August 4, 2014

Orange Grove's indoor multisport complex turns heads in Coastal Bend

ORANGE GROVE - Orange Grove Athletic Director Jerry Bomar’s new office is bare, but it soon will have no rivals in the Coastal Bend.

Newspaper clippings documenting glory hang from whitewashed walls, signed footballs marking the Bulldogs’ run of three district titles sit on a shelf near the door and a small window offers what might be the best view in area athletics: the largest indoor football practice field south of San Antonio.

“When I look out, I see the fruits of three years of hard work,” Bomar said. “It’s not just the turf and the view that’s pretty awesome, it’s also the hard work by a coaching staff (and) a bunch of dedicated kids that really put their heart and soul into (overcoming) a stigma they couldn’t be successful.”

The 35,000-square foot indoor football field and multisport complex is the crown jewel of a $3.85 million construction and renovation package the property-poor school district embarked on two years ago, and it’s turning heads across the region.

More at http://www.caller.com/sports/high-school/orange-groves-indoor-multisport-complex-turns-heads-in-coastal-bend_39757159 .

[font color=green]ENVY--coming to the school district near you?[/font]

August 4, 2014

3 dead in Starr County shooting; live grenade found

NEAR RIO GRANDE CITY — Starr County authorities discovered one live grenade, two dead men and a third man mortally injured after a shooting at a rural home Sunday morning.

Starr County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call of shots fired at a home on Rosario Street near North Alvarez Road at about 6:15 a.m. Sunday. Inside the house, they found two Honduran nationals shot to death with an assault rifle, and a third man with “severe trauma to the abdomen,” said Erasmo Rios Jr., a sheriff’s office investigator.

The third man was rushed to Starr County Memorial Hospital, but later died, Rios said.

Rios said investigators want to talk to 24-year-old Eduardo Moreno, of Starr County, who they consider a person of interest in the case.

“He was known to frequent the area,” Rios said, adding that Moreno is a U.S. citizen with a criminal history.

More at http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/sheriff-s-office-dead-in-starr-county-shooting/article_6f1c00fc-1b1c-11e4-890f-0017a43b2370.html .

August 2, 2014

Woodlands homeowner says burglar struck her half-million dollar closet

A Woodlands woman says her gigantic closet, which was recently featured on Good Morning America, in Cosmopolitan magazine and almost every Houston news service, has been burglarized.

Theresa Roemer says a burglar broke in Friday night and took between $800,000 and a $1 million of designer bags, jewelry and fur. She said she has surveillance footage of the suspect spending 40 minutes removing items from the 3,000-square-foot closet she had installed to host charity fundraisers.

"He was a total professional and he's on tape," said Roemer, referring to home security video she said has now been handed to Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. "He broke in through the bathroom window in the master bedroom. He took all of my jewerly, all of my watches, my Birkin bags, my husband's watch collection."

Roemer said the video showed the suspect covered up from head to toe with a jumpsuit and hoodie. The intruder made four trips back and forth filling up designer luggage with smaller items from the boutique style shelves, she said.

More at http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/woodlands/news/article/Famous-half-million-dollar-closet-has-been-robbed-5664391.php .

[font color=green]The couple forgot to set the alarm when they went to the country club.[/font]

Related thread:
This is what a three-story, $500K closet looks like
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5279565

August 1, 2014

5 Things Radical Conservatives Have Ruined for Everyone Else

I have an addiction that is worse than heroin and twice as likely to end in my tragic death at my own hands... I read the comments under political news stories. In part because keeping my finger on the ketchup-and-gravy-infused pulse of America is my job, but really because I was that kid who always wondered if it was possible to summon demons.

You can. Just write a story about our Attorney General appealing the ruling that strikes down Texas' rather blatantly unconstitutional same-sex marriage ban and all the posse of Old Scratch himself will bubble to the surface to gibber and scream.

In reading these comments, I've realized that there are certain words and concepts that the radical conservative right have actually ruined for the rest of us. Thinks like...

Anything to do with the flag

There is only one man in all of Houston that I can see wearing and American flag-themed article of clothing on his person and not immediately think he's either being ironic or a complete asshole, and that's Christian Kidd of the Hates. You literally have to be one of the kindest and most-beloved humans of Houston to deflect the automatic cringe I feel whenever I see a flag attached to a person instead of a pole. The radical right uses flags like newbie Mortal Kombat players used to use crouching in the corner doing leg sweeps; it's a chickenshit dodge. They get away with it because they also stole the concept of...

Patriotism

More at http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2014/08/conservatives_ruined.php .

[font color=green]This is an excellent article if you read and want to argue against the points made in the comments section of most newspapers.[/font]

August 1, 2014

Greg Abbott Defends Sociopathic Surgeon Over Victims of Botched Spinal Surgeries

When victims of a sociopathic surgeon sued a hospital over botched surgeries that left patients dead and maimed, they got no help from Greg Abbott.

Instead, Greg Abbott used his AG's office to help the hospital avoid the suits, and was rewarded with a $350,000 donation from the hospital's board chairman.

A piece published in the Dallas Morning News today details Abbott's three interventions on behalf of the Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano in their attempts to defend Dr. Christopher Duntsch. Duntsch lost his license after multiple accusations of malpractice that left his patients injured, and in some cases irreparably maimed or dead.

The Dallas Morning News explains that Abbott received substantial donations from Drayton McLane, chairman of the hospital's board and a long-time Republican donor, just not really to Abbott. Per the story:

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15524/greg-abbott-defends-sociopathic-surgeon-over-victims-of-botched-spinal-surgeries .

[font color=green]There were allegations that Dr. Duntsch was operating on patients while he was under the influence of alcohol or other drugs:[/font]

While at Baylor Plano, Duntsch was accused of maiming several patients and causing the death of another. One patient — his roommate and closest friend — claimed that Duntsch operated on him after a night of using cocaine, which Duntsch denied. The roommate emerged from the surgery a quadriplegic.

http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/20140301-planos-baylor-hospital-faces-hard-questions-after-claims-against-former-neurosurgeon.ece

Related Thread:
Dr. Christopher Duntsch, Plano Surgeon Suspended for Killing Patients, Gets Sued for Malpractice
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107810121 (June 28, 2013)

Another story about Dr. Duntsch in the Texas Observer:
http://www.texasobserver.org/anatomy-tragedy/

August 1, 2014

Culture Watch: Are selfie-maniacs propelling a sharp rise in homelessness among black cats?

Another fine and alarming Culture Watch catch from Claire Hannum at The Frisky, who previously turned us on to those creepy cat-shaped marshmallows and the possibly creepier still toasters that produce toast-selfies. Now it's an apparent trend in the U.K. concerning what constitutes an adoptable pet.

It appears that black cats are increasingly going homeless -- not, as you might imagine, because of their long-bruited role as bringers of bad luck, but because they don't photograph well. That's right, the little darlings are deemed insufficiently photogenic to suit their potential owners' photographic fancy. At today's cat boutiques, it appears that the leading question is, "Do you have something in an orange or maybe white?"

Here's Claire's report:



RIP Society: Black Cats Are Being Abandoned Because They Don't Show Up in Selfies





The linked Daily Telegraph report by Edward Malnick, "Misfortune of black cats rejected in age of 'selfie,'" is worth a closer look. Edward quotes an RSPCA spokesperson who sees "a number of reasons" for the cold shoulder black cats are getting, "ranging from the fact that black cats are harder to tell apart than cats with more distinctive markings and the fact that black animals tend not to photograph as well." And he got this response from Ronnie McMillen, 71, founder of the Millwood Cat Rescue Center in Edwalton, Notts:



More at http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2014/07/culture-watch-are-selfie-maniacs.html