TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalFBI raids Maryland GOP consultant over 2013 Virginia race
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — FBI agents raided the office of a Republican consulting firm in Maryland on Thursday in connection with an investigation into the 2013 Virginia governor’s race.
The FBI confirmed that it served a search warrant in Annapolis but declined to elaborate. Kelley Rogers, president of Strategic Campaign Group, told reporters the investigation relates to work the consultant did for former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the GOP’s 2013 gubernatorial candidate.
Rogers told reporters that his firm settled a lawsuit brought by the Cuccinelli campaign after he lost the governor’s race to Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Roger said the investigation appears to have stemmed from allegations in that lawsuit.
The firm’s website describes Strategic Campaign Group as “a full-service Republican political consulting firm able to design, manage, and execute every aspect of political and fundraising campaigns for Republican politicians, conservative political action committees, and conservative organizations of all kinds.”
Read more: http://www.richmond.com/ap/state/fbi-raids-maryland-gop-consultant-over-virginia-race/article_c4765b70-cb53-59da-8116-9cee0b7ca7fd.html
Where's Skittles? SOMEONE NEEDS THEIR ASS KICKED! YES INDEED.
[font color=330099]This letter to the editor was sent to the Victoria Advocate. I'm certain that Mr. Kolle won't mind the extra attention as we mock him and Skittles prepares for a road trip south on U.S. 59. The letter is provided in full since it is not copyrighted material.[/font]
Editor, the Advocate:
Seems like we will have three-and-a-half more years of certain elements in Congress who waste all their time trying to prove that their goddess, Hillary, lost the election because of someone or something influencing the election. The truth is she lied so much and had so much excess baggage that she didn't need anything or anyone to help her lose. She did a pretty good job of that herself.
I think these people in Congress should get the burr out from under their saddle and start working for the good of America and do something for the working people, taxpayers and our deficit.
We certainly didn't need another eight years of Obama tactics. He was a hypocrite who put his hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution and laws of our nation, and for eight years we fought to keep our freedoms. He would have shredded the Constitution if it had not been for some level-headed people in Congress. And Hillary was ready to follow suit.
The Democratic Party is not the same party it was years ago. It has gone way too far to the left liberal - and even socialistic. If you stop and rehash the Democratic Primary, you will be reminded that one of the candidates was an avowed socialist and plainly stated it. And what's even worse is that he ran second and acquired the backing of a tremendous amount of young people. Now that's scary. These are supposed to be our leaders of tomorrow.
Remember this three and a half years from now at the next general election. Let's try to keep our momentum going forward. Let's try to keep these people in office and weed out all the undesirables. These undesirables seem to like helping the illegals, free loaders and foreign governments over the dedicated, hardworking Americans.
Garland Ray Kolle, Victoria
https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2017/may/10/todays-democratic-party-not-same-as-years-ago/
Judge Awards Huge $5.5 Million Verdict in Ira Tobolowsky Defamation Suit
On Monday morning, when visiting Judge Don Cosby called to order his courtroom in downtown Dallas, he quickly noted the absence of the co-defendants in the case he was about to hear. Steve Aubrey and and his partner Brian Vodicka had moved to Florida. The original plaintiff in the case, Ira Tobolowsky, wasn’t there either. He’d been murdered in his North Dallas garage on May 13, 2016.
This defamation suit was anything but usual. Ira’s widow, Debbie, and their three sons were all in the courtroom. The sons had continued to pursue the case after their father’s death. And they all believe that Aubrey killed Ira. Aubrey’s unorthodox defense in the defamation case — some done pro se, some done by Vodicka, a lawyer — had consisted of numerous lengthy and venomous motions. But after the couple’s move to Florida, they quit showing up at hearings. Two judges had voluntarily recused themselves from the case after Ira’s death, and the Supreme Court of Texas had to appoint Cosby, a Fort Worth judge, to hear the case.
A key reason the family and police suspect Aubrey in the murder is the personal animosity he showed against Tobolowsky, who had represented Aubrey’s estranged mother in a contested estate case. Aubrey strongly denies that he had anything to do with Ira’s death. Aubrey and Vodicka have said in court filings that they are indigent and could not afford to travel to Texas for the trial. They asked Judge Cosby if the court would pay for travel and lodging. They also asked to appear by telephone. Cosby denied that request.
The bailiff yesterday called out into an empty court corridor: “Mr. Aubrey? Mr. Vodicka?” He walked back into the courtroom and shook his head. The judge nodded. Time to begin.
Read more: https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2017/05/judge-awards-huge-5-5-million-verdict-in-ira-tobolowsky-defamation-suit/
Ross Perot Jr. On the Upside and Downside of the Best Market of His Career
At this week’s United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’ Tocqueville Society luncheon, featured speaker Ross Perot Jr. talked about the construction boom in North Texas—and what the construction-labor shortage means for the area.
Perot said one of the biggest problems Dallas-Fort Worth is facing is that, “We don’t have enough people … The construction market alone needs another 20,000 workers just to feed the construction boom we have.” He cited the area’s unemployment rate, which as of March was at 4.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Perot said that 10 years ago, the region could produce around 55,000 new homes, but that because of the labor shortage, that figure is now around 30,000 homes built per year. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, the number of U.S. construction jobs rose by 5,000 last month, making for the highest total number of jobs (6.8 million) in almost 10 years, due to robust construction demand.
“Twenty-one billion dollars of construction is going on in Dallas-Fort Worth today,” Perot said, putting DFW on par with the likes of New York City. And the really good news about the North Texas development, according to Perot? The product being built is “filling up, it’s well-financed, it is not a lot of speculative money, so it feels like it’s a real solid market.” In fact, Perot said this is the best market he’s seen in his real estate career—which means a lot coming from the chairman of Hillwood.
https://www.dmagazine.com/commercial-real-estate/2017/05/ross-perot-jr-on-the-upside-and-downside-of-the-best-market-of-his-career/
Attorney General Ken Paxton again fails to kick judge off criminal case
AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton has once again failed to remove the judge presiding over his criminal case.
On Thursday morning, Paxton's attorneys were told their latest request that Judge George Gallagher be forced to step down could not be honored. Why? The court they asked does not have the authority to make this decision.
"The undersigned does not have that power," Judge Mary Murphy, presiding judge in the First Administrative Judicial Region, wrote in an email. The decision, she said, lies with "the trial court and the appellate courts."
This week, Paxton requested she remove Gallagher, whom Murphy assigned to the case in August 2015. Paxton's attorneys argued that Gallagher was on loan to the administrative court region that included Collin County when Murphy assigned him to the case and that his assignment expired in 2016. They said any decisions made this year — including a rare ruling to move the trial venue from Collin to Harris County — were therefore null and void.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-politics/2017/05/11/attorney-general-ken-paxton-fails-kick-judgeoff-criminal-case
Blue Bell gets hit with another lawsuit over listeria-laced ice cream
The mother of a teenage girl is suing Blue Bell, saying that her child was exposed to listeria bacteria after eating the company's Ultimate Neapolitan ice cream two years ago.
Lyddia Sheppard-Antwine's attorneys filed the lawsuit in Tarrant County civil court late Wednesday, claiming that her then-11-year-old daughter suffered with nausea, diarrhea, fatigue and other ailments after eating the treat.
Her daughter was briefly hospitalized at Cook Children's hospital, and eventually recovered from the incident. But Sheppard-Antwine is seeking as much as $75,000 in damages for her medical expenses, pain and suffering as well as mental anguish.
In 2015, Blue Bell Creameries shut down all three of its ice cream factories, laid off 1,450 employees and put another 1,400 on furlough after its products were linked to three deaths and several cases of listeriosis in four states.
Read more: www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2017/05/11/blue-bell-gets-hit-another-lawsuit-listeria-laced-ice-cream
Bill massacre: House kills its own proposals with late-night talkfest; anti-abortion bills stall
AUSTIN -- A dawdling, fractious Texas House collided with its first and biggest bill-passing deadline of the session Thursday, with the temporary casualties being controversial anti-abortion bills but also Republican unity.
Democrats were gleeful that the abortion bills didn’t come up before the clock struck midnight, but it was staunchly conservative Republicans who did most of their work for them.
GOP members openly feuded over whether a dozen diehard staunch conservatives were being punished in petty ways - or simply reaping just desserts for their session-long obstructionist tactics and attacks on House Speaker Joe Straus and his allies.
The spectacle of intra-GOP dissension brought shy smiles to the faces of Democratic leaders such as Grand Prairie’s Chris Turner.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-legislature/2017/05/11/bill-massacre-texas-house-kills-proposals-late-night-talkfest
Florida man wrestles 17-foot pregnant python
Florida python hunter Dustin Crum recently nabbed the largest snake ever caught in the Florida Everglades.
Everglades National Park is facing an invasion from Burmese pythons, one of the largest snake species on Earth. The adaptable reptile has decimated wildlife, eating anything from birds, to mammals and even alligators.
Crum is working for a state program that pays hunters for killing the invasive snakes. In this case, Crum said he stumbled upon the 16-foot, 10-inch beast by accident.
-snip-
Inside the python, officials discovered 78 eggs — or 78 snakes that won't be hurting native wildlife.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/national/article/Florida-man-wrestles-17-foot-pregnant-python-11139078.php
Univ. of Utah to hire auditor to examine financial relationship with Huntsman foundation
SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah will hire an independent auditor to review the "complex financial relationship" between the university and the Huntsman Cancer Foundation ahead of negotiations over the future of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, a lawyer representing the university announced Wednesday.
Alan Sullivan, an attorney with Snell & Wilmer retained by the University of Utah to assist in the negotiations, said the audit will analyze the funds flowing into the Huntsman Cancer Institute and how the institute is using those funds.
In a conference call with reporters, Sullivan said university administrators and trustees "believe strongly that an independent financial review needs to be done that will be transparent to both sides" so that negotiations can be built on "sound, factual understanding."
The Huntsman Cancer Foundation — a nonprofit organization formed by the Huntsman family solely to support the Huntsman Cancer Institute — has renegotiated contracts with the University of Utah over the governance of the Huntsman Cancer Institute several times over the past 20 years. The foundation donates roughly between $20 million to $30 million per year to the cancer institute.
Read more: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865679703/U-to-hire-auditor-to-examine-financial-relationship-with-Huntsman-foundation.html
Rep. Springer's emotional stem cell speech breaks tea party obstruction
After tea party-aligned legislators ground the work of the Texas House to a halt as a key legislative deadline approached at midnight, Rep. Drew Springer gave an emotional speech imploring his colleagues to move forward so the House could vote on a bill expanding access to stem cell treatment that he believes could help his wife, who uses a wheelchair.
“It does some remarkable things,” Springer, a Muenster Republican, said through tears while giving a personal privilege speech on adult stem cell treatments. “It might give somebody like my wife a chance to walk.”
Springer’s campaign website says: “During the time Drew and Lydia were dating, some twenty-three years ago, Lydia was involved in a diving accident and has used a wheelchair since that time. Her ability not to let it slow her down has been a source of strength and inspiration to Drew.”
His speech momentarily freed up the gridlock, allowing House Bill 810 by Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, to pass. The bill was named Charlie’s Law after former Rep. Charlie Howard, who died recently after a years-long battle with cancer.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/rep-springer-emotional-stem-cell-speech-breaks-tea-party-obstruction/IVhNRTTN4lNmrIIen9FPFJ/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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