News

It’s nearly the start of summer but a law about to come out of the Texas Legislature has a yuletide mission to provide protections to public schools who want to offer religious celebrations during the winter. 

What would an Spurs playoff series be without former NBA star Charles Barkley, San Antonio's nemesis?

Barkley, who also happens to love Manu Ginóbili, the entire Spurs franchise and Mayor Julián Castro, is back as part of the NBA TV coverage team and he hasn't changed his tune, nor has he come up with any new jokes about San Antonio women.

Last year during the Western Conference Final against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Barkley and Castro traded (friendly) blows on air with the mayor inviting him for a sightseeing trip:

The effects of federal budget cuts known as sequestration have scientists and medical researchers worried that funding will start to be cut.

Research and medical discoveries depend on a plentiful supply of money, but if lawmakers in Washington, D.C. slash funding, research can’t be conducted.

That could mean a new generation of researchers won't have jobs according to Research!America President Mary Woolley, who said that will be detrimental to the country in the next 10 years.

On the surface, the bill by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, seems complex, but she said it essentially brings Texas in compliance with last year's Supreme Court ruling that found sentencing 17 year olds to a life sentence without parole was unconstitutional.

Since Texas treats 17 year olds as adults and allowed life without parole, that came in conflict with the Supreme Court ruling. This new law would mean that 17 year olds will face a mandatory maximum that is in line with 14 and 16 year olds.

In the first segment:

President Obama said the balance between liberty and security is a tricky. As the National Security Agency tries to defend its data collection practices in the wake of the Eric Snowden leak, the debate continues around the issue with little chance of abating anytime soon.  Julian Sanchez from the Cato Institute and Ron Sievert from Texas A&M University will make their cases.

Lawmakers at the state capitol are outraged by the decision of FEMA officials to deny the town of West continued federal assistance following the fertilizer plant explosion.

According to a report released by the Associated Press, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is refusing to provide West with the funds to help the town rebuild. In a letter from FEMA to state officials, the group has ruled that the plant explosion in West did not meet the criteria for a major disaster declaration.

More than 200 local residents packed the Institute of Texan Cultures on Tuesday evening at a visioning meeting for the new Hemisfair. They were asked to enter their suggestions for features at the corner of Market Street and Alamo, near the Torch of Friendship.

Andres Andujar, CEO of Hemisfair Park Redevelopment Corporation, said that corner will be the large open space that becomes the front porch of San Antonio.

Following several out-of-town hearings on the subject of redistricting, the Senate committee is back in Austin hearing various plans for changing the state’s voting maps, which included a plan from Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, who said he borrowed his argument from Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

"It concludes by saying -- in essence -- that while the Voting Rights Act may not require the creation of a crossover district, the purposeful dismantling of a crossover district would raise serious questions under the 14th and 15th Amendments of the Constitution," Watson said.

On, Tuesday night after the San Antonio Spurs won Game 3 to go up 2-1 over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, Opera Piccola San Antonio's founder Mark Richter was happy.

"I hope we run the Heat out of town, and I hope we finish them here in San Antonio!"