A former Representative from Houston who helped author Texas' concealed handgun law suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak.

Ron Wilson, 55, had several small strokes last week before a major one at lunchtime on Friday, the Houston Chronicle reports.

During a campaign kick-off rally in Austin on Monday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison laid out some policy areas she plans to focus on during her bid for Governor of Texas.

Hutchison, who formally announced she will oppose Gov. Rick Perry on the GOP ticket on Monday, spoke to a group of about 100 at the University of Texas' Etter-Harbin Alumni Center across from UT's football stadium. Hutchison gave her remarks underneath a rather large set of longhorns, referencing at many times her appreciation for the University of Texas system.

IRVING -- Kay Bailey Hutchison made what could be her first campaign promise of her yet-to-be-made-official run for governor this afternoon (albeit a broad one):

"I want to be governor of Texas, and I will make you this promise: If I am governor, I want you to know that I will work with you for our transportation mobility in Texas. I will not dictate to you. That is my pledge."

IRVING -- Texas politics took centerstage this morning at a prominent gathering of transportation officials and industry leaders this morning.

Sens. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville), Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), Eliott Shapleigh (D-El Paso), and Kirk Watson (D-Austin), along with Reps. Jim Dunnam (D-Waco), Dan Flynn (R-Vann), Linda Harper-Brown (R-Irving), Joe Pickett (D-El Paso), and Larry Phillips (R-Sherman), spoke to a room of about 1,000 at the 12th Annual Transportation and Infrastructure Summit. Also speaking was Arkansas Rep. Steve Harrelson, the state's House majority leader.

Eighteen-year legislator Rep. Joe Crabb (R-Kingwood) announced at a high school alumni dinner he will not seek re-election, according to The Tribune, a newspaper serving Humble, Atascocita, Kingwood, and Lake Houston.

We link to the article here: http://ourtribune.com/article.php?id=7901

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, likely Republican candidate for Governor of Texas and (for the meantime) a member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations subcommittee, secured language in a transportation bill that would continue the current ban on placing tolls on existing interstate highways in Texas through September 2010.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released its annual ratings for the 1,235 school districts and 8,322 schools today. And if the measures are accurate, the grades weren't all that good.

According to a press release from the TEA, a higher-than-usual number of passing rates on state tests and a new growth measure contributed to substantial increases in the number of "Exemplary"-rated schools and districts.

How often does the bipartisan but conservative-leaning Texas Association of Business team up with LULAC?

Well, the strange bedfellow event of the summer happened on the eve of the release of Texas Education Agency ratings -- the measure which annually rates schools from "exemplary" to "academically unacceptable." Texas Association of Business President Bill Hammond stood side-by-side at a press conference with representatives of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, Mothers Against Discriminatory Racism in Education and Society (MADRES), the University Leadership Initiative, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce -- "a historical coalition," according to a press release.

Secretary of State Hope Andrade today drew the order in which 11 proposals to amend the Texas Constitution from the 81st Legislature will appear on the November ballot.

They are as follows:

The U.S. Department of Education today approved an application from the state of Texas, clearing the path for $3.2 billion in stimulus dollars to pay for new textbooks, $800-raises for teachers, and about $2 billion in general public school funding.

Gov. Rick Perry had this to say: “I’m pleased that the U.S. Department of Education has approved Texas’ application for State Fiscal Stabilization Funds, which will help increase public school funding, providing each school a minimum additional $120 per student. Providing quality education to our state’s school children continues to be a top priority. Texas lawmakers appropriated this money, along with more than $30 billion in state funds, to enhance educational excellence in our state.”