Texas
Opponents tell North Texas leaders to drop any plans for ‘flawed’ Marvin Nichols Reservoir
PITTSBURG – Roughly 200 people descended upon a regional water meeting in northeast Texas on Wednesday afternoon with “Stop Marvin Nichols” signs, custom T-shirts and handwritten speeches.
Nearly 40 attendees looked officials in the eyes and repeated the same sentiment: The proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir project needs to be removed from all future water plans.
The meeting, lasting about four hours in Camp County, was specially called by the Region D water planning group whose jurisdiction includes the land that would be used to build the 66,000-acre reservoir to pump water more than 100 miles to North Texas. Some Region C water officials, who are part of the group calling for the project that would benefit the North Texas area, were also in attendance.
At one point, Region D chairman Jim Thompson sat beside Region C chairman Kevin Ward at the front of the room.
Ward talked about Marvin Nichols being just one of the many alternatives that leaders are looking at to meet water needs in North Texas and said having the project in the plan isn’t a “green light” to start developing but rather a placeholder for if it’s needed in the future. He noted the permitting process could take decades to complete.
He said he doesn’t know of any other strategy in the state that’s had so many studies and analysis completed, calling the reservoir a “lightning rod for the entire state of Texas.” He said the voice of northeast Texans has been heard far and wide.
“All these years it’s been heard in the halls of the Legislature down in Austin, it’s been heard by your state representatives here, by your senators and by those members out there in Region C as well,” Ward said. “We’ve heard it so you’ve got to believe that if we thought there was another way to do what we’re trying to do right now … we’d certainly latch onto it as fast as we could.”
Much of the crowd was attentive but unsympathetic. Thompson responded later in the meeting, reiterating that he is willing to work together to find additional supplies in the Region D area that could help Region C.
“That does not, in my opinion, in any way, form or fashion mean that I’m going to agree to Marvin Nichols because I never am,” Thompson said. “It’s a flawed project. It should not go forward. It should be removed from the state water plan.”
A majority in the room applauded Thompson’s comment. The men eventually shook hands before Ward took a seat in the audience and Thompson presided over the 38 public comments made about the plan.
For decades, Region C water planners in North Texas have suggested the reservoir is one of the best solutions to quench Dallas-Fort Worth’s growing water needs that continues to increase as its population continues to grow.
Discussions around the project have occurred since the 1960s when it was first included in the state water plan but are being revamped as the regional groups prepare their latest plans, which are completed every five years. Tensions began boiling in the last 20-some years as the need for water in North Texas became even more apparent with the population boom.
Many, including Ward, said Wednesday’s meeting drew the largest crowd of any Marvin Nichols meeting they’d been to in the last couple decades.
Proponents for the manmade lake have recently called for it to be online by 2050 and a recent estimate put the cost at $7 billion. The Texas Water Development Board recently completed a review of the project, concluding that it was feasible.
Those opposed to the project – including residents in portions of Red River, Franklin and Titus counties whose generational land, homes, churches and cemeteries where their family members are buried would be flooded – have spoken out against the reservoir repeatedly, including at a Region C meeting in Arlington at the end of September.
Photos: Northeast Texas residents pack public meeting to speak out in opposition to proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir
They’ve said the project would destroy their small, rural communities that are made up of blue-collar workers who are the backbone of not only Texas but the U.S. They also say the negative impacts of the project beyond where its footprint would be haven’t been adequately portrayed, including detrimental effects to the Rivercrest ISD and thriving timber industry.
“Here we are again,” Gary Cheatwood Jr., 48, told the water planners. Cheatwood’s family has been in the Red River County community called Cuthand for more than a century and throughout his entire adult life he’s watched his dad, 85-year-old Gary Cheatwood, battle the reservoir plans.
Cheatwood said in the decade or so he’s been speaking at meetings, he typically talks about data and numbers but he chose to switch up his approach Wednesday. Instead, he talked about his dreams of living in Cuthand and a desire of continuing to raise his kids there.
Those hopes are something that can’t be taken from him, he said, adding that he won’t leave. “Amen,” someone from the audience said before people applauded. Cheatwood said the deal was a land grab before anything else.
“I will sit on my land until I’m dead or Jesus comes back, whichever comes first,” he said.
A handful of other residents in the area that would be drowned agreed that they would be either buried on the land or taken off it in a body bag but giving it up for the reservoir wasn’t an option.
More than a dozen people referred to the project as “thievery,” “theft” or “stealing.” One man called it “interregional imperialism” and a woman compared the fight to David and Goliath.
Though a lot of the public commenters were familiar faces who have been traveling to meetings across the state for decades, others said they recently learned about the project and felt compelled to speak up.
Tawnya Cagle, 50, said her family moved from Rockwall to northeast Texas in 2017 and had never heard of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir.
“There are people who are literally pouring their foundations right now and they know nothing about this,” she said. “So imagine our surprise when we came out here.”
Now, as she’s learned more, she’s joining the movement to call for the project to be scrapped.
“It’s about our kids and our grandkids and our legacy we want to leave them,” Cagle said.
Photos: Residents in the Sulphur River Basin fear their land will be inundated if Marvin Nichols Reservoir in northeast Texas is built
Some Region D members also voiced concerns.
One called for more active water conservation in Dallas-Fort Worth, comparing it to not buying more cattle if there’s not enough grass. Another called for Region C to look elsewhere for water, like the Gulf of Mexico.
Robert Hurst, of Delta County, said he grew up in North Texas so he appreciates the water needs but wanted to make one thing clear.
“Frankly, it’s growing out our way too,” he said. “We need the water, too. Y’all are not the only ones.”
He said his county is also planning what it’s going to do to handle the expanding population.
“We’re not trying to be ornery but we’re trying to self preserve and we all need our land, we need our water and we’re going to be seeing the growth you’re seeing also,” Hurst said.
No. 1 seed Texas (51-12, 16-8 in SEC play) and No. 3 seed Texas Tech (61-8, 21-3 in the Big 12) begin their three-game series at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday in Oklahoma City. Each
Texas
Brazoria County deputy shoots, kills Texas State University student after car chase, report says
BRAZORIA COUNTY, Texas – A Texas State University student was shot and killed by a Brazoria County Sheriff’s deputy early Monday morning after an attempted traffic stop in Lake Jackson.
The news was first reported by The University Star, Texas State’s student-run newspaper.
In a Tuesday statement to KSAT, the university identified the student as John Gabriel Mendoza Jr., 18. He was a freshman who studied management, according to the school.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, classmates, and all those affected by this tragedy,” the university said in its statement.
Deputies attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle just after midnight Monday near Farm-to-Market 2004 and This Way Street in Lake Jackson, the sheriff’s office said.
The driver of the vehicle, who was identified as Mendoza by The University Star, did not stop, deputies said. The deputies then chased after the vehicle for approximately a mile into a neighborhood located in the 100 block of Indian Warrior Trail.
According to the sheriff’s office, the driver went inside a home’s garage and parked before a deputy approached the vehicle, the release said.
The deputy then pulled out his firearm and shot into the vehicle. The sheriff’s office said the gunfire struck the driver.
The University Star reported that Mendoza was the one shot. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The deputy who pulled the trigger has since been placed on administrative leave in accordance with the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office policy.
KSAT reached out to the Lake Jackson Police Department and the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office for more information, but neither agency has responded at this time.
The shooting investigation is being led by the Texas Rangers, according to a Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office news release.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Texas and Texas Tech will meet in the championship series of the Women’s College World Series in back-to-back years after both teams won semifinal matchups on a scorcher of a day at Devon Park that saw the maximum four games with two “if necessary” showdowns.
Texas has won six elimination games in the NCAA Tournament so far, including two on Monday, to reach its fourth championship series in five years and its third straight. The Longhorns and Red Raiders became the 11th and 12th teams in WCWS history to lose their opener and then reach the finals. This is the first matchup of teams to do that since 2021, when FSU and Oklahoma accomplished the feat.
The Red Raiders return to the championship series after knocking out No. 1 overall seed Alabama, marking their second consecutive appearance in the finals. Kaitlyn Terry and NiJaree Canady worked in tandem in the circle in Game 1 to keep the bats of Alabama’s potent offense relatively quiet, but Canady took it to another level in Game 2, throwing a complete-game shutout. She now has a shutout in each of her four appearances in the WCWS.
“I’m just excited to be able to make it to the championship series again,” Canady said on facing Texas in back-to-back championships. “It’s just a blessing to play them again. It’s good for the state of Texas, showing how good softball is in the state, and I feel like we’re going to get a good turnout.”
“Just so proud of my girls,” Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said. “They really bought in in the last — I feel like the last 30 days that we just have come together and became a whole different team, and they’re just playing for each other so well now.”
As per usual for the Red Raiders’ stacked lineup, it was a runs-by-committee kind of day, with RBIs from five players: Lauren Allred, Terry, Jasmyn Burns, Taylor Pannell — who both homered — and Mia Williams, whose walk-off in Game 1 kept the Red Raiders’ chances alive. Burns was the sole provider of the offense in Game 2 with a solo home run, her second in as many days. That was all Texas Tech needed to shut out the Tide, though another run scored on an error in the top of the seventh allowed Mihyia Davis to add some insurance.
Alabama’s Jocelyn Briski had been dominant the entire WCWS up until Monday’s first matchup, where she just couldn’t seem to find the zone. She had more control in Game 2, but the Tide’s offense couldn’t figure out Canady despite seeing her in the first game.
NiJaree Canady blanked the Crimson Tide in Game 2 for her fourth WCWS shutout. (Nathan J. Fish / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“The key today was one inning at a time,” Glasco said. “Play one inning at a time. Even break it down one pitch and go through. Don’t think about 14. Think get the next out, get to the next out, get to the next inning.
“We know that against a great team like Alabama, there’s going to be moments — I told her (Canady) before, you’re going to lose momentum at some point. You’re going to face adversity, and when you do, we’re going to respond really quickly and get it right back in our dugout.
“That adversity happened at the top of the seventh. Just like Oklahoma last year, we lost the lead. Let’s win it in the bottom here. Let’s not mess around and go eight. Let’s get it right now. It took one batter. They’re just really a resilient bunch of young women.”
The Longhorns likewise won both of the necessary games to advance and keep their hopes for a repeat title alive. Teagan Kavan struck out 10 batters — a new career high in OKC — and allowed just two hits in a complete-game shutout, the fifth of her career on this stage, to surpass Texas legend and Olympian Cat Osterman. Tennessee, which defeated Texas on Thursday to open up play at Devon Park, needed just one win to advance, but its offense was shut down by Kavan and Game 1 starter Citlaly Gutierrez, who took a no-hitter into the fourth inning.
Tennessee, undefeated in the NCAA Tournament until this point, had hit a home run in every contest but couldn’t find a rhythm in either game. For Texas, Katie Stewart led the way at the plate, launching her second and third home runs in 24 hours despite an uncharacteristic three errors in the field. Her second home run of the day was her 30th of the season, a Texas program record that also made her the fourth player in Division I this season to surpass the 30-homer mark.
Katie Stewart hit a solo home run in the fifth inning of Game 1 against Tennessee to help Texas advance to the championship series. (Brett Rojo / Imagn Images)
“It’s what coach (Mike) White has put in us all season, just fighting back from losses,” senior catcher Reese Atwood said. “When we came out of the loser’s bracket after the first game, we fought so hard. We’ve had so many key players step up in different places, different roles, and it’s Texas fight. It’s what we do, and we’re going to continue to do going into the championship.”
Texas and Texas Tech have not faced each other so far in 2026, but the Longhorns have historically owned the in-state rivalry with a 58-12 record against the Red Raiders.
Last season, Texas Tech made program history with its first WCWS ticket punched, then came within one game of taking home its first title in a three-game battle against Texas. In the 2025 tournament, Texas and Texas Tech went through the winner’s bracket before facing each other; the first two games of the championship were pitchers’ duels until Texas’ offense exploded in Game 3 to take home the program’s first championship.
Notably, the college careers of Tennessee ace Karlyn Pickens and Alabama seniors Alexis Pupillo and Marlie Giles came to an end. Pickens has made an indelible mark on the sport and leaves behind the record for the fastest pitch recorded in college softball at 79.4 mph. After being drafted No. 1 in the AUSL Draft, Pickens will play professionally with the Carolina Blaze.
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