Falling Home Prices Have Set DFW Values to 1990s Levels
from The Dallas Morning News
Falling home prices have wiped away billions of dollars in residential values in North Texas. And overall home prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been reset to 1990s levels when adjusted for inflation, according to a study. More

Straus Says Bipartisanship a Must
from The Dallas Morning News
In one of his first speeches since the legislative session ended, House Speaker Joe Straus asserted that reaching across the aisle is the only way the state can move forward. Addressing the Plano Chamber of Commerce, the San Antonio Republican sounded an almost Obama-esque theme of unity, burnishing his credentials as a coalition builder at a time when Democrats are making gains in Austin. More

Developers Appear to Have Plea deal in City Hall Corruption Case
from The Dallas Morning News via The Denton Record-Chronicle
Prosecutors in the Dallas City Hall public corruption case could hardly wipe the smiles off their faces Monday as they announced to the judge that their case would take only about half as long to try. The barely veiled reference by prosecutor Marcus Busch was to the conspicuous absence of prominent developers Brian and Cheryl Potashnik, defendants in the case who did not attend the start of jury selection Monday morning. More

Perry Vetoes 37 Bills
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Gov. Rick Perry vetoed 37 bills passed by the 2009 Legislature, including a measure that would allow energy companies to route natural-gas pipelines in the Barnett Shale along state rights-of-way. Perry also struck down a major expansion of pre-kindergarten programs sponsored by Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, along with bills sponsored by two other House members from Tarrant County. More

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Texas Trying to Keep Up With Unemployment Claims
from The Austin American-Statesman
The rising number of jobless Texans has generated more claims than the Texas Workforce Commission can handle. The commission has added hundreds of workers and phone lines to call centers to deal with soaring unemployment claims, but officials acknowledge that they can't answer every call. More

Schieffer Says He's Democrats Best Shot for Governor
from The Houston Chronicle
Fort Worth lawyer Tom Schieffer helped make George W. Bush a wealthy man. And as President Bush’s ambassador to Australia, Schieffer sold the war in Iraq and the indefinite detention of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay. Now, Schieffer hopes to convince the liberals, progressives and populists who dominate the Texas Democratic primary that he is their best chance for their party to win a statewide election for the first time since 1994. More

Perry Names New Chief of Staff
from The Austin American-Statesman
Gov. Rick Perry named lobbyist Ray Sullivan as his chief of staff Friday, replacing Jay Kimbrough. Sullivan, a former Perry staffer and campaign aide who has remained in the governor's circle of advisers, will start July 1. The appointment signals that Perry is ready to shift his focus to his re-election challenge from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the March Republican primary. More

Gov. Perry: I Didn't Have Time to Raise Money
from The San Antonio Express-News Politics Blog
Managing expectations is at least half the battle for campaigns when big tests are coming up -- like the July 15 fund-raising report, which will capture the relative strength of candidates' war chests as of June 30. Gov. Rick Perry started the year with $6.6 million in the bank, while U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison had $7.8 million, thanks mostly to a transfusion from her Senate account to her expected race against Perry. More

Potentially Toxic Drywall Sparks Lawsuits
from WAFB-TV
Hundreds of Louisiana homeowners are filing lawsuits over potentially toxic drywall that attorneys say when mixed with heat and humidity, turns into a gas that could make families sick. Almost 600,000,000 pounds of drywall was shipped into the U.S. from China in 2006 during the post-Katrina building boom, but now it is believed that much of it was toxic. More

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