Inmates serving time in Texas prisons and state jails can buy certain “free world” goods provided that people outside unit walls send them money. During the last fiscal year, they spent about $95 million at prison commissaries. The most popular items? Instant soup, stamps and soft drinks, according to data obtained under the Texas Public Information Act.
Buyers Behind Bars
Posted in
State Government
2010: What’s on the Special?
Voters in Central Texas, Dallas and Plano will get to vote for the third month in a row in May, in special elections for the Texas House and Senate. Three officeholders — Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, and Reps. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, and Brian McCall, R-Plano — resigned before their terms were up. Today was the deadline for candidate filing.
Posted inState Government
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 23
In this week’s skirmish, the regular TribCast gang is back to talk about the runoff races on the April 13th ballot, the politics of NASCAR and the long road to finding road funding.
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Higher Education
TribBlog: Gay Jesus Resurrected
A theater student’s production of Terrence McNally’s play Corpus Christi — canceled amid protest at Tarleton State University — will see the stage after all, at Fort Worth’s Rose Marine Theater, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: April 7, 2010
Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign is set to begin turning left.
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Criminal Justice
The Senate’s Biggest Spenders
The 31-member body spent nearly $16 million last fiscal year on travel, staff and office expenses, according to records from the office of the Secretary of the Senate. Overall spending by individual senators ranged from $206,000, by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, to $637,000, by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.
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Public Education
TribBlog: Drop-Out Throw-Down!
Bill White and Rick Perry fought over the hotly contested high school drop-out rate on Tuesday. Is it 30 percent (White)? 10 percent (Perry)? Or, more likely, somewhere in between?
Posted in
Demographics
Counting the Counties
Only three states — Louisiana, New Mexico and Alaska — are returning the census form at lower rates than Texas. But two dozen Texas counties are outperforming the national average, according to our interactive map.
Posted in
Energy
The Applicant
Can an energy regulator who’s on the board of an entity he oversees make a play for the top job there? Industry and government sources say that’s what Barry Smitherman, the chairman of Texas’ influential Public Utility Commission, is doing, though Smitherman won’t say whether he’s in the running.
