March 1, 2014

Hennessey Venom sets record for fastest production car. Ever.

270.49 miles per hour.

You heard that right, Hennessey Performance Engineering, the Texas-based supercar builder has set a new world record, making the Venom GT the fastest top speed of a production car, ever.

Driver Brian Smith, of Miller Motorsport, took to the 3.2-mile space shuttle landing runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. to put the Venom to the test on Feb. 14.

Based on a highly-modified Lotus Exige chassis, the Venom boasts an insane 1,244 bhp thanks to a twin turbocharged 7.0-liter engine that takes the car from 0-220 m.p.h. in just under 10 seconds.

More at http://blog.chron.com/carsandtrucks/2014/02/hennessey-venom-sets-record-for-fastest-production-car-ever/?cmpid=hpfc#20950101=0 .

March 1, 2014

Texas State University raises $151 million in donations

Texas State University has raised $151 million in donations and pledges, $41 million more than its campaign’s goal, school officials told the American-Statesman.

The Pride in Action capital campaign, which began in 2006, is fueling the effort to lift what is largely a regional university to a wider footing and, perhaps in many years, to a national plane. With its main campus in San Marcos and a satellite in Round Rock, Texas State is one of eight “emerging research universities” in the state that aspire to have a national reach akin to that of the University of Texas and Texas A&M University.

“One of the most important outcomes of this campaign is building for the future,” said Denise Trauth, Texas State’s president. “We reconnected with so many alums who haven’t been connected to the university for a long, long time.”

Of 46,000 individuals, companies and foundations donating to the Pride in Action campaign, 70 percent were alumni, Trauth said. The university gathered some of its donors together Friday evening for a dinner, speeches and a video to mark the conclusion of the campaign.

More at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/texas-state-university-raises-151-million-in-donat/nd3fL/?icmp=statesman_internallink_textlink_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesman_launch (subscription required).

And in other Texas State University news:

Texas State University is asking a high school 300 miles south of San Marcos to stop using a logo that looks a lot like the golden and maroon bobcat the university is working to brand.

The yellow bobcat of Rio Hondo High School — which appears to be identical to Texas State’s logo in all but color — caught the eye of a licensing firm working for Texas State, which sent a cease and desist letter to the school of about 600 students east of Harlingen.

“Texas State is working to develop a brand identity with the Supercat logo, so when people see that, they think of Texas State,” said Jayme Blaschke, a spokesman for the university, who said Texas State has historically declined all requests for licensing of the logo.

While the Supercat isn’t nearly as profitable as the University of Texas’ Longhorn, Blaschke pointed out that Texas State isn’t alone in protecting its brand, saying, “You don’t see many Longhorns on high school helmets.”

-snip-

The school appears to be cooperating, however. Blaschke said the district sent a memo to its staff members Wednesday telling them to stop using the logo, and a local TV station reported that the school will begin phasing it out soon.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/texas-state-university-to-valley-high-school-stop-/nd3hs/?icmp=statesman_internallink_textlink_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesman_launch (subscription required).


Texas State University logo


Rio Hondo ISD logo

March 1, 2014

Influential Texas conservative fights to keep donors secret

One of the state’s most influential conservative organizations is fighting to keep secret the names of its donors, as a contentious battle over lobbying heads to federal court in Austin.

Lawyers for the nonprofit Empower Texans and its chief, Michael Quinn Sullivan, filed motions this week to try to block the Texas Ethics Commission, the state’s enforcer of election laws, from subpoenaing emails to and from Sullivan and a private donor list.

Lawyer and lobbyist Steve Bresnen has been leading the effort against Sullivan.

“We should all be playing by the same rules,” said Bresnen, who added that he is seeking greater fairness in the Texas political system.

Bresnen began his fight in 2012 when he drafted a complaint that said Sullivan should have registered as a lobbyist for his work to influence legislation at the state Capitol. But before Bresnen filed could file it, state Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and then-state Rep. Vicki Truitt, R- Southlake, filed complaints against Sullivan with the Ethics Commission.

“They have to play by the same rules as everyone else,” Keffer said. “You have to stand up to these people.”

Later that fall, the commission offered Sullivan and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, another of Sullivan’s groups, a settlement offer that would have required Sullivan to register as a lobbyist and file past disclosure reports.

Sullivan rejected the settlement, writing the word “NUTS” on the returned proposal.

“Conservatives (will) triumph over the speech-regulators at the Texas Ethics Commission,” Sullivan wrote on his website.

More at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/influential-texas-conservative-fights-to-keep-dono/nd3qp/?icmp=statesman_internallink_textlink_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesman_launch (subscription required).

[font color=green]My favorite comment to the article:[/font]
The tea party doesn't wanna turn over its donor list because the records are written in all caps, in Crayon, and all the big-dollar names are misspelled, even those that give out of their own campaign funds, e.g., "RIK PEARY, DAYVEED DOHEARSET, RAPHELL KRUISE JOONYORE ... "


[font color=green]And the stupidest comment to the article:[/font]
While we are at it, lets trace all the unnamed donors who gave Obama millions of dollars through thousands of untraceable prepaid debit cards.
Oh that's right, you don't care because it was YOUR guy.

[font color=green]I suspect that this guy would want to spend millions of dollars trying to trace something that is untraceable. [/font]

March 1, 2014

Police warn meth on the rise in Austin, Central Texas counties

The number of clandestine methamphetamine labs in some Central Texas counties largely vanished, authorities say, after the federal government restricted how people could buy cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine, an ingredient that has commonly been used to make meth.

But nearly eight years after then-president George W. Bush signed legislation aimed in part at combating the “methamphetamine epidemic,” the Austin Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies say they are seeing an increase in both the number of meth cases and how much of the drug they seize from suspects.

Though some meth is still being made locally, authorities say, most of it is coming from Mexico, where cartels are manufacturing the drug in bigger batches and sending it stateside. In Austin, the amount of meth police seized has surged from six pounds or less annually in 2009 through 2012 to about 32 pounds in 2013.

-snip-

According to the latest report on drug markets worldwide, published by the United Nations in May, the market for amphetamines like methamphetamine is expanding. Globally, seizures have risen to a new high of 123 tons in 2011, the most recent year included in the report. That’s a 66 percent increase compared with 2010, when 74 tons were seized across the world.

More at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/crime-law/police-warn-meth-on-the-rise-in-austin-central-tex/nd3pT/?icmp=statesman_internallink_textlink_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesman_launch (subscription required).

March 1, 2014

Brandon Daniel gets death sentence for killing Austin police officer Jaime Padron

For the past two weeks, Brandon Daniel has been called a calculating, remorseless killer by the state, and a brilliant, depression-wracked computer scientist by his lawyers.

After more than eight hours of deliberations, a Travis County jury weighing his fate sided with the prosecution late Friday and decided the former 26-year-old software engineer should die for the killing of Austin police officer Jaime Padron.

More than 50 people filled the courtroom to hear the final decision. Family and supporters from both sides of the case, some of whom had sat through the capital murder trial every day since its start last week, wept as the verdict was read. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo sat in the audience for the first time, along with a strong presence of law enforcement officers, some in uniforms, others in suits.

-snip-

In jarring testimony, employees said they saw Daniel shoot the officer as the two scuffled on the floor of a North Austin Wal-Mart. Padron, a retired Marine and father of two young girls, had responded to a call about a possible shoplifter at the store near Interstate 35 and Parmer Lane.

Security cameras captured Daniel wandering the aisles in a dark hoodie and black backpack. He stumbled and swayed, at times dropping his groceries. Dash cam footage, later recorded, showed him in the back of a police cruiser, slurring his words as he taunted the officers in front of him and made spiteful comments about his deadly encounter with Padron.

The remainder of this story is behind the paywall at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/crime-law/no-verdict-yet-reached-in-brandon-daniel-capital-m/nd3rG/?icmp=statesman_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesmanpremium . There are several other articles and video that was shown at the trial that are posted on the Austin American-Statesman.

March 1, 2014

UT Southwestern Medical Center Launches Brain Injury Institute

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas has launched a state-funded research institute dedicated to brain injuries.

The Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair will include UT Southwestern, UT Dallas, several medical facilities and the National Institute of Health. The institute also will have ties to the National Football league and the U.S. Defense Department.

The project is getting $15 million in funding from the Texas Legislature.

In a statement Friday, UT Southwestern President Daniel K. Podolsky said the focus would be on "thousands of military veterans, athletes, and accident victims in Texas and beyond who are dealing with this challenge."

Additional information including video is at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/UT-Medical-Center-Launches-Brain-Injury-Institute-247965051.html .

Cross-posted in the Sports Group.

March 1, 2014

UT Southwestern Medical Center Launches Brain Injury Institute

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas has launched a state-funded research institute dedicated to brain injuries.

The Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair will include UT Southwestern, UT Dallas, several medical facilities and the National Institute of Health. The institute also will have ties to the National Football league and the U.S. Defense Department.

The project is getting $15 million in funding from the Texas Legislature.

In a statement Friday, UT Southwestern President Daniel K. Podolsky said the focus would be on "thousands of military veterans, athletes, and accident victims in Texas and beyond who are dealing with this challenge."

Additional information including video is at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/UT-Medical-Center-Launches-Brain-Injury-Institute-247965051.html .

Cross-posted in the Texas Group.

(This thread was posted in the Sports Group due to the long term consequences that NFL players face about concussion injuries.)

March 1, 2014

Smack talk? From Baylor!?

If there was any doubt where Texas stands on the Big 12 totem pole, look straight up I-35 toward Waco, home of the Big 12 champion Baylor Bears.

“We have the belt around our waist and it’s buckled up pretty tight,” Baylor coach Art Briles said Friday, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald. “It will be a struggle to get that sucker off, I can promise you that.”

Smack talk? From Baylor!?

“We certainly learned a good lesson down in Phoenix (at the Fiesta Bowl), and that’s what it’s like now that we are the hunted,” Briles said. “Other Big 12 schools are talking about what they can do to beat Baylor. That’s what we need to understand.

More at http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/bevo-beat/2014/mar/01/smack-talk-baylor/ .

[font color=CC6633]El Supremo will respond in 5, 4, 3 ...[/font]

March 1, 2014

San Antonio police: Man stuck jalapeño into boy's eye

SAN ANTONIO — Police arrested a man Thursday after he reportedly stuck a jalapeño pepper into the eye of a 9-year-old boy on the Northwest Side.

Michael Barron, 29, told the boy's mother about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday that he was going to shove a jalapeño pepper into the boy's mouth, said Sandy Gutierrez, spokeswoman for the San Antonio Police Department.

The mother warned Barron not to touch the child, Gutierrez said.

At that point, Barron reached over the table and “intentionally” stuck the pepper into the boy's left eye, Gutierrez said.

More at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-police-Man-stuck-jalape-o-into-5277739.php .

[font color=green]The report did not indicate whether the police had to pepper spray the man in order to make the arrest.[/font]

March 1, 2014

Texas Education Agency announces 2013-2014 accreditation statuses

[font color=green]Note: This information is from the state government Website and is not subject to copyright, so I am including the full release from TEA.[/font]

AUSTIN – The Texas Education Agency today released accreditation statuses for school districts and charters across the state. Accreditation statuses are based on state academic accountability ratings, the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (known commonly as School FIRST), data reporting, special program effectiveness, and compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.

Of 1,222 Texas school districts and charters, 1,176 (96 percent) received a status designation of Accredited for the 2013-2014 school year. An Accredited status recognizes districts and charters as a public school that meets specific academic and financial standards.

Under the Texas Education Code, the commissioner of education annually assigns one of four accreditation statuses to each school district. Accreditation statuses for the 2013-2014 school year include: Accredited (1,176); Accredited-Warned (30); Accredited-Probation (3); Not Accredited-Revoked (3); and Pending (10).

An Accredited-Warned status means a district or charter exhibits deficiencies in academic and/or financial performance that, if not addressed, could lead to probation or revocation of its accreditation status. For the 2013-2014 school year, 13 school districts and 17 charter schools received an Accredited-Warned accreditation status.

An Accredited-Probation status means a district or charter exhibits deficiencies in academic and/or financial performance over a three-year period that must be addressed to avoid revocation of its accreditation status. For the 2013-2014 school year, three school districts received an Accredited-Probation accreditation status.

A Not Accredited-Revoked status means the Texas Education Agency does not recognize the district or charter as a Texas public school following multiple years of deficiencies in academic and/or financial performance. For the 2013-2014 school year, two school districts and one charter school received a Not Accredited-Revoked accreditation status.

Note that school districts and charters assigned an initial Not Accredited-Revoked status will have the opportunity for a record review at the Texas Education Agency, and ultimately the opportunity for a review at the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

The accreditation statuses of one school district and nine charter schools have been left pending due to revocation hearings currently under way, ongoing Texas Education Agency investigations, and/or pending litigation.

The 2013-2014 accreditation status for each school district and charter school can be found on the Texas Education Agency website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/accredstatus/ .

[font color=green]Jonesboro ISD, Rio Vista ISD and The Varnett Public School (Houston) received the Not Accredited-Revoked status. Brookesmith, La Marque and Trinity ISDs received the Accredited-Probation status. The Varnett Public School was in the news last August for misspending $5.3 million in federal funds on everything from first-class airline tickets to spa services (http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/08/houston-charter-school-misspent-5-3-million-in-federal-funds-state-report-finds.html/).

The list at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4_wide.aspx?id=25769809488 can be sorted by column by clicking the arrow to the right of the text in the column heading.[/font]