The average price for a gallon of gasoline in Texas has risen from $2.55 in early February to $3.91 as of Sunday, according to AAA. Diesel prices hover around $5 a gallon. The average Texan now spends $233 a month on gasoline, according to a study reported in The Texas Tribune.
“It’s all crazy,” Victor Cortez, a 40-year-old Austin construction worker, said while filling up his pickup truck . “It depends on the day; some days I’m moving to three or four buildings and spending 100 bucks a day.”
The steep climb in prices comes as a result of the war with Iran, which began in February. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes, has caused a sharp increase in oil prices. The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the world benchmark, was $114 on Sunday, up from about $70 a barrel before the war began.
The rise in diesel prices, which averaged $3.30 a gallon in early February, is affecting everything from shipping costs to farming operations. About half the truckers in Texas are independent operators who buy diesel at gas stations and truck stops and don’t receive the discount that large companies with their own trucking yards get for buying in bulk.
Camp Mystic will not reopen this summer
Camp Mystic announced last week that it had withdrawn its application for a camp license for this summer, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The decision followed a week of hearings before a joint Senate-House committee, which heard testimony from the loved ones of last summer’s flood victims. The July 4 flooding along the Guadalupe River killed 25 children, two counselors and the camp’s longtime owner, Richard “Dick” Eastland.
“No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue, and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy,” the camp wrote in a statement.
The Texas Department of State Health Services, which is responsible for issuing camp licenses, conducted investigations. The camp has been planning to reopen its Cypress Lake campus, which was not damaged by the flash floods. More than 850 children have already registered to attend that camp.
Camp Mystic said it would continue to “fully cooperate with all ongoing investigations.”
Talarico leads Cornyn, Paxton in latest polls
A poll shows Democrat James Talarico leading both the Republicans who are locked in a fierce runoff to determine who will face him in November, the Houston Chronicle reported. Talarico led U.S. Sen. John Cornyn 40% to 33%,according to the University of Texas at Austin Politics Project survey. He holds a 42% to 34% advantage over Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. In both scenarios, 19% of voters said they were still undecided.
“While the Democratic candidate leading two established Republicans in these matchups is sure to raise some eyebrows,” the pollsters wrote, the results “reveal a Republican electorate still registering the effects of the months-long, bruising, negative campaigning by Paxton and Cornyn, and the GOP divisions the race has exacerbated.”
Paxton and Cornyn face each other in a May 26 runoff because neither secured a majority in the March primary. Early voting runs from May 18 to May 22. Voters who cast ballots in the Democratic primary cannot vote in the GOP runoff. Only voters who participated in the GOP primary or did not vote at all can vote in the GOP runoff.
$56 million in fed funding for rural health care
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is making $56 million in federal funding available to rural health care providers. The “Infrastructure and Capital Investments for Rural Texas” initiative will support modernization of rural health care delivery by funding new equipment and minor facility renovations.
Health care providers can use the funds to “update lab, CT scan, ultrasound, or mammography equipment; stretchers, wheelchairs, patient beds, telemetry units, nurse call systems, generators, defibrillators, crash carts, medication dispensing units, sleep labs, vital sign monitors, oxygen tanks, and other allowable equipment,” according to the HHSC news release.
The state is expected to receive about $1.4 billion in federal funding over the next five years through the program supporting rural health care.
Patrick aims to close loophole for prediction markets
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has directed state senators to explore ways to close gambling loopholes that allow online prediction markets to operate in Texas, according to The Tribune. He is concerned that state elections and sporting events could be manipulated for profit.
Prediction markets allow users to bet on outcomes of everything from sporting events to election winners, and even the weather. The Trump administration has blocked attempts by other states to regulate the prediction markets, such as Kalshi, claiming oversight belongs to federal agencies, not the states.
“We are regulated at the federal level, but of course, given now the popularity of prediction markets, we are doing a lot of educating on the state level,” said Sara Slane of Kalshi. “That’s the dialogue that we’ll envision having, certainly, in the state of Texas.”
While 39 state attorneys general signed on to a legal brief arguing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission doesn’t have sole authority to regulate the prediction markets, Paxton declined to do so.
Texas cities dominate another ‘best’ list
Several Texas cities dominated the top spots in Livability’s new ranking of the most affordable, desirable cities to live in the U.S., according to the Statesman. The list includes only cities with populations between 75,000 and 500,000 and median home values of $500,000 or less.
Factors considered included economy and housing; amenities and environment; safety, health and education; and transportation.
Texas cities in the top 10 were Sugar Land at No. 3; Plano at No. 5; Round Rock at No. 9; and New Braunfels at No. 10.Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com
