Breaking

......confirmed deadly wrong way driver crash on 287 outside of Decatur involving Justice of the Peace Terri Johnson.

Edit: Based upon news I'm getting on Saturday night, this is going to be horrible.

Edit: Star-Telegram's first post.

Edit: Good lord, she was the wrong way driver. Possibly a seizure.

Edit: Messenger has a couple of photos.

Random Vehicle Fire

@DFWscanner wb I 20 just before New York ave in Arlington pic.twitter.com/ODuEDSftI4
— Ray Cartwright (@rayscartwright) April 26, 2014

Above The Fold

Emotions Of The Longhorns Taking You Into The Weekend

 That Bill Clinton in the background?

Cheer Like A Champion Today

"Dont give up. Don't ever give up." - Jim Valvano

Prime Time

Help me please! I need to rent a Helicopter In south Dallas by noon for a hour. #Realtalk. TRUTH
— DeionSanders (@DeionSanders) April 25, 2014

Edit: And later today . . . (Not Deion. Not Deion. Not Deion.)

Two injured in helicopter crash at Cleburne Airport http://t.co/Tp8AailyWG pic.twitter.com/4wIJ2Z6CUS
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) April 25, 2014

That's Kind Of An Awkward Press Conference Setting Right Now

.@VirginAmerica says it will fly outta @DallasLoveField to SF, LA, LaGuardia and DC Reagan. http://t.co/yVEVux2i9M pic.twitter.com/2DRTF5IXv6
— Robert Wilonsky (@RobertWilonsky) April 25, 2014

Random Friday Morning THoughts

• I blew by Nancy Grace last night and heard her say, "I'm on the fence on this case because I don't know the truth." Darlin', everyone knows that's never stopped you. (But I don't think I've ever heard her say that.) 
• A great blog post on Rick Perry's position on the current "land grab" of the federal government (Bundy Ranch; Texas border?) compared to his desire in 2005 to confiscate a half million acres of Texas land to build his failed Trans Texas Corridor that caused farmers and ranchers to show up in Austin to protest.
• Loved Jon Stewart's response to Sean Hannity getting his feelings hurt for being exposed on the Bundy Rebellion. After observing how incredible it is that Hannity's program even exists in this day and time, he says, "And to see [your show] night after night serving up the same [expletive deleted] --my god, you're the Arby's of news."
• I've seen more of Stephen Colbert since it was announced that he got the Late Show gig. Funny? I think not. Here's a non-sports prediction: He will be fired within the year.
• A complicated, important and interesting legal issue popped up at work yesterday and when I got home I could not stop thinking about it. And I tried. Then it dawned on me that I've done that all my life. If something significant occurs which causes me concern, whether it be work, relationships, or financial, I can't turn it off for two or three days. 
• The Star-Telegram's paywall is finally working over the last three or so weeks. 
• My weird food taste: I buy beans which appear to be marketed towards large hispanic families.
• It's almost impossible to watch the news with the kids in the room. Last night Fox 4 started out with footage of the dog being shot in Rains County and the second story was footage of a Dallas cop shooting some guy which got her indicted. 
• Sportsy: (1) Another reason Ranger fans should hate C.J. Wilson (2) It's amazing that Sports Illustrated puts all of its old issues online. Here's a NFL Draft Preview from 25 years ago. (3) New Knicks president Phil Jackson says that under the collective bargaining agreement that players need to make "sacrifices financially."  Umkay. Jackson is reported to make $12 million a year. And the owners of the hapless Milwaukee Bucks were just sold for $550 million after being bought for $18 million in 1989.
• We may have another school stabbing incident developing. 

This Is Insane

A man with as IQ in 50s is convicted of murder in 1977 and goes off to prison.  He appealed the decision and it was overturned in 1980 and a new trial ordered. Now get this: The defense lawyers and the prosecutors pretty much forgot about him.  He was never retried, but he remained in prison. It wasn't until 2006 that a fellow inmate was looking into his case and came to the conclusion, "Something ain't quite right here."

And he's still in prison.

(There's been a ton of press about this over the last couple of years, but I had never heard of it.)

Gettin' Your Drink On

Story.  Edit: A legal eagle out there points out this case for the proposition that the charge should probably be "Leaving Child in Vehicle" instead of "Endangering a Child." 

Based upon my crack research skills, the bar is probably the Grayson County Line on FM 730. Further research reveals they have entertainment from time to time:

Is There Anyone More On An Alarmist Than Delkus?

This is for Saturday evening.

Someone needs to tell him there's a difference between predicting the likely weather and screaming about the worst case scenario.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• This is a couple of days old, but a U.S. Marshal shot and killed a defendant in court after he "lunged" at a witness with a pen. But was a weird line from the story: "A mistrial was declared after the shooting."
• An upcoming contestant on The Bachelorette has been killed. Edit: I've been called out on this. You have to be murdered in order to have been "killed"? I don't think so.  
• Mrs. LL is still hard at with the kitchen repainting project. I think everyone in the house doubting her in the beginning has turned her into Mrs. Bob Vila. 
• Sports: (1) Mavs fans need to settle down. This won't end well. (2) Another marijuana arrest of a TCU football player. (3) Oh, come on. Yesterday Martin Perez goes nine innings and gives up three hits and no runs. Maybe my nemesis has some devil powers or something. (4) The Cowboys will not be playing on Sunday afternoon in six of their sixteen games this fall.  (5) The Boston Marathon winner wore Skechers. Skechers. (6) Hey, to the guy who thinks I'm not a great sports predictor. Who picked Yu Darvish to finish second in the Cy Young Award last year? Who said bet the house that the Cowboys would win less than 8.5 games? Who amazingly predicted the Mavs to lose to the Heat in the the 2006 Championship after the Mavs were up 2-0? This guy. 
• I'll never understand the fluctuation in gasoline prices. 
• I'll never understand an upcoming documentary called Fight Church. It's about a church and it's MMA program 
• The clemency program in the news involves primarily non-violent drug offenders who have already spent over ten years in federal prison. Think about that. Ten real years for drugs. That's insane. The Land of the Free has been in  love with putting people in cages. 
• Mrs. LL mentioned that she was saving for a "Sweet Sixteen" party. That kind of made my brain short circuit. 
• That great American right wing patriot Cliven Bundy has some thoughts on "the Negro."
• I think Facebook, which used to be a slight beating, is now a major beating. 

Above The Fold

Uh, Oh. Fox 4 Is Going After A Deputy Who Murdered A Dog

Necropsy of Candy - vet concluded she was shot from back of her head with bullet exiting the front. pic.twitter.com/BjWtTFMXNu
— LARI BARAGER (@laribaragerfox4) April 23, 2014

This is in Rains County. (Although I'm not sure how the vet could determine that the dog was shot while retreating.)

Facebook Support Page

News story. (Not Fox 4's.)

Random Photo

Wreck In Twin Hills

"Everyone Gets a Trophy" Mentality Coming to Denton Schools?

DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) - The Denton Independent School District is throwing traditional grading methods right out the window, shifting to a new way of assessing their students. The change is going to happen for kids from 6th to 12th grade beginning next year. Teachers will still be handing out letter grades, but the means of calculating those scores will be different than just about any other school district in North Texas.

Hand in your homework late? You won’t get a zero.

Want a higher grade on a test? Just take it again.

Grades will no longer be reduced for failure to meet deadlines. Zeroes will not be used for missing work. Students will be able to retake all exams and use the higher score. The idea is to hand out grades that show what the kids actually know, not how well they behave. More. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Jon Stewart's lambasting of Fox's Sean Hannity's position on the Bundy Ranch was perfect.
• We are sending troops into Eastern Europe. Really? Do we have to get involved in everything?
• The Fifth Grader in the House used the term "life hack" the other day. 
• Fort Worth motorcycle death. 
• The Ticket did a segment on this Cadillac commercial this morning calling it the most controversial one on TV.  Ugly American? The 1%-ers? They doing a bit? 
• This has been going around recently: "When I think of ten years ago, I think of the 1990s and not the 2000s." I seriously have to catch myself all the time. This happened to someone on the radio during the Masters when they said it had been 10 years since Tiger had missed the tournament. Nope, it was 20 years. 
• Mrs. LL sheepishly told me last night that she went to a different pet food store and bought cat food, dog food, and turtle food and was shocked by the bill. This has to bad if she's fessing up.
• Sports: (1) Ranger Nick Martinez went five innings and gave up six four runs but only two of them earned. Advantage nemesis. (2) That was so odd for UT's Charlie Strong to say the Longhorns wouldn't be playing in the national championship game this season. He made the statement during a  promotional tour through DFW. There was no reason to say it. (3) The NFL schedule will be released on ESPN tonight at 7:00 going head to head with the Mavs game. I wonder if it's the NFL paying back Cuban for his "implode in ten years" comment. (4) Local sports talk radio was full of Stars bandwagoners yesterday. (5) The new commercials for the SEC Network are fantastic. 
• I just heard someone mention that it was Administrative Assistants Day.  Uh, oh. Panic. 
• I caught a little bit of O'Reilly last night with some lady on there commenting about the Supreme Court decision allowing Michigan voters to decide that race should not be considered a factor in college admissions. She said something along the lines of "the Court was correct because there is no constitutional provision to overturn state elections." Huh? Have a state election to establish a religion and see how that works out. 
• That $3 million fracking verdict will be hard to hang on to. 
• Oklahoma court confusion: It's highest criminal court refuses to stop an execution, then the highest civil court stays the execution, and then the Governor says I'll give everyone seven days to figure out who has jurisdiction. 

Shark News. Yep, Shark News.

I'm still skeptical about the stowaway kid who hitched a ride to Hawaii, and earlier today I learned yesterday's story of the guy who got "carried across the finish line" at the Boston Marathon didn't really happen.

And now I'm supposed to believe a guy fishing from land caught an 800 pound shark? Well, maybe. Video and Houston Chronicle story.

Supreme Court Infringes On Your Freedom Again This Morning

An anonymous 911 caller can tell dispatch that he saw you commit a traffic violation and, he says, is of the belief that you are drunk. That, without more, now allows the cops to stop you.

I only wish First, Second and Tenth Amendment lovers cared as much about the Fourth.

From the dissent.

Drunken driving is a serious matter, but so is the loss of our freedom to come and go as we please without police interference. To prevent and detect murder we do not allow searches without probable cause . . . . . We should not do so for drunken driving either. After today’s opinion all of us on the road . . . . are at risk of having our freedom of movement curtailed on suspicion of drunkenness, based upon a phone tip, true or false, of a single instance of careless driving.

And that was Scalia!

Link.

Edit: Good grief people. The two keys are (1) anonymous call reporting (2) one incident of bad driving. 

Those Big Power Lines In Wise County Are In The News

 Story.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Burned ponies recovering in Decatur per WFAA.
• Prosecutors used to make a small fortune on collecting on hot checks and receiving a fee for their efforts. With checks going the way of the dinosaur, those days are over. (And that "fee" always seemed seedy to me.)
• Earlier this month: The lawyer who has hired Bon Jovi, Sting, and Miley Cyrus to play at his Christmas parties won a verdict of over $9 billion. Idiocracy reigns. 
• Someone commented last night that the Star-Telegram will make a major announcement this week. I have no idea if that is true. But if it is, you heard it hear first.
• Troy Aikman's new girlfriend. Hey, now. (I learned that from Busted Coverage but I hate that site because it makes my computer grind to a halt.)
• That David Dewhurst attack ad on Dan Patrick isn't bad. Back in the debate, Patrick's bankruptcy came up and I thought then that would be an issue with the Hard Right.  (Because, after all, you just have to work hard and money will coming flooding in. Right?) 
• Mrs. LL is repainting the kitchen. Right now it looks like Hiroshima in 1945.
• Sports: (1) No nemesis update. We both agree on Yu Darvish. (2) "Colts place [former Cowboy] Phil Costa on 'Reserve/Retired' list. Signed 2-yr, $2.75M contract on March 14 that included $450k in guaranteed money." I don't know if he gets any of that money. (3) "Baylor sucks" - Texas Linebacker. (3A) "We will not be in the national championship game.” - UT Head Coach Charlie Strong (4) That shot by Kevin Durant last night was insane. (5) Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is a miserable human being. Last week he was being interviewed by the Musers when George Dunham asked him a harmless questions about him playing the piano. "What does that have to do with playoff basketball?" Carlisle said. Jerk. (9:50 mark.)
• Mrs. LL is concerned that she's older than Bubba Watson. I'm concerned she's older than Emma Watson. (That's a joke. Baby? Honey?)
• Hey civil lawyers: How is that Dallas fracking lawsuit filed in a county court at law when they are "asking for more than $9 million" in damages?
• That teen stowaway story may be true? There's footage of him getting in the wheel well in San Jose. I still can't believe it.
• Pat Tillman died ten years ago today. His brother's remarks at his funeral are still as shocking as when they were uttered -- grieving or not. (I've read Tillman's mom' book but, somehow, not Jon Krakauer's book.)
• How do we have a baseball playoff for second place with Bridgeport and Decatur playing each other and the winner then having to beat Krum twice? 
• I began watching the 30 for 30 episode on the Hillsborough soccer tragedy. It was great. But I had to turn it off after Mrs. LL yelled at me for watching it with the Fifth Grader in he House. 

Boston Marathon Photo

At our best. RT @WesleyLowery: Runner falls short of finish. Four others pick him up and carry him. via @marciaherold pic.twitter.com/Hsu4BdjTAn
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelCBS) April 21, 2014

As a guy with at least some half marathon experience, the last thing I want is to be carried.

How Many Dallas Police Does It Take To Arrest Someone?

The guy in front might be wanted by the cops. Maybe. Just maybe.

Live link.

Edit: The guy is dead. Cops shot him for some reason.

And Another -- Collin County

Story.

Edit:

Personal Foul. Tripping. Fifteen Yards On The PO-leece

Dallas – After the dramatic penalty-kick shootout victory by Austin Vandergrift over Trophy Club Byron Nelson in the 4A girls soccer title game Saturday, students from the school jumped down from the stands and ran on to the field to celebrate. Just before they did, the public-address announcer reminded all fans that they were not to go on the field after the match. But seeing all the fans along the rails in front of the stands, I knew they were headed to the field. Sure enough, after the win was secured, kids ran on to the field and celebrated. They were back off the field in less than five minutes. No harm done, right? Not by the students, anyway. But check out the actions of the Georgetown police officer in this video as the students run on the field. Tripping one, trying to trip another, pushing another. I’m not sure what measures he was told to take if fans came on to the field, but this did not look good.

Kid In A Liquor Store

I'm not sure why this video is so popular today. Maybe it's the Crocs that kid is sporting.

But how can you take a toddler into a liquor store and let him walk towards a bunch of glass bottles? That's just irresponsible.  You gotta keep the kid in the car.  Parenting 101.

Moose v. Snowmobile

There's a gun involved. I was rooting for the moose at that point. It ends peacefully.

Video.

It's The Anniversary of the Battle Of San Jacinto

Isn't this painting hanging in the state capitol?

And, do I dare question, is it any good?

And Another - Florida

Story. (Edit: Fixed.)

(Thanks emailer Mark.)

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• The picture of the vet examining a 14-year-old male orangutan has been everywhere, but it still makes me laugh. 
• I did some touch up painting this weekend and dang near destroyed everything I came in contact with. (Just picture Mrs. LL walking in and staring in stunned silence.)
• I wonder what Willie Nelson fans think about him endorsing Wendy Davis. 
• My Sports Nemesis battle: On Friday, Perez pitched a complete game and gave up no runs. Advantage (extremely to) my nemesis.  On Saturday, Lewis went six innings and gave up one run. Advantage nemesis. On Sunday, Ross went 5.1 innings and gave up seven runs. Advantage me. Don't get too cocky, buddy.
• The fact that Shin-Soo Choo's walk up music is Turned Down For What makes me giggle. 
• The Mavs lost? Does anyone care?
• There's a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, Don Willett, who is active on twitter and basically just whips you with "dad jokes". I'm trying to find out if he tweets while on the clock on while using a government issued phone or computer. 
• I went through Grapevine yesterday. There's a toll road now?
• A Dallas lawyer who had knee surgery wore a pair of shorts to court and got kicked out. Here's a tip: Find a better pair of shorts. 
• Resume (for a job) and Resume (to continue) are spelled the same way. (Just noticed that while looking at the Update.)
• Neil Young was at the Meyerson Symphony Center this weekend. If you offered me $100 to go see him, I'd turn you down. (I'd rather listen to my cat scream --- which,  basically, is the same thing.)
• News this morning: "A 16-year-old apparently hitched a ride from San Jose, California, to Maui, Hawaii, in the landing-gear wheel well of a Boeing 767, Hawaiian Airlines said Sunday."  Tap the brakes on this story. I'm not sure that's humanly possible. 
• My parents gave me a Makita drill for Christmas twenty years ago and it was one of the few times my dad actually mentioned the price. The batteries (finally) wore out this year, and I  replaced it this weekend. I now know why he complained about the price. But that thing is fantastic.  
• Mrs. LL went to see Beauty and the Beast last night with her mom, and I was put in charge of the Girls in the House. It went pretty smoothly. In fact, there were some pretty insightful discussions. 
• It makes sense, but sports talk radio is mainly concerned with the demographic of "men 25-54." (Local results here.)
• The Bag of Nothing guy is back! (Man, he had a lot of pent up thoughts based upon his "I'm Back" post.)

Get Low

Views of Lake Bridgeport which is 21.67 feet low as of this morning:

 North of the 380 bridge looking east.

 Same area - little further north

 Twin Hills

 Just north of the dam looking north

 Further north looking east. (We got a beach!)

 Wise County Park. Oh, my!

El Lago (I used to live there).