December 14, 2018

7-year-old migrant girl taken into Border Patrol custody dies of dehydration, exhaustion

A 7-year-old girl from Guatemala died of dehydration and shock after she was taken into Border Patrol custody last week for crossing from Mexico into the United States illegally with her father and a large group of migrants along a remote span of New Mexico desert, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday.

The child’s death is likely to intensify scrutiny of detention conditions at Border Patrol stations and CBP facilities that are increasingly overwhelmed by large numbers of families seeking asylum in the United States.

According to CBP records, the girl and her father were taken into custody about 10 p.m. Dec. 6 south of Lordsburg, N.M., as part of a group of 163 people who approached U.S. agents to turn themselves in.

More than eight hours later, the child began having seizures at 6:25 a.m., CBP records show. Emergency responders, who arrived soon after, measured her body temperature at 105.7 degrees, and according to a statement from CBP, she “reportedly had not eaten or consumed water for several days.”

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/12/13/7-year-old-girl-taken-border-patrol-custody-dies-dehydration/

December 14, 2018

After $84K Farenthold settlement, Congress makes lawmakers foot sexual harassment bills

WASHINGTON – Less than a year after Corpus Christi Republican Blake Farenthold left Congress behind with an $84,000 settlement for sexual harassment, the House and Senate have agreed to make lawmakers pay their own misconduct judgments.

The legislation, which the House and Senate each passed unanimously on Thursday, caps a year of acrimonious debate over how to handle sexual harassment claims on Capitol Hill.

Under the terms of a bipartisan deal reached this week, members of the House and Senate would assume financial liability for settlements and judgments stemming from sexual harassment complaints. Historically, taxpayers have picked up the tab.

The issue came to a head last April when Farenthold, a four-term congressman, resigned amid an Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of improper conduct by at least three former staffers. That followed revelations that Congress had already covered an $84,000 settlement reached in a 2014 harassment suit brought by Lauren Greene, his former communications director.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/After-84K-Farenthold-settlement-Congress-makes-13464524.php

Cross-posted in the Texas Group.

December 14, 2018

After $84K Farenthold settlement, Congress makes lawmakers foot sexual harassment bills

WASHINGTON – Less than a year after Corpus Christi Republican Blake Farenthold left Congress behind with an $84,000 settlement for sexual harassment, the House and Senate have agreed to make lawmakers pay their own misconduct judgments.

The legislation, which the House and Senate each passed unanimously on Thursday, caps a year of acrimonious debate over how to handle sexual harassment claims on Capitol Hill.

Under the terms of a bipartisan deal reached this week, members of the House and Senate would assume financial liability for settlements and judgments stemming from sexual harassment complaints. Historically, taxpayers have picked up the tab.

The issue came to a head last April when Farenthold, a four-term congressman, resigned amid an Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of improper conduct by at least three former staffers. That followed revelations that Congress had already covered an $84,000 settlement reached in a 2014 harassment suit brought by Lauren Greene, his former communications director.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/After-84K-Farenthold-settlement-Congress-makes-13464524.php

Cross-posted in the General Discussion forum.

December 14, 2018

Thousands demand judge's removal for granting Baylor student no jail time in rape case

FORT WORTH -- Thousands have signed a petition calling for the judge in an ex-Baylor frat president’s rape case to resign or be removed from office after he accepted a plea deal that involved no jail time.

On Monday, Judge Ralph Strother accepted the plea agreement for Jacob W. Anderson, a former Baylor student who was accused of raping a woman referred to as Donna Doe in 2016. As part of the deal, Anderson agreed to plea to a lesser charge of unlawful restraint and will not have to register as a sex offender.

Strother and Assistant District Attorney Hilary LaBorde, who prosecuted the case, were not immediately available for comment Thursday afternoon.

The petition, titled “Request the Resignation of Judge Ralph Strother,” had more than 20,000 signatures on the Care2 Petitions website early Thursday afternoon. According to the site, about 2,000 of the signers were from Texas.

Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article223044915.html

December 14, 2018

Tarrant GOP leader facing ouster because he's Muslim is 'proud to be a Republican'

FORT WORTH -- The last few months have been hard for Shahid Shafi and his family.

For months, a group of people within the Tarrant County Republican Party have called for the 53-year-old surgeon and Southlake councilman to be removed from the post of vice chairman because he’s Muslim.

Those behind the move say this is not about religion but whether Shafi is loyal to Islam and Islamic law or connected “to Islamic terror groups.”

“I’m used to facing challenges in life,” Shafi told the Star-Telegram on Wednesday, noting that people tried to use religion against him each time he ran for city council. “And this is just yet another challenge. I remain very confident and positive that this too shall pass.

Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article222656945.html

December 14, 2018

Austin's Bowie High to cancel Friday classes amid 'considerable damage'

Austin’s largest high school will be closed for a second day Friday after Bowie High School officials discovered what they described as “considerable damage,” including more than 75 broken windows and glass doors, at the campus early Thursday.

School district police around 4:40 a.m. found damaged windows and doors in the front of the building, the gymnasium, and academic wings. The school’s principal said the damage was caused by someone throwing rocks. Citing safety concerns, school officials decided to cancel all classes and events at the South Austin campus Thursday.

The school would be cancelling Friday classes as well while cleanup and repairs take place, including the installation of pre-cut plexiglass and plywood to replace the damaged doors and windows.

In addition, “the glass breaking exposed an adhesive that contained asbestos from the original construction,” a district spokesperson told the American-Statesman. “We are working with experts to identify how to safely remove the debris.”

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20181213/bowie-high-to-cancel-friday-classes-amid-considerable-damage

December 14, 2018

Texas Cowboys event included paddling, animal abuse, says family of student who died after wreck

Relatives of a University of Texas student who died a month after he was grievously injured in a crash returning from a Texas Cowboys off-campus retreat say they learned he was paddled with a stick during hazing rituals, leaving welts on his body that were still visible at the time of his death.

The family of Nicholas Cumberland said they also were told that at the retreat, another new member of the group bit off the head of a live hamster at the urging of older members.

Cumberland’s family released their findings, the details of which have not previously been reported, to the American-Statesman this week. The family told the newspaper and other media outlets last month that they had discovered in conversations with people who attended the retreat that hazing had occurred in the hours before the wreck that led to the death of Nicholas, a 20-year-old majoring in business, finance and radio-television-film.

Meanwhile, the UT Police Department confirmed to the Statesman that it has opened an investigation into the hazing allegation involving the Cowboys, a prominent spirit group that fires Smokey the Cannon after Longhorn scores at home football games.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20181213/texas-cowboys-event-included-paddling-animal-abuse-says-family-of-student-who-died-after-wreck

December 14, 2018

Dallas Cowboy's mother rejoices after $25M verdict against club, Josh Brent

Jurors on Thursday found a nightclub partly to blame for overserving former Dallas Cowboy Josh Brent the night he drove drunk and killed teammate and best friend Jerry Brown.

The civil court jury awarded Brown's mother and his estate $25 million. Beamers shared about half the blame with Brent — 48 percent each — with the final 4 percent lying with the victim.

Brent and Beamers will owe Stacey Jackson equal parts of the multimillion-dollar verdict.

"I'm sure Jerry's looking down and happy," Jackson said after the verdict, adding that some of the money will go toward a nonprofit organization dedicated to her son.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2018/12/12/bar-liable-drunken-driving-death-jury-weighs-case-dallas-cowboys-josh-brent

December 14, 2018

A Few Interesting New Virginia Bills Cover Gender-Neutral Terms, "Bawdy Places," Limits on Fossil

A Few Interesting New Virginia Bills Cover Gender-Neutral Terms, “Bawdy Places,” Limits on Fossil Fuel Facilities, Ultrasounds, Disposable Bags, Shooting “Nuisance Species” from an Automobile…


Since my last update on November 27, there have been a bunch of bills “pre-filed” for the 2019 Virginia General Assembly session that starts on January 9, 2019. See below for a few that caught my eye (and see here for all the bills introduced so far).

First, here’s a bill by Del. Marcus Simon (D-Falls Church) to ditch terms like “husband” and “wife” in the Virginia Code and to replace them with gender-neutral terms; to repeal the statutory prohibition on same-sex marriages and civil unions and to make applicable to all persons – regardless of gender – certain crimes, such as “placing or leaving one’s wife in a bawdy place” and “defaming the chaste character of a female.” I’m really curious what’s considered a “bawdy place” nowadays, and how “defaming the chaste character” is defined. Can’t wait to hear this one debated in committee next year! Haha.



Excellent bill by Sen. David Marsden (D-Fairfax County), allowing “DACA” individuals to “establish domicile and receive in-state tuition charges at any public institution of higher education” in Virginia.



Not 100% sure what to make of this bill by Del. David Reid (D-Loudoun County), but it appears promising…no more fossil fuel facilities after July 1, 2019, “before first approving the construction and placing in service of renewable energy generation facilities having in the aggregate a rated capacity of 5,500 megawatts.” Personally, I’d like to see a mandatory, 100% clean energy “RPS” in Virginia, with the target date as soon as possible. But I guess for now, until Democrats take control of the General Assembly, this might be at least move us forward towards where we need to be…



Read more: https://bluevirginia.us/2018/12/a-few-interesting-new-virginia-bills-cover-gender-neutral-terms-bawdy-places-limits-on-fossil-fuel-facilities-ultrasounds-disposable-bags-shooting-nuisance-species-from-an-automobile

December 14, 2018

Jimmy Kimmel Live: What People Don't Realize About Donald Trump

Donald Trump is licking his wounds after a rough back and forth yesterday with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi during which he made the mistake of saying he'd be 'proud to shut down the government' if he doesn't get five billion dollars for his wall. Trump was said to be so upset after the meeting that he stormed out of the Oval Office and threw papers on the floor. He tweeted 'People do not yet realize how much of the Wall, including really effective renovation, has already been built.' Well, if it's already been built, what are you shutting the government down for? We aren't totally sure, but maybe it's just one of the many things people don't realize.