Supplementing the U.S. State Department’s warning about travel to Mexico, Texas authorities issued their own advisory this week, cautioning students against traveling to Mexico during spring break. Department of Public Safety officials discouraged travel even to resort areas, citing statistics that have worsened noticeably over the past several years. In addition to the report that 120 U.S. citizens died in Mexico last year versus 35 in 2007, the advisory detailed other criminal activities that could target Americans, including kidnapping and carjacking. Mexico’s ambassador objected to the advisory, questioning Texas authorities’ conclusions.

While the fate of the Women’s Health Program is still unclear, groups are protesting the program’s likely demise. Texas has butted heads with the federal government over the program, for which the Obama administration has said it will deny funding after Texas passed a law excluding Planned Parenthood from the program. In response to the clamor over the program, which provides reproductive screenings and services for low-income women, Austin musician Marcia Ball this week organized a rally at the Capitol that drew hundreds of protesters.

An organization of private schools is drawing more unwelcome attention this week after revelations that it denied admission to a Houston-area Islamic school. The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, known as TAPPS, first stirred up controversy when it appeared unwilling to accommodate a Jewish school in scheduling a basketball playoff game; that was rescheduled after parents threatened legal action. Now the association is being accused of unfairly denying admission to the Muslim school after posing inappropriate questions to its principal, Cindy Steffens.

An analysis of census data shows that Houston has surpassed New York and Los Angeles as the most ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the country. The Kinder Institute for Urban Research, along with the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas, produced the report, which looked at data from the censuses of 1990, 2000 and 2010. The suburban areas of Pearland and Missouri City were named the most diverse in their metropolitan areas, with the city of Houston itself remaining more segregated.

Blue Cross Blue Shield has long run the state’s employee health plan, but that may be coming to an end. The Employees Retirement System board voted to let United Health Care Services run the administrative portion of the health plan, with an estimated savings to the state of $25 million. Blue Cross has filed a formal protest asking that the process used in awarding the contract be reviewed. Employees insured under ERS number more than 438,000.

Adding to the ongoing drama over the Formula One racetrack project, the original promoter of the track, Tavo Hellmund, is suing the principal investors and companies involved in the track's construction. Hellmund claims that he is owed an $18 million buyout and that the project has been poorly managed and underfunded. Plans for the race, scheduled for Nov. 18, are proceeding, and investors Bobby Epstein and Red McCombs have not yet responded to the allegations in the civil suit.

El Paso has shown a dramatic increase in the number of food stamp recipients within the last year. The number increased from 140,336 to 180,287 from January 2011 to January 2012 — a 28 percent increase in overall benefits. Experts theorized that the jump is related to the recession, but also to the ongoing violence in Juárez. Residents who could shop for inexpensive goods in the border city no longer feel safe doing so, and others have fled to El Paso for safety and are struggling to make ends meet.

If the coming summer lives up to expectations, Texans could again face the threat of rolling blackouts. That’s the assessment of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid. A report from the council revealed a drop in megawatts available and predicted heavy demand during the hot summer months. ERCOT concluded that conservation will be the sole tool it has in the short run to avoid forced blackouts.

Rice farmers downstream from Central Texas’ Highland Lakes face an uncertain future after the Lower Colorado River Authority cut off their water supply. The record drought forced the LCRA’s hand as it assessed that the reservoirs would come up about a billion gallons short. Demand on the Highland Lakes has grown with the population of Central Texas. Farmers are looking for alternative solutions: So-called off channel reservoirs that can be built below the lakes are under consideration. They’re also looking at rice that’s genetically modified to require less water. But these things take time and money, and the rice farmers say they can only get by for one year without a steady water supply.