Another story I had forgotten.
- Big and tragic news involving Paradise and Wise County. School board member Dr. Heath Smith was piloting a small plane carrying his two of his children, ages 6 and 8, when it went down near Poolville yesterday afternoon, killing all three. It took off from Dimmit near the border and was scheduled to land at the Bridgeport airport around 1:00 p.m. He was also a surgeon for Bariatric Solutions. The story is in the New York Post this morning.
- We are in the middle of an ERCOT conservation warning which ends at 10:00 a.m., but I haven't heard on any wide ranging blackouts.
- A wild image just posted by the Fort Worth Fire Department from a fire around midnight.
- This is such a cluster. The case goes "unsolved" for 6 years, and then the D.A. abruptly indicted someone for the murder. Now, just as quickly, the indictment has been dismissed.
- The more I think about it, the more I hate the unforced error of the Atlanta D.A. (allegedly) hiring a boyfriend who isn't even close to qualified. She finally addressed the issue yesterday in, of all places, a church.
- There's a battle brewing on the border where there is now a section of land where Texas, in an effort to take over border patrol, is preventing federal border patrol agents from entering. That's nuts. And if you think it's great, what would you think if California did the same thing but for the purpose of opening of the gates?
- The Business Second. I saw this graphic about the number of homes posted for foreclosure during the last several years. And last year, 24 homes in Wise County were posted.
- Notable death.
- Cowboys
- Summed up.
- Possible explanation
- Images from the playoff game in Kansas City on Saturday night where it was was -4 degrees at kickoff. Patrick Maholmes helmet literally shattered when he got hit.
- More fun that legally nerdy: Watch 48 seconds of Rudy's lawyer arguing double jeopardy in an Atlanta courtroom. You don't have to know anything about double jeopardy to realize how funny this is.
- There was one Texa Ranger who was suspended, and is still suspended, because of the Uvalde debacle. But after 15 months, he is still getting paid and even received a $9,000 raise. He is now making just shy of $100,000 plus benefits.
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A guy rides his bicycle over the arches on the bridges of the Fort Worth's 7th Street Bridge. Video.
- After countering drone attacks of ships in the Red Sea for the last two months, the U.S. went on the offensive last night against the Houthis - and that's all I know about the Houthis.
- So I've asked The Highly Compensated Liberally Lean Weather Team™ to issue me a report and this is what they said:
- The temperature will dip below freezing at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday and will not get above freezing again until 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
- Well get as low as 10 degrees during that span and that will actually be on Tuesday morning.
- The greatest chance of snow is during the early morning hours of Monday, but my guys say it's not very likely.
- So why exactly is Allen PD saying anything at all if they are also not going to release any other info whatsoever? And why is the Dallas Morning News running the "story"? It's behind a paywall but, trust me, it says absolutely nothing more than the headline.
- Good, lord. The way things are going it's just a matter of time before Hispanics are shot in the Rio Grande. At the very least it dehumanize them to such an extent that a nutcase takes it on himself to kill them. Remember the El Paso massacre where the guy drove 10 hours to do that?
- "The law suit says Medearis was working in a building near the Sandman Hotel when he heard and felt the explosion. While trying to run away from the blast he 'tripped, fell, and as a result suffered personal bodily injury,' the suit says." Oh, good grief. Man up, dude.
- This story had a twist. A guy gets his Lamborghini stolen in Houston and hires a private investigator to track it down. Somehow they think they have it located in a garage in Hopkins County but aren't absolutely sure (maybe they can't get close enough - the story isn't clear). To find out for certain, the car owner then goes to the location and sets off the the cars lights and horn with his key fob. Then, and only then, he calls the cops.
- Oh, my.
- Back in the day, baseball teams and players would routinely go to arbitration when a salary agreement couldn't be reached. The way it works is that the team submits a proposed salary to the arbitrator and the player submits his. The arbitrator then just decides which of the two numbers is the most fair - that's is only option. These days, most teams and players avoid arbitration by working things out, but yesterday was the deadline. Below are those that couldn't along with the arbitration figures which will be submitted. I'm stunned how close most of them are to each other. You couldn't work that out? (But the big headline is that one surprising fan-favorite Ranger name is on the list.)
- Random CFB note: Hey Longhorn fans, you remember when QB Casey Thomspon who was with the team for four seasons (2018-2021) and started a few games? And do you remember he then somehow had enough eligibility to play one season with Nebraska and then another one with Florida Atlantic? Well, he just signed with the Sooners to play yet another year.
- Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 4 years and 200 days.
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"Bridgegate", involving Chris Christie and the George Washington Bridge, was making headlines.
- I was amazed at how the software update of the Wise County criminal justice package by Tyler Technologies had kept the public access online despite county employees being unable to do critical work. I spoke (and thought) too soon. It's down this morning:
- Gov. Abbott is coming to Decatur.
- There was a recent campaign forum where all the candidates for Wise County Sheriff attended, but was one of them wearing a bulletproof vest? He's in law enforcement, but still.
- Side note: The Messenger has a great op-ed piece about how dumb the forum was (i.e. it started off with a COVID shut down question and didn't get any better).
- Speaking of Chris Christi, he has dropped out of the Republican primaries which means that his supporters, although the number will be small, will go to Nicki Haley. That's good for her -- especially in critical New Hampshire. But Christi scorching her on a hot mic yesterday didn't help her cause.
- I saw this headline and wanted to see what happened. Oh, my: "At a December 2019 holiday party, Jonathon Sellers, who is Black and was a salesman for the company at the time, was called to the front of the room to accept an award called 'Least Likely to Be Seen in the Dark,' according to the lawsuit filed on his behalf by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission."
- We almost had some big time entertainment when it was announced that Trump would give his own closing arguments today in his civil case brought by the New York AG. Alas, that won't happen.
- Maybe criminal law is different, but I didn't know civil cases, at least in New York, involved email exchanges with the judge like you were mad in fantasy football.
- The closing arguments are starting a little late this morning because the judge had a bomb threat at his home.
- In the Georgia Election Tampering case, the Atlanta DA has brought in three "special prosecutors", but eyebrows have been raised with allegations that the DA might be romantically involved with one of them. I'm more disturbed by the guy being paid $650,000 so far and claiming he worked 24 hours in one day.
- Highway 287 in Wise County was treated yesterday. I assume that stuff will stick around until Sunday.
- Coaching Chaos/Coaches Gone:
- Pete Carroll out after 14 years with the Seahawks
- Nick Saben out after 17 years with Alabama (UT's Steve Sarkisian getting a call?)
- Bill Belichick (announced this morning) out after 24 years with the Patriots
- The temperature in Kansas City for the Chiefs/Dolphins game is expected to be 5 degrees at kickoff on Saturday night.
- Messenger - Above the Fold
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