The State of Texas: June 12, 2015

Carto-Technology Of The Day

Now that the rains are gone and the rebuilding has begun, we can start looking at all the flooding with a curious—rather than fearful—eye. The Houston Chronicle does just that with a cool Google map showing where the city’s flooding happened. Check out the original piece for a breakdown and map key.

Furry Friday

The pain and trouble caused by the flooding might still be fresh but there is one cure, particularly for Houstonians. It would seem somebody on Craigslist has started a kitten rental business. Houstonia magazine talked to the entre-purr-neurs, who assured everyone the ad is real.

Daily Roundup

White, Out – And the racial tensions in Texas continue. Now-former McKinney officer, Eric Casebolt, at the center of the pool scandal has hired a defense lawyer because better safe that sued (or indicted). Others probably could afford to be a bit more careful when it comes to these things, however. For instance, the Lubbock-area teacher who was just fired for saying that “the black are the ones causing the racial tension” and “I’m almost to the point of wanting them all segregated on one side of town so they can hurt each other and leave the innocent people alone” on a Facebook rant. The teacher has since apologized for her comments. Maybe Facebook is the real problem? The San Antonio Express-News reports that a Dallas woman has been placed on administrative leave by her California-based company after it learned that the woman is the one who allegedly made the now-viral racial comments at the pool.

We Are Mineral Wells – It’s never too early to take a stand against nepotism. That’s the lesson we should all take from Mineral Wells High School, where nine football players quit in protest. “The unified stance came in response to a recent decision by Perry to name his son, Tristan, starting quarterback for the 2015 season and moving his competitor for the position, Trent Guinn, to backup slot receiver, effectively ending the competition for the starting signal caller role,” according to the Mineral Wells Index. “On Tuesday night, several players spoke out at the Mineral Wells ISD board meeting, saying [the deposed quarterback] never had a fair chance to compete for the job, the Mineral Wells Index reported,” according to the Chronicle. Said one former player in perfect inspiring-football-movie fashion, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. …We sat down and listened. We were brushed aside as if it didn’t matter. Nothing was changed. So we took a stand.” And it’s worked, apparently. “The players [who quit] tell the Index they are back in the fold after receiving assurance from coach Perry that the quarterback competition … will reopen,” according to an update.

Come and Drink It – Another summer, another season of ridiculous regulatory overreach. Like clockwork, kids’s lemonade stands get shut down by officials because the little business owners failed to file the proper paperwork. It seems to happen everywhere. The latest case occured in Overton and has some rather uncomfortable, er, overtones. “In the video, released by the Overton Police Department, the first question to the girls’ mother was in reference to a permit. You see in the video the city’s code enforcement officer drive up to the location of the girls’ stand, get out, and ask for their mother. Once the officer identifies the mother, she asks about the permit. Both women are off-camera. ‘You get a permit with the city to serve this?’ the officer asks.” Even the chief of police came out to make sure this dangerous lemonade cartel didn’t prosper off the thirst of other people. The story has, understandly, gotten some national attention because this is America, not a communist colony in the eastern bloc where life rations out lemons and lemons only. A friend of the family apparently obtained the $150 permit from city hall (the cost was waived) “but staff members informed the friend that they would need to contact the health department.” This summer, support your local lemonade stand/anarchist rest stop.