Give and Receive

Toyota Music Factory will reward you for giving generously this year

This holiday season, Toyota Music Factory is helping Irving families-in-need with a donation drive that's built around the idea of "give a gift, get a gift."

Beginning now through December 15, anyone who donates nonperishable food items, unwrapped toys, or monetary gifts at the Toyota Music Factory locations of Bar Louie, Thirsty Lion, and Freshii will receive their own reward from that participating restaurant.

"We're proud to give back to the Irving community by teaming up with the Irving Police and Fire Department for their annual Blue Christmas toy and food drive," says Noah Lazes, president of TMF developer, the ARK Group. "We are beginning our own tradition too, with the inaugural 'give a gift, get a gift,' program. Patrons of Bar Louie, Thirsty Lion and Freshii at the Toyota Music Factory will not only have the opportunity to make a difference in a local family's life, but also receive a special 'thank you' from one of the three restaurants."

The Blue Christmas Organization provides food, toys, and holiday joy to children residing in Irving that otherwise would have little to no holiday celebration. Generously donated by local businesses and citizens throughout the community, new toys and meals for families are delivered by the Irving Police and Fire Departments.

Developed by the ARK Group, the Toyota Music Factory is a $200-million, 16.7-acre, 453,000-square-foot, mixed-use entertainment and lifestyle complex located in the Las Colinas Urban Center. It is the newest all-in-one entertainment and dining destination for DFW residents and visitors alike, and is expected to draw some 2.5 million guests a year.

Each patrons who brings a donation to Bar Louie, Thirsty Lion, or Freshii will receive a gift from that restaurant in return.

Photo courtesy of Toyota Music Factory

Each patrons who brings a donation to Bar Louie, Thirsty Lion, or Freshii will receive a gift from that restaurant in return.

holidays charity promoted

Proposed Texas high-speed Dallas-Houston rail wins $500K in federal funds

3 Texas Central Rail high-speed bullet train rail

Photo of the N700 courtesy of © JR Central

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Amtrak and its partners will receive more than $2.1 billion in a federal program to improve existing routes and expand Amtrak service across the U.S.

That includes $500,000 from the Federal Railroad Administration awarded to the long-in-the-works High Speed rail project between Dallas and Houston, as well as another $500,000 awarded to the I-20 Corridor Long-Distance Passenger Rail Project.

The funding is via the newly-passed Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act and includes multiple grants that will go to Amtrak and partners. This includes:

$108.5 million to Amtrak for station and service upgrades;
$2 billion to Amtrak partners in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maine for infrastructure upgrades
$34.5 million to 39 states and localities for planning and development of 69 new and improved intercity passenger rail corridors

These grants were awarded through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program for projects located across the National Network, as well as the Corridor Identification and Development Program (Corridor ID).

FRA Administrator Amit Bose says in a statement that these will be "transformative rail projects" that will provide climate-friendly alternatives to congested roads and airports.

“Today’s investments in passenger rail nationwide, made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, are another step forward as we expand and modernize our country’s rail network, providing more Americans the world-class passenger rail they need and deserve," Bose says.

Amtrak was awarded funding on a variety of projects, including four Corridor programs, designed to create a pipeline of intercity passenger rail projects.

Those include:

Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor. This proposed corridor would connect Dallas and Houston, Texas, with a new, dedicated and grade separated high-speed passenger rail service. This would provide new service on a new alignment, with station stops in Dallas, Brazos Valley and Houston.
Long Island Northeast Regional Extension. This proposed corridor would extend three existing daily Northeast Regional round trips between Washington, DC and New York City east to Ronkonkoma, NY, with stops at Jamaica (Queens, NY) and Hicksville, NY. This would entail track, station and infrastructure upgrades to accommodate these trains and better integrate Amtrak service with Long Island Rail Road commuter service.
Daily Cardinal Service. This proposed corridor would increase Cardinal service to operate daily, versus three days per week currently. This route operates between New York City and Chicago via Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.
Daily Sunset Limited Service. This proposed corridor would increase Sunset Limited service to operate daily, versus three days per week currently. This route operates between Los Angeles and New Orleans via Houston, San Antonio and El Paso, Texas; Tucson, Ariz.; and other communities.

The release does not say exactly how the $500,000 will be used. According to TxDOT, the current estimate for construction of track between Dallas and Houston is approximately $16 billion.

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