Senate Approves "Bath Salts" Ban
The Senate today passed a bill that would make it illegal to make "bath salts," a drug that can have effects similar to cocaine or amphetamines and can be bought legally online or in smoke shops. Full Story
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The Brief: April 29, 2011
Comptroller Susan Combs, whose office exposed the Social Security numbers and other data of millions of Texans, struck a decidedly new tone Thursday. Full Story
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Guest Column: The Case for Higher Ed Accountability
Taxpayers and students make considerable financial investments in Texas universities. As such, they deserve excellence in both teaching and research. Full transparency and accountability are needed to ensure that neither of those priorities is shortchanged. Full Story
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Accused Wait Years, Face Backlog to Fight Abuse Registry
More than 2,000 people listed in a statewide database of people who mistreat children are caught in a backlog of cases waiting for appeals, many with their careers and families hanging in the balance. Full Story
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![A 2011 photo of Melissa and Gary Gates with seven of their 13 children on the Gates' 150-acre property in Richmond, Texas. From left to right: Melissa, Marcus, Gary, Cassie, Sarah, Cynthia, Andy, Raquel and Lexi.]()
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Guest Column: What Would Elmer Kelton Say?
The greatest chronicler of drought and wildfires — the person everyone in Texas turned to for perspective at times like these — is no longer with us to make sense of it all. But according to his son, he'd see an a silver lining in all the devastation. Full Story
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Bill Aims to Expand Organ Registry, Save Lives
Lawmakers are hoping nonprofit organizations can do a better job of recruiting organ donors and saving lives. HB 2904 would transfer management of the state-run organ-donation registry from an agency to a new collaboration of nonprofits, a shift supporters say will reduce the number of Texans who die while waiting on the list. Full Story
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Senate Approves Major Homeland Security Bill
You wouldn't know it by the miniscule amount of debate Thursday, but the Senate approved what some lawmakers called the most significant piece of homeland security legislation filed this session, a measure civil liberty groups worry is a major encroachment on civil rights. Full Story
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House Tentatively OKs New Juvenile Justice Agency
Texas youths who get crossways with the law could soon find themselves under the supervision of a new state juvenile justice agency whose main mission is to keep young offenders close to home and quickly headed in a more positive direction. Full Story
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House Democrats Applaud Senate's Budget Delay
House Democrats are applauding the Senate's delay in taking up what they call a “woefully inadequate” appropriations bill. Full Story
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Senate Approves Medicaid Savings Bill
The Senate unanimously approved Sen. Jane Nelson’s bill to find extensive cost savings in Texas’ Medicaid program, the primary health care provider for children, the disabled and the very poor. Full Story
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Combs: "I Am Responsible" for Security Breach
Comptroller Susan Combs now says she takes full responsibility for the data exposure. Some of her initial comments criticized the agencies that sent the data to her office. Today she says, "We're the last door. We're it. And as head of the agency, I am responsible." Full Story
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Senate OKs Teacher Evaluations
The Senate passed a bill today designed to ensure that all public school educators make the grade — by creating a teacher evaluation system. Full Story
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TribLive: Powers and Loftin Oppose Campus Carry
At this morning's TribLive conversation, UT President Bill Powers and A&M President Bowen Loftin explained why they oppose legislation that would allow concealed hanguns on college campuses. Full Story
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David Dewhurst: The TT Interview
With less than five weeks left to go in the session, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst sat down with the Tribune to talk about his future political plans, the status of the budget in the Senate and in the biennial parley between the Senate and the House, redistricting and the tug-of-war over the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
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The Midday Brief: April 28, 2011
Your afternoon reading: top redistricting fight moments; the U.S. Senate money race; Ogden says budget may have to wait until next week Full Story
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Ogden: How to Finance Budget Holding Up Vote
Senators left a meeting this morning looking no closer to an agreement on the budget — and Finance Chair Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said the method of financing it remains the sticking point. Full Story
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LiveBlog: A Conversation with Dr. R. Bowen Loftin and William Powers Jr.
This morning, Evan Smith of The Texas Tribune is sitting down with Texas A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin and University of Texas President William Powers, Jr. — and we live-blogged the whole thing. Full Story
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The Brief: April 28, 2011
After a 16-hour debate that stretched past 2 a.m. this morning, House lawmakers gave early approval to a map that would reshape their political districts. Full Story
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Guest Column: The Case for Ron Paul
While television and conservative talk radio continue to marginalize his presidential candidacy, unrest and anxiety over the nation’s economic woes festers, and a passionate and energized base of young people supporting him grows. It's long past time to take him seriously. Full Story
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Report Finds No Evidence of Market Manipulation During Blackouts
A new report released by the Public Utility Commission has found no evidence of market manipulation during the Texas blackouts in February, though it does suggest some improvements for electric-grid operations. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman / John Rogers
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