12.07.2022

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




Someone sent me a photo of the Google Streetview car roaming the streets of Decatur. 

  • Developing (and a little across the journalistic line) . . . 


  • The most unqualified Senate candidate of all time did not get elected last night in Georgia. 
    • In almost every race these days, people vote for their team regardless of the candidate. But a handful of Republican voters crossed over because they couldn't stomach Herschel Walker.  The Democratic win last night in Georgia was their only state-wide win they had in the Peach State.

    • This fiasco for the Republicans is 100% on Trump.

  • From Cottondale last night. Video.

    • Nope, no sign of the probable cause affidavit yet. I really didn't want to bug them, but I might start now. I figured one of the media outlets would have it by now. 
  • I'm not prepared to say the cop is going to be found not guilty by a Tarrant County jury, but that case isn't the most clear cut criminal case in the world. 

  • Not surprising -- in either the conviction or the response.


  • Texas DPS has taken a hit lately, but I don't think trying to get recruits from Florida of all places will help.

  • Congressional Gold Medals were awarded yesterday to the Capitol Police of January 6th although there was an awkward moment where some of the recipients refused to shake the hand of Mitch McConnell for not doing more to speak against the attack. (Video.)

    • These are the 20 Republicans who refused to vote to award the medals. Mind-blowing.  

  • I kept seeing the headlines of the Tampa Police Chief getting fired for flashing a badge during a simple traffic stop, so I watched the video.  I don't understand this at all. This is common conduct in Texas, and I'm not sure anyone here has a problem with it. 

  • I still have to look to see who is Time's Person of the Year every time. Just announced:

  • Breaking baseball news -- over 1/3 of a billion dollars. All guaranteed because the Player's Union knows what they are doing. Unlike in the NFL.

  • Here's some exclusive high school sports content. I've always wondered how accurate the Texas AP Top Ten lists were for Texas football. I mean, seriously, how they heck do we know the Top 10 football teams in each division with so many teams involved? Those AP writers aren't watching all of those games, right?
    • So here's what I did: We are now down to the final four for each division, so I went back and found the final Top Ten rankings after the final regular season games, and then I looked to see how many of those Top 10 teams are still alive in their respective Final Four.  Put another way, the AP had 10 chances to pick the final four teams for each division. Here's how they did - the teams highlighted in yellow are still alive (click to enlarge):

    • As you see, those polls did really well. The most they could get were four. 
    • In Class 2A Division I, they were perfect with teams ranked one through four still being alive.
    • The blue 5 I've got in 6A is because that level is tricked up. Although there is just one 6A Top Ten poll, those teams might end up in the "big bracket" or the "small bracket" in the playoffs. So there are eight, not just four, of those teams which could still be alive. However, there are only five still in contention. 
    • Notice that unranked Decatur plays #1 China Springs on Friday. 
    • Also notice that College Station, who Decatur's coach was in charge of last year before being hired away, is still alive in Class 5A, Division I.
  • It's the 26th anniversary of what I consider to be the gutsiest and greatest play call in college football history. And it was done by the Evil Empire. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:29 AM

12.06.2022

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




I still think about this.  It would be at the bottom of the Update and read something like "Admitted: Henry Potter, Mary Bailey, and John McClane. Released: Frank Erwin, Lisa Miller, Baby boy Miller." If you just happened to have the same name as someone on the list, you fielded calls all day from people making sure you were OK. This practice ended sometime in the 1990s, I think. 

  • Athena Strand random bullet points:
    • Still haven't seen the probable cause affidavit surface yet. (It's public record under art. 15.26 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure if you can find it.)
    • Quick twitter video from the remembrance at the courthouse last night. 

    • Messenger's story and their photo:

    • WFAA's coverage from last night of courthouse memorial with video. 

    • Fox 4 coverage of community response yesterday. (On Youtube.)

    • Courthouse square in Decatur.

    • Oklahoma news coverage. We'll let them claim her, too. 

  • If I have my facts correct, a trial will begin today in the District Court in Decatur which was indicted in March of 1996.
  • A former Rhome officer, and the subject of the story below in 2017 when he worked in Montague County, was recently booked into the Wise County jail. (You'll have to type in the booking number 108387.)

  • Kind of legal nerdy stuff. The case below involved the guy who assaulted the woman in Deep Ellum, and it was caught on video. The footage made me cringe. He landed some vicious blows.
    • The guy caught a big break yesterday because the jury found him guilty of misdemeanor assault instead of aggravated assault because they decided he didn't use or exhibit a deadly weapon -- even though he was holding a pistol. 
    • What is really unusual is the guy being indicted on, and being found guilty of, "Obstruction", a third degree felony. That charge in incredibly rare.  Heck, I had to look it up. A prosecutor can get there if a person commits an illegal act against a person and causes "harm" (the assault) if the actor knows the person intends to report the occurrence of a crime. She was trying to call 911 before the assault but he slapped the phone out of her hand, but I'm not sure what "crime" she was going to report. 

  • Electra woman going hard but at least she wore a hazmat uniform. 

  • Justice Alito proved he is a very weird guy yesterday at oral arguments. (Audio of below). He also joked about Justice Kagan being familiar with AshleyMadison.com - a dating site for married people seeking an affair. (Audio).

  • A new Texas Monthly article looks interesting. 


  • Not bad for a one shop operation opened up by the campus of TCU in 2001.

  • Another reason to hate lawyers. This is the Christmas bonus list fpr associates (not partners) ant the law firm of Baker Botts. "Deem date" is basically "hiring date."

  • College bowl lines.

  • I absolutely hate the transfer portal, but I think it is only fair to the players that it exists.

at 8:30 AM

12.05.2022

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




"Nose tackle Josh Brent was arrested early Saturday morning for intoxication manslaughter following the death of a teammate. Brent, 24, was identified as the driver in a car crash that killed Cowboys practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown, 25. Brent was arrested for driving while intoxicated after failing field sobriety tests."
  • I've been heavily involved in the criminal justice system in Wise County since 1993. I was born here decades before that. I know every single criminal case which has come down the pipe. The abduction and murder of Athena Strand is hands down the most shocking incident I can remember. 
    • Assuming the reports are true*, I can't get over how a person with no criminal record, in the the middle of the shift of his job no less, abducted and killed a young girl from where you would think would be one of the safest places in the world: Rural Cottondale.  How does any parent -- or anyone, for god's sake -- not keep their head on a swivel even more than it already is in this world? (*I'm not saying they are.)
    • I bet I've said, "I can't believe it" a hundred times this weekend. 
    • How in the world do they handle all of this at Paradise Elementary today?
    • Coverage of the crime has now gone national. Hell, it should. The New York Times link is here - free.

    • The Star-Telegram, despite having go deal with a worker's strike, is doing yeoman's work in covering the case. Below is their report from Sunday which should be readable if enlarged. If not, a PDF of the entire page is here.  (I suspect the paper will cut me a break. Subscribe to the Star-Telegram here. I do.)

    • There's a probable cause affidavit, used to obtain the arrest warrant, which will have a lot of details about the case which we don't currently know. It's a public record and should be released today. 
    • The Star-Telegram had this nugget. 

       
    • Community response. 




    • Fox 4 coverage was good

    • The Lake Worth Police Chief, and Bridgeport's own, wanted everyone to know that the accused killer was not from Lake Worth.

  • Alvord had a tragedy as well. Reports are that the freshman died as a result of a hunting accident.

  • Moving on after all that (if we can ever move on) . . . 
  • This was a wild story.

  • He is saying it out loud. Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he wishes to "terminate" the Constitution and be installed as President. Read that again.  It's so mind-blowing that it is hard to comprehend. We are witnessing an open revolution right before our eyes.  And he says this less than a week after his Oath Keeper supporter was convicted of  Seditious Conspirator and he shared Thanksgiving dinner with Holocaust deniers. Still think I'm crazy when I say were living in 1930s Germany?  



    • God bless her. 

    • Oh, in light of Seditious Conspiracy conviction, I forgot to remind everyone last week that the Oath Keepers were sending texts about our own Ronny Jackson during the January 6th Insurrection. And what was this "critical data"?


  • The Decatur Eagles are going to the semis. But they are getting ripped off in the venue in that its not Jerry World or at least The Star in Frisco. By the way, everyone talks about the Eagles running back, but their QB is a baller. 

  • TCU, a small private school, is the first Texas team to ever be in the four team playoff.  They open as an 9.5 point underdog to Michigan. 
  • The University of Colorado hiring Deion is a dicey, dicey proposition. Although it's hard to imagine how it could get any worse there.  The Buffaloes first game will be on September 2, 2023 at TCU.   

  • I'm not sure if it is justified because I'm not smart enough to know, but I've never seen so many very smart people freak out with glee and astonishment over the unveiling late last week of the artificial intelligence that is ChatGPT. Google it. And then try it. (The nerds are freaking out because it fixes and writes computer code. I've seen lawyers freak out because it can write detailed contracts based upon details you give it.)

at 8:21 AM

12.02.2022

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

at 2:30 PM
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