Bipartisan group announces $25 million scholarship fund for undocumented students

WASHINGTON– Some immigrant students brought to the United States without permission by their parents will soon get help paying for colleges in Texas and a few other states.

A $25 million scholarship fund for such students, often called “dreamers,” was announced today by San Antonio Democratic activist Henry Muñoz III, former Washington Post CEO Donald E. Graham, and Carlos Gutierrez, a Commerce Secretary under President George W. Bush.

Dreamers often face financial barriers to attending college since they are ineligible for federal financial aid.

1,000 high-achieving undocumented students will each receive a $25,000 scholarship from the initiative, called TheDream.US. The effort has been funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Inter-American Development Bank, the Graham family, and other philanthropies. Some of that scholarship money will go to students in Texas.

More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/02/bipartisan-group-announces-25-million-scholarship-fund-for-undocumented-students.html/ .

AG Abbott: $300M border security plan as governor

DALLAS —

Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott says he wants to double state spending on border security and deploy an extra 500 troopers along the Texas-Mexico border if elected governor in November.

Abbott unveiled the nearly $300 million plan Tuesday in Dallas. It's part of his broader criminal justice agenda that includes plans to require state agencies to check the immigration status of employees under the federal E-Verify system.

Border security has resurfaced as a major issue in Republican primary campaigns statewide. But as the presumptive GOP nominee, Abbott's only real challenger is Democrat Wendy Davis in the general election.

Abbott rolled out the plan after laying low in recent weeks. Most attention in the governor's race has focused on Davis and questions about her personal story.

More at http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/republican-abbott-to-unveil-border-security-agenda/ndBxy/ .

Texas AG Greg Abbott received more from payday lenders than previously stated

AUSTIN – Attorney General Greg Abbott received 60 percent more in contributions from the payday lending industry last year than an earlier analysis said he did.

Abbott, the Republican candidate for governor, received $88,000 over the six-month period that ended Dec. 31, according to an analysis published Monday by the watchdog group Texans for Public Justice. A preliminary analysis of campaign-finance reports that were released Jan. 15 put Abbott's payday contributions in the second half of 2013 at $55,000.

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The issue of payday lending is becoming a hot topic in the governor's race in Texas. State Sen. Wendy Davis, the democratic candidate for governor, has been hammering Abbott, the republican candidate, because he won't say whether he thinks the payday lending industry needs further regulation.

"Greg Abbott gave the green light to the payday lending industry to expand in our state," Davis' spokeswoman, Rebecca Acuna, said in an email Monday. "Abbott has proven that he is an advocate for payday lenders that go after hardworking families. Texans want a leader who believes you don't have to buy your way into Texas' future."

More at http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_25054151/report-attorney-general-greg-abbott-received-more-from .

Denton County Won't Have to Pay For Prosecutor's Lynching, KKK References

In June 2012, attorney William Trantham was riding high. He'd just scored a half-million-dollar jury award on behalf of his client, a black Denton County prosecutor named Nadiya Williams-Boldware who was outraged by racist remarks from colleagues and superiors. Two days after the verdict, District Attorney Paul Johnson fired four of his deputies who were implicated in the harassment.

Trantham's good feelings wouldn't last. In a post-trial judgment, the district judge cut the award by two-thirds, to $170,000, finding that Denton County wasn't responsible for current or future pain and suffering, just "past mental anguish."

On Friday, that figure was cut to $0 by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The justices don't dispute the basic facts of the case. On April 2, 2009, assistant district attorney Cary Piel, a self-described redneck, walked into Williams-Boldware's office to discuss a case involving an African-American woman who had driven through and "desecrated" a historic cemetery.

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/02/denton_county_wont_have_to_pay.php .

Local meat packer (Fort Worth) recalls more than 15,000 pounds due to possible E. coli contamination

Source: Dallas Morning News

If you’re sitting on some boxes of Patterson Food Processors Beef Skirt Seasoned or Studio Movie Grill Beef Tenderloin Sliced or other meat products distributed by Fort Worth’s PFP Enterprises, be aware: Some of them are being recalled due to possible E. coli contamination.

That’s according to a bulletin issued this morning by the United States Department of Agriculture, which says the company is recalling a laundry list of recently packed product whose “beef trim tested presumptive positive for multiple non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) strains through the company’s testing program,” which sounds as terrible as it probably feels. The feds say the Fort Worth meat-packer, which distributes for various local companies, “inadvertently did not carry the test out to confirmation, and not all affected product was held.”

And now it’s in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico.

The complete list of at-risk product is here and below, and dates from December 13 through January 11. And so far, so good: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the company have received “no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of these products,” says the USDA.

Read more: http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/02/local-meat-packer-recalls-more-than-15000-pounds-due-to-possible-e-coli-contamination.html/

Jury finds Life Partners Holdings, Pardo liable for defrauding shareholders

Jury finds Life Partners Holdings, Pardo liable for defrauding shareholders

Dallas-based AT&T becomes 1st major corporation to publicly condemn Russia’s anti-gay law

Three days before the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Dallas-based AT&T Inc. became the first major corporation to condemn host country Russia’s new anti-gay law.

“AT&T has a long and proud history of support for the LGBT community in the United States and everywhere around the world where we do business,” the company wrote on its website Tuesday morning. “We support LGBT equality globally and we condemn violence, discrimination and harassment targeted against LGBT individuals everywhere. Russia’s law is harmful to LGBT individuals and families, and it’s harmful to a diverse society.”

The Human Rights Campaign has called on corporate sponsors of the International Olympic Committee and the Sochi Games to condemn the new Russian law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,” which is punishable by fines and jail time.

AT&T is not an IOC sponsor, but has long been a corporate ally of the LGBT community, and was the first telecommunications company to earn a perfect score on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

More at http://www.lonestarq.com/dallas-based-att-1st-major-corporation-condemn-russias-anti-gay-law/ .

Perry's tech fund shows gains despite bankruptcies

AUSTIN, Texas —

More bankruptcies within Gov. Rick Perry's portfolio of Texas startups getting taxpayer dollars didn't dampen a better year on paper for the Emerging Technology Fund.

A new report from Perry's office shows the fund value growing by $30 million above what taxpayers have invested in more than 140 companies. That's a sharp increase from 2012.

At least 16 fund recipients have gone out of business, including three since last year. Those still in business reported modest overall job growth.

The report is unlikely to muzzle Republicans who've grown publicly weary of the state playing venture capitalist. Calls to eliminate the fund have become common at GOP campaign stops this primary season, casting doubt over one of Perry's signature initiatives once he leaves office in 2015.

More at http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/perrys-tech-fund-shows-gains-despite-bankruptcies/ndCQ9/ .

As more workers bring their own devices, who’s in control?

Increasingly, your cellphone is the company phone. Same goes for your laptop and iPad. Just don’t expect the boss to offer much help with the monthly bill.

This trend is known as BYOD, short for “bring your own device.” Most people aren’t familiar with the acronym, but they routinely use their smartphones and other devices on the job. They access work email, databases, even corporate financial information.

Depending on your point of view, this represents one more break in the thinning wall between personal life and work life, or it’s one more chance to use your favorite cool gadget.

Either way, there’s no stopping the movement. The challenge is capturing the upside without getting whacked on privacy and security.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/mitchell-schnurman/20140203-as-more-workers-bring-their-own-devices-whos-in-control.ece .