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THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021 VOLUME 95 ■ ISSUE 27

LA VIDA

SPORTS

Tech student receives Goldwater Scholarship.

Adams rakes in new commits for next season.

PG 3A

OPINIONS

PG 5A

To x i c w o r k c u l t u r e c r u s h e s aspirations.

PG 4A

AND THE WINNERS ARE... Check out the results of the 2021 Raiders’ Choice Awards.

SECTION B

INDEX LA VIDA SPORTS OPINIONS CROSSWORD CLASSIFIEDS SUDOKU

3A 5A 4A 2A 5A 3A

COMMUNITY

Lubbock to revitalize downtown By HANNAH ISOM News Editor

RYAN MCCULLAR/The Daily Toreador

TOP: The Midnight Shift is described as an “authentic Downtown Lubbock dining experience.” It is located on the same property as the Cotton Court Hotel at 1610 Broadway, Lubbock, TX. BOTTOM: The Brewery LBK, part of the West Family Hospitality Group, looks to attract Lubbock residents to the downtown area. Both of these are a part of Lubbock’s Downtown Revitilization plan.

As Downtown Lubbock revitalization efforts continue, leaders of organizations involved in the efforts discuss the focus of revitalization and how Texas Tech students can benefit from it. Mont McClendon, general counsel and chief operating officer of McDougal Companies has worked downtown for about 25 years and is deeply involved in the master redevelopment efforts in Downtown Lubbock. McClendon said some of the original recommendations concerned public space infrastructure, like moving utilities underground. A method that was successful in the Overton Hotel area. Additionally, McClendon said they focused on harmonizing the various constituent documents related to downtown. “There were lots of opinions about downtown from a lot of different sources,” McClendon said. “And we welcome that, because you know, a diversity of opinion, a diversity of ideas, a diversity of viewpoints, all of these sorts of things. But at some point, they just started to clash.” Due to the clashes in opinion, a couple years ago the city council asked for an updated master plan for Downtown Lubbock revitalizations, McClendon said. This master plan harmonized the various opinions. Current revitalization efforts continue to focus on infrastructure, as well as vertical development, which is new buildings being constructed, McClendon said. Some of these vertical development projects include Buddy Holly Hall, the Cotton Court Hotel, and the new City Hall. Additionally, there is a focus on renovating buildings downtown,

McClendon said. For example, the old City Hall building is being converted into a South Plains College location and the McDougal Companies building is undergoing renovations as well. “All of those things are more visible and sort of readily available,” McClendon said. “But there’s a whole lot of effort that goes into horizontal development, just getting the thing ready, getting the city ready for what we need in order to spur development.” John Osborne, president and chief executive officer of the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, said five years ago, LEDA’s sister company, Market Lubbock, saw a need to get Downtown Lubbock revitalized quicker to help try and stimulate the effort in investment and encourage residents to live downtown. “We were looking at a lot of data that describe millennials and Gen Zers as really wanting a revitalized downtown in whatever community they live in,” Osborne said, “and they choose where they want to live before they choose where they want to work.” So, in an effort to retain students from local colleges and attract individuals from other places they pushed to revitalize downtown quicker. The focus on revitalizing buildings downtown will attract more people, Osborne said, and it will encourage others to revitalize their own buildings downtown. Additionally, revitalizing buildings encourages businesses to move downtown, creating an opportunity to build the economy. “It’s kind of taken off, and we have seen a lot of new projects that have taken place,” Osborne said.

SEE DOWNTOWN, PG. 2

BASEBALL

Red Raiders resilient in wake of injuries By NICO SANCHEZ Staff Writer

The No. 5 Red Raiders, who currently boast a 26-8 record, have continued to thrive as of late in the midst of injury concerns to both the pitching staff and the team’s position players. After losing sophomore and junior pitchers Hunter Dobbins and Jacob Brustoski for the year in the preseason, the weekend rotation received another big blow last weekend as sophomore RHP Brandon Birdsell was ruled out for the rest of the 2021 season with a rotator cuff injury. Birdsell had been working as the Red Raiders’ No. 1 weekend starter when he went down. He had a 4-1 record, 3.06 ERA, 1.019 WHIP, and 36 strikeouts in 35.1 innings of work on the season, according to Tech Athletics. Furthermore, junior outfielder Dylan Neuse was also ruled out for the rest of the season this past week with a back injury. Neuse, the Big 12’s preseason player of the

year, had been an everyday starter for Tech as their leadoff hitter and center fielder. He had been slashing a .281/.440/.427 line to go along with his one home run and 16 RBIs when he went down. Junior utility man Kurt Wilson also will miss significant time of his own with a broken thumb. Wilson had been doing it all for Tech this season, making 13 starts each at third base and right field and five starts in left. Wilson also had two home runs and 11 RBIs for Tech this year while batting .261. He is expected to miss at least six weeks. “I trust the guys behind me no matter what,” sophomore RHP Micah Dallas said on the changing defensive group. “I trust, you know, everybody the same. You know, we’re a tight knit group, and we kind of just lean on each other, so I have full confidence in them.”. With these blows to the outfield, junior and freshman outfielders Easton Murrell and Dillon Carter

have stepped up and become everyday starters in right and center field. Murrell has even been batting leadoff in place of Neuse. The lone constant in the outfield has been sophomore Dru Baker in left field, who recently returned to the field after missing a few games with a lower body injury. Baker, freshman second baseman Jace Jung, and freshman shortstop Cal Conley have continued to headline the explosive Red Raider offense without Neuse and Wilson. Baker and Jung are the team’s one and two leaders in batting average, batting .405 and .386 percent, respectively. Jung also leads the team in home runs with 15 and RBIs with 50. He has even homered three different times in one contest twice this year already. His dominant play even resulted in him being a midseason addition to the Bragan Slugger Award Watch List.

SEE INJURIES, PG. 6

FILE PHOTO/The Daily Toreador

Junior centerfielder Dylan Neuse swings his bat during game one against Baylor on April 18, 2019 at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. Neuse and four other players are out indefinitely with injuries for the 2021 season. Junior outfielder Easton Murrell has been filling in as the leadoff hitter and starting centerfielder and will continue for the rest of the season.


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