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  • TribBlog: SBOE's Last Laugh

    By Brian Thevenot

    You know that prayer that before today's State Board of Education meeting, which some found so inappropriate? It was read by arch-conservative Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond — but not written by her. In a gag on her detractors, she lifted the text from U.S. Supreme Court Justice and liberal icon Earl Warren. Full Story 

    Cynthia Dunbar and Don McLeroy
    Credit: Jacqueline Mermea

  • TribBlog: Border Hostages

    By Julián Aguilar

    U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is pushing hard for the FAA to approve a second aerial drone to surveil the Texas-Mexico border — holding an Obama nominee hostage until Texas gets its way. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribBlog: Praying for Church and State [Updated]

    By Brian Thevenot

    In a morning prayer to open the State Board of Education meeting, social conservative member Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, mixed worship with a constitutional argument against the separation of church and state — previewing the politically charged debate to come later today, as conservatives tackle their last big agenda item before approving the state social studies standards. Full Story 

    Former State Board of Education members Don McLeroy and Cynthia Dunbar at a meeting in March 2010.
    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • Diagnosis: Turf War

    By Emily Ramshaw

    In Texas, nurse practitioners’ livelihoods are tied to physicians: By law, they can’t treat patients without a doctor’s permission. That means if they want to open their own practice, they must petition, and pay, a doctor to grant them “prescriptive authority” — to essentially keep an eye on their work and, in some cases, to be held liable for it. Doctors say this is as it should be. Nurse practitioners and their allies say doctors don't want the competition and charge them enough to run them out of business. “It borders on an immoral situation,” says state Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center. Full Story 

    Family nurse practitioner Jean Gisler at her office in Victoria, Texas.
    Credit: Marjorie Cotera

  • Hussein in the Membrane

    By Brian Thevenot

    A member of the State Board of Education's internationally notorious conservative wing trotted out Barack Obama's middle name late in a marathon meeting Thursday, a fitting end to a debate over social studies curriculum standards that was marked by irritable outbursts and inane dialogue. Members fought over slavery, Jefferson Davis, Joseph McCarthy — even over when they could finally adjourn. Full Story 

    An observer holds a protest sign during testimony at the State Board of Education (SBOE) textbook hearings on Wednesday, May 19, 2010.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Border Bickering

    By Julián Aguilar

    Five members of the U.S. House are lashing out at Gov. Rick Perry for what they say is his refusal to allocate more of the federal funding that moves through his office to the border. Perry claims his hands are tied and insists the congressmen need to check their math. While the back and forth continues, residents of the border fear for their lives. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich, Caleb Miller

  • Separation Anxiety

    By Brian Thevenot

    At a public hearing today, the State Board of Education's social conservative bloc is expected to launch attacks on the church-state “wall” as part of hundreds of changes to the social studies curriculum standards, which could provide the outline for tests and textbooks years into the future. The board expects to take a final vote on the entire curriculum on Friday. Full Story 

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    Credit: Marjorie Cotera

  • Obama for ... Texas?!?

    By Reeve Hamilton

    Which part of "this is a red state" doesn't Luke Hayes understand? Undaunted and optimistic, the 26-year-old state director of Organizing for America, the forward operating base for the president's re-election bid, sees blue in our future — perhaps as soon as 2012. Full Story 

    Luke Hayes
    Credit: Jacqueline Mermea

  • TribBlog: Room at the Top, and Then Some

    By Ross Ramsey

    Jan Newton — who chairs the board of directors at the state's electric utility grid operator — is stepping down from that post, leaving the agency with interim officeholders and holes in key positions at the top of its organization chart. Full Story 

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    Credit: ERCOT