The Midday Brief: December 22, 2009

Your afternoon reading:

• “Democrat Jack McDonald, who was going to challenge Republican incumbent Mike McCaul for District 10, will no longer be running for the seat. He never filed.” — 2010: Jack McDonald not to challenge McCaul — The Texas Tribune

• “This is the shortest form we have ever had in modern history,” said Sanchez, speaking at the opening of the Edinburg office and referring to the Census form. “It does not ask anything about citizenship or driver’s licenses. We like to say that Blockbuster has more information than the Census form asks for. It is really a non-threatening form. We try to make it as simple as possible.” — Census 2010 forms will not ask citizenship questions, says bureau director — Rio Grande Guardian

• “This is so potentially great, even greater than we thought it could be.” — At mayhem central, we relish team of Hutchison and Earle — Austin American-Statesman

• “Laredo has put together a consortium of folks and organizations under its new “Laredo Reads” banner to try and convince a book chain to open up shop in Laredo.” — Help Laredo Woo a Bookstore — La Linea

New in The Texas Tribune:

"The Department of State Health Services will destroy all blood samples taken from infants before May 27, 2009 to settle a lawsuit over the state's newborn screening program." — TribBlog: DSHS Will Destroy Blood Spots — The Texas Tribune

“Latinos are expected to become the majority demographic group in Texas by 2015, according to some estimates. But they're still not voting in big numbers at the ballot box.” — Video: ¿No Se Puede? — The Texas Tribune

Alert: The Brief will return on December 28.  As holiday bonus, here's a fun reader suggestion:

"'We' in Houston have been convulsed in an orgy of self-congratulation in the past week over the election of a lesbian as mayor––a historic development that has proved, beyond a doubt, that Houston is not the dusty cow-town full of yahoos they still believe us to be In New York City and Paris, France but rather the cosmopolitan, urbane and broad-minded place 'we' have always known it to be." — Hidden Houston: A City With A Long, Proud Though Heretofore Undocumented History of Electing Gay Mayors — Slampo's Place