Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• This is a crazy case out of Colorado: We had a pregnant wife and her two young kids missing --  it was just featured on NBC Nightly News last night with an interview of the husband. He has since been arrested. Before the arrest: "[Detective] Baumhover said nothing appeared out of place at the house and officials are unaware of any mental health issues associated with Shanann Watts . . . . Shanann Watts' phone, purse and wallet were all found inside the home [with the car in the garage]" "Chris Watts told KUSA that the couple had an emotional conversation early Monday."
  
  
• After the SMU/North Texas football game in a couple of weeks, there will be a "professional wrestling match." Dear SMU, you are better than that. Dear UNT, you are better than that. 
  
• Cricket Infestation Warning: I'm predicting Moderate unless they love humidity in which case I'm predicting the End Of The World Via Crickets.
• There was some very late legal move yesterday in an attempt to stop the trial of the former Balch Springs police officer who shot and killed the unarmed kid leaving the party. The cop had talked to Internal Affairs and the defense now claims the prosecutors are illegally using information obtained from those conversations. According to the Morning News, the issue concerns a "Garrity warning." I can't say that doctrine readily came to mind. A quick Westlaw search indicates those words have only appeared in two Texas appellate cases -- both unreported. (Basically, if your government employer compels you to cooperate with IA, your cooperation can't be used against you in a criminal case.)
• Twenty year old Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. had hit a lead off home run in three straight games. Last night, on the very first pitch, he was intentionally hit by Marlins starter Jose Ureña.  There is nothing more cowardly than that. And equally cowardly was the Braves players on the bench which didn't storm the field to go after Ureña. (They just did the typical baseball standoff.)
  
• Cowboys' Travis Frederick saw a specialist because of a hurt neck. If that turns out to be a problem, my prediction of "take the under" for Cowboys' season wins becomes more of a lock than it already is. 
• Remember the news item where the newspaper published information regarding the Parkland shooting because the Parkland school board was too dumb to properly redact portions of it? Well, the judge, who must have never taken a First Amendment class, is mad. "In the future, she declared, she will consider listing exactly what the newspaper can and cannot print." You kidding me? When she was appointed, the governor said, "Liz is committed to the principle that the judiciary must say what the law is, and not what it should be." It helps if you know "what the law is."
  
• Speaking of First Amendment Idiots: He's upset again this morning. 
  
• A Travis County jury took less than an hour yesterday to decide that a punch that left a TCU football player with a broken jaw outside of a West Sixth Street bar last summer was justified. When you have a "defense of third person" argument involving a late night incident on Sixth Street, you're in a pretty good position. (It probably didn't hurt that the defendant was 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 168 pounds. The "victim" was 6'6" and 260.)
• This is the most Donald Jr. pic in the history of Donald Jr. pics: 
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• Steve Perry has a new album coming out. I'm more shocked that he is 69.