Paul Burka

Save Our Schools

In education, Texas ranks below (gasp) Mississippi. Here’s how to turn the public schools around without throwing billions of dollars down the rathole.

State Secrets

Touching bases at the Pentagon; the next lawsuit after school finance; the hidden battle for control of the Legislature.

Money, Media, and Magic

Three crucial elements that will determine the outcome of the Texas governor’s race.

Darness at Noon

The day the lights (almost) went out in Texas; why Gib Lewis’ reelection is crucial for Democrats; more trouble in the supreme court.

UT goes lite.

Courting Disaster

Bill Clements and the courts head for a showdown over school finance; the boom in engineering may be over; wisdom from the Whitmire win.

Coming to America

What Donald Trump means to American Airlines, win or lose; oil and landowners don’t mix; why it’s hard to do the right thing about school finance.

John the Catalyst

In his new book, James Reston, Jr., tries unsuccessfully to make John Connally larger than life.

We Wuz Robbed

Water, water, everywhere—in New Mexico, but Texas can't have any; Mexico invades Texas; picking the winner in the race to succeed Mickey Leland.

Fire Alarm

Why the Houston fire department needs chauffeurs; a Colorado controversy pits the Basses against Coors; the ecstasy and the agony at Vinson and Elkins.

Mayan Over Matter

East meets West (and New Southwest and ancient Mexican) at Houston’s oh-so-trendy Palacio Tzintzuntzan.

The Battle Begins

Previewing the legislative battle over abortion.

1989: The Best and the Worst Legislators

We just rate them. You voted for them.

Sonny Disposition

A barbecue shrine is rescued from the pit of despair; Boone Pickens gets gasses in an Amarillo political war; Bill Clements blocks a wildlife refuge for Texas.

It Doesn’t Compute

Why NASA uses old-fashioned computers; Exxon points the finger at the feds over the oil spill cleanup; Jim Wright’s real crime.

Doing the Legislature a favor.

Bad salaries make good politicians.

Animal House

The Aggies’ vet school is going to the dogs; picture-perfect rivalry in the governor’s race; Lloyd Bentsen wants more money from Texas; New York takeover toughs establish an outpost in Houston.

The Second Coming

Twenty-five years ago, Texans hoped LBJ would lead them into the promised land. They have the same hopes for the new president, but George Bush is making no promises.

No TASP, No Play

A competency test for colleges; gauging the governor’s race; hard times at Hermann Hospital; what on earth was George Bush thinking about?

Superpolitics

Will Texas’ acquisition of the supercollider increase the state’s clout in Washington? We’d better hope so, because now that we’ve got it, we’ve got to get the money to deliver it

State Secrets

UT football on the Longhorns of a dilemma; who’s supreme at the Supreme Court; a taxing idea in Washington.

State Secrets

The newest threat to Houston mayor Kathy Whitmire is an old face; an investigation of an acid leak turns sour; a Texas congressman may take over the banking committee.

State Secrets

The worst school districts in Texas—and how they got that way; where have all the bankers gone?; why Dukakis fell beind in Texas.

Texas Primer: Football Hand Signals

From “Hook ‘em, Horns” to “Peck ‘em, Owls,” the Southwest Conference is football’s most hospitable habitat for hand jive.

Texas Primer: Bush vs. Bentsen

Eighteen years after their Senate race determined the course of Texas politics, their rivalry may determine the course of national politics.

State Secrets

The Air Force takes over Big Bend; NCNB takes over First Republic; Dukakis takes over Bentsen; and who wil take an empty Senate seat?

Wright and Wrong

The congressional investigation that is focusing on Speaker Jim Wright’s ethics is missing the real problem —his judgment.

State Secrets

Looking for gas in all the wrong places; a casualty report from the Texas drought; an early look at redistricting.

State Secrets

Bubba beats the new truck safety standards; O’Neill loses at Baylor—again; Bush’s loss is Gramm’s gain; Clements stays tough on spending.

Habits of the Heart

Time-honored Texas rituals.

A Test of Character

Triumphing over adversity is the story of Texas. We’d better be able to do it again.

State Secrets

Halloween handouts for a savings and loan; why the Texaco-Pennzoil decision was predictable; bad news for judicial reform; UT and A&M head south; the King Ranch contemplates a road.

State Secrets

Yankees discover a Texas bumper sticker they like; UT and A&M get tough; Saudi Arabia’s crude tactics; an acid test for Dukakis.

Famine, Pestilence, Destruction, and Death

These are only aliases. Their real names are Mattox, Mauro, Richards, and Hightower. And they may be leading the Democratic party to its apocalypse.

State Secrets

What’s black and white and kenaf all over? EDS finds gold in California politics; Texas banks show no mercy for S&Ls; the Fort Worth City Council feels neglected

State Secrets

Playing fast and loose with the new speed limit; an oil drilling technique gets the shaft; dam builders strick back—with Authority; how the budget battle is changing the Legislature.

1987: The Best and the Worst Legislators

We just rate them. You voted for them.

Heads, We Win, Tails, You Lose

Highly partisan justices are at the center of the Supreme Court scandal.

High Noon at the Capitol

The biggest legislative bloodbath in 31 years is shaping up between Clements and Hobby. At stake: not only the state’s education budget but the economic and political future of Texas as well.

The Bullock Alumni

Caught between the budget crisis and the power of Bob Bullock, politicos are hiring the comptroller’s savvy ex-employees in self-defense.

Slim Pickens

Boone, T. Boone Pickens’ autobiography, is most interesting when it names names and tells tales, but such moments surface only occasionally and sink quickly.

Undertakers of the Oil Patch

The death of an oil well keeps an oil-field service company alive.

The Wright House

For the first time since Sam Rayburn’s day, the Speaker of the House will be a Texan. And if Jim Wright of Fort Worth is to be successful, he’ll have to remember what Rayburn taught him.

How Sheik Yamani’s departure will affect the price of oil; what the new immigration law will do to Texas; analyzing the election returns.

State Secrets

Who’ll follow Fred Akers at UT? Environmentalists and sportsmen team up to black a dam; two congressional races are political barometers.

The Strange Case of Mark White

The governor has a good record, good ideas, and good intentions. So why is he in danger of losing his job to a man he already beat once?.

State Secrets

A price for peace on the Guadalupe River; favorites and long shots in the Texas racetrack derby; a key decision for Lloyd Bentsen.

State Secrets

Are the Elissa’s sails trimmed for good? The Chronicle finds a possible buyer close to home—very close; mashing the mass transit tax.

State Secrets

A cap for San Antonio that wouldn’t look good on Henry Cisneros; long-term pessimism hits the oil market; Texas cities finagle their way around the tax reform.

Primary Lesson

Subtract Democratic voters, add new Republicans, and it equals realignment.