TribBlog: Access Granted
Should reporters wear muzzles when they're around politicians? Some states seem to think so, but not, thankfully, Texas. Full Story
The latest Texas Senate news from The Texas Tribune.
Should reporters wear muzzles when they're around politicians? Some states seem to think so, but not, thankfully, Texas. Full Story
Roll your own political videos ... interactive travel maps of your federal and state legislators ... scary movies, to keep the kids out of the border's scary drug wars ... puttting dropouts back in class ... rates squeezing families out of home health care ... how many lobby and trade associations do teachers in Texas need? ... enjoying the silence before an expected two-month siege of political advertising ... the dean of Texas political writers gets shut out of the gubernatorial debates ... and we have an interactive database of the state's best and worst public schools. The best of our best for a short news week, from December 19 to 26, 2009. Full Story
The Republican state senator from Houston on whether he wants to run for statewide office in Texas. Full Story
Texas voters won't be offered a real chance at change in the Legislature and Congress next year. Four out of five state and federal lawmakers face no real competition in their primary or general elections. Full Story
The full twenty minutes with the Republican state senator from Houston, who talks power, politics and why he loves life in the Lege. Full Story
Think like the political pros and your mind will go to the long game instead of the short one. The short game is the elections of 2010. The long game is redistricting in 2011, when maps are drawn that corral the voters into the districts that will elect legislators for the next ten years. Full Story
The Republican state senator from Houston explains why the longstanding parliamentary tradition is "arbitrary" — and why his party should better exercise its power. Full Story
Forget what I said on this week's TribCast, parroting the chatter around the Capitol: The state senator from Houston is not considering a primary challenge to his fellow Republican, Comptroller of Public Accounts Susan Combs. Full Story
Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, is not, Not, NOT running against Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, in spite of reports that he was planning a challenge. Full Story
Wednesday could be the day voters in SD-5 find out whether Steve Ogden has changed his mind about getting out of the Legislature. Maybe. Full Story
Rep. Dan Gattis says state Sen. Steve Ogden is running for reelection after all. But Ogden has maintained radio silence, not commenting (except through staff, who are happy to tell reporters that there's no comment available). Full Story
Dan Patrick is changing the programming at his Dallas station exclusively to Indian music. Full Story
State Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, is dropping his bid for state Senate and won't seek reelection to the Texas House next year, he said Sunday. Gattis said State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, will seek reelection after all. Full Story
State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, announced today on a local radio show that she plans to run for reelection to the Texas House instead of making a go at the state Senate seat that Eliot Shapleigh is vacating. Full Story
Multi-part stories from Ramshaw and Grissom and Stiles on mental health services for detained immigrants and on payday lenders who provide exorbitantly priced credit to people with nowhere else to turn... Twitter, word clouds and the race for governor — a Stiles joint... Farouk Shami is in and Hu was there to watch... Philpott went to Bastrop for a gather of Republican governors... Rapoport finds a State Board of Education that's trying to control itself... and we have the skinny on legislative races that are likely to be competitive (only about 5 percent of the races on the ballot). It's the best of The Texas Tribune from November 14 to 20, 2009. Full Story
With 198 legislators on the ballot next year, there ought to be more fear in the air. But only a few are in obvious political trouble. Who's on the list, and what makes them vulnerable? Full Story
Governor Rick Perry admits the state needs more money to pay for new roads. But he doesn't agree with the Texas Senate Transportation Committee Chairman on how to pay for them. Full Story
The longtime El Paso state senator, who said last month that he would not run for reelection, hasn’t revealed his statewide ambitions, but his public and private remarks leave little doubt that he's seriously considering a gubernatorial bid. Full Story
Should the Texas Forensic Science Commission meet in private? The new chairman, John Bradley, says there's a good argument for it. Full Story
Democratic El Paso County Attorney Jose Rodriguez talks about why he's running for the Texas Senate. He announced Sunday that he will campaign for the seat state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh is vacating. Full Story