Texas
Dallas-Houston bullet train developer vows project is on track, but state officials lack confidence
/static.texastribune.org/media/files/2c500980d53bf3d50ab29d839e80ddda/Dallas%20Bullet%20Train%20BT%20TT%2010.jpg "Dallas-Houston bullet train developer vows project is on track, but state officials lack confidence")
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A lawyer for practically 100 property homeowners who’re dwelling with the specter of their land being seized mentioned he’ll search authorized motion towards Texas Central, the corporate that for a decade has promised to construct a bullet practice between Dallas and Houston, if the corporate doesn’t present extra particulars concerning the looming venture.
Landowners whose property may very well be within the path of the practice observe have petitioned the corporate
to reply their questions. Patrick McShan, the lawyer representing property homeowners, mentioned he’s ready to ask a decide to permit him to depose the corporate — which has mentioned little concerning the venture — to get solutions for his purchasers.
The authorized risk towards Texas Central comes a decade after the corporate unveiled a plan to assemble a 240-mile bullet practice, modeled after the Japanese Shinkansen trains, between Dallas and Houston.
Regardless of the preliminary pleasure of a high-speed rail practice in Texas, a veil of silence has fallen over the corporate.
Whereas Texas Central secured eminent area authority to grab non-public property from the Texas Supreme Courtroom, the CEO, Carlos Aguilar, and board of administrators departed, leaving the corporate within the arms of an outdoor marketing consultant.
The shortage of communication from Texas Central has left the landowners McShan represents in limbo.
“For six, seven, eight years, they’ve had to fall asleep each night time questioning in the event that they’re going to lose their property,” McShan mentioned, referring to the landowners he represents. “They use their property as collateral for loans and to run their enterprise and it’s simply been hanging over their heads eternally.”
McShan’s checklist of questions included inquiries concerning the firm’s leadershipand permits for the venture.
Robert Neblett, Texas Central’s lawyer, mentioned the corporate spent a “appreciable sum” of cash buying property for this venture. Neblett added the corporate owns lots of of tracts of land bought for this venture, however he didn’t affirm The Texas Tribune’s evaluation of property owned by Texas Central.
“Texas Central’s chief govt is Michael Bui. Texas Central shouldn’t be at the moment searching for a CEO to exchange him neither is it searching for a brand new Board of Administrators,” Neblett mentioned in an emailed assertion to the Tribune.
Neblett added that Texas Central plans to acquire any and all federal Floor Transportation Board certifications required to assemble and function the venture.
Bui is a senior administration marketing consultant with FTI Consulting, a enterprise advisory that lists company restoration as certainly one of his {qualifications}. Bui additionally served as an adviser to a personal power firm that offered energy to the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas following its court-ordered restructuring after the February 2021 freeze that brought on lots of of deaths whereas knocking out energy and warmth to thousands and thousands of individuals.
Texas Central made a uncommon public assertion Wednesday, sharing a photograph of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Houston Metropolis Council members and Higher Houston Partnership President and CEO Bob Harvey throughout an “funding and commerce mission” in Tokyo and Chiba, a sister metropolis of Houston.
The corporate mentioned the Houston leaders mentioned the high-speed rail venture on the journey. Native Houston and Dallas leaders have lengthy championed the venture that might join the 2 Texas cities.
Nonetheless in rivalry is how a lot land the corporate has acquired within the 10 years because the venture was introduced, and the way a lot land continues to be wanted for the bullet practice.
Texas Central owns upwards of 330 properties throughout the ten counties the corporate has indicated to construct in. A few of these tracts occupy only one,500 sq. toes, a fraction of an acre, whereas others span upwards of 20 acres, in accordance with an evaluation by the Tribune of knowledge from native appraisal districts.
The overall worth of these properties was appraised at greater than $38 million, although some counties listed solely the market value.
One of many landowners’ main issues is the choice for Texas Central to make use of eminent area to grab non-public property. In June, the Texas Supreme Courtroom dominated that the corporate and its companions did qualify as “interurban electrical railway corporations” and will invoke eminent area authority to construct the high-speed rail venture.
“Eminent area will solely be used as a final resort to amass property, ought to negotiations fail, for these properties that haven’t been acquired. We don’t know right now when that may happen,” Neblett mentioned in response to questions concerning the firm’s authority to grab non-public property.
McShan mentioned the state’s Supreme Courtroom settled the eminent area determination, however he has a listing of lingering questions for Texas Central.
“You should come and sit somebody down,” McShan informed the Tribune. “Give me a witness and persuade me that you simply’re nonetheless planning to do that, after which perhaps I don’t file a lawsuit.”
In the course of the 2022 Texas Tribune Pageant in September, transportation officers have been requested concerning the feasibility of the venture’s success.
“The final time we heard from them was over a 12 months in the past,” mentioned Bruce Bugg, chair of the Texas Transportation Fee. He mentioned the Texas Division of Transportation, which he oversees, served as technical advisers for an environmental evaluation of the venture launched by the Federal Railroad Administration in November 2020. However since then, Texas Central has stopped speaking with the state’s transportation company.
State Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, the chair of the state Home Transportation Committee, mentioned with Texas’ speedy inhabitants progress, high-speed rail would vastly profit the state however it could doubtless should be backed.
“It needs to be one thing we acquired within the toolbox that we’re going to consider, however the concept it’s going to be paid for and preserve itself by non-public trade — the numbers merely don’t work,” Canales mentioned.
State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, the chair of the state Senate Committee on Transportation, shared Canales’ funding issues. Nichols famous that each high-speed rail venture on the planet requires authorities subsidies, but Texas Central has maintained that public financing is not going to be essential to fund the bullet practice. He mentioned financing the practice isn’t one thing he would take into account when drafting the state price range, as a result of the venture serves solely a restricted inhabitants.
Across the final time Bugg heard from the corporate, Texas Central had scaled again its efforts to amass land to construct the practice primarily based on an evaluation of public data.
Since then, a lot of the corporate’s public presence has diminished over time, with little details about the bullet practice’s progress identified.
Joshua Fechter contributed to this story.
Disclosure: Higher Houston Partnership and Texas Central have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full checklist of them right here.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Monday, directing the Texas Department of Public Safety to target and arrest people trying to execute influence operations on behalf of the Chinese government to return dissidents to China.
Abbott’s action is in response to “Operation Fox Hunt,” a Chinese government initiative that is intended to root out corruption in that country but in practice has also been used to intimidate Chinese citizens living abroad, harass Chinese pro-democracy activists and even forcibly repatriate dissidents and government officials in some cases. The U.S. justice department has successfully prosecuted individuals in connection to the Chinese initiative.
“The Chinese Communist Party has engaged in a worldwide harassment campaign against Chinese dissidents in attempts to forcibly return them to China,” Abbott said in a news release. “Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals of Chinese descent who legally call Texas home by the Chinese Communist Party or its heinous proxies.”
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Conor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI office in Houston, said the agency has pushed a public campaign since January to stop the harassment, intimidation and assault of people in the United States by foreign governments. The FBI is looking for potential victims in the Houston area who have been harassed by agents of the Chinese government.
Hagan said the Chinese government has targeted its own citizens living within the United States as well as naturalized and U.S.-born citizens who have family overseas.
“Their actions violate U.S. law and our treasured American individual rights and freedoms,” Hagan wrote in an email.
The FBI office in Houston has set up a hotline for people who believe they are victims of these types of actions by the Chinese Communist Party: (713) 693-5000..
State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, who was born in China and immigrated to the United States applauded Abbott’s move Tuesday.
“The ability to speak your mind and live freely are the core promises of the American Dream; and any who seek to take that away stand against Texas values,” Wu said.
Last year, Wu criticized Texas Republicans for pushing legislation that would ban citizens and foreign entities from countries including China from buying land in Texas. He urged Abbott to also support Chinese immigrants by opposing such legislation.
The Chinese government has set up “police service stations” across the world, according to Abbott’s executive order, and one such station was rumored to be in Houston.
“We will continue to do everything we can to protect Texans from the unlawful and repressive actions of the Chinese Communist Party,” Abbott said.
Abbott charged DPS with identifying and charging people suspected of crimes related to Operation Fox Hunt; work with local and federal authorities to assess incidents where foreign governments are harassing Texans; provide policy recommendations on how to counter these threats and set up a hotline to reported suspected acts of coercion related to “Operation Fox Hunt.”
On Thursday, Abbott issued a second executive order aimed at hardening the systems of state agencies and public higher education institutions from being accessed by hostile foreign nations.
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This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Texas Tribune.
WATCH: Cedric Golden on how Texas football left Arkansas with a win
The No. 3 Longhorns took a 20-10 win in Fayetteville.
Only two teams control their destiny when it comes to winning the Southeastern Conference. And they play another.
But not this weekend.
Texas football and Texas A&M football are on a collision course to play for a spot in the conference title game, but that hype won’t reach a fevered pitch until Thanksgiving weekend.
The path is open but the winning still must happen to get there. Either say, the Horns and Aggies can’t assume wins are coming against either Kentucky or Auburn. Too many upsets have already happened to buy into point spreads or an opponent’s recent struggles.
When the No. 3 Longhorns take the field for Senior Day against the unranked Wildcats, they will apparently walk into Royal-Memorial with no thoughts of the Aggies and the resumption of a football rivalry that’s been lying dormant for the last 14 years.
The same goes for the guys in College Station (wink, wink).
Horns face a Kentucky team that’s struggled lately
Since losing 13-12 against Georgia on Sept. 14, the 4-6 Wildcats have gone 1-4 in conference play. But that win was a 20-17 doozy at Ole Miss, which is currently playing as well as anyone in the country.
The league has been all over the place in 2024 from that UK upset in Oxford to Vanderbilt posting wins over Alabama and at Kentucky one season after the Commodores went 2-10 overall and 0-8 in conference play.
“That’s obviously the craziness of the SEC,” UT tight end Gunnar Helm said. “Everybody’s good and everybody’s beating everybody. There’s not one team that’s sticking out that’s beating everybody like there’s been in years past. So everybody’s good. Every road win in the SEC is huge, and we know that, but obviously, we’ve got to move forward and get ready for a great Kentucky team coming in here.”
The Longhorns avoided the upset bug in a real dogfight over the weekend, and the 20-10 decision over Arkansas was rightfully celebrated by a locker room that’s won 10 straight road games dating back to the 2022 season. Six of those victories have come by double digits.
One thing is for certain. If I’m either one of those teams from Texas that sit atop the conference with 5-1 records, the last thing I’d want would be to be stuck in a quagmire of programs that could all finish the regular season at 6-2 and be at the mercy the tiebreaker gods. That should go double for Texas which lost to Georgia, one of those that’s desperate to remain inside the top 12 of the College Football Playoff rankings.
Texas is no stranger to scoreboard watching
Coach Steve Sarkisian said the Horns can take a lesson from the 2023 team that was scoreboard-watching as it fought to secure a spot in the playoff, which was just four teams at the time.
“We were at the mercy of other teams dictating our fate and our future,” Sarkisian said. “Last year, we said, ‘Hey, we’re going to control what we do’ and we’ve kind of continued to sing that same song this year with what we’re doing. I think our players, in a weird way, they see all that.”
The big difference is the comfort in them knowing that two wins and another in Atlanta will get them a first-round bye and a spot in the national quarterfinals.
“They recognize that, but they’re so focused on what’s happening right now and what’s right in front oft hem, that I don’t know if they’re that concerned about that,” Sarkisian said. “But they’re so focused on ‘Man, I just want to play good this week,’ and that for a coach… that’s a really good place to be.”
As for Saturday, expect to see a lot of pregame pageantry as locker room veterans like Helm, Jahdae Barron, Barryn Sorrell, Alfred Collins, Jake Majors, left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and yes, quarterback Quinn Ewers — who was mum on the possibility of coming back for a fourth season — will take center stage. But the goal is the goal.
The Horns aren’t winning with style, but they’re winning behind a defense that’s on pace to be the best in school history and an offense that has made the right plays at the right time to keep its conference title dreams on the right track.
Three seasons after a 5-7 nightmare that was its head coach’s first season, the Horns are so close to making SEC history, which would come with beating their heated rival when a whole nation will be watching.
Ahem, in two weeks.
Saturday’s game
Kentucky (4-6, 1-6) at No. 3 Texas (9-1, 5-1), 2:30 p.m., ABC, 1300, 98.1, 105.3 (Spanish)
Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer. See more of Cedric Golden’s work here and follow him on X.
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