Austin, TX
Taylor residents sue to halt proposed data center
TAYLOR, Texas — A proposed data center in Central Texas is getting a lot of pushback from residents. Approximately 40 minutes north of Austin, a group of neighbors in the city of Taylor sued the data center. They are pushing back against the data center that could soon be under construction roughly 500 feet from their neighborhood.
“This property is supposed to be deeded for parkland,” said Pamela Griffin, a resident in the neighborhood next to where the data center will be built. “This land was given to this community.”
The 87-acre land near Griffin’s community is embroiled in a legal battle between her and Blueprint Data Centers.
“We do not need a data center,” Griffin said. “I’m not against them, but we don’t need them in our community.”
Despite Griffin’s land deed lawsuit, a Texas judge has ruled in favor of the proposed project.
“When a judge dismisses a lawsuit because the plaintiff or the plaintiffs lack standing, what the judge means is you’re not a person who has the legal authority to bring this lawsuit,” said Mike Golden, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
Griffin and other neighbors argue the data center will take away natural resources like water and what was supposed to be the future site of a park, so her fight is not over.
“We are going to the appellate court now,” Griffin said. “We did file.”
Griffin is passionate about advocating for the community because it’s the neighborhood she was born and raised in. Her grandmother bought property there in the early 1960s, and the community became a safe haven for Black people in Taylor.
“We weren’t allowed to be in the city limits at that time because they would not sell to the Black and brown community, so my grandmother realized they had to buy land outside,” she said.
She worries about the future of her small community now that construction of a 135,000-square-foot data center will begin within the next year.
It’s a project the city says will bring millions in revenue to Taylor.
“What data centers do to a community is it brings an influx of new revenue to all the taxing entities, including the city, the county and especially the school district,” said Ben White, the president and CEO of the Taylor Economic Development Corporation.
He explained how the revenue might benefit the city.
“City council will have the ultimate say on how those revenues are spent, but it could involve new parks for citizens, improve streets for the citizens, improve programs for the citizens,” he said. “There’ll be a lot of variety of different uses of those funds the council could decide to use them on.”
White also addressed the controversy surrounding the deed when asked about it by Spectrum News.
“We feel comfortable that EDC, we did everything correctly on our side,” he said.
Griffin now awaits the Third Court of Appeals to decide on her case.
“I’m asking for the community and the Taylor people to stick together and understand my fight against this data center coming into our community,” Griffin said.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas’ highway system dropped two spots since 2025, and now ranks at No. 27 in the country for its cost-effectiveness and overall conditions, according to the Reason Foundation’s 2026 Highway Report.
The report assessed pavement conditions, fatalities, deficient bridges, infrastructure costs and congestion levels across the United States. Texas earned the following rankings:
- 33rd in urban interstate pavement conditions
- 21st in rural interstate pavement conditions
- 39th in urban arterial pavement conditions
- 12th in rural arterial pavement conditions
- 3rd in structurally deficient bridges
- 26th in urban fatality rate
- 42nd in rural fatality rate
- 41st in traffic congestion
“More than 42,000 of the nation’s 618,923 highway bridges, nearly 7%, are still structurally deficient. Arizona, Nevada, and Texas reported the lowest percentages of deficient bridges,” the report said.
The full report can be found online.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Small hail peppered the Austin area as strong thunderstorms moved through Saturday.
A few of the storms dropped rain and up to pea-sized hail in San Marcos, Dripping Springs and the Austin metro area.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Williamson County around 8:15 p.m., and then canceled shortly after. However, it was enough for the Two Step Inn music festival in Georgetown to cancel shows for the rest of the evening. Event organizers say the festival will run as planned Sunday.
KXAN’s First Warning Weather team is monitoring the storms. We will update this post as the evening continues.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution unveiled a new monument at the Texas State Cemetery on Saturday, dedicated to Texas Revolutionary War soldiers.
“We must educate every generation about why it is that America grew from a tenuous 13 colonies into the most powerful country in the history of the world,” said Governor Abbott. “This monument here is an enduring testament to the heroes who fought for the freedom that is unique to America.”
The monument was dedicated to 69 soldiers who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later settled in Texas, according to a press release.
Among those that were honored, Abbott recognized:
- José Santiago Seguín, grandfather of Texas Revolutionary hero Juan Seguín.
- Peter Sides, who fought in the 2nd Battalion of the North Carolina Regiment of the Colonial Army, and was later killed in the 1813 Battle of Medina, fighting for Mexican independence against Spain.
- Antonio Gil Y’Barbo, the founder of Nacogdoches.
- William Sparks, who fought as a mounted rifleman in the American Revolution and later settled in Texas. He had two sons and two grandsons who fought in the Texas Revolution.
“This year marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, which not only gave freedom to the British colonies of North America, but inspired movements for freedom and liberty all over the world,” said TSSAR President Mel Oller. “Texans played a role in the war too, and it’s important to recognize them, and the sacrifices they made for our freedom.”
At the monument unveiling, Abbott was also inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution and received its Silver Good Citizenship Medal.
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