The Evening Brief: Sept. 11, 2013

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Perry Takes Aim at Maryland in Latest Campaign: "Gov. Rick Perry is taking aim at Maryland and its business climate — his latest effort to lure out-of-state companies to Texas. In a radio advertisement, Perry slams Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat who is considering a presidential bid in 2016, for turning Maryland into a 'tax and fee state' with 'some of the highest taxes in America.'"

•    Prepping for National Role, Powers Talks Higher Ed Future: "At his annual 'State of the University' address on Wednesday, UT-Austin President Bill Powers talked about the future of higher education as he prepares to lead one of the most elite national higher education organizations."

•    Court: Inmate Can't Be Forcibly Medicated Ahead of Execution: "In a ruling issued Wednesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declared that Steven Staley, a mentally ill death row inmate, cannot be forcibly medicated for the purpose of making him competent for execution."

•    Guns Could Be an Issue in the Governor's Race: "In Texas, where licensed gun toters are allowed to bypass the metal detectors at the state Capitol and the sitting governor once shot a coyote while jogging, getting between Texans and their guns can be politically dangerous."

•    On Guadalupe River, Tubers Aren't Only Ones Facing Low Flows: "Many Texans gauge the health of the Guadalupe River by the speed of their tubing trip. Given the drought conditions plaguing most of the state, people come prepared to walk. On a broader scale, the shallow spots are indicative of the growing demand on the spring-fed water source."

Culled

•    Cruz critique: Obama "too hawkish and too dovish at the same time" (The Dallas Morning News): "Texas’ junior senator, Ted Cruz, was already on record opposing U.S. intervention in Syria. In a foreign policy speech Wednesday at the conservative Heritage Foundation, he asserted that Obama had gone astray by pursuing a military option in a situation that lacks a clear U.S. security interest. … And he leveled a scathing critique of Obama, calling the president 'too hawkish and too dovish at the same time.'"

•    Villarreal: Not the time for statewide run (San Antonio Express-News): "State Rep. Mike Villarreal said Wednesday he has decided against a statewide run for comptroller and will instead campaign for re-election in San Antonio’s District 123. Villarreal said he has been encouraged by Democrat activists and colleagues to run for Texas’ chief financial officer but that obligations to his family, in particular his children in second and fourth grade, will keep him on the statewide sidelines for now."

•    Ron Paul: U.S. triggered Sept. 11 (Politico): "Ron Paul posted a message on Facebook on Wednesday calling the September 11 terrorist attacks 'blowback for decades of US intervention in the Middle East.' 'We’re supposed to believe that the perpetrators of 9/11 hated us for our freedom and goodness,' Paul wrote on the 12th anniversary of the attacks. 'In fact, that crime was blowback for decades of US intervention in the Middle East. And the last thing we needed was the government’s response: more wars, a stepped-up police and surveillance state, and drones.'"