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A 26- page report from the Texas Comptroller concludes that the state needs 306,000 additional homes, a shortage that has sent housing costs soaring, The Texas Tribune reported. Homebuilding hasn’t kept up with the booming economy as millions of new residents have moved here over the past decade, leaving more than half of the state’s homeowners and renters struggling to find and keep affordable housing.
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Fall is just around the corner! Which means the 2024- 2025 hunting season is here. Dove hunting season opens this weekend. Be sure to get a license from Texas Parks and Wildlife and as always be safe.
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The dog- day heat wave has sent power demands to new records, the Austin American-Statesman reported. With much of the state enduring an excessive heat warning, power demand peaked at 85,559 megawatts last week, breaking a record set last August.
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Texas public schools received more than $19 billion in pandemic relief funds over the last four years, but that pipeline of cash will largely end on Sept. 30, The Texas Tribune reported.
That means many Texas schools already struggling with budget deficits will begin the school year with even more serious deficits, especially since the Texas Legislature has not increased base per-student pay since 2019 — a year before the pandemic began.
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A federal investigation into five state facilities concluded children in custody face excessive force, sexual abuse and a lack of vital services, The Dallas Morning News reported.
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This month Houston and the Gulf Coast were devastated by Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall Monday, July 8 near Matagorda. Thirty- six Texans died during and after the storm and 2.3 million were left without power, some for almost two weeks. Hearings were held in Austin to assess the response and hold utility companies accountable that did not perform well, including CenterPoint Entergy.
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A huge pot of federal rail funding and chronic highway congestion are prompting some Texas officials to again consider expanding passenger rail in Texas, according to The Texas Standard.
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