WILLIAMSON COUNTY -- A civil hearing for former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson was held Friday afternoon.

Anderson faces felony charges with how he handled Michael Morton's murder trial back in 1987.

On Aug. 30 Anderson will be in court in Georgetown so a visiting judge can hear a motion from the State Bar of Texas' Commission for Lawyer Discipline. The result could be Anderson being disbarred.

The motion was filed on July 24 and states that Anderson “committed professional misconduct by violating State Bar Rules … and that {Moore} then set this matter for hearing evidence before the bench to determine an appropriate sanction to be imposed against {Anderson}.”

More, including video, at http://www.kvue.com/news/Civil-hearing-for-Ken-Anderson-set-for-Friday-221679311.html .

LOS ANGELES —

Former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Lamar Odom has been arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.

The California Highway Patrol reports that Odom was stopped about 4 a.m. Friday after a CHP officer saw his white Mercedes-Benz traveling erratically on a San Fernando Valley freeway.

The CHP says Odom, 33, was arrested after failing a field sobriety test.

Odom has been jailed on $15,000 bail.

More at http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/alcohol/nbas-lamar-odom-arrested-for-dui-in-los-angeles/nZhKS/ .

Texas A&M University biologist Joseph Sorg will be studying fecal samples from hundreds of people as part of a federally backed effort to deal with the gut bacteria Clostridium difficile, the cause of about 14,000 deaths a year in the United States.

-snip-

The bacteria cause infections primarily during hospital visits, when antibiotics alter the composition of microbial flora in the colon and make patients, most commonly the elderly, vulnerable to infection.

Death can occur in the most severe cases, but usually C. difficile infection results in severe diarrhea which unleashes dormant spores that are immune to antibiotic treatment.

-snip-

Beyond the psychological and physical toll on its victims, C. difficile is an economic burden: A 2011 University of Pittsburgh study estimated that costs related to infections exceed $1.8 billion.

More at http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_71469051-4497-5773-aa94-6afedff91515.html .

Cross-posted in Texas Group.

[font color=maroon]An Aggie professor studying shit--isn't that the topic for an Aggie joke?[/font]

Texas A&M University biologist Joseph Sorg will be studying fecal samples from hundreds of people as part of a federally backed effort to deal with the gut bacteria Clostridium difficile, the cause of about 14,000 deaths a year in the United States.

-snip-

The bacteria cause infections primarily during hospital visits, when antibiotics alter the composition of microbial flora in the colon and make patients, most commonly the elderly, vulnerable to infection.

Death can occur in the most severe cases, but usually C. difficile infection results in severe diarrhea which unleashes dormant spores that are immune to antibiotic treatment.

-snip-

Beyond the psychological and physical toll on its victims, C. difficile is an economic burden: A 2011 University of Pittsburgh study estimated that costs related to infections exceed $1.8 billion.

More at http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_71469051-4497-5773-aa94-6afedff91515.html .

Cross-posted in Health Group.

[font color=maroon]An Aggie professor studying shit--isn't that the topic for an Aggie joke?[/font]

AUSTIN, Texas —

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott released personal tax returns Friday that show the Republican gubernatorial candidate earning about $200,000 a year but do not reflect millions of tax-exempt dollars made from a settlement following his 1984 accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Abbott has received more than $5 million and counting from suing the owner of a tree that fell on him during a jog as a young law student. That money is not taxable income, which is common in personal injury settlements. But it also makes his federal tax returns since 2010 an incomplete picture of the wealth of Texas' top cop, who is the early favorite to replace Gov. Rick Perry in 2014.

Abbott provided The Associated Press with copies of his 2010-12 returns. But in an interview with AP, he would not commit to releasing earlier filings.

"This covers a solid background since I last ran for election," said Abbott, who was first elected attorney general in 2002.

More at http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/apnewsbreak-ag-abbott-releases-tax-returns/nZg37/ .

[font color=green]Included in the disclosure of the tax returns is an investment in a Chinese Internet company.[/font]

A dozen protesters arrested and released during July’s abortion protests at the Capitol appeared before a Travis County judge Friday to face new charges stemming from the demonstrations, a move those protesters say is vindictive and retaliatory behavior by the Department of Public Safety.

“DPS has destroyed my life,” said Joshua Pineda, an abortion rights advocate who is now charged with disruption of a public meeting. “I lost my job. Shortly after that, I lost my apartment.”

The new charges — delivered by summons to the protesters in late July — come amid scrutiny of the work done by state troopers during several days of rallies over legal restrictions on abortion that were eventually approved by the Legislature.

Earlier this week, the department released 144 pages of documents detailing its surveillance techniques and items confiscated at the Capitol. None of those documents provided evidence that troopers had confiscated more than a dozen bottles of urine and feces, as the department had stated at the time.

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/abortion-rights-protesters-head-to-court-to-face-n/nZhMd/ .

The Fort Worth Cats, Cowtown's minor league baseball club, was supposed to make good on its debts on January 15, 2013. That's at least what the team's owner, former Congressman John Bryant, told us last December, explaining that the team was experiencing an acute but temporary cash shortage after the emergency purchase of La Grave Field, its downtown Fort Worth Stadium.

But January came and went, then February, and then the spring and most of the summer, and the bills still haven't been paid. Last Friday, WFAA's Byron Harris reported that, on top of the tens of thousands of dollars owed for baseballs (which Bryant now claims are defective), uniforms, stadium cleaning and legal bills, employees aren't getting paid.

"My last paycheck, I took it to the bank Tuesday afternoon and it would not clear," first base coach Mike Ford told Harris.

What made this even more galling was that José Canseco, who briefly joined the team to kick off the season, got his $12,000 appearance fee up front, in cash.

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/08/fort_worth_cats_porta_potties.php .

Dallas County had long since forgotten what the metal plate above the water fountain in the Records Building was meant to conceal when, in 2003, it fell off. Even then, you had to be looking for it to notice the faded remnants of the "White Only" sign on the marble wall, or you did until commissioners marked the spot with a commemorative plaque over the objections of some black leaders.

The sign is still visible today, a way "to remind us of this unpleasant portion of our history," as it's phrased on the plaque. And now, since there can never be too much reminding, the county plans to turn the water fountain itself into a multimedia art installation documenting the fight for equality.

The plan isn't actually new. Artist Lauren Woods first pitched it to commissioners way back in 2005, envisioning a functioning water fountain that, when a thirsty passerby stopped for a drink, would project a 45-second montage of scenes from the civil rights struggle onto the wall above.

-snip-

Her original concept for the fountain would have it playing the entire clip before dispensing water. Commissioners nixed the idea, though John Wiley Price declared that 45 seconds isn't that long to wait for a sip of water. "Some of us waited 45 years."

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/08/dallas_county_whites_only_sign.php .

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. has concluded that nearly half of Iran's monthly earnings from crude oil exports are accumulating in accounts overseas because of sanctions that restrict Tehran's access to the money.

The estimates, provided to The Associated Press by a senior U.S. official and never released before, are the latest indication that new sanctions imposed in February are deepening Iran's economic distress and making it increasingly difficult to access billions of dollars in vital oil revenues. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of sanctions policy.

The U.S. hopes the pressure will force Iran to compromise on its nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making a weapon. Iran insists it is for peaceful purposes only and has not budged on demands to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make fuel for energy production or for a nuclear weapon.

The U.S. estimates that about $1.5 billion in crude oil revenues is piling up in restricted foreign accounts every month. Crude revenues overall averaged about $3.4 billion monthly in the first half of year, according to the assessment.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_IRAN_SANCTIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-30-03-59-23

Reports say the wife of singer and gun-rights activist Ted Nugent was arrested on Thursday after a gun was found in her carry-on luggage at Dallas’ airport.

According to ABC News, Shemane Nugent’s gun was discovered when her luggage was X-rayed.

D/FW Airport’s Department of Public Safety told WFAA that Nugent was processed through the airport holding facility and released.

It’s unclear if she has a handgun permit. Her husband is an outspoken supporter of gun rights.

More at http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2013/08/armed-with-a-gun-nugents-wife-stopped-at-dfw/?cmpid=hpbn .