By BJ Austin, KERA News & Wire Services
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-984532.mp3
Dallas, TX – The fire at Possum Kingdom Lake is 50% contained.
April Saginor, with the Texas Forest Service says lower winds and higher humidity are helping firefighters make progress.
Saginor: Three of the areas that were evacuated yesterday known as the Ranch, Harbor and Peninsula communities, those folks were able to go back home. Those evacuation orders were lifted. The Cliffs, Garland Bend and Gaines Bend subdivisions are still under evacuation orders.
Saginor says about 40 homes have been destroyed, most of them in the upscale Cliffs subdivision. The fire has blackened more than 65 hundred acres.
Gas Prices Up A Penny For Labor Day Travel
Nearly two million Texans will be on the roads this Labor Day weekend. And they'll be paying a penny more for gas than last week. The average statewide price is $3.47 for a gallon of regular unleaded.
Dallas and Fort Worth prices are up a penny as well: $3.44 in Dallas, $3.43 in Fort Worth.
Triple A-Texas says the average fill-up in Texas over the Labor Day Holiday will cost about $48 dollars.
New Deadline For Parkland Hospital
Parkland Hospital has a new deadline to pass its latest inspection or lose federal funding.
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services sent outgoing Parkland CEO Dr. Ron Anderson a letter Thursday extending the deadline from September 2nd to September 30th.
The CMS says state inspectors need more time to finish their reports about this week's inspection. Officials spent at least two days checking on Parkland's progress to fix 9 violations. Two of them, infection control and emergency room procedures, were classified as immediate and serious threats to patient safety.
If Parkland does not pass this inspection, Medicare and Medicaid funding will be cut off at the end of this month. The federal funds account for more than half of the Dallas County hospital's annual budget.
Texas or Oklahoma to record hottest summer in US
Weather officials say estimates show Texas just finished its hottest summer on record - and soon could hold that spot nationally.
National Weather Service meteorologist Victor Murphy said Thursday that when official numbers are tallied next week, Texas or Oklahoma will come in as having the hottest summer ever recorded in the U.S.
Estimates show Texas temperatures in June through August averaged 86.7 degrees, topping the previous record of 84.3 set in 1980 and tied in 1998.
Oklahoma estimates show this summer's average temperature there was 86.8 degrees, exceeding 1934's average of 85.2 degrees.
Estimates for both states' averages could climb or drop slightly when they become official Sept. 8.
Taken together, the four largest Texas cities have had 232 days over 100 degrees since June 1.
Fort Worth railroad intersection to be rebuilt
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced nearly $50 million in rail investments to improve passenger and freight service throughout the state.
Officials say a little more than one third of that funding - about $15 million - will jumpstart planning for high-speed rail between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
The bulk of those dollars will be used for rail upgrades to alleviate congestion at a freight railroad intersection in Fort Worth called Tower 55. U.S. Rep. Kay Granger says the project will create hundreds of jobs and pump more than $1 billion into the local economy while upgrading one of the nation's most congested rail intersections.
Construction will begin next spring.
Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway and Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific Railroad are contributing a combined $65 million toward the project.
Man charged in slaying of Dallas bank guard
Dallas police say a 34-year-old Dallas man has been charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a bank guard during a bank holdup.
A police statement says Courtland Wayne King also has been charged with aggravated robbery and possession of marijuana and a controlled substance.
Lionel Newell died at a hospital after the Wednesday morning shooting at a Bank of America branch in the Oak Cliff section southwest of downtown Dallas. Police Lt. Scott Walton says the 55-year-old guard was shot with his own gun.
Walton says the suspect then ran from the scene and confronted two people, demanding the keys to a vehicle. Officers arrived and arrested the suspect before he could drive away.
King's attorney, Brad Lollar, declined to comment. Bond is set at $1 million.
New York Hay For Texas Ranchers
Help is coming for drought stricken ranchers in Van Zandt County - east of Dallas.
The first of two truck loads of hay will arrive from Norwich, New York Friday afternoon.
The Van Zandt Farm Bureau says the 38 large, round bales are the equivalent of about 600 square bales. Hay for drought-weary ranchers and their livestock will be doled out on a first-come, first-served basis. A second load will be shipped from New York soon.
Handle On Wise County Wildfire
Local officials hope to have a 500 acre fire just southeast of Lake Bridgeport in Wise County 100% contained very soon.
The Forest Service reports it 45% contained as of Thursday afternoon. Local officials say it's more than that. Both say weather conditions are better today for knocking down the flames.
Five homes and one out-building were destroyed by the swift moving fire Wednesday.