January 2, 2016

Republican state treasurer says food stamp work requirement makes sense

Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards is thinking about waiving the requirement that able-bodied adults without dependents get a job, receive job training or perform public service as a condition of receiving food stamps. To waive this requirement would be a mistake. Here’s why.

In 1961, Alderson Muncy was in dire circumstances. A drop in the nation’s demand for coal had cost Muncy his job at a West Virginia mine. He lived in the poorest part of a poor state and had a wife and 13 children to feed.

The poverty in West Virginia touched the hearts of people across America. Muncy and his wife, Chloe, became the first recipients in the U.S. of food stamps. Handed $95 in food stamps, they used just $20 worth. Months later, they started chipping in for the cost of the food stamps after Alderson Muncy got a temporary job. Within six years they were off food stamps altogether after Alderson Muncy found work with the state highway department.

The Muncy family exemplified the founding goal of the food stamp program. The program was never meant to produce a population that is dependent on government assistance. Food stamps are supposed to be temporary, short-term assistance: a bridge, not a parking lot.

Read more: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/opinion/2016/01/02/kennedy-food-stamp-work-requirement-makes-sense/78140828/

January 2, 2016

New Mexico lowers speed limits on unmarked country roads

SANTA FE – Starting today, drivers in New Mexico will have to ease off the gas pedal or risk a ticket when traveling country roads with no posted speed limit.

A law taking effect today reduces the speed limit on unmarked roads across the rural state from 75 mph to 55 mph.

Backers of the legislation said the default speed limit of 75 mph posed a safety hazard on many roads that weren’t engineered for speed.

Those roads can be narrow, unpaved and lined with mailboxes, said Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Logan.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/698846/news/new-mexico-lowers-speed-limits-on-unmarked-county-roads.html

January 2, 2016

Cows killed in storm likely to top 30,000

LUBBOCK, Texas – Dairy producers in West Texas and eastern New Mexico are continuing to assess how many animals died in the winter storm last weekend, but the number will probably climb to more than 30,000, an official with a dairy group said Thursday.

Texas Association of Dairymen Executive Director Darren Turley said an estimated 15,000 mature dairy cows died in the storm’s primary impact area – from Lubbock west to Muleshoe and north to Friona, which is home to half of the state’s top-10 milk producing counties and produces 40 percent of the state’s milk.

An agent with New Mexico State University’s extension service told Turley the area around Clovis lost an estimated 20,000 dairy cows.

The number of younger animals killed by the storm in each state could be just as high as the mature cows, he said.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/699253/news/cows-lost-to-snowstorm-likely-to-top-30000.html

January 1, 2016

Ken Paxton to appeal ruling upholding charges

Attorney General Ken Paxton moved Thursday to appeal a trial judge’s recent decision to uphold felony charges that he broke state securities laws during private business deals in 2011 and 2012.

State District Judge George Gallagher rejected Paxton’s multiple pretrial requests to dismiss the charges in a series of succinct Dec. 11 rulings that offered no legal explanation for the decisions but put Paxton on course for trial as early as late summer.

On Thursday, Paxton’s lawyers notified Gallagher that they intend to appeal his rulings to the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas.

“Our pleadings are solid and well-grounded in law and fact,” defense lawyer Bill Mateja said in a statement. “We are optimistic that we will prevail in the higher court.”

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/ken-paxton-to-appeal-ruling-upholding-charges/npwDY/

[font color=330099]it has been a busy week for Ken Paxton's legal team and supporters. This is the third story this week that I've posted this week regarding the legal case and how Paxton is attempting to weasel out of it.[/font]

January 1, 2016

You're running out of chances to give grief to a forum host in 2015

so have at it folks! Don't worry folks, I'll stay awake for those in time zones west of where i live.

BTW, is drunk hosting allowed on New Year's Eve?

Happy New Year's Day to everyone!

January 1, 2016

Georgia won't let Pastafarian wear colander in license photo

Whether or not Chris Avino could sport a colander in his driver’s license photo became an issue for the Georgia Department of Driver Services.

Avino got a temporary ID sporting the strainer after telling people it was a religious headdress. He is a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. But the department officials later changed their minds and said Avino would have to retake the picture.

A colander, they said, is just a colander.

Massachusetts Pastafarian Lindsay Miller went through a similar experience.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/georgia-wont-allow-pastafarian-to-wear-colander-in/npt4h/