Business

AMARILLO, TX – May 15, 2020 – In a joint statement, Mikel Williamson, President & CEO Happy State Bank and Gregg Appel, CEO of Centennial Bank announced that regulatory approval has been received by the Texas Department of Banking and FDIC for Happy Bancshares, Inc. to purchase and assume operations of Lubbock-based Centennial Bank and its holding company Commerce Bancshares, Inc. which will become part of Happy State Bank.

AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced this week that he will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $824.1 million in local sales tax allocations for May—down 5 percent from payments made in May 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in March by businesses that report tax monthly, and sales made in January, February and March by quarterly filers.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has started making payments through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program–Plus (WHIP+) to agricultural producers who suffered eligible losses because of drought or excess moisture in 2018 and 2019.

Texas oil regulators will decide at a public meeting on Tuesday whether to cut oil production, as plummeting global demand has already impacted the oil and gas sector in Texas.

This week, President Donald J. Trump is enacting the Defense Production Act to ensure that Americans have a reliable supply of products like beef, pork, and poultry. The presidentsigned an executive order providing the authority to ensure the continued supply of beef, pork, and poultry to the American people. Under the order, the Department of Agriculture is directed to ensure America’s meat and poultry processors continue operations uninterrupted to the maximum extent possible.