SpaceX, Tesla Make Grimes Plant Official
What CEO Elon Musk says will be the world’s largest computer chip manufacturing plant is planned for Grimes County, east of College Station, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
In a joint announcement last week, Space X and Tesla unveiled an initial $16.8 billion investment in a plant called Terafab. It is expected to employ at least 3,000 people. Many of those jobs are expected to go to residents of Grimes and neighboring Brazos counties.
“We’re now embarking on the most epic chip-building effort,” Musk, CEO of both companies, said in a statement. “The Terafab is bringing cutting-edge manufacturing to America, creating thousands of high-paying jobs in the Lone Star State and enabling us to produce AI chips at scale for use on Earth and in space.”
Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed last week that the project is receiving a $30 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant from the state. Grimes County has previously approved a property tax waiver in exchange for annual payments of $20 million.
The plant would eventually span 100 million square feet.
State Fair of Texas’ Gun Ban Upheld A Texas appeals court upheld a handgun ban at the State Fair of Texas, rejecting the state’s claim that the city of Dallas unlawfully allowed a private operator to prohibit guns on city-owned property, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The 15th Court of Appeals affirmed a Dallas County judge’s dismissal of a case originally filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and three gun owners. It rejected the state’s argument that the restriction on cities banning guns doesn’t automatically apply to private tenants operating on public property. The ban will remain in place unless the Texas Supreme Court intervenes.
“The decision to prohibit firearms on the fairgrounds is the correct decision to protect the safety of our patrons,” Karissa Condoianis, a State Fair of Texas spokesperson, said. This will be the third year the ban will be in place.
Talarico Voted Using Parents’ Address, Report Says
Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico voted in five elections using his parents’ address after buying a nearby home for himself, according to The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, a practice that may have violated state voting laws. The revelation comes weeks after Talarico accused Paxton, his GOP opponent, of voting from his estranged wife’s address despite not having lived there for two years.
Talarico has taken advantage of a state law that allows some public officials to redact personal information, such as home addresses. The news organizations pieced together the information from unredacted records provided by the Talarico campaign.
Texas law requires that residents register to vote where they live. The Talarico campaign declined to answer questions about his residency and voting history, saying “right-wing actors” have made threats about trying to locate the candidate and his family.
Talarico’s house is in the same county as his parents’home. Both residences are located in the same state House district he represents, but in different jurisdictions for some local elections, according to The Tribune.