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Tag Archives: Texas Gov
Will Tesla Motors Really Build Trucks in Texas?
By John Rosevear, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Is Tesla Motors really planning to build a new factory to make electric trucks — in Texas?
“Planning” probably overstates things some. But the Silicon Valley-cool maker of electric cars seems to have a pickup in its future plans — and its CEO said this week that a factory in Texas could be in the cards.
Tesla needs a favor in Texas
As always with Tesla, there’s more to the story.
Here’s the background: Tesla’s rock-star CEO, Elon Musk, was in Austin this week, pressing Texas state lawmakers to pass a measure that would allow his company to sell its cars directly to consumers.
Most automakers sell to their U.S. customers via franchised dealerships, which are usually locally owned. That system has been in place for many decades — and those local dealer-owners have encouraged their local politicians to pass laws protecting their franchises over time.
Many states have laws that, shall we say, strongly encourage automakers to sell via dealer franchises. But Tesla doesn’t play from that rulebook. Taking a page (several pages, actually) from Apple and its wildly successful retail strategy, Tesla sells directly to its customers via factory-owned stores.
In several states, Tesla’s stores have taken heat from local dealer associations and state legislators. Some of that heat has ended up in court: Earlier this year, Tesla got Massachusetts courts to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to shut down a Tesla store there.
But Tesla doesn’t have a store in Texas, because Texas’ rules about car-dealer ownership are probably the strictest in the country. That lack is probably costing Tesla quite a few sales. That’s why Musk went to Austin to lobby state legislators for an exemption — and that’s why he dangled the possibility of a future Tesla truck factory in Texas.
Was this just a carrot for lawmakers? Or a real plan?
Musk might actually have a chance of winning this battle. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said last month that he would support allowing direct sales of electric cars, if legislators were to approve such an exemption.
But the exemption faces stiff opposition from the Texas Auto Dealers Association, which howled predictably about how an exemption for Tesla would “limit free enterprise” and somehow inflate the cost of new cars. (Their case may sound dubious, but dealers’ contributions to local legislators’ re-election campaigns probably speak louder than any argument the dealers’ association might be able to make here.)
That’s probably why Musk felt the need to drop a carrot. He told Automotive News that Tesla would start investing more in Texas if the company won the sales exemption. Those investments would include new Tesla retail stores, of course, but Musk said they might include something else in a few years — a second Tesla factory.
And what would that second factory make? A “really advanced electric truck,” Musk said. He says he has an idea in mind for such a vehicle, and that it might make sense to
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/13/will-tesla-motors-really-build-trucks-in-texas/
Google Fiber Expected To Come To Austin Next
By The Huffington Post News Editors
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Google Inc. is expected to name tech-savvy Austin as the second city where the search giant will offer its ultra-fast home Internet service.
Google and Texas Gov. Rick Perry scheduled a Tuesday morning announcement in Austin. Industry groups and observers are widely expecting Austin to receive Google’s fiber-optic network that’s capable of reaching speeds far greater than average cable-modem connections.
Last summer, Kansas City became the first metro area in the U.S. to receive Google Fiber.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
DA, wife mourned; search for killers continues
A slain North Texas district attorney and his wife were mourned Thursday by a shaken community that recalled the couple’s love, warmth and public service as law enforcement continued the search for their killers.
Mike and Cynthia McLelland shared a single, flag-draped casket inside a suburban Dallas church. Cynthia’s remains were cremated and placed inside the coffin with the body of her husband, the Kaufman County district attorney.
Friends and colleagues at the service described them as the perfect mismatch: an outgoing Army veteran known for his wit and humor, and a quieter partner who loved quilting and supported her husband’s work.
Dozens of law enforcement officers and public officials, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, were among the hundreds who attended Thursday’s service, five days after the couple was found shot to death in their home near Forney, about 20 miles east of Dallas.
McLelland had addressed many of the same people two months earlier, after the slaying of Mark Hasse, one of his prosecutors. Hasse was gunned down near the Kaufman County courthouse while going to work.
No arrests have been made in either case. The reward for information leading to a conviction has been doubled to $200,000.
Christina Foreman, one of the five children the couple shared, said both her mother and stepfather “loved every minute” of their public service. She challenged the audience to stand up for what they believe in.
“They would have done it exactly the same way, because Mike believed in making a difference,” Foreman said.
Bruce Bryant, chief investigator for the district attorney’s office, broke down in tears as he remembered his former boss.
“We will not stop pursuing justice,” Bryant said. “We will not give up the good fight. We will not stop doing God’s work. We will pause only to celebrate the lives of those we have lost, but we will not stop.”
Surrounding the McLellands’ casket were mementos of their life together — portraits, a soldier’s jacket from Mike McLelland’s Army service and a quilt to commemorate one of Cynthia McLelland’s favorite hobbies.
Two officers stood watch as dozens more sat in the audience. Officers in …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Texas Gov. Perry offers $100G reward to find Kaufman killers
Gov. Rick Perry has announced a $100,000 reward to help find the killers of a Dallas-area district attorney, his wife and an assistant prosecutor.
Perry appeared Thursday in Kaufman to support the investigation into the slayings of Kaufman County DA Mike McLelland, Cynthia McLelland and Mark Hasse. Nobody has been arrested.
Perry says Texas is a “law and order state” and officials will track down and punish the killers.
Perry’s announcement of the state offering $100,000 matches a reward offered by Kaufman County Crime Stoppers after Hasse was slain Jan. 31.
Perry planned to attend a service Thursday afternoon at a church in suburban Dallas to remember the McLellands, who were found shot to death in their home last Saturday. Hasse was gunned down outside the county courthouse.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Rick Perry: North Korea Knows ‘That Austin, Texas Is Now A Very Important City In America’ (VIDEO)
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Leave it to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to make lemons out of North Korea‘s lemonade.
On the day the country warned its military has been cleared to launch a nuclear attack on the United States, a clip surfaced of Perry appearing to inject the success of his own state into the conversation.
Last Saturday, reports emerged that Austin, Texas was among the places on Kim Jong Un‘s map of targets. In a Wednesday advance of an interview scheduled to air on Thursday’s edition of “CBS This Morning,” Perry said he understood why.
Read More…
More on North Korea
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
‘Ann’ On Broadway: What A Night, What A Life
By The Huffington Post News Editors
SPECIAL FROM Next Avenue
By Leah Rozen
Holland Taylor’s one-woman Broadway show about the feisty Texas Gov. Ann Richards reminds us that life is a solo performance
Texas Dominates The Best Cities For Good Jobs
By Daniel Fisher, Forbes Staff
Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry made a quick tour of California to remind business owners that life’s a whole lot easier in the Lone Star State. Perry’s California critics called him “Governor Oops” for his miscues during the presidential debates, and Gov. Ron Brown dismissed the Texan’s recruiting drive as “not a burp,” and barely even a certain bodily release of gas. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Boy Scouts delay decision to lift ban on gay members
The Boy Scouts of America put off a decision Wednesday on whether to lift its ban on gay members and leaders, saying the question will be taken up at the organization’s national meeting in May.
“After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy,” Deron Smith, the BSA director of public relations, said in a statement.
Smith said the organization’s national executive board will prepare a resolution for the 1,400 voting members of the national council to consider. The annual meeting will take place in May, 2013, in Grapevine, Texas.
Walking to his car after the delay was announced, board member Jack Furst had very little to say.
“It’s all good,” Furst told The Associated Press before driving away.
The BSA announced last week it was considering allowing troops to decide whether to allow gay membership. That news has placed a spotlight on executive board meetings that began Monday in Irving, Texas, where scouting headquarters is located.
Smith said last week that the board could take a vote Wednesday or decide to discuss the policy, but that the organization would issue a statement either way. Otherwise, the board has remained silent, with reporters barred from the hotel where its meetings are taking place.
At nearby BSA headquarters, a handful of Scouts and leaders delivered petitions Monday in support of letting gay members join. The conservative group Texas Values, meanwhile, had organized a Wednesday morning prayer vigil urging the Scouts to keep their policy the same.
President Barack Obama, an opponent of the policy, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an Eagle Scout who supports it, both have weighed in.
“My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life,” said Obama, who as U.S. president is the honorary president of BSA, in a Sunday interview with CBS.
Perry, the author of the book “On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For,” said in a speech Saturday that “to have popular culture impact 100 years of their standards is inappropriate.”
The board faces several choices, none of which is likely to quell controversy. Standing pat would go against the public wishes of two high-profile board members — Ernst & Young CEO James Turley and AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson — who run companies with nondiscrimination policies and have said they would work from within to change the Scouts’ policy.
Conservatives have warned of mass defections if Scouting allows gay membership to be determined by troops. Local and regional leaders, as well as the leadership of churches that sponsor troops, would be forced to consider their own policies. And policy opponents who delivered four boxes of signatures to BSA headquarters Monday said they wouldn’t be satisfied by only a partial …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
California Dreamin'? Gov. Brown knocks Perry appeal for business as 'barely a fart'
California Gov. Jerry Brown and Texas Gov. Rick Perry are going head-to-head in a battle for business, as the Lone Star State tries to lure overtaxed Californians.
Boy Scouts board meets amid talk of policy on gays
The Boy Scouts of America’s policy excluding gay members and leaders could be up for a vote as soon as Wednesday, when the organization’s national executive board meets behind closed doors under intense pressure from several sides.
BSA announced last week it was considering allowing troops to decide whether to allow gay membership. That news has placed a spotlight on executive board meetings that began Monday in Irving, Texas, where scouting headquarters is located.
BSA spokesman Deron Smith said last week that the board could take a vote Wednesday or decide to discuss the policy, but the organization would issue a statement either way. Otherwise, the board has remained silent, with reporters barred from the hotel where its meetings are taking place.
At nearby BSA headquarters, a handful of Scouts and leaders delivered petitions Monday in support of letting gay members join. The conservative group Texas Values, meanwhile, says it has organized a Wednesday morning prayer vigil urging the Scouts to keep their policy the same.
President Barack Obama, an opponent of the policy, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an Eagle Scout who supports it, both have weighed in.
“My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life,” said Obama, who as U.S. president is the honorary president of BSA, in a Sunday interview with CBS.
Perry, the author of the book “On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For,” said in a speech Saturday that “to have popular culture impact 100 years of their standards is inappropriate.”
The board faces several choices, none of which is likely to quell controversy. Standing pat would go against the public wishes of two high-profile board members — Ernst & Young CEO James Turley and AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson — who run companies with nondiscrimination policies and have said they would work from within to change the Scouts’ policy.
Conservatives have warned of mass defections if Scouting allows gay membership to be determined by troops. Local and regional leaders, as well as the leadership of churches that sponsor troops, would be forced to consider their own policies. And policy opponents who delivered four boxes of signatures to BSA headquarters Monday said they wouldn’t be satisfied by only a partial acceptance of gay scouts and leaders.
“We don’t want to see Scouting gerrymandered into blue and red districts,” said Brad Hankins, campaign director of Scouts for Equality.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Texas Gov. Perry says Boy Scouts should keep no-gay policy
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said emphatically Saturday that the Boy Scouts of America shouldn’t soften its strict no-gays membership policy, and dismissed the idea of bending the organization to the whims of “popular culture.”