Good morning, Texas. Here’s what you need to know today.
Your Weather Planner
Wet Easter weekend ahead for Texas. It starts with a few scattered storms around North Texas Friday afternoon and evening. Widespread rain and storms will push across the state with a cold front Saturday. Sunday rain chances stay elevated for South Texas. Cooler air will rush in behind the front, just in time for Easter.
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Around Texas
1. Family describes Texas’ school voucher program as ‘life-changing’ as application window closes
More than 274,000 people applied for Texas’ first-ever education savings account program before the March 31 deadline.
For this first year, the state has about $1 billion to distribute and is expected to select only around 90,000 to 100,000 students.
2. Inspection finds dozens of violations of detention standards at a major immigration camp in Texas
A recent inspection at the nation’s largest immigration detention facility found dozens of violations of national standards that potentially exposed detainees to excessive force, disease and other unsafe conditions.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Detention Oversight performed a congressionally mandated inspection over three days in February at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, according to a report posted online by ICE this week.
3. Austin approves new regulations promoting front yard businesses
The Austin City Council has passed a resolution making it easier for residents to run businesses out of their homes.
The resolution will allow business to be conducted from exterior portions of property, like front porches, front yards and dedicated stands. The resolution also adjusts standards to better support front-yard businesses in their use of structural alterations and signs.
Around The Nation
1. Trump says Pam Bondi, loyalist who oversaw Justice Department upheaval, out as attorney general
2. Iran fires on Israel and Gulf neighbors as Trump claims threat from Tehran nearly eliminated
3. National Capital Planning Commission approves Trump ballroom plan after judge halts construction
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Interstate 35 under construction in San Antonio. (Spectrum News)
San Antonio managing traffic well compared to other Texas metros, expert says
The region including Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Greater Houston and Austin, a mega-region known as the Texas Triangle, is the epicenter of growth in the country, evident by the amount of people moving in and the $3 billion investment into the I-35 Northeast extension.
“Compared to Austin, compared to Houston, compared to Dallas, San Antonio is doing better from a congestion standpoint,” said Brendon Wheeler, executive director of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.