The top local stories this evening from KERA News:
The Texas Attorney General's office is cracking down on businesses accused of price gouging during the state of disaster declared during Hurricane Harvey. The Consumer Protection Division says it has notified more than 125 gas stations of their violations, and many of them are in North Texas, where the weather was virtually unaffected by the storm.
Customer complaints allege gas stations charged $3.99 or higher for a gallon of unleaded gas or diesel. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says the stations will be able to resolve the gouging complaints. Businesses could face civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation as well as refund requirements.
Other stories this evening:
Renting furniture in Texas could lead to jail time. State law allows the rent-to-own industry to file criminal charges against Texans who don't pay their debts, according to an investigation by the Texas Tribune and personal finance company NerdWallet. Jay Root is a Texas Tribune investigative reporter, and talked about it on Texas Standard.
Growing up, Brando Skyhorse was taught by his mother to embrace his American Indian heritage. Except it wasn't real, he's actually Mexican-American. And although Skyhorse learned the truth in his early teens, he kept up the charade for years for a variety of reasons -- including the ways other people responded to his true identity. Today on Think, he talked with Krys Boyd about revealing the truth to his high school girlfriend.
Leading up to Halloween, public radio stations across Texas have been exploring towns that time forgot: ghost towns. In 1923, the Santa Rita Number One struck oil in Reagan County, about 70 miles west of San Angelo. Boom towns quickly popped up in the wake of that discovery. Some of them are still around, others, are not. Texas Standard's Michael Marks reports.
You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.
