TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalSouthwest: Other carriers finding cracked fan blades
DALLAS—A small number of fan blades with cracks like those blamed for a fatal accident on Southwest Airlines have been found at other airlines, and the engine maker is considering recommending more frequent inspections.
A spokesman for General Electric, one of two companies that owns the engine manufacturer, said Friday that "a handful" of problematic fan blades have been removed during stepped-up inspections that followed the Southwest accident in April.
Southwest's chief operating officer, Mike Van de Ven, said he knows of "maybe four or five" reports of cracked fan blades at other carriers. Neither Van de Ven nor GE identified the airlines.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board declined to comment on the statements by Southwest and GE.
Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/story/2018/jul/28/southwest-other-carriers-finding-cracked-fan-blades/736381/
New Blue Bell flavor hits stores Friday
Blue Bell Ice Cream announced on social media Thursday morning that another new flavor is in stores today.
Blue Bell has been releasing new flavors all month to celebrate National Ice Cream month, with the famous return of chocolate Fudge Bars, Krazy Kookie Dough, and Cotton Candy.
The newest flavor to hit stores is Key Lime Mango Tart. Key Lime Mango Tart is sweet and tangy key lime ice cream blended with graham cracker crust pieces and a mango sauce swirl.
https://www.theeagle.com/news/local/new-blue-bell-flavor-hits-stores-today/article_c03c858e-90f1-11e8-9d1c-03b72c31dcbc.html
Sounds and looks yummy! 
Federal judge allows new lawsuit against Baylor, Briles, McCaw, Waco PD
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman has opened the door for new litigation against Baylor University, as well as former head football coach Art Briles and former athletics director Ian McCaw, in connection with the Baylor sexual assault scandal.
Pitman on Tuesday agreed to allow Dolores Lozano, a former Baylor student, to file a new Title IX complaint alleging the university failed to respond when she accused a football player of physical abuse.
She had made similar allegations in an October 2016 suit, but last September, Pitman dismissed most of those claims, which involved negligence and gross negligence. He had signaled at the time that she could file other non-Title IX complaints regarding the school’s hiring, training, retention and supervision practices. But with the backing of new attorneys, Lozano persuaded Pitman to allow a new lawsuit alleging Title IX failures by Baylor and negligence of Baylor, Briles and McCaw in the handling of the case.
Lozano claims that Baylor player Devin Chafin, who was then her boyfriend, threatened her, slapped her, kicked her and slammed her against the wall. She alleges that he strangled her until she began to lose consciousness. She has alleged three separate assaults between March and April of 2014 and shared photos of her bruises.
Read more: https://www.wacotrib.com/news/city_of_waco/federal-judge-allows-new-lawsuit-against-baylor-briles-mccaw-waco/article_442f904e-8b28-5923-b103-337c01762e78.html
City official: 5 dead in Robstown shooting
Source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times
ROBSTOWN — Five people are dead after a series of shootings.
A shooting at a Robstown nursing home Friday evening left three dead, City Secretary Herman Rodriguez said. Two more men were found dead in a home in the 4200 block of West State Highway 44 that was linked to the shooting, he said.
Officers received a call to the Retama Manor nursing home in the 600 block of East Avenue J around 7 p.m. When they arrived, they found two men and a woman dead.
Rodriguez said two men were found dead in the residence of one of the nursing home victims.
Read more: https://www.caller.com/story/news/crime/2018/07/27/shooting-reported-robstown-nursing-home/853795002/
https://twitter.com/Caller_AR/status/1023033195196047361
Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent 'Begs' State Not to Appeal Education Ruling
The state's education system is unconstitutional and has violated the civil rights of students who are most "at-risk" of failing out of schools, including low-income, English language learners and Native American students.
That's the ruling of state District Judge Sarah Singleton, handed down last Friday from her retirement as a pro tem. Insiders say it's a monumental decision that will transform New Mexico's education system, and the state only has until next April to come up with an overarching plan.
This will include school financing and management reforms that grant higher sums to struggling schools, as well as a new school and teacher accountability system. The court will oversee the reforms, regardless of whether the state—under current Gov. Susana Martinez or, far less likely, the new incoming governor—files an appeal.
The ruling says that 71.6 percent of New Mexico's students come from low-income families, and Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Veronica Garcia says the district's rate is about the same at 70 percent. Although Singleton's timeline holds a tight deadline, Garcia sees the reforms taking much longer to implement.
Read more: https://www.sfreporter.com/news/2018/07/26/sfps-superintendent-begs-state-not-to-appeal-education-ruling/
Spaceport violated open government law, AG's office says
The N.M. Spaceport Authority violated an open government law several times in its responses to NMPolitics.net’s efforts to investigate Spaceport America in 2017, the state attorney general’s office has determined.
But on perhaps the central transparency question in NMPolitics.net’s complaints to the AG’s office — whether the Spaceport Authority broke the law by refusing to reveal how much money some customers are paying to use the spaceport — the AG’s office punted on taking a definitive stand, even as it expressed skepticism that the agency had acted appropriately.
Assistant Attorney General Dylan K. Lange identified four violations of the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) in the determination letter released Thursday:
· Failing to respond to a records request in the time the law requires.
· Citing the wrong exemption to redact information from public records.
· Charging unauthorized fees for copies of public records.
· Refusing to release a list of Twitter accounts the agency had blocked from seeing or responding to its tweets
The AG’s office sent Lange’s letter to the Spaceport Authority’s attorney, Melissa K. Force, and to NMPolitics.net editor and publisher Heath Haussamen, who filed the complaints against the spaceport in September 2017.
Read more: http://nmpolitics.net/index/2018/07/spaceport-violated-open-government-law-ags-office-says/
NMSU professors get $1.4M to study mosquito reproduction
LAS CRUCES — Professors at New Mexico State University have received a grant worth nearly $1.5 million to study mosquitoes in the hopes of finding new ways to control their population.
The National Institutes of Health is supporting the research of Immo Hansen and Omar Holguin. They’re focusing on how the inspects move amino acids through different tissues.
Hansen says the amino acids come from a person’s blood when they are bitten. The mosquitoes use the amino acids to build yolk proteins that are used to make eggs and reproduce.
The research team also includes Dmitri Boudko from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago.
Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/briefs/nmsu-professors-get-m-to-study-mosquito-reproduction/article_e3d78269-d9cc-5211-b8db-9c3f715ca1b5.html
Lawmakers' meeting focuses on closure of generating station, threatens jobs near Four Corners
FARMINGTON — Legislators from around the state heard about the impact of the looming closure of the San Juan Generating Station in 2022 as they convened at the San Juan College School of Energy today.
The legislators gathered as part of the Water and Natural Resources Committee meeting to discuss the future of energy in the state and in the San Juan Basin.
During his opening remarks, Mayor Nate Duckett described the local area as a ticking time bomb waiting for the generating station to close. County Executive Officer Kim Carpenter warned that the impacts of the closure will be felt statewide.
San Juan College President Toni Pendergrass said the closure will mean a loss of $2 million in property tax revenue to the college’s budget, as well as $300,000 in training contracts and $116,000 in scholarships provided by the companies that run the mine and generating station.
Read more: https://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/2018/07/26/san-juan-generating-station-center-discussion-legislative-committee/843743002/
Related article:
Coal plant closure threatens jobs near Four Corners
FARMINGTON — Officials in northwestern New Mexico are grappling with the likely financial effects of a coal power plant closure near the Navajo Nation and in one of the country’s poorest states.
At a tense meeting with lawmakers on Thursday, Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett said waiting for the generating station to close in the Four Corners region is “a ticking time bomb,” because of the looming financial crisis the closure would spark, The Daily Times of Farmington, New Mexico, reports . The plant provides needed jobs and revenue, he said.
San Juan College President Toni Pendergrass said the closure will mean a loss of $2 million in property tax revenue to the college’s budget, as well as $300,000 in training contracts and $116,000 in scholarships. Those scholarships are provided by the companies that run the mine and generating station, he said.
Legislators from around the state heard about the impact of the pending closure of the San Juan Generating Station in 2022 as they convened at the San Juan College School of Energy on Thursday.
Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/coal-plant-closure-threatens-jobs-near-four-corners/article_4f5db91a-d932-58a1-8ae6-bfe795cea57a.html
EPA seeks dismissal of lawsuit over 2015 Colorado mine spill
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants a federal court to toss a lawsuit filed by Utah, New Mexico and the Navajo Nation seeking the repayment of cleanup costs for a mine spill in Colorado that polluted rivers in three states.
The EPA said in a motion Wednesday that the court doesn’t need to intervene because crews are already working on the cleanup of water contaminated with heavy metals that was accidentally released from an EPA-monitored mine.
“Granting any relief in New Mexico, within the Navajo Nation, or in Utah would conflict and interfere with EPA’s exclusive jurisdiction over its on-going response action activities and cleanup remedies,” the federal government said in court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.
Utah is seeking for $1.9 billion in damages from the EPA. The Navajo Nation filed a claim for $162 million, and the state of New Mexico is seeking $130 million.
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/1201733/epa-seeks-dismissal-of-gold-king-mine-spill-lawsuit.html
FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2015 file photo, water flows through a series of sediment retention ponds built to reduce heavy metal and chemical contaminants from the Gold King Mine wastewater accident outside Silverton, Colo. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is asking a federal court in New Mexico to toss out a lawsuit over a mine waste spill in Colorado that polluted rivers in three states. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)
Police: Native American activist accused of rape
SANTA FE, N.M. — A Native American activist accused of raping unconscious women and recording the assaults on video has been arrested in Phoenix after police in New Mexico issued a warrant for his arrest, according to online jail records.
Redwolf Pope, a lawyer who has been described as having served as a liaison for elders, veterans and legal representatives during oil pipeline protests in North Dakota two years ago, was taken into custody late Tuesday night by Phoenix police. He was being held at the Maricopa County jail.
An arrest warrant filed Monday in Santa Fe accused Pope of both sexually assaulting females who appeared to have been slipped a date-rape drug and surreptitiously recording guests at apartments in Santa Fe and Seattle. He had residences in both cities, police said.
In a police interview last week, one woman told a Seattle detective that she had known Pope for years and had trusted him in the past because of his standing in her tribe, which is Tlingit.
Pope appeared on “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News in the past to discuss Native American perspectives on Thanksgiving, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The show identified his tribal affiliation as being Western Shoshone.
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/1201670/police-native-american-activist-accused-of-rape-in-santa-fe.html
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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
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