We're thrilled here at Texas Watchdog to announce new freelance additions to our team covering state and local government and politics.

Former veteran Houston Chronicle scribe Rosanna Ruiz is joining us. She initially grabbed our attention with her hard-hitting coverage of Metro. But we also like her ability to get interviews with folks who are difficult to find or to sit down with. We particularly enjoyed her work that got to the heart of veterans' issues, which are so important as servicemen and women return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ruiz will continue to cover Metro for Texas Watchdog, as well as some other local issues, and she already has some great stories in her sights.

We are also extremely pleased to bring Steve McVicker on board. Steve has had recent successes with his book I Love You Phillip Morris, about con man and escape artist Steven Russell. The book is now a movie starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, and will be featured in May at the Cannes Film Festival.

McVicker is a former Chron reporter, but is familiar to most newsrooms in town. He's worked for The Houston Press, as the Southern states reporter for National Public Radio, as well as for Houston's NPR affiliate and NewsRadio KTRH-AM 740.

McVicker is probably best known for his award-winning probe of widespread problems at the Houston Police Department crime lab. Reports led to the resignation of the police chief, a $5.2 million investigation, and the release of inmates wrongly convicted on inaccurate forensic evidence.

We are looking forward to working with both of these top talents as Texas Watchdog begins to cover Houston more aggressively.

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