Politics
John McCain tops Barack Obama in Texas fundraising
By CHRISTY HOPPE, Dallas Morning News, 21 September 2008
AUSTIN – Texas donors finally jumped aboard John McCain's train in a big way this summer, doubling all previous giving and pushing him well beyond what Barack Obama has managed to raise in Lone Star cash.
Texas' female politicians can relate to Palin's ordeal
By ANNA M. TINSLEY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 September 2008
FORT WORTH – Kay Granger knew what was coming.
Hunter, Garcia debate coverage
By Dan Kelley, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 21 September 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI – Windstorm insurance: it's the subject of a new commercial by state Rep. Juan Garcia, and the closing line of an ad by challenger Todd Hunter.
Three vie to win in swing district
By Corrie MacLaggan, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 22 September 2008
AUSTIN – The two women running in Texas House District 48 — Republican Pam Waggoner and Democrat Donna Howard, the incumbent — are both former school board members who consider themselves advocates for public education, but the similarities may end there.
Texas House of Representatives, District 20 Candidates
By Mark Collins and Kara Vaught, Community Impact Newspaper, 19 September 2008
Dan Gattis, Republican (incumbent)
Most Texans will miss most presidential TV ads
By Dave McNeely, Abilene Reporter-news, 21 September 2008
OK, every American interested in watching all the television ads that will be part of the presidential election process, take a step forward.
A Tale of Two Cities
By Elizabeth DiNovella, Texas Observer, 19 September 2008
The recent Republican National Convention in St. Paul—like most staged media events—operated on two levels.
Immigration: Candidates largely ignore issue
El Paso Times, 20 September 2008
EL PASO – Why are the presidential and vice-presidential candidates not paying much attention to the huge issue of immigration?
We recommend Vaught, Harper-Brown, Anderson for Texas House
Dallas Morning News, 22 September 2008
DALLAS – These are the first of 11 recommendations in Dallas-area races for the Texas House that appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Government
Border fence in funding limbo
By Kevin Sieff, Brownsville Herald, 21 September 2008
BROWNSVILLE – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has run out of money to build remaining segments of the U.S.-Mexico border fence in the Rio Grande Valley and elsewhere, and the project already is $400 million over budget.
Border fence hits wall, congressional investigators say
McAllen Monitor, 20 September 2008
WASHINGTON – Unless the federal government wrests land from 77 stubborn Rio Grande Valley residents in the next 10 days, all bets on the border fence are off, congressional investigators testified Thursday.
Flores to file constitutional amendment to bring veterans' hospital to the Valley
By Steve Taylor and Joey Gomez, Rio Grande Guardian, 21 September 2008
WESLACO – State Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores says he will file legislation next session for a constitutional amendment to speed up construction of a veterans’ hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.
Alva: VA to build outpatient surgical center in Harlingen
By Steve Taylor and Joey Gomez, Rio Grande Guardian, 21 September 2008
WESLACO – Among the enhancements the VA is bringing to the Rio Grande Valley is a 150,000 square foot, three storey outpatient surgical center, area veterans have been told.
American GI Forum of Texas backs VA hospital for the Valley
By Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian, 19 September 2008
HARLINGEN – The American GI Forum of Texas has written to U.S. Senators Harry Reid, Carl Levin, and Daniel Akaka in the hope that they can help push legislation to secure a veterans hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.
Cornyn tells Valley veterans to keep fighting for VA hospital
By Treto Garza and Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian, 19 September 2008
HARLINGEN – U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has told Rio Grande Valley veterans not to give up hope of securing a VA hospital for the region, despite a setback in Congress this week.
Texas House member asks state to rule on whether sheriff's pay from work with private detention company is legal
By Tommy Witherspoon, Waco Tribune-Herald, 21 September 2008
WACO – The chairman of the Texas House of Representatives committee on urban affairs has asked the state attorney general to determine whether it is legal for a sheriff to accept a fee for work with a private detention company that contracts with his county to operate a county jail.
Texas monitors California tuition case
By Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, 21 September 2008
AUSTIN – Critics of a Texas law that allows undocumented immigrant students to pay in-state tuition rates scored a victory last week in California, where a panel of judges ruled that a similar measure violated federal law.
NAFTA & politics: Trade pact renegotiation sought
By Vic Kolenc, El Paso Times, 21 September 2008
EL PASO – The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement became a hot issue in the Democratic presidential primaries, and some unions and other groups are pushing to make it and other free-trade agreements issues in the closing weeks of this year's presidential race.
Texas Railroad Commission requests emergency funding as oil drilling permits pile up
Dallas Morning News, 19 September 2008
AUSTIN – Trying to cope with the biggest Texas oil boom in more than two decades, industry advocates and state regulators are seeking emergency government funding to handle an ever-growing backlog of drilling permits.
Supporters of Texas malpractice damages cap are taking it to court
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 September 2008
In an unusual legal twist, the most avid defenders of the Texas cap on damages to victims of medical malpractice — not its critics — are urging the state’s highest court to decide whether the law complies with the state constitution.
Atheist family challenges minute of silence law
By Chuck Lindell, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 22 Septembr 2008
AUSTIN – Every day in every Texas public school, students pledge allegiance to the U.S. and Texas flags and sit through a moment of silence so they can pray, meditate, daydream or twiddle their thumbs.
State school rally stresses rights
By Candace Carlisle, Denton Record-Chronicle, 21 September 2008
DENTON – Some forgotten lives may not be forgotten after all.
Some Mexia State School employees feel unfairly treated, stigmatized, by state regulations
By Cindy V. Culp, Waco Tribune-Herald, 20 September 2008
WACO – Jeff Stuver knows what he has to say about the workers at Texas’ institutions for the mentally retarded isn’t the message some people want to hear.
Peters is pointing the FAA aircraft inspection system in the right direction
Dallas Morning News, 21 September 2008
DALLAS – The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency charged with making sure that the thousands of aircraft crowding U.S. skies daily are manufactured, maintained and flown safely, has been shaken to its core by allegations that it has faltered in that task.
Toothless law
Houston Chronicle, 21 September 2008
HOUSTON – As Hurricane Ike moved through the central Gulf of Mexico on his way to the Texas coast, local authorities made good use of a state law passed three years ago empowering county judges and mayors to order mandatory evacuations from threatened areas within their jurisdictions.
News
Beeton: Government should do more
By Rhiannon Meyers and Laura Elder, Galveston County Daily News, 21 September 2008
GALVESTON — The mayor, the head of the University of Texas Medical Branch and the director of the port will testify in front of an ad hoc Senate committee on disaster relief at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Washington, D.C., in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room SDG-50.
Island businesses prepare for influx of residents
By Laura Elder, Galveston County Daily News, 21 September 2008
GALVESTON — An estimated 40,000 Hurricane Ike evacuees will return Wednesday to the island after more than a week of exile.
Port of Texas City gets first crude oil ships
By TJ Aulds, Galveston County Daily News, 21 September 2008
TEXAS CITY — The first crude oil ships docked in the Port of Texas City on Saturday, a sign that oil production is beginning to recover following Hurricane Ike.
Ike renews debate over coastal development
By MATTHEW TRESAUGUE, Houston Chronicle, 21 September 2008
HOUSTON – There is no community of Gilchrist, at least for now.
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast
By ROBBIE GOODRICH, Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, 20 September 2008
NACOGDOCHES – What a difference a week can make.
State gives itself good marks on new hurricane response plan
By Mike Ward, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 21 September 2008
AUSTIN – Ask most first-responders whether Texas' revamped hurricane emergency plan for Hurricane Ike worked as it should have, and they point to a single number as proof that it did.
Ike's damage to electrical grid less than predicted
By MIKE LEE, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 September 2008
FORT WORTH – Hurricane Ike still ranks as the cause of the biggest power outage in Texas history, but the damage to the state’s electric transmission system was lighter than first predicted, officials said Friday.
Texas Watch: Hurricane Ike was a chance for Bush to show softer side
TODD J. GILLMAN, Dallas Morning News, 21 September 2008
WASHINGTON – One lesson the Bush administration learned the hard way after Hurricane Katrina is that when disaster strikes, the public expects a personal touch – a show of empathy, engagement and oversight.
Moncriefs get face time with President Bush
By MARIA RECIO and ANNA M. TINSLEY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 September 2008
FORT WORTH – Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, on a lobbying trip to Washington in mid-September, had a VIP stop — the White House.
Church makes post-Ike Sunday seem normal
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 September 2008
ANAHUAC — Wearing jeans and rubber boots, clutching Bibles and weeping between hymns, residents of the storm-shattered Texas coast comforted each other Sunday at makeshift church services that provided more than a respite from Hurricane Ike cleanup.
Returning Galveston residents are warned about conditions
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 September 2008
GALVESTON — Rats, raw sewage and a no-excuses curfew await exiled residents who try to return to storm-wrecked Galveston Island when it reopens this week, officials warned Saturday, a week after Hurricane Ike came thundering ashore.
Ike's economic toll may take months to fully assess
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 September 2008
GALVESTON — Shrimpers and oystermen lost their boats to the muck.
Texas jobless rate jumps to 5%
By BRENDAN M. CASE, Dallas Morning News, 20 September 2008
DALLAS – Texas employers added just 6,700 nonfarm jobs in August, and the state’s jobless rate rose to 5 percent, its highest level in two years, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday.
Texas' jobless rate climbs to 5 percent
By JOHN AUSTIN, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 September 2008
FORT WORTH – Economic struggles hit home for Texas workers in August, with the jobless rate rising in North Texas and across the state, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
Without tax credit extension, wind industry could stall
By Trish Choate, San Angelo Standard-Times, 20 September 2008
WASHINGTON – Greg Wortham didn't have to go all the way to Germany to learn businesses won't invest in West Texas or order turbines from local manufacturers because Congress is hesitating to renew a tax credit driving the U.S. wind industry.
Nolan County soon to be home to world's largest wind farm
By Kimberly Cornutt, Abilene Reporter-News, 21 September 2008
ABILENE – Nolan County already claims to be home to the world's largest rattlesnake roundup. Now it's about to add world's largest wind farm.
Nuclear waste site planned near Texas-New Mexico border
By Enrique Rangel, Amarillo Globe-News, 20 September 2008
AUSTIN – Like many rural counties in West Texas, over the years Andrews County has experienced hard economic times and even lost some population.
Lucky Lufkin: Ike hit hard here, but we are in great shape by comparison
Lufkin Daily News, 21 September 2008
LUFKIN – When Hurricane Ike twisted across Texas, its winds did an incredible amount of damage to our state.
Texans Fighting Back Against Ike’s Strike
Tyler Morning Telegraph, 19 September 2008
TYLER – Texas has weathered the storm, although the hardships aren't over for many.
Ike's grim realities for legislators
Dallas Morning News, 21 September 2008
DALLAS – The last thing Galvestonians are thinking about today is what Ike's destruction means for the rest of Texas.
Ike has thrown out the typical politics
By ALAN BERNSTEIN, Houston Chronicle, 21 September 2008
HOUSTON – When Ike redesigned the coastline, it also rearranged the political landscape in Harris County for the Nov. 4 elections.
Should Galveston be rebuilt without new restrictions?
Washington Post, 21 September 2008
WASHINGTON – The situation on the Gulf Coast of Texas is dismal.
Does F stand for 'feeble'?
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 20 September 2008
ST. LOUIS – Natural disasters like Hurricane Ike, which slammed into the Houston area, cause all sorts of unexpected challenges.
Girding the grid
Houston Chronicle, 20 September 2008
HOUSTON – The winds of Hurricane Ike inflicted minor structural damage on buildings in the Houston metropolitan area, but trees toppled by the storm smashed homes and severed power lines, leaving millions in the dark. In the storm's aftermath, residents justifiably question whether more can't be done to secure the electrical grid.
Ray Perryman: A double whammy - on coast, on Wall Street
Waco Tribune-Herald, 21 September 2008
WACO – Last weekend, some people along the Gulf Coast and on Wall Street might have wondered if Chicken Little was right—the sky indeed was falling.
Clean coal can help meet the energy needs of Texas and the United States
By Bernard L. Weinstein, Dallas Morning News, 19 September 2008
DALLAS – As Congress strives to pass an energy bill before the election break, the debate is focused on offshore drilling, along with mandates for renewables, incentives for nuclear power, and repeal of tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.
People
Judge Harold Barefoot Sanders symbolized civil rights
By SCOTT FARWELL, Dallas Morning News, 22 September 2008
DALLAS – Legendary U.S. District Judge Harold Barefoot Sanders Jr., who oversaw the desegregation of Dallas schools, directed the overhaul of state schools for mentally disabled people and served as a legislative counsel to President Lyndon Johnson, died Sunday at his Dallas home after battling an infection.
Neugebauer's mother dies from cancer
By Joshua Hull, Lubbock AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 20 September 2008
LUBBOCK – The mother of U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, died Friday in Abilene after battling pulmonary cancer.
For some, leasing UT System land feels like owning
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 21 September 2008
OZONA — Buck Owens is like a lot of West Texas ranchers in some ways.
Laura Bush is in Dallas – but not to meet with her Realtor
By JESSICA MEYERS, Dallas Morning News, 19 September 2008
DALLAS – While in town this morning, first lady Laura Bush laid down a timetable for her Dallas house hunt: Before the family has to vacate the White House on Inaguration Day.
Last Train to Texas
By Anthony Zurcher, Texas Observer, 19 September 2008
Nearly eight years ago, President-elect George W. Bush led an exodus of Texans to help fill out the ranks of his administration in Washington.
The Assault on Freedom
By Molly Ivins and Louis Dubose, Texas Observer, 19 September 2008
July 4, 2004.
Bush's Bookend
By Forrest Wilder, Texas Observer, 19 September 2008
In August, Karl Rove addressed the prevailing view that historians will judge President Bush an abject failure.
DeLay's Blank Check
By Andrew Wheat, Texas Observer, 19 September 2008
Two years after scandal drove Tom DeLay from Congress and six years after DeLay allegedly violated state law to make over Texas’ congressional map, a state appeals court recently hammered out a stunning legal opinion that did all it could—and more than it should—to rescue DeLay and two fellow indicted cronies.
Mike Hashimoto: Is Watkins' goal justice or publicity?
Dallas Morning News, 22 September 2008
DALLAS – How could a reasonable person find fault with Craig Watkins' latest publicity venture, grandly reopening his predecessors' 40 not-yet-resolved death penalty cases?
