It’s easy to describe the city of McKinney, Texas as a modern-day boomtown. It’s the self-proclaimed fastest growing city in the United States, with an estimated growth of 85.9% between 2000 and 2007.

It built the first green elementary school in the state as part of its McKinney Green Initiative and the McKinney Economic Development Corporation is continuing in that direction with newer developments. The city’s waterway infrastructure, however, is a concern in District 1.

In this area, east of Highway 5 and in an older part of McKinney, lead pipes are still used. Traces of lead in drinking water cause health problems and behavioral problems in children. Lead contamination in waterlines can take place in the water delivery system as water corrodes service connections, pipes, solder and brass fixtures that contain lead. According to the Dallas City Hall website, symptoms of lead poisoning include abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting; muscle and joint weakness or pain; tiredness or lethargy; and difficulty concentrating.

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(AP) The Voting Rights Act, the government's chief weapon against racial discrimination at polling places since the 1960s, survived a Supreme Court challenge Monday in a ruling that nevertheless warned of serious constitutional questions posed by part of the law.

Major civil rights groups and other defenders of the landmark law breathed a sigh of relief when the court ruled narrowly in favor of a small Texas governing authority while sidestepping the larger constitutional issue.

After argument in late April, it appeared the court's conservatives could have a majority to strike down part of the law as unnecessary in an era marked by the election of the first African-American president. But with only one justice in dissent, the court avoided the major questions raised over the section of the voting law that requires all or parts of 16 states - mainly in the South and with a history of discrimination in voting - to get Justice Department approval before making changes in the way elections are conducted.

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BY: TESSA HOWINGTON

The North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency (NCTRCA) certifies businesses as disadvantaged, women, and minority owned businesses (DWMBs) and keeps a current database of these businesses for public programs around North Texas.

Typically, DWMBs, which make up a large part of the American economy, are smaller businesses who, because of their size and limited resources, may have a hard time gaining government and federally subsidized contracts.

Larger subsidized public entities and programs, such as those through the City of Dallas and the City of Fort Worth, or DART, D/FW Airport, and Baylor, who use outside firms for contracted labor or specific project production and support, are required to use certified DWMBs for a portion of their outsourcing needs.  The belief is by requiring the use of DWMBs necessary public programs promote economic growth by helping small business owners have the same chance at gaining contracts as competing larger businesses.

To avoid absorbing the entire cost of a certification program or maintaining a database, members like the City of Dallas and others, pay a yearly membership fee to certify area businesses and to access the NCTRCA’s 3000 certified business listing database to verify an applicant’s status.

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In a recent survey prepared for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), roughly seven percent of the adult population, or about 16 million people, reported that they did not know how much they spend on food, housing, and entertainment. Twenty-six percent, or 58 million people, admitted to not paying all of their bills on time.

Furthermore, about 13 million adults, or 6 percent of the population reported that their households carry credit card debt of $10,000 or more from month to month.

While the need to be financially literate and knowledgeable about financial matters is important, it is particularly imperative to be so during a recession. Financial mistakes – even small ones – can cost staggering amounts of money over relatively short periods of time. Fortunately, there are basic steps which people can take to save money and be more financially stable, and today I would like to share five ideas with you on ways to make better financial choices...

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