Government

After a toll-free trial run, State Highway 130 has begun charging motorists to use the Seguin-to-Austin 85 mile-per-hour highway. Texas Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF) is urging drivers to boycott the fastest highway in the United States.

With the $13 one-way toll now in effect on SH 130, going to Austin from Seguin and back could cost you almost half a tank of gas.

District 26 State Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D) said minors who have been kidnapped and made to do things against their will should not be punished further by the justice system, even though they have technically engaged in conduct that violates prostitution laws.

For the first time in 50 years there wasn’t a Gonzalez listed on the ballot for Congressional District 20 of Texas.

Gonzalez is done with politics, but he isn’t done with being a congressman – not until his replacement, Democrat Joaquín Castro, is sworn in as his replacement in district 20.

Gonzalez has a prediction about the looming  sequestration, or fiscal cliff, that could force automatic austere spending cuts to the federal budget: “Fiscal Cliff - It’s not going to happen.”

Bexar County employees have completed the first phase of uploading court records to the Internet. The county's database is now available for anyone to search for court documents filed with the district clerk or the county clerk’s offices.

City Council passed an ordinance in 2005 seeking to regulate sexually-oriented businesses, but an injunction fell into place that prevented the city from enforcing the new rules. The injunction was lifted in 2010, but sexually-oriented businesses have continued to operate with very few regulations being enforced.

District 6 Councilman Ray Lopez is looking to change all that with his ordinance that strengthens the language as to what constitutes a sexually-oriented business.

There were several notable predictions made leading up to the General Election on Nov. 6, and since the first debate the opinion polls were twisting the odds this way and that. Now that the results are in, we can see who had the right idea, and who was just guessing.