The Week in the Rearview Mirror

The newest legal battle over voting rights in Texas could go either way in court, but for Attorney General Greg Abbott, it's a golden opportunity to square off with a Democratic administration in Washington, D.C., that is far from popular in Texas.

As the ozone rating in San Antonio continues its slow upward march, area officials are beginning to investigate whether oil and gas drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale has anything to do with it. But their efforts are fraught with complications. And they remain far from answers in what is sure to be a high-stakes debate over the environmental impact of one of the country’s newest and fastest-growing oil and gas development regions.

It has been just a year since Ted Cruz vanquished Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a primary runoff, but the current darling of Texas Republicans is already getting a serious look from conservative voters in early presidential primary states.

For parents and educators who want less classroom time spent on state exams, hopes rest on recently passed legislation, but it comes with a challenge: Texas likely must first obtain waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The co-chairs of the select committee considering the impeachment of UT System Regent Wallace Hall have formally asked that all relevant documents be preserved and all potential witnesses be free from "adverse employee action."

Requests for more information about the alleged discovery by Capitol law enforcement of visitors toting feces and urine produced little new evidence that could confirm or refute the Texas Department of Public Safety's reports that protesters brought the items to the Senate gallery in preparation for the contentious abortion debate on July 12.