The Brief: Perry Flops In "Dancing With The Stars" Debut

The Big Conversation 

Former Gov. Rick Perry brought some Texas flair to the Season 23 premiere of "Dancing With The Stars," but his footwork brought few plaudits from the judges.

The show partnered Perry, who performed in an floral embroidered Western jacket, with professional dancer Emma Slater and the two cha cha'ed to "God Blessed Texas" by Little Texas. All four of the show's judges — Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Julianne Hough and Bruno Tonioli — gave the former governor a five out of 10 points, making Perry the lowest scoring contestant of the night. 

Top scoring teams included race car driver James Hinchcliffe and partner Sharna Burgess, and Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy. Both ended with a final score of 31 out of 40. And although Perry's low rankings may foreshadow his bowing out sooner rather than later, there are no couple eliminations for the show’s first week, which means Perry still has a shot at winning. 

As the Tribune's Abby Livingston reports, Perry called himself "the least-experienced dancer that’s going to be on this program." In a "Meet The Stars" video the show posted Monday, Perry revealed that he wants to win the show "for the men and women of our military." He continued, "my daughter is married to one of those, so it's every bit as much for her as it is for thousands of men and women who serve this country nobly."

Trib Must Reads

How Prairie View Essentially Got Paid $450,000 to Lose to Texas A&M, by Matthew Watkins —Prairie View lost 67-0 to Texas A&M University on Saturday, but the defeat helped pay for the school's athletic programs. What will those schools do if those payouts go away?

SMU Ties UT, Baylor Passes Texas A&M in 2017 U.S. News College Rankings, by Matthew Watkins — Rice University, SMU, Baylor University and Dallas Baptist University all climbed in the U.S. News and World Report college rankings this year. All of the state's top public universities fell. 

Publisher Defends Controversial Mexican-American Studies Textbook, by Kiah Collier and Nicole Cobler — The publisher of a proposed Mexican-American studies textbook that scholars, elected officials and Hispanic activists have decried as racist and inaccurate is defending the high school text ahead of a public hearing.

State Rep. Ron Reynolds: Sued, Convicted and Now Bankrupt, by Alana Rocha — Ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal settlements to former clients of his personal injury law firm, state Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The Day Ahead 

•     The House Defense & Veterans' Affairs Committee holds a joint hearing with the House Higher Education Committee to discuss the long-term viability of the Hazlewood Act during a morning meeting at the Capitol, in particular the legacy tuition exemption provision, other eligibility requirements and recommended changes to ensure that the program can remain solvent.

•     The Senate Committee on Education meets to evaluate digital learning opportunities in classrooms and examine existing barriers to schools' ability to provide a digital learning environment.

•    The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services meets to study the impact of the Section 1115 Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program Waiver.

•     The House select committee on State and Federal Power and Responsibility meets in a morning meeting in the Capitol to hear invited testimony on the influence of mandates attached to federal funding on state regulation and policy and the status of Texas statutes prohibiting or restricting investment in foreign nations.

Elsewhere

(Links below lead to outside websites; content might be behind paywall)

Abbott remembers Dallas shooting victims at annual ceremony for slain officers, The Dallas Morning News

Secretary of defense to meet with tech officials in Austin, Austin Business Journal

Texas officials vow to end limits put on special education, Houston Chronicle

Ted Cruz threatens spending deadlock to protect the Internet, CNET

McCaul advising Trump to use 'caution' with Putin, Washington Examiner

The POLITICO 50: #1 - Bernie Sanders & Ted Cruz, Politico

Judge sides with feds' call to halt Dallas firm ETP's pipeline construction, The Dallas Morning News 

San Antonio man admits bribing to get driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, San Antonio Express-News

Quote to Note

“She won’t drink water, and you try telling Hillary Clinton she has to drink water.”

— An inside source for the Clinton campaign on the Democratic presidential nominee's near-fainting spell at the Sept. 11 memorial ceremony

Today in TribTalk

End mass incarceration of refugees in Texas, by Denise Gilman — History will harshly judge mass incarceration of Central American refugees. Texans should not stand by as it takes place in our backyard.

Trib Events for the Calendar

•   San Antonio & the Legislature: The Election and Beyond on Sept. 14 at University of Texas at San Antonio – Downtown Campus

•   Meet the New Guys: A Conversation With Incoming Members of the Texas House on Sept. 15 at The Austin Club 

•   A Conversation with Pete Gallego, Candidate for Congressional District 23 on Sept. 22 at The Austin Club 

•   The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23-25 at the University of Texas at Austin

•   The Washington Post's Politics & Pints with Chris Cillizza: TTF Edition on Sept. 24 at Scholz Garten

•   TribFeast: A Dinner To Support Nonprofit Journalism on Sept. 24 at the University of Texas at Austin's Etter-Harbin Alumni Center

•   A Conversation with state Reps. Four Price and John Smithee on Oct. 4 at Amarillo College in Amarillo

•   The Texas Response To Zika on Oct. 18 at BCBSTX Headquarters in Richardson

•   A Conversation with state Reps. Andrew Murr and Jason Isaac on Nov. 14 at Schreiner University in Kerrville