Skipping census costs Travis, residents told
(02/21/2010 © Austin American-Statesman)
Every 10 years, the government mounts a colossal effort to count every single person in the United States. The snapshot of America that emerges produces a vast landscape of figures used to calculate political power as well as how much federal money flows back to local communities for everything from hospitals to schools to roads.

Galveston: Count our illegals in Census, too
(03/01/2010 © Beaumont Enterprise)
Illegal immigrants have become crucially important to Galveston’s future in the eyes of city officials because of Hurricane Ike. The island lost as much as 20 percent of its estimated population of 57,000 after the storm, which could pose a serious problem because state and federal money is doled out on the basis of population.

Census contest is aimed at kids
(03/05/2010 © Abilene Reporter-News)
Mayor Norm Archibald on Thursday announced a contest for Abilene elementary school students to encourage interest in the upcoming census. Students are asked to guess what the population of Abilene will be after the 2010 Census. The current population is listed as 115,930.