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In a quick city council meeting on Monday evening, the Fort Stockton City Council approved the fiscal year 2023-24 budget and tax rate. The meeting was attended by city staff, media, and part of the time by one member of the public. Mayor Paul Casias was absent and Mayor pro tem James Warnock arrived late, so council member and former mayor Ruben Falcon opened the meeting.

It is important to note that an arrest should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

STAAR scores show continued struggles in math, reading Texas public student scores in standardized testing continue to improve since the pandemic, but more than half of those taking the test still struggle with math and just under half read below grade-level, the Texas Tribune reported.

The opening weekend of the 37th Annual Trappings of Texas exhibit at the Museum of the Big Bend is Sept. 14-16.

Governor Greg Abbott announced a record $142 billion in total investment for Texas' transportation infrastructure. The record investment includes the unanimous adoption of the $100 billion 10year statewide roadway construction plan with the Texas Department of Transportation (Tx-DOT) for transportation projects to enhance safety, improve congestion and connectivity, and preserve Texas roadways. This is a $25 billion increase in total investment from the previous year.

CONTRIBUTED REPORT Dr. Barbara Tucker, dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at Sul Ross State University, was recently named an Impact Academy fellow through national non-profit organization Deans for Impact (DFI).

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CONTRIBUTED REPORT The Borderlands Research Institute (BRI) at Sul Ross State University is pleased to announce the establishment of a new endowment fund that will support big game research into the future. John L.

Pecos County taxpayers will see somewhat of a tax relief with the passage of the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget during a 15-minute public hearing and special session of the Pecos County Commissioner’s Court on Monday morning. The approved tax rate for Pecos County is $0.538 per $100 of valuation for the upcoming fiscal year. $0.45 of that will go to general fund maintenance and operations and $0.088 to road and bridge maintenance, representing a 0.65% decrease for maintenance and operations. The overall tax rate is slightly lower than last year’s $0.5853 per $100 of valuation.

Historically, Fort Stockton has had an abundance of two things, water and dirt. For that reason, it is no wonder that our little town has over 200 buildings made of adobe bricks. The Jumano and Apache who resided around the springs for a thousand years made their homes of mud. When the Spanish arrived, they brought the ancient art of forming the mud into bricks that would harden in the sun.