Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Researchers at the Institute of Health Promotion Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio compiled local, state and national data on 32 conditions and found several disparities when comparing the health of residents of 38 South Texas counties to the rest of Texas and the nation.

The Lone Star State passed New York as home to the most big companies in the latest list compiled by Fortune magazine. Texas now boasts 58 headquarters, three more than New York, the previous No. 1, and California, with 52.

Economic theory is leaping out of the textbook and into real life for people in their teens, 20s and 30s, who are experiencing inflation for the first time.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs isn't doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for Americans who have served in the armed forces, a class-action lawsuit that goes to trial this week charges.

The Bush administration violated federal law last year when it restricted states' ability to provide health insurance to children of middle-income families, and its new policy is therefore unenforceable, lawyers from the Government Accountability Office said Friday.

Some 300,000 U.S. troops are suffering from major depression or post traumatic stress from serving in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 320,000 received brain injuries, a new study estimates.

Over a five-year period, Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina took out three high-interest, adjustable rate home equity loans amounting to nearly the full value of his home, which later burned in an arson fire.

For years, the state's leadership has equated forward educational thinking with controversial standardized testing at the public school level. But even if it worked perfectly — and it doesn't — there aren't enough top-tier institutions in Texas to meet the demand.

Gov. Rick Perry promised to keep fighting for private toll roads and his other transportation priorities Tuesday during his first major speech on the subject since the death in December of transportation commission chairman Ric Williamson.

The Tyler Republican pledges to re-introduce the immigration reform bills he authored last session, despite opposition from Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas. And he'll tell Swinford so Monday, when he testifies in Austin before Swinford's State Affairs Committee.

Last week, Republican State Rep. Todd Smith of Bedford told Texas Weekly, an online political newsletter, that the results of primary races around the state have convinced him that Craddick will be re-elected speaker next year unless Democrats win a majority in the state House.

Look at our public schools, colleges and health care system. Each faces the reality that Texas is becoming poorer, older and more Latino. I've written about these demographic shifts before, but it's in our best interest to remember them while evaluating gubernatorial candidates. (Yes, I know, we haven't even finished the presidential race. But Mr. Perry got ahead of that contest last week with his surprise re-election announcement, so the governor's race is on.)

More than one in four Texas teachers moonlight at second jobs to make ends meet, putting in an extra 12 hours of work a week outside their classrooms, according to a survey released Friday by the Texas State Teachers Association.

The inability of many Texas students to write and speak English well is like a dreadful disease requiring aggressive treatment, say some education advocates who want to use different teaching approaches.

Despite increases in college enrollment, Hispanics — especially men — lag behind other groups when it comes to earning the degree that makes it all worthwhile. In 2007, 13 percent of Hispanics over 25 held a bachelor's degree, compared with 19 percent of African Americans and 32 percent of Anglos, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

San Antonio parents who send their kids to Catholic schools using privately funded vouchers are reeling from a sucker punch they didn't see coming.

The Texas attorney general's office has filed a lawsuit accusing an Austin company of selling fraudulent discount health card plans to pregnant women, the office announced Monday.

County commissioners, the county judge and the county attorney are required by state law to file the documents, but the rule does not apply to other elected officials or staffers who make recommendations regarding taxpayer money.

Although some states regulate how much in fees such lenders can charge, Texas does not. About 60 percent of local paycheck lenders -- they prefer to be called consumer-service or credit service organizations -- are members of a national organization called Community Service Financial Services of America. Members are required to prominently post their charges in large type.

On Jan. 3, Mr. Chatman became the 15th man in Dallas County to be released from prison, exonerated by DNA evidence. This will probably be categorized as old news by some readers; others won't even recognize the name or the case. And, for me, that's troubling.