The Midday Brief: Aug. 6, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

"In the latest skirmish over a contested Waco-area state Senate seat, Texas Democrats filed a lawsuit today to challenge new GOP state Sen. Brian Birdwell’s eligibility to run in the November general election." — Dems sue over Birdwell residency, Postcards

"Dallas television station WFAA did a truth test on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White's new biographical television commercial that has been airing in San Antonio and Dallas. Normally, it's hard to take a hit on a bio spot, but White does." — White can't like Dallas TV truth test of his new ad, Texas Politics

"A day after BP pumped cement into its damaged Macondo well, the company was still monitoring the effectiveness of a procedure viewed as a major step in killing the well for good." — BP waiting for the cement to dry, Houston Chronicle

"A bipartisan group of senators, including Texas Republican John Cornyn and Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, are trying to close a loophole contained in the newly enacted financial regulation law that exempted a raft of Wall Street documents from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act." — Cornyn leads bipartisan push to shine light on Wall Street records, Texas on the Potomac

New in The Texas Tribune:

"The 1,200-mile border it shares with Mexico makes Texas one the most vulnerable states when it comes to imported infectious diseases. In a majority of cases, Customs and Border Protection officers are unable to detect these public health threats at ports of entry, according to a new Centers for Disease Control study." — CBP, CDC Face Problems in Detecting Disease

"President Obama is coming to Austin and Dallas on Monday. He'll make a stop on the University of Texas campus to deliver a speech before throngs of supporters — and, no doubt, protesters. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the main focus of his trip is green, not burnt orange." — President Obama Will Raise Money, Hackles in Texas

"Pop quiz: Which elected official's spokesman argued that their workload 'may not be evident through a simple review of listings on a calendar?'" — White Used Defense Similar to Perry's on Workload