State Sen. Jeff Wentworth calls new Texas State University System Chancellor Brian McCall a “Johnny-come-lately opportunist” and says he knows who should have gotten the job: state Sen. Jeff Wentworth.
TribBlog: No Fury Like A Wentworth Scorned
Posted inState Government
2010: White Releases Income Tax Returns [Updated]
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White — after weeks of nagging from Republican Gov. Rick Perry — released his personal income tax returns dating back to 2004.
Posted in
State Government
The Brief: June 8, 2010
Efforts to contain the oil still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico finally seem to be making headway, but the government is now warning that the remaining slick may have a mind of its own.
Posted in
Environment
Victims of the Spill
Hundreds of oil-covered animals have been rescued from the Gulf of Mexico so far. As Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, the volume of casualties is steadily increasing.
Posted in
Politics
The New Tenthers
Conservatives in Texas are invoking the 10th Amendment at every whistle-stop. But what rights does it actually protect?
Posted inState Government
Slash and Learn
Last week’s request for additional budget cuts of 10 percent is expected to have a dramatic effect on state services — and local ones, too. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on how a new round of slashing will affect school districts in particular.
Posted in
State Government
Speaker’s Race, Anyone?
Nobody’s openly campaigning right now, but there’s talk of who might succeed Joe Straus if he stumbles before January. Attribute the speculation to inertia: The House’s top job was in play for at least four years before Straus won it 17 months ago, and members and the lobby and the press and other gawkers have been trained to study every new complaint, slight, reward and compliment for signs of a coup. While he appears to be on solid ground going into his second session behind the podium, don’t erase the possibility of a contest. It’s an uncertain environment: It’s an election year, Straus is green and the Capitol is full of people who are constantly looking for a better deal than the one they’ve got.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: Governor Responds to “Fight Club” Abuse
Gov. Rick Perry’s office said this evening that it has ordered the Department of Family and Protective Services to review its investigation and sanction policies in light of a Houston Chronicle/Texas Tribune article on staffers who forced young girls to fight at a Houston-area residential treatment center for foster children.
Posted in
Higher Education
TribBlog: Political Football [Updated]
Shopping for a new athletic conference? Make sure the political alignment matches up with the school alignment.
