Results tagged “txdot”

Over 450,000 Texans voted for the new license plate design, shown above, which features the new 7-character numbering system. The digitally-produced, full color plate depicts the Davis Mountains, Texas' most extensive mountain range, and will be available as soon as the Travis County tax assessor's office exhausts its supply of the current 6-character plates.

Yesterday was Sine Die for the Legislature, but the State Senate skipped out before passing legislation to cover the operations of state transportation and insurance agencies through 2011 (the next legislative session). With this hanging over his head, Gov. Rick Perry will have to come up with some sort of solution. Does this mean a Special Session in the near future? Many suspect that one may have to called to resolve this issue, but neither the Governor nor House Speaker Straus think it necessary. . . yet. [Dallas Morning News]

City Manager Ott removes library hour cutbacks from his proposed cuts today. Mayoral candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn held a presser yesterday, speaking about council member salaries and library budget cuts. TxDOT Commission will hold special meeting next Thursday on projects to be funded by stimulus package. Burned corpse found yesterday morning belongs to a woman last seen attending Mardi Gras festivities on Sixth Street. Lago Vista man found with about 200 grams of meth in his car seat. Current St. Paul superintendent named lone finalist for AISD superintendent position. 91-year-old Pflugerville resident who played a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz has died.

The Statesman is reporting that earlier rumors of the death of the Trans-Texas Corridor (Rick Perry's proposed 1,200 foot wide superhighway running parallel to I-35) have been confirmed. More accurately, the term "Trans-Texas Corridor" has been discarded as politically disadvantageous, the portions of the plan that were not a toll highway have been indefinitely postponed and the segment that connected to Mexico has been scrapped.

TxDOT is holding a public hearing this evening to discuss the planned changes for 290E, specifically for the portion east of 183 and west of 130. TxDOT and CTRMA want to set up six toll lanes and six non-tolled frontage road lanes in this area of Highway 290. Tonight's meeting will be at the TEA education service center, 5701 Springdale Road, with an open house at 6:30pm and a presentation at 7pm. [KEYE]

Anita Perry announces a fund (not yet non-profit) to raise money for mansion restoration. Man related to feet found at Lake Travis has been identified. Oklahoma paper to sue UT staffer for his fake news story. Sen. Cornyn far outpacing Democratic candidate Noriega as far as campaign money goes. Texas Public Utilities Commission deciding how much more money to invest in wind energy. Sunset Advisory Commission suggests that public (instead of the governor) should choose head of TxDOT.

TxDOT is using eco-friendly asphalt to repave SH71. Sunset Advisory Commission finds that TxDOT "could not be an effective state transportation agency if trust and confidence were not restored." Obama aide tries to keep the current vice-chair of the Texas Dems from running for chair of the state party at convention this weekend? FLDS says they will no longer marry off underage girls to older men in the sect. Killeen's trash may be on its way to Hutto.

Perry names two (including his former chief of staff) to the Texas Transportation Commission. Authorities say some boys from the FLDS compound may have been sexually abused there. Four people died in a head-on collision near Bastrop last night. 21-year-old man tries to get a Ft. Worth bank to cash a $360 billion check that a) was forged (obvs) and b) not even made out to him.

Ben Wear has a nice entry on his Statesmen pseudo-blog about the myth that gas taxes fully pay for highway construction, indicating that in the past, the legislature directly contributed to highway construction from the general fund. Didn't we just pass a five billion dollar general obligation bond for TXDOT? Highways don't pay for themselves, even if you only compare gas tax revenues to construction and maintenance costs. Gas taxes generally pay for less than half of the construction and maintenance costs of any new highway. If you take costs associated with congestion, sprawl and global warming into account, highways look like an even bigger waste.

Two men kidnapped a woman at a Bastrop Whataburger this morning. Mayor Wynn apologizes to city after assault charge, says he is in anger counseling. Winter weather leads to more than 200 flights being cancelled at DFW. On election day, APD arrested two members of the Mexican Mafia. With 41% of Texas precincts reporting, Obama is in the lead for caucus delegates. An agreement set up today between the City of Austin and TxDOT means that your vehicle registration could be denied if you don't pay your traffic fines. After losing the race for Tax Assessor-Collector, Maxey endorses Nelda Wells-Spears and says he is going to help the Obama campaign.

Image of the winning plate from TxDOT
• We're hoping for Soledad O'Brien as moderator: Obama and Hillary to appear next Thursday the 21st in CNN/Univision-sponsored debate in Austin.
• Bloggers can moderate debates, too: Eileen Smith from In the Pink Texas (and Texas Monthly) and Karen Brooks from the DMN will moderate the Democratic Senate debate between candidates Noriega and McMurrey in Austin this Wednesday, Feb. 13.
• 4 men arrested for the kidnapping last week of Adrian Jaimes; one of them is his father's cousin.

Lots of young people got their voter registration cards in on time. News?: Door-to-door magazine salesmen harassing Austinites. Farmer's Branch city leaders sued over their anti-(illegal) immigrant ordinance. Meat from abused cows in California sent to Round Rock and possibly Austin schools.

15% of items put out for recycling in Austin end up in a landfill anyway. Dewhurst doubts TxDOT's claims of being really low on funds. Speaking of TxDOT, you can vote on their site for the next state license plate design. Voting ends next Monday. Illegal immigrants moving to Texas in large numbers from . . . Oklahoma and Arizona?

Photo by gunnyrat on flickr
• The oil that spilled onto Sixth Street and into Waller Creek last week came from a 100-year-old underground tank.
• Jennifer Kim on the Northcross WalMart: "It's going to be a freaking disaster."
• Celebration Church in Georgetown has its own Starbucks and 5,000 attendees. Sayeth the pastor: "You can't do church without money."

Photo by smellyknee on flickr
• Sorry, Kucinich fans: Federal judge rules that he won't be on the Texas ballot.
• Downtown oil-spill sends 1,500 gallons of oil into Waller Creek, and it is still unclear where the oil came from.
• City of Hutto signs U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.