Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst proposes $60 million border-enforcement effort

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced Wednesday that state leaders are looking to fund a $60 million a year “permanent surge” along the Texas-Mexico Border to try to shut down the continuing smuggling and crimes by drug cartels.

Such a step to ramp up what have been periodic enforcement initiatives would be unprecedented, massing additional state police personnel, aircraft, boats and other resources along the Rio Grande River on a continuing basis.

Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the permanent surge would not include use of the controversial “regulatory checkpoints,” which have drawn intense criticism in border areas for allegedly violating constitutional search-and-seizure protections — an assertion that state officials have denied.

Dewhurst said the additional funding would have to be approved by the Legislative Budget Board, and would have to come from current appropriations in the state’s two-year, $190 billion budget. No details on where the funding might be drawn from were provided.

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/dewhurst-push-on-to-find-60-million-for-permanent-/ncBmJ/ .

Wealthy Democrat challenging Cornyn for US Senate

AUSTIN, Texas —

A wealthy Dallas dentist who spent lavishly while running unsuccessfully for Congress last year is challenging longtime incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

David Alameel spent millions while competing in a crowded 2012 Democratic primary race for the seat in a new congressional district eventually won by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth. He's also a former Cornyn donor.

The Democratic Party of Texas said it received Alameel's paperwork Wednesday. He had been promising to enter the race for several days.

Elected in 2002, Cornyn is now the Senate's No. 2 Republican.

More at http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/wealthy-democrat-challenging-cornyn-for-us-senate/ncBgs/ .

Additional coverage at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20131202-dallas-dentist-david-alameel-brings-big-fortune-to-u.s.-senate-race.ece .

One Aggie, Four UT students arrested for trespassing on Kyle Field construction site

A Texas A&M student and four University of Texas students were the first group to be arrested for trespassing onto the Kyle Field construction site, Lt. Allan Baron said Tuesday.

Christina Foley, 21, of College Station, was the lone Aggie in the group, according to a police report. The remaining students who were allegedly involved are Steven Pakes, 18, of Dallas; Jonathan Go, 18, of Andover, Kan.; Lou Sunderman, 20, of McKinney; and James Bussman, 22, of Little Elm.

According to the report, all five were spotted by a security patrol at about 1 a.m. When the security guard asked the group to stop, they ran. A university police officer spotted a vehicle leaving a nearby parking lot with a group matching the description given by the security guard.

-snip-

Texas A&M spokesman Steve Moore reiterated the importance of maintaining safety around Kyle Field on the same day that a construction worker fell to his death at the site.

The complete article is at http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_585f61d5-92ef-5817-9cd3-3414c593a7ca.html .

[font color=green]Note from the booking photos that two of the students were wearing burnt orange shirts.[/font]

First Presbyterian Dallas to offer cash for guns at Dec. 14 buyback day downtown

The First Presbyterian Church of Dallas began the year with a gun buyback (that turned into something of a circus), and it will end the year with a gun buyback for those in need of, say, some quick Christmas cash. On December 14, the church will offer $50 for working handguns and rifles, and up to $200 for semi-automatic assault weapons. And, per Wednesday’s announcement, “unwanted ammunition will also be collected free of charge.”

In January church officials said they bought 100 guns. But more than 20 went to the highest bidders across the street from the church, where concealed handgun license instructor Collin Baker held an auction in protest.

“Many people have turned in their guns for cash saying they originally bought or were given a gun for self-defense and security, but felt the exact opposite resulted,” says First Presbyterian’s Rev. Bruce Buchanan in a statement. “They felt worried and concerned over the possible misuse of the weapon, especially by children and grandchildren. Research has calculated that a gun kept in the home is 43 times more likely to kill a member of the household or friend than an intruder.”

This buyback’s scheduled from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. a week from Saturday at the Park Avenue driveway, which is between Young and Marilla Streets. So happens that’s the same day Los Angeles and San Jose are holding their gun buyback days, where guns go for twice the price — because, after all, everything’s more expensive in California.

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/first-presbyterian-dallas-to-offer-cash-for-guns-at-dec-14-buyback-day-downtown.html/

TxDOT’s idea of a contest: The winner goes to New York City

Tax returns: Democrat Davis made $284K in 2012

AUSTIN, Texas —

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis enjoyed rising financial success as a Fort Worth attorney last year and took home about $284,000, more than double what she reported making in 2010, according to tax records released by her campaign Tuesday.

The federal filings show the state senator's Newby Davis law firm, which she founded with former Gov. Rick Perry chief of staff Brian Newby, has become her most lucrative source of income. She reported earning more than $154,000 last year from the partnership, which has multiple public-sector clients.

Davis launched her campaign to replace Perry in October after months of speculation and pleas from Democrats, who haven't won a statewide office since 1994. She became a national political star following an 11-hour filibuster this summer that temporarily blocked new abortion restrictions in Texas.

Her main Republican rival in the race, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, released his tax returns dating to 2010 in August. He and his wife brought home about $200,000 in 2012, but his filings don't reflect millions in tax-exempt dollars Abbott still collects from a settlement over a 1984 accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

More at http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/tax-returns-democrat-davis-made-284k-in-2012/ncBWB/ .

Itty-Bitty Weenie Department: Not everything’s bigger in Texas

In fact, some things are smaller on average, according to Condomania.com, which has released its much-awaited annual penis size rankings.

The Lone Star State is No. 42, or ninth from last, on this year’s list. North Dakota is No. 1, and Mississippi is dead last. Here’s how the online condom retailer arrived at the numbers, according to PRWeb:

Right-Wing Catholics Will Protest a Dallas Production of a Gay-Themed Bible Satire

The conceit behind The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told is easy to grasp. Instead of Adam and Eve frolicking naked in the Garden of Eden, it's Adam and Steve who are the primordial couple. When they meet up with an equally primordial lesbian couple and decide to start a civilization, hilarity ensues.

The sacrilege was deliberate and gleeful, but what reviewers homed in on when the play debuted off Broadway in 1998 was the compassionate spirit that was layered underneath. As The New York Times' Ben Brantley put it at the time, "there's reverence in [playwright Paul] Rudnick's irreverence, an earnest warmth beneath the frivolity."

Religious conservatives, particularly in the south, however, prefer their "earnest warmth" to be Biblically accurate and free of homosexuality, which is why they have protested the play in the past and continue to do so as it makes its way through the nation's heartland.

In Oklahoma City, dozens of pastors have objected to the presentation of the play, calling it "obscene" and "an affront to Oklahoma City community standards." Here in Dallas, the Uptown Players' scheduled production at the Kalita Humphreys Theater will be picketed this weekend by America Needs Fatima, which describes itself as a "nonprofit campaign made up of Catholic citzens united in a common goal: To win the heart and soul of America for Mary, our Blessed Mother."

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/12/america_needs_fatima_gay_fabulous_story.php .

Cross-posted at LGBT Group.

Right-Wing Catholics Will Protest a Dallas Production of a Gay-Themed Bible Satire

The conceit behind The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told is easy to grasp. Instead of Adam and Eve frolicking naked in the Garden of Eden, it's Adam and Steve who are the primordial couple. When they meet up with an equally primordial lesbian couple and decide to start a civilization, hilarity ensues.

The sacrilege was deliberate and gleeful, but what reviewers homed in on when the play debuted off Broadway in 1998 was the compassionate spirit that was layered underneath. As The New York Times' Ben Brantley put it at the time, "there's reverence in [playwright Paul] Rudnick's irreverence, an earnest warmth beneath the frivolity."

Religious conservatives, particularly in the south, however, prefer their "earnest warmth" to be Biblically accurate and free of homosexuality, which is why they have protested the play in the past and continue to do so as it makes its way through the nation's heartland.

In Oklahoma City, dozens of pastors have objected to the presentation of the play, calling it "obscene" and "an affront to Oklahoma City community standards." Here in Dallas, the Uptown Players' scheduled production at the Kalita Humphreys Theater will be picketed this weekend by America Needs Fatima, which describes itself as a "nonprofit campaign made up of Catholic citzens united in a common goal: To win the heart and soul of America for Mary, our Blessed Mother."

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/12/america_needs_fatima_gay_fabulous_story.php .

Cross-posted at Texas Group.

Mesquite High School on lockdown as man with gun threatens to kill himself in nearby parking lot

Mesquite High School remains on lockdown while police negotiate with a man threatening to kill himself in a nearby parking lot.

Lieutenant Bill Hedgpeth, spokesman for the Mesquite Police Department, says the incident began around 1:25 p.m. at the Advancial Federal Credit Union on S. Bryan Belt Line Road, around the corner from the school. Hedgpeth says the man is armed, and “threatening to kill himself.”

The police department placed the school on lockdown about an hour ago. The school district posted to its Facebook page a note that said it was due to “a situation occurring at a nearby business.” Students will not be released during the lockdown. Hedgpeth says traffic in the area is also being diverted.

The man remains in the parking lot, where negotiators are trying to get him to turn himself in.

More at http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/mesquite-high-school-on-lockdown-as-man-with-gun-threatens-to-kill-himself-across-the-street.html/ .