Latest news with #Bastrop
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bastrop has a new mayor, Harris wins runoff election
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Voters in Bastrop elected Ishmael Harris to be the city's next mayor. Unofficial results show Harris won Saturday's special election with 63% of the vote, defeating former city council member Willie DeLaRosa. Harris previously served on the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, but left his position to run for mayor. Before the election, Harris said that if he were elected, he hoped to improve trust in the city council. The Harris campaign website described him as the 'candidate dedicated to bridging the gap between local government, big business, and the citizens of Bastrop!' The special election comes after former Bastrop Mayor Lyle Nelson resigned in January following allegations of misuse of official funds. Nelson denied those allegations, calling them part of a 'witch hunt,' partially blaming city councilors in a press conference. Nelson's resignation preempted a potential recall vote against him, according to a city council agenda. Fellow city councilors led the recall effort, saying that Nelson interfered with the investigation and refused to turn over 'critical evidence.' Nelson also denied these allegations. At the same press conference, Nelson also said he had been 'absolved of misdeeds' by local officials, including the Bastrop County Attorney and the Texas Rangers. Voter turnout for the runoff election was 12.9%, with 967 voters casting ballots. Turnout was down from the May election, which saw 17.2% of registered voters turn out. The results are considered unofficial until the City Council canvases the results at an upcoming meeting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Defensive Tackle Tiki Hola Commits To Notre Dame
Notre Dame has landed yet another big time football player with Bastrop (Texas) High School standout Tiki Hola announcing his commitment to the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame beat out USC and SMU to land the talented defensive tackle. Notre Dame has been recruiting Hola for about two years, with his first visit to campus coming in 2023 when he watched the Fighting Irish beat Wake Forest (45-7). In March of 2024, Hola was officially offered a scholarship by Notre Dame during its Pot of Gold push. A week later he made his second visit to campus, and since then Hola has made two more trips to campus as the Irish. Defensive line coach Al Washington established a strong rapport with Hola, selling his vision for how the Bastrop star fits in the Irish defense, and that played a major role in this decision. Advertisement The Texas defensive lineman is listed at 6-3 and between 270-285 pounds, but he checked in recently at 6-3 and 300 pounds. As a junior, Hola racked up 102 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, two sacks, forced three fumbles and recovered two fumbles. He earned Defensive MVP honors after putting together that dominant season. Hola also earned first-team All-State honors at the 5A level. Landing Hola gives Notre Dame the kind of physical, stout, disruptive big man that could help improve the Irish run defense. Hola is ranked as a Top 150 caliber prospect on the Irish Breakdown board, but he has a 4.5-star upside grade, which is that of a Top 50-75 prospect. ESPN and Rivals both rank Hola as a four-star recruit, with ESPN ranking him as the nation's No. 150 overall player and No. 12 defensive tackle. Hola also had offers from Georgia, Texas, LSU, Michigan, Oregon, Texas A&M, Miami (Fla.), Tennessee, Nebraska, TCU, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Baylor, Boston College, Arizona and Houston. Hola is the 15th player to commit to Notre Dame. He joins Florida quarterback Noah Grubbs, Texas running back Javian Osborne, Florida wide receiver Dylan Faison, Georgia wide receiver Bubba Frazier, Pennsylvania offensive lineman Tyler Merrill, Michigan offensive linemen Ben Nichols, Gregory Patrick and Sullivan Garvin, North Carolina ends Ebenezer Ewetade and Rodney Dunham, North Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis Jr., Ohio linebacker Jakobe Clapper, Florida cornerback Ayden Pouncey and Tennessee cornerback Chaston Smith. Advertisement Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge Irish Breakdown Content 2025 Scholarship Chart 2025 Football Schedule Notre Dame 2026 Scholarship Offers 2025 Commit Rankings - Offense 2025 Commit Rankings - Defense 2024 Recruiting Class 2023 Recruiting Class 2022 Recruiting Class ——————— Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more. BECOME A MEMBER Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time! Join the Irish Breakdown community! Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178 Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta enters deal with RWE to help power growing operations, data center in Texas
Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is continuing its growth in Texas, striking a deal with RWE this week for a 200-megawatt solar project to power its operations. In a Tuesday announcement, Meta and RWE, one of the nation's largest renewable energy companies, revealed a new power purchase agreement. This agreement will enable Meta to procure 100% of the electricity generated by RWE's upcoming Waterloo Solar project in Bastrop County. The solar project, which is set to begin construction later this year, will help power Meta's growing regional operations and data center capacity. According to the announcement, the project is expected to support 300 full-time employees at peak construction and to produce an estimated $26 million in economic activity. More: Elon Musk's shadow looms over this tiny Texas town. Can it cope with the rapid growth? The agreement is RWE's third long-term contract with Meta in recent months. Meta entered power purchase agreements with the renewable energy company for 100% of its output at a solar project in Illinois and one in Louisiana. 'RWE's partnership with Meta underscores the importance of unleashing American electricity generation from all sources to support load growth in Texas and across the U.S.," RWE Clean Energy Chief Commercial Officer Christoph Hunfeld said in the announcement. "These collaborations enable us to continue investing in communities across America like Bastrop County, helping to stimulate job creation and economic prosperity, while simultaneously helping companies like Meta match the electricity use of their operations with clean and renewable energy.' Meta has been recently growing its business operations in the Lone Star State. Meta has about 1,500 local employees in the Austin area. The company currently leases space in two downtown towers: about 120,000 square feet at 300 W. Sixth and Third + Shoal tower and nearly 600,000 square feet in the Sixth and Guadalupe tower. The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Meta was in talks to reincorporate in Texas, possibly migrating away from Delaware where many major U.S. corporations are incorporated. More: Report: Meta considering reincorporating in Texas The news came just weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company's key content policy team would be moving to Texas. It has not been specified if the team will be joining the downtown Austin offices. Meta is currently building a hyperscale data center facility in Temple, expected to be at least an $800 million investment by the social media giant. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Meta's Texas operations to be powered by RWE's Bastrop solar project
