Federal Judges Propose Maps for Texas Legislative Races
A panel of federal judges in San Antonio proposed new redistricting maps for the Texas Senate and the Texas House late this afternoon. Full Story
The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
A panel of federal judges in San Antonio proposed new redistricting maps for the Texas Senate and the Texas House late this afternoon. Full Story
Officials in Austin, Houston, El Paso and San Juan announced plans today intended to make employers aware of a key change in the law passed by the Legislature designed to elevate the importance of prosecuting wage theft. Full Story
At this morning's TribLive conversation, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst talked about the intern on his U.S. Senate campaign who made headlines yesterday after tweeting about the temptation to assassinate Barack Obama. Full Story
The official filing period for State Board of Education races hasn't even begun, but the mudslinging certainly has. That's no surprise: Political control over the divisive board hangs in the balance. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry proposed term limits for federal judges and cuts in pay and work hours for Congress, so we put those issues to the insiders and added Texas versions: What about a full-time Legislature, and appointed judges instead of elected ones? Full Story
The state won't spend any taxpayer money on Formula 1 in advance of Texas races, Comptroller Susan Combs announced this morning — days after racing officials expressed doubt over a Grand Prix here. It's not clear how that will affect the track. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry is proposing to bring a little Texas to Washington — with a “part-time citizen Congress” that doesn’t meet so often, and whose members earn only half of what they make now. Perry will also call for an end to lifetime appointments for federal judges, including members of the U.S. Supreme Court. Full Story
State Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, won't seek an 11th term in the Texas House, he told the Tribune this afternoon. Full Story
For this week's version of our nonscientific survey of political and government insiders in Texas, we asked about Rick Perry's chances — before and after "Oops." Full Story
Ramshaw and Root on the debate that dominated the nation's political news, Tan and Ramshaw on how it will affect Rick Perry's campaign, Philpott on what "oops" might mean for Perry in South Carolina, Root on what it means in Iowa, Dehn with the latest Weekend Insider video, Galbraith on the split fates of water-related constitutional amendments, Grissom on an arrest in a 1986 murder case, Hamilton on UT-Arlington's efforts to control tuition costs and M. Smith, Murphy and Gerdau on West Texas schools raising money with wind farms: The best of our best content from November 7 to 11, 2011. Full Story
By now, you've probably seen or heard about Gov. Rick Perry's colossal stumble at this week's GOP debate in Michigan. The Tribune's Thanh Tan talks to Emily Ramshaw about why it's yet another self-inflicted wound that threatens his ability to convince voters he's ready to be president. Full Story
Terrence Henry of KUT News and NPR's StateImpact Texas spoke with one longtime resident of Corpus Christi trying to get families to speak out about the health problems they've faced living on what some call Refinery Row. Full Story
Rick Perry's "oops" moment was costly in our survey of political and government insiders, and we also took soundings on third-party candidates, court-drawn political maps, and the strength of the Tea Party. Full Story
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals took some heat off of Gov. Rick Perry when it issued a stay of execution for Hank Skinner this week. And the governor has avoided any link to another case involving two of his appointees and a botched murder prosecution in Williamson County. Full Story
With Veterans Day approaching, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Thursday asked the Veterans Affairs and Military Installations Committee to consider several issues, including the status of mental health services for veterans and ways to improve employment services. Full Story
Despite an increase in state spending on mental health care, Texas still ranks last in per capita funding for people with mental illness, according to a report issued by the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Full Story
An appointee of Gov. Rick Perry is organizing a state-paid trip to New York to showcase the firefighter pension system and take Texas legislators on VIP sightseeing tours — inviting criticism about potentially wasteful spending at a time of budgetary strain. Full Story
Mark Alan Norwood, a 57-year-old Bastrop resident, was arrested today and charged with the 1986 murder of Christine Morton. Michael Morton, her husband, was exonerated of her murder last month after spending nearly 25 years in prison. Full Story
Amid the most intense drought in state history, Texas voters split on a pair of water-related constitutional amendments that had the backing of many environmentalists and businesses. Analysts are scrambling to explain their differing fates. Full Story
On this week's TribCast, Ross, Reeve, Brandi, and Jay review the latest criminal justice headlines, consider the difference between news and gossip in light of the latest Herman Cain developments, and explain what's going on with redistricting. Full Story