State Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Southlake, has won and won easily since wresting the district from a GOP incumbent in a 1998 runoff. But this year is different. She'll face three opponents and voters who might be in an anti-incumbent mood. Full Story
Thevenot on the abysmally low community college graduation rate and higher ed's coming budgetary winter. Ramshaw on Terri Hodge's guilty plea and hasty exit. Grissom on the Department of Public Safety's use of dreaded federal stimulus funds to plug a hole in the state's border security budget. Hu on the first of the intraparty face-offs in our Primary Color series. Ramsey and Stiles on the congressional candidates with the most money on hand. Ramsey on whether Farouk Shami's accent and name are an obstacle to his election. Aguilar on the fever-tick epidemic overwhelming South Texas. Rapoport on TxDOT's hard road and the State Board of Education's lack of finance expertise. Philpott on how Barack Obama's budget will impact Texas. M. Smith on whether lawyers giving to judges is a good thing. Hamilton on the latest transportation innovations on the drawing board. The best of our best from February 1 to 5, 2010. Full Story
Transportation Commissioner Bill Meadows talks about what the Texas Department of Transportation needs to do to repair relations with the State Legislature. Full Story
Lawmakers are still perturbed at TxDOT, but the state's transportation agency is trying to do better. The first step, says one commissioner: Figure out how to meet the transportation needs of Texas citizens — which it's not doing. Full Story
Feeling blue over paltry federal funding for high-speed rail? Forget about it. Two Austin visionaries are already looking ahead to the next transportation innovations. Full Story
Is Texas building a highway to nowhere? No. But Texas legislators like their pork barrel transportation spending just as much as their Alaskan counterparts, apparently. Full Story
An analysis of the claims in Team Kay's latest television ad includes a true claim and a distortion, according to Dallas television station WFAA-TV. Full Story
Texas has the worst rates of cargo and heavy equipment theft in the country. Yet while criminals are raking in billions of dollars each year, the state has never had an organized system to address the problem. Full Story
Governor Rick Perry admits the state needs more money to pay for new roads. But he doesn't agree with the Texas Senate Transportation Committee Chairman on how to pay for them. Full Story