AUSTIN — Dr. Kyle Janek, chief of the state Health and Human Services agency, and Gov. Rick Perry on Oct. 31 announced a new state-funded Texas Women’s Health Program is ready to step in and deliver services to low-income women “if Washington cuts off funding to the Medicaid program.” “We’ve got the state program ready to stand up at any time, and that transition would be seamless for patients and their doctors,” Janek said. Since 2007, the program has been funded primarily with ...

The Dow is not disappointing my predictions up to election day, going back and forth from 12,500-13,500. The Dow ended last Friday at 13107.21. A couple of reasons given were weaker U.S. corporate earnings and more of Spain’s problems raising its ugly head again. It is earnings season still and Facebook reportedly beat their own 3Q expectations, which in itself was an early Christmas present.

The Wayne and Eileen Hurd Regional Medical Center Scott & White, located at U.S. 281 and Hwy 71, Marble Falls, TX was begun in April of this year, and is expected to be completed in the Spring of 2013. The specialty clinic will have three stories, and encompass 60,000 square feet.

AUSTIN — A Travis County state District Court on Oct. 26 put a temporary restraining order on the state’s plan to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood for many years has been the largest of several organizations serving low-income women through the state-run Women’s Health Program funded mainly with federal Medicaid dollars. Pursuant to the restraining order, funding will continue until Nov.

Saving money on your water bill and saving precious water resources go hand-in-hand when you collect free water from the sky for your indoor or outdoor water use. The October 27 Rainwater Revival is set to help you learn from experts how to use rain catchment at your urban cottage, suburban homestead, or home on the range. “Water catchment makes sense no matter how big or small your house or property is,” said Sky Jones-Lewey, Resource Protection and Education Director for the Nueces River ...

Hill Country Memorial Hospital Foundation is hosting an annual Wills Clinic Monday, November 5, at the Tomforde Learning Center, which is located inside Hill County Memorial Hospital, 1020 South State Highway 16, in Fredericksburg. The HCMH Foundation, in conjunction with area attorneys donating their time, is sponsoring the event as a free public service to the community.

AUSTIN — Secretary of State Hope Andrade, the state’s chief elections officer, on Oct. 19 announced Texas reached a historical peak in the number of registered voters on her election division’s “official list of registered voters.” As of Oct. 19, Andrade said, Texas had 13,646,226 registered voters, the highest number in state history.

The DOW ended on a positive note this past Friday as it snapped a short losing streak while closing at 13328.85. Worries about bank profits balanced off against a jump in Consumer Sentiment. The worries were unfounded as two big banks -Chase and Wells- both reported better numbers than expected.

AUSTIN — Money paid in state taxes and fees doesn’t necessarily fund exactly what Texans think it will fund. So, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus last week appointed an Interim Committee on General Revenue Dedicated Accounts as part of an effort, he said, “to make our state budget more transparent and accountable to taxpayers.” The committee will report its findings and recommendations to the House in early January.

The Mid-Texas Symphony presents its annual free Children’s Concerts for fourth- and fifth-graders from New Braunfels, Seguin and other nearby communities on October 22nd at the New Braunfels Civic Center and on October 23rd at Jackson Auditorium in Seguin. Under the baton of Music Director David Mairs, the Mid-Texas Symphony will perform Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with David Ferguson, news director of KNBT, narrating.

The DOW rose last Friday following better than expected U.S. economic numbers. U.S. manufacturing and the U.S. unemployment both reported better than expected news. Down from 8.1% to 7.8%, U.S. unemployment was down to its lowest level since January 2009. The DOW rose 1.3% to 13610, ending a two-week losing streak on Friday.

The State of Texas last week agreed to drop its recently adopted practice of using “weak matches” of Social Security Administration data in purging names from voter rolls as required by a 2011 state law. What precipitated the agreement was a lawsuit filed September 20 in a Travis County district court by Austin attorneys Buck Wood and David Richards on behalf of four plaintiffs who were among some 70,000 Texans who were mailed a letter from the state’s chief elections officer, Secretary o ...

The Dow slid for the week, closing at 13437.13 on Friday, due to European problems and the price of gasoline. Americans boosted spending in August, with most of the increase being spent on gasoline. The Commerce reported a 5 percent increase in spending among consumers in August from July. It was the biggest increase since February.

AUSTIN — A case brought by a group of 15 city officials naming the State of Texas and Attorney General Greg Abbott as defendants failed before the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 25. In Asgeirsson et al. v. Abbott, plaintiffs sought to have the court declare the Texas open meetings law “unconstitutionally vague” and “overbroad” primarily because of criminal provisions local governmental officials face if accused of knowingly circumventing the law.

The DOW closed slightly downward at 13,579.47 on Friday. Friday a week ago, the DOW closed at 13,593, so the seesaw continues before U.S. election day. As almost predicted, the markets have been fluctuating from 12,500 to 13,500. I have noticed that some economists are predicting a “sky is falling” outlook and that we could take huge losses once again in stocks, using transportation stocks as the predictor.