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Top Stories: The Governor's Address; Helping Folks On The Financial Edge Do Their Taxes

Jen Rice / Texas Station Collaborative

The top local stories this afternoon from KERA News:

During today’s State of the State address, Gov. Greg Abbott named four emergency items: fixing Texas’ troubled child protective services system passing a resolution to support a convention of states, outlawing so-called “sanctuary cities” and implementing ethics reform.

He also promoted “school choice” — a voucher program that would help parents pay for private schools with state tax dollars. 

Other stories this afternoon:

  • A member of the North Texas theater scene was shot last night in Dallas, near Deep Ellum. Mathew Posey, the founder of Ochre House Theater and a well-known actor, is in stable condition. Art&Seek’s Hady Mawajdeh met up with Posey’s friends to learn what happened and how he’s doing.
  • On Tuesdays, KERA’s One Crisis Away Project looks at life on the financial edge. Today, how spending a couple of hundred dollars on a tax preparer, can eat into a refund, and keep a family from finding stable fiscal ground. That’s what the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program is there to prevent. As Courtney Collins reports, thousands of North Texans rely on what’s known as “VITA.” 

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.