The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for Feb. 22, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s first 'money bomb' of the 2012 political season brought in more than $700,000 in 24 hours for his Liberty PAC. The Republican congressman from Clute said the cash from the online fundraiser will pay for three more trips to key presidential primary states." — 'Money bomb' raises more than $700K for Ron Paul, funds trips to key primary states, The Texas Independent

• "More people in El Paso see themselves as both Hispanic and white, new 2010 U.S. Census figures released last week show." — More Hispanics check 'white' on Census, El Paso Times

• "The second criminal trial stemming from a sex abuse scandal at a West Texas juvenile prison that upended the state agency overseeing young offenders ended in an acquittal for the facility's former principal." — Texas youth prison abuse case ends in acquittal, The Associated Press

• "The House State Affairs Committee will hear testimony Wednesday on its version of a bill that mandates sonograms be done before an abortion and the images and sounds made available to women. Unlike the bill that already has passed the Senate, it doesn't provide any exceptions for women who are getting an abortion due to rape, incest or because of severe and irreversible fetal abnormalities." — Tougher sonogram bill up in House committee, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, joined with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Public Health Chairwoman Lois Kolkhorst this morning to offer solutions to the state's Medicaid cost crunch. They suggested Medicaid, which currently makes up 28 percent of the state budget, will grow to nearly half of the state budget in the 2014-15 biennium, a spike they said is completely unsustainable." — TPPF, State Leaders: Medicaid Growth Is "Unsustainable"

• "The House and Senate budgets propose a $95.6 million cut in total revenue from the Texas Youth Commission budget in 2012 and 2013, and lawmakers are eying reductions in parole services, which could lead to fewer staffers and fewer district parole offices." — Youth Advocates Worry Budget Will Put More in Prison

• "On today's broadcast of CNN's American Morning, state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, and state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, debated the controversial issue of concealed handguns on college campuses." — Wentworth, Rodriguez Debate Campus Carry on CNN

• The Democratic state representative from Houston on his Republican colleagues' quest for a federal Medicaid waiver, political rhetoric and what realistically the feds could do to help Texas and other states. — Garnet Coleman: The TT Interview