Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

You know, this use to happen all the time, but now it has just stopped. The FBI would find some stooge online incapable of pulling off anything, give him some fake packages and tell him they were bombs, and then arrest him and claim they had stopped another 9/11.     

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• The Fort Worth Dumpster Murder Guy confessed to killing his girlfriend in New Mexico (not Arizona as previously reported.) She had been missing since 2017, and the following from this "missing person" web page about her makes you think that he would have been a suspect, right? I mean, we've gone nuts over the Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie story. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Also we have Star-Telegram excerpt from updated story. Wise County Sheriff's Office?
  
  
  
• This guy tried to burn down the Travis County Democratic Headquarters in Austin and was caught on video.
  
  
   
  
  
  
• I think Texas House redistricting maps come out today.
• Debt ceiling crisis? If you are my age, you don't even pay attention to this kabuki dance because we've seen it a million times before. 
  
  
  
• If you are confused about the current standoff in Congress over the "Infrastructure Bill" (the "Build Better Act"), you are not alone. If I understand it (and I'm not sure that I do), the $3.5 billion bill still needs approval in the Senate but moderate Democrat Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia are balking - and they are needed to pass it.  But what does this have to do with all the stories of Nancy Pelosi in the House possibly having to pull a critical different vote today off the table because she "doesn't have the votes?" I think that vote has to do with a separate $1 trillion infrastructure spending bill that liberal House Democrats are threatening to vote down (even though they love it) unless the Senate finally agrees to the $3.5 billion bill. Confusing, no? 
  
  
  
• Fort Worth PD doesn't even go to the trouble of saying "allegedly."  But how suspicious looking are these folks with that cart full of high dollar items?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I've said it before, I want this attorney's (who is Bridgeport's own) press agent. Story from last night.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• After the arrest of governor candidate Allen West's wife for DWI, the Dallas PD, on its own, released an edited portion of the bodycam to try and justify the arrest. After the blood results came back clear, however, all charges were dropped. Now various news organizations want the full unedited video. Dallas PD is now fighting them. Sheesh. 
• Have I said we live in the dumbest times?
  
  
  
• Despite an explosion in population in Texas, there has been an amazing drop in criminal cases in Texas over the past 10 years: While felonies have just been stagnant, misdemeanors filed in court went from 585,000 in 2010 to 324,000 in 2020 (that's a shocking 45% decline.)
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• Here are DWIs over the last 20 years in Texas. Misdemeanors (green line) have been dropping. Felony DWIs (red) are constant overall.  

  

  
  

  
  
• The United States of America asked to do oral arguments in the Fifth Circuit remotely since COVID is still around. Yesterday the conservative court simply said, "Denied."
  
  
  
• It happened last night. 
  
  
  
• Legal nerd stuff: I think this is a funny deposition excerpt of a rambling witness and a lawyer who is a good sport.
• I'm now well into the third season of Billions.  It's ridiculous. Flat out ridiculous. The dialogue, the acting, and the plot are all scream-at-the-TV silly. It's nothing but a soap opera. A well down and slick soap opera -- but a soap opera nonetheless. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

I went looking for an update on this and found out it was Clint Markham, 40. For a detailed summary of the event from his wife, see this summary of her lawsuit against the cruise lines for getting her husband liquored up.  Ugh. 

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•  There was an arrest in the Three-Bodies-in-a-Dumpster case, and this is wild. Stay with me here. 
  
  
  
• First, there was no child involved. The bodies were now confirmed to be two women and one man.
• He claims he killed them at different times. This gets us in the serial killer orbit.
• He said "he had an in-depth knowledge of the Bible" and believed he was being "called to commit sacrifices." Yep, serial killer stuff.
• He killed both women by stabbing them with and knife, dismembered them with a knife, and then burned them after they were dead. (Hang on to that thought for a second.)
• He claims to have killed others including a former roommate and a "girlfriend" in Arizona. He was arrested there in 2014 for trying to carjack a female, and a stranger, at a stoplight. 
• According to Fox 4, "Fort Worth police are also reviewing all of their unsolved murder cases . . . and are asking all other jurisdictions to do the same."
• Do I need to remind everyone that Lauren Whitener was murdered with a knife and then set on fire after she was dead in Wise County on July 5, 2019 and the case is unsolved?
• What if I told you that the guy arrested in the dumpster case has a connection to Wise County in that he was arrested in 2018 for Evading Arrest by Rhome PD?  The stop was because of a "broken tail light" with no known reason to flee. He got a two year sentence in cause no. CR-20753, and was released from prison on May 16, 2019 - a month and a half before Whitener's death.
  
• Hey, I'm not saying the guy killed Whitener but you guys want to at least take a look at it? You have the killer's DNA. 
• Boyd ISD having issues?  Below is from my tip line.  There is also an online petition to "reinstate" the principal. If all of this is true, it seems like a pretty big deal in Yellowjacket land. 
  
  
  
• We had a hung jury in the Tarrant County "improper relationship" case yesterday. The jury revealed they were hung 10-2 for not guilty.  The fact that the State can retry her despite the Double Jeopardy clause is something I will never understand. 
  
  
  
• I don't know anything about it, but Decatur ISD was sued yesterday by a lawyer who "who represents employees in lawsuits involving claims for sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation." Cause no. CV21-09-682.
• Decatur's own. 
  
  
  
• For the media to be so liberal, they sure did spend a lot of time yesterday on the story that President Biden was in fact told to leave 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to avoid a Taliban takeover. As they should. 
  
  
  
• There's another wild tell-all book on Trump -- this one by a former press secretary and long time inner circle friend.  He's not the best at picking loyal people. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• I don't know anything about this story, but how exactly do you collect enough bear urine to boil?
  
  
  
• Random sports fun fact: We had a record 66 yard field goal in the NFL this weekend, but one time Lane Kiffen, while coaching the Raiders, sent his kicker out to try a 76 yarder.
  
  
   
• Messenger: Above the Fold. (Sorry, that's just a link to a tiny thumbnail. I can't get the full paper to load despite my premium platinum membership with the paper.) 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

And they did. Two years later:

Credit the Messenger and Joe Duty on the photos.

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• Political news: Wise County's long-time state house representative, Phil King, has announced he is running for the new redrawn state senate district 10 if the new map is adopted (it will be).  That redrawn district is in orange below, and he thinks he can win it because he's a Parker County boy. (Wise County, as I mentioned last week, goes into district 12 currently held by retiring Jane Nelson.) 
  
  
  
• You know who was the chair of the Redistricting Committee in the legislature for the last two years? Phil King. 
• But King's departure would leave us with an open house representative seat in house district 61 in the Texas legislature. Currently, that district is composed of just Wise County and Parker County.  You know what I first thought? Here's an opportunity for our own county judge J.D. Clark. Depending on who Parker County could serve up, I think he could he win it. 
  
  
  
• But here's the problem: Just the other day, Phil King said that once the new state house district map is released (we've only seen the state senate map), that Wise County would be cut out of his district 61 and put in with "other rural counties."  I think that means we would get shoved into massive house district 68 which is held by newly elected, and Jacksboro's own, David Spiller.  I don't think anyone runs against Spiller. If J.D. Clark had been waiting for King to move on, this re-districting is a bad break. (Note: This is all speculation on my part. I've never talked to Clark about his future plans, if any.) 
  
  
  
• More redistricting news: We are getting hit with new re-districting maps so we need to keep it straight. We've seen the new state senate map (above), have not seen the new state house map, but yesterday we got the new congressional house map. Here's the old one where most of us in Wise Count were in Ronny Jackson's district (13) with a smaller portion being in Kay Granger's district 12:
  
  
  
• Here is the just-released proposed map where Granger's district 12 is gone from Wise County and the lower half of Wise County is now put in Rep. Michael Burgess district (26). The rest of the county is still blue and in Jackson's 13th district.
  
  
  
  
  
• I think that new map puts Decatur in the 26th (Burgess) and Bridgeport in the 13th (Jackson), but I can't tell. I haven't seen a new really detailed map for Wise County. Here's just a normal map so you can do your own eyeball test:
  
  
  
• This is really getting in the weeds, but 538.com put this graphic out showing how redistricting was done with the obvious purpose to make Republican districts stronger.  Basically, it ensures that all the districts (except one straggler) now lean 20% or more towards Republican. That second to the right column is more important than the far right column. 
  
  
  
• The "improper relationship" trial going on in Tarrant County went to the jury yesterday afternoon. There is not yet a verdict.  This trial sure isn't getting much press, but the last Star-Telegram story from Friday said she took the stand in her own defense.  And look what the jury wasn't allowed to hear: "After the jury left the courtroom, Hathaway said the [alleged victim] and a girl three years his junior began a sexual relationship in spring 2017. When the girl told Hathaway about it, she made a report in fall 2017 [since it could be a crime]. The defense said the report could have been a possible motive for the man making claims about Hathaway."
  
  
  
• Fox News graphic: When you want to make a 12% reduction look like a 66% reduction.
  
  
  
• Someone tell Jodi Foster.
  
  
   
• You can buy it legally in 19 states. 
  
  
  
• I don't know if this long read is any good, but that is one heck of a tease:
  
  
  
• I don't know what lot this is for, but I don't doubt that this is real. (From Cowboy game last night.)
  
  
  
• It's bad enough for Trump to give a speech on Saturday with black guys strategically placed behind him for the camera, but do they have to go further and have them wear "Blacks for Trump" shirts? 
  
  
  
•  Wise County city secretary chaos: Bridgeport's resigned yesterday after she was placed on the agenda for last night, and New Fairview went into closed session yesterday evening and spent two hours discussing their city secretary but took no action. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

It was really there. It was also the weekend where, in Arlington, there was the Cowboy game, Aggie v. Arky at Jerry World, and two Ranger playoff games. I suppose that explained it.  

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• Tiffany Caswell, the woman arrested in Arkansas along with Royce Wood who was subject of the Wise County "manhunt" in June, bonded out of the Wise County jail last week. 
  
  
  
• Not only have all the DPS troopers been sent to the border but Wise County's own game warden, David Pellazzari, was shipped off as well. 
• Watch a propane tank explode at the Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday.

  

  And that's before the explosion.

  
  
• The crazy Friday news, which still hasn't had any updates, is that three bodies, including a child, were found burned and dismembered in a dumpster in White Settlement. One of them has been ID'd but that's it.  This has the work of a cartel written all over it. 
  
  
  
• First it was Deep Ellum and now Fort Worth's 7th Street. But this story has absolutely no details about the incident on Saturday night.
  
  
  
• If you ever take Southlake Boulevard, you know it is a beating. It looks like an even bigger beating this morning since its expected to be shut down for four hours due to this mess.
  
  
  
• Good grief. 
  
  
  
• We are the dumbest country. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• If you haven't seen Justin Spieth's crazy shot at the Ryder cup, you need to. The screenshot below shows a red line which is tracking the trajectory of the ball after he hit it. 
  
  
  
• I just keep reading this over and over. 
  
  
  
• This is the second Utah player to be shot and killed in less than two years.  The player killed Saturday night, Aaron Lowe, was named the first recipient of the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship. Jordan was the first player killed.
  
  
  
• Trump's deleted this statement he issued prior to the Arizona audit which actually confirmed Biden beat him worse than what we first thought. 
  
  
  
• You can find this graphic every Sunday, but here is how every AP voter voted in the College Football Top 25 Poll. I love it.  (The Longhorns just missed the final cut, and I really don't know why that is.)
  
  
  
• I finally watched I, Tonya.  Really good stuff. And the makeup artist who transformed Margot Robbie was robbed for not even being nominated for an Oscar.