One of the state’s worst droughts in decades has been particularly hard on its iconic ranching business, with the barren land leading to increased costs to feed cattle. In Starr County, at the southern tip of the state, Texas Agrilife Extension agent Omar Montemayor can’t give the ranchers money or rain, but he is teaching them ways to keep their herds healthy.

Texas Business reports:  DENTON—When surgeons need to cut or shape bone during surgery, they use a number of conventional tools including saws, drills, hammers, chisels and grinders. 

Texas Business reports: AUSTIN—The State of Texas filed a lawsuit against BP America and other defendants for their role in the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon offshore oil spill. 

Texas Business reports: WACO—At their spring meeting today, the Baylor University board of regents approved construction of phase one of a new on-campus track and field stadium and voted to move forward in developing the design for the proposed new School of Business building. 

Texas Business reports:  HARLINGEN, Texas—Construction is expected to begin early next year on the new La Paloma Power Plant, to be located in the Harlingen Industrial Park in Harlingen, Texas located along the US-Mexico border near the Gulf of Mexico, in deep South Texas. 

Texas Business reports: HOUSTON—The Port of Houston Authority selected Satterfield & Pontikes Construction (S&P) for a 10-acre repaving project in Terminal 5 at the Barbours Cut Terminal in La Porte. 

Texas Business reports:  FORT WORTH—American Airlines today launched a systemwide boarding process it claims saves overall boarding time by allowing customers who are traveling light to board earlier. 

A federal program that aims to significantly expand the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, in national airspace within the next three years could have a Texas component. 

Texas Business reports: COLLEGE STATION – Texas cotton planting intentions may be affected by the replanting to cotton of freeze-damaged wheat acreage, but a Texas A&M extension service expert doesn’t expect the change to be significant on dryland wheat acres. 

The resilient longhorn, able to survive on sparse foliage and water, has endured in Texas for more than 100 years. But the recent sale of about 100 longhorns by theTexas Parks and Wildlife Department has spurred debate about the breed’s future in the state.

Texas Business reports: The Texas Department of State Health Services has issued an advisory warning people not to consume or to limit consumption of certain fish caught in all waters off the Texas coast due to unsafe levels of mercury. 

Texas Business reports: FORT WORTH--The TCU Board of Trustees approved the design plans of a $45 million renovation to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum with the project receiving a lead commitment of $10 million from Ed and Rae Schollmaier. 

AUSTIN — On a late Saturday morning at a lot near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a twice-weekly flea market is in full swing. A Tejano band begins its first set. The beer is flowing. More than 1,000 people — mostly Spanish-speaking families — roam among vendors peddling fresh eggs, live chickens, unlicensed Spiderman dolls, neon leggings, potted plants, bridesmaid dresses and all things Virgen de Guadalupe. 

Texas Business reports:  AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas System board of regents recently considered a $334 million plan to build a medical school at The University of Texas at Austin. 

Texas Business reports:  The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents authorized the execution of a contract to create a family medicine residency program with Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) and DeTar Healthcare System in Victoria, Texas. 

Texas Business reports: EL PASO—The Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery at Las Palmas Medical Center recently became one of the first facilities in the nation to perform a hysterectomy using a new single-site platform for robotic surgery. 

Texas Business reports: WACO—At their spring meeting today, the Baylor University board of regents approved construction of phase one of a new on-campus track and field stadium and voted to move forward in developing the design for the proposed new School of Business building. 

The broomsticks Kevin Peterson makes aren’t magical, but that hasn’t stopped them from flying off the shelves.

Peterson, a University of Texas senior, is poised to become the sole manufacturer of official gear for quidditch — a real-life sport inspired by the Harry Potter novels — if the sport’s governing body adopts his designs.

Texas Business reports:  WACO—A genetic analysis by Baylor University biologists suggests that the stocking of Florida bass in Texas reservoirs impacts bass populations far beyond the actual stocking location. 

Texas Business reports: HOUSTON—Rice University-based publisher OpenStax College plans to more than double the number of titles in its catalog of free, online textbooks by 2015, supported by a grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF). 

Texas Business reports: BRAZORIA COUNTY – Four new paddling trail segments on the Brazos River comprising the Stephen F. Austin Paddling Trail have recently been added as official Texas Paddling Trails. 

The resilient longhorn, able to survive on sparse foliage and water, has endured in Texas for more than 100 years. But the recent sale of about 100 longhorns by theTexas Parks and Wildlife Department has spurred debate about the breed’s future in the state.

Texas Business reports: The Texas Department of State Health Services has issued an advisory warning people not to consume or to limit consumption of certain fish caught in all waters off the Texas coast due to unsafe levels of mercury. 

Texas Business reports: WACO—Sunless tanning -- whether with lotions, bronzers or tanning pills -- has been promoted as an effective substitute to dodge the health risks of ultraviolet rays, but if the products don't provide the perfect tan, young women likely will not use them, according to a Baylor University researcher.

Texas Business reports: JOHANNESBURG—Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) executives and a delegation of Dallas/Fort Worth civic and business leaders are visiting Johannesburg on a business mission to strengthen ties between the regions and promote DFW as the premier mid-continent entry point into the United States. 

SWEETWATER — About a year ago, talk began circulating in this West Texas town about a huge oil-producing formation called the Cline Shale, east of the traditional drilling areas around Midland.

As he looks at the calendar, DeWitt County Judge Daryl Fowler is getting nervous.

Fowler is among a group of officials in the Eagle Ford Shale area who are lobbying lawmakers for money to address the rural South Texas region’s roads, many of which have been pummeled by drilling activity. With about a month left before the legislative session ends, he and others fear the push for funding has stalled. 

After each day without rain in Texas, Troy Allen's dread of the first week of June grows. 

Texas Business reports:  HARLINGEN, Texas—Construction is expected to begin early next year on the new La Paloma Power Plant, to be located in the Harlingen Industrial Park in Harlingen, Texas located along the US-Mexico border near the Gulf of Mexico, in deep South Texas. 

Texas Business reports:  AUSTIN—On Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) told judges overseeing the licensing case for two proposed South Texas Project nuclear reactors that the applicant (NINA) is subject to foreign ownership control or domination requirements and does not meet the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act in this regard. 

Texas Business reports:  IRVING, Texas—Exxon Mobil Corporation started development of the Julia oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Texas Business reports: The Texas Comptroller's Office reported state sales tax revenue in April was $2.15 billion, up 3.9 percent compared to April 2012. 

Texas Business reports:  Dell acquired Enstratius, a cloud-management software and services provider that delivers single and multi-cloud management capabilities. 

When Texas Tech University in Lubbock opens the doors of its new School of Accounting on Aug. 15, it will mark a major first for the university — and will be only the second such opening in the state. 

Texas Business reports:  DALLAS—Theresa Portillo, 44, of Dallas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn to 78 months (six and one-half years) in federal prison and ordered to pay $3,431,000 in restitution, following her guilty plea in January 2013 to a felony information charging one count of embezzlement of funds from a credit union. 

Texas Business reports: DALLAS—On the day before their trial was to begin in federal court, Dallas residents Eric Damon Johnson and Tracie Elaine Stenson pleaded guilty to their roles in a mortgage fraud conspiracy that they ran in Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. 

Texas Business reports:  HOUSTON—The owner of a now defunct chiropractic clinic in Bryan has pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud various automobile insurance companies of more than $3 million, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. 

 Texas Business reports: PFLUGERVILLE, Texas—The Pflugerville Community Development Corporation (PCDC) announced that TrackingPoint, Inc., an applied technology company that designs, develops and manufactures the world's first precision-guided firearms (PGFs), will relocate and expand its corporate headquarters, manufacturing, and research and development facilities to a 48,000-square-feet office space in the 130 Business Park at 130 Commerce Center in Pflugerville.

 Texas Business reports: KINGSTON, Okla.—Quantum Materials Corporation chose the greater Austin area in Texas to relocate headquarters and to establish the company's research and development laboratories, officials announced.

Texas Business reports:  HOUSTON—Laurus Corporation, a U.S.-based private real estate investment and development firm, completed the acquisition of the Gateway I & II Office Buildings in Houston. 

Texas Business reports: Storm Resistant Systems (SR Systems LLC) of Linden, Ala., headed by chief executive Scott Drummond and general manager Steve Zimmerman, blew into College Station in April with a special request. 

Texas Business reports:  Michael Vasilyev’s goals in his research are simply stated: increase by tenfold the amount of information that can be securely transmitted via the Internet and the distance over which that data can be transmitted. 

Texas Business reports:  AUSTIN—Visolis, a student-run company from the Indian School of Business, beat 39 teams from top graduate programs around the world to claim the grand prize at the 30th annual Global Venture Labs Investment Competition (GVLIC) held at The University of Texas at Austin earlier this month. 

Texas Business reports:  HARLINGEN, Texas—Construction is expected to begin early next year on the new La Paloma Power Plant, to be located in the Harlingen Industrial Park in Harlingen, Texas located along the US-Mexico border near the Gulf of Mexico, in deep South Texas. 

Texas may have built a reputation as the energy capital of America, but in some parts of the state, like Midland and South Texas, the oil and gas boom has actually driven electric prices up — substantially. 

Texas Business reports:  A Hurst firm won an $85. 4 million contract for foreign military support, according the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Texas Business reports:  A Bay City firm won a $8 million contract change on a foreign military contract, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. 

 Texas Business reports: A Fort Worth firm won a $20.1 million contract to provide components for the transfer of two F-35s to Israel, the U.S. Department of Defense announced. 

Texas Business reports:  A Grand Prairie firm won a $32.1 million change to a weapons contract, the U.S. Department of Defense announced. 

Texas Business reports: A Fort Worth firm won a high-tech $11.8 million contract for helicopter tracker helmets, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Texas Business reports:  A Houston-area firm won a $9.8 million contract for a charter containership, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Texas Business reports: HOUSTON—Mario Barson has been named vice president of recruitment advertising for Hearst-owned Texas newspapers, which are headquartered at the Houston Chronicle.  

Texas Business reports:  LAREDO, Texas—Commerce Bank chief executive Ignacio Urrabazo was inducted as chairman of the Texas Bankers Association (TBA), the largest state banking association in the U.S. 

Texas Business reports:  HOUSTON—Robert D. Cravaritis has been named executive vice president of sales for Houston Chronicle Media Group, a Hearst Corporation company.  

Texas Business reports: SAN ANTONIO—Comerica Bank named Rhonda K. Calvertas as its first San Antonio market president. 

Texas Business reports:  PLANO, Texas—Working Solutions, a provider of custom contact center solutions, appointed Larry Deering as senior vice president of sales. 

Texas Business reports:  HOUSTON—Datacert Inc., a provider of software solutions for enterprise legal management, appointed Uwe Schneider as vice president and general manager of EMEA. 

Texas Business reports:  DALLAS—D. Stephen Donosky was named president of Encore Land LLC, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Encore Enterprises Inc.

Texas Business reports: RICHARDSON, Texas—Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas named Dan McCoy as chief medical officer.  

Texas Business reports:  HOUSTON—TNT Crane & Rigging Inc. promoted Kregg Lunsford to president. 

Texas Business reports:  DALLAS—Marshall Hess has been named senior managing director of Encore Wealth Management LLC, a subsidiary of Dallas based Encore Enterprises Inc. 

NEW BRAUNFELS — Off a dirt road connected to ever-flowing Interstate 35, a little metal sign on a wooden fence is the only indication of what lies ahead. Nearby, Buckley Powder, a mining and construction supply company, stores large quantities of ammonium nitrate, the source of the explosion at a fertilizer depot that killed at least 14 people and injured hundreds more last month in West.

Texas Business reports:  THE WOODLANDS— CBI won a contract for the execution phase of an air quality control program for 13 existing coal-fired units at five sites.