8.10.2020

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • Wise County Active: 25 (That was from Friday night, the last update, but we took a big jump).
  • Texas hospitalizations
  • COVID and Sports: In just 48 hours over the weekend, the college football season was placed in big jeopardy. The Big 10 shut down practices among reports it was seriously considering moving games to the Spring, the MAC actually shut down its season for the Fall, and Sports Illustrated released a story that said the real problem is the long term consequences that COVID-19 has is on the heart. 
  • I know my time is running out for this to come true, but I continue to believe there is no way we have UIL high school football in Texas. It would be a last minute bombshell announcement, but I still think it is coming.  
  • Remember that Florida Georgia high school last week where the kid almost got suspended for taking photos of the crowded hallway? Well they announced yesterday that it would cancel classes today because of new COVID cases.
  • While you weren't paying attention on Saturday, a handful of Republican chose Wise County's state senator Pat Fallon to take a vacant seat in Congress. That means Senate District 30 is open and will be on the November ballot. That will cause a mad, mad scramble. How many will be on the ballot? 5? 10? More?
  • Here's who the West Texas oil men are mentioning for that state senate seat. Stickland? He doesn't live in the district, does he?
  • Wise County Judge J.D. Clark posted this image of downtown Decatur from 1916. I think that perspective is facing North. (Those double turrets are on the the east side of the courthouse.) That would have been right around the time cars were first showing up in the county, although I'm not sure where everyone was when this photo was taken. 
  • Trump announced he was signing a bunch of executive orders over the weekend which would impact things like unemployment benefits and the payroll tax since Congress couldn't, you know, pass something called a "law." 
  • He signed the Executive Orders in front of his golf club members while he was spending a three day weekend at Bedminster, New Jersey. There's something similar here I can't quite put my finger on.  

  • I've notice the Wise County Jail is now routinely slapping INS holds within 24 hours on people who are arrested for simple misdemeanors.
  • The name of a 30 minute show on the local Fox affiliate on Sunday morning: "Did Talcum Powder Cause Your Cancer?" Let's kill all the lawyers.
  • All the headlines on local DFW media on Saturday read that Amber Guyger had appealed her murder conviction. That's not even close to correct. She appealed the case last summer (she had 30 days to do so). What happened was that her brief was filed in the Dallas court of appeals last week. You can read it here
    • Hey, for you lawyers out there, what do you think about citing an English case of  "Jaggard v. Dickinson, 3 All ER 716 (1980), 1981 (QB) 527" as your best case, dedicating six full pages to it, and even attaching a copy of it to the brief? 
    • What if I added that Guyger's brief included Google Streetview images of the street where the event in Jaggard occurred, those images being 40 years after the fact, and asking the Dallas Court of Appeals to take judicial notice of them?

  • When this building collapsed, it was quite the sensation since it was caught on video. But not many people noticed this bit of news from over the weekend. 
  • According to the Update, Decatur ISD will reconsider banning students from taking part in extracurricular activities if they choose "at home" learning. The vote was 4-3 last time.