Evening Roundup: Dallas County sees monkeypox as emergency, how ERCOT's grid stays on, Cowboys' WR concerns

Also, Dallas reveals its potential budget [EVENING ROUNDUP](dallasnews.com) dallasnews.com Sponsored by: Content and story selection are solely editorial's decision. After the deadly blackouts of February 2021, Texas moved from a "crisis-based business model" for the electric grid to one that emphasizes reliability. Here, power lines feed into a station near downtown Dallas. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) [Texas’ grid holds up amid a brutal heat wave and record demand. But at what price?]( Business columnist Mitchell Schnurman writes: After a 2021 winter storm shut down much of the Texas grid and killed at least 246, there was a reckoning in Austin. For two decades, the state had been creating cheap, abundant electricity, and then lawmakers decided to pivot and put reliability first. [They installed new regulators](, who have managed oversight more aggressively and adopted measures to boost reserves, keep plants online and encourage customers to cut back when grid conditions get tight. They also raised the funding available to pay big users to slash their loads — to $75 million, up from $50 million. [READ MORE](   ADVERTISEMENT   THE LATEST NEWS [Dallas County declares monkeypox outbreak a health emergency]( The county represents the largest portion of cases in the state. [Severe drought is boosting water demand in North Texas and causing water main breaks]( Dallas, Fort Worth and other cities are calling for conservation to ease stress on the system. [Dallas homeowners to see biggest tax rate reduction in decades under budget proposal]( City Manager T.C. Broadnax is recommending a $4.51 billion budget for the next fiscal year. [Dallas fave Topo Chico faces shortage]( D-FW bars and restaurants are having trouble stocking the popular Mexican mineral water. [Alex Jones ordered to pay $45.2M in punitive damages over Sandy Hook lies]( Including compensatory damages, the Infowars host must pay a total of $49.3 million. [READ MORE NEWS](   ADVERTISEMENT   POLITICS [At CPAC, Ted Cruz says China shooting down Pelosi’s plane would be ‘an act of war’]( Sen. Ted Cruz told a conservative gathering in Dallas on Friday that President Joe Biden should have reacted [...] [Democrats’ massive climate package is mixed bag for Texas oil and gas producers]( The massive climate proposals included in Democrats' reconciliation package have pros and cons for the oil and [...] [Pentagon denies D.C. request for National Guard to cope with migrants sent by Texas]( The Department of Defense on Friday denied D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request for the National Guard to assist [...]   BUSINESS [Dallas-area office projects will house more than 10,000 financial sector workers]( Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association will build more than 2.1 million [...] [Texas power generators Vistra and NRG are buying back over $2 billion of their own shares]( And Irving-based Vistra, the state’s biggest power generator, said Friday that its board of directors [...] [Summer movie surge propels Cinemark to best quarter since the pandemic’s start]( The Plano-based movie theater company had total revenue of $744.1 million during the second quarter.   [DYK? NEWS QUIZ]( [I'm an image]( [The exterior of Kroger’s fulfillment center in Dallas at 4221 Telephone Road. Kroger opened the 350,000-square-foot automated online grocery fulfillment center Thursday. Rebecca Slezak / Staff Photographer)]( [Question 1 of 5]( [Kroger’s new e-commerce fulfillment center is now open in southern Dallas. How quickly can the warehouse fill an order?]( - [10 minutes]( - [6 minutes]( - [2 minutes]( - [12 minutes]( [Start the quiz by choosing your answer. Complete the quiz and you’ll be entered to win $100.](   OPINION [Will Dallas’ west Oak Cliff plan protect working-class Hispanics — or run them out?]( In the Oak Cliff neighborhoods of Dallas southwest of apartment-and-restaurant-choked Bishop Arts, Hispanic [...] [Ken Paxton and his 7-year-old felony cases undermine our judicial system]( The delays have graduated from being unreasonable to becoming an intolerable disservice to Texas voters and [...] [In one year, Cowboys WR room morphed from a trio of potential 1,000-yarders to uncertainty]( In 2021, the group was ranked among the best; in 2022, a pair of 23-year-old newcomers are expected to ‘step [...]   ADVERTISEMENT   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [YouTube]( [Privacy Policy](dallasnews.com/privacy-policy) | [Account Login]( |[Help Center]( [Terms of Service]( | [Manage Preferences](dallasnews.com/privacy-policy| [Unsubscribe]( The Dallas Morning News 1954 Commerce Street Dallas, TX 75201 © Copyright 2022