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Many in the great state of Texas have a lot to say about a proposed network of toll roads and railway lines known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. The Texas Department of Transportation received more than 27,000 public comments during a three-month comment period on a proposed corridor project called the TTC-69, said TxDOT spokesman Mark Cross. Transportation officials had 47 public hearings in February and March and accepted written comments through April 18 on the environmental and social impact of the corridor. Comments ranged from flat-out opposition to the corridor to suggestions about how to lessen its impact, Cross told...

AUSTIN — Deirdre Delisi once aspired to be a diplomat, and Gov. Rick Perry may have finally granted her wish. As head of the Texas Transportation Commission, Perry's former chief of staff will test her diplomatic skills in an emotion-filled arena in which a state senator has already called her a "political hack." In an early sign of her peacemaking potential, the 35-year-old Delisi scheduled one of her first meetings as chair with that senator, Transportation and Homeland Security Committee Chairman John Carona, R-Dallas. "I was left with the impression that she genuinely wants a new and fresh start for...

This exchange will race through the conservative blogosphere, and probably on the pro-Hillary sites as well. Last night, Chris Matthews interviewed Texas state senator and Barack Obama supporter Kirk Watson as Obama sailed to a crushing victory in Wisconsin. Matthews asked Watson to name any significant legislative accomplishment by Obama, and the campaign surrogate got stumped: MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "You are a big Barack supporter, right, Senator?" State Sen. Watson: "I am. Yes, I am." Matthews: "Well, name some of his legislative accomplishments. No, Senator, I want you to name some of Barack Obama's legislative accomplishments tonight if you can."...

Someone should tell Chris Matthews to go pick on someone his own size . . . Matthews enjoyed himself at the expense of a local legislator during last night's MSNBC coverage of the primaries. Kirk Watson [shown in a clip from today's Morning Joe] is a state senator from Texas and an Obama supporter. Matthews cornered Watson at length over his inability to name specific accomplishments by Obama. Credit Kirk for keeping a smile on his face, but there's no denying he was put badly on the spot. View the exchange here, via HuffPo.

AUSTIN - When it comes to road improvement and maintenance, by most accounts, the South Plains and Panhandle are fortunate. Despite a $1.1 billion accounting error, the Texas Department of Transportation recently reported no projects in the region have been canceled or delayed while cities like Dallas, Houston and Laredo had at least a half dozen highway projects delayed. But the $1.1 billion-error, which occurred because TxDOT inadvertently counted some bond money twice and consequently allocated more funding than it had, is just the latest problem plaguing the beleaguered agency. For months, TxDOT executive director Amadeo Saenz and other transportation...

Sometimes the truth just has a way of coming to light. A public information officer with the Texas Department of Transportation this week wrote a column in the Herald-Press describing the financial woes facing TxDOT and how because of those problems the state’s transportation department doesn’t have the money to deal with many of the state’s transportation issues. Apparently, several of the state’s senators do not feel that is the case at all. David Dewhurst called out the state’s interim chairwoman of the Texas Transportation Commission, Hope Andrade, on this very issue, according to a story from the Associated Press....

Report says that more than $45 billion of the estimate is either in error or undocumented. The state auditor's office on Monday challenged the validity of more than half of a purported $86 billion shortfall in Texas transportation funding over the next generation and cautioned that the estimate "may not be reliable for making policy or funding decisions." That $86 billion, based on 2004 figures, has been cited repeatedly by Texas Department of Transportation officials and some legislators as a major reason for the state's increasing need for new toll roads. The number is a compilation of estimates from local...

School fight may wound Perry in '06 Thursday, May 20, 2004 In the recent 28-day special session called by Gov. Rick Perry, the only consensus was that no one liked the governor's plan — long on sin taxes and short on new money for schools. Even several Republican legislators marvel at how Perry has angered people and groups across the state. Some think the special session was just for show, and to set legislators up to take the blame for failure to revamp school finance and lower property taxes. The public is apparently cooling on the governor as well. In...

Jockeying for congressional races will affect other races DAVE MCNEELY Thursday, October 23, 2003 So, U.S. Rep. Jim Turner might run for governor in 2006? Or the U.S. Senate? Or lieutenant governor? That's where Turner says his interests lie if the Republican re-redistricting knife job on his 2nd District in East Texas is upheld by the Justice Department and federal courts. Turner, D-Crockett, dismissed the rumor that he might seek a return to the Texas Senate against Republican Sen. Todd Staples of Palestine. Elections in a time of uncertainty over district boundaries are nervous affairs. Democrats are telling their Congress...

Democrats are lining up for hot seat Thursday, September 18, 2003 One might question why anyone wants to be the chair of the Texas Democratic Party In The Time Of George Bush. But several folks apparently do. Molly Beth Malcolm announced Tuesday she'll resign Oct. 25. On that day, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a replacement to serve until the party's 2004 convention. Malcolm has held the office for 5 1/2 years. Given the Democrats' miserable fortunes recently, some observers would compare the chairmanship to being captain of the Titanic. With the Democrats completely out of power, it's...

Candidates toddling for votes Texas candidates aim at voters' soft spots by posting childhood photos on Web 05/19/2002 By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN - Texas candidates: smart as a whip, tough as a boot, soft as a baby's behind. It seems the Internet has brought a new dimension to some statewide candidates. On their campaign Web sites, some of the state's most public men are revealed in ways never seen before except for maybe prom night, when Mom mortified them by producing the family album. There is John Cornyn, former state Supreme Court justice and...