The April 29th episode of The DFW Breakdown brings updates on the Texas Central Railway project, the return of local music and art festivals and the city of Fort Worth’s new initiative to mine cryptocurrency.

Festivals, performances return to Richardson after 2-year absence

After a two-year pandemic pause, the city of Richardon is relaunching two of its biggest community events: Cottonwood Art Festival and the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival are back in May. Richardson City Manager Don Magner said the return of these events is expected to provide the city an economic boost. According to Richardson’s fiscal year 2021-22 budget, Wildflower will generate nearly $536,000 in revenue, and the city’s other arts festivals are projected to generate over $305,000. Reporter Jackson King discusses the milestone month for the city.

Texas Central faces eminent domain legal challenge

Since 2014, the company Texas Central has been developing plans for a high-speed railway that will stretch all the way from Houston to Dallas. The project aims to use a system modeled after Japanese Shinkansen bullet trains to create a 90-minute travel alternative between the two cities, a commute Texas Central says nearly 100,000 Texans make more than once a week.

However, the proposed railway has hit its share of snags in the years leading up to its planned groundbreaking, which was initially estimated for late 2021, but remains stalled due to lawsuits from property owners that could be affected by the project. In the next few months, the Texas Supreme Court is expected to make a significant decision in one such case against Texas Central. Reporter Jishnu Nair shares the latest on the project.

Also on this episode...

Fort Worth will be the first city in the United States to mine Bitcoin; Dallas’ redistricting commission selected two options for the 2021 City Council Redistricting Plan; Frisco Police Chief David Shilson is urging residents to maintain proper gun security amidst high gun theft numbers in the city; the McKinney National Airport is entering the final stages of a $16.8 million project to build a new terminal; and more.

The DFW Breakdown is a production of Community Impact Newspaper. This episode was produced by Morgan O’Neal with editing by Marie Leonard. Weather and allergy reports are sourced from www.weather.com and AccuWeather. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major listening platforms. New episodes are released every Friday morning.