This was all over the news because it was a fiery crash involving a wrong way driver who hit a tanker truck at I-30 and Beach Street in Fort Worth. The driver later admitted on camera from jail to drinking 10 beers at Embargo, which was actually a Cuban themed club, prior to the accident. He actually went to trial the next year and received 20 years in prison. The Fort Worth Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction although it was "greatly disturbed by the tenor of the State’s punishment evidence and the jury argument" focusing on the defendant being in the country illegally. As to the club, Embargo closed in 2014 after an eight year run.
- Breaking: That big old ship in the Suez Canal is free.
- Here's an angle of the ship yesterday from an adjacent village. It's a big old thing.
- A DPS trooper remains in critical condition after being shot near Mexia on Friday eening. The alleged shooter took his own life a short time later. Out of all of it, this was the first time I had ever received a "Blue Alert."
- As always, an arrest does not mean guilt nor does an indictment, but it is noteworthy that a former Boyd Police Officer is now the subject of both in connection with Indecency with a Child charges. Vince Estel in cause number CR-22969.
- Six teenage girls, all from Nocona, were in a pickup on Saturday afternoon just northwest of town when it went of the road. One did not survive.
- Senators traveled to the border for a photo op on DPS's gun boats. The usual suspects showed up.
- But I didn't expect to hear a Senator upset that the cartels have overtaken his state's homemade bathtub crank.
- I'll never get over the DPS gun boats having three 350 horsepower outboard motors on each boat. But they don't have the money to staff a driver's license office.
- Out of context Fox News:
- This girl is gonna end up in prison if she's not careful with her Twitter account.
- Almost every AR-15 owner I know speaks of the scenario that Lindsey Graham came out and described on Sunday except the say "when all hell breaks loose" instead of "if there's a natural disaster."
- A lot going on at Harmony Free Will Baptist Church in Ada, Oklahoma:
- Random Big Man Kicker coming through. 5'5" and 285 pounds.
- I saw a headline where five people were killed in a helicopter crash in Alaska on their way to "back country skiing." I thought that sounded pretty high-tone, and I was right: The five people were staying at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge which offers packages priced at $15,000. Here's a picture taken during the summer:
- UT would have owed basketball coach Shaka Smart $7.1 million if they fired him. Instead he just agreed to walk away to another school. Seems weird.
- Liberally Lean Pick Em Standings:
- Baylor/Arkansas starts at 9:00 p.m. tonight? Why? There's only one other game today.
Rebecca Black's "It's Friday" now has 151 million views, and, let me tell you something, that song ain't that bad. (If you want to see the 23 year old today, she's released a pretty catchy tune named "Girlfriend" just last month.)
- Trump was on Fox News last night describing the Insurrection and went all 1984 on us: "It was zero threat, right from the start... Some of them went in, and they are hugging and kissing the police and the guards... a lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in and they walked out."
- Check out the video ad from "Big Dan Rodimer" as he tries to get the vacant Fort Worth area congressional seat. (He's got quite the resume: professional wrestler, attorney, and failed Nevada congressional candidate from 2020.) It's all that you think it will be.
- We've got new DPS Gun Boat photos!
- Speaking of boats, we've still got one stuck in the Suez Canal and let's just say things are going very slowly to get it unstuck.
- Correction from yesterday: Local attorney Charles Tibbels provided me proof that he actually successfully pursued and won an "actual innocence" claim in Wise County. He did a very good job and, to their credit, had the cooperation from prosecutors and investigators.
- Remember the Tulia, Texas scandal involving fake drug charges which led to the disbanding of the lawless "Drug Task Forces" across Texas? The corruption was exposed by NAACP attorney Vanita Gupta who went on to be head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under President Obama. She has now been nominated by President Biden to be the #3 person in the Justice Department. However, she is being vigorously opposed by Sen. John Cornyn. You know who the cop at the center of the Tulia corruption who ended up in disgrace? Tom Coleman. You know who John Cornyn, when he was Attorney General in Texas, gave a "Lawman of the Year" award to while he was committing his crimes? Tom Coleman.
- Here's a picture of the Georgia governor and his white cronies signing a Jim Crow law yesterday making it a crime, among other things, to give someone food and water while they are waiting to vote. They want to make it as hard to vote as possible. Is that a plantation in that painting?
- Jessica Walter, the actress who portrayed one of my most favorite characters of all time, has died.
- President Biden's first press conference went out without a hitch, but some people had their feelings hurt.
- Fun Dallas Cowboys fact:
- Legal nerd stuff: That headline below, from two years ago, turned out to be partially true. The Tarrant County D.A.'s Office did attempt to try the guy again but, yesterday, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals, in a rare defense win, killed the case on double jeopardy grounds. Warning: It's complicated. (Lisa Mullen was the attorney on appeal.)
- The new Sheriff in Clay County found out that an IT Department employee had (allegedly) falsified records in order to trick the State into believing the Sheriff's office's computers were capable of handling and securing criminal history information. A true report, officials say, would cause the office to fail a state audit. The employee has now been arrested.
- Note to any potential Wise County Sheriff candidates: Our Sheriff and Rep. Phil King are attempting to change the qualifications to be on the ballot in order to require the candidate to hold a peace officer's license at the time of filing. Current law allows that license, which can be obtained after an 18 week course, to be obtained within two years of taking office after being duly elected. The Sheriff testified yesterday in Austin in support of the bill. (Video of the short testimony begins at 1:00:30 which includes (1) the quote "In my most humble yet most accurate opinion" and (2) new Jack County rep David Spiller on the far right.)
- Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 630 days.
- Messenger: Above the Fold (the Bridgeport City Council gets called out in an editorial.)
Ten years ago we were bombing Libya and Liz Taylor died. Apparently, I didn't think Taylor deserved top billing in the Morning News. As to Libya, they were in the middle of a civil war and NATO intervened including "American and British naval forces firing over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles." The operation continued fox six months until the death of Muammar Gaddafi. And it sounds like Libya is currently still a mess.
- Fort Worth Police released video of people acting-a-fool at University and White Settlement ino order to try and ID said fools. But check out this guy (or girl) at around the 43 second mark. They were almost seriously clipped and still acted like they didn't have a care in the world.
- Hawaii's legislature outlawed open carry and yesterday the Ninth Circuit approved it by holding that the law did not violate the Second Amendment. (Want to read it? Here's the 215 page opinion by GWB appointee Judge Jay Bybee.) That circuit had previously held that the prohibition of concealed carry was not unconstitutional as well. I honestly don't understand any of this.
- Very funny movie. Very sad news. The child actor who played Walker Bobby in Talladega Nights is dead.
- It's almost out of the news cycle . . . .
- College coaches can change jobs at the drop of a hat, but a player can't change schools and be immediately available unless the school consents. OU is not playing nice.
- New York is on the verge of legalizing weed. I wonder which state will be the last state to do so - Texas or Utah?
- I don't think I've ever wanted someone to be indicted as much as I want to see that happen to Ken Paxton.
- Large prosecutor offices have full sections dedicated to finding and overturning past wrongful convictions. I can't think of a single case in Wise County where an "actual innocence" claims was ever even filed.
- After work, I picked up two plants ($6.98 each) out of dozens off a nicely displayed rack at Lowe's in Decatur, but ran into a problem when I tried to check out. The machine wouldn't scan their bar codes. After three employees and a manager got involved by trying to scan and manually input the code, they finally announced the problem: "They aren't supposed to be on sale until tomorrow morning." How'd they remedy the problem which caused a five minute delay? They simply took the plants away from me and then continued to check me out with my other items.
- Fun fact: Biden's new Labor Secretary introduced himself at the 2016 Democratic National Convention this way: "Good evening. My name is Marty Walsh, and I’m an alcoholic."
- I've ranted that this new trend of buying non-fungible tokens is the equivalent of buying a Beanie Baby thinking it would one day be a collector's item. I'm re-thinking that: The worthless Beanie Baby in your closet might be worth more than what people are buying today.
- Read this story if you want to, but it will take you until paragraph 25 before they get around to identifying him, and then you'll learn he's not particularly interesting.
- In only ten days there will be a packed Globe Life Field for the Rangers' Opening Day.
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