Politics
Embattled Edwards cancels Houston fundraising speech
By ALAN BERNSTEIN, Houston Chronicle, 12 August 2008
HOUSTON – Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards no longer has an engagement in Houston.
Illegal Voting Could Change Key Outcomes
Tyler Morning Telegraph, 11 August 2008
TYLER – Voting by noncitizens has been clearly identified as a problem in many of the United States although disagreement is expressed over its magnitude.
Government
State expects flat growth for Children's Health Insurance Program
By ROBERT T. GARRETT, Dallas Morning News, 11 August 2008
AUSTIN — Officials haven’t requested much new money in the upcoming state budget for the program that insures children from working-poor families because they predict it will barely grow, even as the economy sours and the state population swells.
Study: Texas schools more likely to lose track of African American students
By Molly Bloom, AUSITN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 11 August 2008
AUSTIN – The annual dropout rates for African American students in Texas, already higher than dropout rates for white and Hispanic students, might be even higher than previously reported, according to a Texas Education Agency report released last week.
Texas lawmakers want tougher laws for bus safety
By GORDON DICKSON, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 August 2008
FORT WORTH – More teeth must be placed into state laws designed to prevent disasters such as last week’s bus crash that killed 17 people along a Sherman highway, state leaders say.
Officials at border security conference call for more U.S.-Mexico cooperation
By DAVID McLEMORE, Dallas Morning News, 11 August 2008
EL PASO — Top U.S. law enforcement officials praised Mexico’s anti-drug efforts Monday and urged more binational cooperation as an antidote to the drug-fueled violence along the border.
State to help ag producers conserve energy
Waco Tribune-Herald, 12 August 2008
AUSTIN — Texas farmers and ranchers looking to cut back on energy costs and increase profits can get help from a state program announced Monday that offers a free assessment of their resources.
Legislators want more veterans to graduate college
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 12 August 2008
AUSTIN – Texas is doing a miserable job of getting veterans to graduate from college, and providing in-state tuition rates for all soldiers could be one way to help ensure more of them get higher education, lawmakers said Monday.
State lawmakers want public's views on taxes
By Enrique Rangel, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 12 August 2008
AUSTIN – Got any ideas to give property owners tax relief?
GOP members fail in stunt over gas prices
San Angelo Standard-Times, 11 August 2008
SAN ANGELO – August is supposed to be quiet time in the national capital.
Bible Class
Lufkin Daily News, 11 August 2008
LUFKIN – Society pretty much expects everything from our public school systems and, when the schools get overwhelmed trying to deliver it, we turn to blaming the schools.
State must enforce bus codes
Dallas Morning News, 12 August 2008
DALLAS – The families grieving over loved ones lost after a bus went off the highway near Sherman early Friday probably have little interest right now in debating bus regulations.
News
FEMA grants $14.4 million in aid to Valley residents
By Emma Perez-Trevino, Brownsville Herald, 11 August 2008
BROWNSVILLE – In response to Hurricane Dolly, Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy county residents have received slightly more than $14.4 million in aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for temporary housing, housing repairs and other needs.
Scam artists take a new tack this election year
By Dave Lieber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 August 2008
FORT WORTH – Many Americans are registering to vote in anticipation of the presidential election.
Hutchison fields questions
By Jaime Powell, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 11 Augsut 208
CORPUS CHRISTI – The requisite speech was at most 5 minutes long Monday when U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison stopped here during a three-day Gulf Coast tour that also included stops in Kingsville, Ingleside and Rockport.
People
Ron Paul’s wife in ICU
By Brandon Leonard, Victoria Advocate, 12 August 2008
VICTORIA – Congressman Ron Paul canceled his Monday trip to Victoria to stay with his wife, who was in a Houston hospital intensive care unit after being hospitalized Thursday, a Paul spokesperson reported.
Congressman's wife admitted to Houston hospital
Waco Tribune-Herald, 12 August 2008
HOUSTON — The wife of Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Paul was in serious but stable condition Monday at a Houston hospital, a spokesman for the lawmaker said.
Edwards Scandal Puts Texas Plaintiffs Lawyer on the Defensive
By Zach Lowe, Law.com, 12 August 2008
Dallas-area Democrats defended Fred Baron on Monday, saying his loyalty to his friends and passion for Democratic politics were behind his payments to John Edwards' mistress and the Edwards campaign worker who has identified himself as the father of her child.
Filmakers drawn to Valley's border story
By Laura Tillman, Brownsville Herald, 11 August 2008
BROWNSVILLE — Filmmaker Nat Stone has become addicted to telling the story of the border and the Rio Grande.
Conaway and the Internet
BY JOCELYN FOSTER, Odessa American, 12 August 2008
ODESSA – U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway doesn't waste any time with archaic methods of communication to interact with citizens. He utilizes the Internet - allowing a voice for the public.
Laubenberg to chair Public Health Committee
Rockwall Herald-Banner, 11 August 2008
AUSTIN – Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland), today, announced the appointment of Rep. Jodie Laubenberg (R-Rockwall) as chair of the House Committee on Public Health.
Newspaper Tree, Five Years Later
By Emanuel Anthony Martinez, Newspaper Tree, 11 August 2008
EL PASO – Five years ago this month I began Newspaper Tree with a laptop and an idea. The laptop was a silver Compaq Presario 800, since retired to a wardrobe next to my dining room table.
