03/12/2010

Texas ed board OKs history standards after spat over Tejanos at Alamo
New curriculum standards for U.S. history and other social studies courses won tentative approval from the State Board of Education today, but not before a final skirmish over how to teach the Battle of the Alamo.

Suit blames Texas for whooping crane die-off
A lawsuit filed by a conservation group Thursday blames Texas environmental regulators for a record die-off of endangered whooping cranes, alleging that water-use policies left the birds starving and without water. WHAT THE SUIT ALLEGES

Fox News tries to clarify erroneous reports about Texas social studies curriculum debate
AUSTIN – After getting ripped by the Texas Education Agency, Fox News on Thursday sought to clarify some of its reports on the state's social studies curriculum debate.

03/11/2010

Wayne Slater: Texas tales in Karl Rove's memoir likely to raise a few questions, eyebrows
The way Karl Rove remembers it, he was such a hot political property in Texas in the 1990s even Democrats wanted to hire him.

03/12/2010

Texas & Southwest briefs
Man dies for killing Texas sheriff's officer

State Farm plans 2nd rate hike in 8 months for home policies
AUSTIN – State Farm Insurance told the state Thursday that it intends to raise its homeowners rate 4.5 percent statewide starting May 1, only eight months after the company boosted rates 8.8 percent.

Climate change a threat to migratory birds
AUSTIN – An Interior Department report says that global climate change poses a significant threat to migratory bird populations already stressed by the loss of habitat and environmental pollution.

03/11/2010

Texas education board member walks out amid race debates
A longtime State Board of Education member accused her colleagues of "whitewashing" curriculum standards Thursday and walked out of the panel's meeting in frustration amid heated debates about race and the inclusion of Hispanics in lesson plans.

Texas education board rejects in-depth study of First Amendment
In a surprise decision in curriculum standards, the board defeated an amendment that would require Texas students be taught the reasons behind the prohibition of a state religion.
Debate continues over standards
Fox News clarifies reports on curriculum
Link: Texas Education Agency

Census recruiting workers in Dallas area
The U.S. Census Bureau is looking for more than a few good men and women to fan across North Texas and help encourage residents to return their 2010 census questionnaires.

Texas Democratic governor hopeful White duels with Houston critic over bonds
AUSTIN – A legislative hearing suddenly gave way Wednesday to second-guessing of Bill White's fiscal management of Houston, and a swift rebuttal from the Democratic nominee for governor.

State Board of Education continues debate over standards for social studies
AUSTIN – State Board of Education members resumed their volatile debate over social studies standards Wednesday as the panel neared its first vote on what Texas students will be taught in U.S. history, government and other classes over the next decade.

03/10/2010

UTA ROTC cadets ready for march to Fort Hood

JIM MAHONEY/DMN

More than 40 cadets will cover parts of the journey, while about 24 students plan to complete all 126 miles.
Video: Rally pumps up ROTC cadets
Link: The Corps of Cadets at UTA

03/11/2010

Denison man named ombudsman for TYC
AUSTIN – A Denison man with 35 years of law enforcement experience was named ombudsman Wednesday for the Texas Youth Commission, a job vacant for four months after Gov. Rick Perry's previous appointee was indicted.

Texas & Southwest briefs
Ex-staffer gets 4 years for role in fight clubs

No word from Hutchison on her plans for rest of her Senate term
WASHINGTON – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is putting off any decision about resignation, a GOP colleague said Wednesday.

03/10/2010

Texas Education Agency lashes out at Fox for 'highly inaccurate' reports
The Texas Education Agency lashed out Wednesday at the Fox Network for "highly inaccurate" reports about the State Board of Education and its work on social studies curriculum standards.

Texas State Fair works with North Texas Super Bowl host committee for 'Super Sized Fun' theme in 2010
The North Texas Super Bowl is even rubbing off on Big Tex. Super Sized Fun is the theme of this fall’s State Fair of Texas, fair officials announced Wednesday.

Wet winter, active jet stream may spawn active tornado season
OKLAHOMA CITY – Forecasters say a wetter-than-usual winter and a jet stream ripping over the part of the country known as "Tornado Alley" could lead to an active spring.

Texas education board set to vote on social studies curriculum
Texas' state education board, rocked by primary elections that may push the influential panel's far-right leanings toward the center, is set to take its first vote on a new social studies curriculum that could reverberate in classrooms nationwide.

03/09/2010

Dallas-area women among World War II pilots to receive nation's top medal today

Thirty-one Texans, including six women from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, are among the surviving members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots who will accept the Congressional Gold Medal today. Betty Jo Reed (left) of North Richland Hills will be in Washington for the presentation.
Link: National WASP World War II Museum

03/10/2010

Review finds Texas lottery operator didn't gain unfair advantage in bidding
AUSTIN – Bidding on a lucrative new Texas lottery contract should move forward because there's no evidence that state consultant Gartner Inc. and the lottery's current operator GTECH Corp. improperly shared information about the process, a lottery official said Tuesday.

Suspect in shootings of Liberty County deputies dies
KENEFICK, Texas – Authorities say a suspect in the shootings of two southeast Texas sheriff's deputies has been found dead after a gunfight with police.

Missing Houston oil man's body pulled from Mississippi River in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS – A body pulled from the Mississippi River near the French Quarter on Tuesday was that of a missing Houston oil company executive, police said.

Dallas legislator, Iraq vet Vaught ready for big-screen debut in war thriller 'Green Zone'
AUSTIN – Democratic state Rep. Allen Vaught of Dallas, a Purple Heart recipient, will be up on the big screen Friday in the movie Green Zone.

Houston judge withdraws anti-death penalty ruling
HOUSTON – A state district judge criticized for declaring the death penalty unconstitutional took back his controversial ruling Tuesday but scheduled a hearing for next month to hear evidence on the issue.

Security increasing at the Texas Capitol
AUSTIN – Security is increasing at the Texas Capitol.

03/09/2010

Texas judge rescinds order declaring death penalty unconstitutional
However, Harris County District Judge Kevin Fine said he still wants more information on whether the state’s death penalty statute is unconstitutional because it allows for the possible execution of an innocent person.

Archive of writer David Foster Wallace goes to University of Texas
The archive of writer David Foster Wallace, best known for his 1996 novel "Infinite Jest," has been acquired by the Harry Ransom Center library and museum at the University of Texas, the center announced Monday.

Hunt for missing oilman expands in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS – Police scoured the French Quarter on Monday and checked with businesses for surveillance videotapes of a Texas energy executive who disappeared after walking out of a Bourbon Street bar.

Texas border officials lobby for $6 billion for infrastructure improvements, more personnel
WASHINGTON – A year after Texas ports of entry were ignored in the federal stimulus package, a coalition of Texas border officials lobbied lawmakers Monday for $6 billion for infrastructure improvements and more personnel.

Health care costs open $1.7 billion hole in Texas budget
AUSTIN – Lawmakers have been thinking ahead to a massive shortfall, topping $10 billion, that's probably coming when they write the next budget in 2011. But state officials told them Monday that they'll have to fix a hole in the current budget, too.

03/08/2010

Wayne Slater: Former Texas GOP chairman Tom Pauken blasts Bush, Rove in new book
"Republican politics is barely recognizable to many of us who were grassroots activists in the early days of the conservative movement – especially after eight years of a Republican administration headed up by George W. Bush, who claimed to be a conservative," Pauken writes in Bringing America Home.

03/09/2010

Texas and Southwest news briefs
Official pleads guilty in illegal immigrant case

New trial order in New Orleans shootings of 5 teens
NEW ORLEANS – A New Orleans judge Monday ordered a new trial for a man convicted of fatally shooting five teens as they sat in an SUV in 2006.

03/08/2010

Man killed in Commerce shootout had prior arrests for drugs
Authorities Monday identified the shooter as 29-year-old Artenio Rodriguez of Commerce.

Texas attorney general warns parents about video chat site Chatroulette
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has issued a consumer alert warning parents to keep their children away from video chat Web site Chatroulette.

Airman with shotgun disarmed at Sheppard Air Force Base
An airman in training at Sheppard Air Force Base was in military custody Monday after toting a shotgun outside a dormitory.

Federal officials shut down LA bus firm involved in crash that killed six
PHOENIX – Federal officials said Sunday that they have shut down the Los Angeles bus company involved in a crash that killed six people in Arizona as records revealed that the company had skirted government regulation, amassed a poor safety record and was operating off the books.

Veterans raise funds for monument to military dogs
FULTON, Texas – A former Air Force sentry dog handler in Vietnam has one last mission.

03/07/2010

Off-duty deputy hailed as hero after Walmart shootout in Commerce
An off-duty sheriff's deputy was lauded as a hero Sunday for shooting a man who burst into a Walmart during a gunfight with police near the campus of Texas A&M-Commerce.

03/08/2010

Texas & Southwest briefs
Footage shows missing exec at club

03/07/2010

Voter ID among GOP resolutions
AUSTIN – Texas Republicans rallied behind resolutions on voter identification, spending and other issues in their primary last week.

03/06/2010

Online hotel bookers ask Congress to restrict how Texas and its cities collect room taxes
AUSTIN – Online hotel bookers have asked Congress to restrict how Texas cities and the state collect room taxes, a move that already strapped governments call a sneak attack on their wallets.

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