March 2009
Take a break from your taxes, and meet up with... →
Hi, everyone. Texas Watchdog will hold a blogger and citizen-journalist meet-up two weeks from today, Tuesday, April 14, at 5:30 p.m. Location TBD.
We’ll offer a short, free tutorial on how to file a…
Criminal complaint filed against Judge Sharon... →
Texans for Public Justice, an Austin-based advocacy group that tracks the influence of money on state officials, has filed criminal and civil complaints against Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of…
Keller omits $2M in property from ethics form →
Judge Sharon Keller, who wants the state to pay for her legal defense because she says she couldn’t afford it on her own, failed to put down about $2 million in real estate on her personal financial…
School system moved, instead of suspending, worker... →
From the McAllen Monitor this morning:
LA JOYA — A former computer lab employee accused of molesting 10 elementary school students last year was moved to a different campus after police launched an…
Corpus Christi must release complete disclosure... →
The city of Corpus Christi must make public all of the personal financial disclosure forms filed by its mayor and city council members in response to Texas Watchdog’s request to see the documents,…
Banked vacation, sick time equal big bucks in... →
The city of Corpus Christi paid out more than $850,000 in unused vacation and sick time to five key employees who quit or retired in calendar years 2007 and 2008, a Texas Watchdog review of city pay…
State school board members’ ethics forms posted... →
With a key vote looming on the teaching of evolution in Texas public schools, the state Board of Education’s ethics forms are now public through Texas Watchdog’s interactive Google map.
DMN: Houston Texans running back, on way to visit... →
The Dallas Morning News reports:
On his way to visit his dying mother-in-law, Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats ran a red light in his SUV within a hundred or so feet of the emergency…
Brownsville mayor indicted →
The Brownsville Herald has the story, via the McAllen Monitor site:
Brownsville Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. has been indicted by a Cameron County grand jury, his attorney John Blaylock said this…
San Benito tries to shield name of arrested cop →
A police captain in San Benito was arrested in Harlingen over the weekend, but city officials tried to keep his name under wraps, the Valley Morning Star reported:
City Manager Manuel Lara said he…
Two Texas Watchdog staffers attend... →
Earlier this week, two of our staffers – Jennifer Peebles and Lee Ann O’Neal — returned from the CAR Conference in Indianapolis put on by the group Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc..
CAR…
A distributor’s ‘theory of warfare’ →
(Continues from page 2 and page 1)
Interestingly, lifting the restrictions on microbrewery sales may not even hurt distributors like Andrews. Only a tiny fraction of the beer-drinking public will…
Beer drinkers could purchase direct from local... →
State law prevents customers from buying direct from Texas’ microbreweries. The legislature could change that rule, but some beer distributors oppose altering the current system.
Beer distributors decline to comment →
(Contined from page 1)
Mike McKinney is a hard guy to reach. We tried calling the chief executive officer of the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas — and one-time aide to former Gov. Preston Smith…
Texas politicians rake in the dough from energy... →
Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov David Dewhurst got more money in campaign contributions from energy-related firms firms than any other candidates for state office or state legislature in the nation…
State auditor hits National Guard chiefs hard →
More out today from KHOU-Channel 11 about the problems at the top of the Texas National Guard: AUSTIN — State Auditor John Keel blasted the behavior of three of the most powerful military commanders…
Senate passes Kevin Eltife’s bill to make... →
The state Senate has approved Tyler Republican Kevin Eltife’s bill that would clear up one of the least transparent aspects of local government: The search for a new school superintendent.
In many…
Take-home vehicle survey finds some FOI lemons →
The Denton Record-Chronicle undertook an ambitious project in observance of Sunshine Week: surveying 35 local government entities to find out about the vehicles they let employees take home with…
First Southwest won’t talk about how they chose... →
This week, I wrote about how state Sen. Rodney Ellis benefited from endorsing the Houston Independent School District’s $805 million bond package. His financial services firm, Rice Financial…
Plan to require photo ID at the polls gains Senate... →
The Associated Press says the state House can weigh in on a plan to require photo ID at the polls, after the Senate approved the measure:
As expected, the Senate gave final passage Wednesday on a…
Gambling interests sink $7M+ into 2008 elections →
Texans for Public Justice has crunched the numbers on how much gambling interests spent in last year’s elections: $7.6 million. And three-fourths of that money came from the horse racing sector, TPJ…
More on the mess in Mesquite: Texas Watchdog... →
Dallas/Fort Worth’s WFAA-TV has been doing some real digging into lavish spending at taxpayers’ expense by Mesquite city officials. The spending spree came when the officials decided that more than…
Is crime or Pizza Hut at heart of mayor-police... →
The Valley Morning Star (via the McAllen Monitor site) provides us with one of the strangest local government stories we’ve seen in a while, this one out of Rio Hondo, a little town not too far east…
State Sen. Rodney Ellis responds to Texas Watchdog... →
Nearly two weeks after we first called State Sen. Rodney Ellis to ask him about his firm’s lucrative bond work for the Houston Independent School District, his office has finally responded … via the…
Texas Watchdog wants to help you get information... →
Maybe you saw our story today about state Sen. Rodney Ellis’ work as a subcontractor for the Houston school system. Maybe you saw our recent story about Sen. Royce West pushing for public contracts…
Reporter shield law passes out of Texas House... →
From the AP, via Chron.com:
AUSTIN — A House committee on Monday passed through the latest version of a law to protect journalists from revealing confidential sources, setting the stage once again…
Like Sen. Ellis, Ray Hutchison’s work on bond... →
Like a front porch light luring flies on a summer night, municipal bond transactions have a way of attracting politically connected people. Attorney Ray Hutchison, the husband of Republican U.S….
Judge rules in favor of Tarrant County College in... →
The folks challenging Tarrant County College over an alleged sunshine-law violation have not prevailed at the trial court level, the Star-Telegram reports:
In a blow to those arguing for more public…
Houston Independent School District and Rodney... →
(Continued from page 1.) So how does Ellis’ firm profit from the district’s financial dealings?
Here’s how it works: A Dallas investment bank, First Southwest, contracts directly with Houston ISD to…
State Sen. Rodney Ellis’ private firm stands to... →
The Houston lawmaker gave the Houston Independent School District’s 2007 public bond campaign a final-leg push, and his firm, Rice Financial Products, stands to make a mint from it.
Citizen journalist lets the sun shine into... →
We celebrate Sunshine Week — and National Freedom of Information Day — by spotlighting the Somervell County Salon, a blog that provides not only commentary but audio and video of public meetings in…
Lawmaker wants to let governments sue you for... →
Bad news here on the eve of National FOI Day and the beginning of Sunshine Week: A state House member from New Braunfels wants to allow government agencies to sue people who ask for a lot of public…
Legislature could extend press protections to... →
Vince at Capitol Annex has the lowdown. Here’s a snippet:
Citizen journalists and bloggers in Texas would have the same protection to write about politics and other matters of public concern as do…
Prison employees get light punishment for... →
Remember the death row inmate who apparently wanted state Sen. John Whitmire on his Friends and Family calling plan? Two reporters from the Chronicle, Lisa Sandberg and Matt Stiles, have sorted…
How Texas Tech Health Sciences Center boss has... →
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal has used the state public records law to find out about the spending habits of Texas Tech Health Sciences Center president John Baldwin, and it’s a doozy. Some spending…
House Speaker Joe Straus talks taxes, says... →
Recently, Michael Quinn Sullivan, the president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, a conservative taxpayer group, sat down for an engaging chat with House Speaker and fellow Vandy alum Joe Straus….
Is Gov. Rick Perry tweeting while the stimulus... →
As the Burnt Orange Report points out, Gov. Rick Perry looks tone-deaf announcing plans to reject $555 million in federal aid to the unemployed near the Galleria in Houston — one of the richest parts…
Dallas mayor Tom Leppert takes on Harlan Crow over... →
It is, now that the Cowboys have dumped Terrell Owens, the biggest story in town: The upcoming referendum on whether the city of Dallas should build a new $550 million convention center hotel. Last…
AP: Senate committee OKs measure to require photo... →
A plan to make Texas’ voter identification requirements more stringent has passed a first hurdle, after a Senate debate that stretched into the wee hours of the morning, the Associated Press…
State auditors can’t make sense of BexarMet’s... →
San Antonio’s public water provider, BexarMet, has been at the center of a huge storm of controversy in recent months. A new audit out this morning from the state auditor’s office says the auditors…
HISD spends $100K on rodeo gala tickets: Chronicle →
Officials with the Houston Independent School District have spent $100,000 in school vending machine money in the past five yeas on tickets a rodeo gala, The Houston Chronicle reported this morning….
Texas Watchdog exchanges ideas about journalism,... →
Texas Watchdog staffers Lee Ann O’Neal, left, and Jennifer Peebles, right, met this afternoon at the Texas Watchdog offices with journalists from South Korea. We really enjoyed the opportunity to…
Take the budget to the ballot: Dallas County DA... →
Since his surprise election in 2006, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has made national headlines for releasing 19 prisoners who were wrongfully convicted under his less-discerning…
Daily Texan editorship up in the air — with... →
Forget about Rick vs. KBH. Nevermind how Mayor Bill White will fare in his bid for U.S. Senate. If you’re looking for a lively election season, direct your eyes toward the election for the editorship…
Statesman outlines statehouse debate over photo ID... →
The Austin American-Statesman’s W. Gardner Selby has an evenhanded advance of this week’s Senate debate over photo ID at the polls. Selby explores both what’s at issue and also the political…
Review of 4,000 names of dead voters on the polls... →
A list of some 4,000 names of voters who may be dead will be reviewed, a top Harris County official for voter registration has promised. Texas Watchdog identified those names in this October report,…
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert wants Austin to butt... →
One week after Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert pleaded with legislators to establish a new law school in Dallas, a venture that would cost the state around $40 million, he is now “asking Austin to stay out…
Two potential cases of voter fraud →
(Continued from page 1.)
Gloria Guidry, of Dixie Drive
More than a year after her death in 2007, someone signed in at the polls for Gloria Guidry of Dixie Drive in Houston. (View the pollbook from…
Confession needed when seeking out wrongdoing at... →
It’s darn near impossible to prosecute someone for election-related fraud, public attorneys say. That’s even as Texas Watchdog has found two apparent cases of impersonation of dead people at the…
What do officials say? →
(Continued from page 2.)
Leo Vasquez, Harris County voter registrar, manages Harris County’s voter rolls. (He’s also the tax collector, as of late December. Prior to that, Paul Bettencourt held the…