the Texas Medical Board, despite a lower court's ruling, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decided today. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive event, state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, speaks out on the challenge to his close friend and colleague, Speaker Joe Straus. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Sheila Jackson Lee and WikiLeaks, talk of a pardon for Tom DeLay, and Chuck Norris (yes, that Chuck Norris) Full Story
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Robert Grijalva isn't running for the Texas House. Full Story
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Some House newbies on Wednesday experienced the crush of political defeat for the first time — courtesy of a box of ping pong balls. Full Story
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The Republican state representative from McKinney on why he's running for speaker, why Joe Straus is "the most controversial Republican elected official ... that maybe has ever happened," the role of outside groups in what has historically been a forum for the most inside of insider politics and whether he thinks he can really win. Full Story
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Harris County District Judge Kevin Fine is set to hold a hearing Monday in the case of John Edward Green, who is charged with fatally shooting a Houston woman during a robbery in June 2008. Green’s attorneys and capital punishment opponents want Fine to find that prosecutors can’t seek the death penalty because the way we administer it in Texas is unconstitutional. “The current system is profoundly and fundamentally flawed from top to bottom,” says Andrea Keilen, executive director of the Texas Defender Service. Prosecutors counter that the ruling should be made by higher courts, not a trial judge. Full Story
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It's orientation week for the largest incoming class of House members since the early '70s. Before their work begins in January, they're learning how things work in the pink building — and drawing balls to see who gets the most seniority. Full Story
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Texas universities are likely facing massive budget cuts in the upcoming legislative session — so how are they spending the money they have now, and is there even any room for cuts? A new report offers some clues. Full Story
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In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Elise and Reeve discuss the freshman class at the Lege, the ongoing speaker's race and potential cuts to higher education. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: freshman orientation, Kirk Watson and the budget, and Warren Jeffs in Texas Full Story
Warren Jeffs has made it to Texas. The embattled leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — the polygamous Mormon breakaway sect whose Eldorado ranch was raided by child welfare officials in 2008 — will stand trial in San Angelo for allegedly sexually assaulting a child. Full Story
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Dormant since campaign season, one of the year's biggest ethics flaps is back. Full Story
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When country music icon Willie Nelson got arrested for marijuana possession last week, he wasn’t the only Texas legend who figured in the story. Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West, who put Willie in the local pokey, is a reigning symbol of the years-long fight over border security and immigration. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry’s office has asked a member of the Emerging Technology Fund’s advisory committee to consider resigning over a recent investigation into a stock deal — the latest dustup involving state incentive funds. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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The chairman of the Governor's Business Council on why the business community cares about higher ed, why we have to incentivize outcomes, whether it's possible to increase productivity and who's to blame if we don't. Full Story
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Today marks the beginning of an effort to more openly and aggressively disclose when donors to The Texas Tribune are — for reasons entirely related to their place in the center of the news — the subjects of stories. Full Story
More than a third of Texas drivers think roadways are less safe than they were five years ago even though data shows that deaths have steadily decreased, according to a survey by the Center for Transportation Safety at the Texas Transportation Institute. Full Story
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