Nathan Bernier

One of the biggest Republican stars in the country provided some advice on overhauling public education to the state Senate today. “I would advocate that

For the first time since 2005, the Texas Senate has confirmed someone to serve a full term as head of the State Board of Education. Barbara Cargill, a

The daughter of a man killed in the Fort Hood shooting rampage is now friends with the cousin of the accused shooter. Kerry Cahill lost her father Michael

One of the men who controls the state’s checkbook is leaving the door open to restoring some of the $5.4 billion in public education cuts enacted two

A former aide to Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is being accused of stealing at least $1 million from Dewhurt’s campaign for the U.S. Senate. Kenneth

In recent weeks, same-sex couples in Maine, Maryland and Washington have gotten the right to marry. That's after voters in each of those states approved ballot measures clearing the way for them. That has some people wondering: Will same-sex couples in Texas be allowed to marry? A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court expected later this year has some in Texas thinking it could be possible. Opposition to gay marriage may be weakening across the country, and the same thing is happening in Texas if you believe a poll taken in October. The survey by the Texas Tribune and the University of Texas shows 70 percent of the state’s residents support legal recognition for same-sex couples. But an amendment to the state constitution approved by voters in 2005 limits marriage to relationships between a man and a woman. Opponents of that amendment are hopeful that a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court next year could nullify it. The court will rule on California’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. “It’s possible that the holding in that case could determine that the right to marriage is a fundamental right that’s been violated by those states -- not just California, but obviously potentially including Texas – that restrict who may be married,” said Robert Chesney, a professor at the University of Texas law school. A second case to be considered by the Supreme Court will examine the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which also defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman. Brian Thompson, a lawyer who sits on the board of the gay rights group Equality Texas, says that ruling is unlikely to have a major impact on the legality of gay marriage on Texas. “The one way it could possibly have an effect is if you’re a same-sex couple married outside of Texas," said Thompson. "If DOMA is struck down, the federal government might be forced to recognized that marriage, even though the state of Texas does not recognized that marriage. So for purposes of federal law, you might be married, but I don’t think it would have much of an effect on the state law recognition of same-sex marriages.” The court is expected to hear arguments in late March and issue a decision by the end of June.

The number of state employees let go this year was down dramatically compared to 2011, according to a report from the State Auditor's Office. But that’s mainly because so many people lost their jobs last year, after lawmakers slashed the two-year state budget by $14 billion. Those cuts led to a round of government layoffs: 1,225 people lost their jobs last year as the result of a "reduction in force," the bureaucratic term used to label job cuts caused by budget reductions. This year, that number was 96. A lot of people were fired for other reasons, but the number of state employees "involuntarily" laid off still dropped by more than 15 percent compared to last year. The turnover rate not including layoffs and retirements was 10 percent in 2012. That's a closely watched number because those layoffs could have been prevented, possibly saving the state costs associated with hiring and training replacements. The rate of 10 percent was actually up from the rate of nine percent in 2011. So why are people quitting? Non-retiring state employees who left their jobs voluntarily offered two main reasons: They found better pay and benefits elsewhere, or they couldn’t stand their working conditions. Job categories with the highest turnover included nurses and correctional officers. The state agency with the highest turnover rate was the Department of Aging and Disability Services. Thirty-three percent of DADS employees left their jobs this year. More than half of those were voluntary resignations. The agency was forced to reduce spending by $31 million in 2011, the Texas Tribune reported, resulting in cuts to critical services such as speech therapy and physical therapy.

There’s more trouble for the state’s embattled cancer-fighting agency. The Travis County District Attorney’s office is now investigating the , better known as CPRIT. Gregg Cox is the head of the Public Integrity Unit in the Travis County DA’s office. He says they’ll be looking at how contracts were awarded. “We notified CPRIT to preserve and protect from destruction all records, documents, computer records, and everything like that,” Cox tells KUT News. “And at this point we are gathering information to begin this process.” The investigation comes after CPRIT revealed it awarded $11 million in taxpayer funds to a Dallas biotechnology firm without the required scientific or business reviews. The Texas Attorney General’s office has launched a separate examination of the awards process. Meanwhile, CPRIT’s executive director Bill Gimson has submitted a letter of resignation, saying he can no longer be effective as the head of the $3 billion agency.

Black Friday was not as bad as many retailers had expected. One estimate shows American shoppers spent 3 percent more on the first day of the holiday shopping season than last year. To find out how some retailers did, we check in with a high-end mall in a St. Louis suburb, an outlet mall in San Marcos, Texas, and an online retailer in Boston.