The Man Behind Secret Tape of Texas House Speaker, Julian Castro Makes Debate, Uber Lured to Big D

Good morning! Here are the top political headlines from Austin, Washington, the campaign trail and Dallas. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's here.Points from Austin1. Rebekah Allen reports that Michael Quinn Sullivan has been the narrator of this year's splashiest Texas political firestorm. Sullivan broke news of the scandal involving the powerful and popular Speaker Dennis Bonnen, forcing the lawmaker to publicly apologize for trashing his colleagues in a secret meeting. Sullivan boasts that he's a watchdog, shedding light on politicians behaving badly. At the same time he refuses to release his exclusive recording of his meeting with Bonnen. She examines how Sullivan has been fighting to operate on this knife's edge -- one where he can freely continue his work influencing lawmakers and lavishing money on candidates, while labeling himself a member of the media.2. Eva-Marie Ayala and Corbett Smith report that Texas is dead last when it comes to passing standards for measuring how well children are reading by the fourth grade, according to a federal analysis of states' standardized tests. And the passing standards weren't much better in math, with Texas lagging among the bottom of the pack. But comparing Texas to other states isn't easy because states have been setting higher standards for students over the past decade. Education commissioner Mike Morath said Texas appears to lag in the study because the information used for comparisons is based on the state's previous, lower standards.3. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be the closing speaker at the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival next month. Pelosi will be featured in a one-on-one conversation with Evan Smith, co-founder and CEO of The Texas Tribune, at 7:15 p.m. on Sept. 28 at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. The full festival lineup and registration information are available at festival.texastribune.org.Points from the trail   Continue reading...