Watching Rick Perry can cause flashbacks. Both he and George W. Bush were governors of Texas, but Perry isn’t running the same government Bush was running in 2000. The problems are different. Their strengths are different. And the pitch is different, too. Full Story
Hey, Texplainer: Why does the Texas Constitution have so many amendments? The way it's written makes it both fairly easy to amend and highly restrictive in the powers it grants, making frequent and often highly specific changes necessary. Full Story
DAY 25 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state is preparing to begin requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes from their customers over the strenuous objections of Amazon. Full Story
DAY 24 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state is preparing to enforce more stringent voter ID requirements. Full Story
A state judge has declined to remove District Attorney John Bradley from continuing to investigate the case of Michael Morton, whose 1987 murder conviction has been called into question by new DNA evidence suggesting someone else killed his wife. Full Story
DAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for Texas inmates. Full Story
DAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for inmates. Full Story
DAY 22 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Lawmakers slash funding for residency programs in Texas, making it even more difficult for the state to meet its growing physician shortage. Full Story
The restricted club that is the Texas Senate will be invaded by noisy conservative voters and activists next year if senators have to choose a new leader from their own ranks, reprising the 2011 contretemps over the choice for Speaker of the House. Full Story
DAY 21 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Nearly 56,000 students will remain on charter school waiting lists after lawmakers failed to lift a cap on the number of charters the SBOE can grant. Full Story
DAY 20 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Financially stable charter schools will have an easier time seeking lower interest rate loans to expand or build their facilities. Full Story
Aaronson analyzes TWIA claims and lawyer fees, Aguilar talks border security and voter ID with Chuy Hinojosa, Grissom on the latest inmate exonerated via DNA evidence, Hamilton interviews John Sharp on higher ed and the SEC, Murphy interactively maps the changes wrought by redistricting, Philpott on who's running Texas while Rick Perry is out campaigning for president, Ramsey on Perry's history of off-the-cuff remarks, Ramshaw on Perry's childhood years in Paint Creek, Root on Perry's extraordinary first week on the trail and Tan on even more ways Texas will change on Sept. 1: The best of our best content from Aug. 15-19, 2011. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry likes to rail against the Obama administration's "failed" federal stimulus program, but he and state lawmakers have more than $17 billion in fed-stim dollars to thank for the last two balanced Texas budgets. Full Story
For the first time, Texas is closing a state prison. Take a look inside the historic Central Unit in Sugar Land as workers prepare it for shuttering. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry — touting the state's job growth on the campaign trail — got some bad news this morning: The state's unemployment rate is the worst in nearly a quarter century. Full Story
Who knew, when the 1998 race for lieutenant governor was raging, that the combatants would end up like this: Rick Perry is picking his way across Iowa and New Hampshire with his sights set on the White House, and John Sharp is the chancellor-apparent at the Texas A&M University System. Whodathunkit? Full Story
In which we ask the insiders how the selection of a new lieutenant governor will go, if David Dewhurst moves on to another job after the 2012 elections. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry told a child questioner in New Hampshire today that Texas public schools teach creationism alongside evolution — a statement that state education experts are refuting in varying degrees. Full Story
Throughout August, the Tribune will feature 31 ways Texans' lives will change come Sept. 1, the date most bills passed by the Legislature take effect. DAY 18: The sport of catching catfish with bare hands, known as noodling, is now legal in Texas. Watch the Trib's interview with filmmaker and avid noodler Bradley Beesley. Full Story