In a courtroom Monday, a Galveston County judge will decide whether to release details of millions of dollars in fees earned by attorneys in the largest class-action settlement paid out by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. Full Story
Harmony Public Schools is the largest and fastest-growing charter school network in Texas, with eight new schools open this year and a total of 33 schools statewide serving about 16,500 students. Founded by Turkish academics, Harmony boasts small classes, a worldly faculty with advanced degrees and outstanding TAKS scores — which is why, perhaps, it's one of just three charter operators given permission by the Texas Education Agency to open new schools without going through the usual bureaucratic channels. Full Story
As part of an occasional series looking into how shortfall-inspired budget cuts could affect different state agencies heading into the 2011 legislative session, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on the likely impact on the state's criminal justice system. Full Story
You're looking at a strong election year if your downgraded forecasts have you picking up four to seven seats in the Texas House. Republican prognosticators are getting over some of their Labor Day exuberance (the predictions then, from the mouths of people who are usually sober about these things, was for a dozen-seat pickup). And they're learning that some of their candidates aren't perfect, a set of revelations that befalls everyone in politics around this time of the election cycle. Full Story
In lieu of a face-to-face debate, Rick Perry and Bill White are separately sitting down with the press between now and Election Day. This morning, WFAA-TV in Dallas aired back-to-back interviews with Perry and White discussing immigration, insurance and the coming budget crisis. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, Bill White, 46 percent to 39 percent in the latest poll commissioned by the state's five largest newspapers. Full Story
The latest ad by U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, features veterans speaking out against what he alleges is Republican Bill Flores' plan to privatize their health care system. Full Story
Aguilar on Mexican journalists in grave danger, Galbraith on the continuing saga of Texas vs. the EPA, Ramshaw on whether a broken hospital bed constitutes medical malpractice, M. Smith on the latest delay in the Cameron Todd Willingham case, Hamilton interviews a Sarah Palin-approved GOP candidate for Congress, Stiles goes all interactive in chronicling the massive increase in legislative filings in the last 20 years, Grissom talks about the criminalization of mental illness with an author who knows the subject first-hand, Philpott on closing the budget gap without federal stimulus money, Ramsey on everyone ignoring down-ballot candidates, Hu on the mysterious lack of Rick Perry yard signs and yours truly sits down with the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor: The best of our best from September 20 to 24, 2010. Full Story
For our latest HuTube post, we picked out memorable testimony from Friday morning's five-hour State Board of Education debate. SBOE members ultimately approved a resolution instructing publishers to limit a perceived "pro-Islamic, anti-Christian bias" in Texas textbooks. Full Story
After a spring filled with bitter culture wars over textbooks, the Texas State Board of Education reopened the fight today with — what else? — a fight over alleged "pro-Islamic/anti-Christian" bias in Texas textbooks. Full Story
Despite the prospect of a $21 billion budget shortfall, the governor, the lieutenant governor and several state lawmakers have insisted that the upcoming legislative session will be a "no-tax-increase session." But as Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, small businesses in Texas could still end up paying more taxes. Full Story
"It is impossible to carry out our role in these conditions," read the editorial this week in El Diario de Juárez. "Tell us, therefore, what is expected of us as a medium." The paper was directly addressing Mexican drug traffickers who assassinated its young photographer Luis Carlos Santiago in broad daylight, but the whole world took notice — and asked if the Mexican media was finally waving the white flag before the cartels and gangs now warring for control of the bloodied country. Diario editor Pedro Torres explains that the intent was simply "to call attention to what is going on." Full Story
For the 13th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor on running for office for the first time in a tough year, how she'd deal with the budget shortfall, whether she'd mess with the Senate's two-thirds rule and what's wrong with the Texas Enterprise Fund. Full Story
The 2006 Democratic nominee for governor talks about suing Rick Perry and the Republican Governors Assocation over illegal contributions and pocketing a settlement and judgement of more than $2.4 million. Full Story
If Gov. Rick Perry's goal in speaking at the National Conference of Editorial Writers luncheon in Dallas was to win the group over, then they say he "utterly failed." Full Story