HUD Offers $10 Million to Clean Up Dangerous Lead in Housing
HGTV Pro
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is offering $10.1 million in grants to help eliminate dangerous lead-based paint hazards from lower income homes and protect young children from lead poisoning. HUD is making these grants available through its Healthy Homes Demonstration, Green and Healthy Homes Technical Studies, and Lead Hazard Control Capacity Building programs. More

Hutchison, Perry About Even, Poll Shows
The Austin American Statesman
The Republican race for governor tightened in the past two months, leaving U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry in a dead heat with plenty of voters yet to make up their minds, according to a poll. Hutchison has the support of 40 percent of likely Republican voters, according to a new poll from Rasmussen Reports, while 38 percent of them back Perry. Nineteen percent of respondents are not sure whom they support, and 3 percent favor Debra Medina, a business owner and rancher.More

DFW Home Foreclosure Filings Jump 34 Percent
The Dallas Morning News
The number of homes facing foreclosure in Dallas-Fort Worth next month shot up 34 percent from a year ago. Much of the increase is due to loan modification programs, which have delayed foreclosures from previous months.More

Keig Lands on State Housing Board
The Austin American Statesman Politics Blog
Gov. Rick Perry was bound and determined to find some position for Lowell Keig. Keig, general counsel at Youth & Family Centered Services Inc., has been appointed to the board of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Perry's office reported. Earlier this year, Keig was considered the front-runner for the top job at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission until questions were raised about his qualifications and his handle on the issues.More

Texas Legislature Used Stimulus Funds to Balance the Budget
The Fort Worth Star Telegram
In recent months, Gov. Rick Perry has savaged the stimulus package, lambasted federal attempts at health care reform and hinted at secession because of federal tax-and-spend policies. Then, on June 19, Perry applauded the state's balanced budget, which he'd just signed, noting that lawmakers had left the state's Rainy Day Fund untouched and had cut taxes for 40,000 small businesses. More

Perry's View of Recession: 'We're in One?'
The Fort Worth Star Telegram Politex Blog
Texas political blogs are buzzing over Gov. Rick Perry's comments about the recession during a Houston appearance in light of today's news that the unemployment rate is higher in the state than it's been in more than 20 years.More

Campaigns Spar Over Perry Remarks
The Fort Worth Star Telegram
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s campaign accused Gov. Rick Perry on Friday of being "breathtakingly out of touch" for asserting that Texas has escaped the worst of the recession in the same week that the state’s unemployment rate hit its highest level in 22 years. But a Perry spokesman countered that the governor’s remarks were taken out of context for political gain.More

East Texas Rancher Joins Democratic Race for Governor
The Fort Worth Star Telegram
East Texas rancher Hank Gilbert threw his hat into the ring for the governor’s race Monday, saying public education will be a top priority. Gilbert, a 49-year-old Democrat, kicked off his campaign with a 13-city, three-day tour beginning at a Dallas union hall, saying there are many issues the state needs to address, from education to the economy.More

A Year in the Life of a Green Home
The Austin American Statesman
Designing and building a space-efficient, not-so-big home is key to green living. "We're always trying to get people to build less, not more," says architect Christy Seals. "We make small spaces seem larger."More