Monday, July 24, 2006

Strayhorn to attend TxDOT meeting in Waco

Strayhorn to block road plan at tonight's hearing

July 24, 2006

Waco Tribune-Herald
Copyright 2006

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Texas Independent candidate for governor, will attend the Texas Department of Transportation’s public hearing in Waco tonight on the Trans Texas Corridor.

According to Strayhorn publicists, she’ll discuss her opposition to what she calls the “Trans Texas Catastrophe,” a plan that Gov. Rick Perry says is absolutely vital to accommodate the growing traffic congestion facing the state, especially on busy Interstate 35.

Strayhorn, who is challenging Gov. Perry’s re-election bid and regularly attacking his Trans Texas Corridor proposal, arrives for a news conference at 3 p.m. today at Texas Aero at the Waco Regional Airport, just hours before the public hearing on the controversial corridor.
Some critics of the corridor fear it will gobble up huge amounts of private rural land for its construction. Others, such as town leaders in nearby Hillsboro, worry that the planned corridor will bypass their city and so hurt it economically.

Strayhorn isn’t the only gubernatorial contender destined for Waco this week.

Country crooner, Texas wit and novelist Kinky Friedman, also running for governor, will be at Poppa Rollo’s Pizza from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday to visit with teachers and other interested persons, Friedman’s local supporters say.

Both Friedman and Strayhorn mounted aggressive write-in campaigns across the state to get on the November ballot to run against Gov. Perry, a Republican, and Chris Bell, a Democrat.

© 2006 Waco Tribune-Herald: www.wacotrib.com

pigicon