The newly elected state representative talks about how she beat Norma Chavez in their high-profile legislative race in El Paso, responds to charges that she’s a DINO (Democrat in name only) and reveals what she hopes to accomplish next session.
Naomi Gonzalez: Full Audio
Posted in
Higher Education
Of Mice and Men
When Gov. Rick Perry announced the establishment of the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine, a public-private partnership between the Texas A&M University System and Lexicon Genetics, he said the $50 million high-level mouse laboratory, paid for through the Texas Enterprise Fund that he controls, would “attract millions of dollars for medical research and lead to the development of life-saving medical treatments and therapies” for everything from diabetes to cancer. Five years later, depending on who you ask, TIGM has either been a massive taxpayer-subsidized boondoggle or a blessing to scientists across the globe.
Posted in
T-Squared
T-Squared: The Six-Month Stats
Last week we celebrated our half-year birthday — and what we’ve learned from then until now is truly mind-blowing, beginning with the information we’ve gleaned about the size of our audience (huge), where they come from (everywhere), and what areas of the site they like best (data).
Posted inState Government
Guest Column: Hey, Bill White, Time to Get Off the Stick!
To beat Rick Perry, you have to fight more skillfully and take greater advantage of the rare openings you’re given.
Posted in
Energy
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.
Posted inState Government
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.
Posted in
Higher Education
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.
Posted in
State Government
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.
Posted in
State Government
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.
Posted in
Health care
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.
