AUSTIN — Movement toward passing a state budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal biennium continued in committees of both chambers of the Texas Legislature last week. After two months of hearings, the Senate Finance Committee on March 7 approved workshop recommendations for a two-year budget of about $90 billion, paving the way to a final committee vote before moving to the full Senate for consideration. On March 8, the House Committee on Appropriations absorbed information on Medicaid expansion pu ...

Capital Farm Credit welcomes Jason Helfrich as vice president/ relationship manager. Helfrich offices out of the Fredericksburg Credit Office, serving the greater Hill Country area. Jason comes to Capital Farm Credit with nine years of commercial banking experience in which his primary focus was agricultural and real estate lending. He resides in Fredericksburg with his wife Jennifer and three boys, Joel, Jack and Jace.

AUSTIN — Friday, March 1, was the deadline for Congress and the White House to agree on how much to tax and how much to spend to avoid “sequestration” — automatic across-the-board cuts to federal programs in the current federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and beyond. No agreement came.

AUSTIN — Legislation proposing emergency supplemental appropriations to keep Medicaid funded for the rest of the year was approved by the Texas House on Feb. 21. House Bill 10 authored by Reps. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, and Helen Giddings, D-DeSoto, now moves to the state Senate for consideration. Medicaid serves the poor, the disabled, and older Texans.

AUSTIN — Attorney General Greg Abbott on Feb. 13 announced Texas had joined 10 other states in a legal challenge to a federal law, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The preamble to the 848-page law states its purpose: “To promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end ‘too big to fail,’ to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abu ...

AUSTIN — Texas’ current school finance system fails to provide substantially equal access to revenues needed to provide “a general diffusion of knowledge” in accordance with the state constitution, a Travis County state district court declared on Feb. 4. Judge John K. Dietz ruled in the lawsuit brought by nearly 700 school districts (as Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education), three individual school districts, a group of intervenors and a charter school coalition.

The Kerrville Cattle Women will host the next meeting of the Hill Country CattleWomen. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 19, 2012 at Mamacita's Restaurant located at 215 Junction Highway, Kerrville, TX. The social begins at 10:00 am, with the meeting to begin at 10:30 and with lunch to follow.

BOERNE, TX – February 3, 2013. Following a sold-out performance by Drumline Live last Wednesday, Boerne Performing Arts is ready to change gears for their next presentation featuring The 5 Browns…five extremely talented concert pianists, all graduates of the famed Juilliard School of Music, performing on five Steinway Grands…a symphony of piano performance at the highest level. The technical aspects now turn to the delivery of five Steinway Grand pianos, each being tuned by a highly trai ...

AUSTIN — Texas is stronger than ever, Gov. Rick Perry said early in his 36-minute “State of the State” address to the 83rd Texas Legislature on Jan. 29. Perry praised lawmakers, saying the line has been held on taxes and the state is spending within its means, delivering on his priorities, by “making the tough decisions separating wants from needs.” He called for an amendment to the state constitution “so when we do bring in more than we need, we’ll have the option of returning ...

Strong earnings from Proctor and Gamble and Starbucks this past week saw the S&P 500 Index close above 1500 for the first time since the start of the Recession back in 2007. For the week, the S&P 500 closed up 16.98, or 1.1 percent. The Dow gained an impressive 246.28 or 1.8 percent, closing Friday at 13,895.98.

Experience a “fusion” of music (The 5 Browns) and beauty (Infusion Spa & Salon) as Boerne Performing Arts partners with the local, full service spa and salon to promote the upcoming performance by the exclusive Steinway Artists…The 5 Browns. Infusion Spa & Salon is offering a $20 Gift Card for each ticket purchased for The 5 Browns event on Saturday, February 9, at 7:30pm at the Boerne Champion High School Auditorium. In their vision to involve the entire community with their world-class ...

AUSTIN – A state budget gradually will be attached to the framework provided by SB 1, the general appropriations bill authored by Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, chair of the Senate Finance Committee. In a hearing spread over three days last week, the Senate Finance Committee absorbed invited testimony given by officials representing institutions of higher education, the state comptroller’s office, the Legislative Budget Board, the Teachers Retirement System and more. John Heleman, chief ...

Boerne Performing Arts is preparing to “kick-off” their 2013 series with an invigorating show that displays an endless energy from the current touring production of Drumline Live. The 1,000-seat Boerne Champion High School Auditorium has less than 100 seats remaining for this two-hour journey through Motown, Southern Gospel, Big Band Swing Era, American Jazz and traditional Marching Band music.

AUSTIN — Key to getting the 83rd session of the Texas Legislature in gear, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, president of the Texas Senate, on Jan. 17 made public his choices for committee chairs and members of each committee. Senate bills can now be assigned to committees and public hearings set. Sen.

Drumline Live is marching into Boerne…a show-stopping attraction inspired by 20th Century Fox’s hit movie Drumline! With riveting rhythms, bold beats and ear-grabbing energy, this staged show will be a synchronized musical showcase incorporating original compositions and soul-infused interpretations of top 40 hits, accompanied by colorful, choreographed routines to heavy doses of drum riffs and cadences with the rousing sound of the great brass tradition. But there’s more!