TribYear: (Some of) Our Best Stories of 2011

In the spirit of our regular offerings in TribWeek and TribMonth, we present TribYear: 10 of our best stories from 2011.

The Texas Tribune covered its first legislative session in 2011 and its first presidential campaign. A Republican supermajority that took office after the 2010 elections controlled the session. The leading topic of the six-month lawmaking marathon was the budget, followed by redistricting and a host of issues that grew out of the 2010 elections and took root as legislation. Education — both the public and higher varieties — was an important story line in 2011, as were criminal justice issues, health care, immigration and, as always, politics and general government. Herewith, a sampling of some of our best work of the year:

• The governor who would be president, detailed in our PerryPedia.

• Why it's so hard to sue over emergency room mistakes.

• Thousands of untested rape kits that are gathering dust on property storage room shelves. 

• Whether a small town would survive without a school district.

• The fight over higher education accountability (see, for instance, here, here, here, here, here and here).

• Infographics on the Rainy Day Fund and the budgeting process.

• An interactive app that lets you balance the Texas budget.

• Recapping 20 weeks at the Capitol in which the budget held sway.

• Thirty-one ways the Legislature's work changed Texas on September 1.

• The case of Michael Morton, wrongly convicted of the 1986 murder of his wife.