breakfast of champions

Texas Olympic superstar Simone Biles shares new Wheaties box cover with her legion of fans

Fans of the breakfast of champions — and actual champions — are in luck, as a Houston-born G.O.A.T. has landed on the cover of an iconic cereal brand.

Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, has once again graced the cover of Wheaties. The Texan G.O.A.T. revealed the box on her social media channels on Thursday, January 19. She first appeared on a Wheaties box cover in June 2022.

"It’s here!!! My second @wheatiescereal box is rolling out in stores now. Keep an eye out for the new design in a cereal aisle near you," she wrote on a post that netted more than 36,000 likes.

Biles unveiled the Wheaties box cover in Houston at an appropriately titled "Breakfast of Champions" event at the World Champions Centre in her hometown of Spring on Thursday. The event was hosted by Friends of the Children–Houston(Biles is an ambassador for the nonprofit), a group that helps children in the foster care system.

Friends of the Children's mission is especially dear to Biles, who was adopted by her grandparents and made a point to pose for photos with grinning young fans in the system. She participated in a Q&A session and was accompanied by her fiancé Jonathan Owens, a rising star safety for the Houston Texans.

"I am honored to be featured on my second Wheaties box and grateful for the opportunity to highlight Friends of the Children, an extraordinary organization that is working to make sure other youth have access to mentors and the support to dream big in life," Biles said at the event. "I hope my journey can be an example to all children that anything is possible, and I'm excited to help expand access to resources and mentorship in my hometown with the launch of the Friends of the Children—Houston chapter!"

Photo courtesy of Friends of the Children Houston

The most decorated gymnast in history has once again graced the cover of Wheaties.

Boasting seven Olympic gold medals, 25 World Championship medals, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President Joe Biden in 2022, Biles was the center of a global debate when she took a self-imposed break during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which raised awareness on the importance of mental self care. Her public crusade against convicted predator Larry Nassar shed light on the plight of victims everywhere.

Happily engaged to Owens and living her best life, she also launched a clothing line with athleisure brand Athleta.

Trucking news

Driverless truck company postpones Texas route, citing construction

Photo courtesy of Aurora

Driverless semis traveling from Dallas to Houston were expected to launch this year.

Autonomous truck company Aurora Innovation says it won't start hauling freight without humans on board until April of 2025, a delay from previous statements that commercial service would begin by the end of 2024.

The Pittsburgh company said the April launch of driverless semis traveling from Dallas to Houston — originally announced last year — will be “modestly later” than the company had intended. The company also previously announced a partnership with Uber.

The company told investors on its third-quarter earnings conference call that it has made progress toward ensuring its trucks will operate safely.

Remaining obstacles are “primarily in the areas of some elements of surface street driving and some elements of construction that we see on the freeway,” CEO Chris Urmson said. “We want to have extremely high confidence in the system as we as we go forward.”

The company will start with about 10 autonomous tractor-trailers and move to “tens” of trucks by the end of next year, Urmson said.

“This shift to our timeline will have a negligible financial impact and does not affect our scaling efforts on our path to self-funding," Urmson said.

Aurora also intends to haul freight without human drivers from Fort Worth to Phoenix later in 2025, Urmson said.

Aurora in August added nearly $500 million to its balance sheet with a capital raise in August, which the company expects to fund the initial phases of its strategy to scale up driverless trucking.

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