TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

The numbers prove it: State government is shrinking. Many attribute the drop in state jobs to the budget cuts lawmakers passed last legislative session. But agencies had been preparing for the deficit by dropping employees for more than a year.

Thanks to Gov. Rick Perry, Karla Reséndiz was able to attend UT-Austin and pay in-state tuition rates — even though she is not a legal resident of Texas. Reséndiz — and by extension Perry — is now the focus of a harsh debate over illegal immigration.

For Gov. Rick Perry, who has built a political career running against Washington, no agency more symbolizes the meddlesome and economy-choking evils of the federal government than the Environmental Protection Agency.

In a startling development, Travis County authorities are investigating whether an unsolved 1988 killing of an Austin woman is related to the 1986 murder of Christine Morton, for which her husband, Michael Morton, is serving life in prison.

Athletic conference instability has easily been the most significant struggle of Ken Starr's first year as Baylor University president. Otherwise, he has thrived beyond expectations — something that even his critics happily concede.

Texas prison inmates can’t vote, so most counties ignore them. But they can change the value of your votes for Congress and the state Legislature.

Gov. Rick Perry vehemently opposes forcing Americans to carry health insurance — yet his home state leads the nation in the size of its uninsured population and ranks near the bottom on almost every measure of coverage.

Gov. Rick Perry’s meteoric rise to the top of the Republican field last month led many analysts to conclude that the Texas governor would waltz to his party’s presidential nomination. It’s looking more like a grind dance now.

Texas' latest effort to address childhood obesity — a new law allowing a deeper study of student fitness data — could be blunted by the exemption lawmakers gave school districts from having to collect and report the data on a significant number of students.