Perry's defense attorneys have made a motion that the indictment against the governor should be dismissed, alleging that San Antonio lawyer Michael McCrum was improperly sworn in to prosecute the criminal case.
"Once, water levels weren’t the limiting factor for rafting on the Rio Grande.
'We never thought there would be a day when we could not put a big old raft on the river and do whatever we wanted,' said Mike Long, who has been a river guide on the Rio Grande since 1986."(4 photos)
We'll be livestreaming today's noontime conversation with state Sen. Robert Nichols and state Rep. Travis Clardy: http://youtu.be/LsgMuIt-sQI
Please join us for lunch and a conversation with state Sen. Robert Nichols and state Rep. Travis Clardy at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. Texas Tribune CEO and Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith will moderate this preview of the 84th Legislative Session and audience Q&A.
Gov. Rick Perry and other Texas officials are pointing fingers at the Obama administration for botching the Ebola response. But the state did not fully use its own power to restrict travel, quarantine health care workers and limit possible spread of the deadly virus.
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: Texas is losing more rural land than any other state, the cost of water is rising and an interview with Kent Satterwhite, general manager of the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority.
What more could Texas have done about Ebola?; Little help for those who can't make the rent; First bullet train meeting focuses on station locations; Former Dewhurst aide pleads guilty to embezzlement.
Federal officials said nine possible routes between Houston and Dallas have been considered, but that two stand out in terms of minimizing impact on the environment and property owners.
"There is a new take on solving water problems along the Rio Grande.
Instead of going through the federal governments of Mexico and the United States to make amendments to treaties or to meet with their counterparts, locals are talking to each other."
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's former adviser Kenneth "Buddy" Barfield pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of wire fraud, making a false tax return and embezzlement of funds contributed to a federal candidate.
Gov. Rick Perry announced Tuesday that three health care providers in North Texas will partner to form an Ebola treatment facility, as recommended by the state’s infectious disease task force.
Gov. Rick Perry will visit UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to make an announcement regarding Ebola preparedness and response. Watch the livestream, courtesy of KXAS-TV.
A ballot initiative to ban fracking in Denton has put the North Texas city at the center of a nationwide debate over the safety of drilling, the money it produces and the role cities play in regulating it. As Election Day nears, the fight is growing fiercer.
At the state agency responsible for protecting Texans from pollution, a cadre of scientists is now marshaling its arguments to fight tougher federal standards on ozone levels — even as the overwhelming majority of the scientific community heads in the other direction.
A steep drop in crude oil prices threatens to slow drilling in some U.S. oilfields, but officials in Texas' hottest shale plays say they're not sweating things yet. The boom is still a boom, they say, and it's way too early to walk away.
Dispatches from around the state on the first day of early voting; Oil price tremors not rattling Texas. Yet.; Texas on lonely side of battle over ozone pollution.
"Arguing over details and doubting the professionals who've done their jobs detract from how Texas stacks up against the other states — where the same questions apply," Michael Marder writes in TribTalk.
"Like the farmers, we had pushed hard and then nearly lost it all. There is potential here, but when you are exhausted, sometimes it’s better to just rest for a bit."
Woven into the recent federal ruling that found the state's voter photo ID law unconstitutional is a bigger question for Texas lawmakers — whether the state should have to seek federal permission when it changes election and voting laws.
After calling for an end to subsidies for wind energy production, the Texas comptroller will soon release a report that could rekindle debate surrounding Texas’ largest incentive for natural gas producers.
Early voting starts in Texas; First wind, now gas: Tax breaks face scrutiny; Analysis: Behind voter ID, federal pre-clearance; ICYMI: Wealthy donor pumps cash into Bexar County DA race.
"I am in full agreement that the Legislature should implement nearly all of the state auditor’s proposed recommendations. But let’s be absolutely clear: The Texas Enterprise Fund is good for Texas and its citizens," writes state Rep. Jason Villalba. Read on in TribTalk.
With early voting starting tomorrow, this week's edition of WFAA-TV's Inside Texas Politics with host David Schechter, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy and Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey has a decidedly electoral slant.
Aguilar on the battle for the 23rd Congressional District, Batheja on a fight over speech and religion in Houston, Dehn and Rocha on the confusion over voter ID laws, Hamilton finds UT retooling online courses, Malewitz on rising complaints... against electric utilities, Murphy’s latest analysis of campaign finance reports, Root pays some attention to AG hopeful Sam Houston, Satija and Vanetta on the state’s loss of rural land, M. Smith on high-stakes testing and legislative deadlines, Ura on Dan Patrick’s property tax proposals: Ross Ramsey with the best of our best for the week of Oct. 13-17, 2014.
The U.S. Supreme Court early Saturday denied a last-ditch effort to block the enforcement of Texas' controversial voter ID law in the state's upcoming elections.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Texas can enforce #voterID for the November elections. Three justices — Kagan, Sotomayor, Ginsburg — dissented. #tx2014 (via Aman Batheja)
State Rep. Jason Villalba in TribTalk: "Certainly, a program of this magnitude should be periodically scrutinized and reviewed. … But let’s be absolutely clear: The Texas Enterprise Fund is good for Texas and its citizens."
Fear over possible exposure to Ebola has triggered campus closures in some Texas school districts and additional safety measures at many more in the almost three weeks since a Dallas hospital diagnosed the first case of Ebola in the United States.
"Local guide Charlie Angell, photographer Jessica Lutz and Big Bend Sentinel/Presidio International reporter Sasha Von Oldershausen and I spent the day in Mexico talking to farmers and looking at water.
Because there was not much of the latter to look at, the farmers we met had plenty of time to talk. "(4 photos)
Public officials are nervously awaiting the high court's ruling in a fight between TxDOT and Clear Channel Outdoor that could drive up future highway project costs.
The Austin City Council has called for a dramatic expansion in solar power generation, earning accolades from environmental advocates. But the city-owned utility, Austin Energy, has balked at the proposal.
Three candidates are vying for the state Senate seat occupied by Glenn Hegar, a Katy Republican. They're even advertising. But Hegar is still in office, and that seat is not on the November ballot.
Ross Ramsey on the scramble for a state Senate seat that's not yet in play: http://trib.it/ZGGmwW
Gov. Rick Perry will speak at 11 a.m. Central about the state's response and prevention efforts against Ebola. We'll livestream his comments at www.texastribune.org.
At the University of Texas System, particularly at its flagship campus, "massive open online courses" are being reimagined. University leaders believe the change in focus for the courses will help them be more effective at meeting their goals.
Ire grows amid effort to walk back pastor subpoenas; UT looking to make more of massive online courses; Austin plan for renewable energy at odds with utility; Analysis: Campaigning for a seat that's not yet in play; Supreme Court to decide ...what a billboard is worth; Dallas hospital apologizes for "mistakes" in Ebola care; CD-23 rivals Gallego and Hurd tout fundraising totals.
State Rep. Matt Krause in TribTalk: "It’s rare that someone does something so egregious, so unacceptable and so unconstitutional that virtually everyone comes together to condemn it."
“We made mistakes," said Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital's parent organization. "We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola, and we are deeply sorry."
At our 10/16 TribLive conversation, Sam Houston, the Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General in 2014, argued the case against his Republican opponent, state Sen. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney.
Here's the full video of this morning's TribLive conversation with Sam Houston, 2014 Democratic nominee for attorney general, and Tribune Editor-in-Chief and CEO Evan Smith: http://trib.it/1pcEZfX
State regulators did little as dioxin seeped into area waterways for decades, Houston officials say. So now the county is leading the charge with a lawsuit, set for opening arguments Thursday, seeking billions in fines from three companies.
Hundreds of Texas landowners have already agreed to sell their groundwater for a number of projects to supply growing cities — like San Antonio and Austin — with water. But other landowners worry that selling such rights will hurt the local sustainability of a finite resource.
Faults in response to Ebola detailed after new diagnosis; Harris County seeks accounting for decades of pollution; Video: A revenue stream or a cause for concern?; Judge lets bankrupt energy firm issue bonuses; Davis says controversial ad "...incredibly effective"; Enterprise Fund criticism overblown, committee told.
Today in TribTalk: Ban flights from Ebola-stricken nations, by Ted Cruz http://trib.it/1waFU4K Don't bust the spending cap, by Konni Burton, Brandon Creighton, Bob Hall and Van Taylor http://trib.it/1txj7TKSee More
We're livestreaming this morning's TribLive conversation with Sam Houston, Democratic nominee for attorney general. Tune in at 8:00 a.m. to watch: http://www.texastribune.org/livestream/
"Banning flights from the afflicted countries is a prudent, common-sense step until the epidemic is brought under control," U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz writes. Read on in TribTalk.
On this week's TribCast, Reeve, Evan, Ross and Morgan discuss the confusion caused by court decisions on voter ID and abortion restrictions, the controversy over the latest ad from the Wendy Davis campaign, and issues with standardized testing in Texas schools.
New in TribTalk: "We reject the Washington-style budgeting gimmicks and political tricks used to pressure legislators into accepting spending trends that jeopardize our children’s future."