“I tend not to hold back,” said state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, at a Wednesday morning TribLive event. True to her word, she went on to denounce what she referred to as the “liberal, progressive, godless way.” Full Story
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Fighting to keep his seat from Republican challenger Bill Flores, incumbent U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, went on the air Wednesday with a new television ad highlighting his support for veterans. Full Story
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Video footage from a Tuesday press conference at which the "good ol' fightin' Texas Aggie" explains why he won't debate that "Harvard boy." Courtesy of our news partners of WFAA-TV in Dallas. Full Story
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The great debate debate, like all good (and great) things, must come to an end. Full Story
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With or without the controversial federal education funding that would come with Texas-specific strings attached, many of the state's school districts are preparing for tough budgetary times ahead — and they're getting creative about potential solutions. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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Given a choice between spending cuts and revenue increases to balance the state budget, Texans lean solidly toward cuts, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Seven in 10 oppose any new taxes to address what could be a $21 billion shortfall. Full Story
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Despite the violence-fueled cancellation of bicentennial festivities in other major border towns, Nuevo Laredo plans to forge ahead with its celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Full Story
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Frank and Chila Covington could hardly be mistaken for cruel. For four decades, they showered their daughter, Ceci, who has Down syndrome, with love, affection and opportunity. But when they argued with a group home provider who insisted that Ceci needed psychotropic medication, their world turned upside down. In the time it took for the provider to accuse the Covingtons of “cruelty,” a Tarrant County judge called a secret hearing and removed their guardianship, telling them they could no longer communicate with their own child. And he had every legal right to do so. Full Story
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Two state senators told the Texas Forensic Science Commission today that its investigation of the arson case that led to the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham could be damaging public trust in the criminal justice system instead of bolstering it. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, says his failure to report millions in stock transactions on financial disclosure reports from 2008 and 2009 resulted from a clerical error made by his accountant. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading. Full Story
For the first time in the school’s history, the freshman class at the University of Texas has more minority students than white students. Full Story
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A federal magistrate says the medical malpractice caps Texas lawmakers instituted in 2003 should withstand a constitutional challenge. Full Story
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Wednesday is the Gov. Rick Perry-issued deadline in a long-running standoff over Bill White's tax returns. Perry has said he won't debate White unless the Democrat releases tax returns from the mid-1990s by Sept. 15. White explains in a news conference Tuesday why he won't release the returns. If the standoff continues, this will be first time in 20 years that candidates for Texas governor haven't met in a televised debate. Full Story
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Has Texas moved to the right of itself? Full Story
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Was it a broken process or a breakdown in leadership that kept bad doctors from getting removed from the state workers' compensation system? Lawmakers sought to answer that question on Monday but left a House hearing with no clear understanding of why hundreds of potential enforcement actions stalled or disappeared entirely over the last half-decade. Full Story
Two years after Hurricane Ike’s surge crossed Galveston like a speed bump on its way to Houston, planners and academics are staring down multibillion-dollar public policy dilemmas. To describe Ike as a “wake-up call” understates and trivializes the matter. Like other coastal areas around the nation and around the world, the Houston-Galveston region is only now grappling with complex and costly questions of how to protect sprawling seaside development from the combination of subsidence and an expected sea-level rise from global warming. Full Story
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In this clip from Monday's testimony, Commissioner Rod Bordelon of the state Division of Workers' Compensation explains why he dismissed several cases against doctors that a physician review panel had already sent to enforcement. Under questioning, he admits he looked into the process and subsequently shut it down after a call from state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. Full Story
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Nearly half of all Texans would repeal the constitutional promise of citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil, and nearly two-thirds would favor Arizona-style laws allowing the police to ask about the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
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In a new feature from our friends at Houston's KTRK-TV, the gubernatorial candidates submit two-minute responses to questions from left field. Full Story