Southwest

A 13-city tax district in North Texas for a $2.7 billion commuter rail line remains a possibility after State Sen. John Carona filed a bill to authorize its creation.

Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett wants to extend a sales tax to finance police and fire recruiting and training efforts.

Democratic lawmakers and local school officials call on the Oklahoma Legislature to avoid tax cuts they said would damage public education.

Chances for state bill authorizing the $2.7 billion Cotton Belt commuter rail project dimmed after the Fort Worth City Council opposed the plan.

The Texas Senate Finance Committee voted to close a 2,100-bed, for-profit prison in Mineral Wells, citing a surplus of cells in a declining incarceration market.

Design features of the new bond-financed baseball stadium in downtown El Paso, Texas, will pay homage to the city's copper mining and railroad history.

In an ambitious effort to counteract the region's worsening drought, Texas' Lower Colorado River Authority is taking the first steps toward building its first new reservoir in 40 years.

El Paso County gave preliminary approval for $162 million of certificates of obligation for new primary health clinics.

State bond debt and lease commitments would be capped at 28% of general revenue under a bill approved by House.

Sedgwick County faces another round of budget cuts as property valuations stay flat and state aid drops.