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The National Weather Service said the heaviest concentration of rain in Harris County -- between 9-10 1/2 inches -- fell southeast of downtown, in the area around Houston's Hobby Airport. A flash flood warning was in effect in Harris County and Galveston County until noon. Flood watches were in effect in all the surrounding counties. Harris County airport system spokeswoman Marlene McClinton said the airport itself did not flood, but the roads around it did, preventing crews from getting to work. She said the airport was shut down for about 2 1/2 hours, but was reopened by 8:45 a.m. As...

It's the border, stupid By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, April 23, 2006 LAREDO, Texas There is no homeland security without border security. Americans sitting in the heartland may not be sweating over border issues but Webb County, Texas, Sheriff Rick Flores thinks they should be. "Any sheriff, whether they are in Dallas, Iowa or even Nebraska, would much prefer that we squash a threat at the border than force them to deal with it after it gets through us," the sheriff told me in his office here. "Smugglers have a ready-made infrastructure in place ... and they are just waiting...

Officers cite need for secure border By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW HOUSTON -- As pro-immigration protestors marched in U.S. cities, state drug-law enforcers meeting here agreed that the porous U.S.-Mexican border is open to criminal gangs as well as illegal aliens.

Three out of four Texans think local police should help enforce immigration law, and nearly half think citizen border patrols such as the Minutemen are a good thing, according to a new statewide poll. The Scripps Howard Texas Poll also found that 79 percent of state residents think the U.S. government is not doing enough to stop "unauthorized immigration." But exactly half of those polled said they support a program that would allow illegal immigrants to stay temporarily if they have a job no one else wants. President Bush has proposed a guest-worker plan along those lines, and Congress is...

Governor Rick Perry signed the eminent domain bill into law in Waco, saying the legislation will "close a door the Supreme Court jarred open." Perry had officially signed the law September first, but had to postpone the ceremonial signing in Waco because of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Texas was one of at least 31 states to review eminent domain laws following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that backed governments' power to take private land for economic development as a way to increase tax revenue. At the Waco Association of Realtors office yesterday, Perry said that government should not encroach upon...

National Guard and Freedom Defense Wall Should Protect Our Nation's Borders By Kevin Fobbs This past week Texas Governor Rick Perry sent out what has now become a familiar alarm. He was frustrated and angry about what appears to be the inability of our nation to handle the teeming millions of illegal alien immigrants who are invading our borders daily. Governor Perry has thrown down the gauntlet and, working with advisors from the Arizona Minuteman and Civil Defense Project, has developed what he is referring to as a comprehensive blueprint for securing the Texas border with Mexico. Part of that...

Guests: Governor Rick Perry, (R-Texas); Dr. Ivor van Heerden, Director, LSU Hurricane Center; Aaron Broussard, President, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; Tom Friedman, The New York Times; Maureen Dowd, The New York Times; David Brooks, The New York Times Moderator/Panelist: Tim Russert - NBC News

PLANO – The Ismaili Muslim community announced Tuesday that it is building a $6.5 million worship and community center in Plano, where it has found a warm welcome. Gov. Rick Perry flew in to lay the first ceremonial brick for the center's foundation. It was a symbolic gesture since the site for the new center will be a few miles northeast of the Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, where the foundation ceremony was held. The governor, who is friends with the Ismaili Muslims' spiritual leader, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, said he was honored to participate. "Our culture is...

One of the adolescent things about liberals is that they won’t accept consequences of their actions, but will hold adults, Conservatives, to answer. This is becoming more obvious every year. The Minuteman Movement is spreading, as it should. And their mission and acceptance is becoming more obvious with every month! California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that he would not obstruct the Movement’s arrival in California. For this he takes heat. Now, Texas Governor Rick Perry says about the same thing for the Movement’s coming to Texas. For this, he, too, is taking heat. One of the things Americans respect...

Texas GOP split on Hutchison, Perry Poll on hypothetical matchups has two officials neck and neck09:27 PM CST on Tuesday, December 9, 2003 By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN – If voters went to the polls today, Gov. Rick Perry would face a tough task winning re-election against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, according to the latest Texas Poll. Texas Republicans are evenly divided when asked whether they would give the governor another term or replace him with Ms. Hutchison, the survey said. According to the poll, 45 percent of registered Republicans favor Ms. Hutchison and 41...