September 28, 2016

Troubled pension, major lawsuits and low morale. Will the new Dallas city attorney be up to the task

In 1988, when a Sweetwater rancher named Temple Dickson waged a long-shot bid for state Senate, he reached out to a young Texas Tech law student to help him win.

Larry Casto agreed to join the campaign, even though he knew next to nothing about politics. He didn’t even know whether he was a Republican or Democrat.

"What do you need me to be?" Casto asked Dickson.

Today, after long career in politics in Austin as a Senate staffer and a lobbyist for the city of Dallas, Casto has been asked to do something else out of his comfort zone -- become the city attorney.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2016/09/28/troubled-pension-major-lawsuits-low-moralewill-new-dallas-city-attorney-task

September 28, 2016

Video: Donna ISD security officer accused of slamming 16-year-old girl against the ground

DONNA — A school district security officer was arrested Tuesday in connection with a video of a fight in Donna High School that showed him slamming a 16-year-old female student against the ground several weeks ago, according to officials.

Michael Soto, 33, was booked into the Hidalgo County jail on official oppression and false report charges after Donna ISD police conducted an investigation and found evidence that the officer lied about what happened during the Sept. 16 fight.

“I guess they are saying that he lied,” said Soto’s defense attorney Orlando Jimenez. “What happened is that he tried to escort one of the young ladies that was fighting out of the auditorium, and as he is walking out he trips over with the leg of another girl on the floor that was still fighting.”

Jimenez said there are three videos documenting the incident and at least one of them proves the fall was accidental.

Read more: http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/video-donna-isd-security-officer-accused-of-slamming--year/article_1a1a4700-8503-11e6-a78b-27b5d59d7c4d.html

September 28, 2016

Foster Care Overhaul Would More Than Triple the State’s Returns

Texas began a strategic plan to reform the foster care system in 2014, but the overhaul is still in the early stages of rollout. The plan has been moving forward without much fanfare, at a time when Child Protective Services is taking a lot of heat for some high-profile tragedies.

The biggest change is a shift away from investigation efforts – the CPS worker who comes knocking on the door asking questions – to a public heath approach aimed at strengthening families and reducing the number of serious injuries and fatalities.

The plan puts a heavy emphasis on the staggering cost of child abuse and the need to be smarter about resources – to use big data as never before. The man behind the numbers is Waco-based Ray Perryman, CEO of an economic and financial analysis firm. He’s been looking at the argument for the overhaul from an economic standpoint.

In a new report, Perryman says that for every dollar the state puts into the plan to overhaul the foster care system, it would see a return of $3.44. The study was paid for by Our Community Our Kids, which contracts with CPS to provide care in the Fort Worth area through the second phase of the foster care overhaul plan. (The first phase failed due to funding concerns.)

Read more: http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/foster-care-overhaul-would-more-than-triple-the-states-returns/

September 28, 2016

BRAGGADOCIOUS!: Randy Rainbow Moderates Debate #1

September 28, 2016

Fort Worth oilman, wife donating $20 million to liberal arts at UT

Bobby Patton Jr. started his studies at the University of Texas in the prestigious Plan II honors program, then switched to finance and earned his bachelor’s in business administration.

But the exposure to history, literature and philosophy in Plan II — an interdisciplinary arts and science major — left a lifelong impression on Patton, a Fort Worth energy and real estate investor who is also part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On Wednesday, the university is announcing a $20 million donation from Patton and his wife, Sherri, that will benefit faculty members and students in the College of Liberal Arts, one of UT’s largest academic units and the home of Plan II.

“After I left UT, I realized just how important liberal arts were to my life,” Patton said in a statement. “They taught me how to learn and how to keep on learning.”

Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/fort-worth-oilman-wife-donating-20-million-to-libe/nsgQ3/

September 28, 2016

Houston Taco Trucks Doubling As Voter Registration Booths

Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day. A Houston company has taken a controversial comment from the presidential campaign and turned it into the framework for a voter registration drive.

Marco Gutierrez, founder of the group Latinos for Trump, appeared on MSNBC earlier this month. In defense of Donald Trump’s immigration policy, Gutierrez said, “My culture is a very dominant culture, and it’s imposing, it’s causing problems. If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks {on} every corner.”

The remark set off a firestorm on social media. But Thomas Hull, of design firm Rigsby Hull, decided it deserved a bigger response than just a tweet or meme. He joined forces with Mi Familia Vota, a group that promotes Latino political involvement, and organized a fleet of Houston taco trucks to serve as voter registration booths.

“We’re also handing out information on where to vote, with early votes and on Election Day and the process of voting, ’cause that’s–registering folks to vote–is half the battle. The other half is getting folks to the polls,” Hull says.

Read more: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2016/09/27/170469/houston-taco-trucks-doubling-as-voter-registration-booths/

[font color=330099]Taco trucks on every corner and in the middle of the blocks too. Yum![/font]

September 27, 2016

Former Cowboy Greg Hardy arrested in Richardson on cocaine charge

Richardson police arrested former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy late Sunday night on a drug possession charge.

Hardy was stopped about 11:20 p.m. on a traffic violation, but was arrested and charged with possession of less than a gram of a controlled substance, Sgt. Kevin Perlich said.

He posted bond just before 6 p.m. Monday and was released from the Richardson city jail, he said.

An officer stopped Hardy's Dodge Challenger in the 300 block of Glenville Drive because the vehicle was stopped in the left turn lane without a turn signal on, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2016/09/26/former-cowboy-greg-hardy-arrested-richardson-drug-possession-charge-police-say

September 27, 2016

BlueCross will drop Obamacare in Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will not sell insurance plans on the Obamacare exchange in Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville next year, as the health care giant grapples with hefty losses and ongoing uncertainty on the marketplace.

The insurer made “an extremely difficult but necessary decision” to leave the state’s three largest metro areas as it tries to manage its number of members to hit a break-even point amid three years of losses, said Roy Vaughn, chief communications officer of BCBST.

“It’s not something we want to do but we believe we must look out for the health care and financial security for all the members that we serve,” Vaughn told The Tennessean.

The company formally made the change to its 2017 plans in a Friday filing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — roughly a month after it raised the possibility of scaling back. Earlier this summer, BCBST requested — and was granted — state approval for an average 62-percent premium increase. The rate hike is still pending federal approval.

Read more: http://www.commercialappeal.com/business/medical/BlueCross-will-drop-Obamacare-in-Memphis-Nashville-Knoxville--394820451.html

September 27, 2016

Former TN Legislator Jeremy Durham Kicked Out of Univ. of Tenn. Game for Hitting

Notorious sleeze Jeremy Durham (R-Loserville) can't stop getting kicked out of things. Once hailed as a rising star in the Tennessee Republican party, Durham's office was moved out of the State House in April, amid accusations of sexual harassment. He was defeated at the polls and finally expelled from the state's General Assembly by a vote of 70-2. Now the man Full Frontal host Samantha Bee called the worst person in Tennessee has been thrown out of the UT/Florida game for hitting a Gator fan in the face.

So far this is all dog bites man because, obviously, a jackass with impulse control issues is going to do stupid stuff. But what about the guy who's hanging out with the guy with impulse issues? Sen. Brian Kelsey, the pride of Germantown, was sitting with his pal Jeremy when the boisterous Florida fan got his glasses knocked off, but didn't witness anything unusual.

"I didn’t witness anything unusual," Kelsey was quoted as saying. "But it was obvious the officer had asked questions of a Florida fan behind us."

According to The Tennessean Kelsey sent a clarifying text: "If that behavior did occur, it's totally unacceptable and it's unbecoming of a Vol fan."

Totally.

http://www.memphisflyer.com/FlyontheWallBlog/archives/2016/09/26/former-tn-legislator-jeremy-durham-kicked-out-of-ut-game-for-hitting

September 26, 2016

Why give all BP funds to Coast? Some area legislators say, ‘Not so fast’

JACKSON – Some Northeast Mississippi legislators are saying not so fast in terms of the three coastal counties receiving all of the funds from the $750 million settlement with BP for the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico and subsequent massive oil spill.

“I know some people feel some of the money should come to the central and northern parts of the state,” said Rep. William Tracy Arnold, R-Booneville.

The issue of how the money that was part of the settlement reached with BP should be divvied up is expected to be a major topic during the 2017 legislative session. But it has come to the forefront in recent days because of public hearings Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves is having on the Gulf Coast regarding the BP settlement funds.

This past week Reeves reiterated his stance that the $750 million in funds the state is set to receive during the next 17 years for economic damages caused by the 2010 oil spill should be spent on the Coast.

Read more: http://djournal.com/news/give-bp-funds-coast-area-legislators-say-not-fast/