To beat Rick Perry, you have to fight more skillfully and take greater advantage of the rare openings you’re given.
Guest Column: Hey, Bill White, Time to Get Off the Stick!
State of Readiness
Could a BP-style oil spill happen closer to our shores, threatening our fisheries and beaches? Of course. But Texas reformed its process for dealing with such a catastrophe two decades ago, and state officials say we’re better prepared than other states to respond to — or better still, prevent — a major spill.
Unhealthy
The insurance plan for state employees will have a $140.4 million shortfall next year — and that’s the least of its problems. The projected shortfall for the two years after that is $880 million, and it will take another $476 million to replenish the program’s legally required contingency fund. Keeping score? That’s $1.5 billion.
TribBlog: Diane Wouldn’t
Barack Obama will apparently name his solicitor general, Elena Kagan, the former dean of Harvard Law School, to replace the retiring John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court, once again bypassing UT Law grad Diane Wood, who has now been on the president’s short list twice.
2010: Jackson Beats Taylor [updated]
Mabrie Jackson, who pulled out of the race for state Rep. Brian McCall’s unexpired term, beat Van Taylor in Saturday’s special election, winning 56 percent of the vote to his 44 percent, according to Collin County’s election results.
2010: A Sibley-Birdwell Runoff Ahead
Republicans David Sibley and Brian Birdwell will meet in a runoff — date to be set by Gov. Rick Perry — for the open state Senate seat in Central Texas.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aguilar and Miller on the immigration rally in Dallas; E. Smith interviews T. Boone Pickens and, in a two-on-one matchup, Jerry Patterson and Hector Uribe; Ramsey on how to make $2 billion disappear from the budget shortfall with creative accounting and on the $1.5 billion problem with health insurance for state employees; Kreighbaum on money bombs; Hamilton and Stiles on the remarkably similar policies for policing immigration in Texas and its largest city; Ramshaw on doctors ducking government health care programs; Kraft on the ups and downs of base closures; Grissom interviews Pulitzer-Pize wine David Oshinsky on the death penalty; M. Smith on the three Texans who want to run the state GOP; and Philpott on the lawsuits already in motion over the oil spill that’s still underway in the Gulf of Mexico. The best of our best from May 3 to 7, 2010.
TribBlog: O’Neill Signs Off
Texas Supreme Court Justice Harriet O’Neill, who isn’t seeking reelection to the court, also isn’t finishing her term. She told Gov. Rick Perry and the other members of the court today that she will step down from the bench on June 20.
TribBlog: White Has His Own Valley Support
Bill White touts his own Rio Grande Valley support, releasing a list of more than 90 officials who back him.
Inside Jerry Patterson’s Office
In our latest HuTube vlog episode, we go inside the Texas Land Commissioner’s office, which is full of military memorabilia and more. The retired Marine and the author of the Texas concealed handgun law was kind enough to take us on a quick tour. Wait ’til you see the pièce de résistance.



