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  • "Pay Now or Pay Later"

    By Brandi Grissom

    Mentally ill offenders and nonviolent criminals are crowding local jails to the point that the facilities could become health hazards and counties are struggling with the cost of housing and caring for the burgeoning population, according to a new report from the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • Mike Feinberg: The TT Interview

    By Reeve Hamilton

    The co-founder of the KIPP charter school network on why its approach to education reform has flourished in Texas, whether the model can work for any kid or any family and if teachers' unions are really the villain they're made out to be in Waiting for Superman. Full Story 

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  • Perry By 10 in New UT/TT Poll

    By Ross Ramsey

    Republican Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, Bill White by 10 points — 50 percent to 40 percent — in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Libertarian Kathie Glass has the support of 8 percent of respondents; Deb Shafto of the Green Party gets 2 percent. In the last UT/TT poll, conducted in early September, Perry led by 6 points, 39 percent to 33 percent. In a red state in a red year, GOP incumbents in other statewide races are beating their Democratic opponents by between 13 points and 20 points, the new poll found. Full Story 

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  • The History of the Shuttle Program, Part One

    By Nathan Bernier, KUT News, and Jennifer Stayton, The Texas Tribune

    The nation's space shuttle program is being retired next year after three decades and more than 133 flights — including the final voyage by Discovery, which is set to blast off in a few days. All this week, KUT News is reconstructing the program's history: how it started, how it will end and what that means for Texas. Reporters Nathan Bernier and Jennifer Stayton kick off our five-part series. Full Story 

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  • Election Days

    By Ross Ramsey

    Twice as many people showed up for the first three days of early voting in the state's top 15 counties as came out four years ago, according to the Texas Secretary of State. Through the end of the day Wednesday (there's a lag in the reporting and those were the latest numbers as we published), 435,007 people had voted, compared with 219,436 four years ago. As a percentage of registered voters, that's 5.22 percent this year as opposed to 2.7 percent four years ago. Early voting continues for another week. During the 2006 gubernatorial election, 13.2 percent of the registered voters in those top 15 counties voted early. Full Story 

  • 2010: Star-Telegram for White

    By Evan Smith

    The Democratic nominee for governor has run the big-city newspaper endorsement table. Joining its counterparts in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today backed Bill White is his quest to deny Rick Perry a third full term in office. Full Story 

    Former Houston mayor Bill White makes an appearance at the Austin Club as part of The Texas Tribune's bimonthly speaker series with host Evan Smith. White is the Democratic nominee in the Texas governor's race.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    M. Smith on the frailties of electronic voting machines, Hu on the big bump in early voter turnout, Chang talks to the national coordinator of Health Information Technology, Hamilton on why the nondiscrimination policies of state university systems don't include sexual orientation, Aguilar on the prospect of high school football referees on strike, Stiles updates our government employee salary app to include 20 more public agencies, Philpott on where the candidates in HD-52 stand on fast growth, Galbraith on damage to Texas roads caused by heavy truck traffic, Grissom interviews the first Hispanic sheriff of Harris County and my one-hour sit-downs with Rick Perry and Bill White: The best of our best from October 18 to 22, 2010. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • 2010: Poll: Perry Ahead of White

    By Ross Ramsey

    Gov. Rick Perry is maintaining an 11-point lead over Democrat Bill White, according to a survey of 1,200 registered and regular voters done for three statewide trade groups. Full Story 

    Rick Perry and Bill White
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • TribBlog: Cornyn Hits DHS on "Selective Enforcement"

    By Julián Aguilar

    In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and six other Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee say the dismissals of cases against aliens is a result of a directive from ICE Director John T. Morton to staff attorneys ordering them to review and dismiss cases that do not involve Level 1 offenses—aggravated felonies or two or more felonies. Full Story 

    U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, at the state Republican convention in 2010.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Early Rise

    By Elise Hu

    In the state's 15 largest counties, early voting has spiked. The percentage of registered voters who have already cast their ballots is nearly twice what it was at the same point back in 2006: 5.2 percent of registered voters this time, compared to 2.7 percent four years ago. Full Story 

    Travis County's Democratic Coordinated Campaign Headquarters, days before the 2010 general election.
    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Does Every Vote Count?

    By Morgan Smith

    It's the stuff of an Orwellian dystopia: a voting machine hacked, an election stolen, the public none the wiser. Yet some civil rights groups believe it's a legitimate threat in Texas, one of only 12 states that still use paperless electronic voting machines. Ensuring the purity of the ballot box has been a point of concern for lawmakers since "hanging chad" entered the lexicon. Congress passed the Help America Vote Act to improve the administration of federal elections, but an irony of post-2000 reforms is that the electronic machines brought in to replace outdated lever-and-punch-card-based systems have their own flaws. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman