HOW TO HELP

Coalition of San Antonio cultural organizations band together to offer Maui wildfire relief

One of the organizations has a special connection to Maui already.

Viewing the devastation that ripped through Lahaina, Hawaii on August 8, it's easy to be disconsolate. But it's heartening to see fundraising endeavors gain momentum nationwide. San Antonio is no different, with many rising to the occasion to send relief to the island.

The latest effort comes from a group of four San Antonio organizations rallying support for the Imua Maui Relief Fund, an initiative aimed at aiding the children and families whose lives have been severely disrupted by the recent natural disaster. The San Antonio Zoo, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Witte Museum, and the Will Smith Foundation (not related to the famous actor) have banded together to encourage donations to the vital cause.

Managed by Imua Family Services, a longstanding Maui nonprofit, the fund will ensure that the money raised will have a tangible impact on the Lahaina community. As a clearer picture of the damage emerges, the organization will adapt to meet the shifting needs of the community.

Susan Naylor, the founder of the Will Smith Foundation, shares a personal connection with the cause. After losing her eight-year-old son in a car crash near Lahaina, she developed a profound bond with the island — creating the Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden in his memory.

"I've been told there is a magnetic energy, or beat, on Maui," Naylor explains via a release. "[The island] pulls the people in she wants and sends the others home ... The island has chosen me, and through these years, I've worked to help the children in Maui through Will's foundation."

Contributions to the Imua Maui Relief Fund can be made online, offering San Antonians the chance to stand in solidarity with the affected Maui community. The collaboration between the San Antonio organizations provides a direct way to help, removing the confusion that often occurs after a natural disaster.

"There is a message in this great disaster that has occurred on our island," Naylor says. "It's a message to come together and be Maui strong. So I'm appealing to my hometown San Antonio to help restore the spirit—mana—of Maui, whose people will always be in my heart."

charity

Vehicle News

What to know about new car inspection requirements in San Antonio

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Texas is changing requirements for vehicle registration.

Beginning January 1, 2025, Texas vehicle owners will no longer need to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration. House Bill 3297, passed during the 88th Legislature in 2023, eliminates the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles.

We'll all be free, free, free of the oppression of the safety inspection process. However …

Under the new law, the $7.50 fee that drivers had to pay as a safety inspection fee has not gone away. It now appears on your registration notice under a new name: "Inspection Program Replacement Fee."

This name change comes courtesy of the legislature, who want to keep collecting this fee because the funds go to state programs such as construction and expansion of state highways — funds they previously collected from the Safety Inspection Fee.

And while the safety inspection is gone, state law will still require that drivers in 17 counties must pass an "emission inspection" on vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old, in order to get your vehicle registered. In Bexar County, the new requirement will go into effect in 2026.

But what does an "emissions inspection" mean?

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) details the following changes:

Safety inspection out, emissions testing in
Until December 31, 2024, safety inspections are required for vehicle registration in all 254 counties. Beginning January 1, 2025, noncommercial vehicles in Texas will no longer be required to have an annual safety inspection. Instead, vehicles will have to get an emissions inspection on gasoline-powered vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old.

What is no longer going to be "inspected"?
Texas Transportation Code §548.051 specifies the list of old-school inspection items which will no longer be checked. Moving forward, they will no longer be checking: tires, wheel assembly, safety guards, safety flaps, brakes, steering, lighting, horns, mirrors, windshield wipers, sunscreening devices, and front seat belts in vehicles on which seat belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment.

What will still be inspected are listed as "Items 12–15": exhaust system, exhaust emissions system, fuel tank cap, and emissions control equipment. These will be part of the emissions inspection process in 17 counties.

Those 17 counties where this is relevant include:

Austin: Travis and Williamson
DFW: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant
Houston: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery
El Paso County

In Bexar County, emissions inspections will be required beginning on November 1, 2026.

Where will emissions inspections be obtained?
Emissions inspections can be obtained at DPS-certified vehicle inspection stations in the 17 emissions counties. These will be the exact same inspection locations we've been going to all along, when it was called a safety inspection. Emissions inspections are not available in the other 237 Texas counties.

DPS offers an inspection station locator online.

What is the estimated cost of an emissions inspection?
Vehicle owners will pay an emissions inspection fee of $2.50 annually to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) at the time of registration. The actual fee you'll pay at the inspection station (as listed on TCEQ’s website) will be $25.50. Just like the former "safety inspection" fee.

In short: There is little that's changing about the entire inspection process, except they won't bother making you honk your horn.

transportation