By Bill Zeeble, KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed a bill that would have outlawed sending or reading text messages while driving. Lawmakers approved the bill last month, but Perry called it an "overreach" and "government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults."
It was one of 23 bills Perry vetoed Friday, in addition to a handful of line item vetoes in the state budget.
Perry set the known record for vetoes by a Texas governor in 2001 with 83, according to the Texas Legislative Reference Library. That was shortly after he ascended to the governorship in December 2000, once fellow Republican George W. Bush resigned to become president.
Bush had far fewer vetoes during his tenure as governor. His highest total for a legislative session was 38 in 1997.
Farmers grieve to judge over Pilgrim's Pride
A federal judge in Texas is hearing testimony from farmers who contend that Pilgrim's Pride closed plants and ran them out of business to manipulate commodity chicken prices.
Their lawsuit alleges violations of a Depression-era antitrust law enacted to limit big meatpackers' power over farmers and ranchers.
Bob Depper is one of the attorneys for the 275 farmers from several states. He says the trial in East Texas could last weeks or months. Friday was the second day of testimony.
The lawsuit is being tried before a judge rather than a jury in Marshall, about 175 miles east of Fort Worth.
Pilgrim's Pride declined to comment on the lawsuit, but it has said it closed some plants to save costs before emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late 2009.
GOP's Perry team forming Iowa plans
Texas Gov. Rick Perry's key political advisers are beginning to lay the groundwork for a campaign for Iowa's leadoff presidential caucuses.
But they caution that their preliminary planning does not indicate that the Republican has decided to seek the 2012 GOP nomination.
Perry's chief political consultant Dave Carney says he's making inquiries about the caucus process, available campaign staff and rules for the August Republican straw poll in Iowa.
But he says the fact-finding is aimed at aiding Perry's decision-making. The governor says he'll decide after the Texas Legislature adjourns later this month.
Perry is also expected to begin making calls to key Iowa Republican activists and operatives late this month or early next month.
He was speaking Saturday at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans.
Denton's A Train Launches Monday
Denton launches it's long-awaited "A" train Monday, a commuter rail train that will connect to DART's green line.
Dee Leggett, with the Denton County Transportation Authority, says the first train rolls early Monday morning at 4:50, from downtown Denton.
Leggett: It's set to serve two peak audiences - those that commute into Dallas in the morning for work out of Lewisville and Denton, and then those travelling north up into Denton to attend TWU and UNT.
Leggett says in celebration, citizens can ride the A train free tomorrow from about noon until 6 pm. The 21-mile line offers three Lewisville stops and two in Denton.