David Martin Davies

The Texas legislature convened in Austin on Tuesday, and there was no mention from Gov. Rick Perry about illegal immigration legislation. 

In Jan. 2011 Perry gave the traditional opening remarks to the 82nd Texas legislature and he made it clear – he wanted a crackdown on illegal immigration.

"We must abolish sanctuary cities in Texas," Perry said to applause from the newly sworn in lawmakers.

The public square is the cornerstone of democracy. The concept is that anyone can hop on a metaphorical soapbox and air their grievances about the government.

But what does it take to be banned from the public square in San Antonio?

It’s happening to two local residents who are being shunned by their elected representatives. John Foddrill and Michael Cuellar are two separate cases but with some suspicious common factors. Both men are former city employees who say that while on the job they found evidence of fraud or waste in city government.

Texas Matters: It's finally here! The 83rd Texas Legislature will be sworn in and start on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Political Action Committees, or Super PACs as they came to be so heroically known in last year's election, enjoyed fairly easy regulations on both organization and donations. However, there are rules and stiff penalties if you break them; one Texas billionaire was caught and fined a shocking $6,450!

The last year saw the rise of the Latino vote in the 2012 election and San Antonio local "Marathon Maniac" Larry Macon break the World Record for marathons in a year -- he finished with 157. So what will happen in 2013?

Congressman Charlie Gonzalez is ending a 14-year career in the U.S. House, and he's going out as things are heating up -- the august body is still dealing with the political crisis known as the fiscal cliff. Gonzalez explains why he’s leaving Congress and what his successor, Joaquín Castro, needs to know to deal with the pressures of Washington D.C.

Texas Matters: After reviewing school district safety audits, the attorney general's office found that 78 Texas school districts were not compliant with the law. The Newtown tragedy is also having an effect in San Antonio school districts, where two students who were making jokes about bomb threats and shootings on their own campuses were arrested. Texas Monthly crowns its 2012 Bum Steer of the Year: Lance Armstrong.

The Mexican revolution drove people into the United States and those that settled in South Texas helped shape the cultural and economic landscape of the area. This is especially notable as the Hispanic population continues to increase in the United States, and the country -- as Mayor Julián Castro put it --  begins to look like San Antonio. The last part of the show highlights a performance of Tchaikovsky’s "The Nutcracker," a production that is a holiday tradition in San Antonio and the U.S.

San Antonio’s political power twins Julián and Joaquín Castro continue to attract the spotlight of the national media. Yesterday the brothers were guests on the PBS Charlie Rose program. 

Joaquín is just days away from being sworn in as a congressman and Julián is moving forward with implementing the recently passed Pre-K for SA program.

The two sat down with PBS interviewer Rose, who quizzed the two with questions about their lives, ambitions and policy views - particularly about gun control.

[Update: Thursday, Dec. 20] The Texas School Safety Center, located at Texas State University in San Marcos, now says there are only 29 schools not in compliance with the safety audits.

This is down from the 78 total districts who did not meet the Texas Education Code safety requirement -- 38 that did not report, and 40 that were not fully compliant. The center said that slow paperwork is to blame for those schools that are now cleared.