Today is
Thursday November 21, 2024
HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that SpaceX has reportedly backed out of a controversial land swap that would have given the rocket company 43 acres of state parkland in South Texas. The company told the state in a September letter that it was “no longer interested in pursuing the specific arrangement,” according to an article Bloomberg published Thursday. The letter did not offer an explanation but noted the company apparently first notified Texas Parks and Wildlife of its decision in July.
The deal, approved by the state department earlier this year, would have given SpaceX room to expand in Boca Chica State Park, which surrounds the facility where it’s building and launching the world’s most powerful rocket. In exchange, SpaceX agreed to buy 477 acres near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and give the land to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to create a new state park. The Cameron County Appraisal District shows that SpaceX did buy the 477 acres. SpaceX and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This land swap elicited thousands of public comments when it was announced in January. Environmental organizations raised concerns about giving a rocket company sensitive state parkland. Officials with SpaceX and the state argued the 43 acres were unconnected parcels, and many of them were inaccessible to the public.
AUSTIN – The Austin American-Statesman reports theTexas Higher Education Coordinating Board has picked Wynn Rosser to serve as the agency’s next commissioner, members announced at a special meeting Thursday. Rosser most recently served as president of the Temple Foundation, an organization that works with rural communities in East Texas to create more access to education and opportunities to help address poverty. Before that, he was a senior administrator at Texas A&M University. He has also worked in the Rio Grande Valley to help boost access to secondary education, and he served as president and CEO of the Greater Texas Foundation, which works to connect underserved populations to educational opportunities. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is the highest authority on higher education matters in the state. It distributes the state’s financial aid to schools and sets its vision for meeting workforce needs. The commissioner, who is also the acting CEO of the agency, is appointed by the board, whose members are appointed by the governor.
DALLAS — The Texas Employment Forecast released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicates jobs will increase 2.1 percent in 2024, with an 80 percent confidence band of 1.9 to 2.3 percent.
This is a decrease from the previous month’s forecast of 2.5 percent for 2024.????????
The forecast is based on an average of four models that include projected national GDP, oil futures prices,?and the Texas and U.S. leading indexes.
“Texas employment contracted as 6,600 jobs were lost in October,” said Jesus Cañas, Dallas Fed senior business economist. “Losses were concentrated in the private sector services, particularly professional and business services, although some sectors expanded such as information and financial activities. Government and goods producing sectors also expanded. In the major metropolitan areas, employment grew in San Antonio, Austin and Fort Worth, while it fell in Houston and Dallas.”
Additional key takeaways from the latest Dallas Fed report:???????
The forecast suggests 288,000 jobs will be added in the state this year, and employment in December 2024 will be 14.3 million.????
Texas employment decreased by an annualized 0.6 percent month over month in October, while the September growth was revised upward to 3.7 percent.??
The unemployment rate, which takes into account changes in the total labor force along with other factors, increased in each of Texas’ major metros in October. This includes Austin–Round Rock, Brownsville–Harlingen, Dallas–Plano–Irving, El Paso, Fort Worth–Arlington, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, Laredo and San Antonio–New Braunfels, according to?seasonally adjusted numbers?from the Dallas Fed.???? ????
The Texas statewide unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent in October.?????
Additional information about the Texas Employment Forecast, plus seasonally adjusted and benchmarked Texas jobs data and metro unemployment rates, may be found on?DallasFed.org.????
HOUSTON (AP) — Efforts to free Melissa Lucio, a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter, were significantly bolstered after a judge concluded that she is “actually innocent” of capital murder.
Senior State District Judge Arturo Nelson concluded that prosecutors presented false testimony, suppressed evidence and that new scientific evidence that was not available during Lucio’s 2008 trial undermines and contradicts evidence presented by the state. He recommended that Lucio’s conviction and death sentence be overturned.
“This Court finds (Lucio) has satisfied her burden and produced clear and convincing evidence that she is actually innocent of the offense of capital murder,” Nelson wrote in a 62-page ruling he signed in October but was not made public until Thursday.
Lucio has long maintained she is innocent and her daughter Mariah died of a head injury sustained in an accidental fall down a steep staircase two days before her death.
Nelson’s recommendation has been sent to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will make the final decision in Lucio’s case. There was no timetable for a ruling by the appeals court. Lucio’s case has garnered support from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
“This is the best news we could get going into the holidays,” John and Michelle Lucio, Melissa Lucio’s son and daughter-in-law, said in a statement. “We pray our mother will be home soon.”
Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project and one of Lucio’s attorneys, said Lucio was “sent to death row for a crime that never happened.”
The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Lucio, didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
Lucio, 56, had been set for lethal injection in April 2022 for the 2007 death of her daughter in Harlingen, a city of about 71,000 in Texas’ southern tip. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted her lethal injection two days before her execution so Lucio’s claims that new evidence would exonerate her could be reviewed.
The appeals court had asked the trial court to review four claims made by Lucio’s lawyers: prosecutors used false testimony; previously unavailable scientific evidence would preclude her conviction; Lucio is actually innocent; and prosecutors suppressed evidence favorable to her.
In April, Nelson had approved an agreement between prosecutors and Lucio’s attorneys that found Lucio’s conviction should be overturned amid findings that evidence in her murder trial was suppressed. Prosecutors had previously maintained Mariah was the victim of abuse and noted her body was covered in bruises.
The appeals court sent the case back to Nelson in June, asking he also make recommendations in the other three claims.
Nelson found in favor of Lucio in the other three claims as well, including faulting prosecutors for presenting medical expert testimony that claimed the girl’s injuries could only have been caused by abuse and presenting “scientifically wrong testimony” from a Texas Ranger who claimed he could tell Lucio was guilty based on her demeanor and body language when interrogated.
HOUSTON (AP) — Efforts to free Melissa Lucio, a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter, were significantly bolstered after a judge concluded that she is “actually innocent” of capital murder.
Senior State District Judge Arturo Nelson concluded that prosecutors presented false testimony, suppressed evidence and that new scientific evidence that was not available during Lucio’s 2008 trial undermines and contradicts evidence presented by the state. He recommended that Lucio’s conviction and death sentence be overturned.
“This Court finds (Lucio) has satisfied her burden and produced clear and convincing evidence that she is actually innocent of the offense of capital murder,” Nelson wrote in a 62-page ruling he signed in October but was not made public until Thursday.
Lucio has long maintained she is innocent and her daughter Mariah died of a head injury sustained in an accidental fall down a steep staircase two days before her death.
Nelson’s recommendation has been sent to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will make the final decision in Lucio’s case. There was no timetable for a ruling by the appeals court. Lucio’s case has garnered support from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
“This is the best news we could get going into the holidays,” John and Michelle Lucio, Melissa Lucio’s son and daughter-in-law, said in a statement. “We pray our mother will be home soon.”
Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project and one of Lucio’s attorneys, said Lucio was “sent to death row for a crime that never happened.”
The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Lucio, didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
Lucio, 56, had been set for lethal injection in April 2022 for the 2007 death of her daughter in Harlingen, a city of about 71,000 in Texas’ southern tip. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted her lethal injection two days before her execution so Lucio’s claims that new evidence would exonerate her could be reviewed.
The appeals court had asked the trial court to review four claims made by Lucio’s lawyers: prosecutors used false testimony; previously unavailable scientific evidence would preclude her conviction; Lucio is actually innocent; and prosecutors suppressed evidence favorable to her.
In April, Nelson had approved an agreement between prosecutors and Lucio’s attorneys that found Lucio’s conviction should be overturned amid findings that evidence in her murder trial was suppressed. Prosecutors had previously maintained Mariah was the victim of abuse and noted her body was covered in bruises.
The appeals court sent the case back to Nelson in June, asking he also make recommendations in the other three claims.
Nelson found in favor of Lucio in the other three claims as well, including faulting prosecutors for presenting medical expert testimony that claimed the girl’s injuries could only have been caused by abuse and presenting “scientifically wrong testimony” from a Texas Ranger who claimed he could tell Lucio was guilty based on her demeanor and body language when interrogated.
AUSTIN (AP) —The Onion’s winning bid for Alex Jones ’ Infowars platform is under review by a federal bankruptcy judge after Jones and his lawyers complained about how an auction was conducted.
The satirical news outlet was announced as the winning bidder on Thursday in an auction that is part of Jones’ personal bankruptcy. Hours later, Infowars headquarters in Austin, Texas and its websites were shut down and Jones was broadcasting from a new studio he had set up before the bankruptcy auction. By Friday morning, Infowars and its websites were back up and running for reasons that were not entirely clear.
At a hastily called court hearing in Houston on Thursday, Judge Christopher Lopez ordered another hearing to be held next week. He wants to know what happened with the auction and how the bankruptcy trustee chose The Onion over the only other bidder — a company affiliated with a Jones product-selling website.
A court hearing is typically held after a bankruptcy auction to finalize the winning bids and sales, and to hear any objections, so the process in Jones’ case hasn’t strayed far from the usual — yet.
Here’s a look at the bankruptcy auction and what could happen next:
Why was Infowars up for auction?
Jones declared personal bankruptcy in late 2022 after he was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion to families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut who sued him for defamation for repeatedly calling the massacre a hoax aimed at increasing gun control.
Relatives of some of the 20 first graders and six educators who were killed in the 2012 shooting said Jones’ followers harassed and threatened them as a result of his lies. Jones has since acknowledged the shooting was “100% real.”
As part of the bankruptcy, Jones’ personal assets and Infowars’ parent company, the Jones-owned Free Speech Systems, were to be sold at auction, with the Sandy Hook families and Jones’ other creditors getting the proceeds.
How The Onion was named the winning bidder
The bankruptcy trustee overseeing the sale chose from sealed bids. He received two.
One was from the Jones-affiliated First United American Companies, which offered $3.5 million, the trustee revealed in court Thursday. The other, from The Onion, was lower but contained an incentive by some of the Sandy Hook families to forgo a portion of the sale proceeds and give it to other Jones’ creditors, the trustee, Christopher Murray, said.
Murray said he determined The Onion’s offer, although unusual, was better overall, because it would provide more money to Jones’ creditors than the other bid. But he also said he could not yet put a dollar figure on The Onion’s bid when the families’ offer was factored in.
Judge Lopez indicated that he had expected prospective buyers would be given a chance to outbid each other after the bids were unsealed.
His 20-page order on the sale procedures in September, however, made such a bidding round optional. And it gave broad authority to Murray to conduct the sale, including the power to reject any bid, no matter how high, that was “contrary to the best interests” of Jones, his company and their creditors.
Infowars reopens after shutting down
Murray had Infowars’ website and studio shut down Thursday as he began the process of securing assets, a lawyer for the trustee said in court Thursday. But on Friday, Infowars and its websites were back up and running.
On his show, Jones told listeners that Murray had told him it was wrong to shut down Infowars before the sale was finalized. Murray and his lawyer did not immediately return phone messages and emails seeking comment.
What’s next in court?
The judge said he had concerns about the auction process and transparency. Both sides are expected to present evidence at next week’s hearing.
Jones and a lawyer for First United American Companies allege Murray improperly selected The Onion’s bid and unexpectedly changed the sale process Monday after the sealed bids were submitted, by deciding not to hold a round of bidding on Wednesday. They also questioned the legality of The Onion’s bid.
Murray said denied doing anything improper and said he followed the judge’s auction rules.
Lopez would rule on whether the trustee properly ran the auction and selected The Onion as the winning bidder. If not, the possibilities include reopening the sale and holding an auction where potential buyers could outbid each other. The judge has the ultimate authority to accept or reject any sale of Infowars.
An exact date for the hearing had not yet been scheduled by Friday afternoon.
What are The Onion’s plans for Infowars?
The Onion — which carries the banner of “America’s Finest News Source” on its masthead — was founded in the 1980s and for decades has skewered politics and pop culture. It hopes to reopen the Infowars website in January as a parody of Jones and other conspiracy theorists.
“Our goal in a couple of years is for people to think of Infowars as the funniest and dumbest website that exists,” Ben Collins, the Onion’s CEO, told The Associated Press. “It was previously the dumbest website that exists.”
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas man charged with trying to provide material support to the Islamic State group and planning violent attacks in Houston appeared in federal court Thursday.
Anas Said is accused of offering his home as a safe sanctuary for members of ISIS and saying he wants to take part in a terrorist attack like 9/11, according to court records. Federal prosecutors allege Said had spent time planning and discussing committing attacks in Houston, where he lived, and had used the internet to research how to make explosives and use cellphones as remote detonators.
“He has created videos extolling the ‘virtue’ of ISIS, the violence and death brought by ISIS, and the need for the terror perpetrated by ISIS to continue,” according to court documents. “He is dedicated to his mission to provide material support to ISIS in whatever form that may take.”
Said, 28, was arrested last week and on Thursday pleaded not guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Said, who authorities said was born in Houston but spent part of his childhood in Lebanon, will remain in federal custody.
Said has been on the FBI’s radar since 2017, said Douglas Williams Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston office.
“To those wannabe terrorists who believe they can hide behind encrypted apps or anonymous social media profiles, please understand that we will find you and we will hold you to account,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani.
Baldemar Zuniga, Said’s attorney, said in a statement that the allegations against his client revolve around providing support to ISIS only through videos and propaganda.
“Despite allegations that my client made statements to government agents regarding proposed terrorist acts, the indictment does not currently allege any planning, or acts of terrorism. This appears to be a lengthy investigation and it will take some time to sift through all of the evidence,” Zuniga said.
If convicted, Said faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
HOUSTON (AP) – A surprise pitch from a Chicago company with no experience building offshore wind farms has reignited enthusiasm for wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico.
Hecate Energy, a company best known for land-based solar projects, presented its plan to build a 133-turbine wind farm in the Gulf shortly after the Biden administration canceled the region’s second lease auction in July due to insufficient interest from bidders. The failed auction came on the heels of the Gulf’s disappointing first-ever auction in 2023, which drew just one successful bid, submitted by German wind energy giant RWE, for a tract south of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and no bids for two areas near Galveston, Texas.
The Gulf’s offshore wind industry “could use a positive headline,” Hecate wrote in its application to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the agency in charge of offshore wind development in federal waters. By proceeding with Hecate’s application, BOEM could “generate momentum” in a region overlooked by offshore wind developers, the application said.
Hecate’s gambit appears to be paying off. Invenergy, another Chicago energy company, recently threw down a proposal for roughly the same two areas of the western Gulf, about 25 miles from Galveston. In an “Indication of Interest” letter sent to the BOEM in September, Invenergy proposed up to 140 turbines with a total capacity of about 2,500 megawatts, enough to power about a half-million homes. Hecate’s more modest plan would likely produce approximately 2,000 megawatts.
Suddenly, the Gulf is back in play, said Cameron Poole, energy and innovation manager for the economic development organization Greater New Orleans, Inc. While the Gulf has stronger storms and fewer potential energy customers than the East Coast, which has been the focus of U.S. offshore wind development, “these new proposals show that developers aren’t scared away by that,” Poole said. “It shows that interest is still growing in the Gulf.”
BOEM is waiting to see if more companies propose projects for the two areas, which total about 142,000 acres. The areas differ from the ones BOEM planned to auction in July, but the agency had identified them as suitable for offshore wind development in 2021. BOEM will likely initiate a competitive lease sale but no timeline has been set, a BOEM spokesperson said this week.
“The interest from industry leaders such as Hecate and RWE demonstrates the commercial potential in the region,” said James Kendall, BOEM’s Gulf region director.
Founded in 2012, Hecate has developed more than 47 solar and energy storage projects in the U.S. and Canada and a wind farm in Jordan. Its minority investor, Repsol, is an oil and gas company with offshore extraction rights in the Gulf and off the Alaska coast.
Invenergy has 74 solar and energy storage projects and 118 land-based wind projects in North America, Europe and Japan. The 23-year-old company is developing offshore wind projects off the New Jersey and California coasts.
Betting on the Gulf
While lagging behind the East Coast, the Gulf has the potential to be a wind energy powerhouse. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory determined the Gulf could generate more than 500,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy per year. That’s twice the energy needs of all five Gulf Coast states, and larger than the potential offshore wind capacity of the Great Lakes and Pacific Coast combined.
An initial flurry of interest in the Gulf from some of the world’s biggest offshore wind developers has waned as the industry’s overall growth in the U.S. cooled in recent years. The reasons are varied: supply chain delays, high interest rates, rising inflation and a lack of trained workers.
Louisiana and Texas have already capitalized on the offshore wind industry even if no turbine blades are spinning over the Gulf.
Louisiana firms with close ties to the offshore oil and gas industry have played key roles in the wind industry for nearly a decade. Six Bayou State companies supplied designers, engineers, ship operators, and other workers to build the U.S.’s first offshore wind farm, a five-turbine project off Rhode Island, in 2016.
About a quarter of all offshore wind industry contracts in the U.S. have gone to Gulf-based firms, with about $1 billion in investments flowing to the region’s ship and metal fabrication yards in recent years, according to the Oceantic Network, an industry trade group.
Louisiana has approved agreements with two companies to build small-scale wind farms in state-managed waters near Cameron Parish, in the southwest corner of the state, and Port Fourchon, the Gulf’s largest oil and gas port.
Texas political winds
RWE, the Gulf’s only lease-holder in federal waters, had lobbied regulators to boost leasing opportunities near Louisiana because it was the only state in the Gulf “that has signaled its interest in pursuing offshore wind policy,” the company said in a letter to BOEM.
Texas has stronger wind speeds, but its leaders have expressed strong opposition to offshore wind development. The Texas Legislature threatened to block wind farms from linking to the state’s power grid and hit companies with fines if they failed to meet energy generation goals. Just before last year’s auction, the Texas land commissioner pledged to do “everything in my power … to thwart this proposed boondoggle,” calling wind farms an impediment to shipping and fishing.
While the state of Texas may appear hostile to offshore wind, its cities are offering a warm welcome. Hecate’s application notes that Texas’ four largest cities – Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin – have adopted climate action plans that commit to a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The four cities offer a combined customer base of about 6 million people.
The market for offshore wind power isn’t limited to cities. Hecate indicated it could steer its wind energy to oil and gas companies keen on making their extraction and refining processes a touch greener. The company would also likely tap into the growing market for “green” hydrogen, a fuel made by using wind or solar energy to split water’s molecules. Unlike coal or gas, hydrogen doesn’t produce greenhouse gases when it’s burned.
Federal and state grants are pouring into green hydrogen projects. The Biden administration and Louisiana have awarded about $75 million to develop interrelated green hydrogen initiatives in south Louisiana. A $426 million green hydrogen plant planned in Ascension Parish, about 50 miles west of New Orleans, is also tapping into government grants. Hecate cited the two projects as evidence of a robust developing market for its proposed project and other offshore wind farms.
“It’s a thin landscape right now with three wind developments in the Gulf,” said Poole, referring to the large RWE lease and the two smaller projects envisioned in Louisiana waters. “But we remain optimistic about offshore wind. It’s not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’”
AUSTIN – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports private employers across the state are calling on lawmakers to mend existing gaps in the child care sector that are preventing businesses and the state economy from reaching their full potential at an annual price tag of about $9.4 billion. A task force of almost 70 businesses and organizations announced the specific actions they want to be taken in the upcoming Texas legislative session, which focus on creating partnership models, harnessing relevant data and simplifying the existing array of regulations. The Employers for Childcare Task Force — founded by the Texas Restaurant Association, Early Matters Texas, Texas Association of Business and Texas 2036 — revealed its legislative agenda on Wednesday, Nov. 13, in a virtual press conference about a year after its formation in late 2023.
The task force was created in response to the lack of affordable, accessible and quality child care that limits — or fully prevents — some parents’ ability to participate in the workforce. The resulting turnover and understaffing seen by employers has prompted them to take action toward building a better economic foundation for the state. A recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation study showed Texas is estimated to be losing out on roughly $9.4 billion annually because of child care woes. State lawmakers in both chambers have been assigned to study the issues impacting the child care sector, and proposed solutions, ahead of the legislative session that begins Jan. 14. House Speaker Dade Phelan last month announced eight work groups for House members to voluntarily join, one of which is focused on child care accessibility and affordability. The group laid out the following six policy recommendations: Pass legislation to help employers, no matter their size, help their employees find affordable, quality child care through partnerships. Require Texas Workforce Commission and Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collaboratively streamline child care regulations. Improve data sharing across agencies to better inform state officials on child care opportunities and outcomes. Maintain existing sunset scheduling dates for the Texas Workforce Commission and Texas Health and Human Services Commission so the legislature can evaluate the proper regulatory structure for child care in a timely manner. Strengthen child care workforce by helping eligible workers obtain child care subsidies for themselves. Remove costly local regulation barriers (such as zoning) for home-based child care operations, which are already regulated extensively by the state.
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astrodome has been in limbo, waiting for its chance at a second life since being shuttered more than 15 years ago.
It was a technological marvel when it opened in 1965. But its heyday has long passed and it hasn’t been home to a sports team since the Astros left in 1999 and it was closed to all events a decade later.
Over the years, ideas for its redevelopment and rebirth have been plentiful, everything from turning it into an indoor water park to flooding its sunken floor in order to reenact naval battle scenes. But none of these plans garnered enough public support or financing.
The latest proposal to refurbish the Astrodome was unveiled on Wednesday by a nonprofit focused on saving the beloved domed stadium. The group, the Astrodome Conservancy, proposes redeveloping the inside of the structure to create new areas for restaurants, retail, office and cultural spaces. But like the others before it, this plan could face a similar fate, with a $1 billion price tag and an initial lack of support from local entities that would need to give their OK for the project to go forward.
Beth Wiedower Jackson, the conservancy’s executive director, said that unlike previous proposals, her organization believes theirs is backed by data and would be economically viable in part because there would be enough private investment to support it.
“This is a big, big, bold vision. And those previous plans, even admitted by Harris County officials, were a first step towards a future Astrodome. And this is the full swing of the bat. And this gives people something to be excited about,” Jackson said.
The plan, Vision: Astrodome, proposes the construction of four state-of-the-art buildings inside the stadium that would offer spaces for restaurants, stores and offices. Similar spaces for shopping and eating would also be located around the Astrodome and connected to other facilities around the stadium. The Astrodome is at NRG Park, a 350-acre complex that includes NRG Stadium, located right next to the Astrodome and home to the NFL’s Houston Texans, as well as an arena and exhibition halls.
“The Astrodome is ready now for its next chapter, redevelopment,” said Phoebe Tudor, the conservancy’s chairman. “It is time for all of us in Houston to come together and do something hard, working together to repurpose the Astrodome.”
Nicknamed “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” the Astrodome ushered in a change in how people attended sporting events. It also hosted various cultural events, including concerts by Elvis and Tejano music star Selena as well as the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King in 1973.
Some people have called for its demolition. But a 2017 designation by the Texas Historical Commission as a state antiquities landmark essentially protects it from wholesale destruction. The stadium also maintains a strong foothold in the memories of many people both in and outside of Houston.
Rafi Kohan, whose 2017 book “The Arena” explores the place sports stadiums hold in American culture, said the Astrodome’s construction came at a time of incredible technological innovation in the United States, and it helped transform Houston from what some saw as a “backwoods cow town” into a leader in technology. Houston became the home of the space program with the opening of Johnson Space Center in 1964.
“There was and continues to be a lot of civic pride around the Astrodome, what it represented, the sort of space age feat, you know, in stadium form,” Kohan said.
Douglas Brinkley, a historian and professor at Houston’s Rice University, said the Astrodome has tremendous historical relevance and is worth saving.
“It’s been our fault that we’ve neglected it or not invested in it. But a turnaround is upon us right now. We’re going to get this done,” Brinkley said.
But whether there continues to be enough support in Houston to refurbish and save the Astrodome remains to be seen. It costs between $100,000 and $200,000 a year to maintain the stadium.
The Astrodome is owned by Harris County and managed by the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation.
The office of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, declined to comment on the conservancy’s proposal.
James Dixon, the sports and convention corporation’s chairman, said in a statement that he respects the conservancy’s efforts but “over the last few years, we have seen several concepts that, while thought-provoking, haven’t resulted in viable funding and maintenance solutions.”
Dixon said his organization and the county are working with other stakeholders on a plan for the future of NRG Park and “the solution for the Astrodome must be decided within that context.”
One of those stakeholders, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which holds its annual event at NRG Park and would have a say on what to do with the Astrodome, was not on board with the conservancy’s proposal.
“The proposed plan by the Astrodome Conservancy does not align with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s strategic vision and operational requirements,” Chris Boleman, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected as the incoming Senate majority leader on Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump presented him with one of his first tests — an announcement that he intends to nominate controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general.
The Florida Republican is one of the more universally disliked members of Congress, including among GOP lawmakers after he led the effort to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year. He has spent his congressional career agitating against the Justice Department and has been under a House Ethics investigation probing whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz denies the allegations.
Asked about the nomination as he left a Senate vote, Thune smiled and declined to answer. “That’s probably a good question for the chairman of the Judiciary Committee,” he said.
An hour earlier, the likely incoming chairman of the Judiciary panel, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, also deflected, saying he doesn’t know Gaetz but will look at the nomination. “Don’t ask me any other questions,” Grassley said.
Two months before Trump even takes office, he is already challenging those congressional Republicans to defy him as he nominates potentially controversial figures to his Cabinet — including Gaetz, former Democratic House Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and conservative media personality Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. On Sunday, Trump even said in a post on X that he wants the new Senate leader to allow him to make appointments when the chamber is on recess, bypassing confirmation votes altogether.
“I think it’s a little bit of a test,” said Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who called the Gaetz nomination a “Hail Mary” pass from Trump. Cramer said he sees Gaetz as a disruptive force in the House and has concerns about the “serious allegations” against him, but stopped short of saying he wouldn’t vote for his confirmation.
“It will take a lot of political capital to get him across,” Cramer said, adding that “there will forever be tension between the branches.”
What’s unclear is how much political capital Trump will have to expend to get his picks through — or whether it will even be necessary. Republicans will have a 53-seat majority in the Senate next year, giving them room to lose a few votes.
Immediately after his election as the incoming GOP leader, Thune suggested that the Senate will not fully relinquish its power to vet nominations — but kept the door open to Trump’s suggested changes.
“The Senate has an advise and consent rule in the Constitution,” Thune said, adding that Senate Republicans will do everything they can to get Trump’s nominees quickly in place.
“How that happens remains to be seen,” Thune said.
While Trump’s announcement about Gaetz sent an immediate shock wave around Capitol Hill, many Republican senators who will be tasked with confirming him were reluctant to publicly criticize the pick.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary panel, said he didn’t know Gaetz “other than his public persona,” and said he won’t “prejudge any of these” nominations.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, elected Wednesday as the incoming No. 2 Republican in the Senate next year, would only say that Trump “is going to continue to make his appointments. We’re going to continue to look forward to them coming to the Senate and have hearings and get his Cabinet confirmed as quickly as possible.”
“I’ve got nothing for you,” said Sen. Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican. “We’ll see,” said Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin when asked whether he would support Gaetz’s confirmation.
A few GOP senators praised Gaetz, who resigned from the House shortly after the announcement, ending the House Ethics investigation and making way for a replacement to be elected before the new Congress is sworn in Jan. 3.
“I’ve known Matt for a very long time, we’re friends,” said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who was nominated for secretary of state Wednesday, but was instead flooded with questions about Gaetz. “I think he would do a very good job for the president.”
Gaetz is “a smart, clever guy,” said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, though he said “he’ll have to answer some tough questions in the hearing, and we’ll see how he does.”
Other Republican senators, like Cramer, were skeptical while stopping short of saying they would oppose his nomination.
Gaetz “will have his work cut out for him,” said North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, adding that it should “make for a popcorn-eating confirmation hearing.”
Maine Sen. Susan Collins said she was “shocked” by Gaetz’s nomination.
“I recognize that the president-elect has the right to nominate whomever he wishes, but we in Congress have a responsibility under the Constitution and our advise and consent, which will lead to hearings, an FBI background check and an awful lot of questions being asked in this case,” Collins said.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and said last year that the Justice Department’s investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended with no federal charges against him.
Democrats were appalled.
“This nomination is the first test of whether Republicans are willing to stand up to Donald Trump and go with conscience and conviction as opposed to just politics,” said Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic member of the Judiciary panel.
New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., was even more blunt.
“People voted for cheaper eggs, not whatever the f@#€ this is,” he posted on X, referring to last week’s election.
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astrodome has been in limbo, waiting for its chance at a second life since being shuttered more than 15 years ago.
It was a technological marvel when it opened in 1965. But its heyday has long passed and it hasn’t been home to a sports team since the Astros left in 1999 and it was closed to all events a decade later.
Over the years, ideas for its redevelopment and rebirth have been plentiful, everything from turning it into an indoor water park to flooding its sunken floor in order to reenact naval battle scenes. But none of these plans garnered enough public support or financing.
The latest proposal to refurbish the Astrodome was unveiled on Wednesday by a nonprofit focused on saving the beloved domed stadium. The group, the Astrodome Conservancy, proposes redeveloping the inside of the structure to create new areas for restaurants, retail, office and cultural spaces. But like the others before it, this plan could face a similar fate, with a $1 billion price tag and an initial lack of support from local entities that would need to give their OK for the project to go forward.
Beth Wiedower Jackson, the conservancy’s executive director, said that unlike previous proposals, her organization believes theirs is backed by data and would be economically viable in part because there would be enough private investment to support it.
“This is a big, big, bold vision. And those previous plans, even admitted by Harris County officials, were a first step towards a future Astrodome. And this is the full swing of the bat. And this gives people something to be excited about,” Jackson said.
The plan, Vision: Astrodome, proposes the construction of four state-of-the-art buildings inside the stadium that would offer spaces for restaurants, stores and offices. Similar spaces for shopping and eating would also be located around the Astrodome and connected to other facilities around the stadium. The Astrodome is at NRG Park, a 350-acre complex that includes NRG Stadium, located right next to the Astrodome and home to the NFL’s Houston Texans, as well as an arena and exhibition halls.
“The Astrodome is ready now for its next chapter, redevelopment,” said Phoebe Tudor, the conservancy’s chairman. “It is time for all of us in Houston to come together and do something hard, working together to repurpose the Astrodome.”
Nicknamed “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” the Astrodome ushered in a change in how people attended sporting events. It also hosted various cultural events, including concerts by Elvis and Tejano music star Selena as well as the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King in 1973.
Some people have called for its demolition. But a 2017 designation by the Texas Historical Commission as a state antiquities landmark essentially protects it from wholesale destruction. The stadium also maintains a strong foothold in the memories of many people both in and outside of Houston.
Rafi Kohan, whose 2017 book “The Arena” explores the place sports stadiums hold in American culture, said the Astrodome’s construction came at a time of incredible technological innovation in the United States, and it helped transform Houston from what some saw as a “backwoods cow town” into a leader in technology. Houston became the home of the space program with the opening of Johnson Space Center in 1964.
“There was and continues to be a lot of civic pride around the Astrodome, what it represented, the sort of space age feat, you know, in stadium form,” Kohan said.
Douglas Brinkley, a historian and professor at Houston’s Rice University, said the Astrodome has tremendous historical relevance and is worth saving.
“It’s been our fault that we’ve neglected it or not invested in it. But a turnaround is upon us right now. We’re going to get this done,” Brinkley said.
But whether there continues to be enough support in Houston to refurbish and save the Astrodome remains to be seen. It costs between $100,000 and $200,000 a year to maintain the stadium.
The Astrodome is owned by Harris County and managed by the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation.
The office of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, declined to comment on the conservancy’s proposal.
James Dixon, the sports and convention corporation’s chairman, said in a statement that he respects the conservancy’s efforts but “over the last few years, we have seen several concepts that, while thought-provoking, haven’t resulted in viable funding and maintenance solutions.”
Dixon said his organization and the county are working with other stakeholders on a plan for the future of NRG Park and “the solution for the Astrodome must be decided within that context.”
One of those stakeholders, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which holds its annual event at NRG Park and would have a say on what to do with the Astrodome, was not on board with the conservancy’s proposal.
“The proposed plan by the Astrodome Conservancy does not align with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s strategic vision and operational requirements,” Chris Boleman, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
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Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was detained by police at an airport near Washington, D.C. earlier this month.
McCaul said he became “disoriented” at Dulles International Airport after he took medication and drank alcohol before his scheduled flight back home to Texas.
“Two weekends ago, I made a mistake—one for which I take full responsibility. I missed a flight to Texas and found myself disoriented in the airport. This was the result of a poor decision I made to mix an Ambien—which I took in order to sleep on the upcoming flight—with some alcohol,” McCaul said in a statement.
“Law enforcement officers briefly detained me while I waited for a family member to pick me up. I have nothing but respect and gratitude for the officers who intercepted me that evening. This incident does not reflect who I am and who I strive to be. As a human, I am not perfect. But I am determined to learn from this mistake and, God-willing, make myself a better person.”
McCaul was reelected this month to an 11th term in his district that runs from Austin to the Houston suburbs.
A message left with Dulles International Airport was not immediately returned later Wednesday.