Texas Rural Reporter Weekly Email July 7, 2023
Delivering this week's Must-Read Rural Texas Stories Straight to Your Inbox
HIGHLIGHT
Texas BDO Regional Public Meeting – Borger
Join A Regional Digital Opportunity Planning Meeting to hear about Texas' broadband work and planning process and participate in breakout group discussions about barriers and solutions to digital opportunity. These meetings are part of the process of developing the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan. This plan will serve as a roadmap for achieving reliable and affordable broadband, high-quality device access, digital skills training, and cybersecurity awareness to expand digital opportunities for all Texans.
OPINION
Coppedge: Do ethics and a moral compass matter?
f you came upon an expensive fountain pen someone left on a security tray at your local courthouse, you would be confronted by an ethical dilemma. Would you have a duty to turn it in? Or would you pocket the pen for your personal use? That was the ethical question confronting then state Sen. Ken Paxton (the recently impeached Texas attorney general) at the Collin County Courthouse. The item in question was a Mont Blanc pen. He chose to keep it. Backing up a bit, the person to whom the pen belonged was local attorney Joe Joplin. The pen had been a gift from his wife.
Opinion: The evidence mounts: Hispanic voters are drifting toward the GOP
The day before (and after) Donald Trump was indicted on 37 federal counts, he chose to devote his time to outreach among Latino voters, giving interviews and visiting a local Miami restaurant. This is not surprising given the surge in Hispanic support he enjoyed in his 2020 reelection bid. He obviously wants to build on that support in 2024.
LEGISLATIVE
As Texas lawmakers tussle over property tax relief, it’s unclear whether renters will benefit
As a deal to cut Texas’ high property taxes continues to evade Republican lawmakers, Democrats in the Legislature unveiled a long-shot tax-cut proposal Thursday that targets relief to a group of taxpayers who have been largely left out of the debate: renters. Tenants make up more than one-third of the state’s households. They pay, via their monthly rent, one-quarter of the state’s school property taxes — which are among the highest in the nation. Renters’ cost of living surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as the state’s housing boom drove rents sky-high. But this year, GOP lawmakers have all but ignored renters as they tussle over whether homeowners or businesses should get a bigger break on their property taxes.
Successful state legislative session for ag, Farm Bureau
Texas lawmakers approved several bills during the 88th legislative session that will impact farmers, ranchers and rural Texans. “This session was successful in strengthening our right to farm and ranch and passing additional liability protections for agriculture,” Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) President Russell Boening said. “It took all of our members working together as the voice of Texas agriculture this legislative session, and I’m proud of the work we did.”
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Worker killed in Tynan grain elevator collapse identified Wednesday
The 37-year-old man killed in a grain elevator collapse Tuesday was identified on Wednesday. Bee County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Ronnie Jones said Sergio "Jason" Alvarez is the grain elevator worker whose body was recovered shortly after 7 p.m. Ben Mengers and Andres Martinez are the men who were injured in the incident.
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping rural families close the digital divide
The USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE) develops and maintains partnerships to address challenges facing rural and underserved communities. We connect those communities to USDA resources—including internet access. Navigating the 21st century is challenging without access to high-speed internet. OPPE wants to make sure everyone can fully participate in the wide range of online activities that are now commonplace.
Texas Cotton Crop Outlook Uncertain
Texas cotton growers whose crops held on through recent weather could find strong prices during a summer of uncertainty, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert. John Robinson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension cotton economist, Bryan-College Station, said the 2023 cotton season will be the most uncertain he has ever analyzed. This uncertainty will likely make prices volatile until the market has a good estimate of how many cotton bales will be produced.
Dalhart accepted into Design Learning Cohort
The City of Dalhart has been accepted to participate in the 2023- 2024 Design Learning Cohort developed by the Citizen’s Institute on Rural Design. This Design Learning Cohort brings together rural community leaders from across the country to connect with each other, share and learn how design can address their particular community needs. The program offers design resources and training with urban design experts to help communities better implement rural design, main street revitalization, community engagement, partnership building, and economic development. Dalhart is just the third community in Texas to be accepted into this program.
Texas being connected with key funds for broadband internet access
Texas to receive $3.3 billion in federal funds to boost broadband expansion efforts
Texas will receive more than $3.3 billion in federal money — the most of any state — to help expand broadband availability statewide, the Biden administration announced Monday. The money will be distributed from the $42.45 billion in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program as part of President Joe Biden’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funds aim to connect more than 8.5 million households and small businesses nationwide — and nearly 2.8 million of those households without broadband are in Texas. Each state received at least $107 million.
Feds sending $3B to Texas for broadband; money for Cooke County undetermined.
A big infusion of broadband cash is headed to Texas, but it remains to be seen what the effect will be on Cooke County. Texas is slated to receive $3.3 billion from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD, Program, according to federal officials. This investment, provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is part of a $42.5 billion nation plan to finance internet access in rural areas across the United States.
The Power of Water
This ambitious network-wide initiative continues ABC News' dedication to reporting on climate change and environmental crises, both critical issues of our time. By taking a deep dive into answering questions around the contamination of water, lack of water in some places and too much in others, we strove to shed light on how this essential resource is posing a health risk to millions of people around the world.
A roadmap for entrepreneurship policy in rural Texas
In a new study published in PLOS One, a University of Texas at Arlington political scientist and UT System colleagues identified the factors that predict business creation in rural Texas. Mark Hand, assistant professor of political science at UTA, co-authored "Predicting Firm Creation in Rural Texas: A Multi-Model Machine Learning Approach to a Complex Policy Problem" with Varun Rai and Vivek Shastry from UT Austin.
EDUCATION
Breaking Barriers: WGU Texas offers two scholarships for rural students
For rural Texas residents who want to pursue a bachelor’s or master’s degree program and remain in their hometowns, distance barriers, time, and cost may keep them from reaching their educational goals. To help overcome these barriers, WGU Texas is offering two scholarship programs for new and returning students.
TxDOT seeks public input on record $100 billion plan for projects across the state
As the Texas population continues to boom, TxDOT is drafting a record-breaking 10-year transportation plan and now the public is invited to weigh in on the projects proposed in their communities.
Texas, Rural States Reap Big Grants From $42.5 Billion Broadband Fund
The White House kicked off a flood of new funding for state governments to spend on internet projects from the $1 trillion infrastructure law passed in 2021, with Texas topping the list of future recipients with $3.3 billion of funding
HEALTHCARE
Texas hospital finds 'new identity' as rural emergency hospital
For one Texas facility, the decision to convert to a rural emergency hospital came down to survivability. Anson General Hospital, located in a city with about 2,200 residents, had experienced three years of financial losses. The hospital's patient volume had also declined to about 1.7 inpatients a week, on average, partially due to factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Largest nurses’ strike in Texas, Kansas begins Tuesday
Thousands of nurses in Texas and Kansas will hit the picket lines Tuesday as part of their efforts to support contract negotiations addressing a chronic staffing shortage and workplace safety. However, the hospital system emphasizes that providing health care is a top priority and assures it has a plan to avoid any disruptions.
POLITICS
Meet the 20 year old leading a super PAC for the Texas Senate race, and she’s just getting started
In the era of influencers, partisan politics and the explosion of social media — one young Texas woman is carving out her own lane in the national landscape, using her phone as her soap box.