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  • The History of the Shuttle Program, Part Four

    By Matt Largey, KUT News

    What happens after Discovery, the next-to-last shuttle mission, blasts off Monday from Kennedy Space Center (with an Austin astronaut aboard)? For thousands of engineers and support staff at the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake, the answer isn’t certain. Matt Largey of KUT News contemplates the impact of the transition to the next phase of NASA's mission in space. Full Story 

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  • Sign Language

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    With just a few days left in the 2010 campaign, political signs are littering streets across Texas. But are they saying something other than "vote for me"? Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune asked Brent Ladd of GSD&M's Idea City to demystify color and font choice and the decision to feature a candidate's picture. Full Story 

    Voting signs in Austin during the 2010 election cycle.
    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • TribBlog: War of Attrition Rates

    By Tristan Hallman and Becca Aaronson

    A new study by the nonprofit education advocacy group Intercultural Development Research Association says 29 percent of Texas students who enter high school as freshmen do not graduate. The attrition rate is the lowest in the 25 years since the IDRA began performing the annual study. But the group notes that while the trend is declining, millions more Texans will drop out by 2040. Full Story 

    The original data used for this visualization can be found here: http://www.idra.org/images/stories/IDRA_Attrition_Study_2010.pdf
    Credit: Becca Aaronson

  • The Mother's Milk

    By Ross Ramsey

    The state's political economy hummed with $43.5 million in contributions to and between candidates and political action committees between Sept. 24 and Oct. 23, according to the most recent reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission. The biggest contribution: $3 million to Rick Perry's re-election campaign from the Republican Governors Association. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • The Sex Offender is Offended

    By Brandi Grissom

    Marvin Brown is a convicted sex offender who was released from jail in 1999. Today, he's ill and elderly, suffering from diabetes, stage-four renal disease and congestive heart failure. He's had three mini-strokes in the last two months alone. On good days, he walks with a cane. Other times, he gets around with a walker or an electric wheelchair. But according to Gov. Rick Perry, he poses such a threat to society that he has to wear an ankle bracelet so he can be continuously monitored. Brown says that's a violation of his civil rights, and on Tuesday he filed suit in federal court. "They can't give you freedom and then take it away," he says. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • The History of the Shuttle Program, Part Three

    By Jennifer Stayton

    NASA lost two shuttles, Challenger and Columbia, during the space shuttle program’s 30-year history. After each accident, the agency was never quite the same. Jennifer Stayton of KUT News recently talked about those tragedies with Pat Duggins, who reports on NASA for NPR and is the author of Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program. Full Story 

    Members of the Los Padres and INYO C-25 firefighting teams from Oregon and California walk shoulder-to-shoulder through fields outside this north Texas town as the search for Columbia space shuttle debris Photo
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Nathan Gonzales: The TT Interview

    By Brandi Grissom

    The political editor of the respected and influential Rothenberg Political Report on how Washington insiders view the Texas governor's race, who's at risk in the state's congressional battles, what redistricting could mean for the major parties and why Republicans are likely to be happy campers one week from today. Full Story 

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    Credit: Brandi Grissom

  • TribBlog: Keller Case Not Over Yet

    By Morgan Smith

    The State Commission on Judicial Conduct isn't giving up on its attempt to reprimand Sharon Keller — in an unexpected move today, it appealed a court's dismissal of its sanction against Keller, the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Full Story 

    Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.

  • The Polling Center: Finding the Actual Voters

    By Jim Henson and Daron Shaw

    So how to create a likely voter model? Campaign pollsters typically use a combination of past voting history — available off the registered voter list — and current interest and engagement. Those who have voted in the past, as well as those who are jazzed about voting this year, tend to get into the likely electorate. Full Story 

    Rick Perry and Bill White
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman