10.06.2021

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts





That was how Apple's home page looked on October 5, 2011 after it was immediately changed.

  • According to the Wise County Jail records, Decatur ISD Board Member Thomas Houchin was arrested by the Decatur Police Department on the charge of DWI last night. He was booked in at 12:38 a.m.  (A note of caution: As much as the guy has been dog-piled lately, everyone probably needs to withhold judgment here. There is no charge more likely not to pan out than that of DWI.  A recent example is that of Texas governor candidate Allen West's wife.)
  • I was correct about my report yesterday that not enough people showed up for jury selection in a murder trial at the Decatur courthouse on Monday. Only 53 of 300 people responded to the jury summons (18%). Of those 53, so many had to be released for not being qualified or "struck for cause" that there weren't enough left over to seat a 12 person jury. 
  • A revised Texas House map was released yesterday but the changes did not impact Wise County. We are still proposed to be in district 64 held by Rep. Lynn Stucky. I thought they might tweak the boundaries of that part of the district in Denton County, but it remained the same in the revised map. 

  • A Wise County murder conviction where the defendant received 40 years in prison was affirmed on appeal yesterday.  
  • Big news in Cowboys world in that they cut Jaylon Smith last night.  The best answer as to "why now?" is something the Dallas Morning News pointed out a month ago: If he were to have been injured this year and couldn't pass a physical on March 20, 2022, his salary for next year of $9.2 million would become fully guaranteed. The Cowboys think he's done and didn't want to risk him getting hurt. 

  • If you've been following the Urban Meyer case (the Jacksonville head coach who got very handsy with a girl in a restaurant/bar that he co-owns in Ohio), one of the under-reported fun facts is that Meyer has a big picture of himself and his wife hanging in that bar. 

  • The Southlake school administration investigated the claim and decided to not reprimand the teacher. The Carroll School Board overturned that decision.  The book was a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah Book Club selection. (What is going on in Southlake is the focus of a great podcast here.)

  • That's a hotel room. In Texas. 

  • Messenger: Above the Fold (I got my access back!)


at 8:29 AM

10.05.2021

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts





There was a bomb threat at Decatur ISD ten years ago which turned out to be a false alarm. The picture of the kids who evacuated wasn't posted by the school -- someone sent it to me that day.  Interestingly, the note that caused the commotion actually made its way to Facebook. I think it had been written on a door:


  • I'm trying to confirm that an insufficient number of jurors showing up for service caused a murder trial in Decatur to get derailed yesterday.  
  • There were lots of funny comments about Facebook being down. 

  • And another DFW company. That's 54,000 employees.

  • The gerrymandering for State Senate District 10 in order to get rid of Democrat Beverly Powell is really amazing. It is currently 413 square miles but will increase to 6,233.


  • I don't know how you can do a story like this and simply say, "The cause of death was not released."  The Dallas Morning News was quiet about it as well in their story. 

  • George Floyd had a drug conviction out of Harris County, but it was one of the many cases handled by an officer who ended up being disgraced and charged because of the infamous "Pecan Park Raid" in 2019.  Now the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole has approved a posthumous pardon for Floyd, but it has to be approved by Greg Abbott. Here's a hot prediction: He won't approve it. 


  • Funny chryno this morning on CNN reviewing former VP Mike Pence appearing on Fox News last night. 

  • Never heard a thing about whether these two were related. Both were posted early Sunday morning. 


  • Officials at the Collin County Courthouse forgot to pay attention to its "emergency power transfer switch" yesterday morning.  

  • Three valets of the ages of 18, 22 and 23, who worked at the restaurant pictured below, were killed in Houston on Friday night after a car driven by a 17 year old struck them. He was being chased by police for doing doughnuts in a parking lot. Sheesh. And there's a weird twist: The 17 year old was another valet from a different restaurant across the street who was in a customer's car. 

  • Didn't I tell you the richest guy I know once told me he began investing in warehouses? This from the Dallas Morning News today:

  • We got to take care of a dog at the office for a couple of days.  Office dogs should officially be a thing. 

  • Legal nerd stuff: The Twitter bot which tracks laughter during arguments at the Supreme Court. (It had  a rough year due to COVID induced Zoom hearings, but it's back.) 



at 8:30 AM

10.04.2021

Random Monday Morning Thoughts






It was October 3, 2011 when Mrs. LL actually saw this on Highway 287 and snapped a few pictures. That's wild.  

  • I've got a (personal) update from the proposed Texas House redistricting map from Friday. If Wise County joins the northwest portion of Denton County as the newly released map shows, we already have an incumbent. Uh, I basically failed to mention that on Friday. Well guess who tracked down my super secret cell phone number and called me on Saturday morning? That would be the incumbent, Rep. Lynn Stucky. I'll say this about him: What a nice guy. I figured he was going to chew me out for giving him short shrift on Friday, but nothing could be further from the truth. He just wanted to let me know he would be honored to represent Wise County if the new map holds. (One interesting thing that I learned was that even he didn't know what the new map would look until a day or so before it came out.) 

  • Considering the background between the (now deceased) man and a Decatur lawyer who was quoted in the story, this is a heck of a story.

  • Watch a small plane crash on a town street in Winnie, Texas on Saturday morning.

  • So a NASCAR crowd at Talladega shouts an expletive about President Biden and the same thing happens at a TCU game as well? And Fox News celebrates it? And Don Jr. encourages it? This is what it has come to? We've sunk this low? Have we no decency?



  • There was a weird story buried in the Messenger (which I still can't access despite being logged in!!!) where you could pay $50 or more to attend a Doomsday Preppers seminar in Bridgeport. I kind of wanted to hear more about the motivation behind it. 
  • Those vaccine passports just keep on coming!

  • Hood County may be the most backwoods county in the State. They were in the news for a while for having a some Oath Keepers as part of their law enforcement, and now they are back in it for almost firing their by-the-book Elections Coordinator.


  • Got him. He seems concerned. 

  • These are two great photos out of the Wichita Falls paper for a wreck on Friday night. A Christopher Walker was noted as the photographer. 


  • Just the other day I wrote about how "we don't hear anymore" about the Feds finding some smuck online and baiting him into a plot that he otherwise doesn't have the brains to be pull off. Well, it looks like I was wrong. They just aren't targeting Muslims any longer. "Tried to blow up" is a reach here. 

  • I've said it before, if you listen to any of the news talk radio stations in DFW on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, you are hearing scam after scam in paid programming. This from the the Morning News this weekend (the show was on KRLD):

  • UT had a horrible start against TCU which led to this Twitter post within 11 minutes of kickoff. UT, however, quickly got it together.  (And I'm not sure Texas doesn't beat OU straight up on Saturday.)

  • Sam Elliott showing up in Weatherford. 

  • Any bets on whether he's vaccinated?

  • My only Cowboy observation: As the game got slightly dicey in the Fourth Quarter, tell me there was some reason other than "player management" that kept CB Trevon Diggs on the sideline? If not, that is really, really weird. 



at 8:31 AM

10.01.2021

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

at 2:30 PM
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