Five Cities Where Americans Are Relocating
from MSN
The cities that made the list share similar qualities: more business opportunities, better weather and more affordable housing. The top three areas according to the data are Raleigh, N.C., ranking first, which jumped 4.29 percent to nearly 1.9 million; Austin, Texas, which came in second, with a 3.77 percent increase to almost 1.7 million; and Charlotte, N.C., which moved up 3.36 percent to 1.7 million. More

Architecture Billings Stabilize in April After March’s Huge Jump
from Houston Business Journal
Architecture billings slide a point in April after jumping more than eight points in March, according to the American Institute of Architects. The organization’s Architecture Billings Index rating for the month was 42.8, down slightly from 43.7 in March. More

Report: DFW is No. 2 in New Home Sales, Starts; Houston No. 1
from The Dallas Morning News
Despite huge cuts in the residential construction business, Dallas-Fort Worth still ranks second in the country in new-home sales and starts. Only Houston had more new-house construction and sales during the 12-month period ending in March, housing analyst Metrostudy Inc. said in a new report. More

Senator: Chinese Drywall Tests Confirm Differences
from The Tampa Bay Business Journal
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tests of high-sulfur Chinese drywall have confirmed differences between the imported material and U.S.-made drywall, U.S Sen. Bill Nelson said. The new EPA tests showed the Chinese-made drywall contained sulfur that was not in U.S. drywall, strontium (a metallic element) at levels 10 times as high as in U.S. drywall and two other organic compounds generally found in acrylic paint that were not detected in any U.S.-made wallboard, according to a media release. More

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GOP: Not Best Little ‘Whorehouse’ in Texas?
from The Brownsville Herald
A comment by a strategist for Gov. Rick Perry that the Republican Party shouldn't open itself like "a whorehouse" to new voters has infuriated prominent GOP women in Texas and given Perry's primary rival, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, fuel for the re-election fight. Perry is trying to distance himself from the remark, published in the Dallas Morning News, by consultant David Carney, but as Texas Republicans split into the governor's social conservative camp and Hutchison's more moderate one before the March 2010 primary, the damage was done. More

Technicality Kills Perry-backed State’s Rights Resolution in House
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The states’ rights resolution backed by Gov. Rick Perry was killed on a technical point. The resolution would have been sent to Congress to declare that Texas claimed sovereignty and states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. More

Road Wrangling Focuses on Local vs. State Authority
from The Austin American-Statesman
With just over a week left for the Texas Legislature to finish sculpting an ever-expanding overhaul of the Texas Department of Transportation, negotiations between House and Senate members are likely to center on who decides which road projects to build: TxDOT or local officials. More

Buyers Rush to Take Advantage of $8,000 Federal Tax Credit
from El Paso Times
President Barack Obama's stimulus package is driving first-time home buyers to house hunt. Steve Hicks, a broker with Keller Williams Realty, said informational seminars on home buying for the past few weeks have been standing-room-only. "They've been completely full so we decided to do one more seminar," he said. More

House, Senate Negotiators Agree on Budget
from TThe San Antonio Express-News
More college students would get financial aid, retired teachers might get $500 bonuses and seat belts could begin being installed on school buses under a state budget compromise endorsed Wednesday night by House-Senate negotiators. The budget proposal, which was still being shaped late into the night, was roughly estimated to top $180 billion for state services over the next two years in state and federal money. It includes nearly $11 billion in federal stimulus dollars. More

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