Political Warchests at Midyear
About two dozen candidates and political action committees have more than $1 million in their accounts, some of them much more, according to our analysis of midyear filings with the Texas Ethics Commission. Full Story
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Political Armories at Midyear
About two dozen candidates and political action committees have more than $1 million in their accounts, some of them much more, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of midyear filings with the Texas Ethics Commission. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Ben Hasson -
Susan Combs: The TT Interview
The state comptroller talks about the flip in her position on abortion, the data breach at her agency this spring, what office she might seek next and how all of the politics of those subjects mix. Full Story
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Susan Combs: The TT Interview (audio)
Comptroller Susan Combs, on her agency's data breach, her changed position on abortion, andher political future. Full Story
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Adan Muñoz: The TT Interview
Adan Muñoz, executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards talks with The Texas Tribune about budget cuts and the challenges of running a jail. Full Story
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Adan Muñoz: The TT Interview
The director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards on the agency's budget cuts, jail overcrowding and eroding facilities. Full Story
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Credit: Justin Dehn -
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aaronson examines the Texas jobs "miracle," Root on how Rick Perry built his financial portfolio, Tan and Wiseman on Perry vs. Ron Paul, Philpott on how budget cuts will affect a mental health provider, yours truly on a House freshman who was less than impressed with his first legislative experience, M. Smith on public schools charging for things that used to be free, Hamilton on a new call to reinvent higher education, Grissom on a rare stay of execution, Galbraith on the end of a Panhandle wind program, Aguilar on the increase of legal immigration into the U.S. and Texas: The best of our best content from July 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
AG Ruling May Spell End of Willingham Probe
The Texas Forensic Science Commission’s investigation of the science used to convict Cameron Todd Willingham may be at an end after the state’s top attorney ruled that the panel cannot consider evidence in cases older than 2005. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Marjorie Kamys Cotera / Todd Wiseman -
Criminal Appeals Court Grants Rare Execution Stay
In a rare move Thursday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, stayed the scheduled Aug. 18 execution of Larry Swearingen, convicted of the 1998 rape and murder of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Full Story
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![Death row inmate Larry Swearingen during an interview on July 27, 2011, at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas.]()
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Tracking the Money: Presidential Candidates and Texas
Texans are already opening their pocketbooks to show support for their favorite presidential candidates. The Tribune’s visualizations of data from federal campaign finance reports reveal who has collected and spent the most in Texas. Full Story
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DPS Can't Reveal Cost to Protect Perry, Purges Records
State officials said Friday they can’t reveal how much money taxpayers are spending to protect Gov. Rick Perry — and that records of security costs compiled before 2008 have been “purged.” Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
On the Records: Shifting Unemployment Rates in Texas
New Texas Workforce Commission stats show that Texas has gained more than 220,000 jobs since last year. Check out this visualization of unemployment rates broken down by city for June 2010 and June 2011. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Becca Aaronson / Todd Wiseman -
Thompson Feeds Her "Little Dogs" and Throws a Bone to Bigger Ones
Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s almost 40-year House tenure is defined by her defense of the underserved. But her legislative career is peppered with occasional paradoxes. Full Story
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Updated: Court Declines Stay for 9-11 Revenge Killer
U.S. Distict Judge Lee Yeakel today denied Rais Bhuiyan’s request to the stay the execution of Mark Stroman, the man who shot him and killed two others and is scheduled to die tonight for his crimes. Full Story
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![Rais Bhuiyan, the sole survivor of a 2001 shooting, speaks out at a press conference in Austin on July 14, 2011 about his lawsuit against Gov. Perry for not upholding his victim's rights .]()
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State Seeks Clearance for Political Maps
Texas bypassed the Obama administration's Department of Justice on Tuesday, opting to ask a panel of federal judges in Washington, D.C., to review the state's new maps for congressional, legislative and State Board of Education districts. Full Story
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In Texas, Jailbreaks Aren't Like the Movies. Usually.
A favorite plot device on television and in movies, jailbreaks, at least in Texas, are pretty rare. But that doesn't stop inmates from trying. And trying. Full Story
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Inside Houston's Harris County Jail
Lt. Ronny Taylor talks about some of the security measures in place to prevent inmates from escaping from the Harris County Jail in Houston. Full Story
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TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Check our new Perrypedia — a home for stories and data about you-know-who, Ramshaw on health care in the colonias, Root's look back at Rick Perry's years as a Democrat, M. Smith on the pressures facing the TEA, yours truly on David Dewhurst's impact on the U.S. Senate race, E. Smith's panel discussion on the Cameron Todd Willingham case, Hamilton on Perry and higher ed, Murphy on who's paying the pole tax, Grissom on Alto's decision to close its police department, Aguilar on labor and security worries over trucking on the border and Galbraith on what government can't do during a drought: The best of our best content from July 11 to 15, 2011. Full Story
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A Naked Gamble That the Pole Tax Gets Stripped
Four years and one seemingly endless lawsuit after Texas lawmakers passed a $5-per-patron strip club fee, just 111 of the state’s 176 strip clubs have paid any money. (View our interactive here.) Full Story
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![Dawn Rizos, owner and CEO of The Lodge, paid more than $600,000 in a $5 per-patron tax in 2008, but she has stopped paying since, calling the tax unfair.]()
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Lawyers, Guns and Money
The Department of Justice's decision this week to require firearms dealers in Texas and three other border states to report the multiple sales of long rifles will come down to a funding battle in Washington. Full Story
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