TPA Roundup, Week of 12/02/07

It is time once again for the Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Roundup. We also share some results from the TPA's Texan of the Year awards.

No, no, you don't get to find out the big winner today — you're going to have to wait a bit for that. This year, the TPA is recognizing four runner-up Gold Stars and some honorable mention Silver Stars in addition to the Texan of the Year. But the announcement of the TPA's Silver Stars and two of the Gold Stars for 2007 are out. The Silver Stars are:

Texas Ranger Brian Burzynski, who kept the Texas Youth Commission story alive despite rebuffs by state authorities, local prosecutors, and even the United States Department of Justice, and broke open one of the largest criminal justice scandals in the history of Texas.

Hank Gilbert, who has been instrumental in forming a statewide umbrella organization of anti-toll groups to continue the fight against toll-enabling legislation and continues to travel the state as a director for Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, speaking out against the takeover of taxpayer funded infrastructure by private interests.

Congressman Ciro Rodriguez, winning a seat in Congress after a runoff and taking office as part of the first Democratic Congress in nearly a generation.

Texas Bloggers Who Made A Difference: John Cobarruvias (Bay Area Houston Blog), who held legislators' feet to the fire through his Spending Campaign Cash series; Vince Leibowitz (Capitol Annex), who uncovered a sheaf of documents from House Speaker Tom Craddick's office that helped piece together exactly what happened in those final hours in the legislature that nearly led to his removal; Edmundo "Xicano Power" Roca (XicanoPwr), who holds the distinction of being nominated by one of his readers for the award; and Sharon Wilson (TxSharon of BlueDaze), who has done groundbreaking work with her investigative reporting exposing the dangers of injection well drilling in the Barnett Shale region.

Texas Legislative Study Group, the policy clearinghouse for progressives who help legislators keep up with the more than 50 bills a day that come up in the Texas House and who are possibly one of the most important behind-the-scenes players in the legislative process when it comes to safeguarding progressive principles.

TexBlog PAC, which was started by just a handful of Texas progressive bloggers and has already raised over $10,000 in its initial months, harnessing the energy of the online community.

David Van Os, who, following his defeat in the 2006 Attorney General's race, made good on his promise to "keep fighting 'em on ice" on such varied issues as toll roads and workplace rights.

State Representative Mike Villarreal, who was one of the progressive leaders in the Texas House of Representatives in 2007, authoring legislation that would have made created contribution limits for political candidates and an independent redistricting commission, among others.

The two Gold Stars that have been announced so far are:

Rick and Melissa Noriega. These two Houston Democrats could easily be called Texas' new Political Power Couple. Melissa Noriega made news early this year with her run for the Houston City Council seat vacated by Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who resigned the seat to assume the last six weeks of former Congressman Tom DeLay's term in 2006. A veteran of the "War on Terror," Rick Noriega started generating buzz early in 2007 as a number of progressive netroots activists and bricks-and-mortar Democratic activists created a movement to "draft" Noriega into the Democratic Party's race for United States Senate. A true people-powered candidate, Rick Noriega, along with Melissa Noriega, have both made significant sacrifices to serve the people of Texas.

Denise Davis, the former Parliamentarian of the Texas House of Representatives was never an uncontroversial figure. Throughout her tenure--which lasted for nearly three sessions--some Democrats privately criticized Davis for some of her rulings and believed her to be an unrepentant loyalist to House Speaker Tom Craddick. That changed on May 25, 2007 when around 9 p.m. that night, after House Democratic Leader Jim Dunnam attempted to get Craddick to recognize a motion to vacate the chair, Craddick walked off the dais and left the House in utter chaos, 'adjourned' until 11 p.m. What happened in the interim to some degree remains a blur, although one thing is clear: Parliamentarian Denise Davis (and her deputy, Chris Griesel) resigned, and House Speaker Tom Craddick appointed two enforcer-thugs to take their place. Denise Davis departed House Speaker Tom Craddick's service that night rather than legitimize his dictator-like hold over the Texas House.

The last two Gold Stars will be announced over the next two days, and the Texan of the Year will be announced on Friday.

Now, on to the roundup!

It appears that TX. Sen. Craig Estes is considering recommending an investigation into the egregious negligence and malpractice of the Texas Railroad Commission. However, as TXsharon at Bluedaze reminds us: It's no time to rest! Keep the pressure on with your letters, emails, faxes and calls.

Now that Williamson County's secret complaint has been dismissed, the Texas Fair Defense Project's class-action lawsuit on behalf of indigent defendants is now back on track. Eye on Williamson's wcnews provides an update on the slowly progressing case in The Upside-Down World of Williamson County.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme enjoyed this headline: 'Where was Hutchison, Valley veterans ask'. Why aren't all US veterans asking where all 'support the troop' Republicans have been?

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at the lies and errors in Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the groundbreaking Voter ID case.

The Texas Cloverleaf calls out TxDOT for delaying DFW area construction projects even after receiving $3.197 billion from NTTA.

The Sunset Commission is taking a hard look at TXDOT and McBlogger thinks it's about time. Feel to send in your suggestions on how to fix the ailing agency.

One week into Filing Season, Off the Kuff reviews the filings he's waiting for.

The Texas Education Agency made national news after the forced resignation of Chris Comer, its science curriculum director, in the ever-swirling "intelligent design" controversy, reports North Texas Liberal's Texas Toad.

Also make sure to check out Brains and Eggs, Bay Area Houston, and Bluebloggin.