The Midday Brief: April 13, 2010
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading. Full Story
All good things must come to an end — even primary season. Full Story
Attorneys, judges, legal aid experts and law librarians gathered last week to strategize about how to create a system that can accommodate an increasing number of self-represented litigants — a problem that some say is going to shut down the court system. Full Story
Today’s elections in 18 Texas primary races, all but two involving Republicans, probably won't change the overall temperature of the statehouse or our delegation to Congress. The partisan makeup of those places isn't at stake until November. But for three House incumbents and challengers in two other races — for the State Board of Education and the Texas Supreme Court — how the vote turns out is a big deal. Full Story
Many Texans like wind power. Few want electric transmission lines running through their ranches. Herein lies the problem. Full Story
Just days after the withdrawal of the majority of military troops deployed to patrol the streets of the most violent city in the Americas, the city’s mayor concedes his local police force is still infiltrated with elements of organized crime. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
Burnt orange and Aggie maroon are out, for now, at the Texas Department of Transportation. Full Story
The day before the runoff election, state Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, is having a rally with Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America and a gay rights supporter. Full Story
State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, is promoting a new group — the Independent Conservative Republicans of Texas — on conservative talk radio this morning. Full Story
The countdown begins: there’s less than 48 hours left to vote in the April runoffs, and candidates are pulling out their best last minute swipes to get your attention. Full Story
It's a transportation funding crisis: Congestion on Texas highways is only going to get worse with our population growing, but the state lacks the billions needed to combat it. Lawmakers trying to find a way to break through the gridlock are issuing a stern warning: There's no something-for-nothing solution. Full Story
If Rick Green wins his runoff against Debra Lehrmann on Tuesday, Democrats will be licking their chops — but do they really have a shot of occupying their first Texas Supreme Court seat in more than 10 years? Full Story
Start with a shortfall and a Legislature that doesn't want to raise taxes, then dangle budget-balancing money from "volunteers" — a.k.a., gamblers. With that strategy, promoters think they've got their best shot in years to legalize slot machines while adding $1 billion a year to state revenues. Full Story
The truth is, the next two elections — the runoffs next week and the specials on May 8 — are more micro than macro. They matter to the people involved and to the constituencies being served, but in the larger scheme, there's not a lot at stake. The results don't immediately translate into major changes in Congress, the statehouse or the courts. Full Story
Grissom on her two hours in Juárez, Grissom, Ramshaw and Ramsey on four of the runoffs on Tuesday's ballot, Ramshaw on the religious experience that is voting for Dallas County's DA and an energy regulator's play for a job at the entity he regulates, Mulvaney on the Texas Senate's biggest spenders, Aguilar on whether — as U.S. officials claim — 90 percent of guns used in Mexican crimes really flow south from Texas, M. Smith on the continuing Texas Forensic Science Commission follies, Stiles on how inmates spend their money behind bars and how counties are responding at Census time, Hamilton on the creative accounting and semantic trickery that allows lawmakers to raise revenue without hiking taxes when there's a budget shortfall, and Hu on Austin's first-in-the-nation car-sharing program. The best of our best from April 5 to 9, 2010. Full Story
Governor Rick Perry's speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference has national media pundits talking about Perry for president in 2012. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
Supporters may tout her as a Chicago justice for a Chicago president, but Diane Wood — said to be in serious consideration as a replacement for the retiring John Paul Stevens — got her start in Texas: as an undergrad and a law student at UT-Austin. Full Story
Gay Jesus benched again, Johnson makes it official and the rebate program from Hell. Full Story