Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Illegal immigrants are flowing into Texas across its long borders. But they aren't just swimming across the Rio Grande from Mexico or making dangerous treks through the rugged desert.

Medicine mix-ups, accidental overdoses and bad drug reactions harm roughly one out of 15 hospitalized children, according to the first scientific test of a new detection method.

Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.

For years, Johnson & Johnson obscured evidence that its popular Ortho Evra birth control patch delivered much more estrogen than standard birth control pills, potentially increasing the risk of blood clots and strokes, according to internal company documents.

Paperwork for applicants has been lost. Needy Texans have received little help from state workers when they've complained of mistakes. And all too often, Texans who should qualify for state-paid health care and other benefits have been refused because of such errors.

Less than a month after the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would tighten smog standards, Texas could join a lawsuit to stop the change.

Shankle, 54, said that after 32 years of working for the state, including four years as the environmental agency's head, he "needed more flexibility" and time with his 16 year-old daughter, Alexis.

Texas ranks 46th among the states in terms of child well-being, according to a report released Wednesday by a nonprofit group that promotes adopting national policies for children, youth and families.

Announcement came as a Washington nonprofit reported alarmingly low graduation rates in many of the nation's largest urban districts, including Dallas, which was listed as having the seventh-worst graduation rate among school systems in the 50 largest cities.

Three scientists from the National Academies, a coalition of science advisory groups, said years of scientific research have consistently supported evolution, the biological theory that humans and other species evolved from lower forms of life.

Everyday I hear José. José is an intern in my office. He's a wonderful guy. I learn more from José with each passing day. He works here part time, is enrolled for three classes, is in the middle of his student teaching, and works as a part-time substitute teacher.

"Let me tell you my theory about PTSD," said US VET's Mitchell, a Vietnam veteran and licensed counselor. "Everyone that is in a combat zone experiences PTSD. The key is what support systems are there for when they get home."

Forcing property-poor school districts, such as Fort Bend and Pasadena, to help finance a state bonus pay program for superior teachers "is illegal and inequitable," Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, contends in a letter to Education Commissioner Robert Scott.

If it seems like you've been paying more at the supermarket, it's because you have. And you may have to get used to it. Higher fuel prices have pushed up food prices nationwide, forcing shoppers to reshuffle family budgets, rethink eating out and make thriftier grocery choices.

More than half of U.S. doctors now favor switching to a national health care plan and fewer than a third oppose the idea, according to a survey published on Monday.

The Clean Air Act's noose of non-attainment is tightening around the Austin region under the newly announced federal eight-hour ozone standard, a fact that guarantees Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) will have plenty to say about clean air and the performance of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality next session.

Immigration is good for the financial health of Social Security because more workers mean more tax revenue. Illegal immigration, it turns out, is even better than legal immigration. In the fine print of the 2008 annual report on Social Security, released last week, the program's trustees noted that growing numbers of "other than legal" workers are expected to bolster the program over the coming decades.

The number of children living in state schools for the disabled has grown by 80 percent in the last five years, a trend advocates say threatens decades of work to move Texas' most fragile youths back into family homes.

The number of Americans heading abroad for medical procedures is surging as the country's 46 million people without health insurance look for treatment they can afford and cash-strapped U.S. companies struggle to find cheaper ways to provide high-quality medical care to their employees, according to the American Medical Association.

The chairman of the Texas Border Coalition says that in trying to force through construction of a border wall, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is attempting the largest environmental waiver in U.S. history.