Autumn has come and gone in Bastrop, Texas, but many of those who lost homes and possessions in the raging late-summer wildfires there still need help. This week, Philip Lawhon jumped at the chance to use his skills as an electrician to keep the Bastrop relief effort humming.

Texas AFL-CIO communications director Ed Sills sends us this report:

The Texas AFL-CIO donated $150 gift cards to nine Central Texas volunteer fire departments that battled the rash of summer blazes.

Dave Johnson, a fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future, sends us this.

Millions of Americans need work and America’s infrastructure is in need of repair and modernization. This is work that has to be done eventually no matter what—millions of jobs that need to be done at a time when millions of people are looking for jobs. Thousands of people are joining “This bridge needs work and so do we!” rallies across the country to show support for President Obama’s American Jobs Act.

In less than a year, Texas wildfires have consumed 3.6 million acres, roughly the size of Connecticut, notes Paul Begala, an affiliated professor of public policy at Georgetown and Daily Beast and CNN contributor. Four people have been killed and some 1,400 homes have been lost just in the most recent fire. Of the 10 largest wildfires in Texas history, six have occurred this year. Yet, as Begala points out:

Texas governor and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry has cut funding for volunteer firefighters, who are the first responders to 90 percent of all wildfires in Texas, by 75 percent.