The Texas Department of Public Safety says it has seized as much as $140 million of the $28 billion that moves annually from the U.S. into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Mario Carrillo of KUT News and ReportingTexas.com reports on what happens to that seized money and how some would like to see it used. Full Story
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Lawmakers agree that curbing elective inductions of labor and so-called “convenience” cesarean sections would prevent premature births and save the state money. But how best to do it has left child welfare advocates and hospitals at odds. Full Story
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The Senate approved a bill today that would change the name of the Railroad Commission to the Texas Oil and Gas Commission and reduce the size of the commission from three elected members to one elected commissioner. Full Story
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The aptly nicknamed "pork chopper" bill — which authorizes hunters to shoot feral hogs and coyotes from helicopters — passed a preliminary vote in the Texas House today, 137-9. Full Story
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The 3rd Court of Appeals today denied two death row inmates' request to stop the state from using a new lethal injection drug. Full Story
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Feral hogs are a fast-growing — and destructive — problem. Does that mean recreational hunters in helicopters should shoot them? Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: more budget debate highlights; Texas among states to watch in 2012; redistricting battle pits Lamar Smith against Joe Barton Full Story
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Texas laws more strictly regulate euthanasia of animals than the lethal injection of death row inmates, according to a report released Sunday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Law School. Full Story
For our most recent TribLive conversation, I interviewed state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, about gambling, how Democrats can regain their mojo and whether being black and being Republican are incompatible. Full Story
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The House did its dance over the weekend, passing a stark $164.5 billion budget. Here are some highlights. Full Story
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Unrest in the Middle East, rising oil prices and frustration with federal energy policy — for many Texans, today’s headlines must seem like déjà vu. While the situation is far less severe than the aftermath of the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the parallels are unmistakable. Full Story
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For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked how the state's top leaders are doing so far this session and which lawmakers — and which freshmen lawmakers — are standing out, for better or for worse. Full Story
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The authorities in Hudspeth County have realized what the rest of us have known for years: Before you start investigating the funny smell emanating from his tour bus, remember that he's Willie Nelson. The usual rules don't apply. Full Story
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Anything else would have been a surprise. Full Story
The Texas House started with a $164.5 billion budget and ended with the same total. But lawmakers spent the better part of a weekend making changes inside the budget for 2012-13 before giving it their approval, 98 to 49. Full Story
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In an ugly debate late Friday night, Rep. Wayne Christian proposed requiring that colleges and universities getting state funds should make sure that at least 10 percent of their courses "provide instruction in Western Civilization." Full Story
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Texas has the largest GOP delegation in Congress, and those members have high seniority, spots on key committees and seats at the leadership table — evidence, observers say, of the state’s sway inside the Capitol. Full Story
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Tan's wall-to-wall coverage of the budget (with more from the rest of the Trib crew, interviews with some of the freshmen seeing this up close for the first time and a map of how it works), Philpott on the similarities between budget worries in Texas and those elsewhere, M. Smith explains school finance, Ramshaw on the dwindling insurance options for orphans, Grissom on legal fights over the drugs used for state executions, Aguilar on the run-up to the debate over sanctuary cities, Stiles maps the diversity of Texas counties, Galbraith on efforts to recycle plastic bags and Hamilton on calls for "entrepreneurship" at the University of Texas: The best of our best content from March 28 to April 1, 2011. Full Story
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Travis County District Court Judge Stephen Yelenosky this afternoon denied the request of two death row inmates to temporarily halt executions with Texas' new lethal injection drug. Lawyers for Cleve Foster and Humberto Leal said they would immediately appeal the judge's decision. Full Story
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No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Full Story
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