A new website developed by the city of Houston and the federal government encourages ordinary citizens to report on suspicious activities that could be terrorism related. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano visited Houston to talk about the program, dubbed “If You See Something, Say Something," which will be funded by existing grants and use Houston police personnel who are already trained to handle emergency calls.
Tea Party activists at a press conference called on Gov. Rick Perry to bring legislators back to Austin to tackle what they call unfinished business: cracking down on illegal immigration. During the regular and special sessions, Perry prioritized a bill banning so-called sanctuary cities, or municipalities that prevent their law enforcement from asking detainees legal status. The bill died, but Tea Partiers are lobbying Perry to revive the issue as he ramps up his presidential campaign.
As the El Paso County Clerk’s office worked to verify signatures that would trigger a recall election of the city’s mayor and two city representatives, the group that started the effort found itself embroiled in controversy. El Pasoans for Traditional Family Values held a news conference last weekend at which a member of its group held up a sign depicting Mayor John Cook — whom the group is trying to recall over his support for benefits for gay or unmarried partners of city employees — with a guitar smashed on his head and blood dripping down his face. One member of the group apologized to the mayor, while another, who is the spokesman for the group, criticized the apology. The recall election will be set for May, pending verification of signatures and a legal challenge by Cook over the manner in which they were collected.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted death row inmate Cleve Foster a third stay of execution. Foster's lawyers say he received deficient legal assistance at his original trial, and because the court has accepted another case dealing with legal assistance, speculation in the legal community has indicated that the justices wanted to resolve the issue. If Foster’s review is denied, the path would be cleared for another execution date.
Shifting alignments in football conferences appear to have settled — at least for now. The four teams contemplating jumping from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 will be staying put after the Pac-12 decided it didn’t want to become the Pac-16. Boards of regents at both the University of Texas and Oklahoma University had voted to give their presidents authority to explore new conferences, but with Pac-12 out of the question, those teams will apparently stick with the Big 12.
The Texas AgriLife Extension Service at Texas A&M released figures this week on agricultural losses from the state’s wildfires. The total figure was close to $200 million, with agricultural loss estimates based on acreage and livestock lost and structures and equipment destroyed. Officials were quick to point out that that figure doesn’t include losses from drought, which are estimated at the much higher total of $5 billion.
Just as candidate Rick Perry was bragging about job creation in Texas, the state saw its unemployment rate increase and a net loss of jobs in August. Although the unemployment rate ticked up from 8.4 to 8.5 percent, it was still below the national average of 9.1 percent. A big culprit in the net loss of jobs was the 9,400 government jobs lost in August. The governor’s office tried to put a positive spin on the figures released by the Texas Workforce Commission by focusing on the creation of 8,100 private-sector jobs.