Economy

Today is Juneteenth, honoring the day enslaved people in Galveston learned of their freedom two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Our Riley Wilson reports on the weekend of events in Lubbock, including a cookout this evening, and parade and festival on Saturday. You can find a schedule of events with addresses here. According to a nationwide survey, beekeepers lost more than 60 percent of their commercially managed honeybee colonies between the summer of 2024 and early 2025. Texas Public Radio's Tim Gutierrez reports the bee crisis could have consequences far beyond honey production.

Governor Abbott has declared a state of emergency over the New World Screwworm and its potential impact on the U.S. livestock industry, as state experts are calling on all Texans to help monitor for the flies. Meanwhile, West Texas ranchers are not panicking, taking the news as another part of an already difficult job.

Inflation has surged to its highest level in more than three years since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran, triggering a surge in gasoline prices.

The latest cases involve a calf in La Salle County, about 90 miles south of San Antonio and roughly 50 miles from the Mexican border, and a dog in Andrews County in West Texas near the New Mexico border, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

More than 130 cities, most with fewer than 10,000 residents, were blocked from increasing their property tax revenue because they had broken the law.

Public transportation and electric vehicles aren’t always viable options for rural Americans looking to decrease their spending at the gas pump. West Texas has historically had some of the lowest gas prices in the state, but families are also feeling the pressure. With summer travel building demand, experts worry that serious relief will not be evident for quite some time.

For the first time in about 45 years, state officials are raising the cost farmers pay cotton gins to process their cotton. In the past decade, drought has hit Oklahoma's cotton industry hard.

The governor said undergraduate tuition and fees should stay frozen after some public university systems weighed increases.

A new report shows that nearly half of U.S. households did not earn enough to cover their necessities in 2024.

Emergency officials in Lincoln County, New Mexico have confirmed four people died in a medical transport plane crash northeast of Ruidoso yesterday. The cause of the plane crash remains under investigation. After approval from the U.S. House, a bill permitting year-round sales of up to 15% ethanol gasoline blends is heading to the Senate. Harvest Public Media’s Macy Byars reports supporters say this could boost the farm economy and give consumers cheaper options at the gas pump.