TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalSale, $100M 'clean coal' project proposed for Two Elk site
A developer says it will buy North American Power Group’s Two Elk property in southern Campbell County. Wyoming New Power has also requested $100 million in industrial development revenue bonding for a clean-coal processing plant at the site.
The property is owned by Two Elk developer Michael J. Ruffatto, who pleaded guilty to criminal fraud in October 2016. Federal prosecutors said Ruffatto falsely billed millions of dollars to a Department of Energy stimulus grant for testing the viability of carbon sequestration at the Two Elk site. Ruffatto won a fifth sentencing delay in October to raise money for a large cash settlement with the government.
Black Diamond Holdings managing director Patrick Imeson spoke to Campbell County commissioners Tuesday morning. The Denver-based private equity firm owns an interest in Wyoming New Power, which would use a coal-drying and liquefaction process now under development at a testing facility in Oklahoma to remove moisture and increase the heating value of waste coal from nearby Powder River Basin mines. Wyoming New Power will market the refined coal as clean energy.
Waste coal doesn’t meet utility customer quality specifications. Mines are typically permitted to rebury the unused, unmarketable waste coal.
Read more: http://www.wyofile.com/sale-100m-clean-coal-project-proposed-two-elk-site/
University of Wyoming president condemns anti-Semitic flyers on campus
University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols condemned the contents of Holocaust denial flyers that were posted around campus in recent days.
“We must acknowledge that the First Amendment allows expression that is so reprehensible that it must be answered,” she said in a statement Friday morning.
Holocaust denial is “simply false,” and part of a history of anti-Semitic behavior, the president said.
“Outrageously incorrect information such as that contained in the fliers has been used for decades by those who hold anti-Semitic views to harass the Jewish community,” Nichols said.
Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/uw-president-condemns-anti-semitic-flyers-on-campus/article_3612f921-6ad0-51c8-bb4d-b4959d441268.html
Chinese eCommerce giant strikes $300 million Montana beef deal
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has struck a $300 million beef deal with the Montana Stockgrowers Association, including $100 million for a new packing plant.
JD.com signed the agreement with Montana's largest livestock organization in mid-October, but kept it quiet until President Donald Trump's visit Wednesday to China. JD.com is the world's third largest Internet retailer, behind Amazon and Google.
Stockgrower's Executive Vice President Errol Rice and Miles City Rancher Fred Wacker were in Beijing for the signing ceremony.
"JD.com is wanting these cattle from the great state of Montana, known for its fresh water and its clean air and tasty, tender beef," Wacker said. "We're now at the point where we go to ranchers and get them signed up."
Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/chinese-ecommerce-giant-strikes-million-montana-beef-deal/article_109ddb3c-90c6-562b-8748-71743ea5d561.html
There's apparently a name for the generation born in the late '70s and early '80s
We’ve all heard about millennials, and the generation that came before them, commonly known as Generation X. While most descriptions paint some pretty stark differences between those two generations, some have noticed that people born roughly between the years of 1977 and 1985 don’t seem to fit neatly in either category.
Writing for Business Insider, Marleen Stollen and Gisella Wolf explain the problem thusly:
“The years of our birth lie between two huge generations. We had to bridge the divide between an analog childhood and digital adulthood and we are reminded of this day after day. We live with one foot in Generation X and one in Generation Y [aka millenials]. This is an uncomfortable position to keep up and we aren’t fond of it.”
Well, now there is a new term floating around to describe this so-called “microgeneration.” These folks are now being referred to as xennials (a combination of Gen X and millennial).
Read more: http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/simplemost/there-s-apparently-a-name-for-the-generation-born-in/article_b9d13701-40c7-5d71-9369-6b75981f53d2.html
Montana colleges could face $44 million cut if special session fails
If the Montana Legislature rejects the governor’s budget-balancing plan in next week’s special session, the University System may face, not a best-case scenario of $4.5 million in cuts, but a worst-case scenario — the possible loss of $44 million.
That would be “devastating,” Montana State University spokesman Tracy Ellig said Thursday.
Instead of focusing on next week’s Board of Regents meeting in Bozeman or even the ’Cat-Griz football game, Ellig said, the eyes of MSU leaders are on Helena and what happens when the Legislature meets Tuesday.
Gov. Steve Bullock has proposed a three-part plan to cope with a $227 million state budget shortfall, the result of record-high firefighting costs and revenues falling short of predictions.
Read more: https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/montana-colleges-could-face-million-cut-if-special-session-fails/article_3b97d9c6-66d0-5716-ae23-409ab0971df7.html
Zinke says Democrats holding Interior nominees 'hostage'
WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says Senate Democrats are holding the department's nominees "hostage" to a political agenda that includes opposition to his review of presidentially designated monuments.
In a sharply worded letter to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Zinke said it's unfortunate that Democrats have placed holds on four Interior nominees, including the department's top lawyer and budget chief.
The nominees "have nothing to do with this monument review, yet they have been forced to sit on the sidelines" for months, Zinke wrote Thursday. "As a former Navy SEAL, this is not the type of hostage situation I am accustomed to."
Zinke offered to meet with Durbin, who requested a briefing last month along with other Democratic senators to discuss the monument review.
Read more: http://mtstandard.com/news/state-and-regional/zinke-says-democrats-holding-interior-nominees-hostage/article_92bc0fd3-48c4-5f45-b3a8-d7b2a022a8f6.html
Which party held a Supreme Court nominee hostage for nearly a year? 
Gov. Bullock calls special legislative session
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock has convened a special session of the Montana Legislature to address a $227 million shortfall in the state budget.
Bullock announced on Monday that the special session will begin at noon Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the state Capitol, although hearings will begin on Monday.
Bullock said legislators must address the $227 million revenue shortfall through an equal combination of cuts, revenue increases, and transfers and other legislation based on realistic revenue projections.
“I have put forth a set of reasonable and thoughtful proposals to balance Montana’s budget for consideration by the Legislature,” said Bullock. “It’s time Montana leaders fulfill our responsibilities to the people we represent and balance our budget in a way that makes sense for Montana taxpayers, workers, and families.”
Read more: http://www.yellowstonecountynews.com/201711061727/gov-bullock-calls-special-legislative-session/
Suspect in 1974 murder of Alice police officer identified
More than 40 years after police officer Matthew Murphy was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Alice, investigators believe they have found the person responsible.
According to an Oct. 24 affidavit filed by Sgt. Aniceto Perez Jr., Alice police identified 70-year-old Roberto Lopez — an inmate who was being held at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama — as a suspect Murphy's death. Lopez is accused of fatally shooting Murphy in December 1974 after an early morning traffic stop near the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 and West Main Street.
Jail officials in Alabama said Lopez was a prisoner serving a life sentence without parole, but did not provide additional details. An arrest warrant was later issued for Lopez's arrest, but he was not in the Jim Wells County Jail as of Thursday afternoon, Sheriff Danny Bueno said.
According to the affidavit, Lopez reportedly bragged while in prison about shooting and killing a "narc" named "Murphy" with a .22-caliber pistol. Murphy was an undercover narcotics agent who had been put back on patrol at the time of his death. He was shot several times and later died at a nearby hospital.
Read more: http://www.caller.com/story/news/2017/11/09/suspect-1974-murder-alice-police-officer-identified/849805001/
My brother is a friend of Matt Murphy's son.
Remaining $1.3 million stolen from Downtown El Paso streetcar project still not recovered
The Downtown streetcar project is $1.3 million shy of its $97 million budget about a year after the city and the agency overseeing the project fell victim to an email phishing scam.
Raymond Telles, executive director of the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, which is overseeing the construction of the project, said the agency has absorbed the loss through conservative financial planning throughout the course of the project.
“The impact is that the final contingency fund for extras at the end of the project for stuff like additional landscaping or whatever is cut short (by the $1.3 million)," Telles said.
Telles said the CRRMA knew from the beginning it would not receive any additional funds from the Texas Department of Transportation, which is funding the project, or the city, which has said it would not contribute any funds to it.
Read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/el-paso/2017/11/10/remaining-1-3-million-stolen-downtown-streetcar-project-still-not-recovered/853304001/
Affidavit alleges McLennan County DA Reyna dismissed cases for friends, campaign donations
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna dismissed criminal cases for his friends and major campaign donors for political and personal gain and reportedly remains under federal investigation, according to a sworn affidavit filed Friday from Reyna’s former top assistant.
Greg Davis, a trial attorney with more than 30 years’ experience, resigned as Reyna’s first assistant in August 2014, saying he no longer could be a part of a two-tiered justice system that gave preferential treatment to Reyna’s friends and political supporters.
Davis detailed his allegations in an affidavit filed in Twin Peaks defendant Matthew Clendennen’s case as part of Clendennen’s efforts to recuse Reyna from prosecuting his case.
A hearing on the motion is set for Nov. 20, but Davis will be out of the country then and offered an affidavit in place of his testimony at court.
Read more: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/courts_and_trials/affidavit-alleges-reyna-dismissed-cases-for-friends-campaign-donations/article_fa48b615-2bd1-5b42-87b4-f8bea7301e43.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
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