Allegations of Racism, Discrimination in Texas Parks Department

Racism and discrimination allegations are troubling the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which has spent $100,000 on reports that have so far found employees lamenting "a legacy of intolerance" and is now faced with a second federal complaint from a black game warden-in-training.

Only 1 percent of game wardens in the 50-year history of Texas' parks agency have been black. State officials acknowledge enduring failures with recruiting minorities, but a lawsuit and concern from black Texas lawmakers has quietly escalated the issue in recent months from elusive diversity to accusations of racial bias.

Brukendra Jackson, 26, alleges she was mistreated earlier this year as one of only two black cadets in a complaint filed Wednesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That federal agency also granted a white game warden, John Rao Jr., permission to file a federal lawsuit in April that claims supervisors instructed him to "distance himself" from a black colleague.

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TPWD spokeswoman Lydia Saldana said the broader issue of minority hiring is a "business imperative" for the state parks system and highlighted recent strides, including a diverse class of 11 summer interns in the law enforcement division. Five are black and two are Hispanic, and the agency has also launched a diversity task force and put new emphasis on minority promotion.

More at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Allegations-of-Racism-Discrimination-in-Texas-Parks-Department-210388741.html .

Suspect in Lone Star campus shooting once again fugitive (updated)

HOUSTON—Authorities are once again trying to track down the suspected gunman in the Lone Star College’s North Harris campus shooting; this time for revoking his bond.

Trey Foster, who’s been free on a $50,000 bond since January, did not show up for court on Tuesday, making him a fugitive again.

The first time the 22-year-old went on the run is after he allegedly injured three people during a wild campus shooting because he was angry that someone “bumped him” in the hallway.

Foster and his friend, Carlton Berry, were walking on campus on January 22 when a man named Jody Neal bumped into him. Foster and Neal argued briefly, then went their separate ways.

More at http://www.khou.com/news/local/Suspect-in-Lone-Star-campus-shooting-once-again-fugitive-after-missing-court-date-210404681.html .

[font color=green]Foster fleed to Plano after the shooting where he was taken into custody. Records show Foster has a criminal history that includes charges of resisting arrest and possession of a prohibited weapon.

Hopefully, Foster will be caught and locked up for good since he is dangerous to the public. A photo of Foster is included in the link, but it would not embed in this post.[/font]

[font color=navy]
Update: 9:26 p.m.LSC shooting suspect surrenders

Trey Foster, 22, a suspect in the January shooting at Lone Star College, has surrendered to authorities. A warrant was issued for his arrest when he missed a Tuesday court appearance.

Harris County sheriff's spokesman Alan Bernstein told the Associated Press that Foster turned himself in Thursday evening at the Harris County Jail.

Sara Kinney, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, says he'll be held without bond. A judge revoked his previous $50,000 bond.[/font]

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/LSC-shooting-suspect-surrenders-4582844.php?cmpid=hpfsln

TX Comptroller Susan Combs removes mention of gays from her website

TX Comptroller Susan Combs removes mention of gays from her website

Report: Texans Are Astonishingly Bad at Making Friends, Caring About Stuff

Picture a long, steep staircase. Now, picture an extremely obese individual climbing up it. There's a lot of sweating and heavy breathing, no doubt, accompanied by a chorus of unseemly grunts and muttered curses. There's a not-too-distant risk of cardiac arrest.

In this scenario, put forward on Monday in the University of Texas' Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life's first-ever Texas Civic Health Index, the person is a metaphor for Texas. The rolls of fat are things like voter apathy and disengagement from government and civic life. The stairs are a well-functioning democracy.

For the time being, Texas continues to wheeze up the stairs. But the UT report poses the question of how high the state will be able to climb before collapsing in a flabby heap of apathy. The answer, hinted at by current measures of civic engagement, is not encouraging.

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Other factors are political. Democrats don't have a chance in statewide races, giving voters in both parties little incentive to show up at the polls. There tends to be relatively little media coverage and nonpartisan voter guides, contributing to Texans' general ignorance about politics. The report doesn't really offer an explanation for why Texans are so disengaged in other aspects of life.

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/06/report_texans_are_astonishingl.php?ref=trending .

[font color=green]I don't give a ɟɥ¢ƙ whether you reply to this OP are not. Now get the hell off my lawn, eat chit & die you liberal commie pinkos.

in case it isn't obvious. [/font]

Dallas 911 Operator Fired for Racist Facebook Tirades

Over the past several months, since the murder of Deanna Cook and a couple of other cases laid bare deep-seated problems at the city's 911 call center, Dallas police have scrambled to hire dozens of new call takers to address a chronic staffing shortage that had lasted for years.

It probably shouldn't be surprising, given the haste with which the hires were made, that at least some of the new recruits are less than ideal. One of them, April Sims, was fired on Wednesday after eight months on the job.

Dallas PD made the announcement Tuesday in a very brief news release that said rather vaguely that she had violated the department's social media policy.

Did she ever. Sims' Facebook page isn't public, but The Dallas Morning News and WFAA got a hold of screenshots from her account. They don't post the screenshots, but they do post some of the choicer quotes.

Examples of her racist Facebook posts and the remainder of the story are at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/06/black_people_are_like_animals.php .

Teacher duct-taped Judson ISD student to chair

A teacher and a teacher's aide resigned from Woodlake Elementary School last week after admitting that they duct-taped a second-grader to his chair because he was being too rambunctious, officials said.

Judson Independent School District spokesman Steve Linscomb said the district was alerted about the incident Thursday afternoon and launched an investigation.

“Those were pretty incredible allegations,” he said.

The teacher and the aide admitted that they restrained the boy with duct tape, and both resigned in lieu of termination, Linscomb said.

More at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/article/Teacher-duct-taped-Judson-ISD-student-to-chair-4579763.php .

Significant storm damage in Lubbock--80 mph winds

GOP Expanding Outrage Manufacturing Operations Overseas

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus announced yesterday that the GOP has expanded its outrage manufacturing into Vietnam and China.

Unpublished novel by Pearl S. Buck turns up in Fort Worth storage unit

In the unlikeliest of finds, a literary treasure by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck was discovered late last year in Fort Worth in — of all places — a storage locker up for auction.

After the shocking find by the buyer, a woman who asked the Buck estate to let her remain anonymous, the late author’s family took possession of the work for a small finder’s fee.

The completed novel, The Eternal Wonder, apparently finished just before Buck died of cancer in 1973, was unknown to her family and her publishers.

News that the discovery happened in Fort Worth, which was not revealed at the outset, floored Arlington librarian Laureen Jacobs.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/06/05/4914083/unpublished-novel-by-pearl-s-buck.html#storylink=cpy