By Mark Lavergne on 9/1/2010 4:35 PM

The Senate Select Redistricting Committee met for the first time this morning, a low-key gathering for what will no doubt be a long and contentious process.

State Demographer Dr. Lloyd Potter, of the University of Texas at San Antonio, gave the committee members, many of whom serve as chairs in other committees, a 50,000-foot view of the changes in Texas since the last census was taken in 2000.

Since then, Texas has grown 18.8 percent, compared to the national average of 9.1. Texas is also the second largest state in both population and area, Potter said. ...

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By Mark Lavergne on 9/1/2010 10:23 AM

Texas' Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ruled in favor of the Attorney General Greg Abbott that a judge in Texas cannot grant a divorce to same sex couples married outside the state, since a granting of divorce implies the existence of a legal, valid marriage.

Dallas state district Judge Tena Callahan ruled in Oct. 2009 that Texas' same-sex marriage ban violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It was believed at the time that the ruling could effectively legalize gay marriage in Texas, despite the fact that 76 percent of voters here voted in support of a 2005 constitutional amendment to define marriage as only between one man and one woman. The Aug. 31, 2010 ruling reverses and remands Callahan's ruling.

The opinion by Justice Kerry Fitzgerald begins:

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By Andy Hogue on 8/31/2010 12:52 PM

At first, visitors to the Texas Capitol were asked to empty their pockets as a way to deter would-be threats to the building.

And now DPS troopers are sporting semi-automatic M-4 assault rifles at the doors as part of a recent crime-deterrence plan, KVUE-TV in Austin and KHOU-TV in Houston are reporting.

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By Andy Hogue on 8/31/2010 9:06 AM

Harris County, after losing all of its 10,000 electronic voting machines in a fire on Friday, will be able to purchase enough of the devices to host the General Election at all existing precincts, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The county's Commissioners Court approved $13.6 million to purchase 2,325 Hart Intercivic eSlate machines to keep all polling places open and compliant with the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which requires computerized balloting in counties as large as Harris. That's about half as many machines as were used in 2006, the Chronicle article said.

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By Mark Lavergne on 8/30/2010 4:41 PM

Rep. David Swinford (R-Dumas), who has been in the Texas House for 20 years and most recently chaired State Affairs under Speaker Tom Craddick, sent a letter to Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus today announcing his resignation from the House effective at close of business Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010. Wrote Swinford:

After much consideration I have decided to resign as State Representative of District 87, at the close of business Tuesday, August 31, 2010. I have been honored to serve in the House of Representatives for 20 years and am not seeking re-election to the office.

After much discussion and consultation with District 87's political leaders, community leaders and good friends, I have decided the greatest parting gift to my constituents would be to retire early. With your help, a special election could be called for the same date as the general election to defer any additional cost to the state during the election process. I feel this would greatly benefit my district and my new state representative.

Swinford told LSR he is retiring early in order to give the next representative, whom he firmly believes will be Walter "Four" Price, "an opportunity to … be a sitting member for a while before the rest of the freshman class."

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By Mark Lavergne on 8/30/2010 9:40 AM

In a dare-I-say welcome shift from finger-pointing, name-calling and accusations, the governor's race has taken a turn into the dark woods of actual policy.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White said late last week that the state should, in essence, overturn its existing regulatory structure on homeowners' and automobile insurance and go to a pure prior-approval system. (Stories at Dallas Morning News and WFAA.) ...

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By Mark Lavergne on 8/27/2010 2:40 PM

At a meeting of the Texas Youth Commission governing board this morning, Executive Director Cherie Townsend and board Chairman Scott Fisher both disputed claims made in the letter, from four advocacy groups to the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging systemic problems of abuse and lack of safety for offenders incarcerated at TYC facilities (as reported in today's LSR).

Townsend said TYC has made "significant positive changes" since 2007. "The frequency with which any of these allegations or actions that are inconsistent with agency policy are happening, is now occasional or isolated, not routine operations, and for anyone to suggest otherwise is not based on fact," she said.

Fisher, in a written statement released today, said the TYC Board "takes very seriously every allegation of abuse, mistreatment or neglect of youth in TYC," and "are committed to investigated the cases and taking the appropriate action swiftly."

Lack of communication? ...

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By Andy Hogue on 8/27/2010 12:41 PM

Days after allegations of voter fraud surfaced in Harris County (see blog post and story), a fire early this morning destroyed all of the county's voting machines.

About 10,000 Hart Intercivic eSlate machines were ruined in a three-alarm fire this morning, the Houston Chronicle reported. The damage to the equipment is estimated at around $30 million.

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By Andy Hogue on 8/26/2010 4:04 PM

So that's why Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri had his first press conference in Waco!

We're working on our weekly issue at this time, but here's the Republican Party of Texas' press release, verbatim:

WACO -- Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri today provided reporters with a series of documents that make it clear that State Rep. Jim Dunnam, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, does not live in House District 57, the district he represents in the Texas House.  In fact, it appears that Dunnam has not lived in House District he represents since the lines were re-drawn as a result of the 2000 Census. ...

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By Andy Hogue on 8/24/2010 4:09 PM

A Houston-based conservative group released what they considered to be a discovery of thousands of false voter registrations this afternoon.

The group, the King Street Patriots, claimed they found hundreds of voter addresses linked to vacant lots -- some associated with six or more false voters. ... If these charges are true, this could add new fuel to the push for a Voter ID bill in the next legislature.

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