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It Might Be 2017 Before Dallas' Energy Transfer Partners Gets OK To Finish Dakota Pipeline

Gus Contreras
/
KERA News
Protesters demonstrate against the Dakota Access pipeline in Dallas' Klyde Warren Park on Oct. 21.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Wrestlemania 32 generated $17.4 million for the D-FW area; the State Board of Education will vote Friday on a whether to reject “Mexican-American Heritage” textbook; Willie Nelson’s playing the Granada — twice; and more.

Dallas’ Energy Transfer Partners asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg Tuesday to declare that it has the legal right to finish the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline project, The Associated Press reports. The move was spurred by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday calling for more study and input from the Standing Rock Sioux. The tribe believes the pipeline threatens drinking water and cultural sites. Protests against the pipeline have been ongoing for months on the Standing Rock reservation, outside Klyde Warren Park, through downtown Austin and across the country.

Company lawyers have proposed a schedule under which a hearing would be held "on or about" Jan. 3, and Boasberg would make a decision after that, according to the AP. In August, the Standing Rock Sioux asked Boasberg to temporarily stop construction, and he ruled 12 business days after a hearing. According to AP: “If he follows a similar timeline, a decision on ETP's request would come Jan. 19 — one day before Donald Trump, who has said he wants to rebuild energy infrastructure and owns stock in ETP, assumes the White House.” [AP]

  • WrestleMania 32 generated $170.4 million for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation. The event also drew one of At&T’s biggest crowds when it was here in April. The Dallas Morning News reports: “It broke the record with 101,763 fans from all 50 states and 35 countries. It beat the prior attendance record of 93,173 fans who attended WrestleMania 3 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan in 1987.” The event also crushed it online, too, breaking WWE records for video views and social mentions, according to Nielsen. [The Dallas Morning News]

  • The Texas State Board of Education voted 14-0 Wednesday to reject a Mexican-American studies textbook that critics say is riddled with error. The textbook, titled “Mexican American Heritage,” was the only submission the board received when it made a call for textbooks for high school social studies classes in 2015. Before the board took a preliminary vote Wednesday, 35 Hispanic activists and scholars spoke out against the book's adoption at a public hearing Tuesday, the Texas Tribune reports. The board will take a final vote Friday. [The Texas Tribune]

  • The U.S. Geological Survey says it has discovered in West Texas one of the largest reserves of recoverable oil in the agency's history. The Wolfcamp Shale located in the Permian Basin contains an estimated 20 billion barrels of oil, according to the agency. It's also estimated to hold 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. That’s nearly three times larger than the recoverable oil found in 2013 in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Dakotas and Montana, The Associated Press reports. [AP]

  • Willie Nelson will play two intimate shows at Dallas’ Granada Theater just after the new year. Well, if you consider the Lower Greenville concert venue’s 1,000-person capacity intimate. It sure is compared to the 83-year-old icon’s record crowd at Austin City Limits last month. Runaway June will open the show.  GuideLive reports, “At $125 a head, Nelson ties Granada's highest price for a concert ticket; in 2010, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake played the venue for the same amount.” Tickets go on sale Friday at 11 a.m. [GuideLive]