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Travis Swicegood was the first News Apps and Data Editor, where he worked from 2010 to 2014. He previously spent nearly a decade and a half in the technology industry with a focus on the web. Originally from El Paso, he has worked for startups targeting everything from electronic medical records to customer relationship management to social networks. He came to the Tribune after a year and a half of running his own consulting company that focused on helping not-for-profits and political activists use technology to expand their reach. Before joining the Tribune, he led the technology department as Director of Technology and spearheaded development efforts on the Tribune's Armstrong Project, a Knight Foundation-funded project to create an open source news platform.
We've updated our most popular data feature, the Government Employee Salaries database. With this update, we begin a new and better process that will help keep you abreast of the latest salary changes. Full Story
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Over the course of the 83rd legislative session, we produced more than 60 articles on ethics and transparency among the state's elected officials. We've turned the "Bidness as Usual" project into a free e-book. Full Story
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The second special session has begun — and so has lawmakers' bill-filing. Check out the legislation that's been filed so far, and track the bills as they progress through both chambers or die on the vine. Full Story
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Hundreds of bills that have been signed by both the House and the Senate are arriving at Gov. Rick Perry's office. Use our interactive to see which measures he has signed, which he has vetoed and which have become law without his signature. Full Story
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Texas Monthly's list of the best and worst legislators of the 83rd session doesn't come out until June 12, but why should Paul Burka and his colleagues have all the fun? Use this interactive between now and 6 p.m. Tuesday to select your own personal list. Full Story
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The deadline for bills to win approval from the House and the Senate passed earlier this week, resulting in the death of a lot of legislation. Most of what remains is to reconcile differences between versions of legislation passed by both chambers. Our updated bill apps — one for House bills and one for Senate legislation — detail the results. Full Story
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Another major House deadline has gone by, ending that chamber's consideration of major legislation filed by its own members. We've updated our House Bill tracker, showing which bills stalled in committee and which ones stalled in the full House. Full Story
Most of the legislation filed this session by members of the Texas House never made it out of committee. This new app tells you the number of bills filed, referred to committee and left, forever, in committee after the deadline passed. Full Story
With apologies to Charles Dickens, this was an election cycle marked by the worst of candidates and the best of candidates. This is our rendering — our timeline — of the progression from Gov. Rick Perry’s remarkably unsuccessful campaign for president to U.S. Sen.-elect Ted Cruz’s surprising political debut. Full Story
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Bill filing for the 83rd legislative session kicked off on Monday, and lawmakers filed more than 250 bills on the first day alone. The Tribune has retooled last session's bill tracker and put it to work, pulling in all the legislation that's been filed so far for 2013. Full Story
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