By BJ Austin, KERA News & Wire Services
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-978882.mp3
Dallas, TX – The Federal Aviation Administration faces a government shut down Friday night. Authority for the FAA to operate expires at midnight eastern time. Disagreements over funding have held up the re-authorization in Congress.
Air traffic controllers will remain on the job, but other FAA employees - more than four thousand nationwide - will be furloughed; 250 in Texas.
At Dallas Love Field, the city's Jose Luis Torres says major construction on the new terminal will continue, but the shutdown will affect runway and lighting improvements.
Torres: There will be activities with the FAA resident engineer - which work on the apron around the air traffic control tower will probably be impacted. No impact to airport operations, and I repeat that, no impact to airport operations.
There will be an impact to ticket prices. The missed deadline means the federal government cannot collect its ticket tax. Travelers will save about 60 dollars on the average round trip.
Texas jobless rate for June reaches 8.2 percent
The Texas jobless rate has risen to 8.2 percent for June.
The Texas Workforce Commission on Friday reported the state's metro unemployment figure is a full percentage point behind the June national jobless rate of 9.2 percent. Texas unemployment was 8 percent in May.
Commission Chairman Tom Pauken says the state's goods-producing industries combined to add 11,200 jobs in June. Pauken says new opportunities arise for job seekers as businesses continue to shift resources into Texas.
Texas has added 117,600 jobs since January. The Midland area had the state's lowest jobless rate for June, at 5.2 percent. The highest unemployment rate was 13 percent in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area.
Texas Ed Board compromises on evolution materials
The Texas State Board of Education has given its final approval to supplemental high school science materials after a brief flare-up over some lessons teaching the principles of evolution.
The board's social conservatives compromised with supporters of evolution and agreed to have state Education Commissioner Robert Scott continue working with the publisher to find an acceptable middle ground.
A group of scientists had objected to changes the board ordered the publisher to make after a tentative vote of approval on Thursday. The changes were to materials including a lab comparison between human and chimpanzee skulls, the fossil record and lessons on cell complexity.
Those lessons were flagged as errors by a board-appointed review panel, but the scientists said they were scientifically correct.
Dallas Opera cancels production, citing finances
The Dallas Opera is canceling one of the productions scheduled for the upcoming season due to finances.
The opera announced Friday the cancellation "Katya Kabanova." Season ticket holders will get refunds. Single tickets haven't gone on sale.
The opera says by moving from a "less-than-optimal" space to the new Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in 2009, their seating capacity dropped from more than 3,400 to 2,200. That combined with expenses associated with the new venue have resulted in higher production costs.
While before a popular opera could be done in four performances, it now takes up to six. That has meant an annual budget increase of about 33 percent.
Primoris gets $123.6 million Texas highway deal
Primoris Services Corp. said Friday that a subsidiary won a $123.6 million contract to widen a stretch of Interstate 35 in Texas.
The job will start in January and is expected to be completed by July 2015.
Last year, the company won a $107 million contract to rebuild a different 13.5-mile stretch of the highway. That work is scheduled for completion by 2014.