Category Archives: crime news

crime news

Another shooting, another yawn from those in power

I am acutely aware that the words from this brief blog post will go unnoticed by those who prowl the halls of power in Austin and Washington.

I’ll offer them anyway.

Another school shooting has claimed the lives of young people who attended class never thinking today would be their final day on this Earth. The shooter, also a juvenile, then turned the gun on himself, according to authorities in Madison, Wis., where the tragedy occurred.

It happened at a Christian school in Wisconsin’s capital city.

At last report, two people — a student and a teacher — died in the gunfire, six were injured.

OK, so what is the question we need to address? I suppose one should be how the young shooter obtained the weapon that I suppose was purchased legally. Did he get it from Mom and Dad’s dresser from an unsecured place? Did the parents do enough to keep the firearm out of the kid’s hands?

Well, too many questions remain to be asked and to be answered.

My concern about those in power deal with their reluctance to even debate these issues openly. Texas has two U.S. senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, who blithely dismiss any legislative remedies to strength anti-gun legislation. North Texas U.S. Rep. Keith Self of McKinney is cast in the same hands-off mold as Cornyn and Cruz.

These men are Republicans, and they follow the mantra muttered by Donald Trump, who actually bragged during the 2024 presidential campaign that he was “proud” to do nothing to stem gun violence in the wake of another recent shooting.

And so, our alleged “leaders” likely will offer their “thoughts and prayers” for the loved ones of those who died or who are recovering from their wounds.

And then nothing will happen.

Shameful.

crime news

Patel to weaponize FBI

Let me see if I have this straight: Donald J. Trump has accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the Justice Department to go after Trumpkins and other MAGA goons, yet the new president has selected a guy, Kash Patel, to run the FBI with the expressed purpose of finding political foes and prosecuting them for unknown reasons.

Talk about weaponization!

Patel, of course, has no business running the nation’s top police force. He is a Trump loyalist and so far has spoken the words the boss wants to hear. I use the term “boss” with caution, because in reality you and I are the bosses. Patel doesn’t see it that way. He sees the president as the boss, is answerable only to him and therefore must be held accountable only by the nimrod sitting behind the Resolute Desk.

Not true, not by a long shot.

Patel is likely to get picked apart by Senate Judiciary Committee members, maybe even some of his fellow Republicans.

I’m tellin’ ya, Donald Trump’s next term as president is going to be one for the books … likely the comic books.

crime news

Portland, still alive and vital

PORTLAND — I am happy and proud to report that my hometown’s demise as an urban center full of joy and laughter has been greatly exaggerated.

I took a spin through the city’s downtown district and noticed a couple of things I didn’t quite expect to see. One was that the widespread damage caused by the “Black Lives Matter” riots of 2020 doesn’t exist. The other is a noticeable disappearance of homeless havens scattered throughout the city of my birth.

The MAGA goon squad wanted to infuse the nation with the idea that this urban paradise had gone straight to hell with riots in reaction to George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. I didn’t see any evidence today of Hell on Earth making an appearance in one of the country’s most beautiful cities.

Also missing were the clusters of tents occupied by homeless families along Interstate 5 that I saw the previous time I visited Portland, which was not long after the Minneapolis cop choked the life out of George Floyd. I don’t know what specific action Portland took, but whatever it was it seems to have had a positive impact on the city.

Portland appears to have survived the worst of the reactions that ignited in cities across the land. I drove quickly past Powell’s used book store — the renowned readers paradise along West Burnside; the place was buzzing. I saw plenty of activity along Broadway. Downtown Portland, in a word, was a happening place.

This makes me feel good about the city where I came of age.

crime news

Biden guilty of loving his son

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Joe Biden should plead guilty only to a single “charge,” which would be that he loves his son so much that he is willing to take flak for issuing a pardon to possibly keep him out of federal prison.

President Biden this weekend issued a broad pardon for his son, Hunter, who was convicted by a federal jury of purchasing a handgun illegally and for some assorted tax charges.

Hunter Biden faced the possibility of prison time. I doubt he would have gotten it. Then again, I am a terrible predictor of such things.

The president had declared he would let the system do its job and he wouldn’t pardon his son. Then he changed his mind.

Here is what is most maddening about the criticism that has erupted. The MAGA crowd is attaching some false equivalency to what Hunter Biden and the actions of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol Building aiming to overturn the2020 election results. To equate Hunter Biden’s lying about drug use with the machinations of the traitorous mob is ridiculous on its face.

Donald Trump might pardon some of the mobsters when he takes office and the MAGA goons will applaud him for it.

Joe Biden’s pardoning of Hunter Biden is a demonstration only of a father’s love of his son. This story will disappear once Donald Trump takes office… and you can take that to the bank.

crime news

Biden pardons son … yawn!

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Joe Biden said he wouldn’t pardon his son Hunter on a federal conviction related to an illegal purchase of a firearm.

Then the president had second thoughts and issued the pardon. I know what some of you must be thinking. How dare the president renege on his promise. The son needs to do time!

My thought? So … what!

Hunter Biden likely wouldn’t go to the slammer for a piss ante conviction that was brought for political reasons in the first place. He lied about his drug addiction when purchasing a gun; it’s a crime and a jury convicted him of it.

His father vowed he wouldn’t issue a pardon for his son. Then a lot of things changed for Daddy Biden. He dropped out of the 2024 presidential campaign, making him a lame duck the moment he pulled out. Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss on Nov. 5 sealed the end of Joe Biden’s influence on national policy.

So, he pardoned his son. Big fu***** deal, man!

The pardon will give conservative talking heads some chatter grist for a while, then it will fade away … just like Joe Biden and his family.

The president served the nation with distinction for more than 50 years. This act of compassion for a son he loves beyond measure speaks only to his devotion as a father and family man.

crime news

Trump’s list of vows sends chills

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Donald Trump’s return to the White House sends more chilling signals than I can possibly count, but surely a few of them stand out.

The mass deportation and separation of illegally documented immigrants is one; the desire to let Ukraine fall to the Russian invaders is another.

The one Trump promise that well could keep awake at night is the one that pledges that grant blanket pardons for the traitors who stormed the Capitol Building on Jan. 6 intending to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

I don’t know about you, but seeking those hideous videos of the mob smashing windows, beating cops with poles, yelling “where’s Mike Pence” while brandishing gallows from which they threatened to hang the vice president continue to make my skin crawl.

And for Trump to declare that the assault was full of “love” simply goes too far beyond the pale to even elicit an intelligent response.

He vows to fight crime, and yet he’s a convicted felon. Go figure that one for me … if you dare try. Trump’s anti-immigrant screeds only will increase once he is sworn in as POTUS. Yet two of his three wives were immigrants. Have they “poisoned the blood” of the nation? Trump cannot tell the truth about anything, no matter how significant or trivial the issue.

These all are points to ponder as we prepare for the second Trump administration.

I will circle back, though, to this idea of pardoning the frothing criminals who followed this man’s instruction to “fight like hell” to “take back the government” on Jan. 6.

If we have learned anything about the ex- and future POTUS, when he vows to do the outrageous, we should believe him.

crime news, legal news, national news

Trump: Slipperiest man alive

Donald J. Trump has just earned a new title that smacks of royalty.

I hereby crown this guy King Donald, The Slipperiest Man Alive. The dude received this unofficial title when special counsel Jack Smith announced today he would move to dismiss all the federal charges leveled against Trump.

They include his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on our government as well as his keeping of classified documents at his Florida estate.

What happened to force Smith to make this decision? Near as I can tell, it was the Supreme Court ruling that granted Trump immunity from prosecution while he sits in the Oval Office.

So, the two federal charges appear headed for the dustbin. All that’s left to prosecute is the Georgia case alleging that Trump sought to pressure state officials to “find” enough votes in Georgia to swing that state’s total in 2020 to Trump’s column.

The feds have no authority over DA Fani Willis’s right to prosecute that case as an elected state official. Then again, that case appears to be sucking wind at this stage.

Here we stand. A man who was impeached twice during his first term in office, convicted of 34 felony counts in New York on a hush-money payment to an adult film actress and then was charged in multiple cases on state and federal felonies has been re-elected to the nation’s highest office.

He now wears the crown awarded to the Slipperiest Man Alive.

Stunning … simply stunning.

crime news, local news

Allen PD officer: hero in truest sense

It happens to me every time I drive by the highway exit in Allen, Texas: I think of the shooting that occurred in May 2023 at the Allen Outlet Premium Mall.

It was a hugely tragic event that ended when an Allen police officer, who happened to be at the mall answering an unrelated call shot the madman to death. However, the end came too late for nine victims who were gunned down by the shooter.

I am casting not a single stone at the police officer. He heard the shots and sprinted full speed toward the scene. He spotted the killer and fired his weapon.

What has happened since then is equally praiseworthy. The Allen officer has chosen to remain anonymous. Only his police department colleagues and his loved ones know the identity of this hero.

I have tried to wrap my noggin around that desire to keep his ID a secret. It might be easy for him to want the attention. He could cash in on his celebrity. This hero, though, has chosen another path. He has chosen instead to go about his work each day to serve and protect the public.

I went shopping at the mall a few weeks after the event and asked the clerk how she was getting along in the wake of the tragedy that unfolded not far from the store where she worked. “We’re doing OK,” she said with a hint of uncertainty about what “OK” really meant. I took her answer to mean “just OK. Not great, but we’re getting past it.”

And they will. Eventually. As for the police officer who still suits up each day, I am sure he will, too. None of us needs to know his name. All we need is assurance that heroes are among us and they answer the call to respond as only heroes can do.

crime news

Sexual register at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.?

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A fellow I have known for many years posed a notion on social media that I want to share.

My friend wrote: Now that Trump is president-elect will 1600 Pennsylvania Ave be listed in the sexual register.

I couple of things jump out at me to make such an appealing idea even possible.

First, none of the matters for which Donald Trump was involved occurred in the District of Columbia. Second, I doubt seriously that any of the jurisdictions where Trump misbehaved have imposed such a label on where he lives, nor do I think that such a designation would be transferrable.

Still, such an idea does sort of get my funny bone to act up.

Americans have elected a convicted criminal to the nation’s highest office. His myriad charges do include such sexual misconduct, the kind that ought to carry some serious repercussions.

Such as attaching a “sexual predator” sign on the door of where he will live for the next four years.

crime news, legal news

No one is above the law?

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Supreme Court decisions notwithstanding, most of us have operated under the believe that the laws apply to everyone, regardless of occupation, wealth or social standing.

Have laid down that predicate, let’s suppose Kamala Harris is elected president in November, defeating a former POTUS who faces numerous criminal indictments for actions he allegedly committed to overturn the results of the previous presidential election.

Does the president-elect call off the dogs, ordering the Justice Department to cease and desist in its probe of the former president?

Abso(freaking)lutely not!

Donald Trump has accused DOJ of hunting him down because they want him out of office.  That, of course, is nonsense, covered in self-aggrandizing narcissism.

The high court earlier this year ruled that presidents are entitled to immunity from prosecution if the crime they commit falls in line with his action as president. Special counsel Jack Smith then reindicted Trump, resurrecting the indictments that were effectively rendered moot by the SCOTUS.

No self-respecting prosecutor is going to say his or her sole intent in pursuing a legal matter is to rid the world of a politician. I believe Jack Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland are far more than merely self-respecting lawyers.

If this election turns out the right way in November, we will have a president-elect who once served as a district attorney, a state prosecutor and a state attorney general. Something tells me she won’t let up on the gas for a moment in bringing Donald Trump to justice.

Nor should she.