Economy

Hurricanes cause all sorts of damage, but do you have any idea just how much?

The Lufkin News reports retail stores across the state are gearing up for the annual tax-free weekend this Friday through Sunday. With the first day of school getting close, parents can save money on everything from school supplies to clothing.

With all the fees airlines have been packing on in the past couple years, it may seem that tickets are impossibly expensive. But there are times when it’s cheaper to buy them — and those times are fast approaching.

You may be happy with where you’re living now, but what about in the years to come?

In another sign that the national recession is easing up -- at least here in Texas -- the Lufkin News reports retail home prices are trending upward.  Local realtors say after several years of a "buyer's market", they're seeing clear signs of a turnaround. It's a "seller's market" again.

The Houston Chronicle reports that TransCanada has received the last of three key permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to start building the 485-mile Gulf Coast section of its controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The company says this means the $2.3 billion oil pipeline can start construction in the “coming weeks.”

It used to be a given that a college education was worth the money. But the price of a four-year education has skyrocketed over the last couple decades, and — due to the bad economy –a college degree has become less of a surefire job guarantee. So have these factors changed opinions on college’s worthiness?

It's not just a new biomass power plant.  In keeping with the Texas tradition of everything being "bigger and better", the new biomass power plant in Nacogdoches County is the largest power plant of its kind in the United States.