Opinion

AUSTIN — U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel on Aug. 29 struck down two provisions in House Bill 2, legislation passed by the Texas Legislature in the second special session of 2013, amending the state Health and Safety Code to restrict access to abortion services. 
 Yeakel wrote, “A state’s legislature cannot purport to act to…

AUSTIN – When the Texas Legislature convenes on Jan. 13, 2015, lawmakers will have the job of revising the state’s school finance system, again. This task was made necessary on Aug. 28, when state District Judge John Dietz ruled the current finance system violates these four state constitutional standards: the state property tax prohibition and…

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry on Aug. 20 walked the block and a half from the Governor’s Mansion to the Travis County Courthouse, presented himself for arraignment by a state district judge and routine booking procedures, spoke at a five-minute press conference and left. Perry was indicted on Aug. 15 by a Travis County grand…

AUSTIN — A Travis County grand jury on Aug. 15 indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts: abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant. 
Count I alleges Perry, on or about June 14, 2013, intended to harm Rosemary Lehmberg, Travis County district attorney and chief of the state’s Public Integrity Unit,…

AUSTIN — The class of 2013 Texas high school on-time graduation rate was 88 percent, the highest on record and 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous record set by the class of 2012, Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams announced on Aug. 5. The figures are included in the Texas Education Agency report, Secondary School…

AUSTIN — Toyota Motor Corporation on April 28 announced its decision to locate the headquarters of Toyota Motor North America headquarters to Plano. Toyota said the move is “designed to better serve customers and position Toyota for sustainable, long-term growth.” Within the next three years, Toyota’s three separate North American headquarters for manufacturing, sales and…

I received a call last Wednesday from Dr. Kenneth White, former Mission CISD superintendent. While he retired years ago, he continues to have a keen interest in Mission and particularly in Mission schools. Although he recently had to move to the Dallas area to be near family, due to health reasons, he said he reads…

The Progress Times hosted a forum for the Mission mayoral candidates Tuesday evening for which two of the three candidates showed up – Dr. John Guerra and Jaime Gutierrez. Incumbent Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas did not. Instead, Salinas sent a letter to our office Tuesday afternoon apologizing for his absence “due to an unforeseen conflict.”…

AUSTIN — President Barack Obama and former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush spoke at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library’s Civil Rights Summit, held April 8-10 in Austin. The summit marked the 50th anniversary of President Johnson’s efforts culminating in Congress’ passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Johnson’s…

Austin — Forty-one years after the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam, the new Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument was dedicated in a March 29 ceremony attended by a crowd of thousands, including veterans, active duty military, families, friends and relatives. Some 3,417 Texans died or are unaccounted for in Vietnam, according to the State…