The Texas Departments of Family and Protective Services and State Health Services are launching a "Room to Breathe" campaign to educate parents about the dangers of co-sleeping, a controversial subject that they appear to be approaching with caution. Full Story
Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Farouk Shami is counting on your votes to put him in office, but records show his own voting history is inconsistent. There's no evidence that he's ever voted in a Democratic primary — but he did vote in the Republican primary in 2000. Full Story
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is in the governor's race, if you were still on pins and needles about that. She starts with promises of property tax reform, a leadership shake-up at the Texas Department of Transportation, and a list of other problems she'd like to address. Full Story
Wallace Jefferson, the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, on what race has to do with politics, why he's a member of the GOP, and whether the party has been sufficiently hospitable to African Americans. Full Story
Pending food-stamp applications have soared in Texas — from about 38,000 a year ago to more than 65,000 in October. Two-thirds of those people had waited longer than the federally mandated 30 days, and nearly half had waited more than 60 days. Full Story
After Houston mayor Bill White joined the race for governor late last week, one of his first stops was Austin, a Democratic stronghold that made for a nice, safe place to start his campaign. Full Story
Candidates from both sides of the spectrum are self-recruited and responsible for their own campaigns. So what's the value of a relationship with the state's political parties? Full Story
If you're checking off the boxes for gubernatorial candidates, Thursday belonged to Gov. Rick Perry, who filed for reelection before noon on the first day he was allowed to do so. Full Story
It was a political week, with a full-court press from our staff on Bill White's switch to the governor's race and all of the fallout; the moves during the first week of filing for political races; Philpott's look at Republicans challenging Republicans; Hu's latest in the popular Stump Interrupted series; Ramshaw on emergency rooms, family doctors, and child protection; Stiles and Grissom mapping payday lending locations juxtaposed with family income data; Rapoport on the state budget and education; Thevenot on KBH's plans for schools; and Hamilton on the power (or not) of political endorsements. The best of the best from November 28 to December 4, 2009. Full Story
Texas Democrats aren't through with the changes on the statewide ticket. Take a look at this teaser from gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, issued after Hank Gilbert exited the governor's race, set his heart on being agriculture commissioner, and endorsed Farouk Shami. Full Story
Lobbyists from across the Republican party come out to support one of their own for State Board of Education, forsaking former chair Don McLeroy. Full Story