The Brief: June 16, 2010
As the dust settled Tuesday, details of the college football kerfuffle-that-wasn't became a little clearer. Full Story
As the dust settled Tuesday, details of the college football kerfuffle-that-wasn't became a little clearer. Full Story
Texas now has about 24.8 million residents, an increase of 3.9 million, or almost 20 percent, since 2000, and trails only California in the proportion of its residents who identify themselves as Hispanic. We're also the third-youngest state, with a median age of 33; only Utah and Alabama have younger populations. These and other fun facts can be discovered in a new database application that helps explain and visualize how the makeup of Texas counties has changed since the last U.S. Census. Full Story
The federal government could begin cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers, according to a copy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s new strategic plan obtained by The Texas Tribune. Full Story
The state GOP’s new chair talked to the Tribune on Tuesday about the party’s fiscal condition, redistricting, fundraising across partisan aisles, how to unify with the Tea Party and the status of his relationship with his dethroned predecessor, Cathie Adams. Full Story
The ongoing battle between the EPA and Texas got a little hotter today, and it could get even more intense as the TCEQ works on a plan to comply with stricter ozone regulations. Full Story
The Texas Border Coalition to U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa: "We merely suggest you become familiar with the facts next time, before shooting off your mouth.” Full Story
In a hearing before House budget-writers today, officials of Doctors Hospital at Renaissance conceded they'll move toward Medicaid managed care in the Rio Grande Valley, so long as it's done with lots of local input. Full Story
Now that the central question of tomorrow’s House Higher Ed Committee meeting on athletic conference realignments has been answered, Chairman Dan Branch says there's no need for the show to go on. Full Story
In our latest HuTube vlog post, we venture to a Team Perry press conference at Bill White's Austin headquarters. White's volunteers must have had some advance notice. They came armed with signs, chants — and a guy in a chicken suit — to shout over the governor's spokesman. Full Story
When Texas expanded its Medicaid managed care program in 2003 to cover more than urban centers, the Rio Grande Valley narrowly avoided being included. But as state leaders stare down a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, they say it’s unlikely the Valley will make it through another session without being roped in. Full Story
Texas officials have halted the placement of foster care children at Daystar and have assigned the Houston-area residential treatment center a state monitor following revelations of a staff-instigated “fight club” incident two years ago and a new incident that has come to light this past week: a possible sexual assault of a girl living at the facility. Full Story
Sounds and photos from the funeral of Sergio Adrían Hernández Güereca, 15, in Ciudad Juárez. Güereca was shot and killed on June 7 by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the banks of the Rio Grande near downtown El Paso. Full Story
The issue that nearly derailed the 2009 session could be back in 2011, according to the chairman of the House Elections Committee. Full Story
In the latest bout of the state's legal contretemps with the Environmental Protection Agency, Attorney General Greg Abbott announced today that Texas will challenge the federal agency's decision to disapprove its qualified facilities program. Full Story
Texas Republican convention-goers not only support Arizona-style immigration laws — some are proposing "laser beams" and "electric wire" to keep more immigrants from crossing the border illegally. Full Story
The Lone Star Project, a Democratic group, claims to have found Republican Stefani Carter's muse. Full Story
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has suspended all new placements of foster children at the Daystar Residential Treatment Center outside of Houston, following a Texas Tribune/Houston Chronicle investigation that revealed workers forced young girls to fight each other in return for snacks. Full Story
Chad Clanton, a Waco-born Democratic consultant and well-known protege of James Carville, has joined the Bill White gubernatorial campaign to "work on a variety of projects ... on multiple media channels," says White spokeswoman Katy Bacon. Full Story
The chair of the Texas Democratic Party on why he should keep his job, whether Matt Angle is really running things, why zero out of 29 statewide offices held by Democrats isn't his fault, why he's optimistic about 2010 and what he thinks of Barack Obama. Full Story
The ouster of Cathie Adams as the titular head of the Republican Party of Texas was the biggest news at its biennial convention this weekend. There was also open hostility toward Speaker Joe Straus, predictable fretting about a rift between moderates and conservatives and, of course, a laser-like focus on the state GOP's common enemy: Washington. Full Story