The Midday Brief: June 30, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

"EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz says the federal government today is throwing out all of the flexible air quality permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality." — EPA throwing out Texas flexible air quality permit program, Texas on the Potomac

"Rough seas generated by Hurricane Alex pushed more oil from the massive spill onto Gulf Coast beaches Wednesday as cleanup vessels were sidelined by the faraway storm's ripple effects." — Gulf beaches hit as distant hurricane pushes oil, The Associated Press

"Sam Houston Race Park's Andrea Young today pressed the case for slots machines at casinos as a necessity for Texas tracks to compete with neighboring states that already have expanded gambling." — The push for gambling, and the pushback, Texas on the Potomac

"For the second year in a row, the GOP congressional baseball squad coached by Rep. Joe Barton lost to their Democratic counterparts in the annual congressional baseball game." — On the baseball diamond, Barton-led Republicans falter, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

"Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples’ camp calls a recent attack by Hank Gilbert’s campaign 'the lowest a political campaign has ever stooped in Texas politics.'" — Hank Gilbert's Attack of Todd Staples Called "Despicable"

"Last week State Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, was indicted on charges she engaged in Medicaid fraud — the second House member from South Texas to be indicted in less than a year. But their colleagues insist that such corruption isn't a regional thing, no matter what the stereotype suggests." — Valley Members: Corruption is a Stereotype