The Brief: January 18, 2010
Debra Medina has a dream — and it’s not just to bring a gun into a grocery store. Full Story
Debra Medina has a dream — and it’s not just to bring a gun into a grocery store. Full Story
It costs an average of 63 percent more to attend a four-year state school today than it did in 2003 — and that's still not enough to keep pace with bulging university budgets. Some policy makers see the higher education business model on the cusp of collapse. Full Story
Search more than $35 million in campaign donations and loans collected by the top candidates in the governor's race. You can also explore how they spent the money. Full Story
In Texas, they earn 35 percent less than their Anglo counterparts — a disparity that's bigger here than elsewhere. Is it because of education, age, discrimination, or some combination of the above? Full Story
In response to shrinking budgets, there's a risk that lawmakers might feel compelled to scale back funding for treatment and diversion programming. Instead, it's time for the state to seriously consider closing one or more of the 112 prison units it currently operates. Full Story
The next senator from SD-22 could be the incumbent, Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, Republican challenger Darren Yancy, or a Republican or Democrat whose name is not on the ballot. Full Story
A big week, with the State Board of Education working on social studies textbooks — Thevenot was all over that this week, starting with a story that got national attention — and then the first debate between the GOP gubernatorial candidates, a story we tag-teamed with poll analysis, Hu's and Ramsey's live-blogging, Philpott's audio, and video. Our first TribLive event coaxed some news out of House Speaker Joe Straus, and E. Smith also interviewed Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson on beaches, politics, and, um, politics. We featured M. Smith on athletes in politics, Aguilar on the pack of Republicans chasing U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, Rapoport on women in campaigns, and Hamilton on candidates outside the spotlight. The best of our best from January 11 to January 15, 2010. Full Story
On day three of the State Board of Education's social studies curriculum hearings, targets of the conservatives' ire included Marcus Garvey, Clarence Darrow, and Ted Kennedy. Full Story
For the disgruntled ultraconservative, nullification may be the new secession. But as one prominent legal scholar puts it, “If you believe in nullification, you don’t believe in the constitution.” Full Story
No surprise here, but still: State leaders want state agencies to cut five percent from their current budgets "due to the uncertainty of the state's short-term economic future, as well as potentially substantial long-term costs associated with the passage of federal legislation currently being debated in Washington, D.C." Full Story
It’s the end of the week. Productivity is down and the need for distraction is up. Luckily, a psychology professor has a tool that could easily fill a political junkie's afternoon. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
In the midst of the social studies curriculum revisions, the SBOE member and former chair kicks off a debate about, of all things, hip-hop. Full Story
Kay Bailey Hutchison's latest campaign ad takes to the air today. They are calling it "Cha-Ching." Full Story
Today the campaigns file reports itemizing their donations and expenditures. Full Story
Note to self: don't bring gun to the grocery store. Even if you wish you could. Full Story
Meet the Democratic candidates for governor that no one's talking about. Full Story
In the first debate of this political season, Rick Perry didn't fall on his face, and Kay Bailey Hutchison didn't either. For a politician with a reputation to protect, that's the description of a win. The third candidate in the race, Debra Medina, held her own. Full Story
State Board of Education members played mostly nice with one another Thursday, as they added and subtracted historical figures to the social studies curriculum. In: the first Hispanic Texas Supreme Court justice, Tejanos who died at the Alamo, and W.E.B. Du Bois. Out: "Ma" Ferguson, Henry Cisneros, and Dolores Huerta. Full Story
Go behind-the-scenes at the first GOP gubernatorial debate. Full Story