Free Republic

In Texas, nearly 8,200 farms and ranches back up to the Mexican border. The men and women who live and work on those properties say they’re under attack from the same drug cartels blamed for thousands of murders in Mexico. “It’s a war, make no mistake about it,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said. “And it’s happening on American soil.” Texas farmers and ranchers produce more cotton and more cattle than any other state, so Staples is concerned this war could eventually impact our food supply, and calls it a threat to our national security. “Farmers and ranchers are being...

AUSTIN — Texas land commissioner Jerry Patterson joked that he "would have shot" Democratic nominee for agriculture commissioner Hank Gilbert over some of the tactics used in that campaign. While introducing Republican Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples at an early voting event Monday in Austin, Patterson told Staples: "I think I would have shot him by now if I were you."

October is not be the best month to be a feral hog in the Texas. The state’s Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples has declared October “Hog Out Month - Get the Hog Outta Texas!” as part of a campaign to eradicate the pests. The campaign aims to get Texans to lock and load and hunt down the animals, which cause widespread damage to farmers and other landowners. “Not only are feral hogs a costly nuisance to agricultural operations and wildlife habitats, but they are increasingly finding their way into urban areas and destroying residents’ yards, public parks and golf courses,” Staples...

Hutchison choice softens intensity of GOP primary ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN (AP) - With Gov. Rick Perry and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn now strapping up for what promises to be a fiery gubernatorial campaign, expectations of shifting across the Republican primary have all but fizzled out. The GOP holds every statewide elected office in Texas and party leaders had been gearing up for a grand game of political musical chairs in case U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison jumped into the 2006 governor's race. Instead, Hutchison opted for another run at the Senate, leaving most GOP office holders sitting right where they...

The Texas Department of Transportation is in the process of identifying preliminary routes for its proposed Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor, some of which could be located in Montgomery County. According to Gaby Garcia, spokeswoman for TxDOT's Turnpike Authority Division, TxDOT will conduct approximately 38 public meetings this summer, at which time the proposed routes would be unveiled. A public meeting is tentatively scheduled in Montgomery County in August, she said, although the date and time have not yet been determined. The initial study areas of the I-69/TTC corridor, which is to extend from Mexico to northeast Texas, range from 20 to...

Rural communities divided by redistricting BY APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Writer SONORA, Texas - To folks in this hamlet on the western edge of the Texas Hill Country, redistricting seemed an issue for cities such as Houston, Dallas or San Antonio. That was until state lawmakers divided Sutton County between two U.S. congressmen, splitting a place where natural gas fuels the economy and where hunters fill the main drag each autumn. "It's an absolute absurdity," said John Tedford, the Republican party chairman for Sutton County. "With just 3,000 people here, it's just absurd." The Texas Legislature approved in October a...

House, Senate negotiators bicker as deadline looms BY APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - Adopting new Texas congressional district lines without delaying next year's primary election seemed increasingly unlikely Saturday as a key House negotiator called the Senate's latest proposal impossible. House and Senate negotiators are working around the clock to agree on a map that would increase the number of Republicans from Texas in Congress. Republican Gov. Rick Perry has called Monday the "drop dead date" to approve a map without affecting the state's March 2 primary. But there is a constitutionally required 24-hour waiting period between when...