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Uncertain future for Dallas-to-Houston bullet train, even with eminent domain go-ahead

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Uncertain future for Dallas-to-Houston bullet train, even with eminent domain go-ahead


The Texas Supreme Courtroom dominated on June 24 that the corporate behind the proposed bullet prepare between Dallas and Houston may, actually, use eminent area to acquire the land it wanted for the rail line. Residents within the rural space within the path of the prepare fought for years to maintain Texas Central from seizing a part of their land.

It’s a giant win for the corporate, nevertheless it additionally comes at a turbulent time: Two weeks earlier than the ruling, Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar left the corporate, and its board of administrators dissolved itself. James Leggate, on-line information editor for the Engineering Information-Document, spoke to the Texas Commonplace about the way forward for the undertaking.

This transcript has been edited frivolously for readability:

Texas Commonplace: Inform us concerning the significance of this eminent area deal for the undertaking itself. I believed this was one of many massive obstacles for its viability. 

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James Leggate: Sure, this was one of many predominant issues that was a hurdle blocking the trail. Primarily what this implies is that Texas Central can now go forward with buying the remainder of the land that it wants for this deliberate railroad.

However is it an excessive amount of too late? What has occurred to Texas Central?

So it’s been a busy month for Texas Central. In early June, its CEO, Carlos Aguilar, had introduced that he had left the corporate. He didn’t give loads of element, however he mentioned that he had been unable to align the corporate’s stakeholders on a standard imaginative and prescient for a path ahead.

Across the similar time as that was taking place, I discovered that the corporate’s board of administrators had additionally disbanded. So it’s a massive turnover on the prime.

Who’s on the helm of the prepare firm? Is it clear?

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Sure. A minimum of within the meantime, it’s being managed by a person named Michael Bui. He’s a senior managing director at an organization referred to as FTI Consulting. FTI is kind of a world agency coping with simply any kind of problem right here an organization could be going by. You recognize, in the event you’re underneath investigation, if you should reply to a cybersecurity incident, they step in and might help you out.

Michael specifically makes a speciality of company finance and restructuring. He’s helped different firms undergo course of like chapter or sale. So it does sound dangerous.

The place is the cash coming from for this undertaking? This isn’t a publicly funded undertaking. 

That’s proper. They’ve been promising that it was going to be totally privately funded. Precisely how a lot cash they’ve isn’t completely clear. There was a Securities and Change Fee submitting kind of early on within the firm’s days that confirmed they’d raised $75 million from buyers. After which a number of years later, they received a mortgage for as much as $300 million from a Japanese financial institution. Outdoors of that, it does appear like they’ve perhaps attracted another buyers since that first spherical, however their funds are actually opaque.

It sounds just like the Texas Central railroad continues to be, a minimum of on paper, a going concern. However are there questions on for a way for much longer?

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Yeah. One of many massive issues that the landowners’ facet on this state Supreme Courtroom case had been attempting to point out or a minimum of elevate questions on was the corporate’s monetary viability. The price of this undertaking, or a minimum of the estimated value has sort of grown considerably through the years, from nearer to $10 billion to $20 billion, and now perhaps even $30 billion, which clearly can be fairly a stretch from what we a minimum of know they’ve been in a position to elevate to date.

So the corporate itself says that they’re nonetheless transferring forward. There was a latest court docket submitting that one among their legal professionals submitted that mentioned that they’re nonetheless transferring forward, in search of extra buyers, hoping to construct. Unsure precisely what timeline.

But when the Texas Supreme Courtroom had dominated the opposite means, saying that Texas Central couldn’t use eminent area, is it attainable the corporate would possibly simply have packed it up altogether?

The undertaking would seemingly be lifeless within the water then. They’d have a tricky combat managing to amass all of the land they want and really weak bargaining place to do it. And if they’re in search of extra buyers, I can think about that the Supreme Courtroom ruling can be a giant step of their favor.





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Dallas, TX

Dallas faces conference rival Denver

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Dallas faces conference rival Denver


Associated Press

Denver Nuggets (22-15, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Dallas Mavericks (22-16, fifth in the Western Conference)

Dallas; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST

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BOTTOM LINE: Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets visit Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

The Mavericks have gone 16-13 against Western Conference opponents. Dallas is ninth in the NBA with 45.2 rebounds led by Dereck Lively averaging 8.2.

The Nuggets have gone 14-10 against Western Conference opponents. Denver is third in the NBA scoring 120.6 points per game while shooting 49.9%.

The Mavericks average 116.4 points per game, 0.1 fewer points than the 116.5 the Nuggets give up. The Nuggets score 8.8 more points per game (120.6) than the Mavericks allow (111.8).

TOP PERFORMERS: Irving is shooting 49.0% and averaging 24.3 points for the Mavericks.

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Russell Westbrook is shooting 45.9% and averaging 12.9 points for the Nuggets.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mavericks: 4-6, averaging 111.1 points, 43.9 rebounds, 23.1 assists, 7.0 steals and 7.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.9 points per game.

Nuggets: 6-4, averaging 122.8 points, 45.5 rebounds, 32.0 assists, 8.4 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 50.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.1 points.

INJURIES: Mavericks: Dante Exum: out (wrist), Luka Doncic: out (calf), Kyrie Irving: out (illness).

Nuggets: Aaron Gordon: day to day (calf), Jamal Murray: day to day (knee), DaRon Holmes II: out for season (achilles), Spencer Jones: day to day (thigh), Vlatko Cancar: out (knee).

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___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.




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Dallas, TX

Former Dallas Cowboys DE, Robert Quinn, arrested in South Carolina

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Former Dallas Cowboys DE, Robert Quinn, arrested in South Carolina


Robert Quinn (Charleston Co. Jail)

Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Robert Quinn was arrested in South Carolina Friday morning after police said he tried to leave the scene of an accident.

Quinn, 34, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and reckless driving, jail records show.

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What we know:

Police in North Charleston, South Carolina responded to a car dealership just after 2 a.m. Friday because of a collision involving a red truck.

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The North Charleston Fire Department arrived first on the scene and told police that the suspect might be attempting to leave the scene of the crash in another car.

When police arrived, they found Quinn in the passenger seat of a white Dodge Challenger that had its reverse lights on. The vehicle’s driver placed the car in park and told police she had been called by Quinn to “pick him up,” according to a police report.

Police said Quinn had visible injuries to his head and face, had slurred speech and was uncooperative with officers who asked for his identification.

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Quinn eventually provided his identification to officers, but asked himself “where is my wallet” while his wallet was in his hand before dropping it in his lap.

The police report states a maroon Ford F-150 registered to Quinn was on the other side of the parking lot and looked to be the vehicle that started the collision.

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Police said Quinn’s truck hit the passenger side of a Honda Element, which was pushed into a blue Ford F-150 that hit another car.

Officers asked Quinn to get out of the Challenger, but Quinn resisted by holding the door to the car, the report states. Police removed Quinn from the vehicle, and he was “escorted to the ground” by officers because he was trying to pull away from them.

Officers interviewed the woman with Quinn, who said she had met him at G-Club, a gentleman’s club, where she works, earlier that night.

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Another employee of the club came to the scene and said Quinn had left alone about an hour before the collision happened.

Timeline:

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Police said they used city cameras to build a timeline of the crash.

The police report states Quinn’s truck was seen driving down the road around 2 a.m. Friday and was veering left, crossed an intersection, a median and then onto dealership property.

City cameras did not pick up the collision, but it can be heard, the police report states.

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Police said around 2:03 a.m. a single person is seen walking through the parking lot and a few minutes later that person walked to a Valero gas station.

At 2:07 a.m., the person is seen walking back to the dealership parking lot while stumbling and falling several times, the police report states.

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About a minute later, a white Dodge Challenger is seen entering the parking lot around the same time that the fire department arrived, according to the report.

Dallas Cowboys Defensive End

Quinn played the 2019 season with the Dallas Cowboys after being traded from the Miami Dolphins for a sixth-round pick.

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Quinn was suspended for the first two games of the season after violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. He was named the team’s starting right defensive end when he was reinstated.

Quinn finished the season with 25 tackles, 11.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

Quinn signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Chicago Bears the following season.

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Quinn was drafted 14th overall by the St. Louis Rams in 2011 and spent six years with the team before going to Miami, Dallas, Chicago and ending his career in 2022 with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Quinn was born in North Charleston, South Carolina, where he played high school football before playing college football for the University of North Carolina.

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The backstory:

This isn’t Quinn’s first tangle with law enforcement.

July 2012 – Florissant, Mo.

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Quinn was arrested for driving while intoxicated in July 2012 in Florissant, Missouri, while a member of the St. Louis Rams. 

Florissant police said Quinn was involved in a single-car accident on an exit ramp of Interstate 270 on July 10, 2012. Police said he was cooperative with them during the arrest.

Quinn was also charged with failure to exercise a high degree of care and having no insurance.

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August 2023 – Summerville, S.C.

In August 2023, Quinn was arrested in Summerville, South Carolina after police found four unoccupied vehicles in a subdivision had been damaged.

At some point, Quinn allegedly exited his vehicle and got into a physical altercation with a woman before leaving the scene.

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According to an accident report, a Ford F-150 truck crashed into multiple vehicles. Responding officers proceeded to search the vehicle and found an empty whiskey bottle on the passenger side floorboard.

Per the police report, the unidentified woman was sitting in her driveway when the suspect hit two parked vehicles. The driver then exited the truck and offered to buy her beer, the woman told investigators.

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Quinn was charged with third-degree assault and battery, hit-and-run of an attended vehicle, four counts of hit-and-run property damage and striking fixtures on or adjacent to the highway.

What’s next:

Quinn was booked into the Charleston County, South Carolina jail.

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Jail records show Quinn has a preliminary court date set for Feb. 27, 2025.

The Source: Information in this article comes from the North Charleston police department and previous FOX reporting.

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Dallas, TX

Dallas Snowfall Totals: How much snow fell on Thursday and Friday?

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Dallas Snowfall Totals: How much snow fell on Thursday and Friday?


North Texas got less snow than expected overnight.

FOX 4 Weather Meteorologist Evan Andrews said it was one of those crazy forecasts where some people got exactly what they expected, and others got the opposite.

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“Some of you got that heavier precipitation [on Thursday]. Others were waiting for some overnight, and the precip overnight really never got going. We got a little bit of light snow on the backend but not a ton,” he said.

For snow lovers, the snow that was on the ground from Thursday is still there. However, the total accumulation did not increase much overnight. 

Snowfall Totals (as of 4 a.m. Friday)

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Overall, the areas of highest accumulation were north of Highway 182 in Cooke and Grayson counties. Areas like Gainesville, Sherman, and Bonham got more than 6 inches of snow.

A lot of people in Wise, Denton, and Collin counties got between 3 and 6 inches.

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Fort Worth and North Dallas saw between 1 and 3 inches.

People south of Dallas got less than an inch of snow.

Thursday Snowfall (as of 9 p.m.)

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Future Snowfall

No additional accumulation is expected on Friday, with the exception of maybe a few light flakes early Friday morning.

The Source: The information in this story comes from the FOX 4 Weather team.

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