You should know: plant helps manage binge drinking

AUSTIN—Texas' jobless-benefits fund is empty, and the state will probably borrow $1.5 billion from the federal government to pay benefits through December, a state official said Tuesday.

But it's unclear when Texas employers will have to pay a much higher tax to repay the loan and rebuild a required $863 million cushion in the unemployment compensation trust fund.

AUSTIN—The Texas secretary of state's computer system is out of business - and has been since last week.

A computer hardware failure discovered Thursday morning has shut down the agency's online business records system, SOSDirect.

As as result, people cannot obtain certified copies of state documents, file documents such as those necessary to incorporate a business or search an online database for information such as available business names. The problem is also affecting internal databases used by employees, said agency spokesman Randall Dillard.

The problem continued through the close of business Tuesday.

AUSTIN—- While other states are sustaining a downturn in lottery revenue during the nation's recession, Texas sales are holding their own this year as thousands of residents continue to look for quick fortune through scratch-off games and multimillion-dollar jackpots.

Lottery sales through the week that ended Saturday totaled $3.4 billion, a $3.1 million (0.1 percent) increase over last year. The purchases have generated $891.6 million in revenue for public schools, and lottery officials hope that the total will top $1 billion when fiscal 2009 ends, on Aug. 31.

"It's looking good," said Robert Heith, spokesman for the Texas Lottery Commission. "We're ahead of where we were this time last year in sales and revenue."

By contrast, at least 14 other states have recorded drops in lottery revenue, according to the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York. The declines reflected an overall downturn in the gambling industry as Americans become more frugal.

UNDATED—-The kudzu vine could now help manage binge drinking.

Researchers say a compound extracted from the vine reduces the amount of alcohol lab rats consume.

The compound triggers side effects when like feeling ill, which makes a person drink less.