Breaking

......confirmed deadly wrong way driver crash on 287 outside of Decatur involving Justice of the Peace Terri Johnson.

Edit: Based upon news I'm getting on Saturday night, this is going to be horrible.

Edit: Star-Telegram's first post.

Edit: Good lord, she was the wrong way driver. Possibly a seizure.

Edit: Messenger has a couple of photos.

Random Vehicle Fire

@DFWscanner wb I 20 just before New York ave in Arlington pic.twitter.com/ODuEDSftI4
— Ray Cartwright (@rayscartwright) April 26, 2014

Above The Fold

Emotions Of The Longhorns Taking You Into The Weekend

 That Bill Clinton in the background?

Cheer Like A Champion Today

"Dont give up. Don't ever give up." - Jim Valvano

Prime Time

Help me please! I need to rent a Helicopter In south Dallas by noon for a hour. #Realtalk. TRUTH
— DeionSanders (@DeionSanders) April 25, 2014

Edit: And later today . . . (Not Deion. Not Deion. Not Deion.)

Two injured in helicopter crash at Cleburne Airport http://t.co/Tp8AailyWG pic.twitter.com/4wIJ2Z6CUS
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) April 25, 2014

That's Kind Of An Awkward Press Conference Setting Right Now

.@VirginAmerica says it will fly outta @DallasLoveField to SF, LA, LaGuardia and DC Reagan. http://t.co/yVEVux2i9M pic.twitter.com/2DRTF5IXv6
— Robert Wilonsky (@RobertWilonsky) April 25, 2014

Random Friday Morning THoughts

• I blew by Nancy Grace last night and heard her say, "I'm on the fence on this case because I don't know the truth." Darlin', everyone knows that's never stopped you. (But I don't think I've ever heard her say that.) 
• A great blog post on Rick Perry's position on the current "land grab" of the federal government (Bundy Ranch; Texas border?) compared to his desire in 2005 to confiscate a half million acres of Texas land to build his failed Trans Texas Corridor that caused farmers and ranchers to show up in Austin to protest.
• Loved Jon Stewart's response to Sean Hannity getting his feelings hurt for being exposed on the Bundy Rebellion. After observing how incredible it is that Hannity's program even exists in this day and time, he says, "And to see [your show] night after night serving up the same [expletive deleted] --my god, you're the Arby's of news."
• I've seen more of Stephen Colbert since it was announced that he got the Late Show gig. Funny? I think not. Here's a non-sports prediction: He will be fired within the year.
• A complicated, important and interesting legal issue popped up at work yesterday and when I got home I could not stop thinking about it. And I tried. Then it dawned on me that I've done that all my life. If something significant occurs which causes me concern, whether it be work, relationships, or financial, I can't turn it off for two or three days. 
• The Star-Telegram's paywall is finally working over the last three or so weeks. 
• My weird food taste: I buy beans which appear to be marketed towards large hispanic families.
• It's almost impossible to watch the news with the kids in the room. Last night Fox 4 started out with footage of the dog being shot in Rains County and the second story was footage of a Dallas cop shooting some guy which got her indicted. 
• Sportsy: (1) Another reason Ranger fans should hate C.J. Wilson (2) It's amazing that Sports Illustrated puts all of its old issues online. Here's a NFL Draft Preview from 25 years ago. (3) New Knicks president Phil Jackson says that under the collective bargaining agreement that players need to make "sacrifices financially."  Umkay. Jackson is reported to make $12 million a year. And the owners of the hapless Milwaukee Bucks were just sold for $550 million after being bought for $18 million in 1989.
• We may have another school stabbing incident developing. 

This Is Insane

A man with as IQ in 50s is convicted of murder in 1977 and goes off to prison.  He appealed the decision and it was overturned in 1980 and a new trial ordered. Now get this: The defense lawyers and the prosecutors pretty much forgot about him.  He was never retried, but he remained in prison. It wasn't until 2006 that a fellow inmate was looking into his case and came to the conclusion, "Something ain't quite right here."

And he's still in prison.

(There's been a ton of press about this over the last couple of years, but I had never heard of it.)

Gettin' Your Drink On

Story.  Edit: A legal eagle out there points out this case for the proposition that the charge should probably be "Leaving Child in Vehicle" instead of "Endangering a Child." 

Based upon my crack research skills, the bar is probably the Grayson County Line on FM 730. Further research reveals they have entertainment from time to time:

Is There Anyone More On An Alarmist Than Delkus?

This is for Saturday evening.

Someone needs to tell him there's a difference between predicting the likely weather and screaming about the worst case scenario.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• This is a couple of days old, but a U.S. Marshal shot and killed a defendant in court after he "lunged" at a witness with a pen. But was a weird line from the story: "A mistrial was declared after the shooting."
• An upcoming contestant on The Bachelorette has been killed. Edit: I've been called out on this. You have to be murdered in order to have been "killed"? I don't think so.  
• Mrs. LL is still hard at with the kitchen repainting project. I think everyone in the house doubting her in the beginning has turned her into Mrs. Bob Vila. 
• Sports: (1) Mavs fans need to settle down. This won't end well. (2) Another marijuana arrest of a TCU football player. (3) Oh, come on. Yesterday Martin Perez goes nine innings and gives up three hits and no runs. Maybe my nemesis has some devil powers or something. (4) The Cowboys will not be playing on Sunday afternoon in six of their sixteen games this fall.  (5) The Boston Marathon winner wore Skechers. Skechers. (6) Hey, to the guy who thinks I'm not a great sports predictor. Who picked Yu Darvish to finish second in the Cy Young Award last year? Who said bet the house that the Cowboys would win less than 8.5 games? Who amazingly predicted the Mavs to lose to the Heat in the the 2006 Championship after the Mavs were up 2-0? This guy. 
• I'll never understand the fluctuation in gasoline prices. 
• I'll never understand an upcoming documentary called Fight Church. It's about a church and it's MMA program 
• The clemency program in the news involves primarily non-violent drug offenders who have already spent over ten years in federal prison. Think about that. Ten real years for drugs. That's insane. The Land of the Free has been in  love with putting people in cages. 
• Mrs. LL mentioned that she was saving for a "Sweet Sixteen" party. That kind of made my brain short circuit. 
• That great American right wing patriot Cliven Bundy has some thoughts on "the Negro."
• I think Facebook, which used to be a slight beating, is now a major beating. 

Above The Fold

Uh, Oh. Fox 4 Is Going After A Deputy Who Murdered A Dog

Necropsy of Candy - vet concluded she was shot from back of her head with bullet exiting the front. pic.twitter.com/BjWtTFMXNu
— LARI BARAGER (@laribaragerfox4) April 23, 2014

This is in Rains County. (Although I'm not sure how the vet could determine that the dog was shot while retreating.)

Facebook Support Page

News story. (Not Fox 4's.)

Random Photo

Wreck In Twin Hills

"Everyone Gets a Trophy" Mentality Coming to Denton Schools?

DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) - The Denton Independent School District is throwing traditional grading methods right out the window, shifting to a new way of assessing their students. The change is going to happen for kids from 6th to 12th grade beginning next year. Teachers will still be handing out letter grades, but the means of calculating those scores will be different than just about any other school district in North Texas.

Hand in your homework late? You won’t get a zero.

Want a higher grade on a test? Just take it again.

Grades will no longer be reduced for failure to meet deadlines. Zeroes will not be used for missing work. Students will be able to retake all exams and use the higher score. The idea is to hand out grades that show what the kids actually know, not how well they behave. More. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Jon Stewart's lambasting of Fox's Sean Hannity's position on the Bundy Ranch was perfect.
• We are sending troops into Eastern Europe. Really? Do we have to get involved in everything?
• The Fifth Grader in the House used the term "life hack" the other day. 
• Fort Worth motorcycle death. 
• The Ticket did a segment on this Cadillac commercial this morning calling it the most controversial one on TV.  Ugly American? The 1%-ers? They doing a bit? 
• This has been going around recently: "When I think of ten years ago, I think of the 1990s and not the 2000s." I seriously have to catch myself all the time. This happened to someone on the radio during the Masters when they said it had been 10 years since Tiger had missed the tournament. Nope, it was 20 years. 
• Mrs. LL sheepishly told me last night that she went to a different pet food store and bought cat food, dog food, and turtle food and was shocked by the bill. This has to bad if she's fessing up.
• Sports: (1) Ranger Nick Martinez went five innings and gave up six four runs but only two of them earned. Advantage nemesis. (2) That was so odd for UT's Charlie Strong to say the Longhorns wouldn't be playing in the national championship game this season. He made the statement during a  promotional tour through DFW. There was no reason to say it. (3) The NFL schedule will be released on ESPN tonight at 7:00 going head to head with the Mavs game. I wonder if it's the NFL paying back Cuban for his "implode in ten years" comment. (4) Local sports talk radio was full of Stars bandwagoners yesterday. (5) The new commercials for the SEC Network are fantastic. 
• I just heard someone mention that it was Administrative Assistants Day.  Uh, oh. Panic. 
• I caught a little bit of O'Reilly last night with some lady on there commenting about the Supreme Court decision allowing Michigan voters to decide that race should not be considered a factor in college admissions. She said something along the lines of "the Court was correct because there is no constitutional provision to overturn state elections." Huh? Have a state election to establish a religion and see how that works out. 
• That $3 million fracking verdict will be hard to hang on to. 
• Oklahoma court confusion: It's highest criminal court refuses to stop an execution, then the highest civil court stays the execution, and then the Governor says I'll give everyone seven days to figure out who has jurisdiction.