The Dead Zone
Enjoy the lull. It won't last. Full Story
Enjoy the lull. It won't last. Full Story
Adler's interactive multimedia feature on three decades of gubernatorial debates, Grissom on the other side of the judge sometimes called "Killer Keller" and on the state's new public defender for death row inmates, Thevenot on education "growth standards" that don't reflect student performance but do appear to inflate the rankings of the schools they attend, Smith and Hu on a briefly public battle between lobbyists and the abrupt end to that litigation, Hamilton on why the mayor of DISH is throwing in the towel, Aguilar on the former and future mayor of El Paso's troubled sister city of Juárez, and Reed on how many Bobcats and Eagles it takes to turn on a lightbulb. The best of our best from July 5 to 9, 2010. Full Story
The Westboro Baptist Church, whose members believe God hates homosexuals, is planning to convey that message in protests at nine sites in the Dallas and Arlington area this weekend. One of the organizations the church plans to protest is throwing its own counter-fundraiser to buy an ice machine used to provide lunches for HIV-positive people. Full Story
University of Texas President Bill Powers has decided it's time to rid the campus of a name that is a reminder of white hoods and racist atrocities: Ku Klux Klan leader William Stewart Simkins. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
The Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine — essentially a high-level mouse lab that has been a tangential topic in the race for governor — just won a grant that could quiet its detractors. Full Story
Anger and fear were on display at a public meeting the Environmental Protection Agency convened in Fort Worth to discuss a natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry and Bill White, together at last, faced a tough crowd Thursday. Full Story
Judge Sharon Keller has been pilloried as the villain of the Texas criminal justice system, but supporters credit the chief of the state's highest criminal court with working to ensure fair trials for impoverished defendants. Full Story
At Texas State University, one 30-minute workout can generate enough electricity to power a laptop for three hours. Watch as the director of campus recreation explains how elliptical machines and treadmills are harnessed into alternative energy. Full Story
Last school year, the Texas Education Agency implemented a new “growth measure” purported to reward schools for improving student performance — even if they still fail state tests. The effect on state accountability ratings was immediate and dramatic: The number of campuses considered “exemplary” by the state doubled, to 2,158. But a new analysis shows the projections of future student success may be wrong as much as half the time. Full Story
Two Texas universities are building the biggest power plants of their kind in the nation, converting the sweat energy of exercising students into electricity to fuel their campuses. Full Story
It was more like a bidding auction today than a meeting of the Texas House Committee on Licensing and Regulation. Gambling advocates packed into three Capitol hearing rooms, and threw out number after number as they asked legislators — yet again — to consider the benefits of more gaming in Texas. Full Story
The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice met today to talk about ways to stop Texans from getting behind the wheel after imbibing. Judges, police and even a third-time DWI offender told lawmakers some Texas drunken driving laws could use some stiffening, while other measures take punishment too far. Full Story
After Gov. Rick Perry and Democrat Bill White each addressed a Texas Farm Bureau conference in San Marcos, Perry spoke with reporters about his relationship with the group, which Farm Bureau spokesman Gene Hall has described as "strained" after Perry vetoed an eminent domain bill in 2007. The group endorsed Perry's rival, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, in the Republican primary this spring, but its general election endorsement is still up for grabs. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, took her fight against synthetic marijuana to FOX News this morning. Full Story
Tensions cooled a bit Wednesday in the summer's juiciest on-again off-again political fling. Full Story
A brief meeting in a judge’s chambers Wednesday cut short a brewing turf war between HillCo Partners and two former lobbyists it had sued after they quit and took a stable of clients with them. Full Story
The starting gun for the debate over gambling fires this morning: Gaming interests inside and outside Texas are asking lawmakers to expand legal wagering to include either resort casinos, slot machines at race tracks, or some combination. Full Story