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Protest against wall prototype bid dismissed
Zika testing for pregnant women advised
Company did not file complaints in a timely manner A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
SAN DIEGO — A U.S. government watchdog agency on Friday dismissed a company’s objections to the bidding process to build a prototype for a proposed border wall. The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that Ft. Worth, Texas-based PennaGroup did not file comments
in time to protest the bid. “Allowing PennaGroup to file its comments late would be inconsistent with our purpose of providing a fair opportunity for protesters to have their protests considered without unduly disrupting the procurement process,” Susan A. Poling, the agency’s general counsel, wrote in the decision. The decision comes days
after President Donald Trump threatened to force a federal government shutdown unless Congress agrees to fund the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. PennaGroup submitted comments by email on the final day allowed for complaints but these were derailed by an internet service disruption during stormy Texas weather, said Michael Evangelista-Ysasaga,
the company’s chief executive. He said the company plans to sue over the decision. “It’s certainly not over,” he said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection had no immediate comment. It was not immediately clear whether the decision would speed up construction on the Protest continues on A6
HURRICANE HARVEY
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas health department is recommending Zika virus testing for pregnant women in three more Texas counties near the border with Mexico. The Texas Department of State Health Services said Thursday that it now recommends testing for those in the West Texas border counties of Kinney, Maverick and Val Verde. The department already recommends the testing in six Zika continues on A6
THOUSANDS BRACE FOR SEVERE WEATHER
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Eric Gay / AP
In this Aug. 21 file photo, a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is removed from the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
University sued for removing statues ASSOCIATED PRE SS
tourist town about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi. If it does not lose significant strength, the system will come ashore as the fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in 13 years and the strongest to strike Texas since 1961’s Hurricane Carla, the most powerful Texas hurricane on record. Aside from the winds of 130 mph (201 kph) and storm surges up to 12 feet (4 meters), Harvey was expected to drop prodigious amounts of rain — up to 3 feet. The resulting flooding, one expert said, could be “the depths of which we’ve never seen.” Galveston-based storm surge expert Hal Needham said forecasts indicated that it was “becoming more and more likely that something really bad is going to happen.” At least one researcher predicted heavy damage that would linger for months or longer. “In terms of economic im-
AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas is being sued for removing four Confederate statues from the main area of campus in Austin. The Sons of Confederate Veterans filed the lawsuit Wednesday, three days after the statues were quickly taken down following a late-night order from University President Greg Fenves. Three of the statues are of Confederate Postmaster John H. Reagan, and Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston. The fourth is of former governor James Stephen Hogg, who was the son of a Confederate veteran. Fenves said while the university aims to preserve and study history, it must also acknowledge when history runs counter to the university’s core values. “Erected during the period of Jim Crow laws and segregation, the statues represent the subjugation of African-Americans. That remains true today for white supremacists who use them to symbolize hatred and bigotry,” Fenves said. The removals followed the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The school said the three statues of Confederate military and political leaders will be moved to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Hogg’s statute may be re-installed at a different campus
Harvey continues on A6
Statues continues on A6
Nick Wagner / AP
The USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier turned museum, rests in Corpus Christi Bay as waters begin to turn rough around Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday.
Category 4 storm to make landfall near Corpus Christi By Michael Graczyk and Frank Bajak A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With time running out, tens of thousands of people fled Friday from the path of an increasingly menacing-looking Hurricane Harvey as it took aim at a wide swath of the Texas Gulf Coast that includes oil refineries, chemical plants and dangerously flood-prone Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned that the monster system would be “a very major disaster,” and the forecasts drew fearful comparisons to Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest ever to strike the U.S. “We know that we’ve got millions of people who are going to feel the impact of this storm,” said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman and meteorologist for the National Hurricane Center. “We really pray that people are listening to their emergency managers and get
Ryan Pelham / AP
A sign above Interstate 10 in Beaumont, Texas, warns travelers to stay away from the coast as Hurricane Harvey bears down on the state on Friday.
out of harm’s way.” Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, Harvey grew rapidly, accelerating from a Category 1 early in the morning to a Category 4 by evening. Its transformation from an un-
named storm to a life-threatening behemoth took only 56 hours, an incredibly fast intensification. Landfall was predicted for late Friday or early Saturday near Rockport, a fishing-and-