Results tagged “agriculture”

Gas prices got you down? Well, maybe it’s not entirely the oil companies to blame. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) just released its first report on fuel stations out of compliance. The state law requires the pumps at the fuel stations to be checked at minimum once every four years. With all of the gas stations in Texas (estimated to be close to 14,000), this must be a pretty hefty task, for the TDA’s...

Milk. It's one of those things we rarely give much thought to — but then we read about how rising milk prices are driving the cost of all dairy-based products up. In fact, according to an expert at the Department of Agriculture, the price of milk-based ingredients used in cheese, ice cream and pizza has gone up by as much as 60 percent in the past year, which means those products end up costing consumers...

The 80th Texas Legislature is proving to be one of the zaniest yet. This week, Senator Glenn Hegar, a Republican from Katy, amended a bill to allow for legalized horse slaughtering in Texas. The bill, SB 911 (ha ha), along with Hegar's amendment, would allow the sale of horsemeat for human consumption, if the animals are tested by the commission. But isn't that illegal in Texas? Well, Hegar has only the most humane interests. He...

Have you ever suspected your local gas station was ripping you off, either by not giving you as much gas as the pump said or selling a lower-octane type of gas for a higher-octane price? Thanks to KTRK, there's a chance you could find out. The station's investigative team is offering several reports about problems with local gas stations: which pumps were put out of order in 2004-05 because of one problem or another; octane inspections and their results and all Houston-area gas station inspections between 2001 and 2005. That's a lot of reading, trust us.