TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalEl Paso GOP Trump rally to take place a block from Beto campaign kickoff Downtown
The El Paso County Republican Party will have a "Support Trump Rally" on Saturday countering Democrat Beto O'Rourke's campaign kickoff a block away Downtown.
The GOP demonstration supporting President Donald Trump will be 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the corner of Santa Fe Street and West Overland Avenue.
An El Paso GOP announcement stated that the location is tentative, participants are asked to bring a small flag and "Make America Great Again" caps will be available.
O'Rourke, a former El Paso congressman and Senate candidate, announced earlier this month that he is running for president.
Read more: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/03/27/beto-rally-el-paso-gop-have-donald-trump-support-rally-block-away-downtown/3289957002/
Lawyer tells jury in Forest Park bribery trial that surgeons who took money followed his advice
Does signing a contract prepared by an experienced lawyer mean you're going to follow the law?
The feds say no. But William Meier, a Dallas healthcare lawyer, said during his testimony Wednesday in the Forest Park Medical Center bribery and kickback trial that it wasn't just about a piece of paper.
He told jurors his numerous discussions with his surgeon-clients - Michael Rimlawi, Douglas Won and Nick Nicholson - about the proper way to structure hospital marketing payments gave him a "window" into their minds and their honest intent. He said he drafted the hospital marketing contracts in question and spent more time helping the surgeons "implement" the agreements.
Meier was a key defense witness whose long-awaited testimony was a much fought-over topic before and during the federal trial in Dallas. The government wanted to bar his testimony on the grounds that his advice was irrelevant if he didn't know about his clients' criminal intent. But the defense team said their clients never intended to break the law and Meier's testimony would speak to that.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/03/27/lawyer-tells-jury-forest-park-bribery-trial-surgeons-took-money-followed-advice
Cohen: TVA Coal Ash Clean-Up Timeline 'Unacceptable'
Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) clean up of the coal ash at its now-idled Allen Fossil Plant could take up to 20 years and Rep. Steve Cohen told TVA leaders Tuesday that's too long.
TVA said it will close its remaining coal ash pond at the Allen plant. The federal agency is now in the process of deciding just how it will deal with the coal ash that remains at the site. Options include sealing the ash and storing it in place and removing the ash.
Cohen wrote a letter to TVA's "outgoing and incoming presidents and CEOs" on Tuesday after a meeting with the Tennessee congressional delegation. In the letter, Cohen said "they are not treating the cleanup of the coal ash found in the groundwater at the Allen Fossil Plant in Memphis with sufficient urgency."
“While it was my understanding that corrective work will begin this year, I was alarmed to learn at the meeting that cleanup could take as long as 20 years," Cohen said. "TVA’s timeline to address its coal ash – the primary source of pollution at Allen – is unacceptable. The citizens of Memphis and Shelby County deserve nothing less than full commitment in this matter.”
Read more: https://www.memphisflyer.com/NewsBlog/archives/2019/03/26/cohen-tva-coal-ash-clean-up-timeline-unaccetpable
Nashville Pledges $500 Million To Build Mixed-Income Housing
The Mayor’s Office is dedicating $500 million toward boosting affordable housing in Nashville, much of which will go toward converting low-income housing into mixed income.
Over the next decade Nashville promises to put $350 million toward the housing authority’s plan to rebuild the city’s aging public housing as a mixture of low, moderate and higher income apartments.
Nashville Mayor David Briley said Tuesday breaking up concentrated poverty and replacing it with mixed-income living creates opportunities for everyone.
“If you live here in Nashville, you ought to have a pathway to prosperity,” Briley said. “Living in a mixed-income neighborhood is a big part of that. So that’s why it’s important for this city that believes in everybody succeeding to invest that kind of money.”
Read more: https://www.nashvillepublicradio.org/post/nashville-pledges-500-million-build-mixed-income-housing
Abortion ban 'trigger' bill fails in House panel
Legislation banning Tennessee abortions in case of the overturning of Roe v. Wade failed Wednesday in a House subcommittee.
The Human Life Protection Act was killed in the Public Health Subcommittee.
Sponsored by state Rep. Susan Lynn, a Mt. Juliet Republican, the measure was called a “trigger” bill allowing Tennessee to prohibit abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision or the U.S. Constitution were amended to allow states to ban abortions.
It would have created exceptions in the case of abortions necessary to prevent the death of a pregnant woman or prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. It also would have prohibited prosecution of a woman who had an abortion.
Read more: https://dailymemphian.com/section/metrostate-government/article/4063/Abortion-ban-trigger-bill-fails-in-House-panel
Credit union VP who admitted taking $350K was accused at another Coast bank years earlier
The first time former vice president of Singing River Federal Credit Union Merredith Christina “Christi” McMillian was accused of possible criminal activity, she was top officer at another South Mississippi financial institution.
In December 2013, a supervisory committee at Navigator called in McMillian, of Vancleave, to question her about her handling of money taken out of an account in her grandmother’s name. Specifically, Navigator’s top brass accused McMillan of “taking money out of her grandmother’s account and not using the funds appropriately.”
McMillian denied any wrongdoing and she, her brother, and her now late grandmother wrote letters to Navigator to explain how they were spending the money from her grandmother’s account.
A month later, Navigator’s CEO reprimanded McMillian again, this time because of a “posting error” in the credit union’s database that McMillian blamed on someone in her department. McMillan was given the option to resign or face firing. She resigned.
Read more: https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/crime/article228190684.html
'Nothing's going to be the same.' A $200M plan for former Margaritaville site in East Biloxi
BILOXI -- It’s sat empty on the waterfront since 2014 and now the vacant Margaritaville Casino site could become Biloxi’s ninth casino.
Developers have filed an application with the Mississippi Gaming Commission to build an expanded casino resort under the name Biloxi House LLC.
This is the fourth casino now on the table for South Mississippi, with site approval given to a new casino in Long Beach in January, another possible casino at Lakeshore advertised in March, and still another in D’Iberville, announced this week.
Tom Moore, who previously was part of the group that wanted to build Oyster Bay casino in D’Iberville, has joined RAM Group to build The Biloxi House at Point Cadet.
Read more: https://www.sunherald.com/news/business/casino-gambling/article228281029.html
$400M pain cream fraud: Drug rep headed to prison. And his crime will cost him $2.2M
One of the first men to plead guilty in a $400 million pain cream fraud with roots in Hattiesburg was sentenced Tuesday afternoon at William M. Colmer Federal Courthouse to 27 months in prison.
Gerald "Jay" Schaar, 48, a pharmaceuticals sales rep from Biloxi, also must pay $2.2 million in restitution with Albert Diaz, the Coast doctor who was convicted at trial on 16 related charges.
Schaar testified at Diaz's trial in February 2018, explaining how he asked Diaz to sign numerous recurring prescription forms for patients he had never examined.
The prescriptions were for compounded pain creams and vitamin pills that cost more than $10,000 each. Compounded medicines are meant to be created for individuals, but these were developed to maximize the cost, which was billed to TRICARE and other health benefits providers.
Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/crime/2019/03/27/pain-cream-fraud-mississippi-drug-rep-jay-schaar-gets-27-months-must-repay-2-2-million-tricare/3282160002/
'I unreservedly apologize,' ESPN's Keith Olbermann tweets to turkey hunter
Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann, who started a social media firestorm Tuesday when he attacked a Mississippi turkey hunter for killing a rare white gobbler, tweeted an apology to the young man.
"I am an opponent of trophy hunting and remain so, but nobody should feel threatened. This was anything but my intent, so I unreservedly apologize to Mr. Waltman for this tweet," Olbermann wrote.
https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1111053358419324928
✔
@KeithOlbermann
Replying to @KeithOlbermann
I am an opponent of trophy hunting and remain so, but nobody should feel threatened. This was anything but my intent, so I unreservedly apologize to Mr. Waltman for this tweet.
6:52 PM - Mar 27, 2019
Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2019/03/27/keith-olbermann-tweets-apology-mississippi-turkey-hunter-espn-social-media-attacks-msnbc/3294968002/
Speaker: Lawmakers Eye $1,000 Raise for Mississippi Teachers
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — House Speaker Philip Gunn said Monday that Mississippi public school teachers are likely to get a one-time raise of $1,000 in the coming year.
Gunn made the statement after legislative leaders met Monday to increase their revenue outlook for the current budget year, as well as the 2020 year beginning July 1.
The debate over how much of a raise to give teachers has been a centerpiece of this election-year legislative session. Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves had both proposed a $500 raise this year followed by a $500 raise next year. House Democrats prompted that body to demand a pair of $2,000 raises. Now Gunn says lawmakers will do $1,000 in the coming year and not promise anything for the 2021 budget, which will be written by lawmakers chosen in this November's elections.
"We feel pretty good if we are able to get a thousand this year," Gunn said.
Read more: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2019/mar/26/speaker-lawmakers-eye-1000-raise-mississippi-teach/
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