Texas Governor Greg Abbott Asks Texas Health and Human Services Commission to Investigate South Texas Hospital Offering So-Called “Birth Packages”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott Launches Teacher-Driven Texas Classroom Commission

Texas Governor Greg Abbott today launched a new initiative today. The Texas Classroom Commission is a teacher-led initiative that puts Texas educators at the center of shaping the future of public education. It will bring together public school educators to identify and develop innovative solutions that help students succeed, improve the learning environment, and strengthen schools. By empowering those on the front lines of education, Abbott says it will ensure that Texas becomes the national leader in the education. The Commission will consist of current and retired public school classroom teachers and will begin its work in the coming weeks and deliver recommendations before the start of the 90th Legislative Session. Its focus will be on bolstering classroom instruction, supporting teachers, improving the learning environment, and ensuring Texas students are prepared to succeed. The Commission will be led by Courtney Boswell MacDonald of Kerrville. She is a former classroom teacher and the current chair of the State Board for Educator Certification. She previously worked on the Senate Education Committee and served as executive director for Texans for Education Reform, Texas Institute for Education Reform, and Texas Aspires. She is a former math teacher at Richardson ISD and Dallas ISD. MacDonald received a Bachelor of Science in fashion and communications and a secondary education certification from Texas Christian University and a Master of Public Policy in education policy from Vanderbilt University.

Texas A&M Receives NIH Funding to Study Effects of Addiction on Cognition

Texas A&M will receive more than $6 million in NIH funding to study how alcohol and cocaine affect cognition. The goal of the study is to improve addiction treatment. The National Institutes of Health awarded $6.27 million to be utilized over five years for two proposals: $3.25 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for a study on cholinergic dysregulation and cognitive flexibility in cocaine use disorder $3.02 million from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism will examine cholinergic modulation of striatal circuits in alcohol use disorder Jun Wang, PhD, with the Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine at Texas A&M Health wants to know if these substances can dull cognitive flexibility. He says the idea behind the research is that addiction hijacks the brain in a way that causes loss of cognitive flexibility, which is critical to daily life. Wang says, “Addiction is often viewed as a disorder of reward, but it is also a disorder of flexibility, and the brain loses the ability to update behavior when circumstances change. This is a key issue because, currently, we think addiction is just exaggerating or enhancing the reward. Normal, non-addicted reward is quite important. It’s important for survival and for motivation. Addiction is just a hijacked rewards pathway.” He says the hijacking can make the brain less flexible, and flexibility is what enables decision making, task management, problem solving, among others. “These two grants gave us an opportunity to ask whether alcohol and cocaine, despite being different substances, both disrupt related chronology circuits that support addictive decision-making. That’s actually the core of this study,” Wang said. “The long-term goal is to identify brain circuit mechanisms that could eventually guide new strategies to restore cognitive control in substance use disorders.”

College Station City Council Hears Proposed FY2027 Budget

The College Station City Council met for just over 30 minutes Monday night to hear a presentation of the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027. The $567.3 million budget is broken down into two major categories: $394.8 million for daily operations and maintenance (everyday city services) and $181.6 million for capital improvements (building for the future). $169 million will go towards new projects, including: $55 million for a new public works facility $5 million for improvements in the Northgate entertainment district $36 million dedicated to Midtown (including phase two of Texas Independence Park) $12 million for neighborhood parks Mary Ellen Leonard, Director of Fiscal Services for the City of College Station, made the presentation to the council and says a property tax increase will be required, but the exact rate is dependent on the Brazos County Appraisal District’s values, which have yet to be determined. According to the presentation, there will be no rate increase for metered electric, water, and wastewater services, although there will be increases on your bill. Roadway and drainage maintenance fees will increase by 3% and solid waste will go up 5%. Leonard estimates that residents will experience an increase of about $1.88 per month. The budget includes adding six new police officers, a cost of living adjustment for public safety personnel of 3%, annual step increases, and no increase in healthcare premiums for city employees. The city council will host budget workshops July 13-15 in advance of a public hearing on the budget scheduled for July 23 at 6:00pm in council chambers. If approved, the final tax rate and budget adoption will take place on August 27, and the new fiscal year would begin on October 1, 2026. For more information, visit http://www.CSTX.gov/budget