TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalSoda tax campaign fight costs at nearly $3.3 million; proponents operating in the red
SANTA FE — The American Beverage Association provided another big influx of cash to the political committee working against the proposed tax on sugary beverages in Santa Fe, while the group in favor of the tax is operating in the red.
As voters head to the polls today to decide the fate of the 2-cents-per-ounce tax on soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks, the opposing sides now have reported investing nearly $3.3 million combined, with each side committing more than $1.6 million.
The tax would raise revenue — estimated at more than $7 million a year — for early childhood education programs.
According to campaign finance statements filed Monday — covering the period from April 25-30 — the ABA gave another $365,000 to Better Way for Santa Fe & Pre-K, increasing its total monetary contributions to $1.35 million. ABA previously provided $173,000 worth of in-kind services, bringing its total investment in the campaign against the tax to $1.52 million.
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/996467/soda-tax-campaign-fundraising-keeps-going-up-pro-tax-group-is-in-the-red.html
Tax overhaul to be on special session agenda
Gov. Susana Martinez made it explicit Thursday: Simplifying New Mexico’s tax system is, in her view, a key to solving the state’s budget crisis and a standoff with the Legislature.
She said Thursday that she will add “comprehensive tax reform” to the agenda of a coming special session.
“Despite the challenges,” Martinez said in a speech, “we have a tremendous opportunity.”
The session will focus on crafting a new budget package aimed at ensuring New Mexico has enough cash to continue paying its bills over the next year – amid a downturn in oil and natural gas prices and the nation’s highest unemployment rate.
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/994531/gov-simplifying-nm-tax-code-will-be-on-special-session-agenda.html
Albuquerque PD finds man with hands nailed to tree in bosque
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Officers are investigating after a man was found alive with his hands nailed to a tree in the bosque on Monday morning, according to a spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Police Department.
Celina Espinoza said around 8:30 a.m. police received a call about an injured man in just north of Central on the east bank of the Rio Grande.
“Officers found a man who seemed confused, standing in front of a tree with his hands next to his shoulders,” Espinoza said. “Each hand had one nail through it.”
She said the nails were about 3 inches long, and the man was not bleeding when officers found him. They removed him from the tree and took him to a hospital.
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/996428/apd-man-found-with-hands-nailed-to-tree-in-bosque.html
Austin City Council member among those handcuffed at sit-in
Austin City Council Member Greg Casar was handcuffed at an immigration protest Monday evening.
Casar was among a group of immigration advocates who spent much of the day orchestrating a sit-in at a state office building in protest of Senate Bill 4, the so-called sanctuary cities bill, which would ban cities from declining to assist federal immigration enforcement.
https://twitter.com/SeanCWalsh/status/859169099447926784
Protest organizers said just before 6:45 p.m. that 18 sit-in participants had been given trespassing citations and would be released.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/local-govt--politics/austin-city-council-member-among-those-handcuffed-sit/6s9m7JnVH6umc5LTzpir8L/
[font color=330099]From the photos, I can recognize that this occurred at the old State Insurance Building at 11th and San Jacinto.[/font]
Court sets July 10 trial on Texas redistricting maps
Texas will have to defend its state House and U.S. House districts at a five-day trial that will begin July 10 in San Antonio, a federal court announced Monday night.
Needing to have a decision by Oct. 1 to prepare for the 2018 elections — candidate filing begins in mid-November — the three-judge panel also set tight pretrial deadlines.
Plaintiffs will have to disclose their expert witnesses by March 28, while lawyers for Texas will have to do the same by June 16. Both sides must disclose other witnesses, and list what they plan to testify about, by June 5.
The trial will begin with the challenge to the districts set for the 150 members of the Texas House, the court said.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/just-court-sets-july-trial-texas-redistricting-maps/e421I3FzyavZXra0LbYbEL/
Officials in North Texas identify student who died in UT stabbing; 3 others injured
AUSTIN -- 8:10 p.m. update: School officials in the North Texas town of Graham identified UT student Harrison Brown — who is from Graham — as the student who was killed in today’s stabbing at UT.
Earlier: One student is dead and three others have been taken to the hospital after a reported stabbing attack on the University of Texas campus Monday afternoon, authorities said.
UT Police Chief David Carter identified the suspect in the attack as 21-year-old UT student Kendrex J. White, a biology major from Killeen.
Police got the call around 1:30 p.m. this afternoon about a person with a knife who attacked or assaulted someone outside the Gregory gym.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/officials-north-texas-identify-student-who-died-stabbing/xgYRXxAmqe43jV1QdgQU3M/
New North Dakota tax earmarked for communications update
JAMESTOWN, N.D. — A 50-cent-per-month increase in the tax on landline telephone and cellphone connections approved by the North Dakota Legislature will generate about $10 million over two years, according to Duane Schell, director of the Network Services Division of the North Dakota Information Technology Department.
The money is earmarked for updates to the communications equipment used by dispatch centers and first responders around the state.
"It's not funded at a level where we can do everything," Schell said, referring to the amount of money raised by the tax and the project to update the radio network. "That's the challenge we have to figure out."
Jerry Bergquist, Stutsman County emergency manager, said the goal is to have a statewide radio network that allows direct communications between police or fire units no matter what agency they work for.
Read more: http://www.inforum.com/news/4259773-new-nd-tax-earmarked-communications-update
Jury awards $3.5 million verdict against St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck
BISMARCK — A jury awarded $3.5 million in damages to a woman who suffered a stroke after a major artery was accidentally severed during surgery at St. Alexius Hospital.
On Friday, April 28, at the end of a two-week trial in Burleigh County, a nine-person panel decided Dr. Allen Michael Booth, a thoracic and cardiac surgeon, and the hospital negligently performed a lymph node biopsy on Chenille Condon, 35, of Fort Yates, in 2012.
"It was a case of a very tragic medical error that took away Ms. Condon's upward trajectory in life," said her attorney, Tom Conlin. "This jury was incredibly courageous ... They had to issue a verdict against a major health care provider in Bismarck."
A statement from CHI St. Alexius Health, made on behalf of the doctor and the hospital, said the organization disagrees with the jury's finding and is "reviewing our legal options moving forward."
Read more: http://www.inforum.com/news/4259771-jury-awards-35-million-verdict-against-st-alexius-hospital-bismarck
Biker sues SD ranchers in buffalo mauling
A woman who says she got mauled by a buffalo while driving by a South Dakota ranch on her motorcycle is suing the ranch and its owners for negligence.
Marisol Heidrich, of Minot, N.D., says the ranch and its owners failed to take steps that would have prevented her injuries despite knowing the danger the buffalo posed. She is asking for more than $75,000 in compensation from the Mickelson Ranch, in northern Meade County, and its father-and-son owners, Sam and Travis Mickelson.
On Aug. 1, 2014, Heidrich and her husband were traveling on their motorcycles to the Sturgis rally when they came across four buffaloes grazing along U.S. Highway 212, said Heidrich’s lawyer, John Dorsey.
The buffaloes were owned by the Mickelsons, whose ranch services include guided buffalo hunts, Dorsey said. The ranch is between the town of Faith and the unincorporated community of Mud Butte, about 65 miles northeast of Sturgis.
Read more: http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/biker-sues-sd-ranchers-in-buffalo-mauling/article_28c9f153-6d3b-5ab2-8a0d-82493215c07a.html
North Dakota seeks federal aid for pipeline protest costs
BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota's governor is asking President Donald Trump for federal reimbursement of $38 million in state law enforcement costs related to months of protests over construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
Gov. Doug Burgum emailed Trump Saturday seeking a presidential disaster declaration to pave the way for federal aid. Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki confirmed the request to The Associated Press on Monday.
White House officials didn't immediately comment on the likelihood of Trump declaring a disaster. Trump has been a champion of the fossil fuel industry and pushed for the completion of the disputed and stalled pipeline just days after taking office in January.
North Dakota's two senators, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp and Republican John Hoeven, have said a $1 trillion spending bill that Congress is considering includes money for a Justice Department program that could help with North Dakota's bills. But any reimbursement through that program is likely to make only a small dent.
Read more: http://www.aberdeennews.com/wire/us/north-dakota-seeks-federal-aid-for-pipeline-protest-costs/article_e62f3f6c-2eae-11e7-bb51-e3e3d4fbc361.html
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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
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