Andrew Schneider | Houston Public Media

As the impeachment trial of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton winds down, lawyers for the three-term Republican opened their defense by calling two senior staffers who have stuck by the suspended attorney general. The defense team rested its case late Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday's testimony included a former Paxton assistant and friend who grew concerned over connections between the AG's home renovations and Nate Paul, the businessman at the center of the impeachment trial. Much of the day focused on who actually paid for those renovations.

Criminal attorney Brandon Cammack was hired by Ken Paxton in 2020 to investigate federal and local officials related to FBI searches of Austin real estate developer Nate Paul’s home and businesses. He testified he was never paid — and eventually terminated at Starbucks.

The first week of Paxton’s historic trial featured candid — and at times, emotional — testimony from the suspended Texas Attorney General's former friends and aides. Here are some of the highlights.

The House passed Senate Bills 2 and 3, providing property tax relief for homeowners and business properties and franchise tax relief for small business owners. The property tax cut, which must be approved by voters in November, would be the largest in Texas history.

Among the most vulnerable to extreme heat are truck drivers, utility workers, and construction workers.

Harris County in Texas is home to Houston, and has tended to vote blue in the last decade. Republican state lawmakers recently passed bills that target how elections are run there.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Senator Paul Bettencourt signaled potential friction with the House over the lower chamber’s proposal to use an appraisal cap to hold down property tax growth.

More than a dozen Republican lawmakers declined to comment on the possibility of new gun laws, and those who did offered little support.

In Texas, the National Rifle Association meets in Houston as families in Uvalde are mourning children slain in a massacre earlier this week.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he’ll make legislation eliminating tenure at state universities – as a way to ban the teaching of critical race theory – a top priority for the 88th Texas Legislature.

Voters head to the polls in Texas for the state's primary in the first midterm election of 2022. A governor's race is on the ballot, as is the second-largest congressional delegation in the U.S.