Two top state police officials are leaving. Lt. Col. David McEathron, assistant director of the Department of Public Safety, and Chief Randy Elliston, who heads the highway patrol, both retired at the end of August. Meanwhile, the board there named one of the buildings at the DPS campus in Austin after the just-retired director of the agency: What used to be Building A is now the Colonel Thomas A. Davis Jr. Building.

Cherie Townsend is the new executive editor of the Texas Youth Commission, or will be on October 1. She's been running the Clark County (Nevada) Juvenile Services agency and was director of Juvenile Court Services in Maricopa County, Arizona (that's Phoenix), but worked for TYC for 18 years earlier in her career.

Ben Delgado moves over to the Department of Family and Protective Services, presumably for just a little while, as interim commissioner while they're doing a search for a permanent leader. He's the former COO at that agency and has been the agency's interim chief once before. He's normally at the Department of State Health Services, where he's the associate commissioner.

After a year of teaching (in Mesquite), Janiece Crenwelge is rejoining Sen. Robert Deuell, R-Greenville, as a legislative aide. She worked for him in the last legislative session.

James Bernsen, who moves around more than a beagle with fleas (we kid), is the new press secretary to House Speaker Tom Craddick. His boss and the new communications director is Alexis DeLee, who's been wrangling reporters up to now (and will still be the main spokesperson). And Chris Cutrone gets a new assignment, too: He's the media relations liaison for the House, working with members who need media help.

Officially now: John Sneed is leaving Lt. Gov. DavidDewhurst's employ to become interim executive director of the State Preservation Board.

Gov. Rick Perry named three new directors to the board of the San Jacinto River Authority, all of them owners of businesses named for themselves: David Kleimann of Willis, R. Gary Montgomery of The Woodlands, and Lloyd Tisdale of Conroe. Montgomery and Tisdale are being reappointed to the board.

Perry named five board members for the Nueces River Authority: Fernanda Camarillo of Boerne, an engineer; Manuel Cano, a Corpus Christi homebuilding exec; Robert Dullnig of San Antonio, an exec with Presidio Financial Services, Gary Jones, vice president at South Texas Children's Home, and Roxana Tom, a CPA and rancher from Campbellton.

Indicted: U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston, on charges of abusive sexual contact and attempted aggravated sexual abuse of his court's former case manager.

Rep. Leo Berman, who's hinted at running for governor if state lawmakers don't address immigration issues, wants to know if making himself a candidate would knock him out of the House.Berman's asking Attorney General Greg Abbott for his opinion on two questions. First, would declaring oneself a gubernatorial candidate during the first year of one's term (that'd be 2009) force one to resign from the House? Second, what about forming an exploratory committee; would that hurt one's legislative status? Berman has pushed for stricter immigration laws and has been telling people for some time that he'll run for governor if the issue isn't addressed.