News

Texas Matters: A new study by the RAND corporation is examining the economic costs of states who do not expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Also in this episode: Texas voter turnout hits last in the nation in 2010, and how recovery efforts are going in West, Texas.

Fronteras: A Texas senator is calling for complete border security before many provisions of the immigration bill would take effect. A look at how an American P.R. company is helping transform Baja California’s reputation. This summer Star Wars gets released with a new language dub in Navajo. Environmentalists and Native American tribes are fighting mining efforts near the Grand Canyon.

A statewide pro-business group based in Austin is urging Gov. Rick Perry to veto House Bill 5, a bill that changes the state’s testing structure for public schools.

Bill Hammond, the executive director for the Texas Business Association, said the House bill that reduces the number of high-stakes exams for school kids will provide the Texas workforce with a poor product.

"60 or 70 percent of the jobs that are being created today require some post-secondary education of some sort, perhaps even a certificate from a community college or an associate’s degree," Hammond said.

A lawmaker from the San Antonio area is pushing the Gov. Rick Perry to sign into a law a bill that prohibits public schools from selling sugary drinks.

Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, said he fought to get his own version of the bill approved for the past two sessions, hoping that a ban on sugary drinks at the state’s elementary and middle schools will help the Hispanic population turn the corner in the fight against obesity and diabetes.

What did pass was a companion bill, House Bill 217, which excluded high schools from the ban.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said the officer, Sergio Hernandez, was asked to finish his drink and leave Stacy's Bar on Blanco as it was closing early Thursday morning.

McManus said he was escorted out when he got angry and then kicked the door and knocked out the plexi-glass to the door.

Hernandez is assigned to the south patrol and is a 10-year veteran of the department. McManus said he will be referred to SAPD's Officer Concern Program.

The House and Senate redistricting committees have secured a legal team to help solve the challenges that exist with the issue of voting districts.

While the House committee has hit the road to hold public meetings in the Dallas area, the Senate committee held its last state capitol meeting before heading out to their own public meetings.

Sen. Kel Seleger, R-Amarillo, the Senate’s redistricting chairman, said the Senate will be using C. Robert Heath, who he said is one of the most experienced redistricting attorneys  in the United States.

An Air Force recruiter from the Houston area is being tried at a court-martial in San Antonio today. The recruiter faces charges of sexual misconduct with a dozen women, many of whom were high school students seeking careers in the Air Force.

Tech Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez is charged with sex crimes against 12 Air Force applicants and a recruiter assistant.

The City of San Antonio received four responses to its Request For Information from possible grocery store developers in the downtown area.

The city wants to populate downtown with young, urban dwellers with modern careers and lifestyles, who use alternative transportation rather than driving expensive, polluting, gasoline-powered vehicles.

But there is currently a fundamental obstacle to living in downtown--residents have to travel if they want groceries.