News & Updates
$76 million resort coming to Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg is already a hot spot for visitors — and developers and city tourism officials say a planned $76 million hotel project will help take the Hill Country city to the next level. Construction is scheduled to start on the Seven Hills Resort and Conference...
Pape: State ‘betrays’ Bastrop County by allowing Cedar Creek waste site
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has approved a permit for a waste transfer station proposed in Cedar Creek despite strong opposition from residents, the Capital Area Council of Governments and Bastrop County and state officials. “We have been betrayed by...
Here’s how America uses its land
There are many statistical measures that show how productive the U.S. is. Its economy is the largest in the world and grew at a rate of 4.1 percent last quarter, its fastest pace since 2014. The unemployment rate is near the lowest mark in a half century. What can be...
‘Orphan’ oil, gas wells are problem
So-called “orphan” oil and gas wells, which have been abandoned by defunct companies that cannot pay to plug them, are a growing problem in many states thanks to a recent slump in energy prices that has forced marginal operators out of business. Nobody knows how many...
How gas flare-offs could bring water
One of the biggest freshwater reservoirs in the worlds is, literally, up in the air. Between 6 and 18 million gallons of freshwater hover above every square mile of land, not counting droplets trapped in clouds. Scientists realized this centuries ago but they have...
In Wimberley, a fight bubbles up over sewage and a beloved swimming hole
In November 2012, more than 100,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Plum Creek near Kyle. The partially treated sewage was managed by a private company, Aqua Texas. Now, about 18 miles away in Wimberley, a newly elected city council is considering hiring the same...
Hill Country Bat Cave Closure Raises Questions of Pesticide Safety
A State investigation is underway at a bat cave near Mason, Texas, after the spraying of pesticides by the neighboring exotic game ranch wafted onto the nature preserve, threatening harm to visitors and the 1.6 million Mexican free-tailed bats that visit there each...
It’s official: CodeNext is dead
With a unanimous vote Thursday, the Austin City Council killed off the ambitious rewrite of Austin’s land-development code known as CodeNext. The controversial project’s demise came with minimal debate as several of council members laid the blame for its failure on a...
Three Additional Ranches Conserved with Travis County Bonds
Diverse Partners Protect Hamilton Pool Road Corridor (Dripping Springs, TX) – On Monday, July 30th, Travis County and the Puryear family celebrated the closing of a real estate deal on their 423-acre historic ranch. Unlike most real estate deals, however, this one...