Ethics

In the first segment:

The backlash from the non-discrimination ordinance continues to play out here in San Antonio. While anti-NDO advocates were unable to force a citywide vote for the policy -- failing to garner even half the required signatures -- recall efforts for the mayor and several council members who voted for the policy continue.  

In the first segment:

Could the hospital actually be the third leading cause of death in the country? That is what a recent study estimates  in the Journal of Patient Safety, pegging the number of deaths between 210,000 and 440,000. If this study's findings are accepted -- the former number being closer to 100,000 deaths per year -- they point to a critical issue.  

The non-discrimination ordinance has passed, but opponents are not giving up their fight.

Opponents of the ordinance are retaliating against Mayor Julián Castro and each of the eight council members who voted to pass the measure -- they are gathering signatures for recall petitions.

On Aug. 10, District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal was holding his regular Coffee with the Councilman event at Linda’s Mexican Restaurant #2.

But this time the room was populated with opponents of the LGBT non-discrimination ordinance.

District 9 Councilwoman Elisa Chan is now facing an ethics complaint based on the secretly-recorded staff meeting in May where she used homophobic language and discussed possible political aspirations on city time.

D'mitri Kosub, a resident of Chan's district, filed a sworn complaint of ethics violations Tuesday with the San Antonio City Clerk's office.

The complaint alleges that Chan violated city policies by using city staff, time and property for a "partisan political purpose."

This week San Antonio District Judge Robert "Bert" Richardson named area attorney Michael McCrum as the special prosecutor in the criminal complainant against Gov. Rick Perry.

"We’re too early to say there is going to be a trial in this matter," McCrum said. "Just because a complaint has been filed by a citizen doesn’t mean there is actually a prosecution in place. It’s my responsibility to look into the matter and decide if something went wrong, something that needs to be addressed in criminal court and whether or not charges need to be filed."

In the first segment:

The American Dream holds that hard work and determination pay off, but is that still true? Does the "land of opportunity" still exist in America? Turns out it depends on a lot of  things, not the least is where you live.

In a memo to the San Antonio City Council and city staff, Mayor Julián Castro announced the appointments of the council to the various council sub-committees. Each committee hears issues before they reach the full city council.

The memo included the announcement of a new committee called the High Profile Contracts Accountability, which will check over high-profile contracts and monitor vendor performance on those contracts.

The addition of an ethics-based committee is a reinforcement by Castro in light of recent ethics lapses inside City Hall.

A panel made up of San Antonio's Ethics Review Board members this week found that District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg did not violate the city's ethics code.

The complaint was brought to the board by John Yoggerst, who believed Nirenberg accepted in-kind services from NSIDE Publications with a full spread about Nirenberg as a council candidate.

ERB member Robert Piatt says there is no evidence to suggest Nirenberg paid for the publicity.

Republican efforts to greatly restrict a woman’s right to an abortion in Texas failed in the regular legislative session. But in a special session, things move faster, and it’s more difficult for the minority party to derail legislation.

Despite efforts by Democrats to slow down the anti-abortion bills Thursday night by filling a house committee hearing, causing the session to run until almost four in the morning, the bills appear to be on their way to eventual passage and becoming law.