The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
If you want to find the perfect city for your pet, what are some things to look for?
“Everything from the weather to the number of dog parks and animal shelters per capita to things like if there are cats and dogs allowed and how many rentals are available, pet business so really any you can think of here,” says Jill Gonzalez, an analyst with the finance site WalletHub.
Those are just a few of the features the website considered when figuring out which of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. are best for your furry friends. When it comes to pet-friendliness, Texas is all over the map. But one city that really struggled was Laredo – ranked 88th overall.
One of the main reasons: it doesn’t have many animal shelters.
“As far as the minimum pet care provider rate per visit,” she says, “it’s pretty expensive in Laredo, about $5 to $10 more than most other cities in the state.”
Wallethub found that overall, Plano was the city that was best at rolling out the welcome mat for pets – it landed at number 15 on the list.
If you have delinquent charges on your TxDOT Toll Tag account, the clock is ticking down. You have a couple more weeks to pay up without getting hit with a late fee. As Houston Public Media’s Gail Delaughter reports, the agency says it’s fixed the problems that caused them to suspend the fees in the first place.
About a year and a half ago, TxDOT stopped collecting late fees on overdue toll charges. That’s so the agency could straighten out a new billing system that was causing a lot of problems.
TxDOT’s David Glessner says the agency is now prepared to reinstitute the late fees, and they’ll go back into effect in September. Those fees apply to delinquent TxTag accounts. There are also some roads in central Texas where drivers can pay their tolls by mail.
“Customers with overdue tolls will see their transactions move to the next stage in the late fee process,” says Glessner. “And they can begin accruing additional fees for lack of payment if they’re not paid in full by August 31.”
A new report from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram finds that the Texas Rangers threw shade at a cheaper option for keeping fans cool. The team looked into building a massive canopy that would have covered about 75 percent of the seats in Globe Life Park. That would have cost $80 million. However, it would have only kept fans a few degrees cooler. Instead, they opted to pursue a new $1 billion stadium that’s up for a vote in November.
