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The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Driving While Impaired?

    By Matt Largey, KUT News

    Some law enforcement officials — including Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo — are pushing to criminalize driving with a blood alcohol level lower than 0.08. Matt Largey of KUT News reports that state lawmakers could consider making "Driving While Ability Impaired" a crime to help local police departments get a handle on drunk driving in Texas. Full Story 

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  • 2010: Perry Provided "Political Schedule" By Mistake

    By Elise Hu

    Texans weren't supposed to see Gov. Rick Perry's Sept. 15 schedule after all. The governor's office says it mistakenly released the governor's "political schedule" — as opposed to his schedule of official state business — to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White's campaign. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Not-So-Spare Schedule

    By Elise Hu

    Gov. Rick Perry apparently keeps a more detailed schedule than what his office has previously released to the public. In what might have been a mistake, a more detailed version came out in response to an open records request from Democrat Bill White’s campaign. Full Story 

  • Clay Boatright: The TT Interview

    By Emily Ramshaw

    The new president of the Arc of Texas on why the disability community’s rallying cry to close state-supported living centers has become trite and ineffective, why the movement's messaging should be upgraded (employing everything from the iPad to the Bible) and why businesses and faith-based groups should be mobilized to fill the gaping holes in government services. Full Story 

    Clay Boatright, the new president of the Arc of Texas
    Credit: Emily Ramshaw

  • Show Us the Money

    By Ross Ramsey and Matt Stiles

    With a month to go before Election Day, challengers in fifteen House races outraised incumbents during the most recent reporting period, according to the most recent filings with the Texas Ethics Commission. In eight of those races, the challengers led in combined spending and saving, a rough measure of each campaign's financial strength. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • The Weekly TribCast: Episode 49

    By Elise Hu

    In this week's skirmish, topics include campaign cash, the latest polls in the governor's race, the hotbed of Texas House activity in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the consequences of the budget crisis. Full Story 

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  • DNA Crime Lab Gets Clean Bill Of Health

    By Mose Buchele, KUT News

    A former Austin Police Department employee’s allegations of misconduct at the city's DNA Crime Lab prompted an outside audit of the lab. As Mose Buchele of KUT News reports, the results of that audit have been released. Full Story 

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    Credit: Rodolfo Clix

  • The Prosecution Objects

    By Brandi Grissom

    Fifteen years ago Judge Charlie Baird was one of the justices on the state’s highest criminal court who reaffirmed Cameron Todd Willingham’s death sentence. On Wednesday, Baird is scheduled to begin a process that could determine whether that conviction and Willingham’s execution were wrong. And the prosecution objects. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • 2010: Moody Hearts Perry?

    By Brandi Grissom

    The Republican Party of Texas is accusing Democratic state Rep. Joe Moody, of El Paso, of plagiarizing the text of a State of the State address by Gov. Rick Perry, and it has launched a website to make its case: www.madatmoody.com. Full Story 

    State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, at the 2010 Texas Democratic Convention in Corpus Christi.
    Credit: Spencer Selvidge

  • Pay to Win

    By Tristan Hallman

    If you're lucky enough to win the lottery, you can cash in not just some but all of your future payouts for a lump sum. The Texas Supreme Court last week invalidated a state law that prohibited winners from selling their final two payments to finance companies offering cash now, often at a steep price. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • A Place to Shoot

    By Matt Stiles

    In a pattern that's playing out in San Antonio and other major metro areas in Texas, residents in low-income neighborhoods aren't taking advantage of the state's concealed-carry law as often as residents living in wealthier, more conservative areas. Full Story 

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  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Ross Ramsey

    Thevenot on the fastest-growing charter school chain in Texas, Hu on the continuing legal fights between tort reformers and trial lawyers over the state's windstorm insurance pool, Hamilton on the push for accountability in Texas colleges, Philpott on legislative skirmishing over federal education funds, Grissom on misdemeanor convicts choosing jail time instead of probation that's more expensive for them but cheaper for the state, M. Smith on Bill Flores' challenge in what's billed as the hottest congressional race in the country, Ramshaw looks at scandals that have put some otherwise safe statehouse incumbents in deep electoral trouble, yours truly on the closest and ugliest race on the statewide ballot and Galbraith and Titus on pollution from idling vehicles and why it's so hard to control: The best of our best from September 27 to October 1, 2010. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman