TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalSchadenfreude. Blue Bell’s hometown to get major jobs training grant from Obama Administration
BRENHAM -- More than 300 layoffs this spring from Blue Bell Creameries’ main plant in Brenham contributed to a one-two punch that was expected to catapult the region’s unemployment rate to more than 7 percent.
That’s according to an application from the Economic Development Foundation of Brenham in Washington County to the Obama Administration for assistance.
On Monday, Jay Williams, assistant secretary of Commerce for economic development is expected to announce a major grant to “help strengthen workforce training and stimulate job creation in Brenham,” Blue Bell’s hometown.
The exact dollar amount of the grant will not be announced until Monday. A spokeswoman for the Economic Development Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, said the administration has invested “$9.5 million in nine construction projects in Texas in {the current fiscal year.} The investment in Brenham represents the largest of those.
Read more: http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/08/blue-bells-home-town-to-get-major-jobs-training-grant-from-obama-administration.html/
[font color=330099]Schadenfreude. The people in the conservative Republican town of Brenham (where I lived in 2012 and 2013 and where my parents owned a home from 1998 until the family sold it after my father's death) are going to have to say, "Thanks Obama!"[/font]
Pro-HERO ad shuts down trans bathroom myth (Houston Equal Rights Ordinance)
Days after opponents of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance began airing a disgusting transphobic spot, the coalition supporting HERO responded Friday with its own radio ad.
The ad from Houston Unites pointedly addresses the transgender bathroom myth that has become a rallying cry for HERO opponents. Earlier his week, the anti-LGBT "Campaign for Houston" released a radio ad alleging HERO would allow men to enter women's restrooms, which it called "filthy, disgusting and unsafe."
Houston Unites' response features the Rev. Will Reed, pastor of Servants of Christ United Methodist Church, who emphasizes that in addition to sexual orientation and gender identity, HERO prohibits discrimination based on 13 other characteristics, including race:
“We looked into it, and HERO is actually about providing a needed local tool to protect Houstonians from discrimination based on their race, religion, age, gender, military status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability,” Reed says. "And Houston is the only major city in Texas without these protections against discrimination in jobs, housing and public places. In most cases, without local protections, Houstonians literally have to make a federal case out of it to get legal help with discrimination. That’s why we’re voting ‘yes’ on (Proposition 1), to keep Houston’s equal rights ordinance. We’re all God’s children and we should all be protected from discrimination.”
In a release announcing the ad, Houston Unites notes that more than half of discrimiation complaints filed under HERO were based on race, while another 17 percent were based on gender or pregnancy. The ad will air for at least two weeks on KHMX-FM, KKBQ/KTHT-FM, KODA-FM, KPRC-AM, KTRH-AM, RODA-FM and RTRH-AM.
Read more: http://www.projectq.us/houston/pro_hero_ad_counters_trans_bathroom_myth?gid=17168#.VeC6nfJe4NM.twitter
Well-Known San Antonio Drag Performer Murdered In Possible Anti-Gay Hate Crime
?resize=720%2C348
At 6-feet, 8-inches tall, Torrance Cheeves had a heart to match his towering figure. Cheeves’ friends say he was “a gentle giant” and “a teddy bear.”
For years, Cheeves performed as “Miss Whoochie” at the Bonham Exchange, one of San Antonio’s most popular gay bars, raising money for charities such as the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.
On Wednesday, Cheeves was found stabbed to death in his home, and friends say they fear his murder may have been an anti-gay hate crime.
Cheeves, 51, was discovered face down on the floor with a stab wound to his neck after co-workers went to check on him when he didn’t show up for his day job. The back door to Cheeves’ home was open, some of his personal property was outside, and items inside the home were out of place.
Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2015/08/san-antonio-drag-murder/
Ted Cruz’s Insane Dad: ‘The Devil Overplayed His Hand’ with Gay Marriage Ruling
Rafael Cruz, the rabidly homophobic birther father of tea party firebrand Senator Ted Cruz, said at a recent gathering in Georgia that the devil “overplayed his hand” with the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
Said Cruz:
In the past, Cruz has stated his views that LGBT nondiscrimination measures let football teams shower with girls.
http://www.towleroad.com/2015/08/ted-cruz-father-devil/
Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz: Gay Army Has Occupied America And Is Coming For Your Pastor
Gay people are like an Army that has occupied America, and now they’re about to start targeting pastors and churches, according to one Texas-based anti-LGBT hate group.
President Jonathan Saenz, whose wife famously left him for a woman, wrote in a fundraising email Thursday:
That makes our pastors the Leaders of the Resistancee (SIC).
How does an invading army break the will of an occupied people? First, it identifies its Resistance Leaders. Next, it isolates and demoralizes them, making them think they’re alone and powerless. Then it breaks them––before the people can rally to their defense.
This is why your pastor is truly in the cross-hairs. Armed with not only the recent egregious Supreme Court same-sex ‘marriage’ decision but a host of lower-court rulings and guidelines, the pro-homosexual left is scouring Texas—America’s last stronghold of resistance—seeking “weakest link” communities and churches for a pre-emptive strike.
Thankfully, pastors can save us from the gays, according to Saenz, but only if Texas Values can raise $25,000 to educate them about the so-called “Pastor Protection Act.”
Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2015/08/jonathan-saenz-gay-army/
Smith County man charged with sexually abusing 11 children
TYLER -- A Smith County man has been charged with sexually abusing at least 11 children over the past 10 years.
Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said Rance Kevin Lusby, 59, is awaiting trial on charges of first-degree felony continuous sexual abuse of a child or children
Smith said his office received information in January {t}he Smith County Sheriff’s Office that a 9 year old female child made an outcry of sexual abuse against Lusby of Smith County.
"The victim advised that the incident occurred several years ago in 2010 at which time Rance was performing landscape work for a family member.," he said.
Read more: http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-Breaking/223384/smith-county-man-charged-with-sexually-abusing-11-children
California cut water use by 31 percent in July amid drought
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — California cities cut water use by a combined 31 percent in July, exceeding the governor's statewide mandate to conserve, officials said Thursday.
The strong water conservation figures show California residents are beginning to understand the dire need to cut back in a fourth year of drought, Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, said.
"This isn't your mother's drought or your grandmother's drought," she said. "This is the drought of the century."
Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered cities to use 25 percent less water. In June, the state conserved 27 percent, compared to the same period of 2013, the year before Brown declared a drought emergency.
Read more: http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/national/california-cut-water-use-by-31-percent-in-july-amid-drought
Judge tosses majority of pollution complaints against Luminant
The government waited too long to act against all but one of eight pollution violations it says occurred at two East Texas power plants, a court in Dallas has ruled.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued Luminant Generation Co. in civil court, saying a Clean Air Act provision required the company to obtain new pollution permits after shutdowns to make changes to the Martin Lake Power Plant in Rusk County and the Big Brown Plant in Freestone County.
The shutdowns and plant modifications occurred February 2005 through March 2009, the lawsuit states.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade tossed out all but the latest incident after attorneys for the power plants argued the five-year statute of limitations had passed when the Obama administration filed suit in August 2013.
Read more: http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/aug/27/judge-tosses-majority-of-pollution-complaints-agai/
Gohmert to announce resolution to stop Iran nuclear deal
Source: Longview News-Journal
LONGVIEW, TEXAS -- The U.S. congressman for Northeast Texas told a Longview audience Thursday that he plans to announce a resolution this weekend that could make it easier for Congress to stop the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran.
"Now that we've seen it, it's clearly a treaty," U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert said of the deal to slow Iran's march to nuclear weapons capability.
The Tyler Republican told a lunch audience of Longview Ambucs members the U.S. Constitution requires a high level of Senate support for treaties with other nations.
"It does not become effective unless two-thirds of the Senate approves it," he said. "
President Barack Obama) doesn't get a vote — it's two-thirds of the Senate."
Read more: http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/aug/27/gohmert-to-announce-resolution-to-stop-iran-nuclea/
Gratuitous photo of Gohmert to provide setup for jokes...
Routine check finds massive gas leak at Texas A&M
A gas leak detected during a routine utilities check on Texas A&M University’s resulted in the evacuation of two residence halls and three other campus buildings Thursday.
Texas A&M Police Department spokesman Allan Baron said Atmos Energy crews spotted a gas leak at the Texas A&M Central Utility Plant at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, initiating a “Code Maroon” campus alert. Buildings and closed-off streets reopened by 2:30 p.m. once Atmos isolated the leak.
College Station Fire Department and Atmos Energy officials did not respond to messages throughout Thursday to explain the cause of the leak, how widespread the leak was and how often Atmos Energy crews conduct routine checks on the Texas A&M campus.
While it is not clear how the leak started or how Atmos crews were able to get it under control, a team of utility crews chipped away at cement with power tools on the Central Utilities Plant grounds behind the Northside Parking Garage across the street from the Blocker Building. Responders also opened up manholes along Ireland Street near the utilities plant. Six fire trucks and at least one Texas A&M hazardous materials van were on campus.
Read more: http://www.theeagle.com/news/a_m/routine-check-finds-massive-gas-leak-at-texas-a-m/article_49baae8a-4cdf-11e5-9d53-ab5d6e14b92c.html
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,160
