The latest Griffin Perry news from The Texas Tribune.
State Rep. Aaron Peña of Edinburg has decided to change parties and will announce the switch at a press conference this afternoon with Gov. Rick Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus, according to Republican sources. Full Story
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Texas Democrats have become a political version of the Baltimore Orioles. If Ann Richards were alive, she and Earl Weaver would be comparing notes — in salty language — on what went wrong with their old teams. Full Story
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The U.S. Border Patrol is restarting its controversial Alien Transfer and Exit Program, in which illegal border-crossers caught in Arizona are transported to Texas and deported to Mexico. Texas officials say the plan makes as little sense to them now as it did last year. Full Story
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As expected, state leaders are asking state agencies to cut their current budgets even more. This time, by 2.5 percent. Full Story
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M. Smith and Butrymowicz of the Hechinger Institute on charter schools and public schools making nice in the Valley, Ramsey's interview with House Speaker candidate Ken Paxton and column on the coming budget carnage, Hu on the Legislature's disappearing white Democratic women, Grissom on the sheriff who busted Willie Nelson, Hamilton talks higher ed accountability with the chair of the Governor's Business Council, Aguilar on the arrest of a cartel kingpin, Ramshaw on the explosive growth in the number of adult Texans with diabetes, Philpott on state incentive funding under fire and Galbraith on the greening of Houston: The best of our best from November 29 to December 3, 2010. Full Story
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After years of playing one on TV, Chuck Norris is now a Texas Ranger in real life, at least honorarily. Full Story
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Harris County District Judge Kevin Fine is set to hold a hearing Monday in the case of John Edward Green, who is charged with fatally shooting a Houston woman during a robbery in June 2008. Green’s attorneys and capital punishment opponents want Fine to find that prosecutors can’t seek the death penalty because the way we administer it in Texas is unconstitutional. “The current system is profoundly and fundamentally flawed from top to bottom,” says Andrea Keilen, executive director of the Texas Defender Service. Prosecutors counter that the ruling should be made by higher courts, not a trial judge. Full Story
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Governor Rick Perry’s office has asked a member of the Emerging Technology Fund’s advisory committee to consider resigning over a recent investigation by the Texas Rangers. This is just the latest dust up over this fund and the Texas Enterprise Fund. Ben Philpott of KUT and The Texas Tribune reports on what could happen to the funds in the next Legislative session. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry’s office has asked a member of the Emerging Technology Fund’s advisory committee to consider resigning over a recent investigation into a stock deal — the latest dustup involving state incentive funds. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
One hundred miles from the nearest major city, where there was nothing but flat earth seven months ago, a 145,000-square-foot facility has sprung up on the Texas A&M Health Science Center campus. Starting in January, its cavernous rooms will be filled with racks of tobacco-like plants expected to produce as many influenza vaccines in a single month as a traditional lab does in one year, at a fraction of the cost. Dr. Brett Giroir, the vice chancellor for research at the Texas A&M University System, calls it the most exciting project of its kind in the world, the potential savior of the next pandemic. And, he says, “it’s in Bryan. Go figure.” Full Story
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On Fox News Sunday this morning, Gov. Rick Perry insisted yet again that he isn't running for president. Full Story
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Hu on the Perry-Bush rift, Ramshaw on the adult diaper wars, Ramsey's interview with conservative budget-slasher Arlene Wohlgemuth, Galbraith on the legislature's water agenda (maybe), M. Smith on Don McLeroy's last stand (maybe), Philpott on the end of earmarks (maybe), Hamilton on the merger of the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Education Agency (maybe), Aguilar on Mexicans seeking refuge from drug violence, Grissom on inadequate health care in county jails and my conversation with Houston Mayor Annise Parker: The best of our best from November 15 to 19, 2010. Full Story
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To the list of things that Rick Perry shows contempt for — Barack Obama’s leadership abilities, excessive federal regulation, coyotes that interrupt his morning jog — add this surprising one: George W. Bush’s ideological disposition. The governor seems to go out of his way to criticize his predecessor as insufficiently conservative. Bush, for his part, makes no mention of Perry in his memoir. "There's certainly no love lost between these two men," says UT presidential scholar Bruce Buchanan. Full Story
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Now that the Republicans have a huge majority in the Texas House, they aren't sharing power with the Democrats; they're sharing power with themselves. More precisely, one faction of Republicans is sharing power with another faction of Republicans. However you label it — moderate vs. conservative, country club vs. country, Bush vs. Perry — it's bumpy. Full Story
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A week after newly emboldened Republicans in the Texas Legislature floated a radical cost-saving proposal — withdrawing from the federal Medicaid program — health care experts, economists and think tanks are trying to determine just how possible it would be. The answer? It’s complicated. But it’s not stopping nearly a dozen other states, frantic over budget shortfalls and anticipating new costs from federal health care reform, from exploring something that was, until recently, unthinkable. Full Story
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In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben look ahead to the next legislative session — the bills, the two-thirds rule and division in Republican ranks. Full Story
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After a media tour in New York, Gov. Rick Perry returned to Texas to promote his new book, "Fed Up!" San Antonio supporters were not only eager to read the book but hopeful that the governor would run for president. Full Story
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In case you missed it, here's the complete, unedited appearance Monday night by Gov. Rick Perry on The Daily Show. Full Story
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The same Houston-area residential treatment center where staffers forced disabled girls to fight each other — prompting child welfare officials to halt admissions and hire a safety monitor — is now under fire for the asphyxiation of a 16-year-old boy who died Friday after a restraint was applied by a staffer in a closet. Full Story
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On April 15, 2009, Rick Perry positioned himself for the first time as the defender of Texas against Washington oppression — and the 2010 race for governor was decided. Full Story
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