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Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! On this day in 1839, legendary frontiersman Kit Carson carved his name and the date on a huge boulder on Sawtooth Mountain northwest of Fort Davis. Engineers with the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation discovered the inscription in 1941.

Our team at The Texas Flyover hopes you're having a happy and fulfilling Christmas day or first night of Hanukkah. Our edition today and through the rest of this week will be a bit shorter than usual to allow us time to spend with our families, but we hope you enjoy them!

We’re sponsored today by Laughland, the 100% safe and easy-to-use teeth whitening kit you can use at home.

Mark Cuban Purchased a Ghost Town in 2021

The story of a billionaire’s generosity resurfaced a few days ago as we celebrate the season of giving.

In 2021, Shark Tank investor and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban purchased a deserted parcel of land from an old friend who was dying of cancer to relieve the burden on the friend’s wife and children after his passing.

What made the $2 million transaction especially remarkable was that the property was a ghost town with zero residents, located about an hour southeast of Dallas. Disannexed from neighboring Angus in 1973 so it could sell liquor, Mustang was once the site of a trailer park, a strip club, and a fire station. All that’s left today is empty land and a few dirt roads.

Cuban told Business Insider that he’s never visited Mustang and has “zero plans for it,” although he’s toyed with the idea of renaming the town Dinosaur and installing a collection of life-sized replicas there. In the meantime, he put a friend in charge of managing the property, giving him the title “mayor.”

Southwest's Efforts to Block High-Speed Rail

Efforts to build a high-speed rail line in Texas date back to 1989, when the Texas High-Speed Rail Authority proposed a bullet train route between Dallas and Houston. Since then, the Dallas-based carrier Southwest Airlines has sought to block high-speed rail in the state, successfully lobbying for a ban on using public funds to finance it.

Although Southwest has claimed to support competition from other modes of transportation, the initial proposals for high-speed rail represented a significant threat to the company’s short-haul flights within Texas.

"They are terrified of the competition and will do anything within their power to stop the project," Bob Neely, executive director of the Texas High-Speed Rail Authority, said in 1991.

A $64 million federal grant has rekindled hopes for a Houston-Dallas rail line, but the project faces significant hurdles, including the aforementioned ban on state funding, opposition from landowners, and competition from amenity-laden bus lines.

Flying together with our sponsor

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➤ The Dallas Mavericks took a $53 million loss to part ways with regional sports broadcaster Bally Sports and launch Mavs TV, expanding their potential audience from 4 million to 14 million fans. Games are available for free on most TEGNA-owned TV channels throughout Texas. (More)

➤ A bear cub named Eve, who was found dumpster diving and covered in mange seven years ago in California, is thriving at the Black Beauty Ranch animal sanctuary in Henderson County. (Watch Video)

➤ Shannah and Kelly Haley, a Plano couple who lead Interval Run Club Dallas, completed their goal of running marathons and half marathons in all 50 states before their 55th birthdays. They accomplished the feat in October at a race in Baltimore. (More)

➤ Whataburger has teamed up with Wrangler to produce a 24-piece collection for enthusiasts of the iconic brands. The collection, which includes trucker hats, graphic tees, and a variety of denim items, will be available on Wrangler’s website next spring. (See Photos)

➤ A Central Texas woman received an unexpected toll road bill after criminals cloned her license plates and attached them to a vehicle of the same make and model as her own. (More)

➤ Around 511 ghost towns are scattered around Texas, and many more rural communities—especially those in West Texas and the High Plains—are also in danger of dying off as residents move to urban areas. (See Details)

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Flying together with our sponsor

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