News Roundup: Texans Owe $67 Billion In Credit Card Debt, The Second Highest In the Nation

Our daily look at Texas headlines.

By Becky FogelMay 30, 2018 4:28 pm

The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.

Texas has one of the country’s highest amounts of credit card debt. 

That’s according to a new report from the New York State Comptroller.  

Robert Ward is a deputy comptroller and says this isn’t surprising given that total debt goes hand in hand with the size of a state’s population. 

“California is first at about $106 billion, Texas is number 2, well behind California but still number 2, at $67.3 billion. Then followed by Florida, New York and Pennsylvania,” Ward says.

But when it comes to which states have the most debt per capita – or total debt divided by people with a credit report – Texas is average.

 “The national average per capita was about $3,100, and Texas was just a little higher than that at $3,140 per capita credit card debt in 2017,” he says.

However, Texas is a standout state again when it comes to credit card debt delinquency rates. It’s got the 6th highest rate in the country at 8.4 percent. But that isn’t too much higher than the national credit card debt delinquency rate at 7.5 percent.




he Texas heat is already scorching – with temperatures topping 100 degrees in cities like Dallas, Austin and Abilene over the next few days.

And, perhaps not surprisingly, earlier this month the state’s power grid hit a new records for peak demand in the month of May. 

As Heather Claborn with KACU reports, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, anticipates setting a new record this week, possibly more than once.  

ERCOT monitors grid conditions 24/7 and even with unexpectedly high demand, officials say they do not anticipate e disruptions in service. Some power generating units are currently offline for maintenance, which was planned for May because demand is usually lower than in the months of June through September. ERCOT officials say most of the units will return to service in early June and will be available to help meet peak demand through the summer months. In a statement, a spokesperson says ERCOT expects power generation will keep up with demand this week.




The Texan who founded the popular boot and western wear retail chain – Cavender’s, died Tuesday. From KETR in Commerce, Scott Morgan has more on the man behind this longtime family operation.

James Cavender founded his eponymous company in Pittsburg, Texas, in 1965. The chain eventually grew to 80 locations in 10 states across the south and southwest. About two-thirds of those stores are in Texas alone.

Cavender’s Western Outfitter, as it’s known outside of Texas, is now based in Tyler, and run by Caveder’s eldest son.

While the cause of death was not released, family members say Cavnder had been in and out of the hospital lately. Still, they said, his death still came as a surprise. James Cavender was 87 years old.