The Brief: May 27, 2010
Everything is bigger in Texas, including estimated costs of health care reform. Full Story
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Everything is bigger in Texas, including estimated costs of health care reform. Full Story
The number of unresolved cases in the federal immigration detention system has reached an all-time high, driven in part by surging backlogs in Texas, especially in San Antonio and El Paso. Blame it on not enough judges. Full Story
As we fan out across the state to solicit memberships, major gifts and corporate underwriting, we're hearing only good things about the size of our audience — a 25 million page view run rate in the first year is no small potatoes — but we're increasingly getting questions about who that audience is. Who's reading the Trib? Full Story
Allen High School is a study in bigness: A 5,000-student campus with a 650-member marching band supporting a football team that draws 8,000 fans to away games. And now — the pinnacle of suburban spoils — the Collin County community will break ground on an 18,000-seat stadium, the largest occupied by a single team. Pricetag: $60 million. Full Story
A majority of Texans believe the state is on the right track, while a plurality thinks the country is on the wrong track, according to a new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
What the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll says about the governor's race and Texans' views on public education, etc. Full Story
Remember that long, heated voter identification debate last session? State Rep. Debbie Riddle is working on a sequel. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
In an ironic twist, states that have done the least to bring low-income residents onto state Medicaid rolls — including Texas — stand to benefit the most from federal health care reform, according to a report released this morning by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Full Story
Is Texas unable to take care of itself? Full Story
The state Division of Workers' Compensation has uncovered "tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary medical care" in the last several years, but its commissioner failed to sanction the doctors involved, a key former employee told members of the Sunset Advisory Commission on Tuesday night. Full Story
Texans narrowly oppose a "pathway to citizenship" for illegal immigrants, strongly favor an end to in-state tuition for non-citizens at state colleges and universities, would support a constitutional "English-only" amendment and overwhelmingly say that businesses should verify the immigration status of their workers, according to the new UT/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
Should we base the funding of state universities on course completion rather than enrollment? The commissioner of higher education says yes. Some state lawmakers say no — not until we attack the manipulation of the financing formula by the higher ed lobby. Full Story
U.S. National Guard troops will soon patrol the United States' border with Mexico — again. Full Story
Former President George W. Bush appeared in rousing, joke-cracking form in a rare speech this morning the American Wind Energy Association's conference in Dallas. He praised Texas wind energy, bashed the media, refused to bash his successor and said his grandchildren will be driving electric cars. He also gave away the first line of his forthcoming memoir, a quote from his wife that got him to quit drinking. Full Story
A new Rasmussen Reports poll finds that 57 percent of Texans favor legalizing casino gambling as a means to draw down the coming budget shortfall, but only 21 percent support higher taxes. Full Story
Rise and shine or you’ll miss the Sunset! Full Story
The Arizona law misses the mark because it fails to address the underlying problems with our broken borders. Full Story
More than two-thirds of Texans say their confidence in the state's public schools ranges from shaky to nonexistent, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. A majority of Texans believe that crime, low academic standards, lack of parental involvement and not enough funding are "major" problems that public schools face — but two-thirds say "too much religion in the schools" is not a problem. Full Story
Death row inmate Hank Skinner bought himself some time Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to address whether he can bring a federal civil rights lawsuit instead of making a habeas corpus claim. But legal experts say he's unlikely to escape his ultimate punishment. Full Story