High wattage: Trial lawyer Mikal Watts funds Democrats’ resurgence
By Matt Pulle | Monday, November 17th, 2008
To some, Mikal Watts is just another slimy trial attorney looking to rent candidates to unravel tort reform. After all, he amassed a fortune doing something many conservatives hate –suing companies using legal loopholes and wining.
But to others, particularly those on the receiving end of his generosity, Mikal Watts is a visionary, who uses his personal fortune and keen political instincts to boost a surging Democratic party.
Dead voters cast ballots in Dallas County
By Lee Ann O'Neal | Thursday, October 30th, 2008
More than 6,000 registered Dallas County voters may be deceased. The names of some of them, including Melvin Porter (left), have been used to cast ballots after their deaths, records show.
Dallas politico Adrain Noe accused of credit card theft in Iowa and Texas
By Matt Pulle | Monday, October 27th, 2008
One-time Dallas fundraiser Adrain Noe turned up in an Iowa jail on credit card theft charges. His peers in the Big D say he did the same thing here.
Unlike state officials, Dallas County officials don’t post campaign data online.
By Matt Pulle | Friday, October 24th, 2008
The Internet has been in popular use for a dozen years, roadside motels offer free WiFi and elderly women trade stocks online. But in Dallas County, if you want to see who’s bankrolling a candidate for sheriff or judge, you can’t simply fire up your browser and see the campaign reports for yourself.
(Reports for the [...]
Public can take closer look at legislators’ finances via interactive map
By Jennifer Peebles | Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Football tickets from Texas Tech, paintings representing West Texas and “One Nation Under God,” and a .38-caliber pistol: They’re all examples of some of the gifts received by Texas’ legislators last year.
Lawmakers and other Texas officials are required to disclose gifts worth $250 or more by listing them on personal financial disclosure reports collected by [...]
Charity chief accused of fraud also major donor to Texas GOP figures
By Jennifer Peebles | Monday, October 20th, 2008
Prominent El Paso businessman Robert E. Jones had turned a struggling charity hiring people with disabilities into a major defense contractor doing nearly a billion dollars’ worth of business with the Pentagon –- and his arrest last week on fraud charges has been big news across Texas.
But what’s gotten less attention is the fact that [...]
Past featured stories
- Ballots cast in Houston using dead voters’ names
- Muddy waters: Dunnam, top TYC critic, may sue agency
- Full disclosure: Houston leaders’ financial statements get a full airing
- ‘Deadbeat’: Banking crisis puts Kim Brimer and his bad loans back in the spotlight
- Extended sentence: At the Dallas County Jail, where guards work 70-hour weeks, overtime costs millions and poses dangers
- Einstein? No, Eppstein: Fort Worth Republican plays both sides of the fence
- Brimer faces serious challenger in Democrat Davis
- City failed to post ethics statements
- Shootout with Sheriff Lupe Valdez at the Big D Corral
- The bumbling Baron: Lawyer stumbles over role in Edwards’ sex scandal
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Galveston mayor blames newspaper for killing disaster recovery panel
9:07 am November 20, 2008
The newspaper had pointed out a glaring conflict of interest in the appointment of the committee chairman -- and instead of faulting the conflict of interest, the mayor is blaming the newspaper for pointing it out.BexarMet stalled reporter on controversial water contract
9:00 am November 20, 2008
San Antonio's troubled water utility intentionally "slow-boated" a newspaper reporter's public records request for a contract fraught with conflicts of interest, the Express-News reported this morning citing the utility's own internal e-mail communication. Using e-mails obtained through the ...Public records show school system feels ripped off by land broker
8:43 am November 20, 2008
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has used the state's Public Information Act to show that a local school system is accusing its own former real-estate broker of buying up land for a school site and then reselling it to the school system -- ...Evolution likely topic of state Board of Education science hearing
4:45 pm November 19, 2008
Gail Lowe, Cynthia Dunbar et al talk evolution. Oh Lord.Texas facility makes list of world’s fastest supercomputers
9:28 pm November 18, 2008
Look for the bumper stickers coming soon: Our teraflops are bigger than your teraflops.Cost of House lounge renovations skyrocket to $140K: AP
6:29 pm November 18, 2008
Yikes! The price tag for the state House lounge renovations is now up to $140,000 -- and still, no one is taking responsibility for it. This from the Associated Press, via the Dallas Morning News: AUSTIN – State officials have ordered up at least $140,000 in renovations to the members-only ...Craddick challengers promise a different style if elected House speaker
4:39 pm November 18, 2008
Speak now or forever hold your peace: Everyone who wants Tom Craddick's job says they'll be his opposite.Chris Bell and Joan Huffman have a date
10:39 am November 18, 2008
Gov. Rick Perry has set Dec. 16 for the date of the special run-off election between Chris Bell and Joan Huffman. The election is to fill the open seat created when Republican state Sen. Kyle Janek of Houston resigned. Bell, a ...Nonprofit journalism — like Texas Watchdog — is on the rise, NYT says
10:33 am November 18, 2008
Nonprofit journalism -- which is what we're doing here at Texas Watchdog -- got a big shout-out this morning from The New York Times. The NYT's piece, focused largely on the nonprofit news site VoiceofSanDiego.org, lays out a ...Some allies of Tom Craddick have turned against him. Does it matter?
8:24 am November 18, 2008
If you can figure out how the Speaker's race is going to play out, you're a lot smarter than we are. Last week, Burnt Orange Report said (and painstakingly documented) that Tom Craddick simply doesn't have the votes to stay on as speaker, while Texas Monthly's Paul ...
Bush fundraiser busted in sting
Video: Texas Watchdog’s inaugural investigative piece detailed top Bush money-man Stephen Payne’s close relationship with the White House — a relationship the White House took pains to distance itself from. Here is the video of The Times of London sting, featuring Stephen Payne.
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