The Ciudad Juárez mayor on why his city isn’t the most violent in Mexico, why negotiating with cartels would be giving in to the criminals’ demands and why, despite a cartel presence, there aren’t shootouts in the streets of El Paso. Full Story
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Firefighters continue to battle massive wildfires that have scorched more than 300,000 acres across the state in the last week. As Crystal Chavez of KUT News reports, with the state still battling a drought, little relief is in sight. Full Story
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The state of Texas generates a fortune from taxes on mining for oil, gas and minerals. But as Ryland Barton of KUT News and ReportingTexas.com reports, the natural gas industry enjoys a special incentive that some legislators want to scrap. Full Story
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The House Ways & Means Committee is considering several bills that have the same mission: to make permanent the franchise tax exemption for businesses that report $1 million or less in gross revenue. Full Story
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A panel of senators today discussed an abortion sonogram carve-out that would allow women in remote communities to wait just two hours after a sonogram to have an abortion, instead of 24 hours. Full Story
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State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, hoped to bring up his campus carry bill today after a false start on Thursday. But the search for votes is proving more difficult than he anticipated. Full Story
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Tenet Healthcare Corp., a Dallas-based hospital company under siege by Community Health Systems, has sued its competitor and potential parent for allegedly overbilling Medicare. Full Story
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Since 2009, the Texas Forest Service has helped douse more than 2,600 wildfires like those scorching West Texas. We mapped the area most effected by the blazes, which burned nearly a half-million acres and destroyed 300 homes. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: personal information of millions of Texans exposed; Michelle Obama to visit Texas this week; Dewhurst cooling on Senate run? Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, about the maps they and their colleagues will draw for the state's House, Senate and congressional districts. Full Story
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The fate of campus-carry legislation — once virtually assured of passage this session — may lie with a Senate Democrat (or two). Full Story
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There’s a widely held belief around the Capitol that lawmakers balanced a troublesome budget in 2003 with a convenient underestimation of how many people would need to be served. So why not do that on purpose, and out in the open? Full Story
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For the latest installment of our unscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked how President Obama's re-election bid will go in Texas and what it means for Democrats on the ballot — and for Republicans. Full Story
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When Ellen Cohen decided, two months after losing re-election to her state House seat, to run for Houston City Council, a friend worried, “Isn’t that a step down?” Cohen’s answer? “No, it’s a step closer.” Full Story
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The first half of a legislative session is for building the relationships that get destroyed in the second half of the session. Full Story
An influential band of the 62,500 or so residents of Victoria, home of the University of Houston-Victoria — a smaller, more rural member of the University of Houston System, about 130 miles from the main campus — is leading a movement to part ways with the parent system. Full Story
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Today, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie announced that he will not seek another term. Full Story
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Tan on the budget standoff between the House and Senate, Ramsey on budget cuts that cost us money, Philpott on Hispanics and redistricting, Stiles visualizes speed limits by state, Grissom on a liberal social justice organizer who became a conservative hero, M. Smith on even more student social security numbers at risk, Ramshaw on whether family planning equals abortion, Aguilar on what circumcision has to do with citizenship, Murphy on how much Texas university adminstrators are paid, Hamilton on the latest in the higher ed reform saga and Galbraith on Texas energy lessons from the 1970s: The best of our best content from April 4 to 8, 2011. Full Story
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The U.S. Department of Transportation released preliminary details today on a program that would again open up U.S. roadways to Mexican truckers. Full Story
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Data don’t lie: Amendments dominated the House floor last Friday as Representatives debated the budget bill. A visualization of the House transcript reveals “amendment” was the most used word. Full Story
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