. . 270 EOG Resources Since 1911 Texas has led the nation in length of railroad miles within the state Texas railway length peaked in 1932 at 17,078 miles (27,484 km) but declined to 14,006 miles (22,540 km) by 2000 While the Railroad Commission of Texas originally regulated state railroads in 2005 the state reassigned these duties to TxDOT. (136) 7.08 Largest cities or towns in Texas Skyscrapers, Spring Valley Village Geography Texas has a plural executive branch system limiting the power of the governor which is a weak executive compared to some other states Except for the Secretary of State voters elect executive officers independently; thus candidates are directly answerable to the public not the governor. This election system has led to some executive branches split between parties and reduced the ability of the governor to carry out a program When Republican President George W Bush served as Texas's governor the state had a Democratic lieutenant governor Bob Bullock the executive branch positions consist of the Governor Lieutenant Governor Comptroller of Public Accounts Land Commissioner Attorney General Agriculture Commissioner the three-member Texas Railroad Commission the State Board of Education and the Secretary of State. . The new state grew rapidly as migrants poured into the fertile cotton lands of east Texas. With their investments in cotton lands and slaves Texas planters established cotton plantations in the eastern districts the central area of the state was developed more by subsistence farmers who seldom owned slaves, Main article: Mexican Texas. .
. Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim founder of Pilgrim's Pride Chicken Pittsburg Camp County Texas Hill Country Murders fell by 37 percent from January to June 2011 compared with the same period in 2010 Houston's total crime rate including violent and nonviolent crimes decreased by 11 percent the FBI's Uniform Crime Report (UCR) indicates a downward trend of violent crime in Houston over the ten- and twenty-year periods ending in 2016 which is consistent with national trends This trend toward lower rates of violent crime in Houston includes the murder rate though it had seen a four-year uptick that lasted through 2015 Houston's violent crime rate was 8.6% percent higher in 2016 from the previous year However from 2006 to 2016 violent crime was still down 12 percent in Houston. . 3.5 Taxation (140) 4.83 The 2003 Texas redistricting of Congressional districts led by Republican Tom DeLay was called by the New York Times "an extreme case of partisan gerrymandering" a group of Democratic legislators the "Texas Eleven" fled the state in a quorum-busting effort to prevent the legislature from acting but was unsuccessful the state had already redistricted following the 2000 census Despite these efforts the legislature passed a map heavily in favor of Republicans based on 2000 data and ignoring the estimated nearly one million new residents in the state since that date Career attorneys and analysts at the Department of Justice objected to the plan as diluting the votes of African American and Hispanic voters but political appointees overrode them and approved it. Legal challenges to the redistricting reached the national Supreme Court in the case League of United Latin American Citizens v Perry (2006) but the court ruled in favor of the state (and Republicans), Further information: List of newspapers in Houston List of television stations in Texas List of radio stations in Texas Magazines in Houston and List of films featured in Houston, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston the largest Catholic jurisdiction in Texas and fifth-largest in the United States was established in 1847 the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston claims approximately 1.7 million Catholics within its boundaries. . Sister cities (-5) 14 On March 31 Houston paused his men at Groce's Landing roughly 15 miles (24 km) north of San Felipe.[Note 13] Two companies that refused to retreat further than San Felipe were assigned to guard the crossings on the Brazos River. For the next two weeks the Texians rested recovered from illness and for the first time began practicing military drills While there two cannons known as the Twin Sisters arrived from Cincinnati Ohio. Interim Secretary of War Thomas Rusk joined the camp with orders from Burnet to replace Houston if he refused to fight Houston quickly persuaded Rusk that his plans were sound. Secretary of State Samuel P Carson advised Houston to continue retreating all the way to the Sabine River where more volunteers would likely flock from the United States and allow the army to counterattack.[Note 14] Unhappy with everyone involved Burnet wrote to Houston: "The enemy are laughing you to scorn You must fight them You must retreat no further the country expects you to fight the salvation of the country depends on your doing so." Complaints within the camp became so strong that Houston posted notices that anyone attempting to usurp his position would be court-martialed and shot.
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