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  • TribBlog: Minding the Gaps

    By Reeve Hamilton

    With two-thirds now over, it’s time to check in on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 10-years old, 15-year initiative to close the gaps between Texas and other states in student achievement in higher education. Full Story 

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  • Barack the Enforcer

    By Julián Aguilar

    Despite grousing from congressmen and state officials in Arizona and Texas — notably Gov. Rick Perry — that the Obama administration has abdicated its role in the protecting the nation's borders from illegal immigration, the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative units this year each recorded their highest monthly number of cases referred for prosecution since the Bush administration, according to a report from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman/Spencer Selvidge (photo illustration)

  • Pols in Purgatory

    By Forrest Burnson

    State Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, who is awaiting prosecution on corruption charges, is the latest Texas elected official under indictment but not yet convicted to languish in career-crippling limbo. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • Birthing Control [Updated]

    By Allen Reed

    Should lawmakers pay hospitals more for refusing to induce early labor, which reduces neonatal costs and harm to mothers? Or should the state be kept out of the private decisions of patients and their physicians? Full Story 

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    Credit: Bas Silderhuis

  • TribBlog: More Calls for Innocence Commission

    By Brandi Grissom

    Michael Anthony Green was supposed to be freed today after serving 27 years for a rape he didn't commit. The exoneration is the second in two weeks to come from Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos' Post Conviction Review Section. State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said the findings give more credence to his argument that Texas needs a state innocence commission. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmerich

  • Nelson Roach: The TT Interview

    By Kate Galbraith

    The past president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, who testifies before two House committees today, tells the Tribune that Texas liability law shortchanges workers caught in industrial accidents — an issue of renewed interest since the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Full Story 

    Nelson Roach, past president of the TTLA.
    Credit: Nix, Patterson & Roach LLP

  • Face-Off: Porter vs. Weems

    By Elise Hu

    The two men battling for a spot on the Texas Railroad Commission go head-to-head — virtually — in the latest installment of our Face-Off video series. Watch as political novice and certified public accountant David Porter, a Midland Republican, debates Democrat Jeff Weems, an oil and gas attorney from Houston, on their respective qualifications for the job, whether there are enough pipeline inspectors and and the proper balance between environmental regulation and economic growth. Full Story 

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  • A Friend In Deed

    By Matt Stiles

    State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, who was involved in a controversial land deal with Gov. Rick Perry, failed to disclose ownership or sale of the property to the Texas Ethics Commission, an apparent violation of a state ethics rules, according to a review of his personal financial statements. Full Story 

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    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • The Weekly TribCast: Episode 39

    By Elise Hu

    In this week's episode, the TT podcast gang talks about Texas voting trends, the latest skirmishes in the governor's race and the eligibility questions surrounding state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury. Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: Family Planning Quandary?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, wants the attorney general to decide whether a Texas family planning rule — one that bans the state's Women's Health Program from contracting with clinics that "perform or promote" abortions — is constitutional. Full Story 

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