The Trib staff on the sweeping cuts in the proposed House budget, Grissom on what’s lost and not found at the Department of Public Safety, Galbraith on the wind power conundrum, Hamilton on higher ed’s pessimistic budget outlook, Stiles and Swicegood debut an incredibly useful bill tracker app, Ramsey interviews Rick Perry on the cusp of his second decade as governor, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist’s quest for asylum in the U.S., Ramshaw on life expectancy along the border, M. Smith on the obstacles school districts face in laying off teachers and yours truly talks gambling and the Rainy Day Fund with state Rep. Jim Pitts: The best of our best from January 17 to 21, 2011.
gambling
Posted in
State Government
A Conversation With Jim Pitts
The Waxahachie Republican talks about the size of the budget shortfall, the possibility of new revenue sources and why he’d support legalized gambling.
Posted in
State Government
Jim Pitts on Gambling
The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on why he’d back legalized gambling as a source of revenue for the state’s coffers.
Posted in
State Government
Blood Sport
Cockfighting in Texas has been illegal for decades, but a lengthy Humane Society investigation uncovered more than a dozen active rings throughout the state. What’s not illegal is raising fighting game cocks, attending a cockfight or possessing paraphernalia related to cock fights — such as gaffs, the razor blades owners strap to the birds’ legs to make them even more lethal. Animal rights activists came close in the last legislative session to getting such activities criminalized, which they say is critical to putting an end to cockfighting. They plan to try again next year.
Posted in
State Government
Inside a Dallas Cockfighting Bust
The Tribune’s cameras accompanied Dallas police officers as they broke up a cockfight in North Texas. Warning: This footage contains graphic images of abused animals.
Posted in
State Government
Undercover Footage: Inside a Cockfight
The Humane Society’s hidden camera goes inside a Texas cockfight. Warning: This footage contains graphic images of animal abuse.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
The People’s Choice
Three years after a crackdown that resulted in federal conspiracy charges against Laredo’s former police chief, the city’s electronic gaming parlors are back — most tucked in nondescript strip malls. Their resurgence owes to their popularity, says state Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, who has offered a solution: Let the voters decide.
Posted in
State Government
We Lose?
Citing performance issues and alleging a conflict of interest, critics blasted Friday’s decision by the Texas Lottery Commission to renew a 10-year operations contract worth up to $1 billion with Rhode Island-based GTECH Corporation, the state’s primary lottery vendor since its 1992 inception.
Posted in
Economy
Arlene Wohlgemuth: The TT Interview
The former budget-slashing Texas House member and current executive director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation on how she reads the mood out there, what reductions in state spending should be on the table, whether cost-shifting to local school districts is a plausible option, why lawmakers should forget about new sources of revenue, the trouble with Medicaid and what members of the Republican near-supermajority in the Legislature must do to keep the confidence of voters — and get re-elected.
Posted in
State Government
What 99 Means
When a party wins everything, as the GOP has in Texas this year, it gets almost everything its way. It also has everything to lose.
