Texas has more unfilled U.S. attorney positions than any other state — and that isn’t going to change soon. Currently, none of the four Texas districts have “presidentially confirmed” federal prosecutors, who are responsible for enforcing federal laws. Last week, John B. Stevens, a state district judge in Beaumont who was Barack Obama’s only nominee in Texas, withdrew his name from consideration, citing the protracted confirmation process. And that means we risk being left out of the administration’s inner circle on criminal and civil justice issues.
Houston
Posted in
Demographics
HuTube: Border Cameras on TV
A multi-million-dollar plan gone bust? That’s how our television partner in Houston, KHOU-TV, describes the governor’s virtual border watch program, which has cost $4 million but has netted only a handful of arrests.
Posted in
State Government
Texas Sees Red
The Port of Houston Authority is poised to make the Lone Star State the top U.S. trade partner with communist Cuba after gaining permission for its container vessels to sail there.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Coleman on Continental
Amid reports that a merger deal might soon be struck between Houston-based Continental Airlines and United Airlines, with the latter as the surviving company headquartered in Chicago, state Rep. Garnet Coleman discusses Houston’s long-standing relationship with Continental.
Posted in
Public Education
On the Records: Mapping Texas Education
We’ve created three new maps for visualizing district-level demographics in Texas schools.
Posted in
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.
Posted in
State Government
Annise Parker: The TT Interview
Three months into her new job, the mayor of the state’s largest city and the nation’s fourth-largest city says she’s working hard to combat the crippling effects of a down economy, putting partisan differences aside to join with Republican congressmen in lobbying Washington to keep NASA intact, and trying to untangle the longstanding knot that is mass transit. Oh, and she’s staying as far away from the governor’s race as humanly possible, though she has a stern message for political operatives who may be looking to tarnish the man she replaced: Don’t mess with Houston.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Census Director “Concerned” About Texas
Texans’ lagging response to the U.S. census questionnaire is getting the attention of the higher-ups at the bureau.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Houston No Sanctuary, Annise Parker Says
Bill White’s successor as Houston’s nonpartisan mayor, Annise Parker, is staying out of the governor’s race. She does, though, have a clear opinion on the Rick Perry campaign’s “sanctuary city” charge.
Posted inState Government
Advice for Bill White
He has 31 weeks to make his case that we should fire Rick Perry and hire him instead. But when should he introduce himself to voters? When should he start attacking the governor? When should he spend his millions? Democratic strategists Glenn Smith and Keir Murray and blogger Charles Kuffner answer those and other pressing questions for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.
