That 'But' Is Doing Some HEAVY Lifting: Watch Elizabeth Warren Justify Shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — SpaceX is launching a new mission: making its Starbase site a new Texas city. Billionaire Elon Musk 's company on Thursday sent a letter to local officials requesting a election to turn what it calls Starbase — the South Texas site where SpaceX builds and launches its massive Starship rockets — into an incorporated city. Residents of the area known as Starbase submitted the petition, according to the company. The area is on the southern tip of Texas at Boca Chica Beach, near the Mexican border. Earlier this year, Musk announced he was moving the headquarters of SpaceX and his social media company X from California to Texas. “To continue growing the workforce necessary to rapidly develop and manufacture Starship, we need the ability to grow Starbase as a community. That is why we are requesting that Cameron County call an election to enable the incorporation of Starbase as the newest city in the Rio Grande Valley,” Kathryn Lueders, the general manager of Starbase, wrote in a letter to the county. Cameron County Judge Eddie Teviño Jr., the county's top elected official, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Thursday. It's not the first time turning Starbase into its own city has been floated. Musk proposed the idea in 2021 when he wrote a social media post that simply said, “Creating the city of Starbase, Texas.” More than 3,400 full-time SpaceX employees and contractors work at the Starbase site, according to a local impact study issued by Trevino earlier this year. SpaceX's rapid expansion in the region has drawn pushback from some locals. Earlier this year, a group called Save RGV sued the company in July over allegations of environmental violations and dumping polluted water into the nearby bay. SpaceX said in response that a state review found no environmental risks and called the lawsuit “frivolous.”The first phase of Norfolk’s $2.6 billion floodwall and flooding mitigation project has new renderings showing how the project would transform the downtown waterfront. The city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presented the new design diagrams this week as part of a presentation to the Norfolk Architectural Review Board. The renderings show how the wall would tower 16.5 feet above the Elizabeth River, near locations such as Harbor Park, the Elizabeth River Trail and the future Norfolk casino property. The first section of the first building phase, 1A, runs from Berkley Bridge to Campostella Bridge . The overall endeavor, called Coastal Storm Risk Management Project , is a city partnership with the Army Corps and includes not only a floodwall but a series of levees, tide gates, pump stations and other mitigation efforts across the city. The federal government plans to fund 65% of the project, leaving the city and state to fund the remaining $931 million. Though the wall itself is not designed to combat nuisance flooding caused by high tide or regular storms, new pump stations at phase 1A would help would help address the problem around Harbor Park, said Doug Beaver, deputy city manager, during a Monday Norfolk City Council retreat. Beaver said the pumps would redirect storm water and could be turned on during rainstorms when necessary. The project drew criticism from community leaders in neighborhoods such as Berkley, Campostella and Campostella Heights, which were left out of initial floodwall plans. Afterward, the City Council asked the Army Corps to study whether the locations could be included. However, the Corps did not receive funding for that study, at least for 2024, according to WHRO reporting. Property owners and other residents in the historic, wealthy West Freemason district also have voiced opposition to the floodwall , saying it would block waterfront views and decrease property values. The design team plans to revise floodwall designs after input from the Architectural Review Board and submit then for approval at a later date, said Megan Shearin, a project spokesperson with the city’s Office of Resilience. Project leaders will hold monthly open houses on the project and city flood mitigation strategies and also ramp up other community meetings going forward, Beaver said at the retreat. The 1A design also needs to go through the Army Corps’ approval process, he said. Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
Drones for commercial and recreational use have grown rapidly in popularity, despite restrictions on who can operate them and where they can be flown. No-fly zones are enforced around airports, military installations, nuclear plants, certain landmarks including the Statue of Liberty, and sports stadiums during games. Not everybody follows the rules. Sightings at airports have shut down flights in a few instances. Reported sightings of what appear to be drones flying over New Jersey at night in recent weeks have created anxiety among some residents, in part because it is not clear who is operating them or why. Some state and local officials have called for stricter rules to govern drones. After receiving reports of drone activity last month near Morris County, New Jersey, the Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary bans on drone flights over a golf course in Bedminster , New Jersey, that is owned by President-elect Donald Trump, and over Picatinny Arsenal Military Base . The FAA says the bans are in response to requests from “federal security partners.” The FAA is responsible for the regulations governing their use , and Congress has written some requirements into law. With a 2018 law, the Preventing Emerging Threats Act, Congress gave certain agencies in the Homeland Security and Justice departments authority to counter threats from unmanned aircraft to protect the safety of certain facilities. New drones must be outfitted with equipment allowing law enforcement to identify the operator, and Congress gave the agencies the power to detect and take down unmanned aircraft that they consider dangerous. The law spells out where the counter-drone measures can be used, including “national special security events” such as presidential inaugurations and other large gatherings of people. To get a “remote pilot certificate,” you must be at least 16 years old, be proficient in English, pass an aeronautics exam, and not suffer from a ”mental condition that would interfere with the safe operation of a small unmanned aircraft system.” Yes, but the FAA imposes restrictions on nighttime operations. Most drones are not allowed to fly at night unless they are equipped with anti-collision lights that are visible for at least 3 miles (4.8 kilometers). Over the past decade, pilots have reported hundreds of close calls between drones and airplanes including airline jets. In some cases, airplane pilots have had to take evasive action to avoid collisions. Drones buzzing over a runway caused flights to be stopped at London’s Gatwick Airport during the Christmas travel rush in 2018 and again in May 2023 . Police dismissed the idea of shooting down the drones, fearing that stray bullets could kill someone. Advances in drone technology have made it harder for law enforcement to find rogue drone operators — bigger drones in particular have more range and power. Some state and local officials in New Jersey are calling for stronger restrictions because of the recent sightings, and that has the drone industry worried. Scott Shtofman, director of government affairs at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, said putting more limits on drones could have a “chilling effect” on “a growing economic engine for the United States.” “We would definitely oppose anything that is blindly pushing for new regulation of what are right now legal drone operations,” he said. AirSight, a company that sells software against “drone threats,” says more than 20 states have enacted laws against privacy invasion by drones, including Peeping Toms. Will Austin, president of Warren County Community College in New Jersey, and founder of its drone program, says it's up to users to reduce public concern about the machines. He said operators must explain why they are flying when confronted by people worried about privacy or safety. “It's a brand new technology that's not really understood real well, so it will raise fear and anxiety in a lot of people,” Austin said. “We want to be good professional aviators and alleviate that.” Associated Press reporter Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C., contributed.