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Now that she'll join Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison on stage at the second GOP debate — now that she's cracked spoiler-worthy double digits in the latest poll and will fundraise, Ron Paul-style, through an online "money bomb" — it's fair to ask what longshot gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina is in it for.

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Kay Bailey Hutchison says Texas government should be more transparent. Rick Perry says it already is. Let the sniping begin.

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Search more than $35 million in campaign donations and loans collected by the top candidates in the governor's race. You can also explore how they spent the money.

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Your afternoon reading

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A recent juvenile justice report finds drug-addicted TYC inmates who didn't participate in the agency's drug treatment program were less likely to reoffend than those who did.

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Gov. Rick Perry appears willing to sign a posthumous pardon for the exonerated Timothy Cole after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today issued an opinion that said the governor could grant one.

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A posthumous pardon is possible after all, according to an opinion from Attorney General Greg Abbott's office. This clears the way for the possible post-death pardon of Tim Cole, who was exonerated of a sexual assault conviction in a Travis County court last year, but had died in prison many years prior.

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Three years after a sexual abuse scandal rocked the Texas Youth Commission, one in five juvenile offenders in Texas youth lock-ups report being forced into sexual acts.

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We have 10 years and more than $350 million in Texas campaign expenditures available for search and download. Find your own stories.

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Everything old is new again.

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For the last year and a half, Tom Barry visited immigrant detention centers in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Here's what he found.

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I received a letter this week from my alma mater, Northwestern University, notifying me that my notes, records, interviews — even my grades — from my senior year investigative journalism class were subject to a subpoena by the state of Illinois.

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The political window is about to close: Today's the last day to become a candidate in the 2010 state elections. What we know so far is that the ballot will have a fireworks show at the top, with contested and well-financed gubernatorial primaries on both sides. A couple of statewide Democratic races will be competitive, but with incumbents seeking reelection on the Republican side, there's little action there.

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Is NYC bigger than Texas when it comes to releasing government records?

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A rundown of the data we've published so far — and a look ahead.

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Find the highest and lowest performers in Texas. Learn why nearly 500 campuses failed to meet minimum standards — and how the state inflated the rankings in the top category.

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Most money was on a run for governor or attorney general, but — as you’ll hear — Ronnie Earle wants to be a part of the legislative process and thinks the Lite Guv position suits him best.

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Writing about congressional travel required days of tedious work because the information isn't easily accessible.

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Members of the Texas congressional delegation took more than 200 privately funded trips, at a cost of more than $350,000, in 2008 and 2009.

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School superintendent salary data offers a unique window into the vast diversity of Texas districts, from massive to miniscule, and the way they pay their chief executives. One new trend: Performance pay.

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