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The latest state agencies news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Memories Lost

    By Emily Ramshaw

    When foster kids bounce from placement to placement, they leave their belongings with state child welfare workers — where advocates say they often get misplaced, given to the wrong child or even stolen. Full Story 

    Crystal Martinez sits with items recovered from Child Protective Services at her home in North Austin, Dec. 21, 2010.
    Credit: Callie Richmond

  • Confidential Conflicts

    By Matt Stiles

    Lobbyists are required by law to notify their clients if they represent two or more groups with clashing agendas. They are also required to notify the Texas Ethics Commission. Scores of lobbyists have done so in recent legislative sessions. What is not required is for the public or elected representatives to be informed. Full Story 

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    Credit: Matt Stiles

  • A Sneak Preview of "Incendiary"

    By Evan Smith

    Filmmakers Steve Mims and Joe Bailey Jr. are putting the finishing touches on a new documentary about the Cameron Todd Willingham case that focuses almost entirely on forensics — on the science behind arson investigations like the one that led to the Corsicana man's arrest, conviction and execution following the death of his three small children in a 1991 house fire. Mims and Bailey aren't political activists; the former lectures in the University of Texas' Department of Radio-Television-Film, while the latter is a graduate of UT's law school. But they were so moved by an article about the Willingham case in The New Yorker that they decided to tackle one of the most controversial topics in the modern era of state's criminal justice system. Well in advance of the film's release, they've carved out this excerpt of about eight minutes exclusively for the Tribune. Full Story 

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Ross Ramsey

    Ramshaw on how hard it is to sue over emergency room mistakes, Galbraith on paying for roads in an era of fuel-efficient vehicles, Aguilar on a disagreement about gun regulation, my interview with tort reformer Dick Trabulsi, Grissom on Perry's parsimonious pardoning, Hu and Chang interactively look at House committee chairs, M. Smith on an election challenge and who'll settle it, Ramshaw and Stiles on Dallas County's blue streak and Hamilton on a Valley school district that leads the nation in preparing kids for college: The best of our best from Dec. 20 to 24, 2010. Full Story 

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  • Kid's College

    By Reeve Hamilton

    In the 1980s, when the state’s education accountability systems were first put into place, Hidalgo’s high school was ranked among the bottom 10 percent of all schools in academic performance. Today, its students graduate at higher rates than the state average, and 98 percent complete a recommended or distinguished curriculum — all thanks to an unprecedented level of collaboration between local leaders in public and higher education that has permeated Hidalgo for the last five years and is taking hold elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley, providing new opportunities in some of the country’s poorest counties. Full Story 

    Students in the Hidalgo Independent School District physics classroom work on a project on acceleration with a sloped ramp in a regular science class at Hidalgo Early College High School.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Beg His Pardon?

    By Brandi Grissom

    Pardoning has become a holiday tradition for governors and the president, who each year choose a fortunate few whose criminal records will get wiped clean. But experts say state and national leaders are granting fewer pardons these days — and doing it in a way that undermines a critical criminal justice process that allows rehabilitated offenders to lead normal lives. Gov. Rick Perry, for example, has granted only about 180 pardons since 2001. By contrast, Bill Clements issued more than 800 pardons during his eight-year tenure, while Mark White issued nearly 500 in four years. Full Story 

    Gov. Rick Perry in an interview with Tribune CEO and Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Down for the Recount

    By Morgan Smith

    After a recount affirming his loss to state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, former University of Texas lineman Dan Neil has asked that the Texas House settle the election’s outcome. What happens now? Full Story 

    State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, and her GOP challenger, Dan Neil.
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Unnecessary Nursing?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    A class-action suit being filed in U.S. district court today alleges that thousands of Texans with severe mental and physical disabilities are confined in nursing homes with no access to rehabilitative care. Full Story 

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  • The People's Choice

    By Julián Aguilar

    Three years after a crackdown that resulted in federal conspiracy charges against Laredo's former police chief, the city's electronic gaming parlors are back — most tucked in nondescript strip malls. Their resurgence owes to their popularity, says state Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, who has offered a solution: Let the voters decide. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Atmospheric Politics

    By Kate Galbraith

    Every politician needs a villain. George W. Bush had Saddam Hussein; Barack Obama had George W. Bush. Gov. Rick Perry has the EPA., which has had the audacity to order Texas to do more to clean its air. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Bob Daemmrich/Todd Wiseman

  • Crime Doesn't Pay

    By Emily Ramshaw

    British tourist Thomas Reeve's murder in an Amarillo bar last fall shattered his family, which has been unable to claim financial assistance from the state’s Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund because he wasn't a U.S. resident. Full Story 

    British tourist Thomas Reeve was shot and killed in an Amarillo bar last fall by an armed robber, leaving behind an infant daughter. His parents’ efforts to claim financial assistance from the state’s Crime Victims Compensation Fund have been rebuffed because their son wasn’t a U.S. resident.
    Credit: Thomas Reeve's family

  • No Setting Sun on the TCEQ

    By Erika Aguilar, KUT News

    With a panel of state legislators set to decide the future of a number of Texas agencies, the state's environmental agency seems likely to get the green light to operate for another 12 years, but with some changes. As Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, environmentalists are calling the situation a mild victory. Full Story 

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  • Mental Math

    By Brandi Grissom

    Texas sheriffs fear that the looming budget shortfall will turn the growing shortage of bed space for their psychologically disturbed inmates at state mental hospitals into a crisis. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Achieving Closure

    By Brandi Grissom

    Lawmakers, bureaucrats and criminal justice advocates all agree that the state’s trouble-ridden Texas Youth Commission ought to close down two of its correctional facilities. Like other state agencies, TYC has been asked to cut its budget for the next biennium by 10 percent, or $40 million. But no one at TYC is saying which lockups should get shuttered. “They don’t want to bite that bullet and show leadership,” says state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. Full Story 

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  • Energy Boost

    By Kate Galbraith

    Energy is never far from the agenda at the Legislature. This year, Sunset Advisory Commission reviews of oil and gas and electricity regulators will keep the sector in the spotlight, as will renewed clamor for legislation — however unlikely to happen in a tough budget environment — to aid clean energy. Full Story 

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    Credit: Wayne National Forest

  • TWIA Chief: I Cannot Defy Court Order

    By Elise Hu

    An ongoing proxy war between tort reformists and trial lawyers spilled into a joint House-Senate hearing Monday, as Texas Windstorm Insurance Association General Manager Jim Oliver told lawmakers he still cannot disclose sought-after attorneys fees details in a multimillion-dollar settlement with Hurricane Ike homeowners. Full Story 

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