By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator

Dallas, TX – As the unemployment number keeps multiplying, it's a pretty stinky time for credit cards to be adding more fees, increasing penalties for late payment, and reducing credit limits to those most in need. But then, finesse was never a term used with the banking industry. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.

By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter

Dallas, TX – [Music: Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," sung by Luciano Pavarotti]

Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter: In the past, when Luciano Pavarotti and other world-class artists came to town, they performed at Reunion Arena, Fair Park Music Hall, and onstage at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Bill Lively says these venues weren't designed to accommodate the full spectrum of performing arts.

By Anna Macias Aguayo, KERA 90.1 commentator

Dallas, TX – For four days during the U.S.-Iraq war, I was an imbedded reporter. I didn't go overseas, but I camped out at the Alton, Texas home of Edgar Hernandez, former POW turned American hero.

When I returned home to the tranquil shadows of White Rock Lake, I had the feeling of having come from the war zone. The Hernandez's fight in their rural town near Mc Allen is against poverty.

By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator

Dallas, TX – I love surprises and I love change. And so far, the earning season has granted me both. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.

By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com

Austin, TX – The "life without parole" bill (SB 348) by Sen. Eddie Lucio never saw the light of day on the Senate floor Tuesday. Lucio was unable to garner enough votes to suspend the rules to hear the bill.

"You do not have to be against the death penatly to support this option," said Lucio as he attempted to steer his bill to passage. The bill provides for life without parole as a sentencing option for juries hearing capital cases.

By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com

Austin, TX – Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) took aim at the state's regional education service centers Tuesday in the Senate Education Committee. Shapiro is author of SB 929, which among other things would place limits on compensation for certain services offered by the centers, and would restrict state funding to the centers.

Shapiro also suggests a performance review of the service centers be performed by the State Comptroller's Office.

By Maxine Shaoiro, KERA 90.1 Business Commentator

Dallas, TX – April may be full of springtime showers, but it is also a month when we're asked to focus on worthwhile matters. Here's a few. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.

By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator

Dallas, TX – Anger is a very unhealthy emotion. It causes polarization and dissent, not to mention an inner turmoil that no one wants to live with. Yet what do I do about these feelings concerning many corporate executives? I want to just throw a pie in their face. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.

By Suzanne Sprague, KERA 90.1 reporter

Dallas, TX – Suzanne Sprague, Reporter: The image most visitors to Fort Worth, and indeed many of its own residents, have of the city's North Side - is the Stockyards. Country music lilts over loudspeakers as modern-day wranglers pose for tourists. But the surrounding neighborhoods make a quiet contrast. They are mostly moderate to low-income areas with an aging homes. And their families are often first-generation Americans, which Councilman Jim Lane says is the district's strongest link.

By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter

Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter: With Winslow Homer's 53 fishing-expedition watercolors hanging in two Amon Carter galleries, the museum's Curator of Painting and Sculpture says these rooms stop being large, sterile spaces. For Patty Junker, these paintings transport her.