2010: El Paso County Attorney announces Senate candidacy
Today in El Paso, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez announced he is running for the state Senate seat that Democrat Eliot Shapleigh is giving up. Full Story
The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
Today in El Paso, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez announced he is running for the state Senate seat that Democrat Eliot Shapleigh is giving up. Full Story
El Paso County Attorney Jose Rodriguez is expected to announce tomorrow at an El Paso press conference that he will run for the Texas Senate seat that state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh is vacating. Full Story
If you're waiting for closure on questions of Cameron Todd Willingham's guilt or innocence, get comfortable. The Texas Forensic Science Commission's new chair tells the Tribune that he doesn't yet have the rules or resources to investigate whether faulty science led to the Corsicana man's conviction and execution. Full Story
Rather than deliver curriculum by book or even CD — one product per student — “We’re going to buy content and get a statewide license and deliver it to anyone who wants it” over the web, says Robert Scott. Much of that content will come from “smaller content providers who have been shut out of the market.” Full Story
The UT/Tribune poll results convey some very intense disapproval of political leadership. Full Story
The U.S. Education Department is considering making restraint reporting mandatory for school districts nationwide, starting this school year. Full Story
Under new legislation, school districts for the first time can spend a portion of state “book” money on computer hardware and digital content. Some fear the explosion of choice will produce an erosion of quality content. Full Story
Rep. Chuck Hopson, D-Jacksonville, is switching parties, saying that ""President Obama and the Democrats in Congress just don't reflect the values of this district." That's a severe blow to Democrats hoping to win a majority in the Texas House. Full Story
A clearer picture of Thursday afternoon’s events is beginning to shape. Full Story
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is playing a high stakes game of will-she-won't-she. So should she or shouldn't she? Full Story
State psychiatrists are making crazy money. Of the 100 highest paid state employees, 45 are psychiatrists, most of them employed by the state’s 10 mental hospitals. Full Story
As news of the Fort Hood shootings unfolds, we'll be adding links, maps, audio, photographs, and other information from around the web to this post. Full Story
So what if he's no longer the chair of the State Board of Education? Self-described "religious fanatic" Don McLeroy has big plans for Texas education — and science is just the beginning. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
Jennifer Howson, 21, was restrained dozens of times at her school in the northeast Texas town of Kemp, often sustaining scrapes, bruises and black eyes. Full Story
Recommendation: Do not get swine flu. Tracking the vaccine is getting to be like figuring out what happened to all the TARP money. Full Story
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
Albert Alvidrez, a former governor of the Tigua tribe in El Paso, is mulling a run for the Texas Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Sen. Eliot Shapleigh. But having Alvidrez in the Senate might not earn the tribe another vote for gambling rights. Full Story
“I represent a district that has 80 percent renters, 70 percent of people speaking a first language other than English, where there’s a high school with 42 languages and 40 percent turnover of the student body every year — now tell me how you plan to calculate the dropout rate,” Rep. Scott Hochberg said. “I will stipulate that it’s too big — let’s just start there. I wish we fought over solutions as much as we fight over the number.” Full Story
Despite years of research, the true picture of dropout and graduation rates remains elusive, even the subject of cross words between researchers. The consensus: Far too many Texas public school students, particularly those from poor and minority families, don’t cross the high-school finish line. Full Story