The Arizona immigration bill and Texas, earmarks for Kay and the dropout debacle.
State Government
Stay informed on Texas state government with The Texas Tribune’s in-depth coverage of the governor, Legislature, state agencies, and policies shaping the future of Texas.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Data App: 5,800+ Schools Ranked
We’ve built a searchable database of public school rankings based on data collected by the Houston-based nonprofit Children At Risk. In contrast to the Texas Education Agency’s “ratings,” which rely almost entirely on the percentage of students passing the TAKS test, the rankings blend 12 different measures for elementary schools, 10 for middle schools and 14 for high schools — including TAKS results, ACT and SAT scores, AP exams, attendance rates, graduation rates and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students on every campus. How does your school stack up?
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Criminal Justice
The Big Stall
Since his appointment, the alternately amiable and peevish, typically cowboy-boot-shod chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission has comported himself as a virtuoso of the bureaucratic dawdle. With the commission’s investigation of the now-notorious Cameron Todd Willingham case “still in its infancy,” John Bradley has this to say about when it might conclude its review: “However long it takes, that’s however long it takes.”
Posted inState Government
What’s in a Name?
Ask Gov. Rick Perrys chief spokesman, Mark Miner, a question on any issue these days and the answer will invariably begin, Liberal trial lawyer Bill White
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State Government
2010: Wentworth Says It Ain’t So
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, says he isn’t going anywhere. A hot rumor has him quitting office or giving up his bid for reelection to pursue other ventures, but the senator says there’s nothing to it.
Posted inState Government
KBH on Financial Reform
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was tapped to deliver this week’s Republican address. The topic: why the Democrats’ financial reform bill should be defeated.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
E. Smith interviews Gov. Rick Perry for the Trib and Newsweek, Philpott dissects the state’s budget mess in a weeklong series, Hamilton looks at whether Bill White is or was a trial lawyer, M. Smith finds experts all over the state anxiously watching a court case over who owns the water under our feet, Aguilar reports on the battle between Fort Stockton and Clayton Williams Jr. over water in West Texas, Ramshaw finds a population too disabled to get on by itself but not disabled enough to get state help and Miller spends a day with a young man and his mother coping with that situation, Ramsey peeks in on software that lets the government know whether its e-mail messages are getting read and who’s reading what, a highway commissioner reveals just how big a hole Texas has in its road budget, Grissom does the math on the state’s border cameras and learns they cost Texans about $153,800 per arrest, and E. Smith interviews Karen Hughes on the difference between corporate and political P.R. — and whether there’s such a thing as “Obama Derangement Syndrome.” The best of our best from April 19 to April 23, 2010.
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State Government
On the Records: A Cloudy Governor’s Race
What do “word clouds” tell us about the rhetoric in the governor’s race.
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State Government
TribBlog: More Time for Willingham
Forensic Science Commission says consideration of Willingham case “still in its infancy.”
