News

Sen. John Cornyn and Congressman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, have introduced a bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security to develop a national strategy  plan to secure the border.

The Border Security Results Act of 2013 would require Homeland Security to develop and implement such a plan within 180 days of its passage and report periodically to congress.

McCaul cited points of entry near Tucson and San Diego as secure crossings, but said the entire border needs the same reinforcement.

In the first segment:

Author and former professor of urban studies at Trinity University Char Miller talks about his newest book "On the Edge: Water, Immigration and Politics in the Southwest."

The noted essayist compiles many of his pieces into this collection to discuss the top issues affecting his former home. Miller is now the W.M. Keck professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College. 

Miller will be attending the Texas Book Festival this weekend downtown.

John Ford's 1956 film "The Searchers" is one of the finest of the great director's career. And with its overtones of racism, it's also one of his most complicated. In the movie, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) goes on a years-long quest to find his niece, Debbie, who has been abducted by Comanche Indians. As the search drags on, his hatred for the Comanche intensifies, and by the time he finds Debbie (Natalie Wood), fully integrated into the Comanche Nation, he doesn't know whether to save her or kill her.

Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Grandbury, said today’s mass stabbing in Houston could have been prevented if students and faculty were allowed to carry guns.   

Birdwell has authored a bill in the Senate that would allow students and faculty that possess a concealed handgun license to carry their weapons onto a school campus. 

UTSA has renamed its student center the "H-E-B University Center" in thanks for the company's extensive contributions to the university's capital campaign.

Last week UTSA announced the receipt of a $5 million gift and the creation of the H-E-B Faculty Research Excellence Fund, which brings H-E-B’s overall support to more than $7 million.

The $5 million was matched by other private gifts to total $10 million for endowed professorships and chairs in all of UTSA’s nine colleges. It is the largest private challenge gift in UTSA history.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, testified in favor of Sen. Dan Patrick's bill that provides students with tax credits or vouchers to attend a private school.

"We have parents who are committed to their child’s education and want to get them out of poor performing schools," DiNardo said. "How could any of us look these parents in the eye and say that their children should be denied an opportunity for a better future simply because the system we have now, which in many cases is failed, is the only option we are going to allow them."

The idea behind Senate Bill 94 was to hurt human traffickers by shutting down their internet connection to customers. The law was intended to stop websites from selling ads for sex.

The women, who are often underage, are trafficked for sex, their traffickers get the money, and the websites also get a cut. The Aim Group, an online media analyst, estimated that Backpage.com took in $22 million last year from escort advertising.