Video: Castro on Baltimore
At our 5/1 conversation, Julián Castro, the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, talked about the lessons of Baltimore — and how to prevent the next Baltimore. Full Story
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Amid Truancy Debate, Whitmire Questions Program's Referrals
State Sen. John Whitmire is asking questions about a program for at-risk youths run by the Texas Military Department where more than half of the applicants are truant students referred by justice of the peace courts or from the schools themselves. Full Story
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Video: Turner on Baltimore
At our 4/30 conversation, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and a candidate for Houston mayor, talked about the events this week in Baltimore — and the takeaways for other big cities. Full Story
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Chambers Not Too Far Apart on Border Security
Despite appearances, the House and Senate aren't too far apart on border security funding, says the lone border lawmaker on the budget conference committee. One sticking point is funding for state trooper pay. Full Story
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![State Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston and State Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen.]()
Credit: Illustration by Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Gay Marriage Cases Give Republicans the Jitters
With the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear oral arguments in four same-sex marriage cases on Tuesday, Texas Republicans are already looking for loopholes in hopes of getting around a possible decision that effectively legalizes gay marriage. Full Story
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![During the Defense of Texas Marriage Amendment Rally on Mar. 23, 2015 at the Texas Capitol, a protester raises questions of marriage sanctity noting celebrities who've been married multiple times.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Inmate Set for Execution Seeks Supreme Court Stay
Lawyers for a Texas inmate convicted of capital murder in the 1999 stabbing death of a prison guard have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his Tuesday execution. Full Story
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![Robert Lynn Pruett, scheduled to be executed Tuesday night in Huntsville for the 1999 murder of a Bee County prison guard.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Inside Texas Politics: Breakfast Blowup
On this week's edition of WFAA-TV's Inside Texas Politics, host Jason Whitely, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy and Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey talk about last week's "breakfast blowup." Full Story
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![Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey talks to WFAA "Inside Texas Politics" host Jason Whitely on April 26, 2015.]()
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Guardianship Reform Could Offer New Freedoms
Dawn Carlton is intellectually disabled, but she says she manages fine on her own. The 38-year-old woman is pushing for a series of bills this legislative session to change the way court-appointed guardians are used in Texas. Full Story
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![Dawn Carlton is pushing for a series of bills this legislative session to change the way court-appointed guardians are used in Texas.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond -
Senate Approves Body Camera Legislation
Local law enforcement agencies could apply for grants to equip their officers with body cameras and could also come up with guidelines for the equipment under legislation that the Senate approved Thursday. Full Story
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![Left to right: Officer Mario Martinez, Sergeant R. Richman and officer L. Lyons on duty.]()
Credit: Muliadi Soenaryo -
Bonnen: Patrick "Playing Games" With Border Security
A key member of the Texas House’s Republican leadership blasted Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as a Washington-style politician a day after the Texas Senate passed its version of a sweeping border security bill. Full Story
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![Ways and Means chair State Rep.Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, while debating State Rep. Sylvester Turner on HB11 border security bill March 18, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Senate Sends Border Security Measure to House
The Texas Senate on Monday passed its own sweeping border security bill, choosing to send its own version to the House rather than taking up the House’s measure, which the lower chamber passed last month. Full Story
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![Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, listens during a debate over Senate Bill 11 on March 18, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Politicians Pick New Way to Get Prosecuted
State politicians, high court judges and top bureaucrats would get public corruption cases against them moved to their home counties under a controversial bill that cleared the Texas House on Monday. Full Story
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After Dog Shootings, House Approves Canine Training for Cops
Three years after a police officer shot and killed their 5-year-old border collie, Mark and Cindy Boling watched Friday as the Texas House voted for a police canine training program they have been calling for since the day the dog died. Full Story
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![Lily was shot and killed on May 26, 2012, by a Fort Worth police officer.]()
Credit: Cindy Boling -
After Misfire, House Reloads Open Carry Bill
After a bit of a Democratic gamesmanship shot down a major gun debate before it started, a measure that would allow gun owners with a concealed handgun license to carry their weapons openly in public is back on the House schedule Friday. Full Story
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![State Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, held an impromptu press conference to explain the postponement of his open carry bill after House Democrats raised a point of order on April 14, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Video: Seliger and Zerwas on Campus Carry
At our 4/16 conversation, state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond — the chairmen, respectively, of the Senate and House Higher Education committees — handicapped the prospects for passage of campus carry legislation. Full Story
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DPS Chief: Resume Inquiry Into Border Security Contracts
Looking to clear the Texas Department of Public Safety's name, the agency’s top official is asking the head of the state's anti-corruption unit to renew a halted investigation into $20 million no-bid border security contracts. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steve McCraw gives testimony during the joint Interim Committee to Study Human Trafficking in La Joya, Texas July 24th, 2014]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Lawmaker Says Death Penalty Could End if Drug Suppliers Revealed
If the names of the compounding pharmacies providing execution drugs to Texas officials are made public, it could end the death penalty, state Rep. John Smithee told a house committee on Wednesday. Full Story
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![The view of Texas' execution chamber from a witness viewing room.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
John Legend Targets Texas Incarceration Rates
Ahead of a trip to Texas to advocate for an end to mass incarceration, the Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer talked with the Tribune about why the state is so crucial to the criminal justice reform movement. Full Story
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Castro Asks Feds for Border Surge Details
A Democratic congressman has asked the federal government to do what the Texas Department of Public Safety has said it can’t: Provide information on what role federal agents have played during the state’s multimillion-dollar border surge. Full Story
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![Former Texas House member and current Congressman Joaquin Castro at TTEvents with Evan Smith on Feb. 19, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Lawmakers Skeptical of Body Cameras for Police — for Now
State Rep. Ron Reynolds made his case on Thursday for requiring cops in Texas to wear body cameras, citing the fatal police shooting of an unarmed man in South Carolina. But police advocates were skeptical. Full Story
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![Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, during a House Environmental Regulations Committee meeting on April 16, 2013.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera