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MRT: UT to Undergo $70M Tower Restoration // Dallas Names Interim Police Chief // SCOTUS to Hear TX Nuclear Waste Site Case // Paxton Probes Noncitizen Voting
Here's What You Need to Know in Texas Today.
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MustReadTexas.com – @MustReadTexas
BY: @MattMackowiak
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FRIDAY || 10/4/24
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“If something of importance is known in Texas, Matt knows it. With a decline in the number of credible news organizations, the Must Read Texas morning email is indispensable for anyone that wants to continue to be informed.” – Former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX)
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TOP NEWS
“'Strive for excellence': How a $70M restoration will return the UT Tower to its former glory,” Austin American-Statesman's Lily Kepner — “On the west clockface of the University of Texas Tower ― a treasured Longhorn landmark that was once the city's tallest building ― a cricket rests on the hand. Individual light bulbs create the clock face's glow, and mechanical technology that clicks every 30 seconds powers the hand forward.
The tower opened in 1937 to be the university's main building and library. Decorated with seals of the world's greatest universities and names of the Western world's renowned thinkers, the tower represents the tireless ambition that has propelled UT forward for a century. Steel bookshelves literally reinforce the building's structure, and the institution has still not reached the building's massive capacity for books.
View the iconic landmark from Interstate 35 or U.S. 290, the gold paint chipping off the clocks' edges, the bumpy observation desk, and the burnt-orange rust on the building's side and windows, can't be seen. But to passersby on the Forty Acres, the aged features can obscure the tower's most notable design elements and the excellence it represents to alums, students and UT leaders.
Now, after 87 years, university administrators have committed to undertaking the largest reinvestment in the landmark since it was built.
Starting in November, the tower will undergo a $70 million, multi-year restoration. The goal is for project to finish by August 2027, restoring the building to its "former glory," President Jay Hartzell said.
The scope of the project, initially added to the Capital Improvement Plan by University of Texas System regents in February, has narrowed to only focus on the building's exterior due to higher-than-anticipated costs. Renovations to the building itself are expected to cost $56,385,000 — about $10 million more than the expected cost. The initially planned interior renovations and grounds restoration to improve visitors' experience will be deferred until other funds are identified, Hartzell said, due to the intricate level of work required and associated expenses.
Regents in August approved the newly narrowed scope and officially authorized the previously agreed-upon $70 million for the project: $26 million from donations, $26 million from the Permanent University Fund Bond, and $18 million from the Available University Fund.
In an exclusive interview with the American-Statesman, Hartzell said the restoration will set the UT Tower up for long-term success. He described the iconic landmark as both a unifying symbol and “a beacon for what we want the university to be.”
“When you think about the boldness of a pretty young university in a pretty small town deciding to build a building taller than the state Capitol, to be a library that was going to hold more books than we owned, it was a sign in that time of audacity, ambition, strive for excellence,” Hartzell said. “The tower still has that same connotation to us — what is possible for a world class university.”
Today, the tower is the awaited backdrop for student graduation photos, a symbol that glows orange in moments of university celebration, the home of the familiar sounding Carillon’s bells and the president's office. The renovation was regents-initiated, Chairman Kevin Eltife said, and he thanked Hartzell for his vision and the university for raising funds.
The renovation will regild and paint the clocks, clean and restore of the exterior of the building to its original form, gild key decorative elements, clean masonry, replace the lighting (now often done manually) with LED lights, and waterproof the tower observation deck and the room with the instrument that controls the tower's 52 carillon bells." AAS ($)
DMN: “Dallas names Michael Igo as interim police chief” DMN ($)
BLOMBERG WIRE: “Supreme Court taking up case on Texas nuclear waste site” DMN ($)
SAEN: “Texas oil companies targeted by Russian sanctions lawsuits” SAEN ($)
FW REPORT: “Tiger Woods, partners tee up Fort Worth area golf course, development” FW Report
DALLAS EXPRESS: “Paxton has penned a letter seeking voter registration data to investigate noncitizen voting” Dallas Express
>> The Texas Secretary of State's response here.
TX TRIB: “Ken Paxton sues TikTok for violating new Texas social media law” Texas Tribune
HOU CHRON: “HPD starts Zero Tolerance Initiative downtown traffic violations” Houston Chronicle ($)
HOU CHRON: “HISD's proposed $4.4B school bond would add $8.9B in debt if passed” Houston Chronicle ($)
TX TRIB: “Colin Allred narrows gap in Texas Senate race, but can he win?” Texas Tribune
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
> TX MONTHLY: "Why Are National Progressives Campaigning in Texas?" TX MONTHLY
> DMN: "Why Grand Prairie guns keep turning up at crime scenes in Mexico" DMN
> DMN: "Monday is the deadline to register to vote in Texas for the November 2024 elections" DMN
> DMN: "AG Ken Paxton accuses TikTok of violating Texas’ parental consent law" DMN
> FWST: "Police search Brite Divinity office on TCU campus, arrest professor in child porn case" FWST
> TPR: "Texas gets $5.7 billion in federal funding for infrastructure projects" TPR
> HOU CHRON: "10 people charged for distributing opioids to Houston-area 'pill-mills'" HOU CHRON
> TPR: "Statewide report on 2023 deadly domestic violence details Bexar County cases" TPR
> TPR: "U.S. citizens accounted among those accused of smuggling migrants" TPR
> SAEN: "5 years later, no answers in Anaqua Springs Ranch slayings" SAEN
> MRT: "DOJ allocates $172M to Texas for mental health and law enforcement" MRT
> TPR: "Residents whose homes were raided want answers; Border cities see less crime than other cities; most Texans killed by intimate partners were shot" TPR
> HOU CHRON: "Longshoremen at Port of Houston to return to work following temporary deal" HOU CHRON
> DMN: "Ex-Brite Divinity School professor facing child porn charges in Tarrant County" DMN
> SAEN: "Report: Mass deportations would cost billions, shrink GDP" SAEN
> COMMUNITY IMPACT: "What the Federal Reserve interest rate cut could mean for the Greater Houston area" COMMUNITY IMPACT
> SA REPORT: "Helping businesses become sustainability champions boosts San Antonio’s economy" SA REPORT
EXTRA POINTS
Last night's Texas sports scores:
> NCAAF: Texas St. 38, Troy 17
> NCAAF: Sam Houston St. 41, UTEP 21
This weekend's Texas sports schedule:
Fri
> 6:30pm: NCAAF: Houston at TCU (ESPN)
> 8pm: NCAAF: Sam Houston St. at UTEP (CBS Sports)
Sat
> 11am: NCAAF: #9 Missouri at #25 Texas A&M (ABC)
> 6:30pm: NCAAF: Baylor at #16 Iowa State (Fox)
> 7:30pm: MLS: Houston at St. Louis
> 9:30pm: MLS: Austin FC at LA
> 10pm: NCAAF: Texas Tech at Arizona (Fox)
Sun
> 6pm: MLS: Dallas at Portland
> 6pm: NCAAF: Texas St. at Troy (ESPN2)
HOUSTON ASTROS: "Alex Bregman's next team: Where Astros free agent could land" Houston Chronicle ($)
DALLAS COWBOYS: "Steady Steelers are anti-Cowboys in almost every way, which could prove pivotal on Sunday" DMN ($)
HOUSTON TEXANS: "Houston Texans: Joe Mixon misses another practice" Houston Chronicle ($)
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