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
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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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Unregistered high school umpires will keep their stripes on, for now. A U.S. district judge granted an injunction today requested by the Texas Association of Sport Officials, halting a University Interscholastic League mandate that all high school sports officials register with the agency. Some officials were refusing to register, risking a lockout. Full Story
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With the threat of massive budget cuts looming on the horizon, state higher education leaders are looking for ways to get more out of what few dollars they may ultimately get to spend. One program that may see some changes is the Toward Excellence, Access, and Success Grant program, the state’s largest financial aid program. Full Story
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Freshman state Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, says he's supporting Ken Paxton's challenge to incumbent House Speaker Joe Straus. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Earmark ban fails, Kaywatch and Dunnam's replacement Full Story
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Want to see the most feel-good salvo yet in the speaker's race? Full Story
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On last night's edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, sparred with the host about whether Barack Obama has a U.S. birth certificate — and whether Texas law should be changed to require that any candidate for president who wants ballot access produce one. Full Story
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Mexican police think they've caught the drug kingpin behind the murder of a U.S. consulate employee and an El Paso sheriff's deputy in Juárez in March. But it's unlikely the arrest of a cartel leader will stem the tide of violence. Full Story
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The number of adult Texans with diabetes is expected to quadruple over the next three decades, a massive spike that demographers and health care experts attribute to the state’s aging population and obesity epidemic. Full Story
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The newly christened executive director of the Texas Legislative Council on how the upcoming session is going to be "really, really difficult," how technology has changed her job, whether redistricting maps can get drawn and agreed upon by June and how she keeps politics from impacting her work. Full Story
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