____FROM THE TEXAS TRIBUNE____
Corpus Christi Moves to Oust Mayor
The Corpus Christi City Council voted on Tuesday to launch a removal hearing for Mayor Paulette Guajardo over allegations of misconduct.
The decision comes as the city faces a growing water crisis. A water emergency may be just months away, according to city leaders. But the controversy surrounding the mayor stems from a hotel development project, not the city’s management of its water supply.
Meanwhile, neighboring communities that rely on the same reservoir as Corpus Christi are days away from losing their only source of water.
Gov. Criticizes Paxton in TX Supreme Court Brief
In a recent brief filed to the Texas Supreme Court, Gov. Greg Abbott criticized his fellow Republican, Attorney General Ken Paxton, for rushing a lawsuit challenging a program that provides legal aid to undocumented immigrants.
While Harris County has operated its immigration legal fund for five years, Paxton filed his lawsuit late last year, Abbott noted. After he lost at the district court level, Paxton appealed to the all-Republican 15th Court of Appeals, requesting expedited review within 15 days.
“Perhaps the Attorney General only recently learned of this program; perhaps the office’s attention was focused elsewhere; perhaps some other factor dictated a desire for a ruling before a particular date,” lawyers for Abbott wrote in the brief, filed to the Texas Supreme Court last week. “The Governor will not speculate.”
Paxton is in a contentious runoff for the GOP Senate nomination against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. The deadline he gave the 15th Court to reply was well ahead of the March 3 primary, in which he pulled a close second.
Musk’s Company to Assess New Tunnel in South Dallas
Elon Musk’s tunneling company will begin assessing its ability to construct a mile-long underground tunnel in South Dallas after a proposed project in the area was one of three winners of a company contest on Tuesday.
The Boring Company has built a number of underground tunnels across the United States for public and industrial use, including in Austin and Bastrop. In January, the company announced an open call for new tunnel proposals up to a mile long, with the offer to build the winning submission at the company’s expense. A proposal to build a tunnel connecting the University of North Texas at Dallas with University Hills, a billion-dollar mixed-use development currently under construction, was one of three winners out of almost 500 submissions.
A spokesperson for Hoque Global, the group building the University Hills development, did not respond to an immediate request for comment about the proposal’s win.
____FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS____
Trump to Skip CPAC Gathering in Grapevine
GRAPEVINE — Conservatives are holding one of their largest annual gatherings at a perilous political moment for President Donald Trump and with open division on the right over the war he launched in Iran.
While Trump maintains broad support among conservatives, the war in Iran is more than a wrinkle for activists drawn to his “America First” campaign pledge against getting involved in foreign conflicts. A new AP-NORC poll shows about 59% of Americans think the military action in Iran is excessive. The debate will be a subtext — and likely flare publicly — as thousands of activists, influencers and Republican lawmakers gather at the Conservative Political Action Conference that begins Wednesday outside Dallas.
The event also comes a day after a Democrat flipped the Florida state legislative seat that’s home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The gathering will be a contrast to the celebratory meeting one year ago when Trump, newly returned to office, vowed to “forge a new and lasting political majority” and Elon Musk wielded a chain saw to symbolize how the Republican administration was slashing the government workforce and red tape.
This year, neither Trump nor Vice President JD Vance has been publicly announced as speaking to the gathering. But among those who are slated to speak are big names in the MAGA movement who have voiced conflicting views on the Iran war.
______MORE TEXAS NEWS____
Compiled by Jeff Rottman
New Troopers Hit the Road
AUSTIN — (KAUZ-TV Wichita Falls) One hundred twenty-two new State Trooper graduates have completed their academy and will soon be on the highways of Texas.
Candidates must successfully complete more than 1,200 hours of comprehensive training to graduate.
The Class C-2025 recruits were finally able to mark the completion of their rigorous training earlier this week with the Legacy Run beginning early last Wednesday morning at DPS headquarters and ending 5-miles later at the Texas State Capitol.
Along the way, the graduates were joined by their instructors, members of DPS leadership, and DPS retirees. The new troopers will begin their duties at stations across the state on April 12. (More)
“Vets to Drones” Helping Veterans With New Skills
DALLAS — (WFAA-TV) Learning how to operate drones is helping veterans find new career paths through a retreat near the North Texas city of Greenville, where the Veterans Outpost program offers camaraderie and help transitioning to civilian careers as they capitalize on a booming new industry.
The non-profit operation offers its acreage as a retreat for military veterans, first responders, and their families, and hosted the Vets to Drones program, founded by Marine Corps veteran Chris Lewis to train veterans in the rapidly expanding drone industry. (More)
