Channel 11 Finds New Towns In Wise County

Saw this today. (Kind of hard to see but there's a Rickels, Draco, and Lucky Ridge. And the town of Bluett is also wrong, isn't it?)

Unstable Dodgeball

But the kid being launched backwards is worth a slow Saturday giggle.

Wow

On my "What's Up With SMU?" post from a few days ago, someone has commented representing themselves as "Meaghan's mother". It looks real.

Those Eyes Tell A Story

This woman was found dead in a park in Haltom City yesterday (about a mile north of 820/Beach Street for those of you who know where I'm talking about.)

Isn't it odd how we'll look at her, consider her criminal record, her horrible appearance, and then move on without giving her a second thought? Did she ever have a chance? Do we chalk it up to "personal responsibility" and then go home and watch our flat screens? Do you look at her with pity or apathy?

She had a name. Rebecca.

Star Telegram story.

Decatur Under Attack? (Joking)

It felt like it around 12:30 this afternoon when four military helicopters buzzed the town. This War on Terror is getting serious.

Edit: One commentor reminded me of this story: "Feb. 25, 1988: Ten killed and eight burned when a Chinook CH-47D helicopter crashes near Chico during a routine flight from Fort Hood to Fort Sill, Okla." There's not much on the Internet about it.

All Paris, All The Time

Constantly updated here.

Baby Got . . . Well, You Know

But could it be fraudulent?

Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Kingdom (But Better)

I linked to this on BagOfNothing.com's blog a couple of weeks ago, but I don't think I did it justice. I normally don't care about things like nature, dirt, animals, blood, etc. but this video is incredible. It gets going about two minutes into it. We have lions vs. some buffalo looking things vs crocodiles. Once you get into it, you will not leave it. Trust bu-bear. What?

I Know Some Law Stuff

Since Paris Hilton may be going back to the hoosegow, I thought I'd throw out how the typical probation violation should work. (Assuming she had been originally arrested in Texas, leaving Frilly's after midnight, and headed to my house.) (1) A plea agreement is struck. (2) Normally it would be something like this: 180 days in the Wise County Jail but that jail time would be probated for a specific period of time, say 12 months. There would also be a a fine and a bunch of hoops the defendant would have to jump through to satisfy the probation department. But all the conditions of probation are in the judgment. You know what you have to do. (3) The probation order means this: You're on probation for 12 months and if you don't screw up the probation, The Government can never send you to jail. If you do screw up the probation, and The Government can prove it before a judge, that judge can sentence you up to 180 days in jail. (4) One of the conditions of probation will be that the defendant "not violate the law of this state or any other state." (California probably does this as well) (5) Paris had a suspended license and she was caught driving on a suspended license while on probation. Assuming she knew her license was suspended, that's a violation of the law. (6) It would be up to the prosecutor to decide if that violation was "bad enough" to try and revoke the probation. (Although I think she had some other "technical" violations as well.) In Paris case, the prosecutor decided to go forward with a Motion to Revoke. (7) In Wise County, if the prosecutor successfully attempts to revoke your DWI probation, the judge normally will sentence someone to jail in the 120 to 180 day range. (8) Paris got what? 20+ days. I don't know what the maximum number of days she could have received. (But here's where you hear some confusing reports in her case. Is she being sent to jail for driving on a suspended license? Well, yeah. But it is more accurate to say that she is being sent to jail for violating the conditions of a DWI probation.) (8) Not all violations cause a Motion to Revoke to be filed. Say someone falls behind in their community service or the paying of fines but is doing everything else right. Most of the time, the probation will try and work with a defendant instead of alerting the prosecutor to this minor violation.

I Wouldn't Want To See This On 380

I'd seen bits and pieces about this story for a couple of days but this morning I finally paid attention. Someone emailed it to me, and ABC's "Good Morning American" played the 911 tapes of people screaming "A truck is dragging a man in a wheel chair" - for four miles.

That's crazy.

Britney Says . . .

"Good Friday morning to you folks in Chico."

The Heck With Softball, I'm Switching To Tennis

Ana Ivanovic (above) defeated Maria Sharapova (bottom pic) today at the French Open to advance to her first Grand Slam final. "Hey, now" is not sufficient.

Things I Don't Understand

I try to occasionally click over to watch the most Evil Person Ever, Nancy Grace, a "former prosecutor" who has a show on CNN.

Well, lo and behold, tonight I check on her and I'm shocked to see the parents and boyfriend of murder victim Kelsey Smith. For those of you who haven't followed the case, she was the young girl from Kansas who was abducted from a Target store parking lot last weekend. Her dead body was found yesterday. A suspect was arrested today.

If your daughter is missing, I understand trying to get in front of every camera possible so as to try and help find her. But one day after she is found dead in a bunch of trees, you want to go on Nancy Grace's show for a freakin' interview? Incredible. I'd be in my bed crying. And don't give me that crap about how people "grieve differently." No one grieves by being miked up and talking to stage directors in an ear piece.

The Worst Newscast In America

Nothing earth-shaking about this other than some odd David Finfrock dancing (along with the see-it-every-day forced chemistry of Mike and Jane.) It physically hurts to watch KXAS news.

Another Reason To Watch Women's Softball

The girl on the right is the starting/only pitcher for the national champion Arizona Wildcats. Hey, now.

Nope, I Haven't

Somebody just asked me if I had heard of a Wise County church charging money to attend Vacation Bible School.

WBAP's Wheels Are Off

For the last two days, WBAP's afternoon teasers for the upcoming "top of the hour" news have been "Police find a dead infant in a lake in Azle. That story and more in a few moments."

For a while I kept thinking they had found another baby until it became clear that the news was old. Not old enough apparently for anybody over there to quit reading the outdated teaser, but old nonetheless.

Seizure Anyone?

"A segment of animated footage promoting the 2012 Olympics has been removed from the organisers' website after fears it could trigger epileptic seizures."

You know, the end of it does kind of freak out my brain. (Side note: What's up with youtube tricking up their videos?)

And, by the way, this is a much cooler logo for the 2012 Olympics in London that is not being used.

Free Paris Hilton!

Oh, wait. That just happened!

I Hate Wind

I really do. But not as much as my weird dreams (last night I dreamt a friend's mom get killed when a shopping cart that she was riding in went over a hill. When we got to her body, a big snake was guarding it.)

And the pic is the Karl Klement flag south of town just two days ago. Not a breeze.

Posh Spice Is Growing On Me

The Rare Woman Execution

Next week, Texas' machinery of death will execute a female. A fairly rare occurrence.

She committed a horrible crime of killing a child (well, at least a jury convicted her of that so I hope it's true), but she had no criminal history whatsoever. Oddly, a couple of weeks ago I wrote about how Texas' highest criminal court held that a different lady should not be put to death without any other evidence that she would be a continuing threat to society.

Unfairness? I can only recall the words of former Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, writing in 1994 as he was about to retire from the Court, that "From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death. For more than 20 years I have endeavored...to develop...rules that would lend more than the mere appearance of fairness to the death penalty endeavor...Rather than continue to coddle the court's delusion that the desired level of fairness has been achieved...I feel...obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed."

Those words were haunting the first time I read them. Thirteen years later, things are no better.

Saw This On 287 Today

Yep, a serious wide load.

Sports Purity

I don't know why I get locked into the World Series in college softball, but I do. In fact, it's kind of hard to watch because no one ever gets on base because the pitcher is about 10 feet, it seems, from home plate.

But there was a pretty good moment a second ago when the above girl knocked in a couple of runs for Arizona. That's her on first base seconds after the hit. No machoism. Just pure unadulterated glee.

Good stuff.

WCSO Press Release

Decatur Man Arrested for Aggravated Assault and Aggravated Kidnapping Wise County Deputies, Sgt Randy Eyster and Deputy Mark Adams arrested Robert P Wolf of Decatur this morning June 6, 2007 at his home on Greenwood Rd, Decatur. Robert Wolf was arrested on charges of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Aggravated Kidnapping. Robert Wolf had fired a shotgun at three area teenage boys. The boys said Wolf had chased them, saying they had trespassed on the property. Wolf had threatened the boys that he would shoot them if they did not stop. One of the boys did stop and Wolf made him get into the vehicle and would not let him out until the officers arrived on scene. An offense report for these charges was taken. Wise County Investigator Chase Nolen requesting arrest warrants for Robert P Wolf. Wolf has been arraigned on these charges and a bond of $ 520,000.00 was set for both charges. On June 5th, 2007, the Wise County Sheriff’s Deputies had responded to a disturbance call at Robert Wolf’s Residence at Greenwood Rd. The female victim was physically assaulted by Robert Wolf and held at gunpoint for a while against her will. Then Wolf left the residence. The victim was taken to the Wise Regional Health System Hospital for the injuries she received when Wolf assaulted her. Warrants are pending on these charges. Sgt Debbie Denney I'm glad they through that next to last paragraph in there. The first part of the press release just sounded like a "You kids! Get off my property!" kind of story.

Sorriness

Arlington PD has begun posting pictures of those arrested for solicitation of prostitution on its web site. That's sorry.

You Want Your Kid To Win . . .

. . . the National Spelling Bee? Uh, after this fine interview, I think I'd rather have my kid be in his room blowing up crap on his Playstation. If you liked that, check out this (and stick with it, it's funnier because you know how arrogant the kid is.)

I Was Sorely Disappointed. . .

. . . to learn a moment ago that Spiderman underwear was not available with my purchase of a garden salad from the Decatur Burger King.

Background

I posted this a couple of weeks ago. Now the photographer, who attended the University of Texas, writes about how it came to be.

Is The Messenger Update Not Working?

I'm missing my Mineral Club fix. Edit: Never mind. All is right with the world again. Except for the fact that Decatur is becoming the Hotel Capitol of Places That Have A Lot of Hotels But No Really Nice Hotels.

They Just Keep Coming

Story. And the rebel flag is a nice southern touch.

Brooke Hogan Says

"In Slidell, they like my pants!"

I'm Not Sure Where Christina Has Been Hiding

I don't care what she wears, I'd make her wife #8 in a heart beat. And I'm not sure who she's with, but I think I could compete with that. Maybe. Maybe not.

Can You Imagine?

This man was killed in Iraq one week ago. His wife, who lives in Burleson, was promptly notified.

Yesterday, while she was still grieving, her doorbell rang. She opened it to find a delivery person holding flowers and a card. The Star-Telegram tells you what happens next.

Oh, My

Someone directed my attention to The Ticket's bit of "Disgruntled Bikini Girl." Oh, my, indeed.

Marky Mark . . .

. . . who I swear could be my twin brother, is 35 today.

What's Up With SMU?

In the last five months, three students have died of drugs and/or alcohol.

• Meaghan Bosch, 21 - overdosed on mixture of cocaine, meth, and oxycodone
• Jacob Stiles, 20 - overdosed on a mixture or cocaine, alcohol and something called fentanyl
• Jordan Crist, 19 - alcohol poisoning

And SMU is small with only 11,000 students (and, of that, 6,000 are undergraduates.)

You never hear about deaths like that at TCU, UTA, or North Texas.

Unstable?

Looks like, John Ramsey, the dad of murder victim Jon Benet Ramsey is dating Beth Twitty, the mother of missing Natalee Holloway (last seen in Aruba.)

Ramsey's wife died last June. Twitty was divorced from her husband, "Jug" Twitty, in December.

Brook Burke Says . . .

. . . "Good morning, Alvord."

Edit: Good news. She has a back side.

Baby, Baby

I don't "do" many CPS (Child Protective Services) hearings. The only way I get involved is if the judge appoints me to represent a parent (the person the child has been removed from) or the child itself (herself? his self?) I've told the judges that I don't mind doing my part of community service (lord knows I have too many criminal court appointments), but keep me away from CPS cases. Normally, that happens.

But today I spent about 30 minutes in a hearing on whether CPS should be able to temporarily keep a baby that was removed from the mother just days after the mother gave birth. It's not quite this simple, but, in essence, CPS wanted the judge to authorize their continued possession of the child due to the mother's drug use during the pregnancy. Interestingly, the mother quit using meth two months before the birth and has been clean (as evidenced by a few drug tests) ever since. On the day of birth, mom was negative for any drugs as was the baby. Nevertheless, CPS came in and took the baby.

Tough calls.

For now, the judge said that CPS could keep the child (she's actually in the possession of her grandparents) but everyone agrees that if mom can stay on the straight and narrow, she can have her baby back.

Life is hard. I hate these cases.

Edit: After some very kind "Nice job, Barry" posts, let me clarify: I didn't have a lot to do with the hearing other than to monitor it on behalf of the child. The CPS lawyer, Regina Anderson, did all the hard work. And CPS investigators did all the pre-hearing leg work.

[Insert The Theme From "Jaws"]

Anybody know Susan Dornquast of Fort Worth? She was standing around in knee deep water in the ocean off of South Carolina when a shark came in and used her leg as Dairy Queen corn dog. She was actually striking a pose as her husband was taking her picture.

I've always thought swimming the ocean was weird. It's like you're in a place you don't belong, and you have no idea what lies underneath that might object to your presence.

Fox 4 ......Pause........News

I received a report from a faithful and beloved reader that Fox 4 News will be doing a story on the "no indigent health care for illegal aliens" tonight at 9:00 p.m. I didn't see the news van up at the courthouse, but I didn't get to stick my head out of there between 1 and 4 today.

Edit: Yep, the story showed up. No new information, however. Although Paradise legend Greg Lowery did make a TV appearance.

Akon . . .

. . . throws a kid off the stage after kid threw something on the stage. Best clip here but here's an angle which shows the kid flying at the camera. Good times.

Note To Self

Don't send questionable emails over school computers. (Florida story.)

Grizzly Discovery . . .

. . . in Eagle Mountain Lake in Azle. (I presume it's Eagle Mountain Lake.)

"Turn To Your Right!"

I'm Not Posting This of Britney

Cameron Diaz . . .

. . . says, "Good morning, Boyd!"

Scam-A-Rama

I don't know how much it costs to buy a 30 second spot on the MTV Music Awards, but I bet it was more than John Lanier paid for the ad to the right.

I took this screen shot from an ad that appeared about halfway through the program. If you know the answer to that question, just text it in! I had to hit the replay button on my TIVO to discover that doing so would cost 99 cents since it was a "subscription service." (That disclaimer was on the screen for just five seconds.) MTV should be ashamed for allowing it.

Thanks To Loyal Readers . . .

. . . for pointing this out. I completely missed it, and I don't know how.

There Was A Democratic Debate Tonight . . .

. . . that nobody watched. But this report got my attention:

To a question on whether English should be the official language in the United States, only former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel raised his hand in the affirmative. But Obama protested the question itself, calling it "the kind of question that was designed precisely to divide us." He said such questions "do a disservice to the American people."

Baloney. Tell us where you stand.

Oh, My

It's not fit to print, but Sarah Silverman just made the most shocking "Paris Hilton Goes To Jail" joke at the MTV Movie Awards with Paris Hilton sitting in the audience. [Edit: Actual screen shot above.] At the moment the cameras cut to Paris, it might qualify as the most uncomfortable moment in the history of TV ever.

I'll wait for the YouTube.Com clip to link (but I think MTV might be owned by Viacom which means there won't be any YouTube.Com clips.)

Edit: Thanks to a buddy for texting me that the video can be found here.

Edit #2: On YouTube.com here.

"Knocked Up"

Saw this movie this weekend. The previews looked funny. My expectations were high. I couldn't wait to see it.

Verdict: It immediately goes in my Top 10 comedies of all time, and I haven't had time to let it fully sink in yet. Funny. Charming. Shocking. Tender. Insightful.

What's Next? Prince at Bill's Dollar Store?

Fergie will appear (and sing) at, get this, the Verizon store in Southlake this Wednesday.

It's kind of like when Steve Wariner sang in the Decatur Walmart parking lot in the 1990s. It just ain't right.