J.W.’s News Update: Thursday January 19, 2012

Texas Governor Rick Perry is dropping out of the Presidential Race after poor showings in Iows, New Hampshire, and in the pre-election polls in South Carolina.

Perry made the announcement today just two days before the South Carolina vote. The Texas Governor indicated support for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is currently running second in the polls to front runner Mitt Romney.

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Texarkana, Texas city January sales tax collected for November 2011 sales is down 2.07% or a little over $22,000 from the same time last year. However Texas side Chief Financial Officer Charlie Bassett announced year to date collections are actually up 2.2% or around $94,000 over the October thru January period of last year.

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The contract between the Cooper Tire Company and the local USW 752l labor union expires at midnight tonight. The Texarkana plant is one of two unionized Cooper Plants  in North America. The other is in the company headquarters in Findley, Ohio. The company locked out workers in Findley back in late November after months of negotiations were unsuccessful in forging a new contract between the union and company leaders.

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