Amarillo court denies Leach appeal in James, ESPN, Spaeth defamation case

A Texas appeals court denied the appeal Friday of former Texas Tech Football Coach Mike Leach.

The ruling affirms a Lubbock trial court’s September 2013 summary judgment in favor of Craig James, ESPN and Speath Communication, Inc.

Leach sued the defendants in 2010, accusing them of defamation and causing his termination from the university.

Leach, who holds the record for the most wins in the school’s history, was fired Dec. 30, 2009 after serving as the football team’s head coach for 10 years.

Read more: http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2014-11-24/amarillo-court-denies-leach-appeal-james-espn-spaeth-defamation-case

Greg Abbott plans to sue Barack Obama over immigration order

Gov.-elect Greg Abbott said Monday that President Barack Obama violated the U.S. Constitution with a directive that could shield 5 million immigrants from deportation and that he expects to file a lawsuit in coming weeks, amplifying Texas as a vanguard in the growing chorus of conservative states opposing Obama’s use of executive power.

Abbott, still acting as the state’s attorney general, has not yet filed a legal challenge but said “odds are in favor that a lawsuit will be filed.” He said his office is still researching its case against the Obama administration. The announcement of a Texas lawsuit, aimed at forcing a Supreme Court decision on Obama’s reliance on executive power to circumvent Republican blockades in Congress, is expected in the next two weeks, Abbott said.

“I think it’s extremely important to emphasize that I am addressing this as a legal issue, not a political issue,” Abbott said. “The president has crossed the line from politics to endangering the constitutional structure.”

“It doesn’t matter where you come down on the immigration issue,” he said. “Most everyone agrees that the immigration system in America is broken. Similarly, most everyone agrees that executive fiat is not the right way to fix it. The president must follow the laws just like everyone else.”

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/gov-elect-abbott-plans-to-sue-presiden-obama-over-/njFJd/

George W. Bush Is Getting A Texas Elementary School Named After Him

Former President George W. Bush will soon have a Texas elementary school named after him, The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.

The new elementary school will be open in time for the 2016-2017 school year outside the town of St. Paul, Texas, according to the report. The school board unanimously voted in favor of the name.

“Other names were mentioned, but when you look at what President and Mrs. Bush stand for, and the legacy they continue to write both in Texas and across the nation, we are honored to have a school named for them,” Stacie Gooch, who chairs the board’s school naming committee, told The Dallas Morning News.

Another George W. Bush Elementary School is already operating in Stockton, California.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/19/george-w-bush-elementary-school_n_6186900.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013

[font color=green]Okay, I was gracious enough to set up the story so I'll leave it to everyone else to come up with the punch line...[/font]

Resemblances

Crap, I thought this was a real story about Ted Cruz

Man shot, killed by Centenary College officer

November 20, 2014

Shrevport, Louisiana -- A man died after being shot on the campus of Centenary College of Louisiana by one of the institution's police officers just before 6 p.m. Thursday.

Shreveport Police Department spokesman Cpl. Marcus Hines said the man -- identified as 35-year-old Charles Marcus McCauley of Shreveport -- pulled out a handgun during a struggle with two Centenary College Department of Public Safety officers. In response, one of the officers fired at least one gunshot at McCauley in front of the John F. Magale Memorial Library, where he collapsed.

Court records show McCauley has been charged with threatening a public official, resisting a police officer with force, disturbing the peace and domestic abuse battery, among other counts.

Reached by phone, a man identifying himself as McCauley's father said, "He was 35 years old, and he was shot to death last night, and that's all you need to know," before saying "thank you" and hanging up.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/crime/2014/11/20/suspect-dies-centenary-shooting/70033036/

[font color=green]I am friends with the president of Centenary College and his Facebook feed had the following message:[/font]

Austin adopts coyote plan limiting lethal response to aggressive ones--Gov. Perry Disappointed

A little over a year ago there were so many coyote sightings in Austin’s Blunn Creek area, between St. Edward’s University and Oltorf Street, that the city asked Texas Wildlife Services to set traps and euthanize some of the coyotes.

But that incident — covered widely in the media — prompted outcry at what some perceived as inhumane treatment of coyotes. After a year of protracted discussions between animal advocates and concerned homeowners on how to deal with coyotes, the Austin City Council approved a new policy late Thursday night that emphasized educating residents and using nonlethal approaches unless the coyote has shown aggression.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/austin-adopts-coyote-plan-limiting-lethal-response/njCkZ/ (subscription required)

[font color=green]Governor Perry called this a Socialist plot because he intended to shoot coyotes on sight while jogging if he can ever get past those pesky felony charges.[/font]

Former Jarrell police chief gets 4 yrs in prison for fraud (took bribes for undocumented immigrants)

The former police chief of Jarrell, who pled guilty to fraud and theft in February, was sentenced Friday to four-and-a-half years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Andres Tomas Gutierrez faced up to 20 years in prison for accepting cash bribes as large as $40,000 from unauthorized immigrants seeking immigration benefits, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gutierrez would then ask the federal goverment to grant those immigrants a special type of immigration status by claiming they were helping the Jarrell Police Department with narcotics and human trafficking investigations.

“The sentencing of Andres Gutierrez, the former Jarrell Police Chief, is the culmination of a long-term investigation into corruption and the violation of public trust,” said agent Janice Ayala of Homeland Security Investigations.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/former-jarrell-police-chief-gets-4-years-in-prison/njCzN/

U.S. warns travelers to avoid Acapulco

Source: AP

MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a security message Friday warning U.S. citizens to avoid the Pacific resort of Acapulco because of violence and protests.

In yet another blow to a coastal city once favored by U.S. movie stars and jet-setters in the 1950s and ‘60s, the embassy said its personnel “have been instructed to defer non-essential travel to Acapulco, by air or land,” and added that it “cautions U.S. citizens to follow the same guidelines.”

The alert noted that “protests and violent incidents continue in Guerrero state in response to the disappearance of 43 students there.”

Demonstrators have blocked highways to Acapulco, hijacked buses and blockaded the city’s airport to demand the government find the students who disappeared Sept. 26 in the nearby city of Iguala. Prosecutors say local police working for a drug gang probably turned the students over to gang members, who may have killed them and burned their bodies.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20141121-u.s.-warns-travelers-to-avoid-acapulco.ece

Billionaire polo mogul gets 16 years' prison in DUI death

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida polo mogul has again been sentenced to 16 years in prison following his second trial in a fatal drunken-driving crash.

A Palm Beach County judge imposed the sentence Friday on 51-year-old John Goodman, who was convicted in a retrial last month of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide. A jury from Tampa was brought in because of pretrial publicity.

Evidence showed that Goodman was driving drunk when he ran a stop sign in February 2010 and rammed his black Bentley into 23-year-old Scott Patrick Wilson's car. Wilson died after his car car rolled into a canal.

Authorities said Goodman left the scene and waited nearly an hour to call 911.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Polo-mogul-gets-16-years-prison-in-DUI-death-5909424.php