He changed his tune this week when he called for an outright ban on data centers in rural areas during a campaign stop in Bullard, per the outlet. The announcement built on a letter Abbott sent to the Texas Legislature in June when he called for regulating data center development in Texas. Specifically, he\u2019s called for implementing annual reporting, limiting incentives for data center development and requiring data centers to use close-loop water systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Data centers, which have popped up all over Texas as AI companies pursue unprecedented levels of processing power, have stirred up opposition from residents who complain of the developments\u2019 noise as well as water and power usage. Data center construction nationwide eclipsed $50 billion<\/a> for the first time in April.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Also this week, San Marcos, which is located between Austin and San Antonio, became the first city in Texas to attempt to ban data centers<\/a>. So far, data center bans in Texas have fallen apart at the county level under the weight of legal challenges. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt has already vowed to challenge San Marcos\u2019 ban under House Bill 2559, legislation Abbott signed in 2025 to restrict municipalities\u2019 ability to halt development.<\/p>\n Abbott\u2019s new stance on the data center issue, juxtaposed with the years he\u2019s spent presiding over state encroachment of municipal power in Texas, will certainly make for an interesting legislative session, scheduled to start in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bill Hutchinson\u2019s accusers awarded $430K each<\/p>\n A jury found Dallas developer Bill Hutchinson civilly liable for sexual assault<\/a> and ordered him to pay $860,000 to the two women who sued him, the Dallas Morning News reported. The jury rejected the allegations of a third accuser. The three women filed the lawsuit in 2021, the same year Hutchinson was twice arrested in connection with sexual assault claims by a minor. They sought $40 million apiece in damages.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hutchinson pleaded guilty in 2024 to sexual battery involving a 16-year-old girl, which required him to register as a sex offender. His attorney Levi McCathern said the conviction was expunged. Hutchinson appeared on the TLC reality show \u201cMarrying Millions,\u201d which featured him and his 23-year-old girlfriend, a woman he met when she was 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hutchinson, who founded Dunhill Partners in 1984 and is credited with developing Dallas\u2019 Design District, stepped down as CEO after this arrest, but has since resumed the role.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Antonio broker indicted for fraud<\/p>\n Jorge Herrero\u2019s legal troubles are far from over. The broker and owner of CommonWealth Coffeehouse was indicted in federal court<\/a> on counts of bank fraud and identity theft for his purchase of a building in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n Herrero allegedly lied to a lender when he purchased the building, telling the lender that the Texas Facilities Commission renewed its lease when it hadn\u2019t. Herrero never repaid the loan, and Bexar County Court awarded the lender a $1 million default judgment.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s the latest in a string of legal issues for Herrero, who lost two locations of his coffee shop chain at a foreclosure auction in May. Herrero has also faced legal challenges from a landlord accusing him of negligence in an office deal he brokered and an investor who accused him of soliciting investor funds to buy property but never actually purchasing the buildings.<\/p>\n \tRead more \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Greg Abbott calls for ban on new data centers in rural Texas communities<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t San Marcos banned data centers. Can the ban survive imminent legal challenges?<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Bill Hutchinson to pay two women damages in split verdict on sexual assault case<\/p>\n
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