April 23, 2014

David Dewhurst Going Out with a Whimper, Not a Bang

David Dewhurst is Texas’ second-longest serving lt. governor. He’s shaped the state like few other public officials in modern history. But though he’s wielded an enormous amount of power for a remarkably long time, for the last several years he’s been in a constant state of free fall. The beginning of the end was his humiliating loss to Ted Cruz in 2012, which quashed his hopes to move up through the political ranks. Then there were the indignities of the 2013 legislative session, where he was pushed to take up a special-session abortion fight that was never a Dewhurst priority, then got slammed for its failure. His re-election campaign this year has seen embarrassing scandals alternate with groveling before tea party groups. Indignities piled upon each other, weighing down a candidate who never seemed to have a lot of political acumen even when times were good. (This is a guy who once included a Luftwaffe pilot in a post-9/11 ad celebrating the American armed forces.)

But we might have finally arrived at the last chapter. After a lopsided primary loss, he’s stuck in a runoff with state Sen. Dan Patrick and is unlikely to win. Would Dewhurst finish his political career standing up, using the time to burnish a tarnished legacy that seemed to be slipping away from him? Or would he write himself a huge check and go nuclear, doing as much damage to Patrick as he could?

Dewhurst seems to be pursuing the latter path, with a blitz of negative TV ads across the state that might have cost as much as $1 million, and an attack site—realdanpatrick.com—that seems to mimic Patrick’s own sites from earlier in the primary. But it’s an odd push, in part because it seems like it’s too little, too late. It follows a month of apparent dysfunction in the Dewhurst campaign—several high-level campaign aides jumped ship two weeks ago. (One wonders if the operatives didn’t want to be affiliated with the push to go negative on Patrick, the likely victor and a potential future leader in the state GOP.)

The ad blitz, which focuses on Patrick’s bankruptcy and past business practices, began late last week, which leaves the Dewhurst camp a little over a month to get the message out before the May 27 runoff. But the issue of Patrick’s past debts—he walked away from more than $800,000 when he declared bankruptcy—are not new to primary voters. The issue has been raised repeatedly, including during January’s televised debate. The ad claims that Patrick changed his name from Danny Goeb to escape debts: In reality, Patrick had used the name since 1978, long before his bankruptcy. PolitiFact rated the claim “pants on fire.”

More at http://www.texasobserver.org/david-dewhurst-whimper-not-bang/ .

[font color=green]As the Texas Observer noted, "Dewhurst also experienced a 1980s bankruptcy and also never paid off unsecured creditors, Patrick’s campaign notes. It highlights Dewhurst’s recent failure to pay more than $1 million in debts to his 2012 U.S. Senate campaign’s vendors. That was an event related to a longtime Dewhurst aide’s alleged embezzlement of campaign funds."

It's amazing that Republicans that maintain that people should assume "personal responsibility" are some the most prominent deadbeats around. I'm thinking of US Rep. Bill Flores, who ran Phoenix Exploration Company (an oil & natural gas company) that saddled the federal government with over $7 million in debt.[/font]

April 23, 2014

Future Faux News Reporter

April 23, 2014

Ector County ISD will pay $30K for Hood students’ medical bills caused by mercury contamination

Odessa, Texas -- The medical bills of the John B. Hood Junior High students who were affected by the mercury contamination last month will be paid for by the Ector County Independent School District, after its board voted 6-0 on Tuesday night.

Trustee Luis Galvan was late to the meeting and did not vote on the mercury item.

The cost to the district is $30,000, which the board decided after conversation to place a cap at $30,000 since a final bill is not yet available to the district. Insurance is not covering everything, Chief of Staff Brian Moersch said citing a contamination clause that can exclude coverage. Staffs medical bills are being paid by workers compensation.

ECISD’s attorney Mike Atkins said it’s preferable for the board to make a decision on the payment now as the district’s been working with Odessa Regional Medical Center and Medical Center Hospital on cutting the cost to ECISD.

More at http://www.oaoa.com/news/education/ecisd/article_df032280-ca8e-11e3-b27e-001a4bcf6878.html .

April 23, 2014

Abbott, in Houston, unveils more education ideas

Education again took center stage in the Texas governor's race Wednesday as Republican candidate Greg Abbott unveiled a second round of proposals to reform the state's system.

His plan include a state takeover of Texas' 15 lowest-performing elementary schools, to be run as an "achievement school district" similar to charter-school-heavy reform efforts in Tennessee and New Orleans.

The proposal was part of a package of reforms Abbott unveiled at Northbrook High School in west Houston.

He also backed a parent trigger law, similar to a controversial law in California, that would allow parents to vote to reorganize a school that had received Texas' lowest rating two years in a row.

More at http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Abbott-in-Houston-unveils-more-education-ideas-5424988.php .

April 23, 2014

‘A lot of dead cattle’ after truck overturns near downtown Fort Worth

FORT WORTH — At least a dozen cattle were killed and traffic around downtown Fort Worth was at a standstill all morning after a cattle truck crashed on northbound U.S. 287 ramp early Wednesday.

Crews worked for much of the day to clear the crash, which occurred about 3:30 a.m. when the truck overturned on a ramp to Interstate 35W, just south of downtown.

Traffic was slow moving on 287, I-35W and Interstate 30 as traffic was rerouted around the crash.

The driver, Jesse Rubio, told WFAA TV that he was heading to Shamrock in the Panhandle, when the truck overturned. He said he was not speeding on the curved ramp.

More at http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/04/23/5759402/overturned-cattle-truck-creates.html?rh=1 .

[font color=green]It looks like he local food pantry will be having beef for dinner tonight.[/font]

April 23, 2014

Leading GOP AG Candidate Paxton Cancels Appearance at Tea Party Event to check Financial Disclosures

Sen. Ken Paxton, the leading Republican candidate for attorney general, canceled his appearance at a Northeast Tarrant Tea Party event Monday evening so that he could focus on an internal review of his financial disclosure filings, a moderator of the event said.

The event was livestreamed by the group on Monday night.

“There were some things that came out today that, apparently Sen. Paxton had forgotten to reveal some information. I apologize we did not get this information until late in the day today,” the moderator said. “He decided to take it very seriously. He is working on that today. He’s not going to be here.”

The moderator was referring to a story in The Texas Tribune about Paxton launching a review of his disclosures to state regulatory authorities and the Texas Ethics Commission to determine whether he violated any laws by failing to report several business and professional relationships. Paxton's campaign could not immediately be reached for comment late Monday night.

More at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/04/21/paxton-cancels-appearance-tea-party-event/ .

April 23, 2014

Arlington, Targeted By Open-Carry Activists, Bans Guns at City Council Meetings

The so-far bloodless battle between open carry advocates and the city of Arlington continued Tuesday evening with a debate over whether guns should be banned at City Council meetings.

Open Carry Tarrant County members, who showed up at Arlington City Hall by the dozens, said no. The Arlington City Council unanimously said yes.

Concealed handguns are already banned from public meetings under state law. The ordinance Arlington passed on a 9-0 vote on Tuesday extended the ban to include all guns (i.e. "any device designed or manufactured to shoot, fire, or otherwise discharge a projectile&quot , including the rifles, shotguns, or antique pistols that Texans are otherwise allowed to carry in public.

Even before the vote, those carrying firearms were turned away from the council chambers by police, according to the Star-Telegram.

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/04/arlington_targeted_by_open-car.php .

April 23, 2014

You Are Paying for the Criminal Defense of Rick Perry

By now you've heard that a grand jury has been seated to hear a criminal complaint against Governor Rick Perry. It all goes back to his making good on a threat to veto public funds if another elected official did not resign.

A writer at the Dallas Morning News calls this "hard-ball politics on the edge of illegality."

We're simply calling it #Briberygate

And in fact bribery is one of the reasons the complaint was filed by Texans for Public Justice. The organization believes Perry's threat and subsequent veto violates state law pertaining to criminal abuse of office, bribery, coercion of a public servant and official oppression.

Whew! All of this is starting to sound fairly serious...and apparently the Governor thinks so, too. Because he has since lawyered up by hiring the former president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

And Texas taxpayers are paying the bill at $450 an hour.

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15127/you-are-paying-for-the-criminal-defense-of-rick-perry .

April 23, 2014

Governor Perry Facing Possible Grand Jury Indictment

A Travis County grand jury is considering whether or not to indict Gov. Rick Perry over his veto of funding for the county's Public Integrity Unit.

Gov. Perry could be charged with several offenses, including bribery, coercion of a public servant, and abuse of power after vetoing more than $3 million in state money for the unit that investigates political corruption.

Perry's veto came as the result of an ultimatum given by Perry to Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Last April, Lehmberg was arrested for drunk driving. She pleaded guilty and served jail time, but refused to step down.

In June, Perry promised that if Lehmberg did not resign he would veto the funding – and sure enough he made good on his promise.

More at http://kut.org/post/governor-perry-facing-possible-grand-jury-indictment .

April 23, 2014

Wise County couple gets $3 million in fracking suit

A Wise County couple has been awarded $3 million by a Dallas jury after suing a gas drilling company for contaminating its land.

Bob and Lisa Parr sued Aruba Petroleum in Plano in 2011, claiming spills and emissions from the company’s natural gas wells had contaminated their 40-acre ranch in Decatur. They claimed the pollution had made them sick, as well as their pets and livestock. And at times they were forced to evacuate the property.

During the trial in Dallas County court, attorneys for Aruba argued they were in compliance with state environmental regulations and due to the high volume of wells around the Parr’s property it was impossible to prove they were responsible.

“Natural gas development has long been prevalent in Wise County with hundreds of wells drilled and currently operated by dozens of companies. Aruba is just one of those operators. Aruba is an experienced oil and gas operator that is in compliance within the air quality limits set by the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,” a statement from the company read.

More at http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2014/04/wise-county-gets-3-million-in-fracking-suit.html/ .