European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 30, .1991 the stars and stripes Page 5french-american group wins contract to build Bullet train in Texas by 98 from wire reports Austin Texas a a French american consortium tuesday won a multimillion Dollar franchise to build a 200-Mph train system that would be the nations first a a Bullet a train. The Texas High Speed rail authority voted unanimously to award the $5.5 billion franchise to Texas Tiv. It the proposed line would link Dallas Houston and the Dallas fort Worth Airport by mid-1998, adding Austin and san Antonio in 1999. The rail authority stipulated that service will be required for Waco Bryan College station and fort Worth when its economically feasible. A we will have in Texas by 1998-199921st-Century technology where the Best trains most Cost efficient most rapid will be in place Here just like it is in Europe a said Bill Agee chairman and chief executive officer of Morrison Knudsen corp. The engineering and construction firm based in Boise Idaho is tvs managing partner. The consortium will use French trains. On May 10, hearing examiner Larry Montgomery recommended that the franchise go to. Texas Tiv. A German american group Texas fas trac inc., also bid for the  groups paid $500,000 fees to bid for the project. Together they have spent More than $14 million on ridership analyses environmental Impact studies and preliminary engineering plans. A Agee said construction will not begin until Mki-1994. But he also said a your work begins tomorrow moaning on financing completion of the franchise arrangement and development of the design and engineering. A it will not Only be the very first project of its kind in the United states it will be the largest infrastructure project which involves very High Speed rail or any Mode of transportation that a every been done in this country All privately financed a he said. Ace Pickens a lawyer and former state lawmaker representing Tiv in hearings before the rail authority said the rail system a will become the envy of the  using rail technology and design developed in France Tiv a a electric powered train will travel at speeds  200 Miles Ner Al tour. Allowing passengers to go from Houston to Dallas info hours. The franchise was awarded despite opposition from Dallas based Southwest airlines which had contended that the trains Are unneeded slower than air travel and Wouk find up costing the taxpayers Money. Tiv representatives have stressed the economic soundness of their proposal and benefits the rail system would bring to Texas including revitalization of downtown areas increased tourism and reduced Highway congestion. L a the train system we offer you will become the envy of the world Quot Pickens said. _ former it gov. Ben Barnes a member of the Tiv group said the train system would a ignite the Texas Economy by creating a new Industrial base and pumping More than $4 billion into the Economy during  a a it will thrust our state into the 21st Century Quot Barnes  of vaccinations fuels measles outbreak Atlanta a Urban Chil Drin Are getting measles and dying in numbers unthinkable a few years ago and health experts have a simple explanation children Are not getting vaccinated. A from the Public health Point of View we really know what the prob Lam is a said or. Roger Bernier of the Federal centers for disease control. A infants Are not being vaccinated in time in our Large Urban  one solution is to make vaccinations More easily available he said. Nationwide More than 26,000 cases were reported in 1990 to the cd in Atlanta. Only 4,079 have been reported so far this year about half the number As at the same time a year ago but cd officials said current outbreaks in new York City and elsewhere have yet to be fully reported. The numbers Are a Sharp change from 1983, when 1,497 were reported for the entire year and health officials were making plans to pronounce the disease eradicated front the United states. A there were 97 suspected measles deaths in the nation last year the most since 261 in 1966, when 200,000 cases were reported Mark Trail comic creator de Dodd Dies Gainesville a. A cartoonist de Dodd creator of a Mark Trail a the comic strip about the outdoors has died at age 88, Dodd died monday afternoon at Northeast Georgia medical Center a Finiw hours after he entered the Hospital said Hospital spokeswoman Blanche Barrett. She said he had been ill for some time but she declined to release a cause of death. Dodd started a Mark Trail in 1946. Its title character is an outdoor writer and its theme is the outdoors wildlife and conservation. In 1978, As his eyesight failed Dodd turned the comic strip Over to Gainesville artist Jack Elrod who continues to draw it under both their names. Through pub Dodd Dodd is survived Mary four stepchildren grandchildren. Lishers Hall Syndicate it is carried by More than 200 newspapers. When the Washington Post recently dropped the strip readers protested in such numbers that the re and printed the 40 episodes its readers missed by his wife Rose and two newspaper instated it sex College head in . Plea sin the stars and stripes guilty to receiving illegal pay Columbia , a a former president of the University of South Carolina who Drew criticism for his lavish spending pleaded guilty tuesday to using his position to earn illegal compensation. As part of a plea bargain James hold Carman agreed to help Federal investigators looking into gifts he made to . Sen. Mark Hatfield who headed a committee that awarded a $16.3 million Grant to the school. Holderman also pleaded no contest to a state tax evasion charge. Circuit judge John Waller sentenced Holderman to five years on probation and ordered him to perform 500 hours Community service. Holderman will have to pay Back taxes he owes on a $25,000 gift to the University that he used for personal Benefit. As of tuesday the taxes and. Penalties amounted to about $4,000. A the years in reference were very fast moving years and we did a lot of great things a Holderman said. A but at the same time i made a great Deal of mistakes and for  apologize.�?�. Holderman 55, began his presidency in september 1977. He constantly courted private donations and the University said private support Rose from $1.9 million in 1977-78 to $21.5 million in 1989-90. But Holderman was criticized for extravagance on fund raising trips including $800-a-night hotel rooms and first class air travel. He brought the widow of egyptian president Anwar Sadat to teach at the school and resisted attempts to reveal her salary. A students lawsuit finally revealed that us paid $314,000 to have Jehan Sadat teach one course for three semesters. Ins at on space Houston up a ground was broken tuesday for the $70 million space Center Houston a High tech hands on facility designed to give visitors their closest glimpse yet of life As an astronaut backers Hope the Center designed by Walt Disney imagine ring will reignite americans excitement about space exploration and the nations space program. The 183,000-Square-foot space Center Houston will be financed by the Sale of tax exempt Bonds. It will be built just outside Johnson space Center South of Houston. Opening is scheduled for fall 1992. Space Center Houston is designed to give visitors a feel for both the physical and intellectual challenges of space exploration organizers said. It is expected to attract up to 3 million visitors a year and have an annual economic Impact of $100 million. Space Center Houston will feature a simulated work station to give visitors a sense of what a Days work aboard nasal a proposed space station will be like. Tourists also will be Able to operate hands on simulations of manned mane vering units try on space helmets and put their hands into pressurized space gloves. A Mission status Center will provide a behind the scenes View of astronauts and Nasa flight controllers at work by providing live a Deo from the Kennedy space Center launch pad Mission control in Houston and live pictures from space during shuttle flights. Visitors also will be Able to climb aboard a full scale Model of the mid deck and flight deck areas of the space shuttle. 10years ago May 30,1981 a israeli warplanes knocked out a libyan operated i s-., Sile Battery and a nearby palestinian guerrilla base after coming under fire during a reconnaissance flight Over lebanon.20 years ago May 30, 1971 a forty Junior High school seniors and five adults were killed in West Germany a worst Railroad Accident. Human error was blamed for the head on collision. Which occurred on a Blind curve of a single track line at night. 30years ago May 30, 1961 a two retired French generals who led the four Day Algiers army insurrection in april went on trial before a special Quot High military  the two would. Face the death penalty if convicted by the tribunal set up by president Charles de Gaulle. 40 years ago May 30,1951 the far East come announced there would be no More free household servants for occupation forces in Japan