The Midday Brief: Oct. 19, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "After months of diversions — sideshow candidates, Hamlet acts and straw polls — Tuesday night’s sizzling Republican presidential showdown boiled the nomination fight down to its essentials: a deeply personal, ideological and smashmouth contest between two rivals with almost nothing in common." — Rick Perry vs. Mitt Romney: Now it’s Personal, Politico

• "As local and federal authorities continued to question five Moroccan men arrested at the Bexar County Courthouse, it remained unclear Wednesday whether the strange break-in was a prank or part of a terrorist plot." — Feds Investigating Break-in at County Courthouse, San Antonio Express-News

• "Texas Gov. Rick Perry is calling for a flat tax. Perry told the Western Republican Leadership Conference on Wednesday that he'll unveil the tax as part of his broad plan to revive the economy and create jobs. He says he plans to outline his proposal in an economic speech next week." — Rick Perry to call for flat tax next week in economic speech, Washington Post

• "The Environmental Protection Agency's recent weakening of an upcoming rule reducing emissions from power plants provides some relief for Texas utilities but still doesn't guarantee the prevention of electricity blackouts, nearly all Texas members of Congress alleged today." — Texas delegation says still not satisfied after EPA change to power plant rule, Houston Chronicle

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed a lawsuit in federal district court today on behalf of three women who were allegedly sexually assaulted at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's T. Don Hutto Family Residential Center in Taylor, and several others who experienced similar trauma." — Texas ACLU Files Lawsuit Against ICE