Dale Wainwright is leaving the Texas Supreme Court at the end of the month. He ranks third in seniority on the court and is resigning too close to the November elections for the governor to get an appointee on the ballot. That means Gov. Rick Perry will name someone who — subject to Senate approval — will serve until after the 2014 election. Wainwright, a former district judge in Houston, joined the court in January 2003. He'll go to work in the Austin office of Bracewell & Giuliani next, and has already talked quietly with political folks about a possible future run for attorney general. 

Don Baylor, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, has been appointed to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Pat Ekiss of Taylor to the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. Ekiss is the city of Taylor's fire chief. Perry also appointed Nyria Melchor of Plano to the Texas Council on Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Melchor is a community volunteer and member of the State Bar of Texas.