The Texas Tribune: Main Feed

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title>The Texas Tribune: Main Feed</title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/</link><description>All of the latest stories, video and audio from The Texas Tribune.</description><atom:link href="http://www.texastribune.org/feeds/main/" rel="self"></atom:link><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 21:39:56 -0500</lastBuildDate><item><title>How Rick Perry Ended Up in a Financial Hole </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/how-rick-perry-ended-financial-hole/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/how-rick-perry-ended-financial-hole/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/07/03/Perry_NH_July_3_TT_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="Rick Perry delivers his stump speech to Republican voters and activists at a lake house near Derry, New Hampshire on July 3, 2015."> </a> </div> Already considered among the walking wounded politically,&nbsp;Rick Perry startled the Texas political world on Tuesday when it became clear&nbsp;that his presidential&nbsp;campaign is&nbsp;in serious financial trouble. This is the man who dominated state politics &mdash; and drew deeply from the pockets of&nbsp;Texas donors &mdash; for fifteen years. He&nbsp;raised&nbsp;$17 million in the first seven weeks of his ill-fated&nbsp;2012 presidential campaign, but&nbsp;almost four years to the day later<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/perry-no-longer-paying-campaign-staff-south-caroli/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">&nbsp;couldn&rsquo;t make payroll on his second presidential </a>bid. Like nearly everything else&nbsp;about&nbsp;the former governor's&nbsp;campaign, wooing donors&nbsp;is proving&nbsp;far more difficult the second time around.&nbsp; July and August are notoriously hard months to raise campaign&nbsp;money. But a source close to the Perry campaign said his failure to make&nbsp;last week&rsquo;s Fox News prime time debate weighed on campaign fundraising. Perry&rsquo;s return to the debate stage was supposed to prove what is known on the ground in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina: That Perry is a much-improved candidate since his disastrous &ldquo;Oops&rdquo; moment in a 2011 GOP debate. But that was not to be, since&nbsp;Perry did not poll high enough to qualify for the evening debate last Thursday. When it became clear that Perry would instead appear in the undercard debate, fundraising deflated, according to this source. The earlier&nbsp;debate featured backbencher candidates and&nbsp;was derided in the press as the &ldquo;kids' table&rdquo; and the &ldquo;happy hour debate." Still, one plugged-in former Bush administration official who used to work for&nbsp;former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchsion said Perry's debate misfortune didn't&nbsp;matter, citing former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina&rsquo;s breakthrough that night.&nbsp; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like being at the kids&rsquo; table was the death knell,&rdquo; said GOP consultant Jenifer Sarver of Fiorina&rsquo;s performance. Depending on his performance in the polls,&nbsp;Perry could still make the next&nbsp;national debate set for&nbsp;Sept. 16. But&nbsp;that would place him smack in the middle of his second-biggest problem &mdash; a GOP field much bigger and deeper than 2011, when&nbsp;conservative activists practically drafted him because they were so unhappy with their options.&nbsp; An exceptional number of the 17 top contenders <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/01/09/all-roads-lead-to-texas/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">have ties to the Lone Star State</a> &ndash; and competing donor loyalties.&nbsp; Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hails from the Texas family dynasty that practically invented the concept of political bundling in Texas.&nbsp; Take Tyler attorney Gaylord Hughey, for example. Known as the single-most important Republican bundler in East Texas,&nbsp;he&nbsp;raised $15,000 for Perry during the 2012 campaign, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/bundlers.php?id=N00033486">according to the Center for Responsive Politics.&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/bundlers.php?id=N00033486"> </a> <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/bundlers.php?id=N00033486">Hughey joined</a>&nbsp;with the Bush campaign earlier this year.&nbsp;In an interview with The&nbsp;Texas Tribune, Hughey underscored Perry&rsquo;s ability to maintain loyalty among donors and staffers.&nbsp;But, he noted, the former governor never did corner the Texas donor market this year. &ldquo;Gov. Perry&rsquo;s traditional donor base was divided when he decided to run for president,&rdquo; Hughey said. &ldquo;There were other allegiances and alliances in those relationships that that donor base responded to."&nbsp; Other Texas operatives not involved with the campaign speculate some of Perry's recent&nbsp;struggles&nbsp;arose because he is now an out-of-office politician, no longer wielding the implicit powers of the&nbsp;governorship. Instead, he is competing against&nbsp;sitting U.S. Senator and fellow Texan <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ted-cruz/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Ted Cruz</a>. And&nbsp;there are plenty of non-Texas candidates eager to poach donations from Perry's backyard.&nbsp; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/14/rubio-looks-texas-campaign-cash/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">competed early on for Texas dollars</a>, getting the backing of Dallas-based investor George Seay.&nbsp;And Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/13/scott-walker-hires-texas-fundraiser/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">hired </a>Austin-based fundraiser Susan Lilly in February to run his Texas fundraising. The&nbsp;large field means&nbsp;all of the candidates, save for Bush, are spread thin on the hard money side &mdash; the dollars raised in $2,700 increments that go directly to the candidate's official campaign. The surprise, at least in Texas circles, is that Perry was the first candidate to falter. Not everyone was shocked.&nbsp;His super PAC supporters say they saw the writing on the wall when his campaign filed its quarterly financial report in July and proactively began preparing.&nbsp; &ldquo;We saw this coming," Austin Barbour, senior adviser to Perry&rsquo;s super PACs, <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/despite-money-woes-perry-campaign-details-path-for/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">told The Washington Post.</a> "We knew we would have to do more than just paid media and there&rsquo;s nothing in the playbook that says we can&rsquo;t do that." Barbour and his colleagues raised far more &mdash; $17 million &mdash; for their operations. In fact, that sum put Perry in the top tier of super PAC dollars. And so on Tuesday, a polarizing&nbsp;debate emerged&nbsp;among political spectators&nbsp;as to whether this moment marked the beginning of the end for Perry, or if it is far too early in the campaign to draw such sweeping conclusions.&nbsp; It's been a bad week, most would agree,&nbsp;but Perry's political skills could well keep his campaign going until the caucuses and primaries kick off in February.&nbsp; Perry's retail political skills <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/09/rick-perry-republican-sleeper/%20?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">frighten his rivals</a>, and now&nbsp;that he is out of office,&nbsp;he has the time to make his case one-on-one to voters in the early states. That is how U.S. Sen. John McCain survived his mid-July 2007 presidential campaign implosion and went on to win the party nomination. McCain's&nbsp;issue then was the same &mdash; finances &mdash; but the dynamics were somewhat different. McCain was the early Republican frontrunner in that race and was unable to live up to expectations. Perry, by contrast, is unable to separate himself from the back of the GOP pack. McCain actually improved as a candidate after his campaign fell apart. Perry&rsquo;s campaign manager told The Washington Post that his candidate had similar attributes. &ldquo;None of those people have the track record that Rick Perry has," Jeff Miller said.&nbsp;&ldquo;Rick Perry performs best when his back&rsquo;s against the wall.&rdquo; Perry will also benefit from the changes in campaign finance law. There were&nbsp;no such thing as super PACs at that time, whereas the Perry super PAC team is well-funded.&nbsp; One Perry&nbsp;supporter, Dallas-based fundraiser Roy Bailey, said Perry&nbsp;only needs to place well in an early state primary to regain his footing. &ldquo;He wouldn&rsquo;t have to win, by the way, to have huge momentum,&rdquo; Bailey said. &ldquo;If he finished top four or five, he&rsquo;s got huge momentum.&rdquo; Bailey pointed to McCain&rsquo;s narrowed focus on a single state as the solution to Perry's trouble.&nbsp; &ldquo;Perry would, I think to survive, have to have the same kind of strategy: Pick his place to win and go make it happen."&nbsp; </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Abby Livingston</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 21:39:56 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/how-rick-perry-ended-financial-hole/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>For Cruz, Southern Push One Part of Long Game </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/cruz-sec-primary-push-just-one-part-long-game/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/cruz-sec-primary-push-just-one-part-long-game/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/08/11/Cruz_SEC_TT_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks Tuesday in Olive Branch, Mississippi. The 2016 presidential candidate was visiting the area as part of a weeklong swing through seven southern states expected to make up the so-called &quot;SEC primary&quot; on March 1, 2016."> </a> </div> MEMPHIS, Tenn. &ndash; Ted Cruz is spending the week in southern states like this one, making the case to voters over gravy-soaked biscuits, fried chicken and sweet tea that they will have an outsized say in nominating the GOP&rsquo;s 2016 presidential candidate. "We are focused heavily on the South, and the reason is this year's presidential schedule has been compressed and accelerated," Cruz told reporters before a stop here, echoing a familiar message for thousands who have turned out to see him since Friday in the so-called &ldquo;SEC primary&rdquo; states that will vote earlier than usual on March 1. "Tennessee, I believe, is going to play a critical role in the Republican primary process and all of the SEC primary's going to play a critical role helping ensure that the next Republican nominee is a real and a genuine conservative." Yet while Cruz trumpets the importance of the SEC primary &mdash; he has described it as a &ldquo;firewall&rdquo; &mdash; it is just one part of a long-game strategy he is ramping up as he plots a path to the White House. The Republican Texas senator is gearing up for a drawn-out hunt for delegates that, if all goes according to plan, could culminate with him as the conservative alternative to a moderate frontrunner when the dust settles next spring. In an interview aboard his campaign bus between Tupelo and Olive Branch, Mississippi, Cruz argued that few other candidates are equipped for the long haul like he is &mdash; and some are betting too much on potentially winning a single early-voting state. Cruz has already began building leadership teams and making trips to states far into the nominating schedule, even beyond the southern locales he is currently barnstorming. &ldquo;Of the 17 Republican candidates in the field, a significant number of those candidates are not in a position to be able to run a national campaign,&rdquo; Cruz said. &ldquo;They lack the financial resources, they lack the manpower, they lack the leadership teams, the grassroots teams, and they&rsquo;re not investing time that is needed for a national campaign. We&rsquo;re committed to doing all of that.&rdquo; In Cruz's view, the accelerated primary schedule is meant to benefit the candidate with the most money, typically a moderate whose coffers can keep pace with the one-two punch of contests. But he believes he may be able to flip that script as a well-funded conservative, an achievement that has become a regular part of his stump speech.&nbsp; Cruz&rsquo;s long-simmering talk of a dragged-out nomination fight has led to speculation about a brokered convention, which has not happened in decades. On Tuesday, Cruz acknowledged the long odds of such a scenario but insisted his campaign was nonetheless prepared.&nbsp; &ldquo;History has shown that hasn&rsquo;t happened in a long time, so it&rsquo;s probably not a likely outcome,&rdquo; Cruz said. &ldquo;But anything is possible, and so any sensible campaign will prepare for every eventuality.&rdquo; Cruz is quick to note that his focus on the long run does not mean he is neglecting the first three early voting states. But in the interview, he suggested the sped-up 2016 process may not reward a candidate who stakes his or her hopes on only Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina. &ldquo;In prior cycles, a candidate could go basically move to Iowa, live there for a year and hope to get struck by lightning and surprise everyone and ride that momentum" to win the nomination, Cruz said. &ldquo;I think the 2016 calendar makes that path extraordinarily difficult.&rdquo; Cruz said he was struck by how many Republican candidates view either Iowa or New Hampshire as a "must win." If those candidates do not excel in their designated state, their campaigns are "effectively over," he added, contrasting that with the "breadth" of support he believes his campaign has built across the country. Cruz supporters see the strategy as a natural approach for a scrappy underdog who mastered the art of the long haul while waging a long-shot bid for Senate against former Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Among those backers is Saul Anuzis, who runs Cruz's campaign in Michigan, which votes March 8. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s being realistic,&rdquo; Anuzis said. &ldquo;If you look at his Senate race, he didn&rsquo;t win it by going up front and knocking a few home runs at once. He did it by consistently hitting singles through all nine innings.&rdquo; Such a plan has its skeptics, particularly among those who interpret promises of a "national campaign" as a ploy to ease expectations for a candidate's performance in the first three early voting states.&nbsp; &ldquo;A lot of people are trying to talk that game, and I get it," said a GOP operative working for a rival campaign. "All the candidates are going to try to be smart and build the network to get them into March and the SEC primary, but the reality is &mdash; and Cruz knows this better than anybody else &mdash; the meal ticket comes out of Iowa, and he&rsquo;s going to have to do exceedingly well" there. Cruz, no doubt aware of the appearance, is emphasizing throughout his southern swing that he is still &ldquo;all in&rdquo; in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Speaking with reporters before the Memphis stop, Cruz said the three states "matter intensely." &ldquo;You have to be careful you don&rsquo;t put too much emphasis on too far out,&rdquo; said Tim Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa. Hagle noted Cruz may indeed be "all in" in places like Iowa, but the perception could be "that if he's in these SEC states, he's not here in Iowa and other candidates may be."&nbsp; In any case, the strategy is on full display with Cruz&rsquo;s weeklong swing through seven southern states that represent almost a third of the delegates needed to win the GOP nomination. The tour, scheduled to wrap up Thursday in Oklahoma, is taking him to many parts of the country that have yet to a see 2016 candidate, giving him an early and aggressive start on building support in the South.&nbsp; On Tuesday, Cruz&rsquo;s campaign was already declaring its Cruz Country bus tour a success, boasting of crowds that all numbered at least 500. One event drew nearly 2,000 people, his team said.&nbsp; Among Cruz backers, his slow-but-steady approach to the primary map continues to evoke memories of his Senate campaign. Those supporters include Gaylon Wiley, a pastor who has known Cruz since he was eight years old. &ldquo;Of course he won the Senate race in Texas. Nobody thought he could do that. He did, and he may pull this one off,&rdquo; said Wiley, who came to see Cruz on Monday afternoon in Murfreesboro, Tenneessee. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll do everything he can to get it done.&rdquo; </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Patrick Svitek</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 21:32:52 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/cruz-sec-primary-push-just-one-part-long-game/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>UT System Sues AG Paxton to Stop Records Release </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/ut-system-sues-ken-paxton-stop-records-release/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/ut-system-sues-ken-paxton-stop-records-release/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/10/7C2A0671_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="University of Texas President Bill Powers speaks to Provost Gregory Fenves during a board of regents meeting on July 10, 2014."> </a> </div> *Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a response from the UT System.&nbsp; The University of Texas System is suing Attorney General <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ken-paxton/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Ken Paxton</a> over his office's ruling that the system must release certain records related to an admissions investigation of the University of Texas at Austin.&nbsp; The information, part of an open records request by the Austin American-Statesman, is related to <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/12/ut-system-releases-admissions-report/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed" target="_blank">a report on UT-Austin's admission practices</a> that was commissioned by system administrators. The investigation, conducted by Kroll Associates Inc., found that former UT-Austin President Bill Powers helped some students gain admission over the objections of admissions officials. In its petition filed with a district court in Travis County, the UT System claims the requested information is exempt from disclosure under a constitutional right to privacy.&nbsp; "We are filing suit to protect the private information of UT students, as well as applicants and prospective students,"&nbsp;UT System spokeswoman Jenny&nbsp;LaCoste-Caputo&nbsp;said in a statement.&nbsp;"In our view, the AG has misapplied a&nbsp;rule related to which documents are part of a 'completed investigation' and are therefore available to the public. Part of the significant impact of that decision falls on the thousands of students who have applied to the University of Texas at Austin." After receiving open records requests, the UT System asked Paxton's office for advice on whether the information in the report was exempt from disclosure. The attorney general responded in July, telling the UT System it could withhold some information &mdash; such as the identity of non-enrolled UT-Austin applicants &mdash; but it must make the rest public.&nbsp; The Kroll report has spawned other litigation. In June, UT Regent Wallace Hall sued UT System Chancellor Bill McRaven to gain access to information related to the investigation. The system <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/23/regent-wallace-hall-sues-ut-leadership/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">denied</a> Hall's request, saying student academic records were protected by federal law.&nbsp; Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors&nbsp;can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">here</a>. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Ally Mutnick</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 18:49:08 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/ut-system-sues-ken-paxton-stop-records-release/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Families of Disabled Children Sue Texas Over Medicaid Cuts </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/families-disabled-children-sue-texas-over-medicaid/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/families-disabled-children-sue-texas-over-medicaid/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/Medicaid-3dCross_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt=""> </a> </div> Relatives of children with disabilities are joining therapy providers in a lawsuit against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, weeks before the agency is scheduled to&nbsp;slash payments&nbsp;to a therapy program for the poor. The families and therapy providers have asked a Travis County judge to stop the state from implementing the budget cuts on Sept. 1, alleging they will cause "immediate and irreparable&nbsp;injury" to thousands of kids in the state's Medicaid program. "Those rates will force Texas Medicaid providers to cease providing services critical to the health and development of Texas' most vulnerable residents, its children," the suit reads. Home health agencies have rallied support against the cuts with an aggressive public relations campaign, saying their industry will face an average 20 percent reduction in revenue. That, they say, will lead businesses to close &mdash; and could leave as many as 60,000 severely disabled children without access to medically necessary services in their homes. They say an earlier lawsuit the state settled in 2005 compels Texas to provide "all medically necessary services" to Medicaid enrollees, including speech, physical and occupational therapy. District Judge Suzanne Covington scheduled a hearing for Aug. 24 for the state to make its case in justifying the proposed cuts, which were ordered this year by the Legislature. The state budget crafted by lawmakers directs Medicaid, the state&rsquo;s insurance program for the poor and disabled, to cut roughly $260 million in payments to the therapy program over the next two years and to find another $130 million in savings from &ldquo;medical policy reductions.&rdquo; Combined, that&rsquo;s a 28 percent reduction to the therapy program&rsquo;s current two-year budget of about $1.4 billion. The number of Medicaid beneficiaries who got speech, physical or occupational therapy services from a home health provider grew from about 16,000 in 2009 to 47,000 in 2013, according to the health commission. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Edgar Walters</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 18:32:29 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/families-disabled-children-sue-texas-over-medicaid/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Judge Ordered Houston Children Out of Foster Care in 2013 </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/judge-ordered-children-out-foster-care-2013/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/judge-ordered-children-out-foster-care-2013/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/09/05/CPS-Texas_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt=""> </a> </div> Nearly two years before the murder of six Houston siblings, a state district judge denied a request by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to keep them in foster care, according to a memo sent to members of the Legislature on Tuesday. Six&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/murdered-houston-family-well-known-cps/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">children belonging to Valerie Jackson</a>&nbsp;were taken into foster care on Sept. 19, 2013. But nearly a month later, they were ordered returned to their mother, according to an email sent on Tuesday to Texas lawmakers.&nbsp; "On October 10, 2013 Judge Glen Devlin court ordered the children back home with their mother Valerie Jackson," Jamie McCormick, external relations manager at the Department of Family and Protective Services,&nbsp;wrote to lawmakers. "The judge denied the Department request to continue legal intervention due to cooperation from the parents." On Saturday, Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies discovered the children:&nbsp;Nathaniel Conley, 13; Dwayne Jackson Jr., 10; Honesty Jackson, 11; Caleb Jackson, 9; Jonah Jackson, 6; and Trinity Jackson, 7; along with their 40-year-old mother&nbsp;and father to all but the oldest, Dwayne Jackson, 50, fatally shot in their north Houston home.&nbsp;David Ray Conley, father of the oldest child, was charged Sunday with&nbsp;multiple counts of capital murder.&nbsp; A court coordinator for Devlin told The Texas Tribune that the judge could not comment on the case and&nbsp;referred&nbsp;questions about the case to the children's attorney, Donna Everson of Houston. A call to Everson's office was not immediately returned. McCormick's email also notified lawmakers that court-ordered services for the family included participating in individual counseling, family counseling, domestic violence counseling, and random drug tests for the parents. Court-ordered services were terminated in March 2014 and the agency's note to legislators noted that "Ms. Jackson and Mr. Conley completed parenting, counseling, and domestic violence classes (victim and perpetrator classes)." The agency noted that "Ms. Jackson planned to continue counseling through Medicaid at case closure in May 2014." </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Terri Langford</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 17:58:17 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/judge-ordered-children-out-foster-care-2013/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Inmate Beard Policy Will Not Cost Taxpayers Extra </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/tdcj-beard-policy-will-not-cost-another-500000/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/tdcj-beard-policy-will-not-cost-another-500000/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/02/PrisonBars_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt=""> </a> </div> Taxpayers will not have to bear the costs of a new beard policy for inmates after all. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/07/texas-prison-inmates-now-allowed-beards/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Last week, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice </a>said&nbsp;it was discarding its "clean-shaven" grooming rule for inmates who wanted to grow beards for religious reasons. Beginning Aug. 1, inmates can file a request to their respective wardens to grow beards of no longer than a half-inch in length. If granted, they will have to have new and more frequent identification photos taken. The cost of needed paperwork and the manpower to process it all was estimated by the department to be $500,000.&nbsp; But a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman said Tuesday that the agency has reconsidered the cost of the new policy.&nbsp; "No taxpayer dollars are being used as a result of the new grooming policy," said Jason Clark, the spokesman.&nbsp; The change follows a complaint by&nbsp;state Sen.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/john-whitmire/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">John Whitmire</a>, D-Houston, chairman&nbsp;of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.&nbsp; "I was rather shocked and could not believe the cost," Whitmire said Tuesday.&nbsp; If there are any new costs, Whitmire said, they will be paid for out of the inmate's commissary account. No new employees will be hired to process the paperwork or the identification photos. And there will be no need, Whitmire said, for the prison agency to buy "beard-nets" for inmates who work in the kitchen, as the department had previously said was necessary. It's simple, he said. "You just don't work in the cafeteria." The 109-facility Texas prison system has long required its inmates &mdash; about 148,000 at the moment &mdash; to be clean-shaven as a security precaution. But after the&nbsp;<a style="line-height: 1.35;" href="http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/01/a-unanimous-supreme-court-endorses-religious-liberties-in-prison-in-plain-english/">U.S. Supreme Court ruled</a>&nbsp;in January that the Arkansas prison system's anti-beard policy violated a Muslim inmate's religious freedom, the Texas department re-evaluated its own policy.&nbsp; </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Terri Langford</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 12:56:38 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/tdcj-beard-policy-will-not-cost-another-500000/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Perry Campaign Details Path Forward Despite Money Woes </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/despite-money-woes-perry-campaign-details-path-for/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/despite-money-woes-perry-campaign-details-path-for/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/06/04/_S3R7970Perry2_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="Gov. Rick Perry at his presidential campaign kickoff on June 4, 2015."> </a> </div> Beset by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/10/rick-perry-stops-paying-his-south-carolina-staff-as-fundraising-dries-up/">fundraising troubles</a>, <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/rick-perry/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Rick Perry</a>'s presidential campaign sees a path forward by morphing&nbsp;into&nbsp;a skeletal operation and living off the land to keep the former Texas governor's candidacy alive through&nbsp;to the start of next year's caucus and primaries. The Perry team is confident&nbsp;that his&nbsp;economic record as governor for 14 years, coupled with his retail political skills on the stump, give him potential to rise at some point in what so far has proven to be a fluid and unsettled Republican primary campaign. With money running short, the Perry campaign stopped paying its staff as of last Friday, though almost all&nbsp;are staying on as volunteers for now. The campaign has decided to husband its resources to pay for the candidate's travel, via commercial flights, to events in the&nbsp;early voting states and will focus on getting his message out in earned media interviews. In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Perry campaign manager Jeff Miller laid out Perry's strategy going forward. "We absolutely know for a fact that the governor&rsquo;s track record on the economy, on education, even on the climate far surpasses anyone else running for office," Miller said. "Just as importantly, no one matches Rick Perry&rsquo;s retail politics skills. At the end of the day, it&rsquo;s not the national poll numbers that will dictate who our nominee is. It&rsquo;s who can perform well in these early states.&rdquo; Miller said that&nbsp;only one staffer has departed the team so far because of the pay shortage, citing personal&nbsp;financial reasons, and that all other aides at national headquarters in Austin and in the early caucus and primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina are remaining on board as volunteers. The Perry campaign reported raising $1.14 million in the second quarter of this year and on July 15 reported having $883,913 on hand. Meanwhile, Perry's&nbsp;well-funded allied super PACs are expanding their operations to compensate for the campaign's shortcomings. The Opportunity&nbsp;and Freedom PACs, which has raised nearly $17 million and initially planned to focus on paid television advertisements, also are building&nbsp;a ground game in Iowa, where they recently hired a state director and deputy state director. &ldquo;We saw this coming," said Austin Barbour, senior adviser to the super PACs. "We knew we would have to do more than just paid media and there&rsquo;s nothing in the playbook that says we can&rsquo;t do that." Barbour added, "This field is so fluid. He&nbsp;did fine in Cleveland [debate], but if you let Rick Perry go have a Carly Fiorina type performance at the Reagan Library [debate], we&rsquo;ll look at a guy who blows up the polls. Things can change overnight with this field. Things can work out great for him if we just be patient.&rdquo; In a sign of confidence in Perry's future,&nbsp;Barbour said, the super PAC signed up a new major donor on Tuesday. A rancher in the Amarillo area who is an old friend of Perry's read news about the campaign's money troubles&nbsp;and offered on Tuesday morning to help. Barbour declined to identify&nbsp;the donor because he did not want to subject him to calls from reporters, but said he sent a $100,000 check. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t on our radar screen, but he tracked me down and said, 'I want to help the governor, what can we do?'" Barbour said. "He said, 'I&rsquo;ve known Rick for a long time,' and he said, 'I&rsquo;m in.'" Perry has struggled to rise in polls, and failing to qualify for last week's prime-time debate in Cleveland was a clear setback. He appeared in the undercard debate, only to see Fiorina, a former technology executive, have what many observers considered a breakout performance. In the weeks leading up to the debate, Perry&nbsp;<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/22/rick-perry-donald-trumps-campaign-a-barking-carnival-act-and-a-cancer-on-conservatism/">aggressively took on front-runner Donald Trump</a>, calling the celebrity billionaire "a cancer on conservatism" and his campaign "a barking carnival act." The move did Perry no good in the polls, as Ohio Gov. John Kasich edged him out to earn the 10th and final spot in the prime-time debate. Miller said the governor had "zero" regrets about taking on Trump. &ldquo;The governor did it because it was the right thing to do," Miller said. "He did it knowing that it may not be helpful, but he would do it all over again, and I would advise him to do it all over again. You know the governor. He&rsquo;s going&nbsp;to continue doing what he believes is right. He&rsquo;s not going to placate for poll numbers.&rdquo; Miller acknowledged the difficulties of running a credible campaign with a money shortage, but said he finds solace in two examples from recent campaign cycles. In mid-2007, Sen. John McCain's campaign went nearly broke and fired most of the staff, but the Arizona Republican&nbsp;lived off the land with frequent visits to New Hampshire and ended up recovering and winning the 2008 nomination. At this stage in the 2012 primary, former House speaker Newt Gingrich went into debt and most of his staff deserted him, but Gingrich rebounded and won the South Carolina and Georgia primaries. &ldquo;None of those people have the track record that Rick Perry has," Miller said.&nbsp;&ldquo;Rick Perry performs best when his back&rsquo;s against the wall.&rdquo; The analogy is not without wrinkles, however. McCain was a national figure and maintained substantial support from the Republican establishment throughout his campaign, and both his and Gingrich's efforts were&nbsp;marred more by over-spending than by a lack of fundraising. Perry plans to campaign in South Carolina on Thursday and will spend four days in Iowa next week, before returning to South Carolina at the end of the month. &ldquo;The governor obviously is very confident in his ability to win the nomination," Miller said. "He&rsquo;s very appreciative of not just the staff, but all of our supporters around the country that believe in him and his ability to win the nomination." </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Philip Rucker, The Washington Post</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 12:29:34 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/despite-money-woes-perry-campaign-details-path-for/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Video: New State Law Seeks to Curb Surprise Medical Bills </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/video-law-seeks-curb-surprise-medical-bills/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/31ways/84R?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed"> <img id="project-logo" src="http://graphics.texastribune.org/graphics/31-days-31-ways-footer/assets/images/31days-logo-update2015-800x221.png" alt="31 Days 31 Ways" width="180" align="top" /> </a> Throughout August, The Texas Tribune will feature 31 ways Texans' lives will change because of new laws that take effect Sept. 1. Check out our <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/31ways/84R/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">story calendar</a> for more. <iframe width="100%" height="358" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LT-XC8cv-Mw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Patients with health insurance can still suffer sticker shock when the bill comes from a hospital visit.&nbsp;That&rsquo;s because even an in-network hospital can contract with out-of-network doctors &mdash;&nbsp;physicians whose charges aren&rsquo;t fully covered by a patient&rsquo;s insurance. A new law that takes effect Sept. 1 will allow more consumers to challenge so-called "balance bills" they get from an out-of-network doctor, but only if the charge is more than $500. Disclosure: The Texas Association of Business is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.&nbsp;A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">here</a>. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Alana Rocha, Justin Dehn and Edgar Walters</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 06:00:00 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/video-law-seeks-curb-surprise-medical-bills/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>The Brief: Aug. 11, 2015 </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/brief-aug-11-2015/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/brief-aug-11-2015/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/06/04/_F5U3241speech3_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="Former Gov. Rick Perry announces his 2016 candidacy for president June 4, 2015, in Addison, Texas."> </a> </div> <h2>The Big Conversation</h2> Former Gov. Rick Perry's money woes have caused his campaign to cease paying all its staff. The news started late Monday afternoon when&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/rick-perry-stops-paying-south-carolina-staff-20150810">National Journal reported</a> the campaign was no longer paying its South Carolina staff. Then, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/election-2016-rick-perrys-campaign-staff-working-without-pay/">CBS News reported</a> that none of Perry's campaign staff anywhere in the country is getting paid anymore. Perry, who didn't qualify for last week's prime-time debate, has struggled to break out from a lengthy list of GOP candidates this year.&nbsp;And his fundraising, which four years ago was strong, has "dried up,"&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/perry-no-longer-paying-campaign-staff-south-caroli/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">report the Tribune's Abby Livingston and The Washington Post's&nbsp;Philip Rucker</a>: <blockquote> Perry campaign manager Jeff Miller told staff last Friday, the day after the first Republican presidential debate, that they would no longer be paid and are free to look for other jobs &mdash; and, so far at least, most aides have stuck with Perry, this Republican said. ... "Money is extremely tight," said Katon Dawson, Perry's South Carolina campaign chairman. &ldquo;We all moved to volunteer status," he said, but added, "Our team is working as hard as it was last week." ...&nbsp; But Perry's campaign aides as well as leaders of an allied super PAC said they will continue raising money and that the former governor is committed to a strong performance in the early contests next year. Perry is planning to campaign in South Carolina on Thursday and to visit Iowa next week. "As the campaign moves along, tough decisions have to be made in respect to both monetary and time related resources," Perry campaign manager Jeff Miller said. "Governor Perry remains committed to competing in the early states and will continue to have a strong presence in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina." </blockquote> And in other 2016 news, the Tribune's Patrick Svitek <a href="http://trib.it/1L2x2cC">has a report </a>from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's bus tour across the South, as he's "heartened by rising poll numbers, raucous crowds and a fundraising surge." <h2>Trib Must-Reads</h2> <a href="http://trib.it/1Htwtk4">Video: New Law Seeks to Curb Surprise Medical Bills</a>, by Alana Rocha, Justin Dehn and Edgar Walters &mdash; A new law will allow more consumers to challenge surprise medical bills they get from out-of-network doctors, but only if the charge is more than $500. This story is part of our 31 Days, 31 Ways series. <a href="http://trib.it/1NmezoM">UT, Japan Partner to Cut Energy Use at Data Centers</a>, by Jim Malewitz &mdash; The University of Texas at Austin and the Japanese government are joining forces to tackle a growing problem of the digital age: As data centers crop up across the U.S., they're sucking up a lot of electricity. <a href="http://trib.it/1IFRREO">Paxton Wants High Court to Block Birth Control Coverage</a>, by Alexa Ura &mdash; Backing up two Texas religious universities, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Monday asking it to take up a lawsuit against the federal government over contraceptive coverage required under the Affordable Care Act. <a href="http://trib.it/1J78lez">Murdered Houston Family Well Known to CPS</a>, by Terri Langford &mdash; The six children found murdered along with two adults in Houston over the weekend were no strangers to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which investigated at least four complaints about their care dating back 2011, and temporarily took the children into foster care two years later. <a href="http://trib.it/1Eknphz">Months After Scandal, Another Health Agency Official Resigns</a>, by Edgar Walters &mdash; Months after he was put on paid administrative leave amid an investigation into the Texas Health and Human Services Commission's contracting procedures, Cody Cazares has left the agency. <a href="http://trib.it/1MgGlnU">Racing Commission Hopes to Stave Off Closure</a>, by Liz Crampton &mdash; With its funds dwindling, the Texas Racing Commission plans to meet August 25 and reverse its earlier decision allowing historical racing at Texas tracks, hoping to placate angry lawmakers and free up its funding. <a href="http://trib.it/1J6CzOL">Suspect in Unusual Activity at Capitol Tied to Car Fire</a>, by Terri Langford &mdash; A man involved in "suspicious activity" near the Texas House speaker's office is also being sought for questioning about a car fire outside the Capitol, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman said Monday. <a href="http://trib.it/1N4ew31">State to Allow Same-Sex Couples to Obtain Amended Death Certificates</a>, by Alexa Ura &mdash;&nbsp;Texas Attorney General&nbsp;Ken Paxton, who was&nbsp;facing possible contempt of court charges,&nbsp;vowed on Monday that the state would revise its policies in the next week to allow same-sex couples to obtain amended death certificates. &nbsp; <a href="http://trib.it/1N3Smhl">UT Panel: Relocate Confederate Statues or Add Plaques</a>, by Ally Mutnick &mdash; A task force on Monday recommended the University of Texas at Austin either relocate statues of Confederate leaders or add explanatory plaques. <h2>Elsewhere</h2> <a href="http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Jeb-Bush-to-attend-McAllen-fundraiser-Aug-24-6436581.php">Jeb Bush to attend McAllen fundraiser Aug. 24</a>, San Antonio Express-News <a href="http://atr.rollcall.com/ted-cruz-opens-playbook-sec-primary/">Ted Cruz Opens His Playbook for the 'SEC Primary,'</a> Roll Call <a href="http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/ken-paxton-asks-to-skip-contempt-hearing/nnGn4/?icmp=statesman_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesmanpremium#f9175b7c.3554830.735821">Ken Paxton contempt hearing canceled</a>, Austin American-Statesman <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/barnett-shale/article30633624.html">Craddick joins those suing Chesapeake over royalties</a>, Fort Worth Star-Telegram <a href="http://www.expressnews.com/news/politics/texas_legislature/article/San-Antonio-Democrat-resigns-from-House-District-6436102.php?t=6f0f5286d5&amp;cmpid=twitter-premium">San Antonio Democrat resigns from House District 118 seat</a>, San Antonio Express-News <a href="http://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/Constitutional-convention-sparking-buzz-but-odds-6435395.php">Constitutional convention sparking buzz, but odds still long</a>, The Associated Press <a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/CPS-sought-in-2013-to-remove-the-6-children-6436594.php">State sought in 2013 to remove the 6 children killed Saturday</a>, Houston Chronicle <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-sandra-bland-trooper-encinia-20150810-story.html">Sandra Bland: Texas records show racial breakdown of those stopped by same trooper</a>, Los Angeles Times <a href="http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/08/community-plans-series-of-vigils-for-christian-taylor-as-authorities-interview-officer-who-shot-the-arlington-teen.html/">FBI has no plans to investigate fatal shooting of teen by Arlington police</a>, The Dallas Morning News <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Woman-claims-constitutional-violation-in-vaginal-6431919.php?cmpid=twitter-desktop">Spring woman claims constitutional violation in body cavity probe</a>, Houston Chronicle <a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/houston/article/Turner-makes-first-major-TV-buy-of-campaign-season-6436459.php">Turner makes first major TV buy of campaign season</a>, Houston Chronicle <a href="http://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/Chinese-traders-in-San-Antonio-eager-to-buy-6435842.php">Chinese traders in San Antonio eager to buy products</a>, San Antonio Express-News <a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Oil-prices-rise-but-prospects-stay-low-6436373.php">Oil prices rise, but prospects stay low</a>, Houston Chronicle <h2>Quote to Note</h2> "You know, I'm not sure. I can only speak for myself, and I think it's high time someone does stand up and really call nonsense nonsense." &mdash; U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/trump-looming-cruz-seeks-seize-post-debate-momentu/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">on why some of his 2016 rivals</a> haven't criticized Donald Trump <h2>Today in TribTalk</h2> <a href="http://tribtalk.org/2015/08/10/the-road-ahead-for-cruz-and-perry/">The road ahead for Cruz and Perry</a>, by Brandon Rottinghaus &mdash;&nbsp;Ted Cruz and Rick Perry didn't underperform in last week's GOP primary debates, but neither stood out. To stay afloat as the race grinds on, they'll each have to do more than that. <h2>News From Home</h2> &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Learn more about what happened to pre-kindergarten reform, school choice legislation and other<a href="http://txlege.texastribune.org/topics/public-education/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed" target="_blank">&nbsp;public education issues</a>&nbsp;using our&nbsp;<a href="http://txlege.texastribune.org/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed" target="_blank">Texas Legislative Guide</a>.&nbsp; <h2>Trib Events for the Calendar</h2> &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Texas Tribune's&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/events/2015/08/30/trivia-night/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed" target="_blank">Trivia Night&nbsp;</a>on&nbsp;Aug. 30&nbsp;in Austin&nbsp; &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A Conversation with&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/events/2015/09/04/meet-the-mayors-adler-and-taylor/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Austin Mayor&nbsp;Steve Adler and San Antonio Mayor&nbsp;Ivy Taylor</a>&nbsp;on Sept. 4 in Austin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A Conversation on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/events/2015/09/22/the-road-from-hurricane-rita/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">The Road from Hurricane Rita</a>&nbsp;on Sept. 22 in Beaumont &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/events/2015/10/16/the-texas-tribune-festival/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">The Texas Tribune Festival</a>&nbsp;on Oct. 16-18 at the University of Texas at Austin </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Polo Rocha</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 05:59:00 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/brief-aug-11-2015/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>UT, Japan Partner to Cut Data Center Energy Use </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/ut-japan-partner-cut-energy-use-data-centers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/11/ut-japan-partner-cut-energy-use-data-centers/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/08/11/TXTrib_Computers_006_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos speaks at a press conference at the University of Texas at Austin, where officials announced a new partnership with the Japanese government aimed at boosting energy efficiency at data centers."> </a> </div> As people around the world increasingly lean on computers to do their bidding &mdash; banking, exchanging messages or sharing too many cat photos &mdash; the data generated must live somewhere. That&rsquo;s why data centers, vast warehouses of digital information, are increasingly cropping up in Texas and around the country.&nbsp; But those centers, packed with powerful computers, suck huge amounts of energy from the power grid, costing tech companies millions of dollars in utility bills and expanding their carbon footprints. Now, the University of Texas at Austin and the Japanese government are combining forces to tackle that problem. University and Japanese officials will join Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos on Tuesday to announce a roughly $13 million project aiming to make data centers more energy efficient. &ldquo;This project is urgently needed,&rdquo; university President Gregory Fenves said in a statement. &ldquo;We are ever more dependent on data, and at the same time, ever more conscious of the need to utilize all sources of energy.&rdquo; The effort will be hosted by the university&rsquo;s 14-year-old <a href="https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/">Texas Advanced Computing Center</a>, which supports research projects across the sciences and is home to one of the most powerful supercomputers in the country. The project will give the center about $4 million in additional computing capability, and researchers will examine the efficiency of the equipment. The Japanese government, through its New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, will foot the bill for virtually the entire project, which involves installing a 250-kilowatt solar farm to power the new computers on sunny days. For the university, the payoff is obvious: more computing power. Japan, meanwhile, gets to study the technology to shave costs and energy use elsewhere, with the help of Texas researchers. &ldquo;Through this project, we hope to verify the energy efficiency of the new technology and to disseminate it in the U.S.,&rdquo; Fumio Ueda, director of the Japanese agency, said in a statement. In 2013, U.S. data centers sucked up some 91 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to a <a href="http://anthesisgroup.com/latest-research-by-anthesis-americas-data-centers-consuming-massive-and-growing-amounts-of-electricity/">report last</a> year by the National Resources Defense Council and Anthesis, a global consulting firm. That&rsquo;s enough to power all homes in New York City twice over for a year. At current rates, consumption will surge to 140 billion kilowatt-hours by 2020, the report said. The data frenzy has spread to Texas and its occasionally <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/30/ercot-asks-texans-temporarily-curb-energy-use/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">stressed power grid</a>. Last month, for instance, Facebook broke ground on a $1 billion data center in Fort Worth, the largest of <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20150710-data-centers-an-absolute-gold-mine-for-north-texas-cities.ece">several such centers in North Texas</a>.&nbsp; &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to build large-scale computers, we&rsquo;re going to need more and more energy to do it,&rdquo; Dan Stanzione, executive director of the university computing center, said in an interview. &ldquo;We have to find sustainable ways to do that.&rdquo; The project is particularly timely, Stanzione added, because it comes just days after President Obama signed an executive order creating a &ldquo;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/29/executive-order-creating-national-strategic-computing-initiative">National Strategic Computing Initiative</a>,&rdquo; which partly emphasizes energy efficiency, and <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/03/obama-unveils-climate-rules-texas-wide-implication/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">unveiled his &ldquo;Clean Power Plan,&rdquo;</a> a controversial effort to shrink the nation&rsquo;s carbon footprint by reshaping its energy sector.&nbsp; The Texas-Japanese partnership will test a high-voltage direct current power system for computers, which typically run on alternating current. That technology is expected to boost efficiency by avoiding costly conversions of the current at the solar panels, a battery backup system and computing racks. The new technology will power just a portion of the entire lab, which can require up to 100 megawatts of electricity. With new data centers cropping up across the country, finding a way to shave a data center&rsquo;s energy use by just a few percentage points could make a huge difference, researchers say &ldquo;Small changes in efficiency there have massive consequences in savings,&rdquo; Stanzione said. Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.&nbsp;A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">here</a>. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Jim Malewitz</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 00:00:01 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/11/ut-japan-partner-cut-energy-use-data-centers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>In Summer of Trump, Cruz Seeks Momentum </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/trump-looming-cruz-seeks-seize-post-debate-momentu/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/trump-looming-cruz-seeks-seize-post-debate-momentu/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/08/10/cruzmurfreesboro_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, embraces a pastor who he has known since his childhood during a presidential campaign stop Monday in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Cruz is spending the week stumping in several southern states."> </a> </div> JACKSON, Tenn. &mdash; Heartened by rising poll numbers, raucous crowds and a fundraising surge, <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ted-cruz/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Ted Cruz</a> traversed the most conservative corners of this state Monday with the confidence of a top-tier presidential candidate.&nbsp; His audiences, all numbering at least several hundred, ate up a newly reconfigured version of his stump speech, lustily applauding lines long familiar to the Republican Texas senator's faithful.&nbsp; Like many of his GOP foes, Cruz is settling into a phase of the 2016 race that, in most other cycles, would bring a measure of stability after the initial whirlwind of campaign announcements and cattle calls.&nbsp;Yet the Republican field continues to grapple with the growing reality that is the national front-runner status of Donald Trump, the blustery billionaire who&nbsp;has become a constant presence on the campaign trail even when he's not physically there. Talking to reporters throughout Monday, Cruz continued to abstain from knocking Trump but showed some signs of weariness with the lingering focus on the real-estate mogul.&nbsp; "This is not a soap opera of personalities," Cruz chastised reporters at one stop where he was asked why he did not mention the "T word" in his stump speech. Cruz nonetheless had plenty of reasons to be optimistic Monday. His campaign announced it raised more than $1 million in the first 100 hours following the first Republican presidential debate Thursday in Cleveland. And while it conceded the methodology was imperfect, his team circulated a post-debate poll showing him jumping up to second place.&nbsp; "Some of this is a manifestation of the momentum that we had coming out of Thursday's debate," Cruz told reporters before speaking at a dinner for Madison County GOP in Jackson, Tenn. "Since the debate on Thursday, our fundraising has exploded," Cruz boasted earlier Monday to his crowd in Franklin, a city about an hour south of Nashville.&nbsp; His response to Trump's antics has taken on an almost ritualistic quality, guaranteed to include at least three elements: a vow against intraparty feuding, a dig at the media for stoking conflict and a nod to his campaign's own principles.&nbsp; "Look, the simple reality is there's nothing the media likes to talk about more than the politics of personality, of one Republican throwing rocks at another," Cruz told reporters after a stop in Murfreesboro. "I'm not interested in playing that game, and I don't think the American people are interested in it. "I understand that all folks in the media want to talk about is one candidates versus another candidate and all the back-and-forth and all the superficial, silly nonsense," Cruz added. "That's not what this campaign is about."&nbsp; Asked whether he had any problems with where Trump stands on policy, Cruz zeroed in on the billionaire's comments on illegal immigration, the first in a series of inflammatory remarks that have yet to sink Trump's campaign. While not criticizing Trump's comments, Cruz told reporters he was glad Trump has "managed to finally getting the media to talk about illegal immigration." As Cruz's bus chugged along Tennessee's leafy highways &mdash; part of a weeklong swing through several southern states &mdash; other GOP candidates sought to adjust to life with Trump atop the polls.&nbsp;On a conference call Monday specifically set up to escalate his criticism of Trump, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky demurred when asked why some fellow Republicans, including Cruz, have avoided tangling with the real estate mogul.&nbsp; "You know, I'm not sure," Paul told reporters. "I can only speak for myself, and I think it's high time someone does stand up and really call nonsense nonsense." If Cruz's supporters were growing tired of Trump, it did not show Monday. Sherri Wright, who came to see Cruz in Chattanooga, said she hardly believes Trump will win the nomination but praised him for raising serious issues in a way that commands widespread attention. "The debate on Thursday night, I watched the whole thing," Wright said. "That's the best television I've seen in the last three, four months." </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Patrick Svitek</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 21:44:34 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/trump-looming-cruz-seeks-seize-post-debate-momentu/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Perry Stops Paying All Campaign Staff </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/perry-no-longer-paying-campaign-staff-south-caroli/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/perry-no-longer-paying-campaign-staff-south-caroli/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/06/04/_F5U3241speech3_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="Former Gov. Rick Perry announces his 2016 candidacy for president June 4, 2015, in Addison, Texas."> </a> </div> Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign is no longer&nbsp;paying its&nbsp;staff because&nbsp;fundraising has dried up, while his cash-flush allied super PAC is preparing to expand its political operation to compensate for the campaign's shortcomings,&nbsp;campaign and super PAC officials and other Republicans familiar with the operation said late Monday. Perry, who has struggled to gain traction in his second presidential run, has stopped paying his staff at the national headquarters in Austin as well as in the early caucus and primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, according to a Republican familiar with the Perry campaign who demanded anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Perry campaign manager Jeff Miller told staff last Friday, the day after the first Republican presidential debate, that they would no longer be paid and are free to look for other jobs &mdash; and, so far at least, most aides have stuck with Perry &mdash; according to this Republican. "As the campaign moves along, tough decisions have to be made in respect to both monetary and time related resources," Miller said in a statement. "Governor Perry remains committed to competing in the early states and will continue to have a strong presence in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina." Katon Dawson, Perry's South Carolina campaign chairman and head of a six-person staff there,&nbsp;said, "Money is extremely tight. We all moved to volunteer status." But, he added, "Our team is working as hard as it was last week." News that Perry campaign had stopped paying its staff&nbsp;in South Carolina was&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/rick-perry-stops-paying-south-carolina-staff-20150810?utm_content=buffer2d0d8&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer">first reported</a>&nbsp;late Monday afternoon by the National Journal.&nbsp;News that the campaign was not paying any staff was first reported Monday night by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/election-2016-rick-perrys-campaign-staff-working-without-pay/">CBS News</a>. The Perry campaign reported raising $1.14 million in the second quarter of this year and on July 15 reported having $883,913 on hand. The campaign is scaling down its expenditures to bare essentials &mdash; commercial plane tickets and hotel rooms for the candidate and an aide or two &mdash; and hoping for a breakthrough moment, perhaps in&nbsp;the Sept. 16 debate, that could boost fundraising. Meanwhile, a&nbsp;group of&nbsp;Opportunity and Freedom super PACs promoting&nbsp;Perry's candidacy &mdash; which are in far healthier state financially, having raised&nbsp;nearly $17 million by&nbsp;mid-July &mdash; are planning to compensate for the shrinking campaign. Austin Barbour, senior adviser to the super PAC, said the group would step up "to aggressively support the governor in a number of different ways." &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got plenty of money," Barbour said. "That&rsquo;s what I know. And we&rsquo;re going to put that money to use in Iowa to make sure the governor is in the top three there.&nbsp;The super PAC is not going to let Rick Perry down." Barbour added, "He&rsquo;s going to get one breakout performance at a debate and he&rsquo;ll really jump up in the polls. Voters need to see him perform very well at a debate. ... This is a very fluid field, things will change a lot, and we will continue to be very patient." The super PACs are legally barred from coordinating with Perry's official campaign. Barbour&nbsp;said he anticipated after the campaign's financial filing last month that the super PACs would need to step up and do some of the responsibilities traditionally handled by campaigns, such as building a ground organization. He said they have begun&nbsp;building an extensive field program&nbsp;in Iowa, where the&nbsp;first-in-the-nation caucuses are critical to Perry's strategy. &ldquo;We saw this was coming," Barbour said. "We started working on our own plan. We knew we would have to go build a ground game.&rdquo; Perry&rsquo;s second campaign for president has been hobbled from the start by his weak&nbsp;performance as a candidate four years ago, demonstrating just how difficult it is to make a positive impression after a poor introduction. Perry joined that race in August 2011 as someone seen as&nbsp;a potentially serious contender for the GOP nomination. He was the long-serving governor of a major&nbsp;state that had led the nation in job creation and his rivals feared his potential. His southern roots and Tea Party appeal made him a candidate feared by his GOP rivals, particularly those in the campaign of Mitt Romney. Within weeks of announcing, he had risen to the top of the polls. Almost immediately, he began to fall back, his campaign damaged by attacks from&nbsp;Romney and his team as well as&nbsp;a series of poor debate performances. His campaign took&nbsp;a substantial hit at a Florida debate when he came under attack for a Texas policy allowing children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at state colleges. Perry accused his critics of not having a heart, but the damage was done. His worst moment came at a later debate in Michigan when he could not remember all of the federal agencies he had been vowing to eliminate as president. His final word as he admitted he couldn&rsquo;t recall the names was, &ldquo;Oops.&rdquo; That became the caricature of Perry as a poorly prepared candidate. It was an image he was determined to erase as he looked toward the 2016 campaign. Perry was candid about the mistakes he made in that first campaign and in the intervening time immersed himself in the details of domestic and international policies. Perry said he believed voters were willing to give him a second chance. During the past two years, as he has traveled the country, he has earned positive reviews from one-time critics, who said they saw in him a more substantial and attractive candidate than in 2012. But he has lagged in the polls throughout this year, despite those better reviews and improved performance on the campaign trail. Failing to qualify for last week&rsquo;s debate in Cleveland was a clear setback in his hopes of moving up in the field. He appeared in the undercard debate, but there it was technology executive Carly Fiorina who had what many considered a&nbsp;breakout performance. Perry now trains his attention on enough support in national polls to assure a spot on the main stage at the debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library next month. Perry aides said he hopes to&nbsp;continue raising money and is&nbsp;committed to a strong performance&nbsp;in the early contests next year. Perry is planning to campaign in South Carolina on Thursday and to visit Iowa next week. News of Perry's money woes has surprised people in his political circle. In the 2012 campaign, Perry was a fundraising leader, bringing in $17 million to his campaign in a single quarter. "Nobody talked about money being a problem,&rdquo; said one&nbsp;former Perry appointee and longtime ally. Perry's troubles are reminiscent of Sen. John McCain's collapse in the summer of 2007, though he rebounded and won the GOP's 2008 nomination. "I experienced this&nbsp;firsthand starting at the McCain campaign, a few weeks prior to what became a mass exodus and downsizing because of fundraising," said Brian Haley, deputy national finance director on McCain's 2008 campaign. "It wasn&rsquo;t the end of the campaign. It was traumatic when it happened, but we all recommitted when it occurred and took it to win the nomination." Haley added, "In today&rsquo;s world, with varying political committees supporting the candidate, there does seem to be an opportunity for campaigns to shift costs. So I&rsquo;m curious how the Perry organization decides to do that.&rdquo; </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Philip Rucker and Dan Balz, The Washington Post, and Abby Livingston</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 19:00:14 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/perry-no-longer-paying-campaign-staff-south-caroli/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Paxton Wants High Court to Block Birth Control Coverage </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/paxton-asks-supreme-court-take-birth-control-lawsu/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/paxton-asks-supreme-court-take-birth-control-lawsu/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/07/29/7C2A2774_vGkdsKn_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton testifies in front of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services regarding an ongoing investigation into Planned Parenthood&#39;s practices on July 29, 2015"> </a> </div> Female employees of religious nonprofits should not be given insurance coverage for birth control if their employers object to certain contraceptives on religious grounds, according to a brief filed at the U.S. Supreme Court by Texas Attorney General&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ken-paxton/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Ken Paxton</a>. Paxton&rsquo;s &ldquo;friend of the court&rdquo; brief was filed Monday in support of a lawsuit brought by East Texas Baptist University and Houston Baptist University against the federal government over a provision of the Affordable Care Act requiring some employers to offer health plans that include contraceptive coverage. The religious universities oppose emergency contraceptives, including the so-called morning-after pill, and intrauterine devices, which they liken to&nbsp;abortifacients. (Health experts and scientists <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/1/emergency-contraceptivesbiology.html">have disputed</a> that claim.) The Affordable Care Act, or the ACA, requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer health plans with &ldquo;minimum essential coverage,&rdquo; including access to federally approved contraception for women, without copayments or deductibles. Under federal religious freedom laws, religious nonprofits can seek &ldquo;accommodations&rdquo; to be exempted from the contraceptive mandate by submitting a form or notification certifying the organization&rsquo;s objection to paying for contraception coverage on religious grounds. Doing so transfers the administrative obligations of providing contraception coverage from the employer to&nbsp;the insurance company or a third-party, which takes over handling the claims. But the religious nonprofits say that certifying their opposition by filling out a form does not adequately protect their religious freedom, because it still triggers a process through which their female employees can obtain contraception. In the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/epress/files/2015/scotus_-_15-35_-_hous._baptist_univ._v._burwell_-_states_amicus_brief_-_final.pdf?cachebuster:90">brief filed by Paxton&rsquo;s office</a>, state attorneys wrote that the &ldquo;supposed &lsquo;accommodation&rsquo;&rdquo; will still "coerce employers to proceed with a course of action despite a belief in its religious impermissibility." &ldquo;Many employers around the country feel driven by their faith to care for their employees by providing them health insurance,&rdquo; the brief reads. &ldquo;But some employers find it incompatible with their religious convictions to provide that health insurance when it means contracting with a company that then, by virtue of that very relationship, becomes obligated to pay for drugs regarded as abortifacients.&rdquo; A federal district court previously sided with the universities, blocking the requirement from going into effect. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services appealed the case to the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals &mdash; considered the most conservative appellate court in the country &mdash; which <a href="http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/14/14-10241-CV0.pdf">reversed that decision</a>, saying the universities had &ldquo;not shown and are not likely to show that the requirement substantially burdens their religious exercise under established law.&rdquo; In its ruling, the panel of the appellate court sided with the federal government in its argument that the universities&rsquo; religious exemption from providing contraception coverage did not extend to third parties left to administer insurance plans if a religious organization is exempted. East Texas Baptist University and the Houston Baptist University are now hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up their lawsuit, and Paxton&rsquo;s brief is meant to support their case. Paxton and lawyers for the religious nonprofits contend that the 5th Circuit&rsquo;s ruling contradicts precedent set by the Supreme Court last year <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/30/cases-highlight-continued-uphill-battle-womens-hea/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">in a separate case involving Hobby Lobby</a>. Considering the constitutionality of the ACA&rsquo;s contraception requirements, the Supreme Court ruled on a 5-4 decision that a part of the ACA requiring businesses to provide insurance coverage for certain forms of contraception violates a federal law protecting religious freedom.&nbsp;The court held that a family-owned, for-profit corporation was exempted from providing access to free contraception if the business&rsquo; owners have religious objections. In the state&rsquo;s brief, the AG attorneys wrote that the Hobby Lobby case indicates that the contraception mandates &ldquo;constitutes a substantial burden&rdquo; on religious nonprofits&rsquo; religious exercise because it triggers fines associated with not following the mandate if religious organizations do not &ldquo;behave in a way contrary to their religious beliefs.&rdquo; Because courts have held that no substantial burden exists, the high court should resolve the issue, the attorneys added. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Alexa Ura</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 18:56:29 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/paxton-asks-supreme-court-take-birth-control-lawsu/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Murdered Houston Family Known to CPS </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/murdered-houston-family-well-known-cps/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/murdered-houston-family-well-known-cps/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/09/05/CPS-Texas_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt=""> </a> </div> The six children found murdered along with two adults in Houston over the weekend were no strangers to Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which investigated at least four complaints about their care dating back 2011, and temporarily took the children into foster care two years later.&nbsp; "The Department believes that the children are in immediate danger," wrote agency caseworker Brittney James on Sept. 19, 2013 in an affidavit petitioning a Houston court for the removal of all six from their mother, Valerie Jackson. On Saturday, Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies discovered the children:&nbsp;Nathaniel Conley, 13; Dwayne Jackson Jr., 10; Honesty Jackson, 11; Caleb Jackson, 9; Jonah Jackson, 6; and Trinity Jackson, 7; along with their 40-year-old mother&nbsp;and father to all but the oldest, Dwayne Jackson, 50, fatally shot in their north Houston home.&nbsp; David Ray Conley, father of the oldest child, was charged Sunday with&nbsp;multiple counts of capital murder and held without bail.&nbsp; James' petition, obtained by The Texas Tribune, asked a court to remove the children stating that "reasonable efforts" had been made in the past to prevent the state from taking them into care. The final straw appears to be that Caleb, a child with brain damage, wandered from the home two months after Ms. Jackson signed an agreement with the state agency to keep the children safe. It was not the first agreement Ms. Jackson had signed with the agency as a promise to keep the children free from harm. And despite the four complete investigations into their care logged by the agency, caseworkers received "multiple complaints" about the children's care in addition to those four cases.&nbsp; The court approved James' request in the fall of 2013 and the children were taken into foster care but later returned home, apparently by March 2014, records show. It is not clear why.&nbsp; DFPS Spokesman Patrick Crimmins on Monday declined to elaborate on the family's history with the agency's Child Protective Services division, also known as CPS. Nor would he say the last time the children were seen alive by caseworkers. "It's confidential," he said. But a review of the 2013 petition by CPS to take the children into foster care paints a stormy home life in which Ms. Jackson was battling threats from both of her children's fathers.&nbsp; On Oct. 26, 2012, the agency was notified that Dwayne Jackson "threatened to kill" his girlfriend and all six children. CPS took "dispositions" on that complaint and others filed that month against the mother. "The mother would leave all the children at home alone multiple times," James' affidavit states. The agency caseworkers found they were "unable to determine" the validity of the complaints and referred the family to Family Based Safety Services, also known as FBSS, in January 2013.&nbsp; That division tries to work with families in trouble, getting them to sign agreements to keep children safe and submit to future monitoring by the agency. When FBSS takes over in January 2013, James entered as the family's caseworker.&nbsp; At the time, the family which included Conley, seemed amenable to working with the agency. "Valerie Jackson and David Conley were very cooperative at the assessment," James wrote. "Both stated they would comply with all recommendations given by the Department. "&nbsp; But three months later, there were serious problems. In April 2013, Jackson contacted James and told her&nbsp;that she called the police on Conley for "domestic abuse." She told her caseworker that Conley had "chased her with a knife and cut her finger." He was arrested.&nbsp; James' petition states that three of the children were considered by the agency to have "special needs." Jonah was diagnosed with a mild form of autism. Nathanial had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD and was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder. Caleb, who had suffered brain damage, would wander from the family's home. One such disappearance prompted James to ask a state district court in Harris County to approve the removal of the children from Jackson. "Valerie Jackson searched the child on her own," the caseworker wrote. "But she eventually had to call law enforcement for assistance." Caleb was eventually found by police in a park across the family's subdivision. The petition was approved and the children taken into foster care.&nbsp; The previous complaints investigated by CPS included: --> On Dec. 23, 2011, DFPS received a report of possible physical abuse of three Jackson children: Caleb, Trinity and Jonah. The case was "ruled out with no significant factors found." On Oct. 17, 2012, DFPS received a report of possible physical abuse of Nathaniel Conley and his four stepsiblings: Dwayne, Jonah, Caleb and Trinity. DFPS ruled the case "unable to determine." On Oct. 22, 2012 &mdash; five days after DFPS was contacted about possible physical abuse of five of the children &mdash; the agency was contacted again about possible neglectful supervision with the same five children. On July 29, 2013, the agency received a report of possible neglectful supervision of Caleb Jackson. Neglect was "ruled out" by the agency. On July 30, 2013, James went to the Jackson home and wrote a new child safety agreement for the mother to sign. The plan anticipated problems because Conley was about to be released from the Harris County Jail after Jackson recanted her accusation she had been abused and the case was dismissed. &nbsp; Two months after Ms. Jackson signed the agreement, however, Caleb went missing again, prompting&nbsp;James to return to court and asked that the children be placed in foster care.&nbsp;&nbsp; </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Terri Langford</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 18:17:02 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/murdered-houston-family-well-known-cps/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Months After Scandal, Another Health Agency Official Resigns </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/sticks-chief-staff-resigns/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/sticks-chief-staff-resigns/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/08/10/HHSC-leadart_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt=""> </a> </div> Months after he was put on paid administrative leave amid an investigation into the Texas Health and Human Services Commission's contracting procedures,&nbsp;Cody Cazares, the former chief of staff to the commission's top lawyer,&nbsp;has left the agency. Cazares, the former chief of staff to Jack Stick, resigned Aug. 7 &mdash; after being placed on leave for more than six months and <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/01/05/sticks-chief-staff-facing-steep-pay-cut/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">taking a 50 percent pay cut</a>. At a time when the commission was under fire for awarding a Medicaid fraud software deal to a relatively unknown company called 21CT, Cazares came under scrutiny after his annual salary grew from $52,000 to $112,200 between 2011 and 2014. &ldquo;In December 2014, the commission placed Mr. Cazares on administrative leave to ensure an ongoing, broad investigation was fair and neutral in both fact and appearance,&rdquo; Karen Ray, the commission&rsquo;s chief counsel, said in a written statement. &ldquo;Mr. Cazares was not the subject of any disciplinary action while employed by the commission and on Aug. 7, 2015, he voluntarily resigned from the agency.&rdquo; Cazares is eligible for rehire, Ray said. His move follows several other high-profile departures at the commission. Stick resigned over the contracting scandal on Dec. 12, and his wife Erica, chief of staff to the former head of the commission, Kyle Janek, resigned a month later after being placed on administrative leave.&nbsp;On Dec. 19, then-Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/rick-perry/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Rick Perry</a> asked for and received the resignation of Doug Wilson, the commission&rsquo;s inspector general. Janek <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/05/source-janek-leave-hhsc-former-deputy-takes-over/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">stepped down as commissioner</a> July 1. Frianita Wilson, the third state employee put on paid administrative leave and the wife of the former inspector general, remains on leave, a spokesman for the commission said. She&nbsp;works in purchasing at the Department of Family and Protective Services. In January, Stuart Bowen took over as inspector general, and he heads the agency as it <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/07/new-law-reform-troubled-hhsc-office/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">implements a sweeping reform law</a> passed by the Legislature this year. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Edgar Walters</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 16:26:05 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/sticks-chief-staff-resigns/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Racing Commission Hopes to Stave Off Closure </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/racing-commission-crying-risk-closure/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/racing-commission-crying-risk-closure/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/Texas-Slot-Machine_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt=""> </a> </div> Correction appended With its funds dwindling and lawmakers refusing to give it more money, the Texas Racing Commission plans to meet Aug. 25 and vote to reverse its earlier decision to allow historical racing at Texas dog and horse tracks, hoping to placate lawmakers it angered by approving the wagering last summer. All horse and dog racing &mdash; and gambling on races &mdash; in Texas could be shut down by the end of the month if the commission doesn't receive funds it has requested from the Legislative Budget Board to continue operating, the commission's director said last week. In a letter sent Aug. 7 by Director Chuck Trout to an attorney for one track, he said he will not approve simulcast gambling &mdash; betting on live, out-of-state races &mdash; after Aug. 31 because the budget board hasn't signed off on a funding appeal. "Absent the necessary approvals from the LBB, the agency will no longer be able to pay its employees or its rent and will close by the end of the day on August 31, 2015," Trout wrote in the letter, adding, "If the agency closes, all racing will also stop." The threatened closure is the latest clash in a year-long political tussle between the agency that manages all Texas racetracks and the board, which approves the commission's $7.7 million annual&nbsp;budget that comes from licensing and fees paid by the racetracks. The commission decided last summer to allow&nbsp;historical racing &mdash; betting on electronic simulations of old horse races with all identifying information removed &mdash; angering Senate Republicans who claimed that the commission overstepped its authority and expanded gambling without the approval of the Legislature or voters. At a budget hearing in February, members of the Senate Finance Committee threatened to <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/25/senators-double-down-might-defund-racing-commissio/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">defund the commission</a>,&nbsp;calling it a &ldquo;rogue&rdquo; and &ldquo;renegade&rdquo; agency. The racing commission doesn't receive any taxpayer dollars, but its money flows through the legislative board. Supporters of historical racing said the technology would bring increased revenue to struggling Texas racetracks. But those <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/07/28/gop-senate-nominees-speak-out-against-historical-r/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">opposed to expanding the gaming industry</a> compared historical racing to slot machines and said the racing commission was permitting Las Vegas-style gambling in Texas. The possibility that the agency will close at the end of the month would be a "worst-case" scenario, said spokesman Robert Elrod. Agency leaders are hopeful that scrapping historical racing will be enough to get its funding approved.&nbsp; Correction: This story originally misstated the affiliation of the attorney to whom Trout's letter was sent. It also said the racing commission was threatened with defunding at a Legislative Budget Board hearing. Those threats occurred during a Senate Finance Committee hearing. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Liz Crampton</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 16:13:14 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/racing-commission-crying-risk-closure/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Person of Interest in Capitol Activity Now Tied to Car Fire </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/suspect-unusual-activity-speaker-office-tied-car-f/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/suspect-unusual-activity-speaker-office-tied-car-f/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/08/10/Person_of_Interest_TT_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="The Texas Department of Public Safety is seeking the public鈥檚 assistance in gathering information about a person of interest related to a car fire outside the state Capitol."> </a> </div> Editors' note: This story has been updated to change the number for anonymous tips A man involved in "suspicious activity" near the Texas House speaker's office is also being sought for questioning about a car fire outside the Capitol last week, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman said Monday. "The <a href="http://www.dps.texas.gov/director_staff/media_and_communications/2015/pr20150807.htm">person being sought</a> for questioning in the suspected vehicle arson Friday afternoon is the same individual involved in suspicious activity earlier in the day at the Speaker's Office," DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said in an email. Vinger declined to provide details about the "suspicious activity" near the speaker's office &mdash; or explain what evidence tied the man to both incidents &mdash; because of the agency's ongoing investigation into both matters. On Friday at 2 p.m., a car caught fire near the south entrance to the Capitol. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/07/capitol-car-fire-investigated-intentional/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Earlier that day,</a> a white man wearing dark shorts and a ball cap was reported to DPS by legislative staff because of "suspicious activity" near the speaker's office in the Capitol. DPS is asking anyone with information about the person of interest to contact law enforcement at (512) 472-TIPS (8477). Tips can be reported anonymously.&nbsp; </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Terri Langford</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 13:12:27 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/suspect-unusual-activity-speaker-office-tied-car-f/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>State to Allow Same-Sex Couples to Get Amended Death Certificates </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/paxton-asks-be-excused-contempt-court-hearing/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/paxton-asks-be-excused-contempt-court-hearing/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/07/29/UP9A3829_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton testifies in front of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services regarding an ongoing investigation into Planned Parenthood&#39;s practices on July 29, 2015"> </a> </div> Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout. Texas Attorney General <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ken-paxton/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Ken Paxton</a>, who was&nbsp;facing possible contempt of court charges,&nbsp;vowed on Monday that the state would revise its policies in the next week to allow same-sex couples to obtain amended death certificates. The move came hours after Paxton asked U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia to quash an order requiring him and a top state health official to attend a contempt of court&nbsp;hearing on Wednesday. That hearing stemmed from a ruling last week by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/05/federal-judge-rules-gay-spouse-named-death-certifi/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">ordering state officials to recognize</a> the same-sex marriage of a Conroe resident by naming him as the surviving spouse on his late husband's death certificate. Garcia also ruled that Paxton and Kirk Cole, interim commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, should appear in court in San Antonio to determine whether they should be held in contempt for refusing to amend the death certificate. In his ruling, Garcia said the state had violated a July decision that prohibited state officials from enforcing Texas' now-defunct ban on same-sex marriages. That order was issued shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states must recognize same-sex marriages. A spokeswoman for the AG&rsquo;s office confirmed the hearing had been canceled &ldquo;while DSHS finalizes guidelines for the issuance of death certificates.&rdquo; A hearing is now scheduled for Sept. 10 to allow the state to finalize its revised policies. Following Garcia's order last week, the state reissued the death certificate naming Stone-Hoskins as a surviving spouse of his husband, who died in January. The couple had wed in New Mexico last year, but Stone-Hoskins was not initially named on the death certificate because the state did not recognize same-sex marriages at the time. Attorney Neel Lane, who has represented the same-sex couples in the lawsuit, said the AG &ldquo;advised the judge&rdquo; during a telephone hearing on Monday that the state health department, which oversees vital records, would issue new policy guidelines this week &ldquo;making clear that same-sex couples are entitled to amended death certificates and amended birth certificates to the same extent as opposite-sex couples.&rdquo; In light of the Supreme Court&rsquo;s ruling, gay rights activists had <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/30/despite-ruling-same-sex-adoptions-still-question/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">said they would pursue consistent parental rights</a> on Texas birth certificates, which only allow for a mother and a father to be listed. That means, for instance, when a woman has a child, her same-sex spouse is not automatically listed on the birth certificate &mdash; and considered the child's parent &mdash; as a male spouse would be. The non-biological parent has to adopt the child later to gain parental rights. Same-sex couples adopting a child run into the state's requirements for supplemental birth certificates, which are issued to establish parental rights for adopters. Texas supplemental certificates allow for two parents to be listed, "one of whom must be a female, named as the mother, and the other of whom must be a male, named as the father." As a result, only one parent is listed for same-sex couples. In the <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/documents/108-main.pdf?preview">brief filed Monday morning</a>, state attorneys had argued that Paxton and Cole should not be required to appear in court because other officials "have been intimately involved in the details" of naming John Stone-Hoskins as the surviving spouse on the death certificate for his late husband, James. "Under well-established precedent, a high-ranking government official should not be compelled to personally appear and testify absent extraordinary circumstances, which are present only when a high-ranking official has personal knowledge of information that is essential to a case and that evidence cannot be obtained from another source," state attorneys wrote. They offered to instead send a deputy attorney general and deputy general counsel for the state health department, who have also been involved in "developing a policy" regarding the issuance of death certificates in light of the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriages. In a <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/documents/109-main.pdf?preview">brief filed Wednesday afternoon</a>, Stone-Hoskins' attorneys had asked the court to dismiss Paxton's request and pursue contempt of court charges, alleging Paxton has "virtually incited" state employees to "ignore and resist" the same-sex marriage rulings. Stone-Hoskins' attorneys added that Paxton, who they describe as the "lead cheerleader," and Cole are behind "contemptuous acts," including denying same-sex couples to both be listed on their children's birth certificates. "Paxton and Cole&rsquo;s contemptuous attitude and acts have consequences far beyond the single case of John Stone-Hoskins, whose situation is hardly unique," the attorneys wrote, adding that Garcia should exercise "his inherent power of contempt" to ensure state officials abide by same-sex marriage rulings. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Alexa Ura</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 12:40:08 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/paxton-asks-be-excused-contempt-court-hearing/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>UT Panel: Relocate Confederate Statues or Add Plaques </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/ut-confederate-statutes/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/ut-confederate-statutes/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/06/23/Statue-BLM_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="Three statues at the University of Texas at Austin that commemorate Confederate leaders were vandalized in June 2015."> </a> </div> A task force on Monday recommended the University of Texas at Austin either relocate statues of Confederate leaders or add explanatory plaques. The&nbsp;12-person advisory panel of students, alumni and administrators issued recommendations to UT-Austin President Gregory Fenves, who commissioned the <a href="https://utexas.app.box.com/s/rmugazkex045mrgkwqfqaen05f6le2g4">report</a> in June, on the same day three statutes were vandalized. The report suggested&nbsp;five options, four of which involve moving one or more statues from the South Mall to a history center on campus.&nbsp;A fifth option suggested leaving the statues in place and adding plaques to explain historical context.&nbsp;The panel considered the placement of six statues on UT's campus, four depicting Confederate leaders including President Jefferson Davis, one of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and one of former Texas Gov. James Hogg.&nbsp; Fenves will review the report before making a final decision, according to the university.&nbsp; "Statues have layers of meaning: aesthetic, historical, aspirational, and educational. History is not innocent; it is the&nbsp;living foundation for the present," the report said. "The university&rsquo;s approach to changing and replacing monuments on campus should be conservative but&nbsp;not uncritical."&nbsp; A majority of the panel thought the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History is "a natural choice for relocation" because it could "place the statues in appropriate historical&nbsp;and educational contexts, rather than leaving the statues decontextualized but holding a prominent place of honor&nbsp;on campus," the report said. The panel also suggested moving the statues to campus educational centers dedicated to humanities, arts or sciences. Another proposed location was the Littlefield Home, a Victorian-style house built in 1893 for the former Confederate soldier and UT regent George Littlefield, who commissioned&nbsp;the statues.&nbsp; "It was a lot of healthy discussion," said&nbsp;Xavier Rotnofsky, UT-Austin student government president and a member of the panel. "It&nbsp;was an academic environment so we set emotions aside and just came and talked about the history, the artistry and the controversy." The five options suggested by the panel were: <ul> <li>Leaving the statues, but adding an explanatory plaque. The panel noted this might continue to attract vandalism and could be considered "'airing our dirty laundry'&nbsp;in what is inescapably the most prominent part of&nbsp;campus &mdash; the place where graduation is held; this would be rather like engaging in vigorous self-criticism&nbsp;on the university&rsquo;s home page."</li> <li>Moving only the Davis statue and an inscription honoring the Confederacy. </li> <li>Moving all six statues in question and the inscription.</li> <li> Moving just the four Confederate leaders and the inscription.</li> <li>Moving the statue of Wilson, three&nbsp;Confederate leaders and the inscription.&nbsp;</li> </ul> The task force was asked not to take cost into consideration, said&nbsp;Gregory J. Vincent, the university's vice president for diversity and community engagement. If Fenves chooses to add plaques to the existing statues, Vincent said the panel recommended the signs "stick to the facts." "These were erected at during a time of neo-Confederate ascension," he said.&nbsp;"It was part of an opportunity to revise history to talk about the power of the Confederacy." The statues have been a growing source of controversy at the university, which has Confederate leaders commemorated on its South Mall.&nbsp;In March, the student assembly adopted a resolution asking UT to remove the most controversial statue of Davis. The next month, that statue was vandalized when someone <a href="https://twitter.com/jrud/status/588731445901832192">tagged</a> it with the phrase &ldquo;Davis Must Fall.&rdquo; Fenves announced the creation of the task force in June, after another bout of vandalism. A week after the deadly shooting in a black church in South Carolina, someone spray-painted &ldquo;Black Lives Matter&rdquo; on the statue of Davis and on the ones of generals Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston. An <a href="https://www.change.org/p/remove-the-jefferson-davis-statue-at-the-university-of-texas-at-austin">online petition</a> calling for the removal of the Davis statue has garnered more than 3,500 signatures since it started in June.&nbsp; The task force solicited more than 3,100 opinions through public forms, phone calls and online submissions. According to the report, 33 percent of those opinions were in favor of leaving the statues in place, another 33 percent suggested relocation the Davis statue, 27 percent wanted all statues removed and 7 percent gave other suggestions. &nbsp; The scrutiny follows a national conversation about the use of Confederate flags and symbols in Southern culture. In July, Texas Democrats asked Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">Greg Abbott</a> to evaluate the appropriateness of Confederate monuments at the state Capitol &mdash; a request that occurred the same day South Carolina lawmakers voted to remove the Confederate flag from its Capitol grounds. Communities across the state have also discussed renaming <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/01/majority-minority-schools-confederate-names/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">schools named after Confederate leaders</a>. Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.&nbsp;A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">here</a>. </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Ally Mutnick</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 11:13:16 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/ut-confederate-statutes/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item><item><title>Planned Parenthood Out of Cancer Screening Program </title><link>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/planned-parenthood-be-cut-cancer-screening-program/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</link><description> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="/2015/08/10/planned-parenthood-be-cut-cancer-screening-program/"> <img src="//s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/08/10/31days-story10img-02_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt=""> </a> </div> <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/31ways/84R?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed"> <img id="project-logo" src="http://graphics.texastribune.org/graphics/31-days-31-ways-footer/assets/images/31days-logo-update2015-800x221.png" alt="31 Days 31 Ways" width="180" align="top" /> </a> Throughout August, The Texas Tribune will feature 31 ways Texans' lives will change because of new laws that take effect Sept. 1. Check out our <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/31ways/84R/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">story calendar</a> for more. *Clarification appended As part of the GOP's ongoing fight against Planned Parenthood,&nbsp;poor, uninsured women in Texas will soon be unable to obtain government-subsidized breast and cervical cancer screenings at the organization's clinics. In an effort to boot Planned Parenthood from the joint state-federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Services program, Texas lawmakers&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/20/budget-ousts-planned-parenthood-cancer-program/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">wrote a provision into the state budget</a>&nbsp;to prohibit clinics affiliated with abortion providers from receiving taxpayer funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings.&nbsp;That state budget takes effect Sept. 1. Cutting off the dollars Planned Parenthood received from the cancer screening program had long been a goal of Texas Republicans, who have likened directing any state funds to Planned Parenthood affiliates to endorsing abortion.&nbsp;Their efforts have <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/29/paxton-recordings-obtained-are-consistent-undercov/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">intensified in recent weeks</a>, following the release of a&nbsp;series of undercover videos &mdash; including <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/04/hidden-video-shows-houston-planned-parenthood-clin/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">one from Houston</a> &mdash; showing Planned Parenthood executives&nbsp;discussing fees for providing tissue from aborted fetuses to medical researchers. &nbsp; <div id="pym-graphic">&nbsp;</div> The 17 Planned Parenthood clinics participating in the Breast and Cervical Cancer Services program, or BCCS, were already prohibited by state law from performing abortions if they accepted taxpayer dollars.&nbsp;Planned Parenthood officials had <a href="https://cms.texastribune.org/admin/stories/story/89523/Planned%20Parenthood%20officials%20had%20said%20?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">said the budget rider was part</a> of Republicans' efforts to put the organization out of business in the state. In fiscal year 2014, Planned Parenthood served 2,938 of the 33,635 total women who received services from BCCS providers&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;about 9 percent. That year, Planned Parenthood clinics received a combined $1.2 million in funding for providing Texas women with a total of 910 clinical breast exams, 278 mammograms and 1,854 Pap smears. <div id="pym-graphic1">&nbsp;</div> From those screenings, health workers at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, which serves the Houston area, and Planned Parenthood Greater Texas, which serves North and Central Texas,&nbsp;helped 161 women apply for coverage under the Medicaid for Breast and Cervical Cancer program, which covers costs associated with cancer treatment for low-income women. (To apply for the&nbsp;Medicaid for Breast and Cervical Cancer program, a woman must be screened and diagnosed by a BCCS provider.) <div id="pym-graphic2">&nbsp;</div> In some rare cases, a Planned Parenthood clinic may still receive cancer screening funding if the&nbsp;state is unable to find other&nbsp;eligible providers in its region.&nbsp;A spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, which oversees the cancer screening program, said officials were still determining which providers not affiliated with Planned Parenthood "would be available" to participate in the program in the next year. Disclosure: Planned Parenthood was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune in 2011. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed">here</a>. Clarification:&nbsp;This story was updated to clarify how many and the mechanism through which women with cancer are screened by Breast and Cervical Cancer Services providers.&nbsp; </description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Alexa Ura, Annie Daniel and Mallory Busch</dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2015 06:00:00 -0500</pubDate><guid>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/10/planned-parenthood-be-cut-cancer-screening-program/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed</guid></item></channel></rss>

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