UT-Austin President Bill Powers kept his job but only after getting a "blunt and not entirely positive" assessment of his relationships with administration at the UT System. The board took no action, withholding a vote of confidence on Powers.

Powers later testified to the select House committee investigating possible articles of impeachment against UT System Regent Wallace Hall. Powers told the panel that persistent controversy, largely stemming from the actions of a University of Texas System regent, has taken a toll on the university's reputation.

The race to replace U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, drew six additional Republicans in the last week, bringing the full primary field to 12.

Stockman, meanwhile, lost on the NRA's endorsement in the U.S. Senate primary. The gun rights oranization stuck with friendly incumbent John Cornyn, an action which one media outlet portrayed as a coup for the Senate minority whip.

From rivers to roads... The Lower Colorado River Authority's board has tapped Phil Wilson, the Texas Department of Transportation's executive director, to be the agency's new general manager. Wilson, a former deputy chief of staff for Gov. Rick Perry, has been the executive director of TxDOT for about two years.

Texas A&M University named Mark Hussey as its new interim president. Regents selected Hussey, who was favored by Chancellor John Sharp, over Guy Diedrich, whose candidacy was championed by Gov. Rick Perry. In the leadup to the vote, the conflict was considered another chapter in the rivalry between frenemies Perry and Sharp.

Texas ended its fiscal year in September with a $2.6 billion surplus and lawmakers could enter the 2015 legislative session with $8 billion in its Rainy Day Fund, Comptroller Susan Combs reported, as the oil drilling boom’s impact on state coffers continues to outpace officials’ expectations.

Congressional Republicans descended on North Texas to scrutinize health care "navigators" in a field hearing highlighting their continued opposition to the Affordable Care Act. A lone Democrat on the panel said he'd rather see scrutinized Texas' refusal to expand the Medicaid program to cover childless adults.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union alleges that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in El Paso subjected a U.S. citizen to unwarranted searches, including vaginal probes and a CT scan.