The Brief: Feb. 16, 2015
Bipartisan appears to be a dirty word in a couple of the special election contests set to be finally decided on Tuesday. Full Story
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![State Reps. José Menéndez (left) and Trey Martinez Fischer, both Democrats from San Antonio, are seeking the Texas Senate seat vacated by Leticia Van de Putte, who is running for mayor of San Antonio.]()
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The Brief: Feb. 13, 2015
The Kroll report, which looked into the admissions process at UT-Austin and whether some well-connected people had too much influence on that process, surfaced on Thursday. Full Story
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![Regent Wallace L. Hall, Jr. of the University of Texas System at the regular meeting of the Board on May 15, 2014]()
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Hays Groundwater Fight Portends Battles to Come
Anger boiled over at a town hall meeting Tuesday night as Hays County residents decried a company's plan to pump and sell millions of gallons of groundwater. The heated dispute foreshadows more to come in a growing state that's running out of water. Full Story
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New in Trib+Water: Dealing With Water Shortages
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: Researchers test plants' resistance to drought, cities get creative when water is scarce and an interview with Todd Caldwell of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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The Brief: Feb. 11, 2015
The Tribune's Terri Langford has uncovered a new problem with the no-bid Medicaid fraud software contract awarded to 21CT by the Health and Human Services Commission. Full Story
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The Brief: Feb. 10, 2015
A handful of former HHSC employees are suing for wrongful termination in the aftermath of revelations over the awarding of a no-bid Medicaid fraud contract. Full Story
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![Irene Williams, CEO of 21CT, and Jack Stick, a top attorney at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.]()
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Falling Oil Prices Put Spotlight on Crude Export Ban
The decline in oil prices has led to thousands of layoffs in Texas. It has also led to renewed calls from Texans in Congress and other state officials to lift the ban that blocks the export of most U.S. crude oil. Full Story
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Texas Site Wants Nation's Spent Nuclear Fuel
The country has been trying to figure out for decades what to do with the high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The operators of a nuclear waste dump in West Texas have told federal officials they'd be happy to take it. Full Story
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![Modular concrete canisters containing nuclear waste are shown at the bottom of a storage pit near Andrews, Texas.]()
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T-Squared: We're Crowdfunding Another Crucial Series
Last year, Tribune readers made it possible for us to spend months telling tales of life in Texas' shale plays. The crowdfunding effort worked so well that we're trying it again, this time for a major project on unsafe drinking water. Full Story
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The Brief: Feb. 9, 2015
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz talked presidential politics and foreign policy in a pair of appearances on Sunday morning talk shows. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during the 2014 RedState Gathering at the Worthington Renaissance Hotel in Fort Worth on Aug. 8, 2014.]()
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Texas Justices Skirt Underground Trespassing Question
Texans must wait for an answer to a vexing question: How far below the earth’s surface do property lines extend? The Texas Supreme Court evaded the issue Friday, deciding a case that pitted petroleum interests against property rights advocates. Full Story
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![Fracking water during different stages of a purification and recycling process.]()
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For State's Seismologist, Earthquakes Will Be the Easy Part of the Job
A peripatetic seismologist and son of McCamey has been hired to figure out whether oil and gas drilling is causing earthquakes in Texas. No matter what he says, some people will not believe him. Full Story
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![Each day, dozens of trucks hook up to the Gulf Coast-run fracking fluid disposal well site near Gonzales, Texas.]()
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The Brief: Feb. 6, 2015
Rick Perry had some choice words in an interview Thursday with the Tribune and the Washington Post on what separates him from Ted Cruz. Full Story
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![Former Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz]()
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Price Plunge Adds New Wrinkle to Mexican Energy Reform
After years of political wrangling, Mexico is poised to open up its state-run energy monopoly to private investment, pumping excitement into Texas. But as crude oil prices fall, will investors walk through that door? Full Story
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The Brief: Feb. 5, 2015
House Speaker Joe Straus leaned toward the familiar in filling open spots at the top of the chamber's top-tier committees. Full Story
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![State Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, in the Texas House of Representatives, Feb. 8, 2011.]()
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The Brief: Feb. 4, 2015
The ability of Austin tech firm 21CT to secure a $20 million Medicaid fraud software contract through a no-bid program run by the state's Department of Information Resources drew intense scrutiny from Senate budget writers on Tuesday. Full Story
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![This is a photo of one of two $2800 chairs ordered by Jack Stick's office when he was deputy inspector general. The chairs which resemble the ones used in the Texas Legislature committee hearing rooms, were discovered after the resignations of Stick, and Doug Wilson, inspector general.]()
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Texas Justices Renew Royalty Owner's Fraud Case
In a case that highlights the challenges Texas mineral owners face in ensuring oil and gas operators pay what they promise, the Texas Supreme Court has revived the claim of a man who alleges he was shortchanged on royalties. Full Story
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Texas Bearing Brunt of Drop in Oil Drilling
After months of plummeting oil prices, nightmares about idled drilling rigs have become reality, hitting Texas the hardest. See how many rigs the state has lost in recent months. Full Story
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![Pipes used for fracking are shown in front of a Fasken OIl and Ranch drilling rig outside of Midland on Oct. 8, 2013.]()
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The Brief: Feb. 3, 2015
The state representative at the center of a controversy over treatment of visitors to the Capitol for Texas Muslim Capitol Day last week told the Tribune on Monday that she didn't expect her Facebook post to raise such a ruckus. Full Story
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![Rep. Molly White R-Belton in her Capitol office on February 2nd, 2015]()
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Legislation Would Let Electric Generators Get Bigger
Texas bars companies from owning or controlling more than 20 percent of the electric generation capacity in the state. A lawmaker wants to eliminate that cap. Full Story
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