The rules of the Texas Senate are designed to create an orderly process that respects the rights of individual members. They have lasted this long because they do the job well and consider the need for compromise in the legislative operation. Trampling the rights of the minority is never a good idea — and yet it has happened over and over again. An excerpt from the forthcoming How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics. Full Story
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The former Dallas mayor on her new life as an energy policy nerd, leaving journalism for the "dark side" of elective office, her continuing frustration over the Trinity River Project and her (lack of) political aspirations. Full Story
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The state court of appeals says two men can't turn their Massachusetts marriage into a Texas divorce. Full Story
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An intensive process to plan the amount by which Texas aquifers can be depleted over the next half-century has been completed just ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading. Full Story
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Taking a page out of the Kay Bailey Hutchison handbook, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White called for gubernatorial term limits today. Full Story
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The president's in Texas again today, but this time he's all business — or, rather, no business. Full Story
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The head of the state's Commission on Jail Standards could do time for being too open about a suicide in the Nueces County lockup. Is the indictment of Adan Muñoz retaliation by a sheriff his lawyer describes as a "crazy little bastard"? Regardless, an open government advocate calls it "outrageous." Full Story
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The former University of North Texas economics professor, U.S. House majority leader and hired-gun Washington lobbyist, now the head of the conservative activist group Freedom Works and the co-author of the new book Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto, on what the Tea Party is and isn't, why a GOP majority in Congress isn't enough, where George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush went wrong, what Rick Perry did right and why Barack Obama won't be re-elected in 2012. Full Story
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Authorities in Mexico have detained the alleged Texas-born cartel leader Edgar Valdez Villarreal, also known as “La Barbie.” Full Story
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State lawmakers have long been clamoring for an unmanned drone to boost security on the border. On Wednesday they'll get their wish, as an unmanned drone begins patrolling the Texas skies. Full Story
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Echoing Gov. Rick Perry's refusal to interview with editorial boards across the state, Republican congressional candidate Francisco "Quico" Canseco says he won't meet with his hometown paper. Full Story
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The latest ad from the Bill White campaign attacks the governor's well-placed friends. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading. Full Story
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Has the Metroplex caught the ethics bug? Full Story
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As New Orleans measures how far it has come since Hurricane Katrina — and how far it has to go — an Austin man who was an aide to Mayor Will Wynn in 2005 traveled to the Big Easy to put some ghosts to rest. He talked with Matt Largey of KUT News. Full Story
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The Democratic nominee for attorney general on how long of a long-shot campaign she's mounting, the incumbent’s predilection for “show lawsuits” and whether she's willing to debate her opponent (we'll give you one guess). Full Story
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While Texas' coastal residents know that a potential disaster is just a hurricane away, a federal grant could help the state do a better job to stave off the devastation. David Martin Davies of Texas Public Radio has this report. Full Story
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The governor depicted by Democrats as a coward in statewide newspaper ads last week doesn't seem nervous. In fact, as he traveled from Killeen to Temple and on to Texarkana last week accompanied by a reporter from The Texas Tribune, Republican Rick Perry looked comfortable, though he says he's taking his Democratic challenger, Bill White, seriously. Full Story
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For the 11th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the attorney general of Texas on the politics and constitutionality of gay marriage, why he's suing the feds over health care and why he filed a brief in support of the Arizona immigration law. Full Story
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