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The Southern city welcomes the middle class; heavily regulated and expensive Gotham drives it away.___ New Yorkers are rightly proud of their city's renaissance over the last two decades, but when it comes to growth, Gotham pales beside Houston. Between 2000 and 2007, the New York region grew by just 2.7%, while greater Houston — the country's sixth-largest metropolitan area — grew by 19.4%, expanding to 5.6 million people from 4.7 million. To East Coast urbanites, Houston's appeal must be mysterious: The city isn't all that economically productive — earnings per employee in Manhattan are almost double those in Houston...

If you live along the Texas or Louisiana coast, you need to keep your eyes open for something that could mess with your plans next week. http://moe.met.fsu.edu/cgi-bin/gfdltc2.cgi?time=2008071900-invest94l&field=Sea+Level+Pressure&hour=Animation Click the FWD key. That particular forecast model, which actually has been one of the better ones in recent years, shows a Category 4 hurricane hitting just east of Houston by mid-week.

Pasadena officers talked to girlfriend after shootings A woman who knew one of the burglars gunned down by Pasadena homeowner Joe Horn told police she had warned her friend that his habit of breaking into homes would cost him his life, according to recently released police records. As part of a 31-page police report, Diamond Morgan, 24, of Houston, told Pasadena police investigators that she knew Diego Ortiz was a criminal. "Morgan stated that she told Ortiz three days ago that he was going to end up dead for the things that he was doing," police detective M.E. Bruegger wrote...

Two former officials with the Houston Police Officers' Union -- one a police officer, the other a recently retired officer -- were indicted this morning on charges accusing them of stealing more than $100,000 from the union. A Harris County grand jury indicted ex-board secretary Ronny Martin on charges of misapplication of fiduciary property and theft by a public servant. Former board treasurer Jeff Larson is charged with misapplication of fiduciary property. All of the charges allege that $100,000 to $200,000 was taken. Both men were relieved of duty in mid-January in the midst of an investigation, police union officials...

It started with a news report in January of 1983 of 40 teenagers and 7 adults, who were members of a gang called The Smurfs. They committed petty crimes. Hysteria spreaded throughout middle and high schools in Houston. At the peak, many students stayed home out of fear that the Smurfs might attack them. Anyone from the Houston area living at the time might remember it. Snopes Message Board-Texan schools attacked by Smurfs?Google Book Scan From Rough Guide of Unexplained PhenemenonHouston Press-The Year The Smurfs Attacked

HOUSTON — Roy M. Huffington, an oilman who played a major role in developing Indonesia's oil and natural gas sector and later served as a U.S. ambassador to Austria, has died. He was 90. Huffington died Friday while traveling out of the country, according to the funeral home George H. Lewis and Sons. Huffington also founded the Huffington Foundation, which donated millions of dollars to Houston charities, and also served as the chairman of the New York-based Asia Society for more than seven years in the 1980s. Huffington served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and upon his...

Name Agency Title Overtime Total pay ABELARDO SAAVEDRA HOUSTON ISD SUPT OF SCHOOLS $0 $442,556 BRUCE H. LESLIE HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHANCELLOR EMERITUS $0 $336,583 FRANK WILSON METRO PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXEC OFFICER $0 $312,260 H THOMAS KORNEGAY PORT OF HOUSTON DIR EXECUTIVE $0 $277,979 HERMINIA PALACIO HARRIS COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR $0 $275,185 ARTHUR L. STOREY JR HARRIS COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,PUB.INF&FCD $0 $271,799 LUIS ARTURO SANCHEZ HARRIS COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER $0 $271,449 KEVIN CRONIN METRO DEPUTY PROGRAM DIRECTOR $0 $263,744 MARY S. SPANGLER HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHANCELLOR $0 $242,106 KAREN K SOEHNGE HOUSTON ISD CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER $0...

Customers ask Wal-Mart stores to remove book Beloved by Mexicans for his dim wits, street smarts and playful disposition, long-running comic book character Memín Pinguín — a little black boy whose face resembles a monkey — is at it again. His zany adventures chronicled in a hugely popular book series for decades are up for sale at your neighborhood Wal-Mart store in the Libros en Español section, right next to the store's cadre of African-American books. The latest issue: Memín para presidente. By Shawnedria McGinty's American standards, the image was shocking. The African-American woman who was shopping at the store...

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Sunday called for congressional hearings to investigate what she calls ''the many downfalls" of the Harris County judicial system. Recent incidents, including a grand jury's decision not to indict a Pasadena man who shot and killed two men suspected of burglarizing his neighbor, have brought into question whether the system is fair and unbiased, she said. The Democrat, who represents District 18, said she is also concerned and frustrated about derogatory e-mails circulated in the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the handling of DNA evidence by the Houston Police Department crime lab and the number...

By CINDY HORSWELL Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle TOOLS Email Get section feed Print Recommend (2) Comments (63) Yahoo! Buzz RESOURCES A Continental airliner might have been only a minute away from colliding with what the pilot described as a model rocket that shot past his cockpit window, Federal Aviation Administration records obtained by the Houston Chronicle show. On Memorial Day, the Continental pilot reported being startled by his encounter with this object that "went straight up" and left a long white vapor trail.

President Bush is scheduled to stop in Houston to help raise money for Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson's opponent and the Republican Party's statewide campaign for the Nov. 4 election. Bush will be the featured guest at a July 18 fundraising luncheon at the River Oaks home of former energy pipeline executive Dan Tutcher, according to an invitation sent to potential donors.

Well, well, they just couldn’t leave well enough alone. In her latest attack on Joe Horn, the law abiding citizen that protected his neighbor’s home and his neighborhood’s peace and security, Lisa Falkenberg ends her column:The little old man from Pasadena gunned down two men like dogs. That is outrageous and she should be fired.Opinion is one thing. Baseless statements like that are slanderous and have no place in a serious newspaper. Joe Horn didn’t wake up one day wanting to shoot anyone. Two criminals broke into his neighbor’s home and then ran towards him as he was pointing a...

Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, the minister who presided over the recent marriage of President Bush’s daughter Jenna, has launched a pro-Barack Obama Web site sharply critical of conservative stalwart James Dobson. Caldwell, leader of the largest Methodist congregation in the country, launched his “James Dobson Does Not Speak For Me” site a day after Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio program aired a statement charging that Obama distorted the Bible to fit “his own confused theology.” The site urges readers to sign a statement declaring that Dobson does not represent them. The statement reads in part: “James Dobson doesn't speak for...

A recent article on OneNewsNow featured comments by Methodist pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, a Barack Obama supporter. The pastor took issue with James Dobson's contention that Obama distorts the Bible with his theological views. Caldwell, who is affiliated with the website JamesDobsonDoesntSpeakForMe.com, initially told OneNewsNow that the website was operated by Matthew 25, a political action committee working with Obama supporters. However, upon investigation, it was found that the site was actually registered to Alyssa Martin, an intern in the Obama campaign's "religious affairs" department. The domain registration has since been changed to Pastor Caldwell's name. In an earlier interview, Caldwell...

AUSTIN — The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday selected San Antonio's Zachry Construction Corp. and a Spanish toll road developer to plan a superhighway from Texarkana to Brownsville. The $5 million contract calls for Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure to create a financial plan for the Interstate 69 segment of the Trans-Texas Corridor. "This team represents the best in the balance of local and global expertise necessary to complete a project of this scope," said David Zachry, chief operating officer of Zachry Construction Corp. The private developers' plan calls for seven new loops around Corpus Christi and other cities...

Drivers who get safely off Interstate 35E after arriving in Dallas from Austin or San Antonio have a certain look of relief – like they just outran a buffalo stampede. Only on I-35, the stampede is trucks. The white-knuckle experience helps make the case for some kind of reliever road, even a tolled one. Making that same case has been a harder sell for U.S. highways along the Gulf Coast and East Texas. Drivers there can judge their own level of congestion, and they have insisted that their mostly rural corridor doesn't warrant the major undertaking of a parallel turnpike....

Texas farmers and ranchers are hoping that the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) recent announcement to make use of existing roadways in its plan for Interstate 69 is a positive sign when it comes to the ongoing battles with the Trans-Texas Corridor. “We are glad to see that TxDOT is beginning to listen to what so many members of our organization have said for the past four years,� said Kenneth Dierschke, president of the Texas Farm Bureau. Some 28,000 Texans — many of whom are members of the state’s largest farm organization — aired grievances during public meetings held at...

Responding to concerns that a superhighway project running from East Texas to the border with Mexico could cut through private lands, state transportation officials said Tuesday that they will only consider putting it along existing roads. State officials have held almost 50 public meetings and received about 28,000 responses from residents about the proposed Interstate 69 project, which would be part of the so-called Trans-Texas Corridor network of toll roads. The "overwhelming sentiment" of the comments from the public was that the state should focus on using existing roads instead of carving new ones out of the countryside, said Amadeo...

Build a Republican campaign for Tom DeLay's old congressional seat and Dick Cheney will come. The vice president is scheduled to visit Houston billionaire Dan Duncan's home in River Oaks on Friday for a private, campaign fundraising event for congressional candidate Pete Olson of Sugar Land and the Texas Republican Party. Olson is running for the 22nd Congressional District seat held by Democrat Nick Lampson of Stafford. Cheney is no stranger to the local political turf. When DeLay was entangled in campaign ethics charges in late 2005, Cheney was the main attraction at a fundraising event in Houston for the...

The Friendswood Junior High principal who outraged some parents by allowing an Islamic group to make a 40-minute presentation to students last month is now off the job. In a two-sentence statement sent late Wednesday, the school district said Robin Lowe "has accepted another administrative position effective immediately."

I don't know how many of Joel Osteen's flock were thinking of voting for Barack Obama, but I'd like to make sure every last one of them hears this comment from Fr. Michael Pfleger, longtime friend of Obama and one of the Democratic candidate's spiritual mentors: "Hillary and McCain would wish they had a preacher with the integrity of Jeremiah Wright. … They got some old weak preacher…some old Joel Osteen cotton candy preacher." Let's just come out and say it — Pfleger is an A-1 jerk [perhaps not the first word that came to mind], and Obama only started...

Public school students at Friendswood Junior High in the Houston area have been roped into Islamic training by representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations during class time, prompting religious leaders to protest over Principal Robin Lowe's actions. Pastor Dave Welch, spokesman for the Houston Area Pastor Council, confirmed the indoctrination had taken place and called it "unacceptable." "The failure of the principal of Friendswood Junior High to respect simple procedures requiring parental notification for such a potentially controversial subject, to not only approve but participate personally in a religious indoctrination session led by representatives of a group with well-known...

By BILL MURPHY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Comments (304) Yahoo! Buzz The Houston rodeo has rejected a U.S. Justice Department offer to mediate disputes with minority groups who say it needs more minorities in high-ranking positions, doesn't give scholarships to noncitizens in the country legally and has stopped featuring Tejano performers on its main stages. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo does not believe mediation is needed because it promotes diversity and does not engage in discrimination, said chief operating officer Leroy Shafer. "At this point, we see no need to have a Justice Department mediator involved in this," he...

As jurors deliberate killer's sentence, victim's wife says landscaper was negligent in hiring the illegal immigrant The widow of slain Houston police Officer Rodney Johnson filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday afternoon against the landscaper who employed Juan Leonardo Quintero.Quintero was convicted earlier this month of shooting Johnson seven times after he was arrested during a traffic stop. Johnson's wife, Joslyn, said Robert Lane Camp was negligent in hiring Quintero."He needs to pay for his actions," Johnson said outside the courtroom where a jury is deliberating whether Quintero should receive the death penalty for the shooting.Johnson's attorney, Ben Dominguez, said...

DALLAS - In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers. The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" — crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on. "They're itty-bitty things about the size of fleas, and they're just running everywhere," said Patsy Morphew of Pearland, who is constantly sweeping them off...

Houston Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell said he was taken by surprise when First Daughter Jenna Bush asked him to preside over her wedding. (Video)

HOUSTON -- Police have charged three suspects accused of using the skull of a corpse buried in a Kingwood cemetery to make a bong. Kevin Wade Jones, 17, Matthew Richard Gonzalez, 17, and a 16-year-old boy were all charged with one count of desecrating a corpse. The suspects are accused of digging up the skull of an 11-year-old boy buried in a cemetery for African American war veterans and using it to smoke marijuana.

Judge Sherman Ross tried to assemble a jury of peers for a woman accused of possession of a marijuana on trial Tuesday. But authorities say prospective juror Cornelia Mayo might have taken that concept a bit too far after she was caught smoking a joint outside the courthouse during a break. The 49-year-old Houston woman was one of 20 people in a jury pool in Criminal Court at Law No. 10. Ross said he realized something was wrong when juror No. 2, Mayo, didn't return from a 45-minute break. Before the judge could file a bench warrant for the missing...

County commissioners reaffirmed their stance against the Trans-Texas Corridor, and they took another step toward keeping county government transparent when they met Tuesday. First up on the court's agenda, commissioners heard a presentation by Connie Fogle on behalf of the newly formed Pineywoods Sub-Regional Planning Commission. According to Fogle, the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 391, requires state agencies to coordinate with local commissions to "ensure effective and orderly implementation of state programs at the regional level." "Critical in the code is the word 'coordinate,'" she said. "This does not mean the commission has to cooperate. The intent is to...

Each day, I make the dreaded drive down Interstate 35 to go to work in Fort Worth. Each day, I slug through the snarl and sludge of ceaseless traffic, which intensifies my growing desire to commit hari-kari, or at least incites a vehement curse of the highway gods. Certainly, we in Texas need more lanes, more roads, more rails, more something to deal with the ever-expanding urban population and growing international commerce. Yet how do we solve our transportation needs without carving up the countryside like some congratulatory cake? Or should the construction of a superhighway-rail-utility corridor even concern us?...

On Shaky Ground: Geological Faults Threaten HoustonPictured is a Houston-area map showing the locations of salt domes and known active surface faults interpreted on lidar imagery. (Credit: Shuhab Khan and Richard Engelkemeir)ScienceDaily (Apr. 29, 2008) — After finding more than 300 surface faults in Harris County, a University of Houston geologist now has information that could be vitally useful to the region's builders and city planners. This information -- the most accurate and comprehensive of its kind -- was discovered by Shuhab Khan, assistant professor of geology, and Richard Engelkemeir, a geology Ph.D. student, using advanced radar-like laser technology. Although...

Minutes south of Interstate 10 and Sealy, the pastures along FM 1458 are their own silent world in the morning. Mists lift to reveal black cattle, brown and spotted horses, snow-white egrets underfoot in lush green grass. Then a concrete mixer comes churning down the blacktop. Just up the road is a small subdivision. More are sure to come as city dwellers, including weekenders and retirees, move out in search of a quieter, simpler life — and relief from city traffic. Although the gradual influx may bring greater changes in the long run, what disturbs residents most is the planned...

Investigators have recovered a stolen Ford Taurus that they say was used by two men suspected in a failed carjacking that led to a woman's stabbing death last week as she tried to protect her baby. Sheriff's deputies are "examining the car with a fine-toothed comb" as they seek evidence in last week's slaying of Tina Davila, Harris County sheriff's spokesman Lt. John Legg said today. The car was found Monday in the parking lot of a Pasadena apartment complex, said Capt. John Martin. He said it probably was dumped soon after the stabbing of Davila, who was attacked on...

It has been roughly three months since residents of Huntsville and Walker County attended town hall meetings to voice their opinion on the Trans-Texas Corridor/I-69 project to the Texas Department of Transportation. There was no question then that there was strong opposition to the proposed 1,600-mile national highway, and it seems as though residents’ efforts to stop it has not lost any of its momentum. Several residents attended the Walker County Commissioners Court on Monday morning, expressing concerns about the project and encouraged the court to take another step of action. The five-member court agrees with the majority of the...

Some Republicans groaned at Gov. Rick Perry's announcement that he plans to seek another term in 2010, but Mayor Bill White's camp reacted with glee. White has made no effort to hide the fact that he is looking to run for governor after being term-limited out of the mayor's office next year. And Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the biggest vote-getter in Texas history, has been more than hinting that she plans to "come home" to run for the same office. She outlined to Texas Monthly last November a plan to resign the Senate in 2009 to make the race, while...

Trend is present throughout the Houston area but is proving more prevalent in newer subdivisions outside the Beltway A growing share of home sales in the Houston area are foreclosures. And that's putting downward pressure on the sales prices of existing homes, according to a survey of 2007 housing prices conducted by Crawford Realty Advisors in conjunction with the University of Houston's Institute for Regional Forecasting. Foreclosures accounted for 16.5 percent of home sales last year, with a median sales price of $100,000. That's compared with 9.6 percent in 2006 at nearly the same price. "This is the first year...

Despite the uproar over the state's proposal to build Trans-Texas Corridor 69 through East Texas, Lufkin's mayor says he supports the highway — as long as it follows the path of the current U.S. Highway 59. The Trans Texas Corridor/I-69 project is a statewide network of transportation routes in Texas that will incorporate existing and new highways, railways and utility right-of-ways. Anyone wishing to comment on the proposed road can go online to www.keeptexasmoving.com. TxDOT has expanded its public comment period for TTC-69 to Friday, April 18. Gov. Rick Perry appointed Gorden, along with 17 other Texans, to an I-69...

As the state's population continues to grow in its urban centers, expansion plans for the highway system continue to be the focus for transportation improvements. The Trans Texas Corridor proposal is aimed to alleviate traffic congestion, improve air quality and provide safer traveling for drivers, among other goals. In 2002, Texas Governor Rick Perry released the plan to create the passageway, which spans northeast from Laredo to Oklahoma and is set to total 4,000 miles in the next 50 years. The $140 billion project calls for the incorporation of new toll roads, commuter railways, power lines and gas pipelines, while...

Cars have been a huge part of our lives. We use them to get around anywhere. It might have been the best invention mankind came up with, but we all hate several common things about cars, such as the cost of gas prices and traffic. We think sometimes in our imagination how awesome it would be if cars had wings, so maybe one day we will fly through terrific! We also despise accidents, high insurance and drunk driving. Sometimes, I feel that we need other alternative means of transportation, such as a subway system in the state of Texas; maybe...

On March 26, 18 (chai) concerned Houstonians ensured that afternoon commuters on U.S. Highway 59 North were not bombarded with anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda, as they had been for the last two years, but, instead, were greeted with messages of peace and truth. The grass-roots group, which positioned itself on the Mandell Street bridge, bore large colorful signs, all with positive messages. These included: “Israel Wants Peace�; “Peace is Possible�; “Teach Peace & Love�; “Z-i-o-n-i-s-m Spells Democracy�; “Texas & Israel, Lone Star States�; and “Coexist� (spelled out with symbols from Islam, Judaism and Christianity). There also were signs reading: “Enough...

A grand jury will decide whether a Houston convenience store owner was justified when he fatally shot one of two men who tried to rob his business late Thursday night, authorities said today. Peter Quang Dan fired at two men as they fled his store in southeast Houston, hitting one in the head, Houston Police said. The man's name has not been released. Police said he and another man entered the Colony Express Market at 2525 Broadway about 11 p.m. and robbed Dan, who was behind the cash register. Dan, 50, told investigators one of the men pistol-whipped him after...

Thanks to an extended comment deadline, almost three weeks remain for people to let their feelings be known about the Trans-Texas Corridor. The most recent study of the proposal, which includes a stretch in Fort Bend County, must be approved by the federal government for the Texas Department of Transportation to proceed with planning and, eventually, construction. TxDOT and the Federal Highway Administration have extended their formal comment period through April 18. During this time, individuals are encouraged to submit written comments on either the project itself or what is called the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS), which is a...

Already hailed as "a Houston landmark," yesterday saw the first official preview of the city's new Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, which'll be dedicated on Wednesday before 60 hierarchs and a very lucky crowd of close to 2,000. To mark the occasion -- which the regional media has treated as an earth-altering event and then some -- today's hometown Chronicle contains a full package on the festivities. As Cardinal Daniel DiNardo consecrates the $65 million de facto hub of his 1.5 million-member archdiocese, Texas' oldest and the largest in the South, fellow neo-porporato Cardinal John Foley will be present......

HOUSTON -- A woman shot and killed an intruder and accidentally wounded her husband in a northeast Harris County home invasion, investigators told KPRC Local 2 Thursday. According to deputies, a couple found themselves staring down the barrel of a gun in their apartment in the Northshore Meadows complex in the 300 block of Audrey Lane shortly before midnight. A man had just broken into their apartment and was making demands. According to investigators, he wanted cash and drugs, and made the couple remove all their clothing. Then, gunshots rang out. However, the would-be robber wasn't the one squeezing the...

FORT WORTH -- The Trans-Texas Corridor is now so controversial, merely uttering the words in most political circles is taboo. "We're calling it a 'regional loop' because you can't say 'Trans-Texas Corridor' in the state of Texas anymore," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. "The Trans-Texas Corridor is a lightning rod," he told visiting state representatives this week while explaining how the corridor would connect to regional highways by 2030. Opposition to the proposed construction of a $184 billion network of toll roads during the next 50 years is so strong statewide that...

Lone Star Rising By Joel Kotkin From the March/April 2008 Issue Filed under: Public Square, Culture How a combination of ambition, entrepreneurship, trade, and tolerance made Houston America’s booming opportunity city. In 1995, during his senior year at Texas Southern University, a predominantly black school in Houston, accounting major Al Colbert and his cousin, Ja Ja Ball, a TSU senior studying business, hatched a plan to make some money during the January-to-mid-April tax season. They rented an inexpensive storefront in a low-income neighborhood and offered tax-preparation services, specializing in electronic filing and quick refunds for clients. The Colbert/Ball Tax Service...

HOUSTON — Presidential candidate Barack Obama's former pastor will deliver three sermons on March 30 at the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was the longtime pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago until leaving that pulpit last month. Some of his past sermons have received new scrutiny and criticism in recent weeks in light of Obama's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Also seeking the nomination is Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama has denounced the inflammatory remarks from his pastor, who suggested in one sermon that the United States brought the Sept. 11...

TV preacher Joel Osteen shuns lavish lifestyle of some others MARK I. PINSKY The Orlando Sentinel ORLANDO, Fla. — If the evangelical world is looking for a poster child to offset the negative publicity surrounding rich televangelists, Joel Osteen would be a good choice. Joel Osteen, pastor of the nation’s largest megachurch, preaches at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, where services are broadcast around the world.MCT Photo Times Leader Photo Store Osteen is among the nation’s most widely recognized television ministers, trailing only Billy Graham and Rick Warren, and in 2006 was named the most influential Christian in America by...

The fifth year anniversary of the Iraq war serves as a reminder to the families of those in service and who have served. For them, the toll can be one high in emotion and pain. Thousands of miles removed from the roadside bombs and mortar fire, mothers in Houston meet regularly to talk about their children and offer support to one another. Blue Star Moms, is the non-profit organization that oversees those meetings. Dr. Susan Lunson is its president. Her son is a bomb-squad technician who has served two tours in Iraq. Her daughter is an ensign on a Naval...

Plots by Communists to infiltrate America. The disintegration of borders and rural areas. Citizens mobilizing and rising up against government agencies and big business. It all sounds like the plot for a summer blockbuster, but it's something that could be happening in your own backyard. These were just a few of the topics addressed in the "How to fight the TTC" workshop, held Monday at the Pitser Garrison Civic Center in Lufkin. The conference served as an informational meeting aimed at informing citizens and local government officials how they can unite in trying to stop the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor project....