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St. Hedwig has homes on large lots and a longtime tradition of rural living. And folks there want to keep it that way. “We want to be able to maintain as best we can the reason we moved out here in the first place,” said Kathy Palmer, the city’s planning and zoning commissioner. But a new master plan and recently updated zoning maps are no match for a proposed route of Trans-Texas Corridor 35 that would slice straight through the city of about 2,000 people and create headaches for several city departments, officials said. With neighboring Wilson County, St. Hedwig...

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – The U.S. city of San Antonio unveiled a deal on Tuesday that will make it the first U.S. city to harvest methane gas from human waste on a commercial scale and turn it into clean-burning fuel. San Antonio residents produce about 140,000 tons a year of a substance gently referred to as "biosolids," which can be reprocessed into natural gas, said Steve Clouse, chief operating officer of the city's water system. "You may call it something else," Clouse said, but for area utilities, the main byproduct of human waste - methane gas - will soon be...

SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio couple is accused of trying to trying to trade sex with the woman's 5-year-old daughter for an apartment, a used car and child care for her 10-month old daughter. Jennifer Richards, 25, and her married boyfriend, Sean Michael Block, 40, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Stein Nowak on Friday. Richards is charged with using interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor. Block is charged with distributing child pornography. Nowak ordered Block held. Richards' detention hearing was delayed until Tuesday, the San Antonio Express-News reported Sunday.

Member of the Texas Sunset Commission today recommended 'radical' changes in the administration of the Texas Department of Transportation, including placing the troubled and controversial agency into a four year legislative 'receivership' and abolishing the Texas Transportation Commission, which runs TexDOT, and appointment of a Transportation Commissioner who would be answerable to the Legislature, 1200 WOAI news reports. But Sunset Commission member Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio) suggested going one step further. "What I am hearing form the public is that they are wanting to see an elected commissioner," she said to loud applause from the TexDOT opponents who...

Toll road opponents today will ask the Sunset Advisory Committee of the Texas Legislature to abolish the Texas Department of Transportation, saying the agency has become too corrupt and too dysfunctional to fix, 1200 WOAI news reports. "We want to see elected leadership at the helm of Tex-DOT," says long time toll road opponent Terri Hall, the founder of the citizen action group Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom. "We are done with this unelected beaurocracy that is just an arm of private road building companies and the lackeys of this governor." The idea of eliminating TexDOT and establishing a...

Local toll road activist Terri Hall, the Spring Branch home schooling mom who's campaign against toll roads made her WOAI's San Antonian of the Year for 2007,. is taking her populist campaign nationwide. Hall is among the speakers for Saturday's 'Freedom March,' in Washington DC, organized by supporters of former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, and designed to keep alive his message of smaller government and vigilance against encroaching government power. "They wanted someone to speak about the Trans Texas Corridor, and what's happening here, and the eminent domain abuses, and how all these toll roads are tied to corporate...

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....

As Manu Ginobili dribbled out the final few seconds of the second-round series clincher, Tony Parker walked over and gave him a congratulatory pat on the head. There would be no exuberant celebration for the San Antonio Spurs when the final horn sounded, just a few hugs for a job well done. This playoff-savvy group was exhausted after a seven-game triumph over the younger, upstart New Orleans Hornets, but its title defense endures -- for now. Ginobili scored 26 points, hitting four free throws in the final minute, to send the Spurs to the Western Conference finals with a 91-82...

Earth Tech Inc. has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract to provide environmental services to Central Texas Highway Constructors, LLC (CTxHC). Earth Tech, the lead planning and engineering firm for Cintra Zachry, LP on the Trans-Texas Corridor 35 (TTC-35) project, was approved by CTxHC for environmental work on Segments 5 and 6 of the SH 130 highway project. The SH 130 project is the first facility to be developed under the TTC-35 Comprehensive Development Agreement. An integral part of the preparation for highway construction, the project includes site assessments, hazardous materials clean-ups, remediation, and other environmental services. A private-public partnership,...

The San Antonio Spurs' Big Three came through, but they'll still have to win one on the road to keep their title defense alive. Manu Ginobili scored 25 points, Tim Duncan had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Tony Parker added 15 points in the Spurs' 99-80 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in Game 6 on Thursday night. The win forced a seventh game on Monday in New Orleans in the Western Conference semifinals. Home teams are 20-1 in the second round.

Last week's story about the uncertainties endured by people who live in or near the route of the I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor prompted many messages of support. But I wish there had been room in the story to quote Steve Huber, a University of Houston law professor who spoke at a January meeting in Bellville on the project. Huber opposed the corridor plan without taking the position — adopted, for instance, by U.S. Rep. John Culberson toward rail on Richmond — that the people most directly affected deserve the most consideration when a route is chosen. "My position carefully avoided the sort...

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...

Midway through the first quarter after missing two jumpers, Tim Duncan threw the ball up yet again, then held his arms wide. While it wasn't the same as the messy gash Steve Nash took in last year's playoffs, the Spurs' comebacks and win in double-overtime Saturday may have cut deep into the Suns' hopes of beating San Antonio in the playoffs. This time, would the shot fall? It did. And much later the Spurs' big man hit an even bigger one. Duncan's first 3 of the season with just ticks left sent his team into double overtime against the revenge-minded...

Two years ago, Salvador García didn't hesitate when organizers of a pro-immigration march in San Antonio called on business owners to support their effort by closing for the day to join the crowd. That was then. This year, García, owner of Los Valles Produce on the Southwest Side, said he'll pass. The main reason he said he's opting out is because the demonstrations haven't done much. "I think it had great impact that day," said García, who entered the country illegally from Mexico three decades ago as a teen but now is a legal permanent resident. "But it didn't do...

AUSTIN — Maybe Texas’ transportation problems are a lot simpler to understand than recent fights over toll roads make it seem, North Texas leaders told state senators Wednesday. “My first recommendation: You need to provide a lot more revenue for transportation,” Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, told the Texas Senate transportation committee. That was hardly the only suggestion from Mr. Morris or the many others who spoke to the committee, which is seeking input as it readies an approach on toll roads, TxDOT and more for the next legislative session. But it might...

SAN ANTONIO — A carload of gang members armed with machine guns chased after another vehicle on a busy Northeast Side street Monday, shooting wildly at a man in the other car before it eventually stopped and the man was shot several times in the head, authorities said. The shooting, which prompted the lockdown of an elementary school and occurred near a high school, left the man seriously wounded. Bexar County sheriff's deputies said the man, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remained Monday night in serious condition. Sgt. Chris Burchell said...

For years, Texas has been planning a privately financed super turnpike from Mexico to the Oklahoma border. But like rush-hour traffic, the plan for a Trans-Texas Corridor is only inching along. "It ran into a firestorm of controversy in Texas,� said Neal McCaleb, a former Oklahoma transportation secretary. Critics have a wide range of concerns about the corridor, which has a key stretch that would parallel Interstate 35. (Another stretch would extend from the Texarkana/Shreveport area to Mexico.) Particularly upset are landowners who may be in the corridor's path. The Texas Transportation Department calls many concerns myths. The department says,...

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...

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...

South Texas is not only going to get its first interstate - it is also going to get a second and a third. State transportation officials knew one of three southern highways - U.S. Highway 281 in Hidalgo County, U.S. Highway 77 in Cameron County or U.S. Highway 59 in Webb County - would eventually become part of an interstate stretching from the Texas-Mexico border to Texarkana, in the northeast part of the state. Only Webb County is currently served by an interstate. The state's Trans-Texas Corridor plan calls for an Interstate 69 extension linking South Texas to points north,...

SH 130 Concession Company LLC finalized the legal details of a financial close with Texas DOT on a $1,360m toll concession to build SH130 segments 5&6 Thursday and Friday last week in bankers' offices in New York City - at Orrick, 666 Fifth Avenue. The actual money flows should occur on Thursday or Friday (Mar 13 or 14) this week, Jose Maria Lopez de Fuentes, president of Cintra North America, told us this morning. Hundreds of documents and over 20 lawyers were involved last week representing TxDOT, private equity people, banks, mostly European, the TIFIA loan group from FHWA, and...

Officials with the Spanish toll road operator Cintra have announced that the company has secured $430 million in loans from the U.S. government to build and operate two segments of a toll road in central Texas. Cintra officials announced the company’s financial plan for the $1.36 billion Highway 130 segments on Monday, March 10. OOIDA Senior Government Affairs Representative Mike Joyce told Land Line that the Association does raise red flags when federal dollars are used to subsidize private investors. Officials with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association are not, however, categorically opposed to a state using future toll revenue to...

The prostitution ring that ensnared New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer stunned officers at SAPD. For some, the big surprise wasn't that a federal wiretap captured a governor arranging to meet a call girl. No, the shock was how much prostitutes were charging: $1,000 to $5,500 per hour. "That's crazy," one cop said. "Who could afford that?" Court papers say a number of wealthy men met with Emperor's Club prostitutes in New York, Washington, London, Paris, Miami, and Los Angeles. Spitzer, an affidavit says, paid $4,300 in cash. "Amazing," said a second officer. "Makes you wonder what the girl did in...

Driving down to Austin lately has become a real trip. I-35 is usually packed for most of the 185 miles, and what used to take three or four hours now can take five or six. Flying down can take almost as long, when you figure in airline security delays, more flight delays, and the time it takes getting into and out of crowded airports. But what if it took 45 minutes to travel from the Metroplex to Austin by train or an hour to make a trip to Houston? Advocates of high-speed rail lines are floating these ideas once again...

REFUGIO, Texas - With an abandoned Wild West-vintage town of storefronts slumbering just a block from old US 77, tiny Refugio is a place where myth and reality coexist in a ghostly silence. more stories like this Obama faces heat over aide's NAFTA remarks to Canadians Texas, Ohio could decide Dem nomination Canada says didn't misrepresent Obama over NAFTA McCain tags Dems on trade treaty NAFTA seen differently in Ohio, Texas And now this South Texas outpost is swept up in one of the more intriguing tests of myth vs. reality in today's political life: the battle over the so-called...

My daughter is looking to buy a place In San Antonio. Can anyone tell me anything about the area around McDermott Fwy and Woodlawn / Fredricksberg? Many thanks!

The courting of Texas voters continues as both Republicans and Democrats blaze a trail across the Lone Star State. Republican Mike Huckabee To Visit Alamo, Hold Rally Republican presidential hopeful Governor Mike Huckabee will be in Texas Thursday and will hold a "Huckabee For President" rally in San Antonio.Visits The Alamo:When: Thursday, February 21st at 4:00 p.m.Where: 300 Alamo Plaza San Antonio, Texas "Huckabee for President" Rally:When: Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.Doors open at 6 p.m.Where: Greehey Auditorium St. Mary's University 1 Camino Santa Maria San Antonio , TX 78228 Click here for more information. Clinton Campaign: Bill...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced a Wednesday-Thursday swing through Texas, where polls show him in a tight race with national front-runner John McCain. On Wednesday, Huckabee will be in Plano for a 7:30 p.m. rally at the Collin County Community College’s Spring Creek campus. Thursday will begin with an 8 a.m. rally in Houston, with additional details still to be worked out. Huckabee also will attend a private fundraiser at noon before moving to San Antonio to visit the Alamo at 4 p.m. and lead a 7:30 p.m. rally at St. Mary’s University.

When Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 7:30 PM 20080222T013000Z Where St Mary's U Auditorium 1 Camino Santa Maria San Antonio , TX 78228 Who should come Anyone who likes Mike or is undecided. Bring a coworker, friend or neighbor! Why This will be great publicity for Gov H locally and at the national level. How to find the organizer(s) "I hope to be handing out bumper stickers and buttons at a table near the entrance." --Chris in Cibolo Details Gov Mike Huckabee Rally The Gov will be in town and speaking! 21 Feb Thursday @ 730pm (try to arrive by...

With preparations under way for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's rally at St. Mary's University, Archbishop José Gómez has taken aim at the school's decision to host her political event this afternoon. Saying event organizers didn't advise him beforehand, Gómez said he is not telling Catholics who to vote for but does expect Catholic schools to uphold the faith's teachings in conducting these kinds of political events. "Catholic institutions are obliged to teach and promote Catholic values in all instances," Gómez said. "This is especially important when people look to our Catholic universities and colleges to provide leadership and clarity...

It's been 100 years since a feisty woman who stood 5-foot-3 began "the second battle of the Alamo." Adina De Zavala barricaded herself in the Long Barrack, not knowing her three-day protest would save the Alamo's oldest structure, but cast her in a shadow of controversy. De Zavala is thought to be the first person to use civil disobedience to preserve Texas history. A commemoration is set for 3 p.m. today at the Alamo. "She's almost an unsung hero," said Marcie Ince, San Antonio Conservation Society president. "She was the first to really set the way for others to follow...

Not one of the 11 East Texans who approached the podium at Wednesday's hearing on Interstate 69 voiced support for the planned highway. "This is highway robbery, and we should not pursue this project," said David Simpson, a Longview resident and fifth-generation Texan. "This process has bypassed the Constitution. It has bypassed the U.S. Congress, and I'm opposed to it because of the unconstitutional way that it has been pushed through." The public hearing, held at Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center, was a chance for residents to comment and ask questions about Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor. The corridor would extend...

Grimes County commissioners and County Judge Betty Shiflett made sure they attended a TTC/I-69 meeting at the Walker County Fairgrounds last week, as residents previously demanded they take a stronger stance against the proposed route through Grimes County. Shiflett received a roaring applause from audience members with her speech that ended with the question, “What part of “no� do you not understand?� Shiflett added that Grimes County was not given an option for having a town meeting, just the environmental meeting. “Representative Lois Kolkhorst stole the show as she announced loud and clear that she was against TTC I-69,� said...

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

Leaders with the Texas Department of Transportation sought to allay fears about the Trans-Texas Corridor Thursday night in Rosenberg with a “town hall” meeting. The meeting proceeded fairly smoothly, but hardly seemed to put a dent in the large crowd's seemingly uniform opposition to the proposal of a massive transportation corridor. Hank Gilbert, a regular speaker at TTC events and leader of an anti-TTC non-profit group, drew cheers for suggesting TxDOT officials have failed to make the case for a large, privately owned transportation cluster. “No good argument has been made for the TTC that would allow farmers to be...

Realizing they were about to thrust the city smack into the middle of the national immigration debate, San Antonio leaders are now balking at the idea of opening a center for day laborers. Resurrected in the fall as a full-fledged project after more than two decades of inaction, the City Council was poised this month to consider a staff proposal to create a facility where workers, mostly undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America, could gather and be hired. After twice tabling the issue, a presentation scheduled for Tuesday was scrapped indefinitely by council members who said the proposal needed...

TEXARKANA, Texas — The biggest construction project ever attempted in Texas comes under public debate beginning Tuesday in the first of a series of town hall meetings about a proposed 4,000-mile network of superhighway toll roads. The Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, as it's become known, was initiated six years ago by Gov. Rick Perry. It's rankled opponents who characterize it as the largest government grab of private property in the state's history and an unneeded and improper expansion of toll roads. Texas Department of Transportation officials, and Perry, have defended the project as necessary to address future traffic concerns in...

It’s looking like a tough year for toll roads in Texas, and no one could be happier about that than Terri Hall, the San Antonio woman whose group is leading the grassroots fight against the controversial pay-to-drive roads that Gov. Rick Perry and others want to see crisscrossing the state. In September, Hall and her group, Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), filed suit in the state district court in Austin against the Texas Department of Transportation, alleging that TxDOT has broken the law by using public funds to lobby legislators for laws favoring toll roads. TURF and Hall...

Saenz expands administration to reflect changing role of agency AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Texas Department of Transportation today announced selections for the final three members of Executive Director Amadeo Saenz's leadership team. The new Assistant Executive Director for Engineering Operations is John Barton of Beaumont. The newly-formed office of Assistant Executive Director for District Operations will be lead by David Casteel of San Antonio. The newly-formed office of Assistant Executive Director for Innovative Project Development will be lead by Phil Russell of Austin. "John, David and Phil are all outstanding professionals," said Saenz. "All of them understand...

Push for higher gas tax could follow chief's death The death of Ric Williamson, the fiery, whip-smart chairman of the state transportation commission, could upend the still-roiling debate over toll roads in Texas in the new year. Mr. Williamson died Saturday of a heart attack at age 55, sending shock waves through the nearly 15,000-employee department he led as well as the political and policy circles where his combative style and pro-toll-road agenda had engendered enormous change – and criticism. Always careful to credit Gov. Rick Perry, a close friend and former roommate, Mr. Williamson emerged as a lightning rod...

The first six years of Johnson’s NBA career saw him play for five different teams. It was a vagabond NBA life that even included being cut on Christmas Eve by the Nuggets. Yet Johnson didn’t just persevere, he ultimately thrived. The man refused to listen to his doubters, many of whom questioned whether he can lead an NBA team. “You don’t have to be first to come in first,” said Johnson, . . . who recently became the fastest coach in NBA history to reach 150 wins. “You can be last and still come in first. And I was last....

Ever wish you weren't right? In 1997, the notion of selling off publicly owned infrastructure to private sector operators was coming into its own. After the city hired a consultant to determine the value of the publicly owned CPS Energy, it raised red flags. CPS consistently charges some of Texas' lowest utility rates while providing a significant chunk of the city's revenue, I argued. Profit motives can produce wondrous results. But uncontrolled, they can also produce costly disasters. Some things — especially those that efficiently deliver services that are essential — are best kept in the public sector to assure...

Coin trays in Texas cars may actually get to see the faces of dead presidents. The much-discussed and controversial Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, has breathed life into the debate of toll roads in Texas. Plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor include TTC-Instate 35, which starts in Laredo and extends north to Gainesville, running along the eastern part of Texas; and Interstate 69/TCC, which has three openings in Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville and follows the coast to Texarkana. Much of the TTC will be privately operated toll roads, run by the Spanish firm Cintra. The TTC will not run through San Antonio,...

Officer Down

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Sept. 20, 2007 – A new Warrior and Family Support Center being built here will be 10 times the size of the current facility. U.S. senators, representatives, post and community leaders, and wounded warriors help break ground Sept. 15, 2007, for the new Warrior and Family Support Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Photo by Charles Parish  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. A Sept. 15 groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction on the new 12,000-square-foot facility located across from the post’s Fisher Houses, where many wounded warriors and their families stay during long...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish that every one of you had been with Fred4Prez and me this morning to have breakfast with Fred. It was a packed house at The Barn Door as everyone grabbed a plate for the $100 buffet and headed for the best seats to wait for Fred. Many prominent citizens and local notables were there, including the mother of Sen. Cornyn, District Attorney Susan Reed, and Mrs. Fred Thompson, who worked the room before Fred's arrival. She was beautiful and poised, shaking everyone's hand and making sure she checked your nametag and called you by name....

Transportation was a hot subject during the recent legislative session - and it continues to be so in the interim. This week, several Texas lawmakers, Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson and state Reps. Joe Farias, David Leibowitz, Nathan Macias and others held a press conference in San Antonio in protest against current transportation policy and the Texas Department of Transportation. Key among their concerns are recent reports the state agency has launched a public relations plan to promote the Trans-Texas Corridor and to lobby for toll roads. Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom founder Terri Hall is among those criticizing...

TV evangelist Paula White, who is a frequent speaker at a San Antonio church where she recently formed a ministry partnership, and her husband, Randy, announced Thursday night that they plan to divorce after a nearly 18-year marriage. The split was made public during a Thursday evening service for their Tampa, Fla., congregation, Without Walls International Church, which they founded in 1991 and which became one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing churches. What her forthcoming divorce will mean for Family Praise Center in Northwest San Antonio remains unclear. White plans to keep Tampa as her base and continue preaching...

San Antonio, TX, Aug 22, 2007 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of San Antonio has many things to be thankful for, but on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, Archbishop Jose Gomez was able to give it one more reason to express gratitude, a new dormitory for the seminary. Present for the dedication of the new building were Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, bishops, priests, seminarians, and the laity. Speaking of how Christians are called to believe in the Gospel, love and live entirely for God, and have missionary hearts as Mary did, Archbishop Gomez dedicated the new...