Monday Morning Report
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The Executive Committee of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor will meet Wednesday, May 21 at the Corridor Council offices in San Marcos. Please RSVP to council@thecorridor.org or call 512-558-7360 for more information.
Council staff will be doing presentations on financing the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund this week in San Antonio, Ft. Worth, and Dallas, following last week's meetings in El Paso - all part of an effort to encourage the Legislature to finance the Fund in 2009.
Infrastructure
Ignoring opposition from several key state senators, Gov. Rick Perry appointed his former chief of staff Deirdre Delisi of Austin and Ft. Worth executive William Meadows to the Texas Transportation Commission. Delisi will replace Hope Andrade (San Antonio) as Chair of the Commission. Today's American-Statesman editorial tees up the issues here.
Although freight railroads have spent $10 billion since 2000 to upgrade tracks and facilities - and have budgeted another $12 billion - a whopping $175 billion is needed to help railroads handle anticipated demand during the next 20 years, and a coordinated federal funding formula is needed, a report released last week by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young says. Details here.
US Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters has launched Fast Lane, a new blog accessible at http://fastlane.dot.gov, which she hopes will become an 'on-line community for all those interested in the nation’s transportation system and its future.
San Antonio’s Chamber of Commerce hosts their Annual 'State of the County' Address by Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff Wednesday, May 14, at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel at 11:30 am. Information at (210) 229-2119 or events@sachamber.org.
Economic Development
The US Army Corps of Engineers has selected Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and Jacobs Carter Burgess for the design of new 1200-person dormitories at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure action.
Apple Inc. eliminated 174 sales jobs at its Elk Grove, Calif. campus, and is planning to move those jobs to Austin. All effected employees were offered the option to relocate to a work site in Austin, or apply for another position at Apple in Elk Grove.
Gov. Rick Perry appointed University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) associate professor Karl Eschbach as Texas’ new state demographer. Eschbach will serve as director of the Texas State Data Center at UTSA. The center distributes census information for the state as well as projections from federal, state, and other government sources.
Northwest Airlines kicked off its new Indianapolis nonstop flight last week from Austin which now has nonstop flights to 52 cities either in service or planned.
St Edward’s University has acquired the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, a 227-acre habitat in the Texas Hill Country. Under the agreement, the university is responsible for maintaining and protecting the preserve and will also oversee the Wild Basin board of directors. The Wild Basin preserve was founded in 1974.
“For every action there is an equal and opposite government program.”
-Bob Wells