We asked three big thinkers in the Capitol community — Talmadge Heflin, Eva DeLuna Castro and Bill Hammond — to tell us what they'd do if they had the power to take on the budget shortfall themselves. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Threeway_Heflin_Castro_Hammond.jpg)
We must continue to fight to ensure that we implement cost-saving reforms that reflect Texas' commitment to prosperity and to economic growth. But our current budget shortfall isn't a time to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/010709_hammon_bill_2.jpg)
The causes may have been explained away, but the fallout from last week's rolling blackouts may just be heating up. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-ElecticSub-CR18.jpg)
With just 56 students, Marathon ISD is one of the state's smallest. But its fate is critical to the West Texas town's survival. And if what is happening here works, it could serve as a model for other towns looking to shield their way of life from the death knell of school closures. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5c6af3502eba5bd114ad3eeae4fe128c/.marathon1)
State Comptroller Susan Combs may test that question. She is considering a run for lieutenant governor in 2014. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2a967d6ddaa8b3999abd3d06d784dd4a/BD%20INC%20Susan%20Combs%202010)
For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether a Republican who supports abortion rights can survive a statewide primary, whether the sonogram bill on the governor's list of emergency items addresses a real or a political problem, whether it will pass and what other issues of interest to social conservatives might win approval from this Legislature this year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/inside_intelligence-logo_1.png){kind=logo}
The keepers of numbers over in the LBJ Building, north of the Capitol, have confirmed to lawmakers what they warned them about in 2006: The legislation that cut local school property taxes and revised the state's corporate franchise tax didn't balance, to the tune of $10 billion a biennium. Full Story
Texas has enough supplies of a key drug to carry out only two more executions. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is exploring its options, including what other states are doing. But the drug alternatives are limited and would most likely still leave Texas reliant on nations that oppose the death penalty. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/syringes0001.png)
Before prison officials administer the lethal cocktail of drugs used to carry out executions, the condemned may say their final piece. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice keeps a record of these last statements. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/LastWords.png)
The short answer is yes — and no. It's still around, and would work if it was plugged in. But it can't be used for executions in Texas anymore. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/OldSparky002.jpg)
The best of our best from January 31 to February 4. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribweek01312011.jpg)
No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Screen_shot_2011-02-04_at_2.41.06_PM.png)
A final ruling in the case of a Mexican reporter seeking asylum in the U.S. with his teenage son has been postponed until 2012 after his attorney was subpoenaed to appear in federal court in an unrelated case and asked for a rescheduling. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Emilio_BandW_2.jpg)
Your afternoon reading: abortion sonogram hearings set for next week; Anchia's plum Super Bowl seat; and a Texas congressman's own budget woes Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/CapitolDome.jpg)
There’s no universal definition but essentially, the term refers to the country’s top research-focused universities. While there are specific benchmarks to be considered part of that group, some aren't clear or rely purely on perception. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/103109_tieroneuniv001_jv.jpg)
The chief executive of the Texas electric grid operator discusses what caused the rolling blackouts across the state on Wednesday — and why he doesn't know if he lost power in his own home. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-ElecticSub-CR03.jpg)
State Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, won't be on the 50-yard line for Sunday's Super Bowl in Arlington. But some could argue he's got the next best seat: at the White House with Barack and Michelle Obama. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/AnchiaRafael.jpg)
Slashing funds for community-based mental health care will hurt taxpayers and degrade the quality of life for thousands of mentally ill Texans and their families, Harris County Jail officials told Texas budget writers today in written testimony for the Senate Finance Committee. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Overcrowded-Prisons.png)
Heat sounds good right about now, but not the kind the Gov. Rick Perry's taking. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f9ba9744b69347f5d2cef978537257c9/BD%20INC%20Perry%2006%202011)
The long-awaited Daily Show segment on alleged anti-Semitism in the 2011 Speaker's race was, predictably, funny. And that John Oliver: such a punim! Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/CM_Capture_2_2.png)