Because of the lack of rain, grazing lands for cattle have dried up and the cost of feed has skyrocketed necessitating the sale of over 600,000 cows. With fewer cows in Texas today, that means fewer calves tomorrow. According to the Agrilife Extension, there was a 12% decline in beef cattle nationally with next year's decline being forecast at 4%. more ›

Texas Parks & Wildlife has a haunting set assembled on Flickr displaying the devastating conditions of this year's drought in Central Texas. They note, " At this point, the current drought is the third worst on record based on the Palmer Drought Index, behind the droughts of 1916-1918 and 1951-1957.The Texas drought map is a sea of red, with almost the entire state in extreme to exceptional drought, except for about 10 counties in northeast Texas. What’s worse, little relief is predicted, and some forecasts show a strengthening of La Niña weather conditions this fall, which could prolong the drought." See the rest of the images here. more ›

Given the exceptional drought the Central Texas region continues to suffer, it's probably not that big of a surprise that the city has canceled the downtown fireworks display for this Independence Day. Travis County fire officials announced today that this year's display is off due to the extremely dry, fire-friendly conditions. Ditto for any other fireworks that Pflugerville, Westlake Hills, Lake Travis, or Oak Hill might have planned. Sales of fireworks in Travis County haven't been banned (yet), but the Travis County Fire Marshal is recommending that the sale of flying fireworks be banned. [Statesman] more ›

With temperatures already hitting the triple digits, it's proving to be a scorcher of a...spring? more ›

Lake Travis is on the rise, thanks to all the recent rains. As of this morning, the lake level is at 641 feet above mean sea level (msl), about a foot above its lowest levels during the summer. Still, as LCRA points out, it's quite a ways below its historic October average of 666.6 ft msl, and mandatory watering restrictions are still in effect. “We expect these storms to give us an additional 124,000 acre-feet into lakes Travis and Buchanan by this weekend,” said Mark Jordan, LCRA River Operations manager. “But we will still need more than 1 million acre-feet to completely fill those two lakes.” [LCRA River Report] more ›

• New Zealand athlete finds a profitable way to pay for his Olympic debt.
• Now, even the camels are dying from drought.
• Perry complicates investigation into whether Texas executed an innocent man.

RNC chair says the "death panel" falsehood started by Palin is "appropriate." The end (of the recession) is near. Or so they say. Planet overcrowding to continue. One-year-old boy found dead in car at Freescale. Last public boat ramp on Lake Travis closed due to drought. You think it's hot in Austin? You too can rent Rupert Murdoch's sailboat - only $319K/week! more ›

• Voter ID bill will be slow-going in State Senate.
• Your candidates for Austin City Council and Mayor.
• Treemont Homeowners Association suing a resident for his installation of an energy-saving metal roof.

• Man tries to hide his baggie where the sun don't shine during strip search at Travis County Jail, police make him take a laxative.
• Taylor man arrested for housing 277 pot plants (as well as illegal firearms) on his property.
• Manor High School student tries to sell pot in class.

Wildflower displays this year expected to be only moderate since there wasn't much rain this fall. Hard hit by drought, Bastrop County asks Gov. Perry for state of emergency status. San Antonio and Austin city leaders working together to lure solar companies to Central Texas. Capital Metro rail test today showed that cars at 53rd Street are not stopping far enough away from the tracks. Three-alarm fire sparked at a Northeast Austin business at about midnight this morning. Is the honeymoon over? Speaker Straus refuses to hear a motion to allow Reps to voluntarily switch committee assignments. Whole Foods profits down 17.4%. more ›