By KERA News
Dallas, TX – Texas is caught in a highway paint shortage that could mean fading lines under the summer heat.
Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Chris Lippincott says the agency has suspended redrawing the stripes on existing roads due to the shortage of a resin-like material called methyl methacrylate. Manufacturers have notified Texas about production and demand delays.
The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday that Texas normally would have enough paint to redraw 171 million feet of the 4-inch-wide stripes on highways and other state-maintained roads.
Lippincott says construction of new roads will continue, but the paint shortage could delay some required striping. Temporary markings and "no center stripe" signs will be used.
Lippincott says the shortage is expected to ease later this year.
Bush: Book begins with decision to quit drinking
George W. Bush says his upcoming book "Decision Points," due for release in November, begins with an anecdote about his wife convincing him to give up drinking.
The former president said Tuesday that the opening lines of his memoir deals with Laura Bush pushing him to decide whether he preferred drinking to fatherhood, and him questioning whether he loved booze more than his wife.
Bush said he realized he had an addictive personality and quit drinking cold turkey. He says that act set him on the path to the presidency.
A relaxed and good-humored Bush, who left office in January 2009, was speaking to a wind energy convention in downtown Dallas. The 63-year-old riffed on retirement, joking that his domestic agenda now consists of taking out the trash and doing the dishes.
The Bushes live in Dallas.
2 sites in Texas designated national rec trails
Two sites in Texas are among 31 trails in 15 states newly designated as national recreation trails. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Tuesday announced the designation.
Knob Hills Trail is on the west end of Grapevine Lake. The 5.43-mile Knob Hills Trail is a natural surface trail commonly used by hikers, bicyclists and people on horseback.
Lacy Point Nature Trail is on the west shore of Waco Lake. The 19-mile trail offers access to horse riders, cyclists, bank fishermen and hikers between Fort Worth and Georgetown.
The designation recognizes existing trails and systems that link communities to recreational opportunities on public lands and in local parks.
Longtime Texas journalist Byers dies
William Bowling "Bo" Byers, a journalist who covered Texas for nearly four decades, has died.
Weed-Corley-Fish North Funeral Home office manager Michelle Besteiro says Byers died Sunday at a hospital in Austin. She had no information Tuesday on a cause of death. He was 90.
Byers was born in Miami, Mo. and graduated from the University of Texas, joining the Tyler Morning Telegraph. After World War II, he joined The Associated Press in Austin and worked there for 10 years before joining the Houston Chronicle in Austin until 1983.
His funeral is June 2 in Austin, with burial at the Texas State Cemetery.