The latest state agencies news from The Texas Tribune.
State Rep. Larry Taylor, at a legislative hearing Thursday concerning the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, used the slur “Jew them down” when making the point that it needs to pay claims on time. He has since apologized. Full Story
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Right now, the Texas governor can grant pardons only to convicted felons, but as Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, a constitutional amendment up for vote this year could give people convicted of more minor crimes the chance to ask for reprieves. Full Story
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A Gray County District Court today denied DNA testing that death row inmate Hank Skinner has been seeking for a decade. Skinner's lawyers plan to appeal the decision. His execution is scheduled for Wednesday. Full Story
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Environmental groups are fighting a proposal that would grant U.S. Border Patrol greater authority to operate in public parks and on environmentally protected land, saying it would circumvent regulations designed to protect natural resources. Full Story
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More than one in five Texas voters say most of the people they know would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate even if they agreed with him or her on the issues, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
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The Texas Youth Commission terminated its contract Friday with a psychologist who testified repeatedly in death penalty cases that Hispanic and black men were more likely to be dangerous in the future. Full Story
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Former Williamson County district attorney Ken Anderson this morning entered a closed courthouse room where he faces Michael Morton and an inquiry into how prosecutors secured a wrongful murder conviction against Morton 25 years ago. Full Story
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Proposition 6 on the Texas constitutional ballot would allow the land commissioner to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to public education. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that the measure has seen little opposition. Full Story
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The momentous and long-awaited move was welcomed by the family of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was convicted of killing his three daughters in a 1991 arson fire. He was executed in 2004, and scientists have since discredited the science that was used to cement his arson conviction. Full Story
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Every time a student drops out of public school, taxpayers save money. That’s one fewer student, at an annual savings of more than $11,000 per year from state and local sources. Full Story
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The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied a request from former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson to keep him from providing testimony in an investigation of what led to the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton. Full Story
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Following a hearing today in federal court in Amarillo, a lawyer for death row inmate Hank Skinner said it will likely be up to the state courts to decide a fight over DNA testing in his case. Skinner is scheduled to be executed Nov. 9. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and his staff repeatedly downplayed the severity of abuse and neglect allegations at Texas’ state-run institutions for the disabled — until conditions became so dire that federal authorities intervened. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, Comptroller Susan Combs talked about the health of the Texas economy, her agency's data breach, her shifting position on abortion and more. Full Story
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Hamilton on efforts to boost faculty productivity, Grissom on newly uncovered evidence in an old murder case, Galbraith on a wind-powered construction boom, Dehn unfurls the new Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, Aguilar on this year's record number of deportations, Ramshaw and Tan on budget cuts and cervical cancer screenings, M. Smith on local control over student grades, Root and Ramshaw on Rick Perry's latest debate performance, Philpott on an issue that didn't get its due in that debate and Titus and Murphy on fundraising and spending in congressional races: The best of our best content from October 17 to 21, 2011. Full Story
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Michael Morton's legal team responded today to claims from the exonerated man's original prosecutors that they cannot be forced to testify as part of an inquiry into how Morton was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife. Full Story
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Jesse and Caitlin Baker recently learned of the most dramatic development in the mystery of their mother's murder in nearly two decades of probing for clues. The DNA discovery has prompted new hopes for long-awaited answers. Full Story
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Texas added 15,400 new jobs last month, according to statistics released today by the Texas Workforce Commission. The Texas unemployment rate, which increased over the last three months, remained steady in September at 8.5 percent. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, Comptroller Susan Combs talked about the billions cut from the state budget during the last legislative session — and whether kicking the can down the road on health care costs was a sound financial decision. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, Comptroller Susan Combs talked about the health of the Texas economy — and whether unemployment creeping up is cause for concern. Full Story
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