April 29, 2015

Ted Cruz: Anti-Gay Marriage Crusader? Not Always

Senator Ted Cruz, who wants to be the Republican Party's lead crusader against gay marriage, ducked the opportunity to play a critical role in turning back the movement in its infancy.

In 2003, the year Cruz became Texas's top government litigator, the state lost a crucial case as the U.S. Supreme Court decided that state laws banning homosexual sex as illegal sodomy were unconstitutional. The decision in Lawrence v. Texas paved the way for the court's consideration of gay marriage. "The final victory for gay rights was foreshadowed when the court decided Lawrence v Texas," predicted Walter Dellinger, a former U.S. assistant attorney general and solicitor general who’s argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote at the time that the ruling dismantles “a distinction to be made between heterosexual and homosexual unions, insofar as formal recognition in marriage is concerned.”

Cruz is making the gay marriage debate the cornerstone of a bid to rally conservatives to his 2016 presidential bid, but same-sex issues haven't always been the top priority for a lawmaker who built his profile as a limited-government, Tea Party-aligned conservative.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-29/ted-cruz-anti-gay-marriage-crusader-not-always

April 29, 2015

Texas GOP Congressman Ties Baltimore Riots to Gay Marriage

Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) appeared on hate group leader Tony Perkins' Washington Watch radio show yesterday and linked the Baltimore riots to gay marriage, Right Wing Watch reports:

Listen to Soundcloud at http://www.towleroad.com/2015/04/flores.html

April 29, 2015

Texas A&M University Galveston class receiving chance to pass after mass failing from professor

A class of Texas A&M University Galveston students who received failing grades from their disgruntled professor will have a chance to pass after all.

Irwin Horwitz told his strategic management students via email on Thursday they were a disgrace to the school, accused them of cheating and said they would all fail the class, KPRC television station in Houston reported. The failing grades will not stand, according to university officials.

Texas A&M University spokesperson Shane Hinckley said the administration at the Galveston branch campus has not taken disciplinary action against Horwitz and provided a statement from Galveston VP for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer Patrick Louchouarn.

"The report that all students in this class will be failed is not correct. Each student will receive an individual grade based upon work completed during the semester," Louchouarn's statement read. "There is no investigation of any class-wide cheating underway. The university is listening to concerns about this issue from students and faculty and will address them according to our policies."

Read more: http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/texas-a-m-university-galveston-class-receiving-chance-to-pass/article_3e17a738-3f42-5064-a4dc-32e8240dfb76.html

Related thread:
Texas A&M-Galveston professor fails entire class, quits course
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107824854

April 29, 2015

Suspect in fatal wrecks had history of DWIs; family of slain boy says "I hope you die"

A Houston man accused of causing three wrecks on Sunday, two of them fatal, had at least three earlier driving while intoxicated charges in Louisiana, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Blaine T. Boudreaux was arrested for DWI in New Orleans in 1999, and was charged with a second driving while intoxicated charge while awaiting trial, court records show.

In court Wednesday morning, prosecutor Alison Baimbridge said Boudreaux was a "bail jumper" who fled Louisiana instead of facing two charges. She said he had taken care of an earlier charge for DWI.

Baimbridge also said the 34-year-old smelled of alcohol and told police he had taken Suboxen, a drug used to treat opiate addiction, when he was arrested.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Suspect-in-fatal-wrecks-had-history-of-DWIs-6231017.php

April 29, 2015

Trooper sues DPS over reprimand for Snoop Dogg snapshot

State Trooper Billy Spears, who received disciplinary counseling for allowing mega rapper Snoop Dogg to get a picture made with him, filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the Department of Public Safety this week.

Spears is alleging that the reprimand came for a trumped up issue that is not part of any written DPS policy. He claims in the suit he is being targeted in retaliation for a complaint he filed earlier against a fellow peace officer that did not sit well with superiors.

Spears was in his uniform working security on May 10 at Austin’s South by Southwest music festival when the rap star, who has had several run-ins with the law over illegal drug and gun possession, stopped to ask if he could get a picture with him.

Spears said yes and Calvin Broaddus, who goes by Snoop Dogg, eventually posted the picture on social media along with the caption, “Me n my deputy dogg.”

Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/04/trooper-sues-dps-over-reprimand-for-snoop-dogg-snapshot.html/

April 29, 2015

Thief runs off with Boston Marathon winner's purse during parade

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO -- While Caroline Rotich was being honored Monday with a parade through downtown Santa Fe for winning the 2015 Boston Marathon elite women’s division, a burglar was breaking into her car near the start of the parade route.

Around the time that Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales was telling the Kenyan-born Santa Fe resident that, “This will always be your home,” the culprit was making off with her purse, which police said contained an unspecified amount of cash, some credit cards and her driver’s license.

Rotich, who gained widespread fame by winning the April 20 running competition in Boston, had left her car parked at Fort Marcy Recreation Complex, 490 Bishops Lodge Road, where the parade started at 4 p.m. with Rotich waving to well-wishers from the front seat of a vintage red fire engine.

Police spokeswoman Lt. Andrea Dobyns said the thief smashed a window and stole the purse sometime between 4 and 5:30 p.m. The official parade schedule had called for the event to end at 6 p.m. at the Santa Fe Plaza.

Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/thief-runs-off-with-boston-marathon-winner-s-purse-during/article_7b587cea-ee2c-11e4-9c83-e372192a950b.html

Cross-posted in the New Mexico Group.

April 29, 2015

Thief runs off with Boston Marathon winner's purse during parade

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO -- While Caroline Rotich was being honored Monday with a parade through downtown Santa Fe for winning the 2015 Boston Marathon elite women’s division, a burglar was breaking into her car near the start of the parade route.

Around the time that Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales was telling the Kenyan-born Santa Fe resident that, “This will always be your home,” the culprit was making off with her purse, which police said contained an unspecified amount of cash, some credit cards and her driver’s license.

Rotich, who gained widespread fame by winning the April 20 running competition in Boston, had left her car parked at Fort Marcy Recreation Complex, 490 Bishops Lodge Road, where the parade started at 4 p.m. with Rotich waving to well-wishers from the front seat of a vintage red fire engine.

Police spokeswoman Lt. Andrea Dobyns said the thief smashed a window and stole the purse sometime between 4 and 5:30 p.m. The official parade schedule had called for the event to end at 6 p.m. at the Santa Fe Plaza.

Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/thief-runs-off-with-boston-marathon-winner-s-purse-during/article_7b587cea-ee2c-11e4-9c83-e372192a950b.html

Cross-posted in the Massachusetts Group.

April 29, 2015

Three suspects with machine guns fire on New Orleans Police Department officers

Jaclyn Kelley of WWL-TV is reporting that three suspects armed with machine guns have fired on New Orleans Police Department officers at 10600 Chef Menteur Highway.

One of the suspects was shot; two others are at large.

The NOPD has activated its SWAT team.

Kelley reports that the incident occurred when the NOPD responded to a robbery in progress at a Dollar General store.

http://theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/12232735-123/report-three-suspects-with-machine

April 29, 2015

Regions Bank fined $7.5M for overdraft fees

Regions Bank (RF) will pay a $7.5 million fine for improperly charging overdraft fees to hundreds of thousands of customers, a federal regulator said Tuesday.

The Alabama-based bank, which has branches and ATMs in 16 states, charged the fees to customers who had not opted-in for overdraft coverage. Such charges are not allowed, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in its first enforcement action over the charges.

Additionally, the bank charged overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees on its Regions Ready Advance short-term loan product, despite statements it would not impose those charges, the CFPB said.

The overdraft fees, up to $36 per transaction, piled up on customer accounts for months after bank executives learned the charges were improper and started corrective actions, the regulator said.

Read more: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/money/2015/04/28/regions-bank-overdraft-enforcement/26509783/

April 29, 2015

FBI investigating Senate President John Alario, sources say

Federal officials have launched a criminal investigation into how Louisiana Senate President John Alario spent tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, according to two people with knowledge of the probe.

The FBI began the investigation after NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and WVUE Fox 8 News last year reported discrepancies in Alario's campaign records, said the two sources, who asked not to be named.

It's unclear whether agents have found any wrongdoing involving Alario, a Republican from Westwego who is one of Louisiana's longest-tenured and most powerful politicians. The sources said the probe remains active.

The full scope of the investigation is not publicly known. The sources said it includes the news organizations' findings that Alario reported expenses for LSU sports tickets and for a fundraiser at New Orleans' Audubon Golf Course that were a combined $22,000 more than payments recorded by those two entities.

Sample expense discrepancies from 2011:



Read more: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/04/fbi_john_alario_louisiana_purc.html