Category: Uncategorized

Will commuter rail ever return to Waxahachie?
According to the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the plan is to expand commuter rail to the city within the next 30 years.
With increasing growth and increasing numbers of commuters, the NCTCOG has begun looking at the future of transit rail within the North Texas region.
Along with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Denton County Transportation Authority and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T), NCTCOG completed a comprehensive rail corridor study in 2004 that shows possible service to and from Waxahachie, through Lancaster and Red Oak.
The NCTCOG Regional Transportation Council is supporting the creation of a 260-mile rail system over the next 30 years.
A variety of technology and transportation options were considered but other than a line connecting Plano to McKinney, the council recommends the use of regional rail, currently being used on the Trinity Railway Express between Dallas and Fort Worth.
The trains can be single-level or double-level depending on the number of passengers being served.
The trains are self propelled by either Locomotive Hauled Consists or Diesel Multiple Units.
The number of stops at stations are fewer on regional rail, partially due to the speeds the trains travel at.
Passengers benefit from a maximum speed of 79 miles-per-hour.
Early projections by the council suggest a rail station in downtown Waxahachie, a station near Highway 77 and Highway 287, a Red Oak Station, Lancaster Station, an Interstate 20 station, and a Loop 12 Station, before connecting to the rest of the rail system at Union Station in Dallas.
The estimated cost for the regional rail service to Waxahachie is $266 million, compared to an estimated $1,144 million for light rail service, similar to the Interurban Rail.
The council has also suggested a separate rail line from Duncanville to Midlothian, at a cost of $170 million.
To fund the project, the council recommends cities along the corridor increasing their sales tax by at least 1/2 a cent, which would take a legistlative measure due to most cities already at the state cap for sales tax.

Scoble reports that you can blog from your Xbox 360. Actually the system blogs automatically for you. Creepy.

Churchmarketingsucks.com points to this video clip (removed) of the Hills looking for a new church and visiting the new Mega-Church.

Ever wonder what the rest of the world thinks when looking for a church? Maybe what I wonder or think too?

It seems everyone wants something relevant to them, even if that means a Tram from the coffee shop (that sells Nat King Cole) to the sanctuary with HDTV, which is sometimes known to be left on after church to show the Cowboys game.

It’s interesting though, that as I type this and think about all the options we have for churches, I’m listening to “Unfailing Love” by Chris Tomlin.

I’m glad that as often as we fail and as often as we try to bring people to church, God never changes. He never fails and He’s the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. And He’s still relevant, He’s still alive and still active in our lives.

From the e-mail files:

Amid all the hysteria among politicians and in the media over rising gasoline prices, and all the outraged indignation about oil company profits and their executives’ high pay and lavish perks, has anybody bothered to even estimate how much effect any of this actually has on the price we pay at the pump?

As reported earlier, from Kinky Friedman’s website:

“As our staff is beginning to consolidate and organize all of the petitions that Ms. Strayhorn turned in yesterday, we have consolidated her 101 boxes (of petitions) down to 12,” says Scott Haywood, communications director for the Secretary of State’s office. Haywood is not sure what the agency will do with the leftover cartons (all 101 delivered Tuesday were slapped with Strayhorn bumper stickers). He made it clear that Strayhorn did not fill boxes to the brim. “If she had not been so hungry for media attention, we would not have had to waste time consolidating her petitions into a more usable format. By trying to get a bigger play in the media, she has made the process more time-consuming for our office.”
The retort from Brad McClellan, the comptroller’s son, mentions the outsized burden of paper:
“Try organizing one box full or carrying one full,” McClellan said. “It’s a shame they waste time doing this cheap partisan attack.”

Kinky’s campaign noted that they would (and did) bring their signatures in 11 tightly filled boxes and would bring plenty of muscle to carry the boxes.

Thanks to an observant reader*:
Fox News’ Neil Cavuto has an interview with Murdoch online.
Here’s the clip about Rupert and Clinton:

CAVUTO: There’s a fear that Republicans are going to lose the game in November, that they’re going to lose the House, as a distinct possibility, maybe even the Senate, in a rout. Do you see that?
MURDOCH: I think it’s possible. I think the chances are, they will get their act together.
It’s ridiculous. Consumer confidence is high. There’s no real unemployment. The economy is booming. And, usually, people will vote according to the hip pocket nerve. And, on that basis, they would be increasing. But, somehow…
CAVUTO: Why aren’t they doing that?
MURDOCH: Somehow, the White House is not getting it across to the people that they’re responsible with their economic policies.
And it’s amazing how well we’re absorbing the price of oil, which I think speaks tremendously for the efficiency, increasing efficiency, of American industry.
CAVUTO: I would be remiss if, while you were still here, I didn’t bring up Hillary Clinton. Everyone is talking about this fund-raiser you’re doing for her.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: What is going on with that?
MURDOCH: It’s going to be a very small fund-raiser, people in this building. I hope you will come.
And I think she’s been a good senator. And you know, we don’t agree on a lot of things, of course. But she’s going to get reelected here. There’s no opposition. There’s no Republican Party in New York state any longer, it would seem.
And I think, you know, she’s doing very well for us and for — I’m talking, parochially, for New York state.
CAVUTO: How about as president? Would she make a good president?
MURDOCH: Well, that’s a different question. I don’t even know that she’s going to run.

*(I wonder what name I should give my readers. Front Burner says, Front Burnians or members of the FB Nation. Strangers might be a little unwelcoming. Any ideas?)