December 2008
Texas faculty sue over UTMB layoffs, allege breach... →
The Texas Faculty Association has sued the University of Texas’ regents, alleging that the board broke the state open meetings law when it voted to layoff scads of people at the university’s Medical…
State auditor questions whether MTA can finish... →
The Metro Transit Authority says it’s “inappropriate” for the state auditor’s office to assume there will be delays, and challenged federal officials’ estimation that the agency would max out its…
‘Star-Telegram’ editorial praises online... →
We’re awfully grateful for the shout out from the editorial board at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram — and they’re right: lawmakers’ personal financial disclosure forms should be available in a…
November 2008
Cement company questions governments’ ‘green’... →
From the AP, via The Star-Telegram:
DALLAS — A cement company has file a federal lawsuit alleging that Tarrant County and the cities of Fort Worth and Arlington, along with other area governments,…
Speaker’s race takes center stage on Capitol Hill →
The campaign for speaker of the state House is in full swing, and it’ll soon be coming to a mailbox and answering machine near you, Bud Kennedy writes in the Star-Telegram: Armed with a recent court…
Tiny school district to close after losing state... →
A rural Texas school district with just 70 students in grades K-12 is facing permanent closure after the state yanked its funding, the Abilene Reporter-Newssays.
The school in question is the Star…
Campaign reports will be posted online in Bexar... →
Bexar County will begin posting campaign finance reports online, the San Antonio Express-News reports.
San Antonio cops reassigned over suggestive photos →
Five San Antonio bicycle patrol officers have been reassigned after suggestive photos of them in uniform surfaced on MySpace and were then aired by WOAI.
Public records map is latest in Texas Watchdog... →
Open government is big part of our mission here at Texas Watchdog, and our story (and map) today are just our latest project. We’ve posted online the financial disclosure forms for state lawmakers…
State secrets? Names of people in death chamber,... →
Here at Thanksgiving, we’re certainly thankful for Texas’ open records law. But many of the exemptions to the law are real turkeys, including one that allows records to be held if they’re deemed…
Blue Cross Blue Shield owes millions to county,... →
Oops: Blue Cross Blue Shield had wanted a $4.7 million tax break to build a data center in Fort Worth — but then Tarrant County officials found out that the insurance giant owes $5.2 million to the…
Voting official alleges fraud, says 15 Dallas Co.... →
Nov. 4 is long gone. So, does it really matter if the voter rolls are all up to date?
Another Harris County official caught sending... →
When are public officials going to learn to stop sending e-mails that offend others? Better yet, when are they going to learn that racist, sexist and/or sexually suggestive jokes just aren’t funny?
Court fight continues over House District 105... →
Twenty votes are in doubt and not much is at stake — oh, you know, just the control of the Texas legislature and a good chunk of the direction of the entire state for the next two years — in the…
Tapes made public concerning Corpus police chief’s... →
Tapes and transcripts of phone calls and conversations recorded by Corpus Christi’s police chief have been released to the public, and Chief Bryan Smith says he’ll retire Dec. 19. The Caller-Times…
A third of criminal records missing from public... →
From the Star-Telegram this morning:
More than a third of criminal records are missing from the online Department of Public Safety database available to the public, a Fort Worth company found in a…
Star-Telegram writes up Texas Watchdog →
The Star-Telegram’s Aman Batheja is reporting how we’ve posted the financial disclosure forms for state office holders on our website:
In the movie All the President’s Men, a shadow-cloaked…
UT regents may have broken sunshine law in meeting... →
The University of Texas regents had a closed-door session last week to talk about laying off 3,800 people at the UT-run Galveston medical center. The Texas Daily Newspaper Association has written…
Corpus paper pushes for audio tapes of top cop’s... →
Just what did Police Chief Bryan Smith say? And why won’t anyone make the tapes public, some three weeks after the Caller-Times asked for their release?
Dallas County pledges to review potential dead... →
Dallas County elections officials still plan a review of the 6,000 voters that Texas Watchdog found may be deceased but still listed on the rolls.
In the meantime, the elections department says…