Blog

Misclassification of Construction Workers in Texas Employers across the country have made it a practice to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. This is a widespread problem in Texas, particularly in the construction industry. When workers are misclassified on construction projects, not only are the workers missing out on benefits, but the…

GM Recalls More Cars in 2014 than it Sold in the Previous 7 Years On July 1, 2014, The Consumerist reported that as of that date, General Motors has now recalled more vehicles in the first half of 2014 than it sold in the past seven years. The stalwart Detroit automaker passed this dubious…

Texas DUI and DWI Laws In Texas, driving while intoxicated (DWI) is the charge that will be brought against you if you were driving while drunk. The state uses your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to determine whether you’re too intoxicated to operate a motor vehicle. The acceptable BAC will vary depending on age. There are a variety…

Traffic and Accident Concerns Surrounding Eagle Ford Shale The number of serious car wrecks continues to rise in the Eagle Ford Shale region of Texas. The 23-county area, stretching from Laredo to the eastern edge of the play near Huntsville, saw 236 fatalities in 2013, down from 248 the year before, but there were…

Texas Distracted Driving Law Proposals The Texas Department of Transportation attributed 94,943 traffic crashes in 2013 to distracted driving. These crashes resulted in 18,576 serious injuries and 459 deaths. Seeing as nearly one in five crashes in Texas involves driver distraction, some members of the Texas Legislature made several attempts to implement a statewide…

New Texas Sunset Advisory Commission Recommendation Would De-Regulate X-Ray Technicians The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission (TSAC) was established in 1977 to evaluate state agencies and make changes their missions or operations if necessary. TSAC has abolished seventy-nine agencies since 1977, saving Texas an estimated $945.6 million. Despite previous success, one of the newest recommendations…

Pope Francis Apologizes to Victims of Sexual Abuse On July 7, 2014, the Dallas Morning News reprinted an Associated Press article reporting that Pope Francis asked victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests to forgive the Church for not preventing these actions and for the length of time the Church took…

Chrysler Recalls Nearly One Million SUV’s in July 2014 The Dallas Morning News reported on July 11, 2014 that Chrysler Group (a division of General Motors) is recalling 895,000 SUVs. The recall is due to Chrysler’s need to re-route or replace wiring in vanity-mirror lights that could potentially cause a fire. The wiring is…

The “Dark Side” of the Texas Economic Boom The Fort Worth Star-Telegram published a story from the Texas Tribune on June 30 suggesting that the current economic boom in Texas also has a “dark side.”   According to Texas Tribune author Jay Root, “Texas has led the nation in worker fatalities for seven of…

Dallas/Fort Worth Area Veterans Complain of Long Waits, Insufficient Help at Dallas VA You may have seen any one of a stream of news stories recently that reveal alleged “waiting lists” at Veterans Administration Hospitals across the country. Veterans in Dallas/Fort Worth and the Metroplex are included in the thousands of veterans who have…