One week ago, Rick O’Donnell’s employment at the University of Texas System came to an abrupt end after 50 days marked by tension and confusion in the higher education community — especially at the University of Texas at Austin. So what happens now that he’s gone? Full Story
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Texas state representatives will choose their voters today — grabbing the ones they want, ditching the ones they don't — as the decennial drawing of political maps reaches the floor of the House. Full Story
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Allowing students to bring guns to college could cost universities a pretty penny in insurance premiums — one of the hitches that is keeping the campus-carry bill stalled in the Texas Senate. Full Story
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The House was set to debate a bill that would scrap a 27-year-old law mandating a 22-to-1 student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through fourth grade today — but before it got the chance, state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, derailed the legislation with a point of order. Full Story
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House Bill 127 would make middle and high school students leave campus if they want to satisfy their soda fix. Full Story
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Thousands of untested rape kits could be examined for DNA evidence, but a bill considered today by a Senate panel carries a hefty price tag. The result could be that the boxes remain stacked on shelves in police storage rooms across the state. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry says he is unswayed by estimates that the state's Rainy Day Fund may end up being more flush than previously anticipated and blasted the Legislature's budget office as an unreliable source of numbers. Full Story
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The Texas attorney general and the FBI are already investigating the accidental release of personal information by the comptroller's office. Now, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, an outside group wants to start its own investigation. Full Story
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Residents of Ciudad Miguel Alemán, across the border from the South Texas town of Roma, fear their town could be the next to fall to drug-related violence after a pre-dawn battle by Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel last week. Full Story
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Dog breeders would be regulated for the first time in Texas under a bill the House tentatively approved today. Full Story
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Dear federal government: Texas needs help covering the cost of border security. Signed, the Texas Senate. A resolution adopted by the state Senate today is intended to send a message to Washington demanding more action on illegal immigration. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: attorneys target Combs; Patrick says he's got abortion sonogram votes; how far can Ron Paul go? Full Story
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Holdup? What holdup? Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, says he's got the votes to send abortion sonogram legislation back to the House — but the timeline for doing it depends on how quickly the Senate passes the budget. Full Story
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After a spate of bullying related suicides in Texas schools, state lawmakers introduced more than 15 bills this session to address the issue. Today, the Senate approved one of them — SB 205 from Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. Full Story
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Harris County paid a forensic psychologist who was reprimanded earlier this month more than $300,000 to test defendants for intellectual disabilities from 2002 until 2008. Full Story
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A seemingly benign piece of legislation, up for debate in the House today, has exposed an unlikely rift among lawmakers. Full Story
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On the day he announced his intention to form a 2012 presidential exploratory committee, Texas congressman Ron Paul, R-Surfside, sparred with Stephen Colbert about the Fed, the debt ceiling and whether he and his sons are the "Libertarian Kennedys." Full Story
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State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst’s bill to further protect Texans’ private medical information looks stuck; it’s been three weeks since it passed out of committee, and it hasn’t yet been set for a House vote. Full Story
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If the House has its way, there will be 7.8 billion fewer state dollars headed to Texas public schools. Here's our searchable database built from state Rep. Scott Hochberg’s projections of how the funding cuts would hit 1,024 school districts across the state. Full Story
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With the Senate set to debate the state budget this week, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that several outside groups want to shape the conversation. Full Story
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