Jump to content

smokebomb

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    240
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by smokebomb

  1. 7 hours ago, FartingMonk said:

    The bigger issue is going to be the people who didn't actually own the place they were living in.  Let's say it was a neighborhood of single family dwellings.  20 houses.  All rentals.  The owners get their insurance money and then developers come in and say hey before you rebuild.  Let me take this land off your hands for X amount of dollars.   He turns the 20 parcels into a hotel resort golf course or some luxury mix use residential/vacation rental.  The ones that are left high and dry are the people who were renting.

    The state needs to come in & restrict any development that significantly changes the original structures. Rebuild a single story home with a single story home.
     

    But they won’t and Lahaina will become another Wailea. 

    • Rage+1 2
  2. https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-investigation-justice-garland-ad1034e274570d65032f8e4f47c0c8f6

    Quote

    Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe

    BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST

    Updated 11:50 AM CDT, August 11, 2023

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday he has appointed a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.

    Garland said he was naming David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who has been probing the financial and business dealings of the president’s son, as the special counsel.

    Just as his appointment as special counsel was announced, Weiss notified a federal judge in Delaware that plea deal talks in the Hunter Biden case were at an “impasse.”

    Garland noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter as he made the announcement at the Justice Department. He said that Weiss asked to be appointed to the position and told him that “in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel.”

    “Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Garland said.

    The move is a momentous development from the typically cautious Garland and comes amid a pair of sweeping Justice Department probes into Donald Trump, the former president, and President Joe Biden’s chief rival in next year’s election.

    It also comes as House Republicans are mounting their own investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

    Last month, Hunter Biden’s plea deal over tax evasion collapsed after U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised multiple concerns about the specifics.

    Republicans had derided that agreement as a “sweetheart” deal as they pushed their own probe.

    The Republicans claimed Weiss was being blocked from becoming a special counsel a claim he and the Justice Department denied.

    By being named special counsel Weiss will have broader authority to conduct a more sweeping investigation across various areas.

     

    • Hook 'Em 1
  3. 6 hours ago, C-Man said:

    I'm tired of my DTV bill as well. I've got to have Bally's, though, for Stars and Rangers games. You can add that channel or it's just not available on YTTV?

    Bally is currently not available on YouTube TV. And the separate streaming service Bally Sports+ ($20 a month) does not currently include the Southwest / Rangers & Mavericks region. 
     

    Ironically enough, I am only able to watch those games through the Bally app because I use my parent’s DirecTV login.

    As mentioned above, Sinclair sucks and who knows what’s going to happen with Bally’s current bankruptcy situation. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
  4. +1 for YouTubeTV

    It’s cheaper - $73 a month.

    All channels are HD.

    Can share with 6 accounts with basic plan (only 3 can stream at once though).

    Has some 4K content (pricey - extra $20 a month).

    Now has NFL Sunday Ticket as an add-on.

    Has NFL RedZone - $10 a month for it & Sports Package  - I only subscribe during football season. 

    Don’t have to talk to someone to sign up, change plans or quit  All handled online, unlike DirecTV.

    Supports sports multicast - screen is split into 2-4 games. Watching the NCAA tourney was awesome.

    Has local stations & when you travel, it automatically switches to those locals. Could be good or bad. 

    Can subscribe to HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc
     

    Cons -

    No Longhorn Network (who cares after this season though) 

    No BallySports / old FSSW

    Have to have a smart TV or device & internet. 

    I can’t recommend it enough. 

  5. 23 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

    Does being officially named as a co-conspirator prohibit you from cooperating against the main defendant or any of the other co-conspirators?  Are you locked in now while Smith prioritizes trial steps or you can now see the indictment and for due process know the others implicated?  So you can then offer up intimate knowledge, records, and background intel to save your ass?  They've been carrying this guy's illegal water for some time with little to show for it.  The evidence has to be pretty clear to these guys by now, this is it.  You're fucked now, properly and federally.  Either see the light and cut a deal or even if he saves his own ass politically---you're going down and he's not throwing you a life preserver.  

    My understanding is not being named is Justice Department policy for people who are not indicted, nothing more.

    It’s a heads up though to the co-conspirators and I could see them testify against DJT in some sort of cooperation agreement. 

  6. 3 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

    Hey Donald, pro tip for you buddy.   Go ahead and post social media blurbs about your nickname for her as Judge Shitcan. Will totally endear her to you before the trial for your life.  

    Is it 6 co-conspirators plus Trump?  Or 6 total.  I want to know how many hits of acid to drop this Thursday.  

    The indictment is only against Trump right now but the 6 co-conspirators could be charged later. Smith likely doing this to have a quicker trial. 

  7. https://www.kut.org/transportation/2023-05-23/austin-project-connect-recommendation-light-rail-10-miles-street-level
     

    Quote

    Project Connect recommendation revealed: Light-rail would stretch 10 miles at street level

    KUT 90.5 | By Nathan Bernier

    Published May 23, 2023 at 10:48 AM CDT

    The Austin Transit Partnership is unveiling its vision for the city's transit expansion: An almost 10-mile, on-street light-rail system that would reshape Austin's transit map and move 30,000 people per day. The recommendation comes after two and a half years of ups and downs for the voter-endorsed Project Connect.

    After a six-week public engagement blitz, ATP selected its recommendation from five potential plans. This blueprint will now tour a circuit of public officials who will decide what actually gets built.

    ATP's recommended light-rail plan is a significant detour from the initial promise to voters. At 9.8 miles, the revised map provides less than half the distance and a starkly reduced estimated ridership compared to the 2020 vision.

    The new proposal trims major ambitions, including the $2 billion downtown subway that was dangled in front of voters with artist renderings showing underground shopping, dining and live music.

    But ATP is heralding the recommended plan as the first phase of a grander vision. This leaner design helps sidestep a potential fiscal sinkhole after the original $5.8 billion price tag had ballooned to more than $10 billion due to inflation and design changes.

    This new Project Connect milestone is being triumphantly unveiled Tuesday to the ATP board and Austin City Council against the backdrop of intensifying threats from state officials. Republican lawmakers and the Texas Attorney General are convinced Austin twisted state law to exploit a loophole in the power of local government to tax and borrow.

    A bill promising to create new obstacles for ATP's borrowing authority has advanced almost to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott. Compounding this uncertainty, a recent legal opinion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton raises concerns about the city's strategy for financing the transit system. 

    Paxton says the way the city is dedicating property taxes to ATP for financing up to $1.75 billion in bonds and loans likely violates state law and the Texas constitution. On Monday, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt modified House Bill 3899 — the one targeting ATP — to integrate Paxton's concerns, increasing roadblocks for Project Connect.

    But ATP is still forging ahead. 

    The local government corporation's recommended plan calls for building a rail network that winds from 38th Street down Guadalupe, turns on Third Street downtown to reach the Austin Convention Center, pivots south on Trinity Street and leaps over Lady Bird Lake on a bridge yet to take shape.

    A new light-rail bridge would be built across Lady Bird Lake at Trinity Street under ATP's recommendation, potentially requiring the demolition of the Waller Creek Boathouse. Earlier Project Connect plans called for building a new boathouse elsewhere on Lady Bird Lake. 

    Arriving at the south shore of Lady Bird Lake, the route would split at Waterfront Station — a stop that could blend into a large and densely populated development planned at the site of the old Austin American-Statesman building.

    One line would cruise down South Congress Avenue to Oltorf Street, while the other would venture down Riverside Drive, finding its terminus at Yellow Jacket Lane next to a new Park and Ride and a proposed $1 billion maintenance hub. 

    ATP's recommended map includes a new term: "phase one priority extensions." These are highly demanded sections that could get built immediately if there's enough money left over in the $5 billion budget or if new cash becomes available.

    One of the priority extensions would reach from Yellow Jacket to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport — providing an airport connection that ATP says was the single most demanded feature among the thousands of comments received over the public comment period.

    Earlier Project Connect renderings show what a light-rail station might look like at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. An airport station was the most requested connection during ATP's six-week public engagement period, ATP Executive Director Greg Canally said. 

    The other priority extension would stretch from 38th Street to Lamar and Airport Boulevards, boosting ridership by connecting to the MetroRail station at Crestview.

    The plan best reflects what people asked for during the public comment period, the agency's Executive Director Greg Canally said, because it provides at least some coverage in all three directions laid out in the 2020 plans — north, south and east.

    "The number one thing we heard along the line was, 'Let's get moving on this,'" Canally said. "We believe this phase one [of] Austin light-rail really achieves that. It allows us to get moving on building a system that Austinites want."

    Canally defended on-street light-rail as "the best solution for Austin," saying it's more accessible than elevated or underground rail and makes the system highly visible. On-street rail is also the least expensive option, allowing for greater overall distance.

    Elevated rail ensures trains can travel faster than the speed of traffic, a key factor in luring riders. Building elevated lines downtown would have cost about a third more than street-level lines downtown, according to an ATP document.

    Under ATP's recommended plan, light-rail would run at surface level down Third Street downtown between Guadalupe and Trinity Streets. 

    Putting trains on street level would increase travel times downtown but "not by very much," ATP's Engineering and Construction Chief Lindsay Wood said, because of how traffic signals would be timed.

    "When you get that green light to come out of the station, the train gets all green lights until it gets to the next station," Wood said. This type of "transit signal priority" would require coordinating with the city and could affect waiting times on cross streets, including in theory for CapMetro buses.

    The details of the plan will be debated in the coming weeks by the three bodies overseeing Project Connect: the Austin City Council, Capital Metro's board of directors and the ATP board — which is missing one of its five voting members since the April resignation of transportation finance professional Tony Elkins.

    Those governing boards will gather for a joint meeting June 6. That's when they're expected to make a final decision.


    spacer.png

  8. Looks like she has to report by May 30th and along with her ex, pay $452 million in restitution:

    https://www.axios.com/2023/05/18/theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes-prison-sentence-may-30

     

    Quote

    Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes must start prison sentence May 30

    Rebecca Falconer

    Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes walking back to her hotel following a March court hearing in San Jose, California. Photo: Philip Pacheco/Getty Images

    Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes must begin serving her prison sentence by May 30 while she appeals her conviction on charges of defrauding investors in her failed blood-testing startup, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

    In a separate ruling Tuesday, Davilia ordered Holmes and Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, Theranos' former president and chief operating officer, to pay $452 million in restitution to victims.

    The big picture: Holmes was sentenced in November to 11 years and three months in prison for conspiracy and fraud against certain investors and was originally scheduled to begin her prison sentence on April 27, but this was delayed while the appeals court weighed her request.

    Balwani was sentenced in December to 12 years and nine months in prison, plus three years of probation, for conspiracy and fraud against certain investors and patients.

    Theranos investors included Rupert Murdoch, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, ex-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the Walton family and the Cox family.

     

    • Hook 'Em 2
  9. Bye bye bye:

    https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/appeals-court-denies-elizabeth-holmes-request-to-stay-out-of-prison-113457150.html
     

    Quote

    Appeals court denies Elizabeth Holmes' request to stay out of prison

    Alexis Keenan

    Wed, May 17, 2023 at 6:34 AM CDT

    Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the collapsed Silicon Valley blood-testing startup Theranos, has lost a bid to remain out of prison while she appeals multiple convictions of defrauding the company’s investors.

    On Tuesday, a three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected a motion from Holmes’ lawyers asking that the embattled entrepreneur and mother of two be spared from a lower court’s order also denying her request to remain free on bail, pending an appeal of her case.

    A date for Holmes to report to prison was not included in the order.

    "Appellant’s motion for bail pending appeal is denied," the panel wrote in its decision. It disagreed with Holmes' lawyers who argued in court filings that US District Court Judge Edward Davila, who presided over Holmes' trial, made decisions reflecting "numerous, inexplicable errors.”

    The judges wrote that Holmes failed to meet a legal standard that, if satisfied, would weigh in favor of granting continued bail. The standard required Holmes to raise a "substantial question" law or fact from the district court case that, if decided in her favor, would likely lead to a reversal of her four fraud convictions, or a shorter prison term.

    In January 2022, a San Jose jury returned guilty verdicts against Holmes on four counts of financial fraud.

    Holmes, 39, who dazzled investors and media with the promise of her now defunct blood-testing startup, was found guilty five and a half years after an expose by The Wall Street Journal revealed she had overhyped Theranos’ “finger stick” technology.

    Wealthy investors and drug store giant Walgreens poured nearly a billion dollars into the company, which Holmes started in 2003 as a Stanford University dropout. At its peak, Theranos, which promised to perform dozens of blood tests from just a few drops of blood, was valued at $9 billion, making Holmes at the time the world’s first self-made female billionaire.

    Judge Davila, who ordered Holmes to serve 11 years and 3 months in federal prison, rejected her previous request to delay her surrender to prison. Her surrender date of April 27, however, was postponed by law because Holmes requested a review of that decision by the appellate court, which has final authority on the matter.

    Davila also presided over a separate trial for Theranos’ former president and COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, in which a jury returned guilty verdicts on all 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy waged against him. Davilia sentenced Balwani, who was also Holmes' boyfriend, to more than 13 years behind bars. He reported to federal prison in California on April 21.

    In a separate decision, also issued Tuesday, Judge Davila ordered Holmes and Balwani to repay $452 million in restitution to investors defrauded in the duo's scheme. The two are jointly liable to repay the penalty. During sentencing, government lawyers suggested that Holmes repay $800 million to defrauded investors.

    During sentencing, Davila characterized Holmes’ legal battle — one of the most closely watched in Silicon Valley history — as one that could serve as a lesson for future founders.

    “I suppose we step back and ask what is the pathology of fraud? Is it the refusal to accept responsibility or express contrition in any way?" Judge Edward Davila said. "Perhaps that is the cautionary tale that will go forward from this case."

    At sentencing, Davila also referenced letters from Holmes’ supporters who highlighted that venture capitalists had grown accustomed to startup failures like Theranos and considered it "normal" to lose 90% of the funds put at risk.

    "One thing that was missing from those letters...the letters did not say anything about, nor did they endorse, failure by fraud," Davila said.

    Minutes before learning her sentence inside a packed courtroom, Holmes had addressed the court.

    "I stand before you taking responsibility for Theranos,” she said. “I loved Theranos. It was my life’s work. My team meant the world to me. They wanted to make a difference in the world. I am devastated by my failings.”

    Holmes’ prison sentence represents approximately 14% of the maximum allowable time of 80 years that sentencing guidelines technically permit for her four fraud convictions. Each of those charges allowed for a sentence of up to 20 years, along with $250,000 in fines, plus restitution.

     

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 1
  10. 11 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

    As one of the few people here that have hired form trade schools ……

    1. We hired some damn good kids out of uti. You couldn’t dream up better new employees

    2. trade school is damn damn expensive. Those kids racked up $20 to $25k in 18 months or so. It’s more expensive than community college. The trade schools are predators on getting those kids to rack up debt 

    It’s expensive but I’m ok with any kid having $30k in debt. That’s a car payment for 5-6 years and although not cheap, it won’t debilitate someone like $300k would. I would prefer free college for kids but that’s a pipe dream. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Like 1
  11. 4 minutes ago, GringoSalado said:

    fify but I hope I'm wrong .

    I think most public schools will be fine. They normally aren’t charging $50k a year for in-state tuition and there will always be kids wanting to go there. 

    But the small, private liberal arts schools? They are screwed. Some have already started shutting down and they won’t be bailed out. State governments already don’t pay enough to public colleges, i doubt there will be any taxpayer money for private colleges that fail. 

  12. First - a 2015 OpEd from the NYT discussing the increase in tuition: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/the-real-reason-college-tuition-costs-so-much.html

     

    Quote

    By contrast, a major factor driving increasing costs is the constant expansion of university administration. According to the Department of Education data, administrative positions at colleges and universities grew by 60 percent between 1993 and 2009, which Bloomberg reported was 10 times the rate of growth of tenured faculty positions.

    Even more strikingly, an analysis by a professor at California Polytechnic University, Pomona, found that, while the total number of full-time faculty members in the C.S.U. system grew from 11,614 to 12,019 between 1975 and 2008, the total number of administrators grew from 3,800 to 12,183 — a 221 percent increase. 

    The rapid increase in college enrollment can be defended by intellectually respectable arguments. Even the explosion in administrative personnel is, at least in theory, defensible. On the other hand, there are no valid arguments to support the recent trend toward seven-figure salaries for high-ranking university administrators, unless one considers evidence-free assertions about “the market” to be intellectually rigorous.

    What cannot be defended, however, is the claim that tuition has risen because public funding for higher education has been cut. Despite its ubiquity, this claim flies directly in the face of the facts.


    2nd - I’ve always hated the assertion that a college degree is the sole reason people are successful later in life. College self-select the smartest people - high grades, activities, test scores, etc. The traits that got the kids into college are the main reason kids are successful in life, not just the degree they obtained. Colleges love to tout this but it’s just marketing to justify their existence. 
     

    3rd - I am not anti college. If your parents have $300k and you want to study international basket weaving & English at Patchouli U, go for it. But fuck that same university for trying to recruit a kid whose parents that make less than $50k and will never get out of that debt. A reckoning is coming for those schools and I have zero sympathy. If colleges want to be so expensive, kids should get an appropriate paying career out of it. 
     

    Finally - I think trade schools are a great path for kids today. With the increase in technology and the high cost of shipping, factory work is coming back to the US. Plus, everyone needs to shit and plumbers will always have a job. I personally think that kids in high school should be able to start apprenticeships so that when they graduate, they are on a great career path. 

    I will now step off my soap box. 

    • Hook 'Em 2
  13.  

    9 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

    Oklahoma voting to legalize it 


    https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/oklahoma-recreational-marijuana-vote-only-a-month-away?_amp=true
     

    Quote

    Oklahoma recreational marijuana vote only a month away

    By: Samson Tamijani

    TULSA, Okla. — Voters in the Sooner state will decide if marijuana legalization should be expanded to recreational use for everyone 21 and older through State Question 820 on March 7.

    As the date approaches, intense campaigns on both sides of the issue are trying to swing the vote.

    “If you really care about your kids and about Oklahoma’s future then you better get out and vote on March 7,” Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler told 2 News Oklahoma Friday.

    Kunzweiler joins a list of Oklahoma officials in the newly-formed Protect Our Kids No 820 coalition chaired by former governor Frank Keating, arguing that any marijuana accessibility hurts Oklahomans, especially if within reach of children.

    “The practical aspect of it is that it’s just not safe for children, it’s really not safe for any adults. We don’t know enough about what’s being put in these substances. I don’t think the regulation has ever approached what they promised us," Kunzweiler said.

    “It’s all money to (the cannabis industry). They’ll move on with their profits and they’re going to leave their carnage behind, and I have to deal with it.”

    That’s not how Ryan Kiesel of the Yes on 820campaign sees it, and he says the data is on his side.

    “Peer-reviewed studies have found time and again that children in states that have recreational marijuana, teenagers in those states – you don’t see an increase in usage," Kiesel said. "You don’t see an increase in access. That’s just not true. It doesn’t bear itself out.”

    According to the March 7 ballot proponent'sdescription, SQ 820 offers to "protect marijuana use to all age 21 and older with limits and regulations", while designed to be self-funded with a 15% sales tax.

    It also provides judicial process to seek expungement of a prior weed-related judgment.

    “It will give law enforcement new, important, valuable tools to be able to go after illicit markets and illegal actors in the state of Oklahoma that they currently don’t have," Kiesel added. "Those are big changes with State Question 820. We’re going to be a more prosperous and a safer state if we pass this.”

    The deadline to register for this anticipated vote is February 10. Some voters we spoke with like Kurt and Nancy, a couple from Broken Arrow, said they’ll they base their decision on the funds.

    “I am for anything that will raise tax revenue for the state as long as the tax revenue is put to good use,” Nancy said.

    A study led in part by the Oklahoma Cannabis Industry Association states that should SQ 820 pass, the state could earn $821 million from both medicinal and recreational weed sales over the next 5 years.

    The debate on SQ 820 will be brought to Tulsa this Tuesday, Feb. 7. Local chapters of The League of Women Voters will host a free forumat the OU-Tulsa campus, open to the public and featuring leaders from across the political spectrum. The live stream can be found here.

     

  14. 3 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

    You think Jimbo is going to leave 50 million on the table? He ain’t leaving. He knows where the bodies are buried. 

    I think he is saying A&M will fire Jimbo with cause, not Jimbo leaving. And I think Jimbo has $86m left on his contract. 

    • Hook 'Em 2
  15. 58 minutes ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

    Being passed around by females on aggy campus

    He is a starter

    image.thumb.jpeg.f1d3b505a75e279f700073a658fe61fd.jpeg
     

    https://m.facebook.com/TAMUPolice/photos/a.59223651785/10158851149516786/?type=3
     

    Quote


    Texas A&M University Police Department

    Public Safety Advisory – Sexual Assault

    Public Safety Advisories are crime notifications for incidents that do not meet the criteria of a Clery reportable crime or Clery geography but may pose a threat to our campus community.  

    On Jan. 26, 2023, the Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD) received information regarding two sexual assaults that were reported to a Campus Security Authority.

    Two victims reported that they were sexually assaulted on Jan. 18, 2023 at an off-campus apartment. The victims reported they met the suspect on Jan. 18, 2023 at a Northgate bar. The victims then went to the suspect’s apartment where the sexual assaults occurred. One victim reported that she was choked during the incident.

    On Jan. 27, 2023, the Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD) received information regarding another sexual assault that was reported to a Campus Security Authority involving the same suspect.

    The victim reported that she was sexually assaulted on Jan. 18, 2022 at her off-campus home. The victim reported she met the suspect on Jan. 18, 2022 at a friend’s house. When the victim left her friend’s house, the suspect asked for a ride because the suspect had ridden with a friend. The victim agreed and they went to the victim’s house where the sexual assault occurred.

    The identity of the suspect is known. The suspect is described as a black male, 20 years of age, 6’5” tall, 330 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. 

    The identities of the victims are confidential and no further information will be released at this time.

    Anyone having information pertaining to this or other incidents is encouraged to contact the Texas A&M University Police Department at 979-845-2345.

     

    • Hook 'Em 1
  16. 26 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

    It wouldn't work because they would have to research what to download to Bob's computer. An woman recently got in trouble doing that to her ex-husband. She is the one in deep shit now. 

    https://kfor.com/news/local/wife-accomplice-screenshot-857-child-porn-photos-to-frame-husband-before-upcoming-custody-battle/amp/
     

    Quote

    Police: Wife screenshots child porn to frame husband

    Katelyn Ogle/KFOR

    8 months ago

    GARVIN COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – Garvin County authorities say an Oklahoma wife and her accomplice are facing hefty felony charges after taking more than 800 screenshots of child pornography to frame the husband before an upcoming child custody battle.

    “It was a big plot, but we unfolded it,” said Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullet. “I haven’t seen anything this detailed and this so thought out to try to get somebody put away.”

    Lacey Hucks, 33, and Angel Moore, 44, allegedly cooked up a plan to put Hucks’ husband behind bars. 

    In December, Mullet said the duo scoured the dark web to screen shot 857 pictures of child pornography on the husband’s old phone.

    “To take the time to find all these screenshots, you know, it’s very disturbing. Very, very disturbing,” said the sheriff. “This is over the top.”

    The goal was to get the husband behind bars so Hucks could win an upcoming child custody battle.

    According to court documents, “Angel stated that Lacey drove her to the Wynnewood Police Department to make the report and gave her the phone,” on April 18. 

    Moore told police she saw the husband viewing the pornography at his home.

    “It was a plan that they said that they rehearsed,” said Sheriff Mullet. “She was never at the house. She never watched him look at a phone.”

    Wynnewood Police quickly looped Garvin County deputies into the investigation.

    “The wife just came up with this crazy story and it was believable at first,” said the sheriff.

    The husband was arrested after the accusation, but was only locked up overnight. Investigators quickly pumped the brakes and connected the dots after no child pornography was found on the husband’s current phone.

    Child allegedly slapped during Cinco De Mayo celebration at Oklahoma City park

    Moore later confessed to the ruse and told police “she thought she was doing the right thing for Lacey.”

    “The husband is upset, obviously,” said the sheriff. “Someone tries to take your life and away from your freedom.”

    Moore bonded out of jail while Hucks is sitting in a cell with a $250,000 bond.

    “It backfired on them and I’m glad that they were able to be in jail,” said Sheriff Mullet. 

    The duo is now facing charges including aggravated possession of child porn, conspiracy to commit a felony, and violation of the computers crimes act.


    And I agree with earlier posts - you need to step back & not make this your fight. This is such a horrendous accusation, you have to protect you & your family’s mental well-being first.

    Although he might be falsely accused, you have to begin to accept the possibility he is guilty, no matter how much you think you know him. It really sucks since no matter what happens, there will be no winners. 

    TLDR: Protect your family first & limit your involvement in his battle. 

  17. https://www.ksat.com/news/ksat-investigates/2023/01/04/michelle-barrientes-vela-sentenced-to-5-years-probation-90-days-in-jail-600-hours-community-service/
     

    Quote

    Michelle Barrientes Vela sentenced to 5 years probation, 90 days in jail, 600 hours community service

    Former Bexar County constable convicted on two felony tampering counts in Sept.

    SAN ANTONIO – Former Bexar County Precinct 2 Constable Michelle Barrientes Vela was sentenced Wednesday to five years probation, 90 days in jail and 600 hours of community service.

    Barrientes Vela had faced between two years probation and 10 years in prison after a jury on Sept. 1 found her guilty on two felony counts of tampering with records.

    Barrientes Vela presented Rodriguez Park security payment logs that she knew to be false, after coming under criminal investigation.

    Prosecutors hours earlier asked that she be sentenced to six years in prison for her crimes.

    Barrientes Vela was allowed to leave court without being taken back into custody and does not have to serve her 90-day sentence while she appeals her convictions.

    The reading of the sentence was not without controversy, as two of her sons interrupted the proceedings.

    One son yelled “F--- the DA, f--- the DA” while walking toward the exit while a second son removed his jacket and attempted to charge toward the front of the courtroom.

    He was subdued by security and quickly removed from the courtroom.

    Both men, along with about half of Barrientes Vela’s supporters, were then locked out of the courtroom as Judge Velia Meza read the stipulations of the sentence a second time.

    The ex-constable, whose scandal-ridden 33 months in office culminated with a 2019 raid of her Northwest Side offices by the Texas Rangers and FBI and then a failed run for Bexar County sheriff the following year, also faced multiple counts of official oppression that were taken into consideration during the sentencing phase of her trial.

    Wednesday, which was Day Nine of the sentencing phase of Barrientes Vela’s trial, included brief testimony from Precinct 2 Judge Roberto Vazquez.

    Vazquez and defense attorney Jason Goss went back and forth on who was responsible for dismantling the security setup at the county’s Precinct 2 complex, which houses the constable’s offices and justice of the peace courtrooms.

    The dismantling included the temporary removal of a metal detector.

    “I don’t believe my safety was a priority in that building,” Vazquez said during an argumentative back and forth with Goss that included the attorney accusing the judge of being non-responsive.

    Vazquez provided some of the most biting criticism of Barrientes Vela during an earlier portion of her sentencing and Wednesday testified that conversations with the then-elected official were all over the place and at times non-sensical.

    The defense rested before 9:30 a.m.

    No jury was present for the start-and-stop sentencing phase of the trial, since Barrientes Vela chose to be sentenced by Judge Meza, who is overseeing the case.

    Attorneys instead addressed Meza during closing arguments.

    Goss told the court that the jury’s verdict was tainted because they were constantly being told that there were allegations “out there” against Barrientes Vela that were not allowed to be discussed during the trial.

    Texas Ranger Bradley Freeman, the state’s lead investigator in the case, was held in contempt of court in late November after the judge ruled that he violated a court order not to testify about other allegations against the ex-constable.

    Freeman claimed on the witness stand during the trial on Aug. 30 that he believed Barrientes Vela had committed official oppression, that she essentially used her position of authority to deny another person’s rights.

    The testimony violated the judge’s order not to discuss allegations against Barrientes Vela that were outside the tampering with records indictment.

    “From the very beginning they had this idea that everything Michelle did was wrong,” Goss said. “The sentence has to match what she’s convicted of.”

    Former Pct. 2 Capt. Marc D. Garcia, who was indicted alongside Barrientes Vela in early 2020, was granted immunity as part of a deal with prosecutors in late October that called for him to testify against his former boss.

    His testimony was later excluded by the judge due to conflicts of interest raised by the defense.

    Whether Barrientes Vela encouraged Garcia to get an arrest warrant against another Pct. 2 deputy, Leonicio Moreno, in April 2019, was a key point of contention throughout the sentencing portion of her trial.

    Moreno, whose felony perjury charge was dismissed hours after he was taken into custody, had filed to run for constable against Barrientes Vela shortly before her agency began investigating him for possibly filing a false Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint.

    Goss, who called the investigation and subsequent arrest of Moreno a “farce,” said he, the judge and prosecutors would have known it was a faulty investigation but that Barrientes Vela did not know any better.

    “Law enforcement, constable, that was not the position for her,” said Goss, who at one point during his closing argument added that his client was not a legal scholar.

    A former Pct. 2 training instructor testified Tuesday that Garcia acted alone in getting a judge to sign the warrant to arrest Moreno.

    During the state’s closing argument, prosecutor Oscar Salinas said the terms “public corruption” and “Michelle Barrientes Vela” are now synonymous with one another.

    He played a media interview recorded during the September 2019 raid of her offices in which the then-constable pushed for the arrest of Moreno.

    The interview took place months after Moreno’s criminal charge was dismissed and contradicted statements from the defense that Garcia acted alone in pursuing the case.

    Salinas asked Meza to sentence Barrientes Vela to six years in prison.

    Barrientes Vela’s defense team filed a notice of appeal, in an attempt to get the felony convictions overturned by a higher court.

     

    • Rage+1 1
  18. Not trying to promote Apple but the iPhone 14 looks like something moose needs to pick up:

    https://mustreadalaska.com/apple-a-day-snowmachiners-life-saved-with-new-apple-iphone-14-sos-feature/

    Quote

    Apple a day: Snowmachiner’s life saved with new Apple iPhone 14 SOS feature

    By Suzanne Downing

    December 1, 2022

    On Thursday, a man traveling on snowmachine at around 2 am became stranded between Noovik and Kotzebue, a route used frequently in the winter but not traveled heavily at night. The temperature in the area had dropped into the teens.

    Alaska State Troopers were notified that a person had activated an Apple iPhone Emergency SOS via satellite on an iPhone. Working with local search and rescue teams, the Apple Emergency Response Center, and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator, the rescue effort deployed four volunteer searchers to the Nimiuk Point area, to the exact GPS coordinates provided by the Apple Emergency Response Center. The stranded man was located and transported to Kotzebue by the volunteer search team. There were no injuries reported.

    This may be the first successful search and rescue operation in nation using this new Apple iPhone feature, which is found on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models. The feature supposedly only works as far north as the 62 parallel, while Kotzebue and Noorvik are at latitude 69, 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

    With iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, you can use Emergency SOS via satellite to text emergency service agencies when you’re out of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. You can also use the Find My app to share your location with people via satellite, Apple says.

    Emergency SOS via satellite can help people connect with emergency services under exceptional circumstances when no other means of reaching emergency services are available. If they call or text emergency services and can’t connect because they are outside the range of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage, their iPhone tries to connect them via satellite to the help that they need.

    When using a satellite connection, the experience is different than sending or receiving a message via cellular. In ideal conditions with a direct view of the sky and the horizon, a message might take 15 seconds to send, and over a minute to send under trees with light or medium foliage, Apple says. If the user is under heavy foliage or surrounded by other obstructions like mountains and buildings, he or she might not be able to connect to a satellite. Connection times can also be impacted by the surroundings, the length of the message, and the status and availability of the satellite network.

    The emergency SOS via satellite feature is free for two years after the activation of iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro. 

    Just make sure when you’re traveling from Noorvik to Kotzebue in the dead of winter that you have a fully charged phone, because you’ll need to get it from your pocket and keep it in the open so it can communicate with a satellite. That battery life is noticeably shorter in cold weather.

     

×
×
  • Create New...