Nationwide, about 60,000 concussions occur on high school fields every year. The Tribune visited Wimberley High School to find out how it is preparing for new state laws to prevent head injuries in student athletes. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry calls Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and says people ought to control their own retirement money. But if the social safety net created in 1935 were eliminated what might take its place? In Galveston, a possible answer. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry has returned to Austin after two days of campaigning in Iowa, where he again touted his "four principles" for economic growth. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune looks at how the governor's plan stacks up against his record. Full Story
Aaronson on the rise in the state's unemployment rate, Aguilar on the push to mandate use of an electronic employment verification program, Galbraith on fears about the drought's impact on lake levels, Grissom on the latest in the Duane Buck case, Hamilton on the possible end of physics (academically speaking), Murphy updates our public employee pay app, Ramsey on David "Mitt" Dewhurst, Ramshaw on Rick Perry's campaign swing through Virginia and Iowa, Root on the deletion of gubernatorial emails and M. Smith on the teaching of safe sex where you'd least expect it: The best of our best content from Sept. 12-16, 2011. Full Story
The former Texas Tech football coach on his pending lawsuit against the university, how the state's doing at educating student athletes and what happens if the Big 12 falls apart. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry wraps up a job creation-touting, tough-talking, Mitt Romney-slamming cross-state tour here today, trading the debate drama of early this week for the small-town meet-and-greets where he’s at his best. Full Story
If the drought continues well into next spring and summer, the electric grid could lose "potentially several thousand megawatts," according to an ERCOT official. That's roughly equivalent to several coal plants. Full Story
Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders' charter school application was among eight approved by the Texas State Board of Education today. Full Story
Texas A&M University System scientists want cinephiles to know that the scenario in the movie Contagion is a very real one — and that if it did come to pass, they'd have a major role to play in solving the problem. Full Story
The shining Texas jobs miracle that Gov. Rick Perry is touting on the presidential campaign trail may be dimming, according to statistics released today by the Texas Workforce Commission. Texas lost 1,300 jobs in August, marking the first month of employment decline in Texas in almost a year. Full Story
The U.S. Supreme Court's surprising decision to halt the execution of a Texas death row inmate threatens to thrust Gov. Rick Perry's death penalty record into the center of the presidential race. Full Story
David Dewhurst is the Mitt Romney of the U.S. Senate race. He's the candidate who has climbed the ladder in an orderly way. If you go for this sort of thing — and the Republican party often does — it’s his turn. Full Story
Credit:
Illustration by Bob Daemmrich / Gage Skidmore / Todd Wiseman
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board wants to eliminate degree programs with low enrollment — like physics. Critics, including many professors, say that could do lasting harm to the state. Full Story
Abstinence still rules on a state policy level, but from Midland to Spring Branch, a quiet message is spreading through Texas schools: It's time to start teaching students about contraception. Full Story
Credit:
Illustration by Michael Stravato / Geoffrey McAllister
A handful of Texas House members who say they're leaving — either getting out or trying to move into other posts — top this week's roundup of campaign news. Full Story
General elections in Texas will be less competitive than ever under the redistricting maps approved by the Legislature earlier this year. The takeaway is simple: Texas has a strongly Republican map and the political threats to incumbents, if any, will come in primaries and not in general elections. Full Story
Lots of things affect election outcomes. Candidates. Money. Issues. Surprises. But some of the results are wired into district maps, through redistricting. Here's our charting of the political atmosphere — Republican or Democratic — in each of the House, Senate and congressional districts drawn by the Legislature this year. Full Story
At about 7:40 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the execution of Duane Edward Buck. His trial was one of several cases in which a psychologist told jurors that his race made him more dangerous. Full Story