The Brief: Top Texas News for Feb. 25, 2011
School districts, taking a pummeling under current state budget proposals, got to breathe a tiny sigh of relief on Thursday. Full Story
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Voices of the Mentally Ill
As lawmakers consider cutting community-based mental health care services, the Tribune talks with mentally ill Harris County Jail inmates and with consumers who use community-based services to stay out of jail and off the streets. Full Story
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![Nearly one-quarter of the 10,000 inmates at the Harris County Jail are on psychotropic medications.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Bill Would Shield School Finance System From Lawsuits
Some state lawmakers are hoping a new state constitutional amendment will bring an end to the so-called Robin Hood school finance system, as Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Mental Health Cuts Would Strain Local Jails
Proposed reductions in community-based mental health treatment, experts say, will mean more mentally ill Texans are likely to end up on the streets, in emergency rooms and behind bars, where it will cost local taxpayers even more to care for them. Full Story
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![Jail officials across Texas are worried that state budget cuts to community-based mental health care services will mean more mentally ill inmates in their facilities.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Do Texas Schools Spend Too Much on Administration?
For lawmakers scrutinizing every possible saving, “administrative costs” presents an easy mark. But there may be less to cut than they imagine. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Why Gambling's Odds Have Improved (Hint: We're Broke)
Like the Republican Party of Texas and many of his core voters, Gov. Rick Perry no longer supports expanded gambling here. This year, that might not make any difference. Full Story
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Cigarroa: Campus Carry Creates "Less-Safe Environment"
Today, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa issued a letter to Gov. Rick Perry weighing in on the touchy issue of allowing concealed handguns in college campus buildings. In short: He's against it. Full Story
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TDCJ Bans Thousands of Books in State Prisons
Inmates looking to catch up on their Shakespeare are out of luck. They won't find Love Poems & Sonnets in any Texas lock-up. The Texas Civil Rights Project released a report today on the list of 11,850 books banned by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
CDC Releases Texas Abortion Stats
There were nearly 81,000 reported abortions in Texas in 2007 — 11 percent of the abortions reported nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Texas had the 13th-highest rate of women having the procedure that year. Full Story
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Colin Goddard's Right to Bear Witness to a Campus Massacre
Colin Goddard survived the 2007 mass shooting on Virginia Tech's campus that left 32 dead and wounded 16 others. He thinks allowing concealed weapons to be carried on college campuses is a dangerous idea, and he came to Austin to explain why. Full Story
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![Colin Goddard Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs at the Brady Campaign, was at the Capitol lobbying against allowing handguns on college campuses.]()
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Budget Writers Spare Historical, Arts Agencies — For Now
Two agencies that Gov. Rick Perry has suggested suspending funding for — the Texas Historical Commission and the Texas Commission on the Arts — came before House Appropriations this morning. And lawmakers didn't seem particularly apt to shutter them. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for Feb. 24, 2011
Your afternoon reading: plotted attack targeted Bush's Dallas home; prisons to cut 555 positions; Rainy Day Fund fight still brewing Full Story
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Senators Try to Buy Time for Teachers
With major state funding cuts looming, for many school districts, it's not a question of if — but how and when — teacher layoffs will occur. A new bipartisan bill from education leaders in the state Senate could temporarily change how schools go about that. Full Story
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650,000 Employees Now in Government Pay App
We’ve pushed the first update of the New Year to our government salary database, which now includes data on more than 650,000 employees from more than 100 entities. This update refreshes the salaries of more than 20 public agencies and adds 13 new entities. Full Story
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Zerwas' Rainy Day Proposal Draws Conservative Critics [Updated]
Republican Rep. John Zerwas' suggestion that he'd get a "spanking" in his district if he cut education and health care to the bone but didn't touch the Rainy Day Fund has drawn the ire of one conservative activist group: Michael Quinn Sullivan's Empower Texans. Full Story
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![State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, at TribLive on February 23, 2011.]()
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National Journal: Texans Among Most Conservative in Congress
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Reps. Randy Neugebauer and Sam Johnson are among the most conservative members of Congress, according to National Journal's annual ranking of votes. Full Story
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The Brief: Top Texas News for Feb. 24, 2011
For those hoping Texas legislators get even tougher on immigration this session, the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll could give them some hope. Full Story
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Bill: Hire an Illegal Alien, Go to Jail — Unless It's Your Maid
The bill would broaden the scope of employers subject to scrutiny — and extend penalties for violators to include possible jail time and big fines. Exempt? People who hire undocumented workers as domestic help. Full Story
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UT/TT Poll: Texans Want Tough Immigration Laws
Texas voters are willing to end automatic citizenship for the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
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Pushing Renewable Energy on a Tight Budget
It’s renewable energy lobby week at the Capitol, and as Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, the budget shortfall — though sure to dampen hopes for some legislation — isn't keeping advocates from pushing for a number of energy programs. Full Story
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![Cows graze near wind turbines at an Iberdrola Renewables wind farm along the Texas coast.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal
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