Best Cities For Jobs
from Forbes
The top of the complete ranking--which, for ease, we have broken down into the two smaller lists, of the best big and small cities for jobs--is dominated by one state: Texas. The Lone Star State may have lost a powerful advocate in Washington, but it's home to a remarkable eight of the top 20 cities on our list--including No. 1-ranked Odessa, a small city in the state's northwestern region. Further, the top five large metropolitan areas for job growth--Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Dallas--are all in Texas' "urban triangle." More

Nolan Ryan Pitches Mass Transit
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Texas Rangers President Nolan Ryan has thrown his team’s support behind a major transportation funding bill Tuesday, saying the legislation is needed to relieve traffic congestion that he said hurts attendance at Rangers games. Testifying on behalf of one of the region’s top legislative priorities, the Hall of Fame pitcher told the House Transportation Committee that the Rangers want the bill to pass because traffic "has a direct effect on our business." More

Oilman Touts Alternative Energy at Missouri Summit
from The Brownsville Herald
Texas billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens built his fortune drilling for crude. Now he's preaching the gospel of homegrown alternative energy as the solution to reducing the country's growing dependence of foreign fuel. The 80-year-old hedge fund manager brought his message to an appreciative Earth Day audience Wednesday as keynote speaker at the Missouri Energy Summit on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. More

Despite Downturn, Average Travis Home Appraisals Inch Up 3.8 Percent
from The Austin American-Statesman
Residential property appraisals rose by an average 3.8 percent in Travis County this year, less than a third of last year's increase and the smallest jump in five years, the Travis Central Appraisal District reported. More

March Construction Contracts Down
from The Dallas Business Journal
The amount of new construction in North Texas initiated in the month of March fell 25 percent over the same time period last year, a new report from McGraw Hill Construction concluded Wednesday. The report measured the value of March contracts filed for future construction in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area. The statistical area includes Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and the counties of Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise, McGraw Hill said. More

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Gov. Perry Still Opposes Stimulus Money for Unemployment
from The Dallas Morning News
Gov. Rick Perry said that he still hopes to upend legislation that would have the state accept more than a half-billion dollars in stimulus money for unemployment benefits. Saying "it might look kindly on the front end," the governor warned that the measure would expand benefits into perpetuity because lawmakers usually lack the political will to curtail such programs. More

Bills Would Cut Perry’s Border Power
from El Paso Times
Gov. Rick Perry would lose control of the state-led border security program he has worked to build since 2005 under bills a panel of House lawmakers reviewed Wednesday. "I'm concerned that we're spending a great deal of money on a matter that is not yielding significant results," said state Rep. Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) who wrote the measures. Farrar's two bills, which she said were designed to stop Perry from using the money as political patronage, would take away the governor's ability to award grants for border-security operations and give that responsibility to the Texas Department of Public Safety. More

Legislature Looking a Little More Green This Session
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
As the world celebrated Earth Day on Wednesday, the state Senate embraced a "green-completion" bill on natural gas wells in the Barnett Shale. Other environmentally friendly bills, from recycling old TVs to advancing solar power, were also moving through various stages of the legislative process. The Texas Legislature, never known for tree-hugging sentiments, is displaying some noticeable signs of green this year as it goes into the session’s final stretch. More

City Aims to Speed Building Process
from The Corpus Christie Caller-Times
Corpus Christi’s Department of Development Services, after years of complaints that its processes slowed construction, unveiled an initiative to shorten the wait for building permits. Residents and builders now will be assigned to a department staffer, called a project manager but not to be confused with construction companies’ employees of the same title. The project managers in the city department will tell applicants what permits they need and serve as a point of contact for any questions. More

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