By BJ Austin, KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – Texas Senator John Cornyn says it's time to get serious about the federal debt.
Cornyn told the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce his three top priorities are jobs; decreased federal spending; AND cuts to the nation's 14 trillion dollar debt. He says Congress and the White House must get serious about solving the debt crisis.
Cornyn: It's time for us to quit kicking that can down the road; to quit whistling past the graveyard to look for temporary political advantage leading up to the next election.
The White House says a meeting Wednesday between President Obama and House Republicans was worthwhile even if it didn't bridge the partisan divide that exists over how to reduce the deficit.
August 2nd is the deadline to raise the debt ceiling or risk default.
AAA Likes Texas No Texting Law
Triple-A-Texas is applauding the Texas Legislature for banning texting, emails or instant messages while driving.
Triple-A says forty states already limit or ban testing while driving.
If the Governor signs it, the texting ban would take effect September first. Drivers who violate the law could be fined up to 200 dollars.
Dallas: Fancy Food Trucks Get Green Light
Dallas City Hall is giving "food trucks" the green light.
City Council members, today, tweaked the city code to allow the trendy, gourmet food trucks in the Arts District, starting with a summer block party June 17th.
The new rules for mobile food trucks apply citywide. One of Dallas' newest mobile vendors will be at the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market this weekend.
Special Session Timing Won't Favor School Protests
Teachers and parents angry at plans to slash Texas public school funding by $4 billion are getting another chance to protest, but the timing will likely prevent a big turnout at the Capitol.
Organizers on Wednesday scrambled to mobilize teachers and parents back to Austin. A Senate committee will hold a public hearing Thursday on the special session bill that would cut public school spending.
Democrats hoped a special session would pack the Capitol with teachers and parents flush with free time. But Republicans are taking up school finance right away, and many Texas public schools are still in class this week.
Rob D'Amico of the Texas American Federation of Teachers said it will be difficult mobilizing crowds on such short notice.
Special session hampers possible Perry bid
Gov. Rick Perry often cites the state budget as the only thing Texas lawmakers have to do.
And, when asked before the legislative session what the state's top spending priorities should be, he named education.
But when the GOP-led Legislature adjourned the 140-day session on Monday, it did so without a budget for Texas classrooms. The omission prompted Perry to call lawmakers back for an immediate special session to get it done.
It was not the smooth ending that Perry hoped for when he said he would consider a possible White House run when the Legislature adjourned.
Bruce Buchanan, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin, says the special session "makes him look like he didn't land the airplane smoothly."
Texas AG backing school's appeal of prayer ban
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is helping a South Texas school district appeal a federal judge's ruling that would ban public prayer at a high school graduation this weekend.
Abbott said Wednesday his office would file a brief with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the Medina Valley High School. A federal judge this week granted an order forbidding public prayer at Saturday's ceremony after a lawsuit was filed by the agnostic parents of a graduating senior.
Abbott said the suit goes to the "unraveling of moral values in this country today." The school district planned to file the appeal Thursday, and a ruling is expected quickly.
The ban precludes speakers from asking audience members to bow their heads, join in prayer or say "amen."
Grandmother pleads guilty to murder in boy's death
The grandmother of a 6-year-old boy whose body was found near a Dallas-area pond last year has pleaded guilty to murder after being accused of abandoning the child.
Darlene Phillips was sentenced to 28 years in prison Wednesday as part of a plea deal with Collin County prosecutors. The 64-year-old woman faced up to life in prison.
The Dallas Morning News reports that defense attorney Marc Fratter said his goal was to make sure Phillips didn't spend the rest of her life in prison.
Authorities have said the boy, Gerren Isgrigg, had significant medical needs, and Phillips was his primary caregiver after the child's mother left him with Phillips. Autopsy results concluded the boy died from lack of medical attention and exposure.
George W. Bush to host wounded vets golf tourney
Former President George W. Bush will host a two-day golf tournament in October for members of the U.S. military wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His presidential center announced the "Warrior Open" in a statement issued Wednesday. The statement says the 36-hole competition will be held at Las Colinas Country Club in the Dallas suburb of Irving Oct. 10-11.
Applications for the tournament must be submitted by July 15. Qualifications include sustaining serious injury in the war on terror.
In April, Bush joined people wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan on a three-day mountain bike ride in West Texas.