Governor Rick Perry has appointed two new commissioners to the Texas Transportation Commission to fill the vacancy left by newly-elected Texas State Senator Robert Nichols and allowing John Johnson, whose term expired in 2005, to step down.

Fred Underwood, president and CEO of Trinity Co., a cotton bale storage facility, takes Nichols’ former office while Ned Holmes, chairman and CEO of Parkway Investments, a real estate management/development company, will replace Johnson.

More changes on the Commission could be coming soon. Both Commission Chair Ric Williamson and member Hope Andrade’s terms expire in February.

For more information, see the Austin American-Statesman article at: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/09/9commisioners.html.

In other Statesman news, CATC Board member Jim Skaggs weighs in on the air quality debate in the commentary section of the Op-Ed page. The article can be read here: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/01/09/9air_edit.html