House Gives Early OK to TxDOT Sunset Bill
Consider it a do-over. The House today tentatively approved the Texas Department of Transportation Sunset bill, the measure that last year sent lawmakers into a surprise special session. Full Story
Brandi Grissom worked at the Tribune from its launch in 2009 until 2014, rising to the rank of managing editor. In addition to editing duties, Grissom led the Tribune's coverage of criminal justice issues. During her tenure at the Tribune, she was chosen as a 2012 City University of New York Center on Media, Crime and Justice/H.F. Guggenheim Journalism Fellow and was a fellow at the 2012 Journalist Law School at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Grissom, along with Tribune multimedia producer Justin Dehn, received a 2012 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting for work on the case of Megan Winfrey, who was acquitted of murder in February 2013 after the Trib’s coverage brought statewide attention the case. Grissom joined the Tribune after four years at the El Paso Times, where she acted as a one-woman Capitol bureau. Grissom won the Associated Press Managing Editors First-Place Award in 2007 for using the Freedom of Information Act to report stories on a variety of government programs and entities, and the ACLU of Texas named her legislative reporter of the year in 2007 for her immigration reporting. She previously served as managing editor at The Daily Texan and has worked for the Alliance Times-Herald, the Taylor Daily Press, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and The Associated Press. A native of Alliance, Neb., she has a degree in history from the University of Texas.
Consider it a do-over. The House today tentatively approved the Texas Department of Transportation Sunset bill, the measure that last year sent lawmakers into a surprise special session. Full Story
Texas youths who get crossways with the law could soon find themselves under the supervision of a new state juvenile justice agency whose main mission is to keep young offenders close to home and quickly headed in a more positive direction. Full Story
Dog breeders would be regulated for the first time in Texas under a bill the House tentatively approved today. Full Story
Harris County paid a forensic psychologist who was reprimanded earlier this month more than $300,000 to test defendants for intellectual disabilities from 2002 until 2008. Full Story
A psychologist who examined 14 inmates now on Texas’ death row — and two others who were subsequently executed — and found them intellectually competent enough to face the death penalty has agreed never to perform such evaluations again. Full Story
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004, convicted of igniting the 1991 blaze that destroyed his home and killed his three young daughters. Click here for a timeline of the major events in the Willingham saga. Full Story
The so-called puppy mill bill that has dog breeders and animal rights groups in Texas squared off in a war of words, HB 1451 by state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, will be up for a vote on the House floor tomorrow. Full Story
State jail officials would get a clearer picture of potential problems in county lockups under a bill a Senate panel considered on Tuesday that would require counties to report the monthly turnover rate among jailers. Full Story
For the first time in decades, first-time drunken-driving offenders could get deferred adjudication under a bill the Senate Criminal Justice Committee considered Tuesday. Full Story
Brandon Darby has transformed himself from liberal social justice organizer and radical to much-maligned FBI informant to now right-of-center conservative hero — of a sort. Full Story