Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• One odd and sad thing about the Sandra Bland case is that she couldn't afford a bond fee of $500 to $1,000 so she remained in jail.
• Yes, I saw the DA released the toxicology report which showed Bland had marijuana in her system. I'm not sure how that's relevant unless there's a list somewhere of people committing suicide after smoking a joint. 
• I haven't heard whether the trooper in the Bland case will even receive a reprimand for his unprofessional conduct from much maligned DPS Director Steve McCraw.  Recall that McCraw, when he's not involved in his own controversies, was very upset with a trooper who posed with Snoop Dogg a few months ago. 
• Weird Dallas story: A guy gets in a one car wreck in the middle of the afternoon, calls his sister to tell what happened, and then vanished.
• I've tried to lay off my "ads disguised as news" rants, but it really is fascinating. I was watching the end of Fox News Sunday and after the round table, they ran a three minute segment on Marriott hotels. It was nothing more than a "story" about how the founder had a vision, how well the company is doing, and the many brands they now work under.  
• The "Open Carry" new law may have a "flaw" (depending on your views.) As written, a prosecutor's office, a probation department, or a clerk's office cannot ban openly carried handguns by a CHL holder. (That may come as a shock to my buddies across the street.)  However, since a ban is allowed for  the premises of a "government court" and the "offices" of that court, one DA has asked the Texas Attorney General if the ban can apply for the entire court building even if it houses a clerk or prosecutor's office.  That is very relevant for the Wise County courthouse and almost all Texas courthouses. (But since the Wise County Clerk and Probation Department are in standalone buildings, they seem to be out of luck.) Here is the letter asking for the AG opinion which is really informative. 
• The Ticket afternoon show mocked UT coach Charlie Strong for laughing earlier in the day (a little too much) when asked the question, "Of all the places you coached, which fans have the greatest expectations?" He was laughing because he was thinking, "You want me to give an answer of anything other than 'Texas' fans? You know what that would mean?"
• Fox 4's Steve Noviello had video last night of him confronting a lady in a hotel that she had rented with his credit card number.  It was cheesy yet riveting -- Is this sweeps time again?  I did roll my eyes at the end of the segment when Noviello was complimented by Heather Hays for keeping his cool during the confrontation. After plastering the lady's image on their show for six minutes, Noviello said he didn't think he needed to "belittle" her. 
• Back to UT, BagOfNothing mentioned today that former great Jamaal Charles competed in the Special Olympics as a child. He wondered why and did some research. Made me wonder if BON ever heard the high school interview of Charles by Rick Renner at an all-star game. (It's on youtube but has offensively been visually tricked up.) 
• Very random front page below but the "Speeders Beware" headline got my attention. There is a reference to "grant money" from TxDOT for this program ("Operation Lead Foot" perhaps?) which will be used to pay for overtime for the cops. That pays for 45% of the overtime the officers will receive conditioned on the city agreeing to pay an additional 55% in overtime. So state and local government agree to pay a huge chunk of overtime pay to government employees to write speeding tickets which will generate more government money. Of course, all of this is to make "the roads safer." (I'm pretty sure this is the TxDOT "Step Program" which has been implemented in Wise County in the past.)