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Texas Ethics Reform: A Long, Tortured History From Gov. James "Pa" Ferguson's impeachment to the Sharpstown scandal, Texas has weathered mighty ethics controversies. Despite reforms, the Legislature still faces criticism over lax disclosure rules and ties with lobbyists. |
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Perry's Call for Tax Relief is Subject of Confusion The $1.8 billion in tax relief that Gov. Rick Perry called for this week was short on details, but the few that are out there are already sparking questions |
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WWII Vets From Texas Receive France's Legion Of Honour Fifteen World War II veterans were awarded the Legion of Honour at Ellington Field today. It's France's most prestigious medal awarded for merit and bravery. |
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HISD To Provide Laptops For Most Students Houston students may soon get laptops for in-class and at-home use. HISD Superintendent Terry Grier outlined that plan at the "State of the Schools" address Friday. |
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Ten Years Ago, The Nation Lost Space Shuttle Columbia NASA remembered the Space Shuttle Columbia ten years after an accident took the lives of the seven member crew. |
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Waco Bridge Repairs Continue Through The Weekend Expect big slowdowns on I-10 westbound near downtown over the weekend. Crews will again be repairing a bridge that was damaged last year. |
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With Fiscal Cliff Avoided, Oil Companies Step Up Investment Oil and gas companies are stepping up investment for 2013, citing greater certainty over their potential tax bills. |
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Bauer Business Focus: Bruce McGovern It's been one month since Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act. The law averted the combination of steep tax hikes and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff. Joining Andrew Schneider on the Bauer Business Focus to discuss what the act means for tax filers is Bruce McGovern, an associate dean at South Texas College of Law. |
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Job Growth Fueling Boom In Construction Nearly $11 billion in construction contracts were awarded in the 10-county Houston metro area last year, up nearly 20% from 2011. |
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Rail Shuts Down This Weekend, And Drivers Face I-10 E Detours Metro shuts down the light rail system for construction and maintenance, crews do more work on a damaged bridge on I-10 East Freeway, and Baytown officials are telling residents not to be alarmed by new cameras at intersections. |
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GHP Has Lunch With The Governor And His Touring SOS Speech Texas Governor Rick Perry shared his priorities for the 83rd Legislative session with Houston business leaders, which included proposals for improving infrastructure, tax relief and education. |
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Bikes, Trees And Leprechauns — 2013 Tour De Houston Falls On St. Patrick's Day This year's Tour de Houston will be even greener than usual. The annual cycling event will take place on March 17, St. Patrick's Day. And, proceeds will again go to the city's reforestation. |
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Mardi Gras Takes Over Galveston Island Mardi Gras festivities start tomorrow and more than 300,000 people are expected to celebrate on Galveston Island over a two week period. |
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Metro Light Rail Line Will Be Closed This Weekend The entire METRO light rail system will be shut down this weekend for maintenance and construction work. |
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Hiring Flat At Texas Small Businesses U.S. small businesses added 20,000 jobs in January, according to the latest analysis by Intuit Payroll. |
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One Organization Has Issues With Sheriff’s Office Over Yearbook Photo Requirements A plan by Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia to require sheriff's office employees to have their pictures taken for a yearbook isn't going over too well with one organization. Investigators who work undercover could actually help the crooks they're trying to catch. |
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Haven't Had Chickenpox Yet? You Might Want To Get Vaccinated Chickenpox is probably not something most adults worry about in their everyday lives. But while it is a rare disease in adults, it's also more dangerous to get it later in life. |
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Houston-Area Congress Members Look At Port Security Members of the local congressional delegation were at the Port of Houston to get a look at security operations. Officials feel confident with the port's security efforts right now, but they say more needs to be done to ward off threats in the future. |
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Houston To Crack Down On Gold And Jewelry Buyers With gold and precious metals getting high prices — jewelry theft is becoming more common. City officials want to add more regulations to the gold buying industry. |
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HISD Aims To Improve Math Scores On STAAR Over a year ago, the Houston Independent School District started getting ready for the state's new, tougher standardized test. Now that the latest scores have been released, HISD is looking at how to improve next year. |
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Saint Arnold's Annual Production Nears 50,000 Barrels Houston-based Saint Arnold Brewing Company shipped more than 49,000 barrels of beer in 2012. Production rose 22% from 2011. |
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Houston Fire Department Is Looking For A Few Good ... Women Only a tiny percentage of Houston firefighters are women, but an effort started a few years ago by a former fire chief could change that. Camp Houston Fire aims to attract more women to the profession. |
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Attorney Says Accused Lone Star Shooting Victim Deserves Apology The attorney for a college student wounded during last week's shootings at Lone Star College says he's disappointed with how his client has been treated. Robert Jones says Sheriff Adrian Garcia refuses to admit his office made a mistake. |
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New Study Looks At Quality-of-Life In Rural Texas Researchers are about to unveil the results of a study that looks at quality-of-life issues in rural Texas. The study comes as farmers and ranchers are getting older, and younger people are finding different ways to make a living. |
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New App Makes It Easier For Houstonians To Report Issues The City of Houston has launched a new 311 helpline app for smartphones. The app allows Houstonians to easily report issues immediately to the city from wherever they are. |
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Governor Perry Proposes Tax Relief and Infrastructure Funding for Texas Governor Rick Perry says Texas is stronger than ever. The governor gave his State of the State address — outlining plans for a tax rebate initiative — major infrastructure upgrades and higher education reforms. |
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New Poll Finds Gov. Perry Has Worn Out His Welcome With TX Voters On the day Governor Rick Perry delivers his State of the State address, a new poll shows that voters aren't thrilled about the idea of him serving a fourth full term. That's even true among many Republicans. |
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Texas Rep. Says Immigration Blueprint Is Amnesty Republican Congressman Lamar Smith is warning supporters of immigration reform not to get their hopes up. Smith is labeling the new proposal "amnesty" and predicts it won't become law. |
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Major Presbyterian Church Votes To Discuss Affiliation With Denomination First Presbyterian Houston church members voted over the weekend to enter into a discussion about what the church's affiliation will be with its denomination. The church is one of the largest—if not largest—Presbyterian congregations in the country to enter into this process. |
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Water For Texas: Lawmakers Say State Needs More Than Money Texas legislators will consider a plan to set aside$2 billion to deal with the state's looming water issues. Last night some lawmakers gathered for a water forum in Austin. |
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US Trust: Tax Code Changes Should Help Business Planning Houston employers are grappling with changes to the federal tax code put in place early this month. |
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Members Of Congress Join Houston Advocacy Groups To Call For Immigration Reform A coalition of groups was joined by three members of Congress in Houston today to call for comprehensive immigration reform. The call comes the same day as a bipartisan group of senators presented its plan of immigration reform, and a day before the president’s expected speech on the same issue. |
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Campaign Season Continues In State Senate District 6 Residents of state Senate District 6 have another election to look forward to. Saturday's special election to fill the seat left vacant by the late Mario Gallegos resulted in a run-off between the two top candidates. |
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Texas To Release New Test Results Amid Battle Over High-Stakes Testing Last spring, students in Houston took a brand new standardized exam, the STAAR. The state plans to release the grades for thousands of students later today. But the whole testing system could get an overhaul from the Texas Legislature this session, as Laura Isensee reports from the KUHF Education Desk. |
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Report Examines The Effects Of Texas Public Education Cuts Texas lawmakers are hearing how public schools are coping with the $5.4 billion dollar state budget cut during the last legislative session. Comprehensive information on how the cuts affected school districts and the impact on students was lacking — until now. |
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State Watch Texas: Deciphering Governor Perry's Calls for Tax Relief Gov. Rick Perry will deliver his State of the State address Tuesday. |
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New Apartment Construction Brings No Relief On Rents The rent for a typical urban apartment in Houston is now rising between 5% to 10% a year. That's roughly two to four times the national average. KUHF Business News Reporter Andrew Schneider looks at why it's getting so tough to find an affordable apartment. |
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State Regulator Smitherman: 'Much Interest' In Gun Training As part of the debate over guns and violence, there's a new twist developing in Texas. The head of one state agency is proposing that its employees should be provided training, so they can legally carry a concealed handgun — on the job. The agency has inspectors that enforce the rules on the state's surging oil and gas drilling industry. StateImpact reporter Dave Fehling learned why some believe those inspectors need protection. |
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Getting To Know A Local Lawmaker: Rep. Phil Stephenson Out of 150 House Representatives in the Texas Legislature, 43 are brand new including Representative Phil Stephenson of Wharton County. He's a CPA by day and for the next few months he'll also be a legislator. KUHF news will be following his progress, highs and lows so today we introduce one of your local lawmakers. |
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Commerce Dept., DHL Team Up To Help Small Exporters Small businesses often have a tough time cracking international markets. The U.S. Commerce Department is teaming up with express delivery companies to help them out. |
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Bills Protect Gays In Employment Discrimination Senate and House companion bills filed this session could add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity and expression" to the list of unlawful discriminatory practices in the Texas Labor Code. |
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Bill Proposing Tax Break Targets Contraception Rule A bill filed Thursday in the Texas House would give religiously based businesses a state tax break if the businesses chose not to comply with the federal government’s mandate that employers provide contraception coverage. |
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Saturday Is Special Election Day For Senate District 6 Many local voters will have a chance to choose a new state senator tomorrow in a special election to replace the late Mario Gallegos. |
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City Council Member Targets Building Eyesores As the City of Houston is demolishing the last of the so-called "Dirty Half Dozen" blighted properties around the city, one city council member is starting his own spring cleaning. |
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What Veteran Issues Will Be Addressed In This Texas Legislative Session? State legislators intend to lay out their bills for the 83rd legislative session over the coming months. Veteran's organizations will be waiting to see if they are part of lawmaker's plans. Most notably they'll look for legislation that works on reducing the disability claims backlogs that are continuing to rise in Texas. |
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After Months Of Repair, Elissa Heads Back To Galveston Pier 22 The official tall ship of Texas is headed back home to Galveston this weekend after four months of repairs. The "Elissa" should soon look almost as good as new. |
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Leaders At Town Hall Forum Tackle School Safety After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia started organizing a town hall to discuss school safety. The recent shooting at Lone Star College made the forum Thursday even more pressing. |
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Bauer Business Focus: Hesam Panahi Next month, the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business will launch its own startup accelerator, Red Labs. It’s the brainchild of Hesam Panahi, a clinical assistant professor at Bauer. Panahi joins Andrew Schneider on this week's installment of the Bauer Business Focus. |
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Offshore Drillers Best 'Big Four' In 2012 Trading Economic research firm IHS is reporting that shares of offshore oil and gas drillers outperformed those of multi-service providers in 2012. |
