April 9, 2015

From The Politburo of Teabilly Mockery:

April 9, 2015

Trans activist will speak at alternate Univ. of North Texas graduation ceremony

Trans activist Pam Curry will speak at the Lavender Graduation, an LGBT graduation ceremony planned for April 18. The event has been planned since September and the LGBT group on campus hopes it becomes an annual event.

Since Gov. Greg Abbott was named the school’s commencement speaker, many more students are planning to attend the Lavender Graduation and the group Abbott Free UNT has been promoting it as an alternative to the governor.

Almost 2,000 people signed an online petition to dump Abbott as the speaker, according to CBS 11. Protesting Abbott’s views on marriage equality and education, students created the Facebook page “Abbott Free UNT” and posted comments like, “Upset about Greg Abbott???? Protest by walking out of the ceremony as soon as he takes the stage! Attend your department graduations or attend LAVENDER GRADUATION hosted by the Pride Alliance.”

Spencer Keralis, who sent the invitation to Curry to speak at the Lavender Graduation, is connected to the UNT libraries that house the LGBT archives.

Read more: http://www.dallasvoice.com/trans-activist-speak-alternate-unt-graduation-ceremony-10193353.html

April 9, 2015

DA: Chief, assistant told firemen, victim not to talk about sex assault at Ellis County fire station

Waxahachie -- The chief and assistant chief of an embattled Ellis County fire department were jailed this afternoon, just days after five of their volunteer firemen were arrested on accusations they used a sausage to sexually assault a man at the station.

Gavin Satterfield, 31, and Billy Getzendaner, 34, were arrested this afternoon. They face charges of tampering with a witness, a felony. Bail was set at $40,000.

Court records state Satterfield and Getzendaner knew of a January sexual assault at their station, but did not report it to law enforcement and instructed the suspects and victim not to report it either.

In a meeting with the victim present, Getzendaner told the five suspects that the victim “could do something to us,” court records say.

Read more: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/04/da-ellis-county-fire-chief-assistant-knew-of-sexual-assault-at-their-fire-station-instructed-firefighters-not-to-talk-about-it.html/

[font color=green]Note: These are volunteer fire fighters from an Ellis County fire district, not employees from the Waxahachie Fire Department.[/font]

Related thread:
Dallas-Area Firefighters Arrested For Using Sausage To Sexually Assault New Recruit
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107824330

April 9, 2015

Private plane cannot extend landing gear, makes 'masterful' emergency landing at Lubbock airport

Brent Nelson was out for a flight over the South Plains Thursday and about to land in Muleshoe when his left landing wheel would not get in place.

His fun flight became more serious when he had to fly over to Lubbock, where the airport is better equipped for emrgency landings.

“The left wheel wouldn’t go down,” said the Lubbock resident who keeps his four-seat private plane in Muleshoe. “I had two out of three and that’s just as bad as not having any.”

Nelson said he phoned the radio tower at the Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport to set up the emergency landing.

Read more: http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-04-09/private-plane-cannot-extend-landing-gear-makes-emergency-landing-lubbock#.VSbRNeHy3SI

April 9, 2015

Travis County grand jury inquiries made concerning 13th Court of Appeals Chief Justice Valdez (D)

HARLINGEN — The Travis County District Attorney’s Office in federal court records Tuesday confirmed that a grand jury has made inquiries concerning Thirteenth Court of Appeals Chief Justice Rogelio Valdez.

This comes amid the state prosecutor’s office’s objections to a federal subpoena it received for documents, witness statements, emails and texts from Oct. 30, 2012, to the present between it, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and any person or agency concerning Valdez.

Travis County Assistant DAs Anthony J. Nelson and Laurie R. Eiserloh state in federal court records that documents in its possession concerning Valdez, “were acquired by Grand Jury subpoena,” and that the documentation is protected by the secrecy granted to grand juries under state law.

The federal subpoena to the Travis County DA’s Office was issued in connection with a civil rights lawsuit that former appellate attorney Bruce M. Anderson filed against Valdez in October 2014 in federal court in Corpus Christi.

Read more: http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/local_news/article_73f48600-de60-11e4-b5e9-07a02bfc0a45.html

April 9, 2015

Skinned cat found hanging on Jewish man’s patio

Man convinced incident was an act of hatred

Nacogdoches, Texas -- A week after hanging an Israeli flag at his Nacogdoches residence, a Stephen F. Austin student woke up on Tuesday morning to find a dead cat hanging on his patio.

Read more: http://dailysentinel.com/news/local/article_80b7326e-de62-11e4-a023-37b55ad9278e.html (subscription required)

Cross-posted in the Jewish Group.

April 9, 2015

Skinned cat found hanging on Jewish man’s patio

Man convinced incident was an act of hatred

Nacogdoches, Texas -- A week after hanging an Israeli flag at his Nacogdoches residence, a Stephen F. Austin student woke up on Tuesday morning to find a dead cat hanging on his patio.

Read more: http://dailysentinel.com/news/local/article_80b7326e-de62-11e4-a023-37b55ad9278e.html (subscription required)

Cross-posted in the Texas Group.

April 9, 2015

Follow-up: Teen woman shot at Longview police station had ‘suicide-type note’

The official autopsy for a 17-year-old woman fatally shot by Longview police earlier this year reveals Kristiana Coignard was carrying a “suicide type note” among her belongings when she confronted officers in the police department lobby.

Results from the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas autopsy also report a “faint brown pentagon mark” on Coignard’s upper abdomen, and scarring consistent with prior suicide attempts.

“Clusters of numerous horizontal linear scars, in various stages of healing,” the report states. “{Scars} measuring up to 1-inch in length on the center of the abdomen.” Scars were found on Coignard’s wrists, forearms, and legs.

The autopsy also reports the teen did not have synthetic marijuana or alcohol in her blood when she went to the Cotton Street police headquarters the evening of Jan. 22 and asked to see an officer.

Read more: http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/apr/08/report-teen-shot-longview-station-had-suicide-type/

Related thread:
Longview police shooting victim ID’d as 17 year-old girl with knife; Anonymous vows retaliation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107823114

April 9, 2015

La Marque residents happy with verdict but some worry about future

LA MARQUE — While many were glad to hear the Texas Education Agency would keep the school district open for the time being, some still had concerns about its future.

After weeks of waiting, the Texas Education Agency announced Wednesday that the La Marque school district would stay open for now.

Read more: http://www.galvnews.com/news/article_3bdcc2e4-de76-11e4-86de-971b2b591f69.html (subscription required).

Related thread:
State calls for closing La Marque ISD for poor academic and financial performance
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107823341

April 9, 2015

New UTMB Ebola vaccine passes crucial test

Source: Houston Chronicle

An Ebola vaccine being developed in part by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston passed a key test showing a single dose could protect monkeys against the strain of the lethal virus responsible for the current outbreak in Africa.

The results, published in this week's edition of the scientific journal Nature, clear the way for human testing to begin early this summer. But researchers are worried that with the Ebola outbreak rapidly slowing in Africa, they may not have enough subjects to fully test the vaccine this year.

The new vaccine is the first to be tested against the Makona strain of the virus that emerged early in 2014 and has killed nearly 10,000 people. Because of the difficulties in getting Ebola samples out of Africa, all other vaccines and treatments have been tested against the Mayinga strain of the virus, isolated from a 1976 Ebola outbreak in Zaire. Although the strains are 97 percent identical, even a small change in the genetic makeup of the virus could affect how well the vaccine works.

"While we don't think based on sequencing that it would be a problem," said Dr. Thomas Geisbert, a UTMB professor of microbiology and immunology who developed the vaccine, "you don't know. You can't prove it until you do the study." Profectus BioSciences partnered with UTMB on the project.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/local/prognosis/article/New-UTMB-Ebola-vaccine-passes-crucial-test-6186593.php