Two years after the party’s hybrid primary/caucus system allowed Barack Obama to win more presidential delegates than Hillary Clinton, Texas Democrats voted at their convention this weekend in Corpus Christi to keep the controversial “Texas two-step.”
Brandi Grissom
Brandi Grissom worked at the Tribune from its launch in 2009 until 2014, rising to the rank of managing editor. In addition to editing duties, Grissom led the Tribune's coverage of criminal justice issues. During her tenure at the Tribune, she was chosen as a 2012 City University of New York Center on Media, Crime and Justice/H.F. Guggenheim Journalism Fellow and was a fellow at the 2012 Journalist Law School at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Grissom, along with Tribune multimedia producer Justin Dehn, received a 2012 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting for work on the case of Megan Winfrey, who was acquitted of murder in February 2013 after the Trib’s coverage brought statewide attention the case. Grissom joined the Tribune after four years at the El Paso Times, where she acted as a one-woman Capitol bureau. Grissom won the Associated Press Managing Editors First-Place Award in 2007 for using the Freedom of Information Act to report stories on a variety of government programs and entities, and the ACLU of Texas named her legislative reporter of the year in 2007 for her immigration reporting. She previously served as managing editor at The Daily Texan and has worked for the Alliance Times-Herald, the Taylor Daily Press, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and The Associated Press. A native of Alliance, Neb., she has a degree in history from the University of Texas.
Posted inState Government
TDP Convention: The Live Blog
The Texas Democratic Party State Convention is underway in Corpus Christi, and the Tribune is there to cover the whole shebang. Follow along with reporters Ben Philpott, Brandi Grissom and Reeve Hamilton as they bring you live updates and photos from the weekend.
Posted inState Government
Ads Infinitum: Perry Calls White Shady
As Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White prepares to rally his troops at the Democratic State Convention in Corpus Christi, Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign today released a new attack video.
Posted inState Government
Two-Stepping In It
At this weekend’s state Democratic Party convention in Corpus Christi, there will be the usual speeches from candidates like gubernatorial hopeful Bill White, a debate over the party’s platform and a vote to determine its next chair. But one of the biggest fights could come when party officials reconsider the system that Texas Democrats use to award delegates in the presidential primary election process.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Watchdogging Perry’s “Creature Comforts”
Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit watchdog group, filed a complaint today urging the Texas Ethics Commission to require Gov. Rick Perry to provide detailed reports of campaign expenditures on the Governor’s Mansion.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Cuts That Cost
After shocking abuse was uncovered at Texas Youth Commission facilities in 2007, lawmakers successfully overhauled the state juvenile justice system. Three years later, advocates worry that budget woes will halt that progress.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Skinner Jurors Call for DNA Testing
Seven of the jurors who sent Hank Skinner to death row for the murders of his girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two sons now say they want the state to test all the DNA available in the case.
Posted in
Energy
Solar Opposites
In the West Texas outpost of Marfa, Malinda Beeman is waging war. Her target: a company that plans to erect at least 1,000 three-story mirrored satellite dishes designed to harness energy from the blisteringly bright desert sun.
Posted in
Demographics
Hudspeth County, Arizona
A commissioner’s court resolution supporting Arizona’s controversial immigration law has split rural Hudspeth County in far West Texas, whose 3,000 residents are largely Hispanic. Commissioner Jim Ed Miller, who introduced the resolution, says he simply wants the federal government to do its job and stop illegals from crossing the border. “Now what the hell is wrong with upholding the law?” he asks. But commissioner Wayne West, who opposed it, describes the prospect of law enforcement asking people to prove their citizenship as “nothing but pure harassment.”
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Making a Buck Off “Kill Obama” — Updated
The Victoria Advocate, like many other papers, uses a photo service that allows readers to buy the pictures it publishes in a variety of formats. So now readers can purchase T-shirts, mouse pads, coffee mugs, even a puzzle featuring a photo of the words “Kill Obama” spray-painted on pavement.