In the wake of this week's botched execution in Oklahoma, it was reported that Texas has a stockpile of the same drug — midazolam — that has raised questions about the Sooner State's procedures. Texas does not currently use that drug in its executions, but nothing in the law prevents a switch at any point in the future.

State officials have begun to weigh in on the Texas-Oklahoma land dispute with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson joined other lawmakers for a press conference on the border this week.

Gov. Rick Perry quietly rededicated himself to his faith by being baptized sometime in recent weeks in the same creek in which Sam Houston was baptized in 1854. The only spectators were Perry's close friends and family.

UT System Regent Alex Cranberg acknowledged that he recorded discussions during an August closed-door meeting of the board of regents. After the recording activity was reported, Cranberg later explained he was trying to "be better able to discuss these remarks later with my fellow Regents (and eventually even University historians)."

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis this week proposed a reduced emphasis on standardized testing and focusing more on local control when it comes to accountability measures. The campaign of her GOP rival, Greg Abbott, responded that the proposal was like Abbott's but "lacks any substance or detail."

The head of the Democratic Governors Association downplayed his party's chances of winning the governor's race this year in Texas. That spurred a feisty pushback from the Davis campaign against what it described as "uninformed opinions of a Washington, D.C., desk jockey."

In the month running up to a deadline to get coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the number of Texas enrolled in the federal health insurance marketplace more than doubled — from 295,000 to 733,757. That growth was the largest in the nation.

Texas' largest power company, Energy Future Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it tries to deal with some $40 billion in debt. But the move is not expected to affect the electric grid.

Disclosure: The University of Texas is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. Energy Future Holdings was a corporate sponsor in 2009 and 2011-12. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.