The Midday Brief: June 16, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

"BP will set aside $20 billion to pay the victims of the massive oil spill in the Gulf, senior administration officials said Wednesday, a move made under pressure by the White House as the company copes with causing the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history." — Sources: BP agrees to $20B fund for spill victims, The Associated Press

"Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, led the effort by 31 Republican lawmakers to obtain an audit from Congress' watchdog Government Accountability Office on federal spending for family planning organizations." — Rep. Pete Olson tracks federal money for family planning, Texas on the Potomac

"Local leaders from El Paso and Juárez, Chihuahua, called for residents on both sides of the Rio Grande to allow the FBI to finish its investigation into last week's shooting of a 15-year-old Mexican boy by a Border Patrol agent." — Border leaders meet to smooth tensions after shooting, The Associated Press

New in The Texas Tribune:

"The federal government could begin cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers and on residents with expired visas, according to a copy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s new strategic plan obtained by The Texas Tribune." — The New ICE Age

"The Environmental Protection Agency will roll out new air quality standards for the entire country in August. That means cities like Austin — which knows it's out of compliance — have very little time to get their improvement plans in place." — Waiting to Exhale

"See how Texas' fastest-growing areas compare with the 3,000 other counties across the country." — On the Records: Mapping U.S. Growth by County