By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – Retail gasoline prices across Texas have jumped 4 cents a gallon this week. AAA Texas on Thursday reported the average price per gallon reached $3.24. The association says the average price nationwide also rise 4 cents, to reach $3.43 a gallon.
The most expensive gasoline in Texas was in Amarillo, at $3.38 per gallon. Corpus Christi had the least expensive gasoline, at $3.15 per gallon.
AAA notes that uncertain economic conditions overseas have affected markets.
The Energy Department says that oil and natural gas supplies grew unexpectedly last week, while refineries slowed down and gasoline supplies dropped - all signs of soft demand.
Denton High School TB Test Results
Denton County Health officials say there is no indication of an outbreak of tuberculosis at Denton High School.
270 students and staff were tested earlier this week, after a transfer student from Ennis fell ill with a "suspected" case of TB.
Health officials say because of the minimal number of positive tests, they are not releasing the exact results in order to protect the privacy of the individuals.
They also note that several close contacts of the former Ennis student had negative TB skin test results.
Those with positive results will undergo chest x-rays and further examination. As a precautionary measure, the others will be tested again in 8 to 10 weeks to confirm the negative results.
Bastrop gets $850,000 grant to help fire cleanup
The Dallas-based Meadows Foundation is donating $850,000 to help recovery from wildfires that burned much of popular Bastrop State Park last month.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Executive Director Carter Smith announced the grant Thursday from the private foundation established in 1948 by Dallas oilman Algur Meadows and his wife, Virginia.
Smith says it's a wonderful example of private philanthropy helping Texas recover from the fires that consumed 34,000 acres, including the park about 30 miles east of Austin. Two people also were killed and nearly 1,600 homes destroyed.
The gift will be divided among six governmental and non-profit agencies.
The park's signature "Lost Pines" were destroyed but 13 cabins, built during the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, were saved. Officials are hoping to reopen the park in December.
Drought hampers wildlife reproduction
Wildlife reproduction in Texas is down because of one of the worst droughts in state history, and biologists worry that many adult animals will die if the dry conditions persist through winter and spring.
Preliminary reports obtained by The Associated Press from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department provide a glimpse at how the drought is affecting deer, prong-horned antelope, quail and other animals. The data comes from annual statewide surveys.
In a 30-mile area of the Panhandle, biologists found 76 white-tailed deer and zero babies. Nearby, they found three quail on a 20-mile stretch, compared to 15 in a normal year. In South Texas, a biologist reports a lack of water on some ranches is "killing deer like flies."
Experts say it could be years before the populations recover.
Half of companies receiving funds donated to gov
A new watchdog report says that nearly half of the companies receiving money from the Texas Enterprise Fund also gave money to Gov. Rick Perry's campaign or the Republican Governor's Association.
Texans for Public Justice analyzed state records, campaign finance reports and non-profit filings. The group found that 43 out of 90 companies receiving state money gave almost $7 million to the Republican Governor's Association while Perry was a leader there, or made donation directly to his campaign fund.
Perry has repeatedly said all of the grants provided by the Texas Enterprise Fund were based on merit, transparent and subject to oversight.
Critics, though, have called Perry's use of the fund to attract business to Texas as crony capitalism.
In all, the fund has given out almost $440 million.
Attorney: Wal-Mart heiress regrets DWI charge
Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton's lawyer says she "accepts full responsibility" for a drunken driving charge that landed her in a North Texas jail last week.
Attorney Dee J. Kelly says Walton was returning to her Parker County home after a birthday dinner in Fort Worth on Friday night when a state trooper pulled her over.
Kelly says the daughter of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton was driving 71 mph in a 55-mph construction zone on Interstate 20. The attorney provided a statement to the Weatherford Democrat, but didn't immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press on Thursday.
Trooper Gary Rozzell says Walton failed a field sobriety test and refused a breath test.
Walton was released from jail Saturday. She has a 1998 DWI conviction in Arkansas.