Cartels Complicate Tick Eradication Program
An unexpected casualty of the drug-cartel-fueled lawlessness in Mexico: the cattle industry. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/20110412__cbm0960.jpg)
-
![Federal USDA workers inspect Mexican cattle for fever ticks before admitting them into the country. If a single tick is found, the entire herd must be quarantined and sent back to the rancher.]()
Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller -
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Hamilton on Victoria's efforts to divorce the University of Houston, Ramshaw on a disagreement between right-to-life groups over laws governing when life ends, E. Smith's TribLive interview with Sen. Kel Seliger and Rep. Burt Solomons on redistricting, Aguilar's interview with the mayor of Juárez, Tan on the continuing hunt for money to buy down budget cuts, Grissom on a psychologist who found more than a dozen inmates mentally competent to face the death penalty, Stiles and yours truly on the House redistricting maps and Galbraith on cutting or killing a tax break for high-cost natural gas producers: The best of our best content from April 11 to 15, 2011. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribweek_0415_2011.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Updated: SBOE Members: Why Not Use the Permanent School Fund?
Nine SBOE members say there's a potential $2 billion for public schools in the state's Permanent School Fund — but they need a constitutional amendment to get it. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/bob_craig.jpg)
![State Board of Education member Bob Craig, R-Lubbock, at the board's hearing Sept. 24, 2010.]()
Credit: Elise Hu -
Texas House Redistricting Maps Debated
There are 101 Republicans in the Texas House. But according to the map released by Redistricting Committee Chair Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, not all of them will get re-elected. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/_KCA1114.jpg)
![State Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, during House Committee of State Affairs on March 14th, 2011]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Board Approves Report on Willingham
Members of a state forensic board today accepted an amended version of a report on convicted arsonist Cameron Todd Willingham's case, but won't rule on professional negligence until the attorney general says whether they have jurisdiction to do so. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/_KCA6390.jpg)
![Presiding Officer of the Texas Forensic Science Commission John Bradley during a commission meeting April 14th, 2011]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
The Midday Brief: April 15, 2011
Your afternoon reading: Faster speeds on the highway; more authority for Susan Combs; EPA cuts in Texas Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/highway-texas-hillcountry.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
EPA Budget Cuts Will Affect Texas Environmental Programs
Texas faces a hefty reduction in federal funding for drinking water and sewer projects as a result of a recent budget cut to the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/watertreatment.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
California, Texas and the Corporate Tax Burden
One reason companies move from California to Texas is the Golden State's higher tax burden. But are taxes really lower here than there? Depends on how you look at it. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Texplainer: How Will High Gas Prices Affect the Budget?
With gasoline costing $1 more than a year ago, budget planners can add fuel expenditures to their list of worries. However, it's also true that oil companies will also pay more in taxes to the state as they beef up their drilling operations. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/GasTax_2.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Flickr user, colorblindPICASO -
The Brief: Top Texas News for April 15, 2011
A state commission wouldn't rule Thursday on what's become one of the highest-profile death penalty cases in the nation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib_ForensicScience_BD_1.jpg)
![Texas Forensic Science Commission meeting April 14th, 2011]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Psychologist Reprimanded in Death Penalty Cases
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/DeathRow-1-fix.jpg)
![Dr. George Denkowski conducted psychological exams for more than a dozen current death row inmates. 1) Anthony Pierce 2) Virgilio Maldonado 3) Calvin Hunter 4) John Matamoros 5) Derrick Charles 6) Kim Ly Lim 7) Coy Wesbrook 8) Joel Escobedo 9) Jamie McCoskey 10) Warren Rivers 11) Tomas Gallo 12) Steven Butler 13) Alfred Brown]()
Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
At Nursing Homes, Fears of a Budget "Armageddon"
The Texas Legislature is faced with a budget challenge that pits the Republican majority’s desire to cut government spending against a vulnerable target: the frail and the elderly covered by Medicaid and housed in nursing homes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/MEDICAID_CEDARVIEW.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman/The Texas Tribune -
In Politics, Size Doesn't Always Matter
Redistricting can change the odds in legislative and congressional races, but in statewide races, it's all about turnout. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Redistricting_Map_Tweasers.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Still No Decision on Question of Negligence in Willingham Case
After releasing a draft report on the case of convicted arsonist Cameron Todd Willingham, state forensic board members refused again today to rule on whether investigators in the case were professionally negligent in deciding the fire that killed Willingham's three daughters was intentionally ignited. Full Story
![Presiding Officer of the Texas Forensic Science Commission John Bradley during a commission meeting April 14th, 2011]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Tier-One Prize Money Tentatively Passes House
For those betting on the horserace to be the next state's next public national research — or tier-one — university, the winners are about to be crowned. Today, the House tentatively passed House Bill 1000, which creates a mechanism to claim the prize money. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/IMG_0315.JPG)
![State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, explains HB 1000.]()
Credit: Reeve Hamilton -
Doctors, Chiropractors Square Off Over Bill
After a fierce fight, the state’s leading physician groups won a change in legislation backed predominantly by Texas chiropractors that could have prevented one health care licensing agency from challenging the ruling of another in court. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Chiro.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Recommendations, But No Ruling, Issued in Willingham Case
The Texas Forensic Science Commission has released its draft report on the Cameron Todd Willingham case without ruling on the central question before it — whether fire investigators were negligent or committed professional misconduct. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/110709_bradley_001_jv.png)
![John Bradley, left, is the new chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission. Cameron Todd Willingham, right, was executed for setting a house fire that killed his three daughters.]()
Credit: Jacob Villanueva -
Juvenile Justice Agencies Come Closer to Merger
Hours after the state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would merge the state's two juvenile criminal justice agencies, a House committee passed a similar bill. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TYC-TJPC-Merger_split.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for April 14, 2011
Your afternoon reading: Senate approves teen "sexting" ban; puppy mill bill derailed; map would add five Latino seats Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Capsized4.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
House Puppy Mill Bill Hits a Snag
A bill that would regulate so-called puppy mills, and has dog breeders and animal rights groups at each other's throats, got derailed from the fast-track to passage in the Texas House today. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/puppy_sleepy.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f47b1c2ff495ca71f2a400ce7f2da39f/BD%20INC%20Three%20Leaders%2001%202011)