The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
Mark P. Jones, political science chairman at Rice University, recently ranked Texas House members' partisanship based on their 2009 legislative votes. The study, which we've used to create an interactive chart, shows Texas' increasingly polarized political environment, Jones says in an interview. Full Story
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Grissom, Hamilton, and Philpott on the Texas Democratic Party's state convention, the two-step, the forecast, and the ticket; Galbraith on the political and environmental battle between state and federal environmental regulators, and on a new age of nukes in Texas; Burnson on signs of the times in San Antonio; Ramshaw on hackers breaking into the state's confidential cancer database; Aguilar's interview with Katherine Glass, the Libertarian Party's nominee for governor; Acosta on efforts to stop 'Murderabilia' items that sell because of the association with killers; Ramshaw and the Houston Chronicle's Terri Langford on the criminal arrest records of workers in state-funded foster care centers; Hu on accusations that state Sunset examiners missed problems with workers compensation regulators because they didn't ask the right questions of the right people; Ramsey and Stiles on the rush to rake in campaign cash, and on political races that could be won or lost because of voter attraction to Libertarian candidates; and Aguilar's fresh take on South Texas' reputation for corruption. The best of our best from June 28 to July 3, 2010. Full Story
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Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Texas Office of Capital Writs Full Story
Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Texas Office of Capital Writs Full Story
Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Texas Office of Capital Writs Full Story
Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Texas Office of Capital Writs Full Story
Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Texas Office of Capital Writs Full Story
Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Texas Office of Capital Writs Full Story
Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Texas Office of Capital Writs Full Story
Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Office of Capital Writs. Full Story
Brad Levenson, newly hired director of the soon-to-be-opened Texas Office of Capital Writs Full Story
The Texas Capitol has been evacuated because of an early morning bomb threat. A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety says someone called 9-1-1 and said there is a bomb in the building. Everyone inside was ordered out and people showing up for work this morning are being turned away for now. Full Story
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When reports surfaced that the Public Utility Comission chair was being considered for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' top job, watchdogs questioned whether he could legally — or ethically — apply for the job. If Sunset Advisory Commission Chair Glenn Hegar's recommendations stick, the answer will soon be no. Full Story
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Less than a third of the state's 3rd-to-12th-grade students can pass a physical fitness test — and that’s an improvement. Full Story
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When former Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr. died Sunday after a long illness, Gov. Rick Perry reached out to the U.S. government, asking for flags to be flown at half-mast at federal buildings in Texas. The response, Perry's office says, was a resounding no. Full Story
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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has voted not to allow higher levels of E. coli bacteria in the state's water sources, despite staff concerns that the current rules are unnecessarily stringent. Full Story
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Physician fraud investigators inside the troubled Division of Workers' Compensation say state examiners failed to uncover serious problems there — and then recommended changes that would take key decisions away from trained physicians and give them to bureaucrats. Full Story
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Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples’ camp calls a recent attack by Hank Gilbert’s campaign “the lowest a political campaign has ever stooped in Texas politics." Full Story
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San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro pays Stephen Colbert a visit with a hilarious result. Full Story
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Criminal records don't always exclude job applicants from working with the most vulnerable foster care children, according to a Texas Tribune/Houston Chronicle investigation. At Daystar Residential Inc., where workers forced developmentally disabled girls to fight each other, dozens made it through the state's background check process in the last three years despite records of arrests. Full Story
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