Fort Hood renamed after Korean,Vietnam war hero It’s official. Fort Hood, named for a high-ranking Confederate officer in the Civil War, has been renamed Fort Cavazos, in honor of native Texan Richard E. Cavazos, the country’s first Hispanic four-star general. Fort Cavazos is the Army’s largest armored, active-duty military installation,Continue Reading

House OKs $4.5B for teacher pay raises The Texas House last Thursday passed two education-related bills, one that allocates $4.5 billion for teacher pay raises and another to increase the annual per-student base funding from $6,160 to $6,300 – a 2.3% increase. The Austin American-Statesman reported the bill would create minimum salariesContinue Reading

Street takeover spurs governor’s action  Gov. Greg Abbott has created a statewide task force after several “street takeovers” recently took place in Austin in which motorists obstructed intersections, shot off fireworks and drove recklessly. Videos posted after the events showed vehicles doing donuts, crowds gathering around intersections, and people settingContinue Reading

Lawmakers push $15K teacher raises A group of House Democrats is proposing a $15,000 raise for the state’s teachers and a 25% raise for other state employees by using some of the state’s record budget surplus. State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, announced the bill last week and was joined byContinue Reading

Gary Borders/Texas Press Association Speaker open to resort-style casinos in state House Spaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, told The Dallas Morning News and other media outlets that he is open to bringing resort-style casinos to Texas. But don’t expect to find slot machines in 7-Eleven stores if casino gambling is legalized.  “WhatContinue Reading

Gary Borders/ Texas Press Association Nearly 60 Texas House Democrats left the state last Monday for Washington, D.C. in an effort to stop passage of a Republican-led elections bill. This in effect blocks all legislation since the House doesn’t have a quorum present. As the Austin American Statesman and otherContinue Reading

Gary Borders/Texas Press Association The Texas Legislature convened in special session last Thursday and GOP legislators introduced a fresh set of voting bills after Democrats blocked an earlier attempt during the regular session by walking out in May, preventing a quorum. HB3 and SB 1 don’t include some of theContinue Reading

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas urged Texans to cut back on power usage last week when an unusually large number of power plants shut down for unexpected repairs as temperatures soared. ERCOT officials announced Friday that Texans could resume normal levels of electricity use, however. ERCOT came under fireContinue Reading

Gary Borders/Texas Press Association Early voting began Monday for May 1 elections in county, city and school district elections. Secretary of State Ruth R. Hughs encourages all eligible voters to take advantage of the early voting period, which runs through Tuesday, April 27. Texas voters can contact their respective countyContinue Reading

The Jefferson Jimplecute is moving up in the world! The Jimplecute has been known as the 5th oldest newspaper in Texas for decades. Well, that’s not longer accurate. Now the Jimplecute is the 4th oldest newspaper in Texas. “I’d been wondering for several years if the paper’s ranking had changed,”Continue Reading