6.09.2026

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




A grand jury decided to not indict two cases but, in one of the cases, the DA just planned to wait for a new grand jury and try again. 

  • After impassioned pleas from the public as well as pointed questions to the Chief of Police by at least two city councilpersons who had actually read the egregiously one-sided proposed agreement with ICE, the Decatur City Council tabled any action on allowing designated Decatur police officers to become "limited" ICE agents. It took over an hour in executive session to get there, but local democracy actually still lives. 

    • Shout out to these four brave women of Decatur who came forward to speak against the ICE agreement. With very short notice, they came prepared with polished presentations.  




    • You can watch last night's city council meeting here. You can jump to the public speakers in Open Forum and/or the discussion of agenda item #5. 
  • In a much more low-key affair, the Wise County Commissioners Court has begun broadcasting its meetings online for the first time. The new video page is located here where yesterday's meeting is already posted. 

  • The jury begins deliberations today. I'd be stunned if there is anything other than a guilty verdict.  If that happens, the case will move to the punishment phase where probation will not be a legally available option for the jury. 


  • We better keep an eye on this.  Side note: The Texas count is officially at four - three cows and a goat. One of the three new cases reported yesterday included a dog which tested positive at a vet's office in Andrew County but "is from a household in Lea County, New Mexico", so that state gets the "credit" for him. 

  • The town of Trinidad remains in chaos.

  • DPS wants money or they won't continue. 

  • New this morning: Apache Down.
     

  • A district judge granted a temporary injunction in Lubbock yesterday which will allow a transfer quarterback, who has admitted to gambling on games involving his own team, to play for the Red Raiders this season.  

    • The blowback was unlike anything I have ever seen. 


    • The NCAA immediately appealed the case but it will go to the Amarillo Court of Appeals which has four judges -- all of whom graduated from Texas Tech Law School. 

  • It became official yesterday. Trump wants his own personal defense lawyer to run the Justice Department as his own personal law firm. 

  • They're planning on not letting any members of the House who win in California this fall (and there will be a bunch of them, as always) officially take their seat in Congress, right?

  • The Business Second™. How much more land is down there to develop? We'll never be able to get into Fort Worth again on 287. 

  • The Second Business Second™. The company behind ChatGPT is going public. 

  • Cities and towns can "ban" data centers, but counties cannot. 

  • There appears to be actual boxes and files finally being moved into the Wise County Courthouse.


at 8:30 AM

6.08.2026

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




Make that 40 years ago for the movies.  And Sgt. Nick went back to his normal police duties 
six months later. 

  • Alert: This is a Special One Topic Edition of Random Thoughts.
  • We have big updates on the Decatur City Council's plan to vote tonight on voluntarily having the Decatur Police Department team up with ICE under ICE's "Task Force Model." Stay with me here, 

  • A memo was prepared by the City Manager to the City Council last Thursday attempting to explain the proposed adoption of the proposed 287(g) Task Force Model Agreement. The public saw the memo for the first time on Friday which was also the first time the actual proposed Ice Agreement, and the proposed Resolution to adopt it, were posted online.  That's a very short fuse.
  • The complete City Manager's memo is posted here (with my annotations.)  Within it contains the most carefully worded, yet meaningless, sentence ever. It basically says, "Don't worry - The new ICE Agreement won't change a single thing the Decatur Police Department is currently doing except for the parts of the ICE agreement which definitely changes the ways they are currently doing things.":  

  • So let's take a look at parts of the actual proposed Ice Agreement.  The complete Agreement is posted here (with my annotations). Excerpts include the following: 
    • Good grief.  Local officer(s) will "be approved by ICE to perform certain functions of an immigration officer under the direction and supervision of ICE within [Decatur's] jurisdiction."
    • And if that wasn't clear enough, the agreement says it again: "Immigration enforcement activities conducted by participating [Decatur officers] will be supervised and directed by ICE." And when Decatur officers are in the field as directed, they "shall" contact an ICE supervisor for "guidance."
    • The Agreement actually spells out the exclusive ICE duties that Decatur PD officer(s) will perform.  Here are some of them (and that first one is an all-encompasing banger of a power which Decatur PD does not currently possess): 

      • And then there's this weird and disturbing provision which dictates that Decatur officers can be "assigned and/or co-located" with ICE.  Co-located?! 

  • And, if that's not enough, the city's own proposed Resolution expressly says that the ICE duties performed by Decatur PD "will expand" the agency's powers (as well as saying Decatur PD "desires to work in conjunction with ICE on immigration enforcement matters." Really?)
  • And let's talk about money. 
    • The City Manager's memo says that the city will receive "Up to $7,500 per [designated] officer per quarter." That is misleading. First, the only source of that number is a one page flyer ICE sends out. And even that flyer says the "up to $7,500" amount is for equipment.    
    • But you would think that the actual ICE Agreement would clearly spell out exactly how much compensation the city will receive for delegating an officer(s) to ICE, right? It does. It says ICE pays the city nothing.  There's not even a single reference to "up to $7,500" or any other dollar figure anywhere in the Agreement. 
    • And how is this paragraph in the Agreement not a deal breaker? I thought Decatur had a full-time city attorney to review such things?: 
    • I'm not saying ICE hasn't unilaterally paid some money in the past under 287(g) agreements. For example, I've seen some evidence of police agencies in Texas having received $100,000 for "vehicles/transport" for ICE purposes, but I have no idea how many officers those police departments have had to dedicate to ICE to get those dollars (or how many "illegals" those officers had to first round up.) Since ICE isn't obligated to pay under the Agreement, it will want to see "results" before it is writing any checks, right? 
  • Just for fun, I asked ChatGPT to compare the City Manager's memo to the text of the proposed ICE agreement. What it produced is at this link. 
  • Finally, the fact that someone (the brand new Mayor, perhaps?) is trying to bully this thing through, with only four days notice to the public, is unconscionable. Decatur is better than this. 
  • You only have a few hours left to educate yourself. 
  • Decatur City Council meetings are broadcast live at this link.
  • Thank you for your attention to this matter. 


at 8:30 AM

6.05.2026

It's Friday -- Let's Get Out of Here

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




A Collin County case made national news. 

  • Big night for Wise County baseball.

  • Update regarding the Decatur City Council voting on whether to have its police department enter into a 287(g) agreement with ICE.  (The meeting is June 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM).  If anyone tells you it's just about "training", that is simply not true.  This is a vote to execute the "Task Force Model" with ICE who says: 

    • By my review of the spreadsheet on ICE's own website about 287(g) agreements, of the approximately 800 city police departments in existence in Texas, only 78 of them have entered into the Task Force Model.
    • Effective local policing takes years, if not decades, of trust-building with the community. It's a shame to throw all of that away. 
  • My initial reaction to the first day of testimony in the Frisco Stabbing Trial: It doesn't look good so far for the defendant. 


  • Last weekend a guy took control of a Dallas police car.  The video of it has now been released, and it is absolutely wild.

  • Trump quick hits: 
    • This is a real picture from yesterday.

    • Before he fell asleep, he brought out that silly graphic again.

    • The corruption never stops.

    • If you think he's going to accept the results in November if the elections don't go his way, you’re not paying attention.  It's over. 

  • The Business Second: In DFW . . . 

  • I joked the other day that Lee Greenwood needed to be on stand-by if any other musician drops out. Well, it's happening!
  • Legal nerdy stuff: A felony DWI conviction arising out of Bridgeport was affirmed by the Fort Worth Court of Appeals yesterday, but there was one small win for the defendant: A person cannot be ordered to reimburse the county for court-appointed attorneys fees if, once he has been declared indigent,  there is no evidence that the indigency status has changed. 
  • Lauren Whitener Clock: 6 years and 337 days.

at 8:30 AM
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