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West Nile Virus-Infected Mosquitoes Spreading

The city of Dallas is reporting 10 mosquito pools testing positive for the West Nile Virus.

The latest is in Lake Highlands. Mosquito spraying trucks will be out Tuesday night in the neighborhood bounded by Royal, Skillman, Walnut Hill and Ferndale Road.

Michael Wheeler, with the city’s mosquito control team, is on the road testing for the virus. He says the infected insects are showing up very early this year.

“It’s about two months quicker than we usually get our positive results for West Nile virus,” said Wheeler.

Other areas with mosquitoes carrying the virus include Oaklawn near Maple and Wycliff, South Dallas near Overton and SM Wright Freeway.

Wheeler says people need to wear insect repellant plus long sleeves and pants at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.

Symptoms of West Nile include fever, body aches, fatigue and sometimes nausea.

BJ Austin, KERA News

Texas Governor Opposed To Obama’s Immigration Plan

Governor Rick Perry is reacting to President Obama’s announcement Friday on immigration.

Under the president’s plan, illegal immigrants 16 to 30 years old will not face deportation for a two-year period – subject to renewal -- and can apply for work.

Immigrants must have arrived in the US before age 16, have been in the country for five years, have no criminal history, are high school graduates, or military veterans.

Governor Perry says the “Administration has failed to provide a secure border, which is essential to national security, and is instead granting blanket amnesty to those who have broken our laws.”

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot tweeted asking, “Do you agree with Obama’s decision to stop deporting illegal immigrants?”

President Obama says it’s the right thing to do.

Justin Martin, KERA News

Texas Jobless Rates Holds At 6.9 Percent For May

Texas Workforce Commission numbers released Friday showed the state adding 12,500 nonfarm jobs in May. That's slightly down from April but enough to keep the Texas unemployment rate below 7 percent for consecutive months for the first time since spring 2009.

The national unemployment rate is 8.2 percent.

Agency figures show that while five of the 11 major industries in Texas lost jobs in May, strong gains in the sectors of leisure and hospitality and professional services kept the unemployment rate from slipping.

Midland's unemployment rate of 3.8 percent remains the lowest in the state. The highest is in the McAllen area, where the jobless rate now stands at 10.8 percent.

AP

Dewhurst, Cruz try to out-conservative each other

The two Texans embroiled in a white-hot battle for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination both say their records prove they are more-conservative than their opponent.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz were in Kerrville on Friday to address a Republican Women's Club.

Dewhurst says if the crowd liked what was happening in Texas, they should send him to Washington. Cruz countered that he was the only true conservative in the race.

The pair is vying for the GOP nomination to replace retiring Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. They face a runoff election July 31.

Dewhurst has been lieutenant governor since 2003 and is the establishment party favorite. But the younger and more-fiery Cruz is backed by tea party groups across Texas and nationally.

AP

North Texas records 3.1 magnitude earthquake

Experts say North Texas has had a 3.1 magnitude earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake happened just after 2 a.m. Friday.

USGS says the earthquake was centered 11 miles north-northeast of Cleburne, or about 16 miles south of Fort Worth.

No damage or injuries were immediately reported.

AP

NW Kansas dairy enters partnership with Dannon

A dairy company in northwest Kansas will be the sole supplier of milk to Dannon Co.'s yogurt factory in Fort Worth, Texas.

The agreement between Dannon and McCarty Dairy was officially announced Thursday at a ceremony in Rexford.

The McCarty family milks nearly 7,200 cows daily at dairies in Rexford, Bird City and Scott City.

The Hays Daily News reports a processing plant in Rexford gets milk from the three dairies, pasteurizes it and strips out water. The dried milk is used by Dannon for its yogurt.

Tom McCarty told about 150 people including Gov. Sam Brownback and Dannon officials that the deal took about two years to put together.

Brownback says he hopes it's the first step in Kansas becoming a big player in the dairy industry.

AP

UT halts high-velocity research at damaged site

The University of Texas has stopped high-velocity projectiles research at a lab where an explosion left a passer-by hurt.

UT research official Juan Sanchez said Thursday that the metal building is not structurally adequate for such experiments. The UT Institute for Advance Technology does research for the military.

A driver was injured by debris during an explosion Tuesday that left holes in the leased building in Leander, about 20 miles northwest of Austin.

Sanchez told the Austin American-Statesman that a piece of a launcher broke off and was propelled by high-pressure hydrogen gas.

Sanchez says UT will repair the structure, which the school has used since 1990 when the area was less populated, for less high-impact experiments.

Further details weren't immediately released on plans for the higher-velocity research.

AP