- Texas hospitalizations. +125.
- Gov. Greg Abbott, who has somehow become the boogeyman for the Far Right, is now allowing bars to open at 50% capacity but only if the local county judges give it the OK. Wise County Judge J.D. Clark immediately said he would. Harris, Dallas, and Bexar county judges said no. The Tarrant County Judge is in a pickle and is currently deciding.
- There was a time in Wise County, in my lifetime in fact, where the County Judge would have shut down every bar or beer store for any reason he could legally find to do so just to insure he would get re-elected. And he would have been hailed as a hero if he did. That's not a political opinion, just an observation of how times change.
- Breaking: The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that next week's presidential debate will be virtual. The Contagious President immediately said he won't take part in it. (That was after he called Kamala Harris "this monster." And you wonder why he's not doing well with women?)
- Here's the billboard I was talking about on 287 north of Decatur.
- In the end, this is all we will remember from last night.
- Regarding the killing of a black man in Wolfe City by police, I told you that I bet there was a bodycam and that it had to be really bad based upon the quick arrest of the officer. Well, I was right about the bodycam according to the Probable Cause Affidavit. Now they need to release the video. The only reason they won't is that the fear a national reaction like after the George Floyd murder.
- Legal stuff: An interesting case was refused for review by Texas' highest criminal court yesterday (they were one vote short of the the required four.) The issue: Is it a due process violation if the prosecutor's brother-in-law and the judge's brother are seated on the jury and neither the prosecutor or judge says a thing? Yes, the defense lawyer failed to ask the questions to discover the problem but, still, is a constitutionally required fair trial destroyed if the prosecutor and judge just sit back, remain quiet, and smile? Here's the Petition which asked the court to review the case. (It did something I do from time to time: Cite to the TDCAA Weekly Case Summaries commentary which can sometimes be shockingly candid.)
- Maybe it's just a fluke, but I'm seeing a lot of high profile stories of violent crimes being committed by teenagers. Pandemic related? Social media upbringing related? We've got the story below out of Denton and about 10 days ago there was a horrific crime spree by a an 18 year old in Arlington (stabbed a store clerk, later attacked a couple walking and killed a man, and then stole a car and ran over another pedestrian on person.) And I could have sworn I saw a story out of Mesquite (?) about a gang of teenagers involved in a killing or robbery.
- I kept seeing this and thinking it was a parody account, but it has the verified blue check mark.
- I think I'd be so outraged I'd say, "That's odd but what time is Texas/OU?" (It's also a story from August.)
- If you really like legal stuff and First Amendment law, here is a great explanation why the Netflix prosecution by the fashion model D.A. over Cuties will go down in flames.
- Delkus is mad over something other than people ragging on him for being a bad weatherman. In his defense, this really is insane. How hard is it to process an application? And I wonder if he lives
- Fun fact about Wise County Jail population (after studying it for years): At any given time, 1/3 of the inmates have been in jail for under 30 days while 1/4 of them have been in jail for over 100 days. Those numbers are bizarrely consistent. The jail population seems to stay in a range from 175 to 195.
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