This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA decade ago, after an Arctic cold spell knocked out power and left millions of Texans shivering in the dark, the Public Utility Commission’s enforcement apparatus swung into action. Their aim: punish the companies that had promised but failed to deliver electricity in an emergency.Specialists contracted by the state agency worked with an enforcement team the utility commission created four years earlier. More recently, it had added lawyers whose only job was to pursue wrong-doing. The energy companies eventually paid fines and...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA decade ago, after an Arctic cold spell knocked out power and left millions of Texans shivering in the dark, the Public Utility Commission’s enforcement apparatus swung into action. Their aim: punish the companies that had promised but failed to deliver electricity in an emergency.Specialists contracted by the state agency worked with an enforcement team the utility commission created four years earlier. More recently, it had added lawyers whose only job was to pursue wrong-doing. The energy companies eventually paid fines and...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateDespite his role as the state’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Ken Paxton “believes he is above the very law” he is supposed to uphold, several whistleblowers say in a new lawsuit seeking damages after he allegedly retaliated against them.In the lawsuit filed this week in Austin, four top former Paxton aides recounted some of the extraordinary efforts the attorney general allegedly made on behalf of his friend and campaign donor Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor — everything from empowering Paul to business...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateDespite his role as the state’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Ken Paxton “believes he is above the very law” he is supposed to uphold, several whistleblowers say in a new lawsuit seeking damages after he allegedly retaliated against them.In the lawsuit filed this week in Austin, four top former Paxton aides recounted some of the extraordinary efforts the attorney general allegedly made on behalf of his friend and campaign donor Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor — everything from empowering Paul to business...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAUSTIN — A second whistleblower who accused Attorney General Ken Paxton of public corruption has been fired, potentially exposing the state to liability for illegal retaliation, the Houston Chronicle has learned.Blake Brickman, hired in February to be Paxton’s deputy attorney general for policy and strategic initiatives, was fired on Tuesday, according to a former high-ranking state official and documents reviewed by the Chronicle.Brickman, a Dallas native who had recently served as chief of staff to former Kentucky Gov. Matt...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAUSTIN — A second whistleblower who accused Attorney General Ken Paxton of public corruption has been fired, potentially exposing the state to liability for illegal retaliation, the Houston Chronicle has learned.Blake Brickman, hired in February to be Paxton’s deputy attorney general for policy and strategic initiatives, was fired on Tuesday, according to a former high-ranking state official and documents reviewed by the Chronicle.Brickman, a Dallas native who had recently served as chief of staff to former Kentucky Gov. Matt...WW…

AUSTIN — U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Central Texas Republican and member of the House Financial Services Committee, used his powerful post in Congress to try to help a top donor in his dealings with a publicly traded bank, court records show.The controversy spilled out into a Texas bankruptcy case after Williams tried to broker a meeting between the wealthy donor — oil field investor Gary Martin of Marble Falls — and the CEO of UMB Financial Corp., which owns UMB Bank. The bank’s lawyer voiced objections to the “pressure” tactic and UMB ultimately declined to set up a meeting.The...…AUSTIN — U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Central Texas Republican and member of the House Financial Services Committee, used his powerful post in Congress to try to help a top donor in his dealings with a publicly traded bank, court records show.The controversy spilled out into a Texas bankruptcy case after Williams tried to broker a meeting between the wealthy donor — oil field investor Gary Martin of Marble Falls — and the CEO of UMB Financial Corp., which owns UMB Bank. The bank’s lawyer voiced objections to the “pressure” tactic and UMB ultimately declined to set up a meeting.The...WW…

AUSTIN — Just as coronavirus infections began rising a few weeks ago in Texas, contract workers hired by the state to track down exposed Texans were spending hours doing little or no work, received confusing or erroneous instructions and often could not give people the advice they expected, interviews and records indicate.Health authorities around Texas also say they are running into technical snags with new contact tracing software the state has deployed, known as Texas Health Trace, saying it isn’t ready for widespread use in their counties.The chaotic beginning and technical glitches —...…AUSTIN — Just as coronavirus infections began rising a few weeks ago in Texas, contract workers hired by the state to track down exposed Texans were spending hours doing little or no work, received confusing or erroneous instructions and often could not give people the advice they expected, interviews and records indicate.Health authorities around Texas also say they are running into technical snags with new contact tracing software the state has deployed, known as Texas Health Trace, saying it isn’t ready for widespread use in their counties.The chaotic beginning and technical glitches —...WW…

, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.The Texas attorney general's office is attempting to withhold all messages sent or received while in Washington for the pro-Donald Trump rally that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol.Several news organizations in Texas have requested copies of the attorney general's work-related communications. The Texas Public Information Act guarantees the public's right to government records — even if those records are stored on personal devices or online accounts of public officials.After Paxton's office refused...…, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.The Texas attorney general's office is attempting to withhold all messages sent or received while in Washington for the pro-Donald Trump rally that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol.Several news organizations in Texas have requested copies of the attorney general's work-related communications. The Texas Public Information Act guarantees the public's right to government records — even if those records are stored on personal devices or online accounts of public officials.After Paxton's office refused...WW…

6:00 AM on Mar 25, 2021 CDTLeer este reporte en español AUSTIN — The Texas attorney general’s office is attempting to withhold all messages Ken Paxton sent or received while in Washington for the pro-Donald Trump rally that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol.Several news organizations in Texas have requested copies of the attorney general’s work-related communications. The Texas Public Information Act guarantees the public’s right to government records — even if those records are stored on personal devices or are in public officials’ online accounts.After Paxton’s office refused to...…6:00 AM on Mar 25, 2021 CDTLeer este reporte en español AUSTIN — The Texas attorney general’s office is attempting to withhold all messages Ken Paxton sent or received while in Washington for the pro-Donald Trump rally that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol.Several news organizations in Texas have requested copies of the attorney general’s work-related communications. The Texas Public Information Act guarantees the public’s right to government records — even if those records are stored on personal devices or are in public officials’ online accounts.After Paxton’s office refused to...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateLate last year, as winter approached and power companies prepared for cold weather, Gov. Greg Abbott’s hand-picked utility regulators decided they no longer wanted to work with a nonprofit organization they had hired to monitor and help Texas enforce the state’s electric reliability standards.The multiyear contract between the Public Utility Commission and the obscure monitoring organization, the Texas Reliability Entity, was trashed. Over the next months, right up until the crippling storm that plunged millions of Texans into the...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateLate last year, as winter approached and power companies prepared for cold weather, Gov. Greg Abbott’s hand-picked utility regulators decided they no longer wanted to work with a nonprofit organization they had hired to monitor and help Texas enforce the state’s electric reliability standards.The multiyear contract between the Public Utility Commission and the obscure monitoring organization, the Texas Reliability Entity, was trashed. Over the next months, right up until the crippling storm that plunged millions of Texans into the...WW…

, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.To celebrate Gov. ’s reelection last year, his inaugural committee paid a whopping $1.7 million to hire country crooner George Strait and his band. A coterie of got more than $1 million, some of it paid out in six-figure bonuses. And a handful of lucky charities received $800,000 in unspent money.Left out of that tally: the $116,000 taxpayers spent to keep all those inaugural expenditures secret.Abbott and the 2019 Texas Inaugural Committee spent months fighting the disclosure of documents detailing how...…, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.To celebrate Gov. ’s reelection last year, his inaugural committee paid a whopping $1.7 million to hire country crooner George Strait and his band. A coterie of got more than $1 million, some of it paid out in six-figure bonuses. And a handful of lucky charities received $800,000 in unspent money.Left out of that tally: the $116,000 taxpayers spent to keep all those inaugural expenditures secret.Abbott and the 2019 Texas Inaugural Committee spent months fighting the disclosure of documents detailing how...WW…

In the fall of 2018, Dr. John Hellerstedt described a nightmarish scenario for fellow members of a panel tasked with preparing Texas for a pandemic.Before taking over as director of the , Hellerstedt was a pediatrician at a children’s hospital in Austin. He said that as H1N1 swept through Texas in 2009, hospital administrators scrambled to erect tents outside to treat patients, fearing they’d be overwhelmed.Luckily, the virus proved mild. But what if a new and far more dangerous bug arrived? One that jumped easily from person to person?“That’s the thing that we all fear,” he said.Would...…In the fall of 2018, Dr. John Hellerstedt described a nightmarish scenario for fellow members of a panel tasked with preparing Texas for a pandemic.Before taking over as director of the , Hellerstedt was a pediatrician at a children’s hospital in Austin. He said that as H1N1 swept through Texas in 2009, hospital administrators scrambled to erect tents outside to treat patients, fearing they’d be overwhelmed.Luckily, the virus proved mild. But what if a new and far more dangerous bug arrived? One that jumped easily from person to person?“That’s the thing that we all fear,” he said.Would...WW…