Snoop’s Case May Be Over With, But Willie’s Technically Is Not
Juan Carlos Llorca of the Associated Press wrote about life along the Sierra Blanca checkpoint, where Wille Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and, most recently, actor Armie Hammer, have been among the many people busted for marijuana possession.
Llorca writes:
When Nelson was busted here in 2010, the county’s lead prosecutor suggested the singer settle his marijuana charges by performing “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” for the court. Nelson paid a fine instead, but not before county commissioner Wayne West played one of his own songs for the country music legend.
We all remember that story, but here’s the thing: West’s song-playing took place at the time of Nelson’s original arrest. Willie may have also paid a fine that day, but as far as we can tell, he never went back to Hudpseth County, and his case was never actually adjudicated. (Nelson’s representatives would not comment to Llorca.)
As Sterry Butcher of the Big Bend Sentinel reported in late June, Hudpseth County Judge Becky Walker told Drew Stuart of the Hudpseth County Herald that she and county attorney Kit Bramblett could not agree on a plea deal. Bramblett wanted to knock the charges down to possession of marijuana paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor, and a $500 fine, plus court fees, but Walker took issue with that.
“If that was the guy on the corner, you can damn sure bet he would be charged with a felony,” she told Stuart. “I don’t have anything against Willie Nelson; I just think that it’s not fair.”
Bramblett, the man who had originally proposed the “play ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain'” approach, responded, “It will lay there ‘til it gets dismissed . . . or she has a change of heart.”
And that’s the last anyone has heard about the case.
Walker did not return an email from the TM Daily Post for comment, but Drew Stuart said that he was not aware of any change in the case’s status since his original report.
Can Vince Young “Dance” and Still Play in the NFL?
The former UT quarterback tweeted that he was being considered for a spot on Dancing with the Stars. Certainly there’s no doubt about his gracefulness, but Cedric Golden of the Austin American-Statesman tells the former Longhorn—who will likely be looking for another NFL job last year after spending this past season as a Philadelphia Eagles backup—don’t do it!
It’s not a good idea for Young to dance. To say his professional career is at a crossroads would be a massive understatement. A backup quarterback who threw four interceptions in his last real action should be out hustling to regain some credibility on the football field. That’s time better spent than shaking his moneymaker on national television.
That is, if he still considers himself a legitimate NFL starting quarterback.
Whole Foods Has Not Been Taken Over By Monsanto
Social media this week was rife with year-old stories about Whole Foods’s position on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
“The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto,” said one Huffington Post article. Somehow the chatter rose to a point where the Austin-based public company had to put out a blog post of its own, leading off with a denial of the most plainly ridiculous rumor: that the GMO advocate and agribusiness giant Monsanto had actually bought Whole Foods. The supermarket chain also provided other “suggested reading” on the GMO issue.
Harold Simmons, Super-PAC Super-donor
Salon suggests that Texan Harold Simmons could be the big money man of the Republican presidential primary and general election.
The Dallas billionaire gave $7 million to Karl Rove’s American Crossroads—$5 million personally and $2 million from his Contran company.
Contran was also the largest donor to the Rick Perry-supporting Make Us Great Again PAC, and Simmons’s personal contributions to Perry have also been substantial. (His Waste Control Specialists received state permission to build a low-level radioactive waste dump in West Texas, a well-known story here that Salon and NBC News both briefly recount.)
And from the TM Daily Post
Is Galveston ready to get back the Pleasure Pier? Eva Longoria goes after Mitt Romney on the DREAM Act. And did you hear the one about the guy who adopted his girlfriend? (No, really.)
