Majority Rules
Whether you call it a wave, a rout or a tsunami, one thing is clear: Republicans in the Texas House won a massive mandate for conservative bills — and budgeting — in the coming legislative session. Full Story
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The History of the Shuttle Program, Part Five
As the nation's shuttle program moves toward its scheduled end next year, observers are asking: What's next for manned space exploration? Ben Philpott reports on how federal funding changes for NASA will determine the answer. Full Story
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The History of the Shuttle Program, Part Four
What happens after Discovery, the next-to-last shuttle mission, blasts off Monday from Kennedy Space Center (with an Austin astronaut aboard)? For thousands of engineers and support staff at the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake, the answer isn’t certain. Matt Largey of KUT News contemplates the impact of the transition to the next phase of NASA's mission in space. Full Story
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The History of the Shuttle Program, Part Three
NASA lost two shuttles, Challenger and Columbia, during the space shuttle program’s 30-year history. After each accident, the agency was never quite the same. Jennifer Stayton of KUT News recently talked about those tragedies with Pat Duggins, who reports on NASA for NPR and is the author of Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program. Full Story
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What We're Worried About
The economy, unemployment and jobs are the most important issues facing the country, according to the new UT/Texas Tribune poll, while immigration and border security top the list of the biggest problems facing the state. Full Story
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The History of the Shuttle Program, Part Two
Discovery is on the launch pad and prepped for a Monday blast off — the second-to-last confirmed mission. For many Americans, the finale of the space shuttle program is poignant and yet somewhat suspenseful. What comes next? In part two of our week-long series on what the shuttle has meant to Texas, KUT’s Mose Buchele reports that, despite its lofty goals, the program has always had a down-to-earth side. Full Story
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The History of the Shuttle Program, Part One
The nation's space shuttle program is being retired next year after three decades and more than 133 flights — including the final voyage by Discovery, which is set to blast off in a few days. All this week, KUT News is reconstructing the program's history: how it started, how it will end and what that means for Texas. Reporters Nathan Bernier and Jennifer Stayton kick off our five-part series. Full Story
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Where They Stand: The Governor's Race
In the absence of a real debate between Gov. Rick Perry and his Democratic challenger, Bill White, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune has created the next best thing: a mash-up of their answers to questions asked Friday by the Tribune's Evan Smith during one-hour interviews of the candidates sponsored by the Trib, KUT and Austin public television station KLRU. Full Story
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"Nothing Untoward" on ETF, Perry Insists
Gov. Rick Perry says there was "nothing untoward" about his friend and donor's company receiving $4.5 million from the state's Emerging Technology Fund without getting approval from a regional screening board. Full Story
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TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramsey on whether Bill White at the top of the ballot helps Houston-area candidates, Aaronson and Stiles present a treemap of Texas political ads, Stiles and Ramsey on the latest campaign finance filings, Aguilar on the Laredo mayor's race, Hamilton on anonymous tweeters who make mischief, Ramshaw interviews a disability rights activist with a thing for iPads and bibles, Hu on the accidental release of Rick Perry's "secret" schedule, M. Smith on the bitter back-and-forth over a voter registration effort in Harris County, Philpott's micro-debate on education between two House candidates, Grissom on this week's twist in the Cameron Todd Willingham investigation and, in our latest collaboration with a big-city Texas newspaper, Stiles, Grissom and John Tedesco of the San-Antonio Express News on what kind of Texans, exactly, are applying to carry concealed handguns: The best of our best from Oct. 4 to 9, 2010. Full Story
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2010: The Wages of Sin
If the state needs money to balance its budget, it should look first to sin taxes on gambling, alcohol and marijuana. Full Story
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A Schoolyard Brawl
Tension between Texas and the federal government has been a major focus of Rick Perry's re-election campaign. But on Monday, two top Democratic leaders in the Texas House ganged up on Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott and, by proxy, the governor over the recent federal education funds fight. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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A Tax Increase for Small Businesses?
Despite the prospect of a $21 billion budget shortfall, the governor, the lieutenant governor and several state lawmakers have insisted that the upcoming legislative session will be a "no-tax-increase session." But as Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, small businesses in Texas could still end up paying more taxes. Full Story
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Much Less Stimulated
The Legislative Budget Board says the state used about $14 billion in federal stimulus money to balance to budget in the current biennium. Lawmakers warned state agencies that those dollars were to be used for one-time expenditures only, but not all agencies followed that advice. With the next biennium's shortfall projected to be as much as $21 billion and no new fed-stim money available, what to do? Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramsey on the fourth University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll (with insights into the statewide races, issues, the budget, and Texans' view of the national scene), Hamilton and Thevenot in Galveston on the anniversary of Hurricane Ike, Ramshaw on secret hearings that separate children from their guardians, Hu on what former state Rep. Bill Zedler did for doctor-donors who were under investigation, Aguilar on the troubles around Mexico's bicentennial, Galbraith talks coal and wind with the head of the Sierra Club, E. Smith interviews state Rep. Debbie Riddle about tourism babies and godless liberals, Grissom on why complaints about city jails go unaddressed, Philpott on the debate that will apparently never happen and Stiles continues to put the major-party gubernatorial candidates on the map: The best of our best from September 13 to 17, 2010. Full Story
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More Texans are Poor, Uninsured
Census Data released Thursday shows a troubling rise in the number of impoverished Americans and Texans — along with a shift in the number of Texans who have insurance. Mose Buchele of KUT News reports. Full Story
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Get Out the Knives
Given a choice between spending cuts and revenue increases to balance the state budget, Texans lean solidly toward cuts, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Seven in 10 oppose any new taxes to address what could be a $21 billion shortfall. Full Story
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Mind the Gap
Texas lawmakers will have their hands full filling a budget hole in 2011 of $18 billion or more, but the projected shortfall is great political fodder for candidates of both parties in 2010. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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A Hardline in the Sand
Nearly half of all Texans would repeal the constitutional promise of citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil, and nearly two-thirds would favor Arizona-style laws allowing the police to ask about the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
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Ads Infinitum: Perry On Air
Gov. Rick Perry went on the air today with his first TV spot of the general election. Full Story
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