A burn ban was enacted at today’s commissioners court. Although no fires have broken out in the county so far the current dry spell that Austin County has been going through was enough for the 4 commissioner court to decide to declare a burn ban in the interest of safety throughout the county.

The Treasury Department released new budget deficit numbers, and with two months still to go in the fiscal year, 2019’s budget deficit is the highest its been since the US was still being flooded with fiscal stimulus dollars back in 2012.

A new farm survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Thursday detailed farm loans at Midwest banks are having the most repayment difficulties in 20 years. Following six years of falling farm income and rising debt levels, and the recent addition of record floods across the Farm Belt and the trade war between the US and China, a farm crisis on par to the 1980s could be imminent.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has been asking customers to conserve energy this week as spot power prices in Texas triple to a record on Friday. The state’s power grid operator that serves most of Texas declared an energy conservation emergency for the second time this week.

The United States Postal Service on Friday reported a net loss of nearly $2.3 billion for the third quarter of fiscal year 2019, putting it on pace to lose nearly $8 billion in 2019.

The Blinn College football team is the favorite to win the Southwest Junior College Football Conference title after claiming the top spot in both the media and coaches’ preseason polls.

The FBI is opening an investigation into Epstein’s death according to media reports. 

Bloomberg reports that the trade war has shifted to a currency war, several former Chinese central bankers warned Saturday that there is no end in sight to the conflict between the world’s leading superpowers.

Delinquency rates of agriculture loans have been above historical averages in the last several years as farm incomes in the Midwest and Mid-Southern states have collapsed over the previous six years. Net farm income, a broad measure of profits, has fallen 45% since a high of $123.4 billion in 2013 to about $63 billion last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The life-altering impacts of student loan debt on millions of millennials is debilitating towards their financial health. At least 60% of millennials have no savings, and their poor financial health has contributed to the reason why so many young adults can’t afford a down-payment on their first home. About 40% of millennials have student debt, according to the AARP, and Clever Real Estate says the student debt has delayed home buying by eight years for millennials.

Americans awoke Saturday to some truly surprising and disturbing news: Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier/pimp of underage girls to the world’s rich and famous, had somehow managed to kill himself inside his cell at the Manhattan Correctional Center.

Tuesday was a big economic announcement day for Austin County and Sealy, Texas.  Zhejiang Hailiang Co., Ltd, a Chinese-based company, has purchased the former BAE Systems facility and plans to build a new 500,000-square-foot building worth a total investment of $165 million into the project. The new facility will produce copper water pipes, coils, refrigerating air conditioning pipes, insulation pipes, and other conduits, according to the company.

The Bellville Medical Center will be adding a familiar face from the Sealy area to it’s staff.  Kr. annappan Krishnaswamy of the Medical Clinics of Sealy and the Sealy Urgent care will now be a part of the center’s staff.

Multiple people were killed Saturday in a shooting at a shopping center in El Paso, Texas, according to local officials. El Paso Mayor Dee Margo and police Sgt. Enrique Carrillo said there were multiple fatalities. Authorities do not believe there is an ongoing threat, Carrillo told reporters.

A memo obtained by The Texas Tribune instructs DPS officers to cite and release suspects in misdemeanor marijuana cases “as appropriate.” Officials said the goal is to continue enforcement even though some prosecutors aren’t taking new pot cases.

You can now dispose of any unwanted, unused, or expired medication at The Sealy Police Department during their normal business hours.  The department has become a participant in MedSafe’s Program by installing one of their medication disposal kiosks in at the department.

After roughly half-a-day of negotiations, the US trade delegation has broken off talks with its Chinese counterpart and is already on its way back to Washington, a sign that no new progress was made, and that trade talks between the US and China remain at an impasse.

The Treasury is expected to hold its quarterly note and bond sales at record levels for the third straight time as Washington’s latest budget deal shows that the U.S.’s debt binge will continue.

16-year-old Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf of Pennsylvania has won a record-breaking $3 million prize in the Fortnite World Cup finals. Epic Games set aside a total of $40 million in prize money for the Fortnite World Cup, of which $10 million was awarded over the 10-week qualifying stage, and $30 million reserved for the New York City finals.

Nicholas Sandmann’s defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post was dismissed. According to court documents, Judge William O. Bertelsman ruled that seven Washington Post articles and three tweets about now 17-year-old Sandmann were protected by the First Amendment and deemed opinion.