Category Archives: Uncategorized
Salt: North vs. South
God Bless Texas
Happy Valentine’s Day!
God Bless Texas
Estelline, TX: The Speed Trap of the Texas Panhandle
ANYONE who is ever driven Highway 287, the gate way to DFW from the Texas Panhandle either knows to slow down or has received a speeding ticket from this little town. It is one of the most well known speed traps in the Panhandle. (PS there is also one right around Sterling County.) I find a funny sense of irony about this situation. Tell me what you think!
God Bless Texas
Estelline chief resigns after oppression charge
Posted: February 12, 2015 – 6:18pm
Estelline’s chief of police turned in his badge Wednesday after a Monday altercation in Childress led to his arrest.
Duwayne Marcolesco, 46, surrendered his Texas peace officer license Wednesday after being arrested on an official oppression charge, Childress County Sheriff Mike Pigg said.
On Monday, Childress County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from two Wellington women who were stopped by Marcolesco. The women were driving to a hospital with a sick child when an unmarked vehicle driven by Marcolesco turned on police lights and pulled them over, Pigg said.
Marcolesco, who was not wearing a police uniform, approached the two women.
He identified himself and began to berate them, saying they were driving recklessly, Pigg said. He threatened to call Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and the women challenged him to do so.
Marcolesco told them off again before walking back to his personal vehicle and driving away north of U.S. Highway 83.
A sergeant investigated the complaint and interviewed Marcolesco, Pigg said. Marcolesco told the sergeant he had the right to pull over the women, which he did, but he was supposed to notify Childress County.
Childress County then got a warrant for his arrest since he did not notify deputies of the stop.
Marcolesco was brought to a Memphis judge and admitted to the offense, Pigg said. He was charged with the Class A misdemeanor and then taken to Childress County jail Wednesday. A judge set his bond at $3,000 and he was released the same day.
His charge was dismissed after he surrendered his license Wednesday. The charge carries a punishment of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
FBI’s List of the Most Dangerous Cities in Texas
According to this article Odessa & Lubbock have higher crime rates than Austin and Amarillo has more reported rapes. YIKES!
by DAN SOLOMON
THU JANUARY 22, 2015 1:51 PM
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports compile crime statistics on hundreds of metro areas. The latest numbers—which track the data from 2013—reveal some interesting tidbits about Texas cities. For instance: the most dangerous parts of Texas, generally, are not the largest cities, with only one of the five most populous cities to to place in the top five on the list. Also: West Texas, generally, has a higher violent crime rate than the rest of the state. And: Austin is basically a fairy tale land populated by elves and hobbits, with a violent crime rate roughly ⅓ that of Odessa, the top city on the list. Here are some more facts worth knowing:
WEST TEXAS TAKES THE TOP SPOTS
Odessa’s violent crime rate of 806 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants is the highest in Texas by a fairly wide margin; Lubbock, the #2 city on the list, drops down to 658 per 100,000. Lubbock’s rate is slanted a bit more toward robbery, while Odessa has more aggravated assault cases, with a shocking 645 cases per 100,000 people.
Amarillo doesn’t place in the top five, but it’s not far off, at #6. Amarillo has the distinction of having the highest rate of reported rapes in Texas, at 84.9 per 100,000. (Rape statistics nationally are believed to be widely underreported, which makes this number somewhat less than reliable in regards to the actual incidences of the crime—it’s unclear, for example, if more rapes occur in Amarillo or if the criminal justice system in the area is set up to report them more easily.)
The FBI’s numbers track a handful of violent crimes: Murder (including non-negligent manslaughter), rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The “uniform” part of the statistics breaks them all down by incidents per 100,000—so a murder rate of 3 (which Lubbock has) means that the city, with its population of 239,000, actually had more like 7 reported murders in 2013. Houston, with its murder rate of 5.9 and its population of 6.3 million in the metropolitan area, would have seen over 370 murders, by comparison.
SPEAKING OF HOUSTON
Houston is the only one of the five most populous cities in the state to place high on the list, at #3. The types of crimes reported in Houston are fairly different from what you’ll find out west, though: While Odessa and Lubbock both go heavy on assault crimes, Houston’s robbery rate, at 233 per 100,000, is nearly double that of the top cities on the list. Its murder rate, as mentioned above, is 5.9 per 100,000.
Beaumont/Port Arthur is a different MSA from Houston, but the nearby cities share a high murder rate. The two cities have the highest murder rates in Texas, in fact, with Beaumont facing an 8.6 per 100,000 figure.
NORTH TEXAS RATES ARE LOWER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK
The highest-ranked city in North Texas is Texarkana, which places at #4. The vast majority of the violent crimes that take place there are assault cases, as in Odessa and Lubbock. Assault cases make up a larger percentage of every city’s violent crime than any of the other categories listed, but it’s worth noting that in cities with a lower per-capita income, assault cases tend to make up 70% or more of their violent crime (compared to around 50% in a city like Houston).
Meanwhile, in Dallas/Fort Worth, the numbers are pretty low: The Metroplex places #17 on the list, with robbery rates high and the murder rate, at 4.4, in the middle of the pack. Wichita Falls, similarly, places at #15, with robbery and aggravated assault making up almost 91% of the cases. Sherman-Denison, places at #22, with almost 77% of its cases being assault charges.
THE BORDER IS PRETTY SAFE
Border cities get a bad rap as violent, but the Rio Grande Valley is extremely safe. Of the 24 Texas metro areas ranked by the FBI, Brownsville comes in dead last, with 240 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 people. Nearby McAllen comes in at #18, with 286 per 100,000.
Things are closer to the middle of the pack in El Paso and Laredo, which place at #13 and #10, respectively. The murder rate in each city is low, at 1.4 and 1.5 (Brownsville also comes in at 1.4, which is the second-lowest behind Abilene at 0.6). The numbers in El Paso, Laredo, and McAllen are all slanted heavily toward aggravated assault. In Brownsville, meanwhile, though the overall numbers for everything are very low, robbery crimes make up a surprisingly high number of cases, at 58.1 per 100,000, good for almost 25% of the violent crime in the city.
THE PARTS OF SOUTH TEXAS NORTH OF THE BORDER ARE SOMEWHAT LESS SO
Corpus Christi, Victoria, and San Antonio all place within the top 10 on the list (at #7, 8, and 9, respectively). The numbers for all three cities are pretty similar—although Victoria, like Amarillo, has a surprisingly high number of reported rape cases, at 71.5 per 100,000. The average for all Texas cities listed is 36, which means that, again—either Victoria (and Amarillo) have more than twice as many rapes occurring than the rest of the state, or they’re being reported more frequently in those cities than elsewhere.
That statistic aside, there’s not a lot to parse about those numbers: Corpus has the highest murder rate, at 5.4, of the three, while San Antonio has a lower robbery rate than the other largest metro areas in Texas, Houston and Dallas.
AUSTIN IS VERY SAFE, Y’ALL
Austin’s reputation as a low-crime city bears out, according to these numbers: the city places 21st of 24 on the list, and its murder rate of 2.8 per 100,000 is by far the lowest of the “big four” Texas cities. Robbery similarly makes up less than 20% of violent crimes in Austin, lower even than San Antonio (and significantly lower than Houston or Dallas). Of the 271.3 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 in Austin, 192 of them are assault-related, good for over 70%—and still a lower overall number than most cities in Texas.
God Bless Texas
BEEF, it’s NOT for Dinner
Last May Chipotle asks customers, even those certified to do so, not to bring firearms into their restaurants, just a month later Chipotle says no more Texas beef! They obviously don’t want to do a lot of business in the great State of Texas!
“…Chipotle decided to get its beef from Australia rather than Texas.
Then Texas Agricultural “Commissioner Staples, “It’s not really responsible to ship in product over 8000 miles it’s not responsible not to talk to Texas beef producers.””
I’m a girl who grew up in the Beef Capital of the World, Hereford, Texas. There are plenty of options within the US and the Lone Star State.
“The Chipotle spokesperson went on to say that they only use a portion of the entire animal and unless ranchers are willing to take a loss they won’t be able to buy Texas beef.”
I also have to admit I’m a huge fun of this yummy food but by the same token they give the air of being a forward thinking company yet they don’t seem to use their resources lightly. i don’t write this post to shame anyone into the dining choices, but it is always important to know where you money is going and what causes those companies support. Knowledge is power.
God Bless Texas
Happy Birthday Mr. President!
February 6th marks President Ronald Reagan’s 104th birthday! Here are a few of my favorite quotes!
God Bless Texas
The Eye of the Beholder
Women’s Ideal body Types Throughout History
We always have a definition for “beauty.” I read an article recently about the “thigh gap” or lack there of in Miss USA winners over the years showing that this crazy trend has no basis in history but yet is what is considered to be attractive today. I had no idea that this was a thing. A thigh gap is exactly what is sounds like, a gap in between you thighs.
These (left) are beauty queens from 1945 – no gap. In fact look (below) at this pic of the 2012 US Women’s Olympic gymnastics team – no gap! These are ladies who are in the absolute best shape of their life! The article that points the fact out is from a women who was in gym class only to find out that she had a thigh gap long before it was cool; God just made her that way. In fact that is the point. The last big, or rather little trend was the “skinny arm.” Health professionals point out that the thigh gap might be impossible and most likely not healthy for women to try and achieve.
“Most women’s hip bones are too close together to allow their thighs to not touch,” says Dr. Joanne Clinch, clinical director of Student Health Services at Wake Forest University. “Just like you cannot change your height, you cannot alter your hip structure.”
I personally have always been overweight. Partly DNA, partly my upbringing and the instillation of bad eating habits and partly due to a lack of good exercise habits. However, I remember that point in time where I just sort of gave up, and then my problem only got worse. In 7th grade we were divided up into teams of basically, those who should play basketball and those who are here because they are required to have an athletic credit. I was the latter group and we would spend all period walking around the basketball court while the other girls practiced passes, shots, and ran plays. We need to find a balance between these two extremes.
Today as an adult there is a HUGE difference between fat shaming someone and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. Just as there is a difference between looking healthy and looking skinny. We need to remember that we are all made to be unique. One size does not fit all
God Bless Texas
“I Know You Want Me” – Pitbull & the GOP?
Famous international rapper Pitbull, aka Armando Pérez, might hear the title of his hit song I Know You Want Me played to him by leaders of the GOP according to recent BuzzFeed article. Fellow Floridians on the Republican side of the isle have 
“showered Pitbull with gifts and praise, giving him the key to the city and declaring his birthday, Jan. 15, “Pitbull Day” … and bestowed the title of Ambassador of the Arts on him.”
You may ask WHY??? Lets make a list!
- Created his own charter school Sports Leadership an Management (SLAM) Check
- Entrepreneur Check
- Family experienced persecution in Cuba and fled to the the freedoms America offers Check
A short list still an interesting idea.
God Bless Texas
Texas Two Step
Of course any self respecting Texan should know how to Two Step, but now a new policy initiative has given this term a brand new meaning.
Come March 1st the State of Texas will stop issuing inspection stickers and transition to a “Two Steps, One Sticker” vehicle inspection and registration program. This means vehicles will no longer be issued an inspection sticker. Your registration sticker will serve as a combined proof of registration and inspection.
Basically, now instead of just submitting a copy of your car insurance when applying for your registration sticker each year you will also need to provide a completed vehicle inspection certificate.
The best resource for info is at the website Two Steps One Sticker.
God Bless Texas
Texas Tidbits 