**Josh** Road construction is causing some big headaches for Texas State students. Thanks for watching Bobcat Update. I'm Josh Humphreys. **Kara** And I'm Kara Bell. We'll also tell you about budget problems with the Bobcat Bobbies program. **Kara** Driving on Sessom these days can be an adventure. Drainage and street improvements are underway creating the need for detours. Motorists are advised to watch for lane closures and construction crews from now until early summer. The first project will repair drainage inlets and install new culverts to improve storm drainage along Sessom. The project is expected to take five to eight weeks, weather permitting. **Josh** Texas State University is taking an important step toward reaffirmation by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools this month. Megan Turney has more in this Bobcat Update. **stop** **Josh** A San Marcos shopping mecca, The Prime Outlet Mall, may soon have a new owner. Simon Property Group Incorporated, the nation's largest public real estate firm, has agreed to purchase Prime Outlet's entire business. The transaction is estimated to be worth two-point-three (b) billion dollars. Prime Outlets in San Marcos is the largest shopping destination in Texas. Changes may include adding more luxury brand-name stores to the 140 existing outlet stores. **Kara** Bobcat Bobbies, a service that provides safety escorts for Texas State students, is facing budget constraints that could limit their capability in the future. Joe Doyle has more in this Bobcat Update. **stop** **Josh** A 20-year-old man from Buda is headed to prison for 25 years after using an air gun to steal a car from the outlet malls. According to San Marcos Local News, Trinidad Olivares was sentenced this week. Ten months ago, he showed a gun and ordered a woman to hand over her keys. The victim called 9-1-1 and police tracked down Olivares, chased after him and eventually arrested him. It turned out -- the gun he showed was just a black air gun. In addition to the 25 years in prison -- Olivares also got two years in state jail for an evading arrest charge. **Kara** Family members of two Americans gunned down in the Mexican border city of Juarez are struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. A former El Paso County detention officer and his wife were shot to death in their S-U-V Saturday. Another man was also found gunned down in his car that same day in Juarez. Police say Juarez has become the most dangerous Mexican city for U-S citizens to visit, surpassing Tijuana, which had held the distinction. The State Department says 39 U-S citizens have been killed in Juarez over the past two years. **Josh** A pilot could be in big trouble for flying low over Bolivar, Texas, beach last weekend. It was a frightening experience for many. At one point the plane was about 15 to 20 feet off the beach itself. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident. Officials say the apparent joy ride was a dangerous stunt, which endangered and terrorized a lot of beachcombers that day. The identity of the pilot is not yet known. At the very least, he stands to lose his pilot's license. **Kara** We're going to tell you about a big honor for two Texas State professors. **Josh** That's after the break -- on Bobcat Update. **stop** **Kara** Two Texas State instructors have been honored for their work with new media. Cindy Royal and Dara Quakenbush were co-winners of the Texas Social Media award at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival. They were recognized for bringing social media to the forefront of public relations. Royal and Quackenbush have both built websites to encourage students to incorporate social media into their P-R work, Quackenbush says she has her students blog about PR and social media trends. Royal also hosts a technology blog. **Josh** The 2010 Census questionnaire will arrive in your mailbox or be hand-delivered starting this month. The 10-question survey is one of the shortest Census questionnaires ever and will potentially have an impact on the City of San Marcos and its residents. The data collected from the national count helps determine key funding and government representation decisions. According to the U-S Constitution, every living person in the United States must be counted once every ten years. The form is estimated to take about ten minutes to complete and is due by April first. **Kara** San Marcos is looking for a new way to be identified -- and we should know soon what that brand will be. According to the San Marcos Daily Record, the online surveys for a new official city brand ended this week. The city is trying to come up with a new logo and tagline to differentiate itself from Austin and San Antonio. About a thousand people who live in San Marcos took part in the online surveys. The task force in charge of the branding process should see the survey results at a meeting on March 24th. **Josh** Kraft wants to help you cut some salt out of your diet. The company is reducing the amount of sodium in its North American products by 10 percent. Some popular products might have even less salt than that. Oscar Mayer bologna will have 17 percent less salt -- and Easy Mac cups -- 20 percent less. It is generally believed that Americans consume too much salt, which has been linked to high risk of developing high blood pressure, and high blood pressure often leads to heart and kidney diseases. **Kara** The final vote on health care reform is nearing. President Obama has been campaigning this week for passage. Part of his strategy has been to go on the road to drum up support. In some measure, he has been successful. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland says he will now support the bill. Originally, he voted no because the measure that passed the House did not include a single-payer system or the public option. A final vote is expected early next week. **Josh** Because of the expected health care vote -- President Obama today decided to postpone his trip to Australia and Indonesia for a couple of days. The president feels he needs to devote his full attention to the last stretch of the health care reform. The health care battle has been long and frustrating for both Democrats and Republicans. The president's trip has only been postponed for now. Instead of leaving today, the President is now scheduled to leave on Sunday. **Kara** Wachovia is going to have to pay big for allegedly not catching drug traffickers who were laundering money. The bank and the U-S Justice Department have reached a 160 (m) million dollar settlement -- after allegations of poor bank controls. The Justice Department says Wachovia should have detected suspicious transactions that ended up being drug traffickers moving money through Mexican exchange houses. Officials say the bank processed more than 400 (b) billion dollars without proper money laundering detection practices. **Josh** A former employee at an Austin car dealership has been arrested for allegedly hacking into a computer system-- disabling more than 100 customers' cars. The dealership says the security breach sent their business into a frenzy as the calls started pouring in from angry customers. The dealership manager says it took a couple of days to figure out what the problem was. Police say former collection agent Omar Ramos hacked into the computer system a month after he was fired. They were able to trace an I-P address to his home. **Kara** How long will this beautiful weather stick around? **Josh** Your weekend forecast is coming up next on Bobcat Update. **stop** **Anisia** (wx update) (wx ad lib) **Kara** March Madness is underway! **Josh** We'll show you how Texas State students are taking in the tournament -- next on Bobcat Update. **stop** **Josh** March Madness is here! The opening round of the N-C-A-A men's basketball tournament got underway this morning. Eager fans gathered around televisions at George's and Jones Dining Hall on campus to catch some of the action between classes. The drama has already started to unfold, with two overtime games and a major upset of Notre Dame by Old Dominion. Games will continue all weekend as the crowds shift from campus to local bars in order to witness the thrilling college hoops games. **Kara** Texas State football is already starting to rev-up for next season. Gates will open at Bobcat Stadium this Saturday at 5:30 for the Maroon vs. Gold spring game. The scrimmage will showcase the Bobcats' offense versus the defense. This scrimmage will show off the forty-one returning lettermen that were on last year's team -- which finished with a 7-4 record and ended the season ranked 25th in the N-C Double-A F-C-S polls. Admission is free for the scrimmage and students are encouraged to tailgate in the parking lot before the game. **Josh** After having Spring Break a week earlier than normal, some Texas State students feel that they still need more time. Peter Norosky has more in this bobcat Update. **stop** (ad lib) **Kara** That's all for this edition of Bobcat Update. Thanks for watching. **Josh** We'll be back Wednesday afternoon at 4:30. See you then.