Southwest

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.

Two feasibility studies of plan to issue $125 million of state GO bonds for a steel mill project should be ready for legislative review by early next week.

Maricopa County Community College District will raise its property tax rate and tuition as state aid continues to decline.