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Midland, Texas is just one of the many American cities that is struggling to keep pace with scorching inflation in the country. The city, whose economy relies on oil, was called the “number 1 spot for inflation” by a new Bloomberg profile of its residents, who shared stories of how the rising cost of living was negatively affecting everyday life. Inflation in Midland has been at about 10% for the last 6 months, the article notes, resulting in “menus at local restaurants [with] sticky notes telling diners that prices have been raised” and a gallon of gas reportedly costing about...

Most of the past forty-eight hours have been spent either in, or en route to and from, the Midland-Odessa region. Far out in west Texas’s Permian Basin, the two cities — towns, really — have a relationship that I still can’t quite unpack. On my last visit, which turned out to be the first time I ever actually set foot in Odessa, a woman told me: “Midland is where you raise families. Odessa is where you raise hell.” She was from Odessa. Midland-Odessa sits in the vast expanse of the old Llano Estacado, the “staked plain” discovered by the Spanish...

An Arizona man has been arrested after he cut off and held at gunpoint a caravan of National Guardsmen transporting COVID-19 vaccines to Matador, Texas around 7 a.m. this morning, according to Idalou Police. Larry Harris, of Willcox, Arizona, is accused of following three National Guardsmen vans from Love’s Travel Station on East Regis Street in Lubbock to about two miles east of Idalou. Police say Harris attempted multiple times to run the vans off of the roadway. He then turned his vehicle into oncoming traffic on Hwy. 62/82 and stopped the vans. He then pointed a gun at an...

The American Meteor Society received at least 70 reports of a fireball in the sky Friday night, including six reports from the Big Country and four in the Concho Valley. What looked like a meteor streaking across the sky was actually the remnants of a Russian rocket.

By Matt DiLallo | More Articles June 10, 2014 | Comments (0)   Source: Chesapeake Energy.  Drilling down into the Permian BasinWhile the Permian Basin is one of America's oldest and most prolific oil basins, its best days could lie ahead. According to leading Permian Basin driller Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD  ) , the Spraberry and Wolfcamp Shale formations in the Permian Basin represent the largest oil field in America, and one of the biggest in the world. As the following slide notes, the field holds an estimated 75 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas. Source: Pioneer Natural Resources.  As that...

(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors charged a paramedic, one of the first to respond to a deadly explosion last month in the Texas town of West, with unlawful possession of pipe bomb components, but authorities said no evidence linked the charge to the fertilizer plant disaster. Bryce Reed, 31, appeared at federal court in Waco, Texas, on Friday, where he faced one count of unlawfully possessing an unregistered destructive device. He did not enter a plea, said Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the Western District of Texas. Local police said there was no known connection between...

WACO, Texas—President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend a memorial service Thursday for victims of last Wednesday’s deadly fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. The service is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. CT at Baylor University in Waco. A city official in West said the president is also expected to visit the site of the blast. The Obamas were already scheduled to be in Dallas for the opening of former President George W. Bush’s presidential library Thursday morning. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday the first couple will fly to West after the...

Can any Texas FReepers give us an idea of what situation is in the town of West Texas. I gotten some e-mails indicating that there is little to no help for the people there. Is it true or just a fund raising gimick?

President Obama will attend a memorial in West, Texas for those killed in the explosion there last week, the press secretary announced today. Obama will be in Texas anyway for a Democratic fundraiser...

President Obama is still not scheduled to visit the devastated community of West, Texas, where an explosion at a fertilizer plant five days ago killed 14 – including 11 emergency responders – and wounded approximately 200 people. Up to 75 homes were damaged, as well as an apartment complex that was decimated. Obama so far has sent prayers and money to the town, but not himself. (snip) He will have ample opportunity. The president, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, will be in Texas two days this week, heading to Dallas Wednesday for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser and then...

The West, Texas fertilizer plant where a powerful explosion killed at least 14 and injured dozens on Wednesday failed to disclose a massive ammount of ammonium nitrate ordinarily regulated by federal officials, according to Reuters. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security requires fertilizer plants and depots to disclose amounts of ammonium nitrate, which can be used to make a bomb, above 400 lbs. The West, Texas plant, West Fertilizer, reportedly held 270 tons of the substance, 1,350 times that limit.

Brian Stelter, media reporter for the New York Times, foisted his peculiar news judgment on Fox News, weighing President Obama's petulant remarks after the defeat of his gun control plans as more newsworthy than a fire at a Texas fertilizer plant that has killed at least 12 people and injured up to 200.

Not too many people can relate to this week better than Austin's Joe Berti. He raced in the Boston Marathon and figures he crossed the finish line about 30 seconds before the first bomb went off, reports AP. His wife got hit with shrapnel but escaped serious injury. The Bertis returned to Texas on Tuesday, and the next night, as he drove home from a meeting in Dallas on I-35, Joe's car got rocked by the explosion of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas. He survived that, too, even pulling over to snap a photo of the plume—as debris hit...

Seconds after Joe Berti, 43, crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the first bomb exploded. Joe’s wife, Amy, was near the finish line to take a photograph of her husband finishing the 26.2 mile race. He was uninjured. Shortly after, the second bomb exploded. Amy was only 10 yards away from the bomb and was also miraculously unhurt, although, the woman next to her had her leg torn off from the knee down. I had just run to the finish line and… (moments) later I heard the first explosion, and then turned around and saw the smoke,” he...

(Newser) – News outlets are digging into the West Fertilizer plant's regulatory filings and finding that, in light of the explosion that may have killed as many as 15 people and injured about 160, the plant might have undersold the risks a tad. While the company did tell regulators it had up to 54,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia on hand, it said there was "no" fire or explosive risk, Fox News reports. It said the absolute worst-case scenario would be an essentially harmless 10-minute gas leak. In other developments: Rick Perry is asking the federal government to declare an emergency...

WACO (April 17, 2013)--West EMS Director Dr. George Smith says as many as 60 or 70 people died and at least 100 were injured Wednesday night in a fertilizer plant explosion in West. A rescuer earlier said he knew of five deaths. West Mayor Tommy Muska said at a news conference however, that he doesn't yet know how many people were hurt or killed in the blast explosion. He said there was a fire at the West Fertilizer plant before the explosion.

Emergency crews were responding Wednesday night after a report of a major explosion at a burning fertilizer plant in West north of Waco. West firefighters were dispatched to the plant earlier in the evening after an earlier fire rekindled. The explosion was reported at around 7:50 p.m. in a frantic radio call from the scene of the fire at West Fertilizer at 1471 Jerry Mashek Dr. just off Interstate 35. Numerous injuries were reported and multiple ambulances were requested. Several buildings were reported destroyed and a nearby nursing home was damaged.

A large explosion rocked the town of West, Texas, 19 miles north of Waco, on Wednesday evening. A source tells News 8 that a large swath of the small town with a population of 2,800 has been leveled. According to initial reports, the blast was at the West Fertilizer plant at 1471 Jerry Mashek Drive, about a half-mile east of Interstate 35.

Explosions rocked a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, Wednesday evening as firefighters were battling a fire, causing multiple injuries, authorities said. Dani Moore, dispatcher with the Texas Department of Pubic Safety, said she did not know how many were injured or the extent of their injuries. "The fertilizer plant was on fire. Firefighters were on the scene. There was an explosion ... followed by a second explosion,'' she said. She said there were multiple damages to structures and vehicles. She said she had no information on the cause of the blasts or fire. WFAA.com reported at least 10 structures were...

A Waltz Across West Texas   Wyman, the photographer, used to live in the old jail in Benjamin, TX.  The photo of the coiled rattlesnake appeared on the cover of a wildlife magazine in the 80's. He said, there were times he crawled a long way on his belly to get a good shot of a wild animal. The music is by Doug Smith.  Doug is from Petersburg, Texas and lives south of town.  Doug plays by ear- He cannot read music, but has many CDs. A pickup accident left Doug paralyzed and he does not play anymore.  Most...