Naked City

The Bush administration has nominated Texas Railroad Commissioner Tony Garza to be the new U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Garza is one of three elected railroad commissioners (who actually regulate oil and natural gas production, not railroads), and is the grandson of Mexican immigrants. -- L.N.

The nationally syndicated radio program Latino USA, produced in partnership with UT and KUT radio, has won a prestigious Edward R. Murrow award for its investigative reporting. Former correspondent Ingrid Lobert's report about a 1997 carbon monoxide poisoning at a Washington State fruit-packing plant garnered the gold for the weekly half-hour program. -- J.S.

More than 100 new Department of Public Safety troopers are almost ready to hit the highways. The 121st cadet class just graduated, after finishing the seven-month training course. DPS is hunting for a few more good women and men. Interested? Call 866/TXTROOP. -- J.S.

Bush down, insecurity up: A recent Zogby poll shows that President George W. Bush's job performance rating has fallen seven points over the last month to 62% -- a new low mark since the September 11 terrorist attacks. (The poll has a margin of error of +/-3.1%.) Yet another Zogby poll reveals that one in three Americans say they're worse off financially than they were a year ago, and another one-third is worse off than two years ago. The majority of respondents who said they're worse off today than last year were Democrats (38%), followed by Independents (30%) and Republicans (27%). -- L.A.

Weed Watch: After a drawn-out battle spearheaded by the Marijuana Policy Project, it looks like Washington, D.C., voters will once again see a medical-marijuana measure on November's ballot. D.C. voters overwhelmingly approved a similar measure back in 1998, only to have Congress later quash the voters' will. And over in Nevada, a measure slated to appear on their November ballot could take the state's drug laws from the country's most restrictive to the nation's most progressive, reports the Drug Reform Coordination Network. Voters will get a chance to decide whether to decriminalize pot possession of up to three ounces. Further, the measure would provide for marijuana to be taxed and sold like cigarettes at state-licensed stores. -- J.S.