Guadalupe County commissioners are considering creating a public-private partnership for the operations at the county’s animal shelter.

Right now, the county’s animal shelter is currently entirely taxpayer funded. A public-private partnership would allow Guadalupe County to retain policy and regulatory oversight while contracting operational responsibility to a nonprofit entity, Lt. Zachary McBride said during a presentation to commissioners Jan. 27.

Enforcement would remain with animal control under the sheriff’s office while shelter operations move to experts in shelter management.

The impact: Over the last four fiscal years, the county’s budget has increased annually by about 18%. Approximately 89% of the budget, which is about $526,000 is dedicated to county personnel, with $63,000 funding shelter operations, which has been “woefully insufficient,” McBride said.

By shifting shelter operations and veterinary coordination to a nonprofit partner the county would avoid paying market rate veterinary prices yielding $158,000-$253,000 in annual savings.

“A public-private partnership introduces adoption fees, grants, donations, economies of scale and volunteer labor,” McBride said, which would create $30,000-$100,000 in new revenue.

This Asian supermarket chain is continuing to expand across Texas and the United States with the planned opening of a second San Antonio-area store this fall.

The latest update: Teso Life is planning to open a new location in northeast San Antonio at the Forum at Olympia Parkway in September, company officials said in an email to Community Impact.

According to permits the company filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, it will be located at 8226 Agora Parkway between the Best Buy and Target, where Party City was previously located.

The $250,000 renovation is scheduled to begin in late March.

Teso Life recently opened its first-ever location in the San Antonio area back in October at 12720 I-10 on the city's North Side, according to previous reporting from Community Impact.

What’s special about it? Teso Life offers a wide selection of popular Japanese and Korean imported products such as snacks, toys, clothes and accessories, according to its website.

• 8226 Agora Parkway, Live Oak

The Texas Education Agency must correct roughly 4,200 errors in its elementary and middle school curriculum, the State Board of Education ruled Feb. 25.

The overview: The changes to the Bluebonnet Learning materials, a set of state-developed textbooks, include replacing improperly licensed images, fixing formatting errors or typos and correcting factual errors.

The SBOE approved the Bluebonnet materials in November 2024. The curriculum, which became available to districts ahead of the 2025-26 school year, has been criticized for frequent biblical references in the reading materials, although proponents said the materials would help improve student outcomes.

Zooming in: Before approving the changes, several board members expressed concerns about the “unprecedented” number of issues with the state-developed textbooks, noting that Texas taxpayers will cover the costs of reprinting the updated materials, as they were developed with state funds.

“I’m very concerned that, as a board, we have set a precedent for sloppy publishing. Many times, even if it's a typo, it could become an error of fact,” SBOE member Pam Little, R-Fairview, said.