9.20.2016

You Might Want To Get Used To The Name




Story and videos.
at 9:01 AM

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • “I understand that, upon my retirement, I will receive, during the remainder of my lifetime, an annuity equal to the salary I was receiving at the time of retirement.”  - Included in a Waco federal judge's resignation letter to President Obama. That's odd. He'll get what he is entitled to get so why tell the President -- of all people -- what he understands he will get. By the way, he earns $203,100 and has been dogged for years by sexual harassment allegations. 
  • So Decatur ISD is providing Android tablets instead of iPads this year? Someone told me that but I have no idea if it is true. 
  • Here's a question: Would kids in grades 6 through 12, if given a choice, rather use the Android operating system than the one from Apple? I'm betting they would.
  • This murder of the girl whose body was found near Lake Grapevine might be a crazier case than the Arochi trial I've been following. The kicker came yesterday when it was learned that "Someone used her Twitter account Friday — after her body had been found — to tweet 'Never knew I could feel like this.'” They arrested a guy out of Haslet who worked as a bartender at Urban Cowboy in Fort Worth and has, I've heard, a creepy Facebook page. They were last seen leaving a bar in Denton (but I've not heard the name of the bar.)
  • Edit: The Dallas Observer reproduced this Tweet of hers before her death:
  • Someone on WBAP this morning talk about how "sophisticated" the bombs in NY/NJ were. Then I look at my Twitter feed and it dawns on me that "sophisticated" is in the eye of the beholder . . . 

  • Side note about these bombs: Does everyone else know what a "pressure cooker" is besides me? Yeah, I've heard of them but I've never seen one, and I have no idea what is cooked in them. In fact, I have no idea what in the heck pressurized cooking is. 
  • I think I just went into a What's-The-Deal-With routine.  
  • Experts say that if Trump loses Florida, it's over. That is, he could win the remainder of the swing states but would still lose the election. Why isn't he camping out in Florida?
  • George H.W. Bush will be voting for Hillary. (And since when has the whole Bush clan been referred to in a derogatory fashion as "Bushies"? I heard Mark Davis call them that this morning.)
  • If you hear people arguing about politics today and you are confused by Skittles making an appearance in the conversation, this link will explain the controversy that this graphic caused:
  • The Daily News headline writer has to be a great gig. The job description must be, "Think of something clever each day." 

at 8:40 AM

9.19.2016

A Quick Check With On "Dancing With The Stars"


at 7:41 PM

About That Burned And Dismembered Body By Lake Grapevine




Sounds like there might be a Haslet connection.
at 3:05 PM

Let's Check In On Georgia



By the way, what was in his cooler?

(May be a language warning.)
at 10:07 AM

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

  • You need a list for the bombings to keep up: (1) Earlier Saturday, a garbage can exploded near the starting line of a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park, New Jersey - no injuries, (2) a bombing in Manhattan on Saturday night hurt 29 people, and another bomb was found nearby, (3) last night a backpack with multiple bombs inside was found in Elizabeth, New Jersey - one exploded during the investigation with no injuries.
  • Conspiracy Theory Alert: One began when Trump said that a "bomb went off" in New York City before anyone knew it was a bomb.  
  • I'm about tired of Lionel Richie and whatever Peyton Manning is doing on Sunday morning.
  • One thing I missed in the Sandra Bland settlement, the State has agreed to require extra DPS "de-escalation" training. 
  • College football: (1) There are way too many replay delays these days, (2) that injury to TCU receiver KaVontae Turpin was brutal (and costly), (3) college football is basically a double elimination tournament to get in the playoff . One loss and you better win out. Two and your done.  (4) I'm a big fan of Verne Lundquist but I'm glad he's retiring -- the cracks can be seen, (5) this is the first time ever in Big 12 history that no team is in the Top 15 -- Baylor comes in as the leader at 16.
  • My childhood greatest-restaurant-in-the-world, Vance Godbeys, has turned into a Mexican food place. 
  • Oh, Internet. The Daily Mail ran a story about a Kansas State girl kicked out of school for "posting" a black face picture on Snapchat. Well, kinda. She was enrolled in the Spring but didn't return to school in the Fall when the pictures leaked. (And she didn't post them, someone else did.) In any event, doing stupid stuff will get you. 
  • I don't understand Snapchat. And whatever happened to the start up competitor that Mark Cuban was always hawking? 
  • The Rice Band made fun of Baylor's sexual scandal by spilling out "IX" for Title IX when the teams played Friday night.  Thoughts: (1) I don't have any problem with it -- their execution could have been better but the comedy intent was sound, (2) What's up with the size of that band? 
  • Let there be no mistake, I think Hillary will win in November.
  • Trump threatened to sue the New York Times this weekend for "irresponsible intent" -- a phrase that sounds like a great title of a legal thriller but does not exist in the law. (We lawyers were laughing like a bunch of plumbers hearing the old Langstrom 7" gangly wrench joke.)
  • A journalist at a Trump rally in Houston was arrested for trespassing. First, it was a journalist from Vice so you know you'll hear more about this. Secondly, what in the world is Trump doing in Houston!!!??? Get to Florida. Get to Ohio. This makes no sense whatsoever. 
  • Some TCU students protested at Saturday's game. I suspect they are the only ones. (I'm not messing with the one girl who will throw down an "aint" in an educational environment.)
  • Cam Newton going all barbershop quartet on us yesterday: 
  • That NFL concussion problem won't go away, and it getting more and  more disturbing to realize people are getting carted off the field because their brain just rattled around in their skull.  The player below, who is out of SMU, spent the night in the hospital for "observation." He's in his fifth year so the NFL is almost done with him. His four year rookie deal average $500,000 a year. He is 26. 
  • I'm not sure this was the most sensitive way to word the way the death occurred:
  • Remember the "crime alert" I posted from UNT police after a robbery/brief kidnapping? A Denton Ryan high school student who had offers to play football at USC and UCLA has been arrested in connection with it. 
  • The fascinating Arochi trial resumes this morning. Great twitter updates here. (That's WFAA's Dallas Morning News' Valerie Wigglesworth twitter feed who does a fantastic court reporting job and has some pretty keen trial observations.)



at 8:39 AM

9.17.2016

Above The Fold


Full readable page.
at 12:40 PM

9.16.2016

It's Friday. Let's Get Out Of Here.









at 3:00 PM

A Special Lunch Report


I was cooking up a delicious lunch because I'm a connoisseur of the microwave. However, I had to stop down once I saw the cooking time on this one. That's extremely precise.
at 12:36 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • The polls are getting closer -- what an insane presidential race. But even in states where it is 50/50 shouldn't it be referred to as a "dead heat" instead of "too close to call". 
  • Can you imagine on election night the network of your choosing hitting the breaking news sounder and saying, "We now project that Donald J. Trump is the next president of the United States." Love him or hate him, in your wildest dreams did you ever think it would come to this?
  • Heard a lady up at the courthouse asking if the cops can search her trash if it is on her lawn for pickup.  I actually got interested because she had seized on the key issue: It's not that the items of concern were in the trash bag it is where the trash bag was located at the time it was seized. 
  • Wasn't there a movie where the cops got the trash pick-up folks to take the trash bag on a regular pickup and then hand it over to them just to be safe? Dirty Harry? (And, no, the cops can't use non-cops to do what they can't legally do - but under those facts they didn't have to anyway)
  • Wise County law enforcement has searched garbage bags left for pickup. (Legally in the cases I've seen.) 
  • George W. Bush appeared at an elementary school yesterday in Dallas which is named after him. Is there a chance that was his first official appearance at an elementary school since the moment of 9/11?
  • I can't stand lines but don't mind waiting. Lined up for an iPhone 7 this morning? I'm out. Tell me the iPhone will be delivered in two months otherwise? Fine.  Fifteen minute line to a restaurant I like? I'm out. Tell me we can come back in two weeks and get right in? Fine.
  • A kid took a gun to Arlington's Sam Houston High School yesterday. That's bad enough but am I right to cock an eyebrow at the fact that a bullet was already in the chamber?
  • Jimmy Fallon got to mess up Trump's hair:
  • There was a big house fire last night in Westover Hills.  Notes: (1) Westover Hills is the most high tone area in Fort Worth but you never, ever hear about it. (2) The home is owned by Brad Corbett Jr. -- son of the former Rangers owner. (3)  Oddly, that was the second time in 24 hours that the fire department had been called out. The first time was just a small fire. 
  • The Arochi trial got caught up in DNA yesterday. The DA's office wanted to have their local law enforcement expert testify the DNA was from blood but the judge basically gave him the "like anyone could even know that" and wouldn't allow it.  (Independent labs won't go so far as to call it DNA from blood.)
  • My gut reaction about that trial so far is that he might have kidnapped her, but I'm not even comfortable saying he "probably" did it. And I'm a million miles from believing it beyond a reasonable doubt. 
  • Random old news I learned yesterday: Johnny Cash's old Tennessee house was bought by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees many years ago and then the whole thing burned down. 
  • Per the Update, there was a high speed chase from Wise County into Tarrant County last night until the "car struck a tree on U.S. 81/287 near Loop 820 in Fort Worth."  There are trees amongst all that construction?


at 8:39 AM

9.15.2016

Grab Bag For The Afternoon

How is this possible? More wheels off stuff comes out of Williamson County than any other.



Meanwhile, at Jerry World in the area of last weekends fight . . .

It's official,  your phone will burn your pants off:
at 3:54 PM

That Trip To Denton This Morning Is A Little Tough


 156 to 380? That's over four miles.
at 9:57 AM

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • I looked at the Court of Criminal Appeals hand down list yesterday and saw two Wise County cases on it. The State won both. By the afternoon, I had received a call about one of them but, by the time a case gets decided in Austin, it is all but over. (Death penalty cases still have some "life" but not regular felons.)
  • DPS took $200,000 left in an "abandoned" car in Hildago County.  I've got lots of questions about all aspects of that "case."
  • That Arochi trial is interesting, and I could smell a little desperation with the prosecution. They tried to admit into evidence yesterday an olive jar (found in a shoe) filled with an oily type liquid smelling of cinnamon and with pieces of paper within. The reason they wanted it? Possible witchcraft. Yep. Witchcraft. How'd they know? They read it on the Internet. Seriously. The judge denied the request. 
  • A body was found dismembered and burned near Lake Grapevine yesterday.  Arochi related? Probably not but worth a though since his alleged victim is still missing. 
  • There was a "human trafficking" case in the news about a week ago that I meant to mention. Some guy gets arrested in Wise County for having twelve (?) people in an SUV with him. He goes to jail and the twelve are let go.  (I would like to predict that any prosecutor who first reviews that case will think, "And just how do you expect me to prove this?")
  • A pastor interrupted Trump yesterday when he began to make a political speech.  I presume there were ground rules. If not, the pastor was rude.
  • I'll admit that the more I watch it the more that video from the weekend of Hillary is very odd. To me, it actually looked like she was a malfunctioning robot. That's truly my best description. And is it just me, or did those around her not move with quite the sense of urgency you would expect them to?
  • Why I hate sports interviews: The Ticket had Jason Witten on for his weekly show and they asked him, somewhat out of nowhere, if he had seen the dismembered hand of Jason Pierre-Paul while on the field against the Giants. Ok, that's kind of funny. Witten, in a deadpan voice, said "no, I didn't" and then spent over a minute talking about what a great player Pierre-Paul is (something which no one asked him about.)
  • Best idea I heard to stop the sun from coming into Cowboys Stadium: Move the Sky Mirror to the other side of the stadium and use it to reflect the sun. Brilliant. 
  • Ben Hur, the recent remake which doesn't depict electricity, bombed at the box office. 
  • The Waco Twin Peaks biker cases finally has a development: Three cops involved in it weren't indicted for crimes. Yep, they took the allegations all the way to a grand jury. As to the biker defendants: No trials. No plea bargains. No convictions. It's been well over a year.
  • Sandra Bland's family got almost $2 million in a settlement by the government? (And the "non-economic" agreement is the Sheriff's office yelling "mercy.")


at 8:41 AM

9.14.2016

Anyone Seen My Giant Inflatable Moon?


at 2:49 PM

Just Because



Or this for the joy of seeing dear old dad disappear:
at 12:45 PM

Let's Go To A Rangers/Astros Game




Language, and I do mean language, warning.
at 9:23 AM

Above The Fold

Full readable page.

at 9:18 AM

Another Frivolous Lawsuit


Until you read about it and see it.  (Her lawyer is the one who paid $115,000 for an Aggie personalized license plate. There might be something to this.)


at 8:50 AM
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