Free Republic

The Texas Transportation Commission today selected members to serve on two citizens’ advisory committees for the Trans-Texas Corridor. Area residents on the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee include Karen Marstaller of Waco, Don Greene of Lorena and John Erwin of Hillsboro. Each committee will advise the Texas Department of Transportation in the planning of two priority corridors. One committee will focus on Interstate 35 corridor and TTC-35, while the other committee will advise the department on the proposed Interstate 69 corridor and I-69/TTC. The Corridor Advisory Committees represent a cross-section of community and business leaders, land owners, local transportation experts and...

The USDA and state Ag Dept. officials like to claim that the big producers are united behind the USDA's proposed draft of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). This is not true. The reality is more and more of the big producers, breed organizations and other large stakeholders are resisting NAIS. The “Livestock Marketing Association, along with other industry groups, is letting Congress know there is a lot of dissatisfaction with this program, and there are many questions about it that need answering before we can move forward." - Robinson of the LMA "Regarding animal identification, members approved by a...

A controversial community process called Tulsa Talks is drawing a host of criticism because its purpose, backing and methods are misleading. The stated goal of Tulsa Talks is to form study circles of 10, each with a trained facilitator, to get feedback from the public concerning Tulsas education efforts. The goal is to have 10,000 Tulsans trained in 1,000 groups. Critics are saying Tulsa Talks is a thinly disguised effort to sway public opinion using the Delphi process, a strategy that invites input but dismisses it in favor of a predetermined line of thought. Study circles have been used in...

Regional Governance is Here "This commission has become a nightmare, beyond the reach of either state government, or Congress, short of repealing the Act altogether. This appointed commission has absolute authority over all land use within the designated counties, with the authority to override both county and state elected officials..." March 1, 2004 By Henry Lamb henry@freedom.org NewsWithViews.com To submit a Letter to the Editor: newswithviews@newswithviews.com There are currently six Regional Commissions in place, or pending final approval, which impact states from New York to California; from Florida to Washington. Few people realize that these regional commissions even exist, or...