Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Trailers didn't arrive in the numbers promised. Some that did were padlocked and unusable. But if that's not enough of slap in the face to hurricane victims, FEMA now is trying to dump cleanup costs it should pay onto Texas counties.

Whether creationism has a place in science classrooms was the subject of intense debate Wednesday at a State Board of Education meeting. The board is reviewing new curriculum guidelines for science courses in Texas schools and will vote next year on standards for textbooks.

Sunset staff issued a joint report for TYC, the new Office of the Independent Ombuds­man, and the Texas Juvenile Pro­ba­tion Commission. The reason, they wrote, was that "historically, TYC and TJPC have operated in silos." Condemning them for failure to improve communication and cooperation, even after repeated legislative interventions, staff made a radical proposal: Dissolve both TYC and TJPC, and replace them with one single agency, the Texas Juvenile Jus­tice Department.

The state’s sexual abuse case against a former youth prison administrator has stalled because his attorney was arrested and stopped appearing at hearings, court records show.

State Rep. Leo Berman is ready for a fight -- a court fight, that is. The East Texas lawmaker filed a bill Monday that would take away citizenship rights of U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. He knows the measure would land Texas in court if it passed, and that's exactly what Berman wants.

Turmoil in world financial markets has taken a bite out of one source of money for Texas' public schools. The contribution from the Permanent School Fund, a constitutionally dedicated endowment for public education created in 1854 , will decrease to $1.15 billion in the next state budget from $1.4 billion in the current budget.

There's a lot not to like about the new administrative rule, which was quietly adopted over the summer by the Public Safety Commission after lawmakers refused for years to pass it. It could lead to more unlicensed, uninsured drivers and could feed the black market demand for fraudulent documents.

El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos was making the rounds in Washington last week, but just what he was doing there depends on who one asks. He was spotted along the way by other El Pasoans, and the county auditor’s office reports that there was a $125 charge on the county credit card Cobos carries in Dallas, a stop-over, that Monday afternoon.

As the State Board of Education weighed proposed changes to how science is taught in Texas public school classrooms during a meeting Wednesday, rhetoric and linguistic nuances dominated the discussion rather than talk of test tubes and, well, science.

articipants in the second GECU Savings Challenge say the 11-month contest has changed their lives and taught them sound financial habits that they will use the rest of their lives.

Interpol is sending a special investigative team to Mexico to determine whether sensitive information from its database on criminals and terrorists was leaked to drug cartels, the agency said Wednesday.

People without health insurance, a big and growing problem in Texas, suffer poorer health than the insured and drive up health care costs for everyone, the president of the Texas Hospital Association said. But the bulk of the 5.7 million uninsured Texans are working people or have at least one working family member.

Clean power and energy independence have been touted throughout this year’s presidential campaign as a way to help both the environment and the economy. Here in Central Texas, efforts are under way to promote renewable energy through legislative measures, as well as corporate programs.

A last-minute Bush administration plan to grant sweeping new protections to health care providers who oppose abortion and other procedures on religious or moral grounds has provoked a torrent of objections, including a strenuous protest from the government agency that enforces job discrimination laws.

It’s the annual “open enrollment” season in corporate America, when employees choose their medical plans for the coming year. But this time, even if they are fortunate enough to have a job at a company that still offers health benefits, many workers are finding that the buffet of options has been trimmed to a very short menu.

There is a legitimate question about whether the Public Safety Commission has the authority to establish checkpoints to stop drivers to review their licenses, vehicle registrations and proof of insurance. That question will be answered by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

The health insurance industry said Wednesday that it would support a health care overhaul requiring insurers to accept all customers, regardless of illness or disability. But in return, the industry said, Congress should require all Americans to have coverage.

The health insurance industry said Wednesday it will support a national health care overhaul that requires them to accept all customers, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions - but in return it wants lawmakers to mandate that everyone buy coverage.

The proceedings represent the first major trial involving BA, which operates in El Paso and West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The testimony is revealing much about how this El Paso-based prison gang operates, and how it interfaces with Mexican drug cartel allies that supply its drugs.

Mexican police at about 12:15 p.m. Saturday found the bodies of the man and woman in a gray 2004 Kia Amanti riddled with bullets at Boulevard Cuatro Siglos between Hermanos Escobar and Pérez Serna. Police said the car had U.S. plates.