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Local Texas News
Houston ISD Joins Lawsuit Against Social Media Companies
Over 200 school districts have joined the lawsuit claiming companies have caused psychological damage to students.
Houston Public Works Has 1,400 Unresolved Work Orders Amid Infrastructure Issues
Officials acknowledged the significant backlog and pointed to two primary causes: aging infrastructure and adverse weather conditions.
New Caney ISD Teacher, Coach Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Sex With Student
Samantha Cummings had sex with a 17-year-old female student at New Caney High School.
Kilgore ISD Teachers Aide Arrested for ‘Improper Relationship’ With Student
Kayla O’Dell worked at Kilgore High School from August 2023 until January 2025.
Local Archive
Taxpayer Guide to Property Taxation
The simple truth about property taxes is that local officials—not appraisal boards—control how much your tax bill increases. Unless they vote to lower tax rates every September to adequately offset rising property values, Texans will pay higher taxes. When governments...
Texas House Committee On Pensions Houston Hearing
Despite skyrocketing costs and staggering debt in Houston, the mayor is taking an absolute position opposing reforms that would offer greater security for government employees and lower costs for taxpayers. Sylvester Turner's comments came during a House Committee on...
Where Do Texans Pay the Highest Property Taxes?
Government data published by Smart Asset details the cumulative cost of local governments across the United States. After taking into account home values, the median Texas homeowner pays the fourth highest effective property taxes nationwide. But inside Texas,...
City of Austin Wages War on Ridesharing Survivors
As Uber and Lyft have left the City of Austin following the adoption of a nebulously worded ballot proposition, new ridesharing companies have rushed to fill the void. And in their zeal to protect their financial and regulatory stranglehold on transportation services,...
Houston’s “Balanced” Budget Still Ignores Glaring Problem
Budget day at Houston City Council may have seemed more promising this year than usual. While many council members took time to praise Mayor Sylvester Turner on completing a “balanced budget,” structural problems with Houston’s fiscal woes remain unaddressed. The only...
HISD Auditor Files Grievance Against School Board
Houston ISD’s Auditor Richard Patton filed a whistleblower grievance against the district’s board today. The grievance cites the board’s discontent with Patton after alerting HISD Police Chief Robert Mock of budget discrepancies. Patton was placed on suspension in...
Treating Higher Ed As An Investment
It’s long been fashionable for bureaucrats to describe government spending as an “investment," and is usually little more than an attempt to make wasteful spending seem palatable. And rarely do those same bureaucrats ever want an accounting for any return. Instead,...
Uber Returns to Midland
After a four month absence due to disagreements with city regulations, Uber is back in Midland. Its return to the Tall City is a result of City Council voting to lessen regulatory burdens on the transportation-network company (TNC) that initially had driven them out....
Local Officials Must Lower Tax Rates to Offset Appraisal Shock
Despite Texas already having the fifth highest property tax rates in the nation, the problem is only getting worse. Unless local officials lower tax rates to offset appraisal shock, taxpayers should expect higher taxes again next year. According to the Texas...