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TexasTowelie's JournalMississippi lawmakers push to amend state law on hate crimes to protect LGBT
JACKSON, MS (WLOX) - Right now, Mississippi’s hate crime laws do not extend to victims targeted because of their sexual orientation, making it impossible for someone to be tried and convicted at the state level. One state lawmaker is hoping to change that by introducing new legislation that would expand the current hate crime laws to include crimes against LGBT people.
State house bill 1949 and state senate bill 2163 would add protections for victims who are targeted because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
State senator David Blount authored the senate bill. He says it’s all about the future of the legislation.
“If you’re murdered because your black there is an enhancement. If you’re murdered because you’re a woman, there is an enhancement. If you’re murdered because you’re a transgender, there’s not and that is heartbreaking to me.”
Read more: http://www.wlbt.com/2019/02/04/mississippi-lawmakers-push-amend-state-law-hate-crimes-protect-lgbt/
Military works to reduce Alabama teacher shortage
The military is aiming to ease Alabama’s shortage of teachers.
Military officials are leading two efforts designed to increase the number of teachers in the state's public schools, The Montgomery Advertiser reported .
"In order to replace teachers that are retiring and those that are choosing not to go into the field, it's almost becoming a crisis to find good, qualified teachers in Alabama, especially where we are," said James Carter, superintendent in rural Greene County.
About 15 percent of its teacher positions in the district are open, the Montgomery newspaper reported.
"There's not a lot of people that want to come and live in areas that are isolated from the urban centers," Carter said.
Read more: https://www.al.com/news/2019/02/military-works-to-reduce-alabama-teacher-shortage.html
Shell subsidiary to pay $2.2M fine for 2016 Gulf oil spill
NEW ORLEANS — A subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay a $2.2 million civil fine to the federal government to settle charges that the company violated the Clean Water Act by spilling 1,900 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in May 2016 when a subsea pipeline cracked at the company’s Green Canyon oil field.
Shell Offshore’s fine, announced in the Federal Register on Friday, will be paid after the expiration of a 30-day comment period, NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reported. The money will be deposited in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which is used to pay for oil spill cleanups.
The new fine is in addition to $3.9 million the company agreed to pay to state and federal agencies in July to settle natural resource damage charges stemming from the spill. About $3.5 million of that settlement will be used for natural resource restoration projects, with the rest aimed at repaying the agencies’ costs in responding to the spill.
The oil spill was the result of a series of events over several years that resulted in a pipeline installed about 3,000 feet (914 meters) below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico becoming covered with debris and the weight of the debris causing a stress fracture in a joint. That break allowed crude oil to escape into the water, according to an investigative report released March 9, 2018, by the Department of Interior’s BSEE, which oversees safety issues involving drilling in federally-controlled waters offshore.
Read more: https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20190204/shell-subsidiary-to-pay-22m-fine-for-2016-gulf-oil-spill
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency having difficulty hiring qualified State Troopers
Wednesday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency presented their 2020 budget request to a joint meeting of the Legislature’s budget committees. ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor said that hiring more officers is his primary goal.
Taylor said that finding qualified candidates who can pass the drug testing and screening process has become difficult. Taylor said he planned to backfill vacancies by bringing back some retired officers. ALEA has 732 sworn personnel in all their agencies, but Taylor warned that 213 of those were projected to retire within five years and 68 anticipated in the next year.
Taylor said that ALEA currently only has 370 officers on the road, but that it does have a new class of troopers being trained now. Twenty-three are expected to graduate and be on the road in March.
Taylor said that his eventual goal was to have 670 officers on the road. That would be enough to have an officer on the road in every county 24 hours a day, 365 days out of the year. Currently, there are times where one trooper is patrolling three counties.
Read more: https://www.alreporter.com/2019/02/04/alea-having-difficulty-hiring-qualified-state-troopers/
State needs to invest at least $600 million annually in infrastructure, study finds
A report from the University of Alabama’s Alabama Transportation Institute and Alabama Transportation Policy Research Center found that the state needs to invest between $600 million and $800 million annually for the next 20 years to meet infrastructure needs.
The report — “Addressing Alabama’s Transporation Infrastructure: Roads and Bridges” — found that Alabama needs to make major investments to simply maintain current infrastructure needs and even more if it wants to be competitive in the years to come.
The UA report comes as the Legislature is set to consider a gasoline tax increase this year as a method of funding infrastructure investment. The gas tax hasn’t been increased or adjusted for inflation since 1992.
The GOP leadership in both chambers of the state Legislature have so far been unified in their calls for a moderate gas tax increase. Gov. Kay Ivey has also endorsed the plan.
Read more: https://www.alreporter.com/2019/02/01/state-needs-to-invest-at-least-600-million-annually-in-infrastructure-study-finds/
USVI Is 'Distressed,' Bryan Says During His First State Of The Territory Address
ST. THOMAS — Governor Albert Bryan delivered his first State of the Territory Address on Monday night, a long anticipated speech as residents and lawmakers alike sought an understanding of how the newly elected governor intends to lead the government, his plans to make the USVI a better place to live, and how he would prioritize the daunting issues the islands face.
The governor wasted no time in laying bare the current state of the U.S. Virgin Islands, describing the territory as being “distressed,” even as there remains a window of opportunity right the ship. He mentioned the benefits the USVI realized through the influx of federal dollars after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which resulted in the growth of the construction industry, and spoke of activity at the Limetree Bay Terminals that has boosted St. Croix.
But, the governor added, “even with the progress in the recovery and the promise of new refinery operations, we are confronted with the truth that our territory is still very much mired in a financial and economic crisis.” Mr. Bryan said he understood the territory’s fiscal conditions before he sought office, and was ready to guide the islands through what he described as “the canyon of challenges ahead.” He then spoke of the briefing he received from former Governor Kenneth Mapp’s financial team. “They revealed to us that the longstanding fiscal problems that plagued our government before the 2017 hurricanes have yet to be resolved,” Mr. Bryan said. “General fund revenues fell drastically after the storms, creating severe cashflow shortages for the Government of the Virgin Islands. Hurricanes Irma and Maria only increased the burden of what was an already growing structural budget deficit. To put the true state of our territory’s financial status into perspective; the Government of the Virgin Islands could not have met its day-to-day expenses over the past 12 months if not for the availability of FEMA community disaster loans.”
The governor continued with his gloomy assessment, and said after having borrowed $212 million from the federal government through the Community Disaster Loan Program (C.D.L.), “unfortunately we can’t borrow anymore.”
Read more: https://viconsortium.com/news-2/usvi-is-distressed-bryan-says-during-first-state-of-the-territory-address/
Coast Guard Intercepts 200 Pounds of Cocaine Worth $3 Million Off Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN — The U.S. Coast Guard and Puerto Rican police stopped a speed boat Tuesday night smuggling 200 pounds of cocaine authorities say is worth about $3 million.
The speed boat was first seen by the crew of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry plane based in Miami.
It was heading south about 20 nautical miles of Isabela, Puerto Rico. The cutter Margaret Norvell was in the area and launched one of its patrol boats to intercept the vessel.
“Tonight’s success was a total team effort,” said Lt. Carl Luxhoj, Air Station Borinquen MH-65 helicopter pilot. “The combined air support from both the fixed wing and rotary wing aircrews made the surface intercept of the suspect vessel possible. The recovery of evidence would not have been possible without the support of the Puerto Rico Police Department (FURA). The outstanding coordination from all involved prevented illegal migrants and contraband from reaching American soil.”
Read more: http://vifreepress.com/2019/02/coast-guard-intercepts-200-pounds-of-cocaine-worth-3-million-off-puerto-rico/
Proposed state ban on dwarf tossing backed at Olympia hearing
OLYMPIA — A proposed statewide ban on events such as dwarf tossing and potentially dwarf wrestling drew support at a public hearing Thursday.
At least five people with dwarfism showed up to the hearing, with several telling a legislative committee that the “tossing” events — sometimes held as promotions at bars and strip clubs — contribute to a culture of mockery and bullying.
The ban, proposed by Spokane Valley Republican Mike Padden, would prohibit any physically hazardous activity involving a person with dwarfism in an adult venue or bar.
Deana Harris, president of the Seattle chapter of Little People of America, said the events advance a perception of dwarfism as a condition that’s acceptable to mock.
Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/proposed-state-ban-on-dwarf-tossing-backed-at-olympia-hearing/
Northwest measles outbreak revives debate over vaccine laws
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — A measles outbreak near Portland, Oregon, has revived a bitter debate over so-called “philosophical” exemptions to childhood vaccinations as public health officials across the Pacific Northwest scramble to limit the fallout.
At least 44 people in Washington and Oregon have fallen ill in recent weeks with the extraordinarily contagious virus, which was eradicated in the U.S. in 2000 as a result of immunization but arrives periodically with overseas travelers. More than a half-dozen more cases are suspected, and people who were exposed to the disease traveled to Hawaii and Bend, Oregon, raising the possibility of more diagnoses in the unvaccinated.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee last week declared a state of emergency because of the outbreak.
“I would hope that this ends soon, but this could go on for weeks, if not months,” said Dr. Alan Melnick, public health director in Clark County, Washington, just north of Portland. The county has had most of the diagnosed cases so far. “
Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/pacific-northwest-measles-cases-prompt-look-at-vaccine-exemptions/
Hate crime charge possible after fight outside Olympia gay bar
An Olympia man could be charged with a hate crime following a fight outside an Olympia gay bar this week.
Dwayne Houston, 35, was arrested early Thursday on suspicion of malicious harassment, Washington’s hate-crime law, and other crimes.
The incident happened about 12 a.m. Thursday. According to a police report, Houston allegedly followed people as they walked out of Jake’s on 4th and shouted anti-gay slurs. Witnesses told police Houston then assaulted multiple people and also shouted racial slurs.
When police searched Houston, they found a white substance believed to be cocaine, according to the report.
Read more here: https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/crime/article225418830.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
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