September 30, 2010

Editorial

The Texas House almost certainly will come out of this election close to even, no matter which party has control. This will put great emphasis on those lawmakers who have shown they can work across the aisle to face our state's large challenges. 

This is slightly different than simple experience, which can mean merely hanging on to a safe seat. Fortunately for District 108, it has both experience and leadership in Republican Rep. Dan Branch, and voters would do well to keep him.

Rep. Dan Branch cheered on the crowd at the Woodrow Homecoming pep rally. Branch also greeted every member of the Wildcat football team, and visited with Principal Ruth Vail.

Chairman Dan Branch visited the University of Texas at Dallas for the dedication of the campus' new mall. Margaret McDermott gave much of the funding for the campus enhancement, and was on hand to deliver remarks, along with members of the UT System Board of Regents, UT-Dallas President David Daniel, and others.

September 30, 2010

Editorial

The Texas House almost certainly will come out of this election close to even, no matter which party has control. This will put great emphasis on those lawmakers who have shown they can work across the aisle to face our state's large challenges. 

This is slightly different than simple experience, which can mean merely hanging on to a safe seat. Fortunately for District 108, it has both experience and leadership in Republican Rep. Dan Branch, and voters would do well to keep him.

September 29, 2010

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A new study says laws that ban texting while driving don't reduce wrecks and might actually increase risks.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's claim research arm released its findings Tuesday in Kansas City.

The insurance industry group compiled data from California, Louisiana, Minnesota and Washington immediately before and after driver texting was banned.

September 23, 2010

Karel Holloway

Using a cellphone near a school in almost any area city could get you a ticket.

But not in Garland.

Garland hasn't put up warning signs informing motorists of a state law prohibiting the use of handheld devices in active school zones. Hands-free devices and emergency calls are allowed.

The law was passed by the last Legislature. But before police can enforce it, cities must put up signs around schools cautioning drivers about the prohibition.

Garland Mayor Ronald Jones supports the warning signs, but City Council members have been resistant to them.

At Jones' request, the council revisited the issue Monday, but in an informal poll, members again rejected the idea.

September 20, 2010

Aman Batheja

PoliTex Blog

Glimmers of the tension that many expect will characterize next year’s redistricting battle in Austin were on display Monday at a hearing in Dallas.

A House and Senate committee are jointly holding three hearings on redistricting in North Texas this week. Monday’s hearing was in downtown Dallas. A hearing on Tuesday will be in Arlington, followed by a Wednesday event in Richardson.

The meeting started at noon with an argument about the location.

Chairman Branch and the members of the House Higher Education committee traveled to San Marcos to hold a legislative hearing on the campus of TX State University-San Marcos. President Denise Trauth and Chancellor Brian McCall welcomed the committee to campus on the first day of classes for the Fall Semester. The committee heard testimony related to instructional materials.

September 7, 2010

Erin Mulvaney

AUSTIN – University of Texas junior Mariano Pintor said when he was growing up in Dallas, most of his friends thought "only rich kids go to college."

But Pintor, the son of a Dallas city maintenance worker, had plans: He wants to start some sort of business that will help people and make his parents proud. Thanks in part to an endangered state financial aid program, he's working on both.

"No one even told me that I could go to college," said Pintor, 20. He recalled walking through the campus after scoring his first "A" on an exam his freshman year and thinking, "I didn't think this was possible, but it's possible."

Pintor is one of about 113,000 students who received a TEXAS grant last year, the state's largest financial aid fund. But the program already has tens of thousands more applicants than it can serve, and with state budget cuts looming next year, about 24,000 more could be left behind.

September 2, 2010

Reeve Hamilton

Rashad Deckard has something going for him that eludes many of his peers in Palestine, his hometown. In December, he'll graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. “People who come from small towns, we have few role models,” he says, “especially in the black community."

"They see me in college and the things I’m doing,” he says of younger Palestine students, “and it makes them want to go to college.”

Deckard has served as president of the school’s NAACP chapter, completed an internship at Merrill Lynch and was crowned homecoming king. But he couldn't have done any of that, he says, without a TEXAS Grant. Established by the Legislature in 1999, the Toward Excellence, Access and Success Grant today is the state’s largest financial aid program, and it covers full tuition at most state schools. To be eligible, a student must have graduated from high school — without getting a drug conviction along the way — and be an entering undergraduate.

Now, with an expected budget shortfall that some estimate could hit $18 billion, all state agencies are being asked to cut back 10 percent, and TEXAS Grants could be slashed. According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which administers the program, a 10 percent cut would mean approximately 24,000 fewer TEXAS Grants would be available to college students in the next biennium — a drop from 113,000 to 89,000. In particular, first-time TEXAS Grants would drop from 78,000 to 37,000, a decline of 41,000. That means approximately two out of three new students eligible to receive an initial TEXAS Grant would be turned away.