Student restraints, Day 3: Jennifer Howson's story
Jennifer Howson, 21, was restrained dozens of times at her school in the northeast Texas town of Kemp, often sustaining scrapes, bruises and black eyes. Full Story
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T-Squared: He's Got Your (Feed)Back
On the subject of nits picked -- in a very good way -- Aron Pilhofer of the New York Times just posted a long and thoughtful critique of our site. Full Story
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The Polling Center: Are Texas Independents Really All That Independent?
Do the majority of Texans who call themselves independents actually behave that way at the polls? The inaugural UT/TT poll provides a decisive answer to that question: No. Full Story
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TribBlog: Restraints: A gut-wrenching case
Of all the tales of restraints gone wrong I heard while reporting this story on Texas special education students, this one is the worst: Full Story
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T-Squared: We've Got Your (Feed)Back
Forty-eight hours or so have passed since we opened for business, and your cards and letters -- more like your tweets and e-mails -- are telling us much of what we need to know about the changes you'd like to see to our site, things that would enhance your experience. Full Story
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The Brief: November 5, 2009
Recommendation: Do not get swine flu. Tracking the vaccine is getting to be like figuring out what happened to all the TARP money. Full Story
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Mixed impressions inside the poll numbers
Texans say immigration tops their list of state concerns. Nearly half of them say illegal immigrants should be deported, as against 41 percent who think the immigrants should be allowed to keep their jobs, assimilate, and eventually be allowed to apply for legal status. Full Story
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Who will lead Houston next? Locke and Parker have opinions
Next month Houston voters will select a new mayor for the first time in six years, replacing the term-limited Bill White. The two remaining candidates discuss their paths to victory. Full Story
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Ads Infinitum: Medina, en español
Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina launched the first in what she says will be a series of Spanish-language commercials that will air on South Texas cable — on CNN, Fox News, and Univision. Full Story
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The Midday Brief: November 4, 2009
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
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2010: Former Tigua leader mulling Senate run
Albert Alvidrez, a former governor of the Tigua tribe in El Paso, is mulling a run for the Texas Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Sen. Eliot Shapleigh. But having Alvidrez in the Senate might not earn the tribe another vote for gambling rights. Full Story
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Faulty figures: The great dropout debate
Despite years of research, the true picture of dropout and graduation rates remains elusive, even the subject of cross words between researchers. The consensus: Far too many Texas public school students, particularly those from poor and minority families, don’t cross the high-school finish line. Full Story
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Dropout problem drags Texas down
“I represent a district that has 80 percent renters, 70 percent of people speaking a first language other than English, where there’s a high school with 42 languages and 40 percent turnover of the student body every year — now tell me how you plan to calculate the dropout rate,” Rep. Scott Hochberg said. “I will stipulate that it’s too big — let’s just start there. I wish we fought over solutions as much as we fight over the number.” Full Story
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![The 2007-08 graduating class started with more than 370,000 students — and ended with about 237,000, or 64 percent. Not all students dropped out. Some left Texas public school and graduated elsewhere. Researchers argue over how to measure the dropout rate, but they agree on this point: It's way too high, and disproportionately high for Hispanic and black students.]()
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2010: Another El Paso Republican to challenge Moody
El Paso Republican Rene Diaz invited us at The Texas Tribune this morning to join him on his "journey" as he runs for the Texas House. Diaz is going to run for the HD78 seat that Democrat Joe Moody now represents. Full Story
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2010: The Distinguished Gentlelady from H-P?
Another Texan is running for the U.S. Senate -- but in an actual race, not a hypothetical one that depends on dominoes falling, and not in Texas. Austin native Carly Fiorina, the ousted CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a chastened adviser to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, made formal today her plans to seek the Republican nomination for the California Senate seat now held by Barbara Boxer. Full Story
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Student Restraints Day 2: How Texas school districts compare
Texas school districts vary widely in how often they physically restrain students with disabilities – despite a shared state policy on when to use them. Use this interactive graphic to see how school districts compared during the 2007-08 school year, the most recent statewide data available. Full Story
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On the Records: Dealing with FEC data
Long story short: It's a nightmare. Full Story
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2010: Hair Yesterday, Gone Today
So Houston hair-care king Farouk Shami is in the race, pledging to spend $10 million to win a Democratic primary in which the majority of voters are still undecided. Among the interesting things to watch will be the dynamic between Shami and his rival for the nomination, Kinky Friedman, as the two are well acquainted: Shami was the subject of one of Kinky's fawning TEXAS MONTHLY columns (edited by yours truly) back in 2003 -- the sort of piece in which he would go all gooey over someone he professes to love, like Racehorse Haynes or Jim Nabors. Full Story
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The Brief: November 4, 2009
Enroll in a soon-to-be tier-one university, frolic freely along the coast, and create a buffer zone around your military base! Full Story
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Poll: What Texans are worried about
The economy clearly leads Texans' list of concerns about the country in the inaugural University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Credit: Jacob Villanueva