May 2009
Judge orders charter school to turn over records →
From the Beaumont Enterprise: The Beaumont Enterprise is entitled to standardized test scores requested more than a year ago from a Port Arthur charter school, a district court judge ruled…
Voter ID, other measures won’t be voted on this... →
Following impassioned debate between both political parties, a voter ID bill died this session amidst finger-pointing politics.
The Dallas Morning News‘ Robert T. Garrett reports that Texas Democrats…
New Texas shield law tested by KIII-TV3 in Corpus... →
This session state lawmakers passed a shield law for journalists after making sure it didn’t rile the sensibilities of Texas prosecutors.
A shield law exempts journalists from testifying in civil and…
Houston Chronicle: Lawsuit to force Houston... →
Houston won’t be forced to redraw city council districts before the 2010 census, even though the city’s population has increased enough to warrant that action by law. The Houston Chronicle’s Bradley…
Dallas Observer: Sen. Royce West often sides with... →
Does Royce West’s legal work affect his public stance on local issues?
That’s the theory of Jim Schutze, the Dallas Observer’s political writer, in a post for the paper’s blog, Unfair Park.
There…
Button files corrected ethics statement noting... →
New from the Ethics Commission today: State House freshman Angie Chen Button has filed a correction to her personal financial statement, noting that her earlier filing left off $18,000 in dividends…
West’s work for the defunct Wilmer-Hutchins ISD →
Continued from page 2.
Municipal bond work, while intricate, is usually a behind-the-scenes affair. Few newspapers report which firms are handling debt financing for a local government or school…
West’s role and more on what bond counsels do →
Continued from page 1.
The living that West makes is largely centered on helping public agencies issue bond packages for large construction projects.
This is not an easy process. If a city is using…
State Sen. Royce West’s firm earned $1M from... →
State Sen. Royce West’s law firm advised the Dallas Independent School District and other local governments last year, yielding West and Associates $1 million in fees. West, a Dallas Democrat who has…
Houston officials nominate Valero oil refining co.... →
Valero Refining would get tax breaks through a state program, if its recent nomination by city officials passes muster with the state.
The company was nominated last week to receive state financial…
Texas Watchdog offers training and consultation on... →
Texas Watchdog’s team has gathered a passel of public records and made them available at www.texaswatchdog.org. Recent finds include public schedules for high-profile politicians; e-mails between…
This round not on the House: Plans to let... →
A bill that would have allowed Texas beer drinkers to buy beer where it’s brewed has, legislatively speaking, passed out in a drunken stupor. And it won’t be revived for at least another two…
Journalists, sources and public stand to benefit... →
Gov. Rick Perry has made Texas the 37th state to pass a shield law by signing the Free Flow of Information Act, which went into effect Wednesday. Check out how the Texas rules compare to other…
Dallas law school tentatively approved, not... →
Dallas gets its law school, but not the money to pay for it.
The Texas House has tentatively approved Rep. Dan Branch’s bill to create a new publicly-funded law school in downtown Dallas–one of the…
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett’s company in line to... →
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett has disclosed his amount of compensation from a consulting agreement with the Port of Victoria, after Texas Watchdog raised questions last week about his work for the…
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett says politicians... →
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said today he would disclose his wife’s name on ethics forms and encourage other officials to do the same, if the AG says they should.
Emmett shared his position with…
Houston, Harris officials conceal details on... →
The actions by the city and county contrast with a state attorney general’s ruling saying that spouses’ names, addresses, are public record when listed on financial disclosures. Texas Watchdog will…
Houston, Harris officials conceal spouses’ names →
Continued from page 2. The city of Houston required more than a week to provide Texas Watchdog with copies of Houston Mayor Bill White and city council members’ financial disclosure forms. The…
The roadblocks to getting public records in Dallas →
Continued from page 1. Last week, Texas Watchdog tried to make copies of the Dallas county judge and commissioners’ financial statements. The forms are vital public records that can alert the public…
Galveston judge in sex case sentenced to 33 months →
Federal judge Samuel Kent — accused of forcing himself sexually on women who worked for him, and then lying to cover it up — has been sentenced to more than two years in prison, the Chronicle…
Journalists’ group weighs in on case that... →
The Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press on Monday asked a federal appeals court to rethink an earlier ruling that could gut the state sunshine law — and could gut other states’ sunshine…
Ethics forms posted for Carona, Zaffirini, other... →
Another batch of new ethics forms has arrived from the state Ethics Commission, including for Sens. John Carona, Judith Zaffirini and Eliot Shapleigh.
Public records show Texas Tech uses live cats in... →
Over the past few months, we’ve done an occasional series of posts about things you wouldn’t know about if it weren’t for public records laws. Like whether your kid’s high school’s football coach is…
Time magazine spotlights Texas Watchdog in story... →
Time magazine writer Belinda Luscombe chronicles the declining number of reporters covering American statehouses in a recent article.
Luscombe’s article features Connecticut News Junkie and Texas…
Texas Watchdog offers help getting public records →
Are you a parent trying to learn more about the school your child will attend next year? A neighborhood activist wondering why the city is tearing up your road? Or a blogger wondering why the county…
We are Marshall: Now, give us the school... →
The school system in Marshall, Texas, is apparently taking its cue from Houston’s Metro system: The school system isn’t releasing its contract with its outgoing school superintendent until after the…
Texas Youth Commission awarded $19.5 million in... →
The Texas Youth Commission — which one writer observes has come through a period of “scandal” and “disarray” – has not properly investigated some allegations of mistreatment of the youths in its care…
Craddick, Christian, Button, Davis’ ethics forms... →
The former House speaker is among a batch of 13 additional legislators whose ethics forms Texas Watchdog is publishing today.
Ethics forms posted for lawmakers Flores, Geren,... →
New personal financial disclosure forms for Reps. Ismael “Kino” Flores, Charlie Geren and Allen Fletcher are in the newest batch of forms uploaded to the Web by Texas Watchdog.
Dewhurst, Combs, Andrade, more lawmakers’ ethics... →
Texas Watchdog makes public 2009 ethics forms for a handful of statewide officials and nine state lawmakers.
Kuempel, Madden, McCall, both Lucios’ ethics forms... →
Texas Watchdog makes public 15 more personal financial statements filed by lawmakers.
Financial disclosures posted for Huffman, Kent,... →
Next in line as Texas Watchdog posts lawmakers’ 2009 ethics forms: State Sen. Joan Huffman and state Reps. Charlie Howard, Donna Howard, Jim Jackson, Delwin Jones, Carol Kent, Phil King, Mark Homer,…
Gov. Rick Perry’s new ethics form published, among... →
In keeping with our project last fall to post all 181 legislators’ personal financial statements covering 2007, we’re aiming to post all the new forms, too, covering calendar year 2008. We’re posting…
Ethics forms posted for Seliger, van de Putte,... →
Texas Watchdog makes public another batch of new ethics forms for state legislators, including those for Sens. Leticia van de Putte, Kel Seliger, and John Whitmire, and several House members as well….
Dewhurst shines a little more light on his vast... →
With the filing of his new ethics form covering calendar year 2008, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has given more details about his personal finances than ever before — but there are still a lot of holes…
2009 legislative ethics forms: Get ‘em while... →
In keeping with our project last fall to post all 181 legislators’ personal financial statements covering 2007, we’re aiming to post all the new forms, too, covering calendar year 2008. We’ll post…
Two hurricanes kept Gov. Rick Perry busy in late... →
The people Gov. Rick Perry has appointed to state board and commissions have collectively given him $5 million, the Houston Chronicle reported this morning. Take a deeper look into the governor’s…
Wentworth, past FIOFT honoree, wants to keep... →
State Sen. Jeff Wentworth is teaming up with the state police to help keep secret details of exactly how the state spends money on the governor’s security detail, the Chronicle’s R.G. Ratcliffe…
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst makes concessions, will... →
The Associated Press’ Jay Root lets his readers know via his Twitter feed that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will at least disclose more of what he should on his annual ethics disclosure form.
Root…
Probe to end soon over Dewhurst’s vague financial... →
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is said to be worth $200 million — and is one of the most powerful officials in the state. So, when you look at his 2008 personal financial disclosure form, what does it say…
Texas Watchdog publishes Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s... →
On the heels of the news that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will reveal more in his new ethics form about his personal fortune over the year 2008, we shed more light on Dewhurst’s activities by publishing…