TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalMistrial declared in 1st Twin Peaks shootout trial
WACO -- A mistrial was declared Friday in the trial of Jacob Carrizal, the first biker from the May 2015 Twin Peaks shootout to stand trial.
Jurors told 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson they were hopelessly deadlocked after more than 14 hours of deliberation, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial at about 2:50 p.m.
While the jury was whisked away by court officials and not made available to the media, a courthouse source who spoke to the jury after the mistrial was declared said there were never more than six jurors in favor of finding Carrizal guilty on any of the three counts.
In a note to Johnson, the jury initially reported they had reached a unanimous vote on one count, but that vote later changed. The initial decision was for not guilty on the first count, the source said.
Read more: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/courts_and_trials/mistrial-declared-in-st-twin-peaks-shootout-trial/article_9d099b15-e4b5-5a4e-89d9-ce6cd6c54b01.html
Democrats Concerned About Vote Count in Tight Virginia Delegate Race
Three days after Election Day, some campaign headquarters remain staffed with volunteers, including the race for the House of Delegates in Stafford County, where there are claims some voters’ voices are being silenced.
Republican Bob Thomas leads Democrat Joshua Cole by just 84 votes in Virginia’s 28th House District.
The House is split, with 49 Democrats and 51 Republicans, but three races are too close to call. Just one turning blue would create a 50/50 split, with Democrat Lt. Gov.-elect Justin Fairfax holding the tiebreaking vote.
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Democrats in Stafford County say 55 military absentee ballots aren’t being counted but should. Then there’s an unknown number of provisional ballots. Democrats say the registrar hasn’t told them that exact number and they want to know it. Some also claim another 1,100 absentee ballots that aren’t being counted.
Read more: https://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/first-read-dmv/Democrats-Concerned-About-Vote-Count-in-Tight-Virginia-Delegate-Race-456748913.html
Hogan proposes end to state income taxes on military pensions
Gov. Larry Hogan marked Veterans Appreciation Month on Thursday by renewing his call for elimination of state income taxes on Maryland’s military retirees.
At a State House news conference, Hogan contended that such a move is needed to keep the state’s military retirees from moving to states that already have that exemption, such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania. He said he will submit legislation doing away with such taxation when the General Assembly reconvenes in January for its annual 90-day session.
Hogan, a Republican, noted that he originally proposed a full exemption in 2015 when he first took office. The General Assembly amended his proposal to allow an exemption on the first $10,000 of military pay. The governor said that when he resubmitted legislation for a full exemption in 2017, the Democratic-led legislature never brought it up for a committee vote.
The governor promised to enlist veterans’ groups to lobby for next year’s bill.
Read more: http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/government/bs-md-hogan-veterans-20171109-story.html
Anne Arundel police investigate Confederate Lives Matter harassment of Southern student
Anne Arundel police launched an investigation Friday into complaints that a group of students at Southern High School harassed another student by posting threatening language on social media posts under the name Confederate Lives Matter.
After being asked by The Capital about messages posted on Snapchat with obscene and violent language aimed at a transgender student, police contacted the student’s family, and Principal Kathryn Feuerherd sent an email about the incident to students and their families.
“I want to be very clear that we have taken — and continue to take — this issue very seriously,” Feuerherd wrote. “These posts do not reflect the values of character and integrity we hold for our school and greater school community.”
The father of the student, who The Capital is not identifying because of the nature of the harassment, said until late Friday he hadn’t heard from schools or police since filing a complaint Nov. 2.
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/ac-cn-southern-high-1111-story.html
Prosecutors consider death penalty in prison riot
DOVER — Delaware prosecutors are holding out the possibility of seeking the death penalty against inmates charged in a deadly prison riot, even though the state does not currently allow capital punishment.
Eighteen prisoners have been indicted for their alleged roles in the February riot. Sixteen, including some already serving time for murder, are charged with first-degree murder in the death of correctional officer Steven Floyd.
In a letter last week, prosecutors informed Judge William C. Carpenter Jr., who is presiding over the case, that if lawmakers vote to reinstate the death penalty, prosecutors reserve the right to try to apply it to one or more defendants.
The state Supreme Court declared Delaware’s death penalty law unconstitutional last year because it allowed judges too much discretion and did not require that a jury find unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant deserves execution. That ruling came after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida’s death sentencing law, which was similar to Delaware’s.
Read more: http://delawarestatenews.net/news/prosecutors-consider-death-penalty-prison-riot/
Delaware Stadium to receive long-awaited facelift at cost of $60 million
Delaware Stadium, which has beckoned Blue Hens football fans for decades despite its fading beauty, is about to receive a long-awaited major makeover.
The University of Delaware will announce at halftime of Saturday’s football game against Albany that the 22,000-seat Newark facility will undergo a $60 million transformation.
It will include installing chairback seating in the three middle sections – C, D and E – of the west (home side) grandstand and box-seat area just above Tubby Raymond Field.
More noticeably, it includes construction of a five-story, 90,000-square-foot, glass-and-steel building that will run the length of the stadium outside the west grandstand.
Read more: http://www.delawareonline.com/story/sports/college/ud/2017/11/11/delaware-stadium-receive-long-awaited-facelift-cost-60-million/843762001/
Houston hospital won't reopen after flood damage from Harvey
HOUSTON (AP) - A Houston hospital won't be reopening after it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey.
Officials with East Houston Regional Medical Center say even though the facility was rebuilt after previous storms, they determined it wouldn't be safe to continue operating the hospital, located in a low-lying area prone to flooding.
Although the hospital was equipped with flood gates, nearly six feet of water init during Harvey, which dumped more than 50 inches of rain in the Houston area in late August.
Hospital officials say they're working with nearly 500 employees to offer them jobs at other facilities run by HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division, which has hospitals in Houston, Corpus Christi and South Texas.
The 131-bed hospital had operated for more than 40 years.
http://www.kristv.com/story/36815073/houston-hospital-wont-reopen-after-flood-damage-from-harvey
Penn State payouts on Sandusky abuse claims now top $100M
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Penn State has paid out an additional $16 million to people with claims they were sexually abused by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, raising the total amount of payouts to more than $100 million. The school previously said it settled with 33 people for $93 million. The new payouts bring the total to $109 million.
It's not clear how many people shared in the latest settlements, which were paid during the 2016-17 school year.
The university also disclosed Friday that it spent at least $4.9 million last year on related internal investigations and costs.
The latest payments mean the school's overall Sandusky-related costs now exceed a quarter-billion dollars.
Read more: http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/12934124-74/penn-state-payouts-on-sandusky-abuse-claims-now-top-100m
Diabetes of the brain is connected to Alzheimer's, new study shows
There’s growing evidence that Alzheimer’s disease resembles a new form of diabetes known as type 3.
A National Institute of Aging study now shows how high glucose concentrations in brain tissue may result from abnormal glucose metabolism, eventually leading to the dangerous plaques and tangles characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease — the neurodegenerative disease that represents the major cause of dementia.
“To the best of our knowledge,” the study says, “this report is the first to measure brain-tissue glucose concentrations and ... demonstrate their relationships with both severity of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and the expression of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms,” said the study published Monday in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, a journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
The study also sets “the stage for future studies that may uncover therapeutic interventions targeting brain glucose dysregulation,” says the study led by Madhav Thambisetty of NIA’s Laboratory for Behavioral Neuroscience. He’s also associated with Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2017/11/10/Study-describes-diabetes-of-the-brain/stories/201711080019
Laredo students' blackface, Hitler costumes prompt social media outrage
An overwhelming outcry broke out on social media this week over several Laredo high school students' choice of costumes for senior week as photos circulated online.
Social media posts show several United High School seniors dressed as the Jackson 5, American rapper Kodak Black and hip-hop artist Offset. But it was the fact that these students chose to paint their faces black as part of their senior week costumes that caused the uproar.
The photos of students posing in blackface generated a stream of comments, deeming the costumes inappropriate and racist. As a United High School alumna, Liliana Lozano said she was disappointed to see high school seniors using blackface in their costumes this year.
"I wasn't the only one to realize this act of racism, however 'harmless' the intentions may have been," Lozano told LMT {Laredo Morning Times}.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/local/article/United-High-students-blackface-costumes-prompt-12347160.php
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