Vol 32, Issue 47 Print Issue

Workers with Bee Cave Drilling install a jackhammer bit on the drilling rig while putting in a water well on a private lot in Spicewood, Texas on February 6, 2012.
Workers with Bee Cave Drilling install a jackhammer bit on the drilling rig while putting in a water well on a private lot in Spicewood, Texas on February 6, 2012.

North Texas Escapes Surge In Bankruptcy Filings

More companies are filing for bankruptcy across much of Texas this year, and the screeching halt to activity in drilling country appears to have something to do with it. But one region has escaped a spike in bankruptcies.

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

*** We will be taking the next two Fridays off for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Our sincerest thanks from all of us at Texas Weekly to you for reading us this year and our sincerest wishes for a pleasant holiday season with family and friends. We'll be back Jan. 8 for what promises to be a political year that will be nothing short of fascinating. ***

A new report from the American Tort Reform Association singles out the Rio Grande Valley and East Texas for the shame-inducing designation of Judicial Hellhole. The tort reform group cites as support for its action the high number of patent lawsuits in East Texas and hailstorm-related litigation in the Valley.

Former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis started a two-day trip to Iowa on Thursday to stump for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The main goal of Davis' tour is to motivate women, party activists and those who care strongly about abortion rights.

Included in the deal struck this week on a trillion-dollar congressional spending bill is language lifting the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports onto the international market. Three Texas congressmen — Joe Barton, R-Ennis; Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo; and Michael McCaul, R-Austin — have played key roles in the yearlong effort in getting the ban repealed.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters on Thursday he thinks it’s time to consider changing an immigration policy that allows Cubans to quickly establish legal status in the United States. “I think it is unfair and I think it does need to be reconsidered,” he said. “I think we out to have an immigration policy that treats all countries the same.”

A federal judge ruled Thursday that the state has violated the constitutional rights of foster children by exposing them to an unreasonable risk of harm in a system where children "often age out of care more damaged than when they entered." The state is expected to appeal the ruling, which if it stands could lead to costly reforms at the state's Child Protective Services division. At any given time, about 28,000 children are wards of the state.

A new federal geological study finds that North Texas' Barnett Shale holds nearly twice as much natural gas as was estimated in 2003. The revised estimate was greeted warmly by oil and gas industry supporters.

State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, announced Wednesday that he’s asking the Department of Justice to look into whether state officials have run afoul of federal law when they warned a resettlement organization to not place Syrian refugees in Texas. "Our nation's highest laws directly protect all people from discrimination based on their race, ethnicity, religion, and many other factors. This order to assistance groups may have violated federal law," he said.

Texas juries imposed only two new death sentences in 2015, the fewest since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide almost 40 years ago. Nationally, 49 death sentences were handed down this year, a 33 percent drop from last year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Executions, meanwhile, declined to a 24-year low, with 28 conducted in six states – Texas, Missouri, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma and Virginia.

The town of Orange found itself in the middle of a dustup over public displays of Christmas scenes when town leaders chose to remove a nativity scene from in front of city hall after a local atheist group asked to hang a "Happy Holidays" sign. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton all chose to weigh in, encouraging the town to reinstall the nativity scene.

Because of a recent spike in minors crossing the border illegally in the Rio Grande Valley, Abbott announced Tuesday that he is ordering the Texas National Guard to stay in the area through December.

During a tense meeting, the Texas Racing Commission declined Tuesday to repeal its authorization of historical racing — a move that state leaders warn could mean the shutdown of racetracks across Texas. The commission has one more opportunity to address the issue before the agency's funding is scheduled to dry up in February.

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio tangled on immigration during Tuesday's GOP presidential debate, setting the stage for a back-and-forth on the hot-button issue for the rest of the week between the two candidates. On Thursday, Cruz sent a definitive message about his stance, saying "I oppose amnesty. I oppose citizenship. I oppose legalization. I always have and I always will."

Abilene state Rep. Susan King ended the suspense over her political future when she announced Monday morning that she would enter the GOP nominating contest for the open SD-24 seat. She announced last month that she had temporarily suspended her campaign in order to receive in-patient treatment for chronic depression. Five other candidates have already filed to run for the Central Texas seat being vacated by Horseshoe Bay Republican Troy Fraser.

The period to apply for a place on the March primary ballot ended Monday evening. One of the biggest surprises of the day was the decision by former Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia to challenge Gene Green for his Houston congressional seat in the Democratic primary. Also, two Republican presidential candidates — Jim Gilmore and George Pataki — missed the deadline to get on the presidential ballot.

Abbott on Monday appointed Dallas Independent School District Trustee Mike Morath as the state's next education commissioner, describing him as "a proven education reformer." Morath has served on the Dallas school board since 2011. A vocal school-choice proponent, he pushed for a controversial — and, for now, scrapped — “home rule” policy that would have allowed the Dallas school district to escape state control.

Political People and their Moves

Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Peter Lake of Dallas and reappointed Kathleen Jackson of Beaumont to the Texas Water Development Board. They were both named for terms to expire Feb. 1, 2017.

Hector Cerna of Eagle Pass was named by Abbott to the Finance Commission of Texas for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2020. Cerna is president and CEO of IBC Bank in the Eagle Pass region and is a board member of the Border Trade Alliance.

Abbott appointed Kimberly Fish of Longview, Jeanette Sterner of Holly Lake Ranch and Cary M. “Mac” Abney of Marshall to the board of directors of the Sabine River Authority. They were named to terms to expire July 6, 2021.

The Texas Department of Transportation has a new executive director: James Bass, the agency's longtime chief financial officer. A 30-year veteran of the agency, Bass will begin his new job on Jan. 1. He takes over for Joe Weber who announced in October that he would be leaving at year's end.

Kimberly Corley, a former executive for the Shell Oil Company with 30 years of energy industry experience, was named the Railroad Commission's new executive director this week. She will replace Lindil Fowler, who was temporarily filling the position after Milton Rister retired in August. Alexander Schoch was also named agency general counsel. He retired early this year from Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector coal company, where he had served as executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary.

The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund said on Thursday that it has endorsed former U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, who is seeking to regain the West Texas-based CD-23 seat he lost to San Antonio Republican Will Hurd in the 2014 general election.

Republican SD-24 candidate Dawn Buckingham announced last Friday that she has received endorsements from three Travis County precinct chairs – Bill Warmuth, Kevin Pakenham and Mike Goldman. The Rural Friends of Electric Cooperatives endorsed Buckingham on Thursday.

The Texas Home School Coalition Association announced late last week that it has endorsed five more candidates for the Texas House, pushing their list of total endorsements for representative to 21 candidates. The association endorsed five Republican candidates on Friday, none of whom are incumbents — Cole Hefner, for District 5; David Watts, for District 7; Philip Eby, for District 58; Mike Lang, for District 60; and Dan Morenoff for District 114.

Annie’s List, a group dedicated to getting Democratic women elected to the Legislature, announced late last week a pair of endorsements for the upcoming election — Lina Ortega for HD-77 and Victoria Neave for HD-107. The group noted that it has already made a $28,000 direct expenditure on behalf of Ortega’s campaign.

HD-49 Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa announced the members of her campaign team, which includes longtime Austin political consultants David Butts and Mark Littlefield. Also introduced as a member of the Hinojosa team is Katie Naranjo whose name was floated earlier as a possible candidate for the seat as well. Tapped to chair the Hinojosa campaign is former City Councilwoman Laura Morrison.

Another HD-49 hopeful — Huey Rey Fischer — picked up the backing of former state Rep. Glen Maxey on Thursday.

GOP HD-55 challenger Hugh Shine received an endorsement on Thursday from the political arm of the anti-abortion group, Texas Alliance for Life. In making the endorsement, the group highlighted Shine’s co-sponsorship of legislation to ban late abortions from his tenure in the Texas House in the late 1980s. Shine is challenging freshman state Rep. Molly White, who already has the support of Texas Right to Life.

HD-73 state Rep. Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels, received last Friday the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business/Texas, which advocates on behalf of small businesses in the state. He received on Monday the endorsement of the Associated Republicans of Texas (ART).

Conservative advocacy group Texans for Fiscal Responsibility is endorsing Joshua Crawford in the Republican primary contest in the Odessa-anchored HD-81. He is challenging first term state Rep. Brooks Landgraf for the party nomination.

Former state Rep. Jim Landtroop, who is challenging John Frullo for the GOP nod in Lubbock’s HD-84, announced on Monday an endorsement from Texas Right to Life.

GOP HD-130 candidate Tom Oliverson announced last Friday endorsements from the Conservative Review’s Gary Polland and Eagle Forum’s Cathie Adams.

Democratic political consultant Jeff Rotkoff has been hired by the Texas AFL-CIO to be the labor organization’s new campaigns director. He most recently worked for high-profile Democratic donors Amber and Steve Mostyn. He has also worked previously as the executive director of the House Democratic Campaign Committee. The Texas AFL-CIO also announced the hire of Kara Sheehan as field organizer.

The LBJ School of Public Affairs has a new dean — Angela Evans, a former deputy director of the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service and clinical professor at the LBJ School.

Jay Hartzell has been named the new dean of the University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business. Now the senior associate dean for academic affairs there, he begins his new job Feb. 1.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin, the LBJ School of Public Affairs and IBC Bank are corporate sponsors of The Texas Tribune. Steve and Amber Mostyn are major donors to the Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.