Let the Counting Begin
Census Bureau questionnaires arrive at 8.4 million Texas homes this week. "Fill that sucker out," the bureau's regional director says, "so we don't have to come and knock on your door." Full Story
Census Bureau questionnaires arrive at 8.4 million Texas homes this week. "Fill that sucker out," the bureau's regional director says, "so we don't have to come and knock on your door." Full Story
Twenty years ago, Clayton Williams Jr. demonstrated the difference between someone trained in business and someone trained in politics. Talking to a small group of reporters about a looming budget shortfall and the hefty price tags on programs he wanted to start, he was asked what remedies he'd be willing to consider. Full Story
Thevenot on the non-stop wonder that is the State Board of Education and its latest efforts to set curriculum standards, E. Smith's post-election sit-down interview with Bill White at TribLive made some news and got the November pugilism started, Ramshaw on whether it makes sense for the state to call patients and remind them to take their pills, and on the state's botched attempt to save baby blood samples for medical research, Hamilton's interview with Steve Murdock on the state's demographic destiny, M. Smith on whooping cranes, fresh water, and an effort to use the endangered species act to protect them both, Grissom on potties, pickups, and other equipment purchased with federal homeland security money and Stiles' latest data and map on where that money went, Aguilar on the "voluntary fasting" protesting conditions and treatment at an immigrant detention facility, Kreighbaum on football, the new sport at UTSA, and Philpott on Rick Perry and Bill White retooling their appeals for the general election. The best of our best from March 8 to 12, 2010. Full Story
Lawyers for death row inmate Hank Skinner sent Gov. Rick Perry a letter yesterday asking him for a 30-day reprieve from Skinner's scheduled March 24 execution. The lawyers also asked Perry to order DNA testing on evidence that Skinner says could prove his innocence. Full Story
State Board of Education conservatives stand up for the sex-and-drugs Beat Generation, but still can't stomach the sex-and-drugs Hip-Hop generation. Full Story
The new rulings could result in a decrease in the number of lawsuits surrounding vaccines. Full Story
Texas border leaders on Friday unleashed a diatribe at the interim director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection for postponing a planned pay raise for federal agents and failing to beef up protection of the state’s border region. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of the State Board of Education. Full Story
Texas has spent tens of millions of dollars on “disease management” — phone calls and check-ins with Medicaid patients designed to control costly chronic illnesses and save money. The jury's still out on whether it worked, but the state's preparing to rebid the contract anyway. Full Story
KUT Radio's report on an attack on the Texas Guard's farming operation in Afghanistan — from which it was hard to recover. Full Story
At Thursday's State Board of Education meeting, as conservatives had their way with social studies standards, voting to limit the discussion of race and gender issues and to challenge the notion of separation of church and state, Democratic members were left to sulk and seethe — and walk out. Full Story
America never barred "the government from promoting or disfavoring any particular religion above all others," according to board conservatives. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
A group of elected officials and business leaders from the Texas-Mexico border today joined Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar in calls for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to deploy unmanned aerial surveillance drones to monitor the border. Full Story
A song for the State Board of Education: We've only just begun... Full Story
Farmer-soldiers from the Texas National Guard Agribusiness Development Team, working in Afghanistan, find out that what looks good in satellite imagery doesn’t always work out on the ground. Full Story
When State Board of Education members ventured into world history curriculum at Wednesday's meeting, they carried their modern-day political agendas with them. Full Story
That's what former state demographer Steve Murdock says about the dramatic population shifts happening throughout the state and the country — and why they matter. Full Story
Whooping cranes, the Endangered Species Act and property rights clash on the Texas Coast. Full Story