Bill Neiman, owner of Native American Seed in Junction, Texas, talks about how his career focus evolved from conventional landscapes to native plants.
Bill Neiman Discusses Native Seeds
Testing the Evidence
In police departments across Texas, tens of thousands of rape kits have been sitting on the shelves of property storage rooms for years — thanks to strained budgets, overworked crime labs and a law enforcement philosophy that such kits are primarily useful as evidence if a stranger committed the assault. Victims’ rights advocates and some lawmakers say they’ll work to pass legislation this year to take that evidence out of storage and create a DNA database that would help track rapists and perhaps even identify those who have been wrongly convicted. “I think we owe it to every person who has been raped,” says state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.
Bruce Zimmerman on UTIMCO
UTIMCO CEO Bruce Zimmerman explains what his organization does.
Texplainer: What is UTIMCO?
The simple answer: It’s the acronym for University of Texas Investment Management Company, a nonprofit company with a single client, the University of Texas System (and, to a lesser extent, the Texas A&M University System). With the universities it serves under pressure not to hike tuition rates even though fewer state dollars are flowing their way, the company’s performance will be under intense scrutiny this session — and UTIMCO officials are still recovering from last session’s showdown over their generous bonuses. To explain all this for us, we called in an expert: CEO Bruce Zimmerman.
The Constant Gardeners
From the highways of Texas to the San Jacinto Battleground, state agencies now aim to maximize the use of native grasses rather than opting for whatever was cheapest or fastest-growing, as they did decades ago.
Slideshow: Native Grasses
A slideshow of Bill Neiman’s seed-cleaning facility near Junction.
2012: Castro Stays Put
San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, an ascending star in the Texas Democratic Party, isn’t looking to rise any higher just yet.
TribBlog: How Deep Do Medicaid Cuts Go?
Lawmakers have proposed cutting Medicaid provider rates 10 percent to help meet the state’s budget crisis. But health care groups suggest the cuts are far deeper.
Williams: Dewhurst Isn’t the Frontrunner
After officially announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate at our TribLive conversation this morning, Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams took issue with the presumed frontrunner status of his potential GOP primary opponent, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
The Midday Brief: Jan 27, 2011
Your afternoon reading: vulnerable GOP congressional seats, and Michael Williams makes it official



