Wade Goodwyn

At NRA Convention, Dueling Narratives Displayed With Guns

Wade Goodwyn — Sat, 04 May 2013 09:51:00 +0000

The National Rifle Association is holding its annual convention in Houston this weekend. More than 70,000 people are expected to attend for speeches and demos and acres of guns, ammo and camo.

The NRA is coming off of a major victory: the defeat of gun control legislation in the Senate.

Officials Seek Answers In Aftermath Of Deadly Explosion

Wade Goodwyn — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:21:00 +0000

With the house-to-house search over and the living and dead largely accounted for, the town of West, Texas, began the transition from shock and disbelief to communal grieving.

On Friday night, mourners gathered at St. Mary Church of the Assumption to remember the dead. Many of the dead were first responders who were fighting a roaring fire for 30 minutes before the explosion, which was felt 80 miles away in Fort Worth.

Texas Sen.

Texas Contractors Say Playing By The Rules Doesn't Pay

Wade Goodwyn — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:21:00 +0000

This story is part of a two-part series about the construction industry in Texas. Find the first part here.

Homes in Texas are cheap — at least compared with much of the country.

Construction Booming In Texas, But Many Workers Pay Dearly

Wade Goodwyn — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:20:00 +0000

Like almost everything in the Texas, the construction industry in the Lone Star State is big. One in every 13 workers here is employed in the state's $54 billion-per-year construction industry.

Homebuilding and commercial construction may be an economic driver for the state, but it's also an industry riddled with hazards. Years of illegal immigration have pushed wages down, and accidents and wage fraud are common. Of the nearly 1 million workers laboring in construction here, approximately half are undocumented.

Many of those workers have been in the U.S. for years, even decades.

Texas Study Points To A Longer Natural Gas Boom

Wade Goodwyn — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:12:00 +0000

There are few things in life more joyful than discovering a giant oil or natural gas field in Texas. You're suddenly rich beyond your wildest dreams. When the scope and size of the natural gas reservoir in the Barnett Shale in North Texas first became apparent, there were predictions that the find would last 100 years.

Well, that was over the top.

Another George Bush Plans To Try His Hand At Politics

Wade Goodwyn — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:21:00 +0000

Another member of the Bush family is throwing his hat into the political ring: George Prescott Bush, 36, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has announced he is running for office in Texas.

The Bush name is still strong in the Lone Star State: George P. has already raised nearly $1.4 million, though he still hasn't said which statewide office he will run for.

At the age of 12, Bush led the Pledge of Allegiance before the 1988 Republican National Convention, when his grandfather George H.W.

Tea Party Texan Cruz Gives GOP Hope In Hunt For Hispanic Votes

Wade Goodwyn — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:58:00 +0000

Sen.-elect Ted Cruz of Texas is a bright young Hispanic star who will be sworn in this week in Washington. The Republican Party nationally hopes Cruz will be part of the solution to its growing problem luring Hispanic voters.

Almost nobody had heard of Cruz when he began his campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Amid Calls For Gun Control, Some Push For Weapons At School

Wade Goodwyn — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 21:56:00 +0000

A growing number of lawmakers are indicating they are open to considering new gun control measures in the wake of Friday's school shooting in Newtown, Conn. But while much of the national debate has focused on limiting access to guns, others are suggesting that schools should arm themselves to defend against attacks.

David Thweatt, school superintendent for the small Texas town of Harrold, northwest of Fort Worth, decided in 2006 that it was time to arm his staff. There's only one school in Harrold, a K-12 with 103 students.

Before 2006, there had already been enough carnage at U.S.

Teenager's Faith At Odds With Locator Tags In School IDs

Wade Goodwyn — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:37:00 +0000

A federal court in Texas on Monday will take up the case of a high-school student who refuses to wear her location-tracking school ID.

The 15-year-old sophomore says the ID badge, which has an embedded radio frequency identification tag, is a violation of her rights.

GOP Governors Say Party Lost On Strategy, Not Issues

Wade Goodwyn — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 10:50:00 +0000

Republican governors got together in Las Vegas last week to take stock of the election results, which continue to sink in.

Going into Election Day, Republican confidence was high that the Grand Old Party would sweep President Obama aside, retake the U.S. Senate and reshape the country in the aftermath.

So on Nov. 6, when the results came in, many if not most Republicans were shocked by the president's victory. Pat McCrory, the newly elected governor of North Carolina, however, saw it coming.

"I knew it would be close.