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Gov. Rick Perry speaks at the Iowa State Fair during a campaign stop on Aug. 14, 2011.

The pace of campaign news and noise has quickened, and Labor Day is traditionally the last week of semi-sanity in the political season.

The big races are (mostly) well underway. Congressional and legislative races are stuttering to the gate, partly because of some trepidation over the maps.

A three-man panel of federal judges will take on the mountain of redistricting cases this week, opening hearings on Tuesday morning that according to the court's pre-trial orders will close on September 16.

Candidate filing is supposed to begin on November 12 and end December 12. The courts can mess with those deadlines and have in the past. That's not a huge consolation to candidates. It's one thing to file, and another thing to get a contest started in time to raise the support and money it takes to run a primary in the first nine weeks of 2012.

Next week also marks a new phase of the race that overshadows all of the others: The first presidential debate with Gov. Rick Perry in it is on Wednesday.

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State Rep. Pete Gallego (c), D-Alpine, waits to speak on an amendment to HB1 the state budget on April 1, 2011

State Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, says he is filing papers to run for the CD-23 congressional seat now held by Republican Francisco "Quico" Canseco of San Antonio. And in El Paso, former City Rep. Beto O'Rourke says that he will challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes in the Democratic primary election next year.

Canseco, who upset San Antonio Democrat Ciro Rodriguez in the November 2010 elections, didn't get much of a safety margin in the latest redistricting maps. His congressional district is Republican on paper, but it's attractive to Democrats who think they can bring in enough voters — especially in a presidential election year — to hold Canseco to one term.

Gallego first won election to the Texas House in 1990 and has chaired various committees and also been part of the Democratic leadership, doing time as head of the House Democratic and the Mexican American Legislative Caucuses. That's made him known to state and national Democrats who might be willing to help him in a congressional contest.

The district runs from San Antonio west to El Paso and includes all but five of the Texas counties that border Mexico.

San Antonio lawyer Manuel Peleaz decided this week not to run for that congressional seat. He says he got lots of encouragement at home from others in San Antonio, but that Gallego has locked down most of the important supporters west of Bexar County. That sets up as a "cage match," as he put it, between Gallego and Rodriguez, and with others, including John Bustamante, son of a former congressman, who announced last month. Rodriguez, who served with Gallego in the Texas House before running for federal office, has two congressional losses behind him; before losing to Canseco, he lost a congressional seat to Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

In the El Paso battle, O'Rourke, who served on the City Council for six years before leaving the post this year, has long considered a congressional run, so his decision is not a big surprise. But it does set up another big political brawl in this city known for bruising Democratic melees.

"This is going to liven things up here," said El Paso County Democratic Party Chairman Danny Anchondo.

Reyes and O'Rourke come from two long feuding camps in the local Democratic Party. Reyes, a former U.S. Border Patrol sector chief who was elected to Congress in 1996, is leader of the more conservative, establishment Democrats. O'Rourke, who runs a technology consulting and web design firm and is the son of a former El Paso County judge, is aligned with former state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh and more liberal, progressive Democrats.

When it comes time for the campaign barbs, they won't be the first ones exchanged between the two men. In 2009, O'Rourke drew national attention when he proposed a city resolution urging Congress to consider legalizing narcotics as a way to stem the bloody drug war raging in Mexico, just yards away from El Paso. Reyes was unimpressed with the proposal, which was eventually vetoed by Mayor John Cook. He said he worried the city could lose federal money if it took such a controversial stance.

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West Texas is taking another blow with Rick Hardcastle's decision not to seek another term in the Texas House. The Vernon Republican's announcement wasn't unexpected — it's been rumored for months — but it takes another veteran out of a delegation that's already peppered with tenderfeet. Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, is also leaving the House, and John Smithee of Amarillo will be the only tenured state representative from the area.

Hardcastle was elected to the House in 1999 and chairs the Agriculture and Livestock Committee. He wasn't paired with another incumbent in redistricting, but the new map made big changes to his district. His new district stretches across 22 counties and includes parts of the Panhandle, the South Plains and North Texas — all the way east to Cooke County, north of Denton.

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State Rep. Larry Taylor (l), R-League City, plays around with State Rep. Armando Martinez (c), D-Weslaco on the House floor on March 21, 2011.

State Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, is through exploring — he'll run for the Texas Senate seat being vacated by Mike Jackson, R-La Porte. Jackson is running for Congress in one of the state's four new seats and Taylor has been expressing an interest in the Senate spot ever since he learned of Jackson's plans. He waited for Jackson to officially announce, then waited a week or so, and now he's in.

Former state Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale, a Republican, will run in an open House seat in Williamson County, where he now lives. Van Arsdale had a Tomball seat, but lost that in 2008 to Allen Fletcher, R-Tomball (who had a strong assist from state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston. Van Arsdale, who's been lobbying for AGC-Texas Building Branch, had said he'd be interested only if he pulled some local support. He got enough, apparently, to jump in. His list includes former Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, and Williamson County Constable Rick Coffman. And there's this: His campaign claims it raised $100,000 on the first day after Van Arsdale announced.

Republican James Wilson, a former regional director for then-U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, is running against state Rep. Debbie Riddle in HD-150, if that's not on your radar yet. He was a Texas legislative staffer before working for Gramm, and is now an insurance agent. Riddle is from Tomball; Wilson's kids are in the Klein schools, and he's billing himself as the education candidate in the race.

Here's another Republican playing the education card: Amber Fulton, a former member of the Lewisville school board who lives in The Colony, will run for the HD-106 seat in Denton County. That's an open seat, but it's also attracted Patrick Fallon, who lives in Collin County but serves as a city councilman and mayor pro tem in Frisco, which straddles the Collin-Denton county line. She comes with endorsements from Reps. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, and Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth.

Michael Pruneda, a Pharr attorney and a Democrat, will run for the House in HD-40, where the incumbent is Rep. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen.

State Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway, D-Dallas, might challenge U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, also D-Dallas, for that congressional seat, according to The Dallas Morning News. Johnson chaired the Senate Redistricting Committee that created the seat in the early 1990s and has held it ever since without a serious challenge.

Foreshadowing? Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, told a local audience that the legislative session was lost to politics, to people who were serving in one office with their eye on another, or on what activists might do to them for voting one way or another on particular issues. Ogden, who has been the subject of reelection rumors ever since the end of the session (this happens to him every two years or so, by the way) might as well have been talking about the future. The state Senate could be choosing a replacement for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst after the 2012 elections, and even Gov. Rick Perry, from their own ranks. The upper chamber of the Legislature could have 31 people with their eyes on jobs other than their own (see this week's Inside Intelligence for more about that).

Austin attorney Keith Hampton, a Democrat, will run for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, a job he has unsuccessfully sought before. He's running in Place 8. The incumbent is Republican Elsa Alcala, a Rick Perry appointee who's been on the court for three months, and who served as a district and appellate judge for 12 years before that. She's from Houston.

Michael Williams, running for Congress in CD-25, picked up endorsements from five former chairs of the state GOP: George Strake Jr., Fred Meyer, Susan Weddington, Tina Benkiser, and Cathie Adams.

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Attorney General Greg Abbott, Gov. Rick Perry, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson and Department of Public Safety chief Steve McCraw at the signing of House Bill 3000 on May 25, 2011.

The top state elected officials known or believed to be angling for higher office wasted no time lashing out at a federal judge’s ruling this week that struck down key provisions on Texas’ new abortion sonogram law. But Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott may well use it to their political advantage — to lure anti-abortion voters to the polls, and fuel their fire against so-called “activist” judges.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks — a Republican appointee — issued an injunction on the abortion sonogram law this week, ruling that key elements of the measure — namely, forcing doctors to describe the fetus to the woman ahead of the procedure — violated the First Amendment.

Hot on the presidential trail, Perry, who made the legislation an emergency last session, fired off a statement calling the ruling “a great disappointment to all Texans who stand in defense of life.” Dewhurst, who’s running for U.S. Senate, said it was a “tragic setback for Texans who care deeply about the rights of the unborn.” And Abbott, who’s positioned to be the 2012 front-runner for governor, immediately filed notice that the state would appeal the ruling.

Don’t expect any of them to treat it as a defeat.

To the extent that the ruling gives Republican office-seekers another chance to communicate with anti-abortion voters, it’s a win, said Austin- and Washington, D.C.-based political consultant Matt Mackowiak. This time, Mackowiak said, it can be cast through the lens of courtroom activism, and Perry will have an example to illustrate his calls for judicial term limits.

“This gives Gov. Perry a chance to talk even more about the pro-life issue… from a slightly different perspective,” he said. “It’s not just the relative merits of supporting life, but what his record shows, and that he can say the position is under threat from activist judges.”

Abbott has some of the stoutest anti-abortion credentials in the state. His appellate battle to keep abortion sonogram on the books can only help him in a bid for the governor’s office, Mackowiak said.

“Some people can talk about this as an ephemeral policy issue,” he said. Abbott “can talk about it as, ‘This is how I fought to protect life, and here’s what I’m doing on your behalf.’”

And after all the anticipated rhetoric, the injunction could just be temporary. Legal experts expect the injunction will stand until the appeal is heard in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court in New Orleans, known as reliably conservative.

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Don’t look for the Legislature to get in the middle of Texas A&M University’s split from the Big 12 Conference.

Twice in the last 14 months, House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, has called a hearing about universities leaving the Big 12 Conference — and twice he had to cancel it because the timing was off. In the meantime, the conservative blogosphere let him have it.

The most recent hearing was set for mid-August. Before it was canceled because the Southeastern Conference declined to offer A&M an invitation (for the time being), Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of the conservative fiscal watchdog group Empower Texans, called it "hypocrisy." This was in part because of Branch's hands-off approach to the creation of the Longhorn Network, which reportedly played no small role in inspiring A&M's wandering eye.

"Rather than meddling in football schedules, Texas legislators should use their time to move the ball forward on substantive policy reforms that will improve affordability and accessibility in our public colleges and universities," Sullivan wrote at the time. It might have nothing to do with it, but it's worth noting that Sullivan is an Aggie.

Now that A&M has actually officially announced its desire to leave the Big 12, Branch appears less eager to meet. During a higher education hearing on separate matters this week, Branch said he hoped there would be time — it is likely to be a drawn-out process — for questions to be asked and answered in the public arena "and there won't be a need for any hearings."

Branch’s higher education counterpart in the Senate, Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, has expressed similar views on the need, or lack thereof, for a hearing. She's a Longhorn, by the way.

“It is not this chairman's intent to meddle in those types of decisions," Branch said. However, he noted, in previous instances, that when impending actions caught them off guard and there was "concern that there could be harm done to a conference that would ultimately cause damage to major public institutions of this state," lawmakers needed to have their questions answered.

Of the Big 12, he said, "We have gained a sense that the current conference our other institutions are in — namely University of Texas, Texas Tech University and Baylor University — that conference, at least at the present, seems to be solid."

The Big 12 is looking to expand its footprint and, and Houston Democratic Rep. Garnet Coleman has been outspoken about which institution he’d like to see join up. “As I have made clear before, no other school makes as much sense for the Big 12 as does the University of Houston,” he said in a statement.  Look for him to continue making that clear as this saga drags on.           

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Hand a bunch of insiders a list of 31 senators and ask what's going to happen next, and you turn them into outsiders. The most insider deals of all happen when legislators meet amongst themselves to choose their leaders. It happens in the House every session. In the Senate, it only happens when the lieutenant governor leaves in mid-term. With David Dewhurst running for U.S. Senate, the game is afoot; if he wins in 2012, the Senate will pick his replacement. If Rick Perry leaves the governor's office, the lieutenant governor — Dewhurst or otherwise — would get his job.

That's the setup. We asked the insiders to forecast what might happen if the senators were to meet to choose new high officials. Who would win? Would the Democrats have any say in a Republican Senate? While we were at it, we asked the insiders which senators won't return in 2013, either because of retirement, defeat or the search for another office.

The results? No clear winners. If senators were picking a new lieutenant governor, the insider money is on Kevin Eltife of Tyler, with 36 percent, Robert Duncan of Lubbock, 26 percent, and Steve Ogden of Bryan, 18 percent. Only one other senator — Tommy Williams of The Woodlands — broke 5 percent. No Democrats made the list.

Picking a governor? Duncan led, with 26 percent, followed closely by Ogden, at 24 percent. Eltife came in at 11 percent, followed by John Carona, R-Dallas, at 9 percent. Nobody else crossed the five percent line.

The senators most widely expected to leave are Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, who has said he'll run for Congress, and Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, who faces reelection in a district drawn to elect a Republican instead of Davis. Next on that list: Ogden; Chris Harris, R-Arlington; Florence Shapiro, R-Plano; and Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio. Harris and Wentworth have both announced plans to seek reelection. Ogden is waiting until after the holiday and Shapiro has been laying low when reporters call.

The full set of verbatim answers is attached, but here's a sampling of what the insiders had to say:

If David Dewhurst moves on after the 2012 election, which senator is most likely to be chosen by colleagues to replace the lieutenant governor?

• "Eltife has earned respect from the moderates and D's. They feel he would run the Senate in a fair and efficient way."

• "Its much easier to tell you who is least likely to replace Dewhurst."

• "I think RLD is the most respected among the body as the most balanced."

• "Deal will be cut on major chairs. Eltife is seen as the fairest and most trustworthy of the group."

• "They'll choose someone like Ratliff back in '01--someone who doesn't threaten them, someone who will let them do as they please. Eltife fits that bill. So does Duncan, but he's going to get beat in his next race--you heard it hear first!"

Which senator would senators choose if they were choosing someone to act as governor if Rick Perry and David Dewhurst both move up or out?

• "Please, please, please not Patrick."

• "Too many what ifs."

• "Ogden would be chosen to be Lt. Governor in the event BOTH Perry and Dewhurst move up. Therefore, Ogden becomes Gov. and the senators must choose again for Lt. Gov. In this case, Sen. Eltife will be the overwhelming choice for Lt. Gov."

• "This was harder. I suspect that the Rs would make the call on this one. I think Tommy would have a lot of support if he wanted it. The cynical side of me would say 'who do they want to get rid of?'"

• "If Rick Perry moves up, Dewhurst would sacrifice and say the state of Texas cannot afford to send two of its best leaders up to D.C. Since Perry is in a more influential place, Dewhurst could best serve the state if he gave up the Senate seat and instead take the mantle of governor. Oh, and I guess he would also be able to select the individual who would serve in the interim as U.S. senator."

Which senators do you think will not return next session, for whatever reason (didn't run, got beat, moved up)?

• "Impossible to predict at this point."

• "Wentworth only if an opponent is found from Bexar County that either has $ or knows somebody that has $."

• "Duncan will get beat, Harris will retire, Jackson and Uresti will run for Congress."

• "The Dan Patrick Crazy Pants Caucus is about to get a little bit bigger, and not just because Senator Patrick likes doughnuts."

Democrats are in the minority in the Senate and will be until the next Legislature is sworn in, which could happen after they've chosen successors for Dewhurst and/or Perry. What influence will Democratic senators have on the outcome of a succession race?

• "None. Vote will be taken in Republican Caucus."

• "Depends on the pressure of the teavangelical element of the republican party. A couple of moderates could vote with the democrats to alter conventional wisdom. Today that doesn't seem likely."

• "A tremendous influence. They should be able to pick who they want. 11 Ds and 5Rs ought to be able to agree on one of the 5 Rs... in the end I think it'll be 9-10 Ds voting along with 10-12 Rs for somebody like Duncan"

• "I doubt Republicans can achieve unanimity on a successor (jealousies, rivals, retribution, etc) no matter Dan Patrick's wish (he would be the last guy chosen) and therefore think the D's can and will play a role."

• "If the R's split on the selection of a successor then the D's get to pick. Otherwise, they have no influence at all."

• "100 percent"

• "None"

• "Despite calls for purity, the winning R Senator will have to have D votes to become Lt Gov, which is why he will not compete in the race in 2014."

Our thanks to this week's participants: Brandon Aghamalian, Clyde Alexander, Jay Arnold, Louis Bacarisse, Charles Bailey, Tom Banning, Mike Barnett, Walt Baum, Dave Beckwith, Mark Bell, Luke Bellsnyder, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Steve Bresnen, Chris Britton, Andy Brown, Lydia Camarillo, Tris Castaneda, John Colyandro, June Deadrick, Jeff Eller, Alan Erwin, John Esparza, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Scott Gilmore, Kinnan Golemon, Daniel Gonzalez, John Greytok, Michael Grimes, Clint Hackney, Wayne Hamilton, Bill Hammond, Sandy Haverlah, Adam Haynes, Jim Henson, Ken Hodges, Laura Huffman, Shanna Igo, Deborah Ingersoll, Carl Isett, Jason Johnson, Mark Jones, Russ Keane, Robert Kepple, Richard Khouri, Tom Kleinworth, Sandy Kress, Nick Lampson, Pete Laney, Dick Lavine, Donald Lee, Luke Legate, Leslie Lemon, Ruben Longoria, Vilma Luna, Matt Mackowiak, Luke Marchant, Dan McClung, Scott McCown, Robert Miller, Steve Murdock, Craig Murphy, Keir Murray, Keats Norfleet, Nef Partida, Gardner Pate, Tom Phillips, Wayne Pierce, Jay Propes, Bill Ratliff, Karen Reagan, Carl Richie, Mark Sanders, Jim Sartwelle, Stan Schlueter, Bruce Scott, Steve Scurlock, Dan Shelley, Bradford Shields, Ed Small, Todd Smith, Larry Soward, Dennis Speight, Jason Stanford, Keith Strama, Bob Strauser, Colin Strother, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Sherry Sylvester, Russ Tidwell, Trent Townsend, Trey Trainor, Wendell Ware, Ken Whalen, Darren Whitehurst, Michael Wilt, Seth Winick, Lee Woods, Peck Young, Angelo Zottarelli.

After months of speculation, Texas A&M made it official: It’s leaving the Big 12 and will likely join the Southeastern Conference. The Aggies have reportedly been looking to leave the Big 12 over dissatisfaction with the Longhorn Network, a collaboration between UT and ESPN, although A&M’s president, R. Bowen Loftin, has said the move would increase visibility for the Aggies and their athletes. The move would take effect next season if A&M’s application is accepted.

Many of the new laws passed by the Legislature in the spring take effect Sept. 1 — the beginning of the fiscal year. Though many changes to state laws may go unnoticed, this is when we find out how deep budget cuts actually play out, and how the public will react to cuts in education and social services. Other new laws to note: a ban on teen sexting, an end to the ban on allowing firearms in employees’ parked cars at work, speed limits that are the same day and night, and a new requirement for providing identification upon requesting a homestead exemption.

In spite of the budget crunch this session, legislators found funding to improve — they hope — the process of getting or renewing a driver’s license. Providing $63 million to upgrade existing systems, the Legislature hoped to cut down on the time Texans spend in line at Department of Public Safety offices. DPS says it will use the money to update existing centers, improve technology to streamline processes and create so-called megacenters in urban areas — all geared toward reducing waiting times.

After spending years in litigation limbo, the state’s tax on strip clubs that serve alcohol was upheld by the state Supreme Court. The $5-per-customer fee was passed in 2007 and should have already generated more than $40 million, but some clubs have held back on their payments as the case worked its way through the courts. The plaintiffs are now considering an appeal.

With an eye on other states’ battles, a gang of Houston businessmen is organizing a group bent on overhauling the pension systems for public employees. Texas currently pays its retirees a fixed amount over their lifetime, but Bill King, a Houston attorney, is forming the group Texans for Public Pension Reform, which hopes to convince lawmakers to replace pensions with retirement accounts.

Part of University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa’s sweeping higher education plan, recently approved by UT regents, includes plans for a new medical school in the Rio Grande Valley. With an investment of  $30 million dollars, system officials hope to boost the number of doctors in training and in residence in the traditionally underserved area. The money will go to a simulated teaching hospital, a biomedical research program and programs to boost medical residency rates. Regents also set aside money for universities to train math, science, technology and engineering teachers in the area. Meanwhile, Central Texas residents were hopeful that Cigarroa’s statement in his plan advocating medical education and research in Austin signals the beginning of a long-sought medical school in the area as well.

Amid controversy, the city of Dallas is trying out a new program to track down individuals who owe municipal fines. The system involves cameras and license-plate-recognition software. When an offender's vehicle is spotted, a bright sticker will be placed on it, notifying the driver that he or she owes a fine and could be subject to arrest. Privacy advocates are protesting the new process, arguing that the data collected could be built into a tracking database shared by various agencies.

Shots were fired through the window of U.S. Rep. Gene Green’s office in north Houston, but police said no threat was posed to Green's life. Green himself characterized the shots, which likely came from a pellet or BB gun, as random, and police are investigating the matter as criminal mischief. The shots were spread over an area including Green’s office and a branch of Lone Star College and destroyed several windows, but caused no injuries.

The Innocence Project filed another motion in the case of Michael Morton, who has been in jail for 25 years for the murder of his wife, Christine. DNA evidence unveiled this summer spurred a judge to order the sealed case file reopened, revealing only the lead investigator’s initial five-page report and a signed consent form from Morton allowing officials to search his home and truck. Not included was a transcript brought to light in 2008 of a conversation between the investigator, Sgt. Don Wood, and the victim’s mother when she informed Wood that the murder had been witnessed by the Mortons’ 3 year-old son.

Dr. Ron Anderson, longtime jefe at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, is being replaced as the chief executive there and will move into a newly created salaried position there. His contract expires at the end of the year, and the board acted after federal officials raised questions about patient safety at the regional hospital. No replacement has been named.

John Barton will head the Texas Department of Transportation on an interim basis while the board looks for a permanent replacement for Amadeo Saenz, who retired at the end of the fiscal year (the last day of August). Barton has been at the agency for more than two decades and had been the interim deputy director. He's losing the "deputy" part, but not the "interim" part.

Anne Heiligenstein, head of the state's Department of Family and Protective Services, will retire by the end of the year after three years running the agency. She's been a state employee (with a break serving in the Bush administration in Washington) since 1980.

Brian Guthrie is the new executive director of the Teacher Retirement System, and Ken Welch is the new deputy director. Guthrie, the former deputy, is taking over for Ronnie Jung. Welch has been the agency's chief financial officer since April 2008.

David Baker is the new deputy director of law enforcement operations at the Texas Department of Public Safety, if the agency's board approves the appointment by DPS Director Steven McCraw. Baker started as a trooper in Lubbock in 1978 and has been the chief of the Texas Highway Patrol since 2009.

Ian Randolph, chief of staff to Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, is retiring after 22 years in the Texas Senate. Before Lucio, he worked for Sens. Ted Lyon, D-Mesquite, and David Cain, D-Dallas.

Richard Kouri is the new executive director at the Texas State Teachers Association, replacing E.C. Walker, who is retiring. And Ed Martin, a longtime Democratic strategist and consultant, joins that association as the head of its public affairs operation.

Press corps moves: Patti Kilday Hart, who has been reporting for the Houston Chronicle and writing a once-a-week column for the paper, will drop the reporting gig in October and become a full-time columnist for the paper. She joined the Chronicle earlier this year after freelancing for years at Texas Monthly, where she co-wrote the biennial list of Best and Worst Legislators.

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Raymond Palacios Jr. of El Paso to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2013. Palacios is president of Bravo Chevrolet Cadillac and Hummer.

Perry has appointed four members to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas Board of Trustees: T. Karen Charleston of Houston, a space management assistant for Prairie View A&M University; Joe Colonnetta of Dallas, a private investor; David Kelly of Plano, managing partner of Straight Line Realty Partners; and Anita Palmer of Wichita Falls, a published artist and author, community volunteer and retired educator in the Wichita Falls Independent School District.

Perry has appointed seven members to the Juvenile Justice Services and Facilities Transition Team. Chelsea Buchholtz of Austin is a policy adviser for the Office of the Governor Budget, Planning, and Policy Division. Albert Hawkins of Austin is a public policy consultant and former executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon of San Antonio is the state representative for House District 120. David “Scott” Matthew of Georgetown is chief juvenile probation officer of Williamson County Juvenile Services, and a municipal judge for the Cities of Jarrell and Granger. Vicki Spriggs of Austin is executive director of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission. Cheryln “Cherie” Townsend of Austin is executive director of the Texas Youth Commission. Debbie Unruh of Austin is the Independent Ombudsman of the Texas Youth Commission.

Perry also appointed three members to the University of North Texas System Board of Regents. Donald Potts of Dallas is founder of Capital Institutional Services and an institutional broker and dealer. Al Silva of San Antonio is COO of Labatt Food Service. Michael Williams of Fredericksburg is CEO of Hill Country Memorial Hospital.