Politics & Policy
April 1, 2013
Partisan Rift Over Medicaid Expansion Remains
The Capitol was the site of two dueling press conferences Monday over what could be one of the signature fights of the 2013 session: Medicaid expansion.
684 Articles
Politics & Policy
March 27, 2013
Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients
A key compromise on SB-11 moves the controversial bill to the full Senate.
Critters
March 15, 2013
Grumpy Cat Tolerates Texas Monthly Reporter
The living meme, which has a type of dwarfism and is officially named Tardar Sauce, visited Austin last week.
Politics & Policy
March 12, 2013
Michael Morton’s Moving Senate Testimony
In a committee hearing Tuesday, the exoneree and newlywed pushed for a bill that would change the statute of limitations for offenses involving prosecutorial misconduct.
Politics & Policy
March 6, 2013
Sex Ed and the Senate
With a bill that would bar school districts from using sex education curriculum developed by abortion providers, the culture wars returned to the Capitol.
Politics & Policy
March 3, 2013
A Senate Seat for Sylvia Garcia
A full complement of state senators will soon be seated for the first time in the 2013 legislative session.
Politics & Policy
March 3, 2013
Which Dem Will Fill Mario Gallegos’s Seat?
The race to replace the late Texas State Senator Mario Gallegos.
STRANGE CRIME
March 1, 2013
Meanwhile, in Lufkin . . . February Edition
Our favorite recent items from the Lufkin Daily News’ police blotter.
Politics & Policy
February 27, 2013
Jeremy Bird Talks Battleground Texas with Stephen Colbert
The former field director for the Obama campaign outlined the group's plan to turn Texas blue.
Politics & Policy
February 25, 2013
Will the Legislature Restore Cuts to Women’s Health?
A Senate finance committee work group has proposed directing an additional $100 million towards preventative care and family planning.
Politics & Policy
February 14, 2013
Dear Lady Bird
Lyndon Johnson's dogged pursuit of Lady Bird further revealed in a cache of never-before-seen love letters.
Politics & Policy
February 5, 2013
“Inadequate and Inequitable”
Once again a judge rules that the state’s school finance system in unconstitutional.
Politics & Policy
February 4, 2013
Sharpstown, Revisited
Looking back at the last pay-for-play scandal as the call for ethics reforms rises in the 83rd Legislative Session.
Politics & Policy
February 3, 2013
Perry and Abbott: deal or no deal?
If so, what is it?Brad Watson of WFAA-TV in Dallas made big news with his report of a potential deal between Perry and Abbott. From the station’s website: In an exclusive WFAA interview Wednesday, [Jan. 31] Gov. Rick Perry said Attorney General Greg Abbott has told him he won’t
Crime
January 31, 2013
Meanwhile, in Lufkin… January Edition
Our favorite recent items from the Lufkin Daily News’ police blotter.
The Culture
January 30, 2013
Remembering the Space Shuttle Columbia
Ten years ago, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over East Texas as it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
Politics & Policy
January 24, 2013
Drawing Straws
Those in the Senate chamber yesterday witnessed the strange ritual of drawing lots to stagger Senate terms after redistricting.
The Culture
January 23, 2013
What’s With Austin’s Traffic?
Two questions for Ginger Goodin, of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
Style & Design
January 21, 2013
Karl Lagerfeld’s Return to Texas
Thirty-four years after showing his 1979 Chloé collection at Houston's Neiman Marcus, the designer plans to show his Chanel collection in Dallas in 2014.
Energy
January 21, 2013
Five of the Worst Mercury-Polluting Power Plants Are In Texas
According to a new report ranking the ten worst mercury-emitting coal plants in the US.
January 21, 2013
Meanwhile, in Lufkin . . . December Edition
Our favorite recent items from the Lufkin Daily News’ police blotter.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
Kay Bailey Hutchison’s Valedictory Speech
After 18 years in office, the first and only female senator from Texas says goodbye.
January 21, 2013
Bachelor Who Attempted to Abduct and Poison His Mail-Order Bride Convicted
The "kidnapper" David Sartin hired to ship his Ukranian mail-order bride in a crate from Kiev to Texas was an ATF officer.
January 21, 2013
Warren Jeffs Gives the World Another Apocalypse to Worry About this Weekend
The world will end this Sunday, on the birthday of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Or so warns the imprisoned polygamist leader of FLDS.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
How the NRA Grades the 34 Members of Texas’s Congressional Delegation
Four Texans received Fs—almost as many Texans as received A+s.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
The Advice LBJ Would Give Obama On Passing Gun Control Legislation: Act Swiftly
Twelve days after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson successfully pushed Congress to pass a big gun control bill.
January 21, 2013
Rick Perry: Teachers Should Be Able to Carry Concealed Handguns
The governor, speaking to a tea party group in a suburb of Fort Worth, held that those with concealed carry permits should be able to bring their guns everywhere.
Business
January 21, 2013
Southwest Airlines Plays with Fees
Southwest Airlines announced that it would start charging fees for no-shows and for third bags on Friday.
January 21, 2013
Death Row Population Drops to Lowest Level Since 1989
Texas executed 15 people in 2012 and sent only nine new inmates to death row.
January 21, 2013
The Ascendant Abortion-Alternative Industry
Crisis pregnancy centers served 17,527 clients last year, and that number will likely only grow.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
Jenna Bush is Pregnant!
Texas (and America) finally has an answer to the royal pregnancy.
January 21, 2013
UT Law Prof. Lino Graglia Says Black and Hispanic Students Are Less “Academically Competent” Again
This time to a black correspondent from the BBC, in an interview about the use of race in college admissions. He'd said similar things at a student forum in 1997.
January 21, 2013
Inside Texas’s New Radioactive Dump
The new dump for low-level radioactive waste in west Texas will help relieve an overburdened site in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
January 21, 2013
Take a Tour on the Moon Come 2020, Private Spaceflight Company Says
Only $750 million per person. Five things to know about the Golden Spike Company's hopes and plans.
January 21, 2013
Pig Entrails Draped over Cypress Mosque Gate in Likely Hate Crime
And it wouldn't be the first Islamophobic pig incident for the Houston exurbs either.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
Dave Carney Would Like Republicans To Stop Trying to Reinvent the Party
The former advisor to Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich penned an op-ed in US News & World Reports urging the party not to abandon its values in a rush towards the center after the election.
Critters
January 21, 2013
Donkey, Beware!
Mystery archer killed a third donkey from the same Fort Worth pasture this week.
January 21, 2013
Meanwhile, in Lufkin… November Edition
Our favorite recent items from the Lufkin Daily News’s police blotter.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
Dick Armey Breaks Up with His Tea Party Group Over Matters of Principle
Armey, who has led FreedomWorks, one of the most influential tea party groups, since 2004, resigned Monday in an email.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
Cue More “Ted Cruz for President” Stories
Cruz's Thursday speech on "Opportunity Conservatism" gave political journalists yet another, er, opportunity to speculate about his longterm political plans.
January 21, 2013
Texas Posts Fourth Highest High School Graduation Rate in Nation
New data from the U.S. Department of Education says that Texas is tied for fourth place with a high school graduation rate of 86 percent for the 2010-2011 school year.
Business
January 21, 2013
U.S. Government to BP: No New Contracts, For Now
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is temporarily suspending the British oil giant's ability to receive contracts from the federal government.
January 21, 2013
Did You Say You Wanted to Buy Lee Harvey Oswald’s Bathtub?
The Oak Cliff apartment fixtures that witnessed the 1962-1963 fights between the assassin and his wife are on sale.
Border & Immigration
January 21, 2013
State Department Renews Mexico Travel Warning
U.S. Citizens are cautioned to avoid the four Mexican states bordering Texas just a week before President Obama is set to meet with incoming Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
Energy
January 21, 2013
PHOTOS: Superwreck on Interstate 10
Startling images of the 140-vehicle pileup on Interstate 10 west of Beaumont on Thanksgiving Day.
Critters
January 21, 2013
Sandy’s Furry Refugees Fly Southwest
Pets separated from their owners by Superstorm Sandy got a lift from Southwest Airlines to a no-kill shelter in California.
Critters
January 21, 2013
Who is Mutilating the Dolphins?
Crimes against dolphins plague the Gulf of Mexico.
Business
January 21, 2013
Long Live the Twinkie!
Following a union strike, Irving-based Hostess Brands announced on Friday that it would liquidate its factories.
January 21, 2013
Texas Performs Fifteenth and Final Execution of 2012
Preston Hughes III was executed Thursday night for the 1988 slayings of a 15-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy.
January 21, 2013
Texas Executes Fourteenth Man of 2012
Ramon Hernandez, put to death for a 2001 slaying, was also linked to three other murders, prosecutors said.