The Interwebs tell us this morning that ...

+ The state AG's office says there are too many potential conflicts of interest with the
outside law firm that the state teachers' pension system wants to hire. The new firm, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, "represents hundreds of venture capital and money management firms, private equity funds and other entities," the Austin American-Statesman says.


+ Harris County Attorney Mike Stafford hired a female ex-neighbor has a paralegal, even though she wasn't qualified for the job, and paid half of her paralegal training with public funds from toll road fines -- and he's also been filmed leaving her house early one morning, according to a report on KTRK-TV Channel 13 (spotted via The Chronicle this morning). The Harris County GOP says they'll ask Stafford to respond.

+ Everyone quoted in this morning's Galveston Daily News about the probe into City Administrator Chris Reed gets an A in circumlocution for never actually saying what Reed's being investigated for.

+ The police chief in Hedwig Village here in Houston has pulled his name out of the running for the chief's job in Pasadena, pointing to pushback from two Pasadena councilmembers who want Pasadena officers considered for the job, The Chronicle says.

+ The best part of this story in this morning's McAllen Monitor, datelined Edinburg, is the headline: "Lawyer: Constable earned money he is accused of stealing." Reminds me of the old stories they used to tell when I was growing up in Georgia about the notorious Gov. Eugene Talmadge -- he'd get up on the stump at some rural county courthouse and address the accusations against him, saying, "Sure I stole ... I stole for you!"

+ North of us, the credit crunch that has gripped the world is monkeying with plans to build the $1.44B Texas 161 toll road outside Arlington. The Star-Telegram says this morning that the North Texas Tollway Authority will have to get loans, not bonds, to build the thing, and they'll put up the state's $6B highway fund as collateral for it. The Star-Telegram also says that a $27 million Trinity River Vision plan has been rolled out.