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BISD EARNS FEBRUARY ROTTEN APPLE AWARD FROM AFP
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By <strong>Peggy Venable</strong><br />Americans For Prosperity<br /><em>(Peggy Venable was the first White House Liaison for the U.S. Department of Education under President Reagan.)</em><br />Today I learned of an audit report done on Brownsville ISD which alleges “systemic corruption at practically every level.â€<br />It appears not only were taxpayers abused, but kids in that district were cheated. The District is rated “Recognizedâ€â€¦but if auditors found corruption, can we trust that the rating <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_dHLmcA7KyIjp42bSd2KQ5rEoI7vrW7ygQH6KFFcEEXtGIq0iD36DJ-4-q5rqvKI05Tyk9I4EgIkdIuXrnxNLV6r13fAFKjEIccYERzLaA4TJ-q_oSnvkADmG5K_Fd6BDxWj7ToeLro/s1600/RottenAppleAward.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 180px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 369px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714275029524144946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_dHLmcA7KyIjp42bSd2KQ5rEoI7vrW7ygQH6KFFcEEXtGIq0iD36DJ-4-q5rqvKI05Tyk9I4EgIkdIuXrnxNLV6r13fAFKjEIccYERzLaA4TJ-q_oSnvkADmG5K_Fd6BDxWj7ToeLro/s400/RottenAppleAward.jpg" /></a>was earned legitimately?<br />It seems the forensic audit firm shared the report with the District Attorney and others, so I anticipate this won’t be the last we hear of it.<br />Brownsville ISD has around 49,000 students and expenditures of around $593 million. Their ISD debt is $326 million.<br />The audit covered three school years.<br />It blew me away.<br />And that is saying a lot. For the past three years, AFP-Texas has had The Red Apple Project (<a title="www.RedAppleProject.com" href="http://www.redappleproject.com/">http://www.redappleproject.com/</a>) and have worked to educate the public on how our education dollars are spent, or misspent as the case may be. Our goal was to encourage efficiency in education spending.<br />After all, our state constitution calls for an efficient system of free public schools. We know they aren’t free, so the taxpayers deserve for those dollars to be spent efficiently.<br />We have held the Rotten Apple Award and highlighted the most egregious education spending. Our intent has been to ultimately encourage more of our education dollars to be spent in the classroom and on good teachers.<br />Currently only half the education dollars are spent on instruction, and ISD’s across the state average one non-teacher for every teacher.<br />It is clear that education dollars are not spent efficiently, but to learn of an audit report which alleges widespread corruption in a public school system is shocking.<br />I was on a McAllen radio station this evening discussing the matter.<br />One of the school board members had been on the show before me and I heard him say the former superintendent Brett Springston (was) fully responsible. (The superintendent who served during the audit period is no longer there, having left recently to go to tiny Bartlett ISD, moving from an ISD with almost 50,000 students, 54 campuses and expenditures of over a half billion dollars to one with under 400 students, two schools, and spending just under $4 million.)<br />Education is big business in Texas.<br />We have just under 5 million students in public schools and ISDs spend $54 billion. Are those dollars being spent efficiently and are kids getting our billions worth?<br />It appears that for the years in question that has not been the case in Brownsville ISD.<br />We will follow what happens and post what we learn.<br /><br />Posted 2-23-12<br />Read more: <a style="COLOR: #003399" href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/022412-brownsville-isd-earns-rotten-apple-award-february#ixzz1nhuEoUIx">http://www.americansforprosperity.org/022412-brownsville-isd-earns-rotten-apple-award-february#ixzz1nhuEoUIx</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-7260962201181838386?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/02/bisd-earns-rotten-apple-award-from-afp.html
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'GATOR GAR TO YOU, YUMMY CATAN CHICHARRONES TO US
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By <strong>Juan Montoya<br /></strong>SAN PEDRO â€" Even some of the local fishermen couldn’t believe it.<br />The splashing on the large concrete pipe sticking out of the muddy irrigation field between this town and Los Fresnos caught their attention as they headed to an isolated pond of irrigation water. They knew there were gar there trapped after the fields dried up.<br />But when they peered down the four-foot <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8tr8Q7jST2cAOWvUP6WoLh7A7_8GE3-bJ1tMRxR4BMdVyzAQ4qaaOLEJ4HAWc0K6DTpy3zLGd0xrLl8hgyjGVLUJuAxzoLaGcE6r6fnHDhyphenhyphenhddqFaKUP9MF3AtlRygB8hLJQiHbpjbM/s1600/catan1.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 368px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 286px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714241398769320306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8tr8Q7jST2cAOWvUP6WoLh7A7_8GE3-bJ1tMRxR4BMdVyzAQ4qaaOLEJ4HAWc0K6DTpy3zLGd0xrLl8hgyjGVLUJuAxzoLaGcE6r6fnHDhyphenhyphenhddqFaKUP9MF3AtlRygB8hLJQiHbpjbM/s320/catan1.JPG" /></a>circumference concrete tube, the sight of two large alligator gar thrashing because they were jammed in the concrete elbow made them catch their breath.<br />“I’d seen large gar before,†said Joe Luz Leiva. “But these two were giants. There was no way they were going to make it out the irrigation pipe. We had to go after them.â€<br />The men eventually dropped a seine net (tarraya) into the pipe and snagged it with a wire after it draped over the struggling fish. Some tears were caused to the strong nylon netting by the razor sharp teeth of the fish. Afterward, two monsters, one almost seven feet long, writhed on the ground.<br />“Man, did we eat catan chicharrones (alligator gar fritters) that day,†Leiva recalled. Everybody in San Pedro got some and there were some left over.â€<br />Allligator gar chicharrones have been a local delicacy here since anyone can remember. The Blue Mermaid Cafe and Seafood, 119 Billy Mitchell Blvd., has been selling catan chicharrones for almost 30 years. That menu entry has remained popular with local residents.<br />A Snodgrass Seafood employee said gar remains a popular choice for many local residents. He said the although many northern diners don’t have a taste for the fish, it has remained popular here.<br />“A lot of people who aren’t from here don’t have the tradition of eating gar at home,†he said. “But we sell a lot of it to the locals. It's more expensive than redfish.â€<br />Economically, a plate of the chicharrones is not much more expensive than regular seafood, although it costs less than choice shrimp or beef. A combination gar chicharron and shrimp plate sells for around $8.50. A pound of chicharrones alone including tortillas, salsa and limes averages about $11.50.<br />“That’s really not a bad deal for seafood,†said Paula Hernandez as <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_3ZgXAWxcsTzqDkjO8sgd_eBHt1ENqc01xh6WgcWPs5qT0Qn0iYwt2P4fo5Movf0VS2GF8sfX32NR1hXCp3I2lrSKeVn4v9XFy97Pye7EuQCmXq2oGDdUV3VZJki2a49Ft9Dh4Y19pc/s1600/gar.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 185px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 144px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714241243845851458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_3ZgXAWxcsTzqDkjO8sgd_eBHt1ENqc01xh6WgcWPs5qT0Qn0iYwt2P4fo5Movf0VS2GF8sfX32NR1hXCp3I2lrSKeVn4v9XFy97Pye7EuQCmXq2oGDdUV3VZJki2a49Ft9Dh4Y19pc/s320/gar.jpg" /></a>she munched on some. “I love catan and so do my brothers.â€<br />Visually, the fish is a fearsome animal.<br />Gar have traditionally been considered rough fish by the majority of anglers. However, for a relatively few mavericks gar fishing may be quite an exciting and enjoyable sport. In Texas, alligator gar up to 279 pounds have been captured by rod and reel anglers, and over 300 pounds by trotliners.<br />In the southeastern part of the state, including the Rio Grande Valley, gar are commonly accepted as a fine food fish. Alligator gar are often taken by by bowfishers or by anglers using nylon threads, rather than hooks, to entangle the fish's many sharp teeth.<br />According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife, the rod and reel world record alligator gar weighed 290 lb, and the trot line, or unrestricted division record weighed 302 lb. Both were caught in the Rio Grande River back in the 1950s, and measured a little over 7-1/2 ft in length.<br />Alligator gars are widely sought after by bowhunters, but a much smaller following of anglers fish for them for sport. The states of Texas and Louisiana permit regulated commercial fishing for alligator gars. However, in the rest of the state, unlike in the Rio Grande Valley, the demand is nominal.<br />“I’ve never eaten gar before, and I don’t know if I want to just looking at that animal,†said Doug Wolter, from southwestern Minnesota. “I’ve got a policy of not eating something that looks like it could eat me.â€<br />Alligator gar are only present in the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain from the Econfina River in west Florida west and south to Veracruz, Mexico. There are no gar on the Pacific Ocean side. The species range extends north in the Mississippi River basin to the lower reaches of the Missouri and Ohio rivers. An isolated population also occurs in Nicaragua.<br />In Texas, alligator gar may be found in coastal rivers and streams from the Red River west to the Rio Grande.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-5712601902073979018?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/02/delish-catan-alligator-gar-to-you.html
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JUST HOW MANY KINGPINS CAN THERE BE IN ONE CASE?
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By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong><br />The attorneys for Austin lawyer Marc G. Rosenthal indicted on federal racketeering charges related to the case against former state District Judge Abel C. Limas and former state Rep. Jim Solis and others ask a good question.<br /><br />In seeking a dismissal of the charges against their client, they ask: Just how many kingpins can there be in the case involving the same alleged crime?<br /><br />Federal prosecutors have already secured plea-bargain convictions against Li<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8u4omr3oGWK5fu9r14LXl93aYEvW5bGGBk7DU6pdzJ62RVoG3Kb2PU7wumWwQgpdt3141brqb5iS87S10YJv45T_y6yHcO2hzMiifJIi5T4zhSQ8ZrpkiMpZlPTUxXelVDs3nHQ44Xk/s1600/slimas.png"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 218px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 246px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714238126217647698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8u4omr3oGWK5fu9r14LXl93aYEvW5bGGBk7DU6pdzJ62RVoG3Kb2PU7wumWwQgpdt3141brqb5iS87S10YJv45T_y6yHcO2hzMiifJIi5T4zhSQ8ZrpkiMpZlPTUxXelVDs3nHQ44Xk/s320/slimas.png" /></a>mas and Solis where they admitted extorting Rosenthal, say his attorney Ernesto Gamez Jr. of Brownsville and John Patrick Smith of Houston.<br /><br />The motion for dismissal was filed Friday and lost in the Charro Days hoopla engulfing Brownsville.<br /><br />Gamez and Patrick called the indictment “fatally flawed†because the U.S. Attorney’s Office has already secured the guilty pleas from other defendants that are now contained in the charges against Rosenthal, charged in a 13-count indictment with racketeering, tampering with a witness and proceedings, extortion and mail fraud.<br />"Just how many kingpins can there be in one case involving the same acts?" asked an attorney at the county coffee shop on Monday. "Gamez and Patrick ask a good question. If in his zeal to secure a plea bargain Abel oversold the goods, is that legitimate?"<br /><br />The attorneys, according to a report in the Brownsville Herald by reporter Emma Perez-Treviño, say they will seek information to determine if the information the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented to the grand jury constituted prosecuto<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ423ojBTE2Wy12eTnotaP25d_E_pCqxJLmbK_8g8WNEKu871eNJ-IaOHkqeK3FNIHP1U9KftFs-SbN0jYWoWVY0cuMqHMdh4ZV0qFN6meS4HlPkJkFG2UVFcl_aN2vTxWfp-EqCzygQw/s1600/KingpinLarsenBW.gif"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 159px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 215px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714237957832597714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ423ojBTE2Wy12eTnotaP25d_E_pCqxJLmbK_8g8WNEKu871eNJ-IaOHkqeK3FNIHP1U9KftFs-SbN0jYWoWVY0cuMqHMdh4ZV0qFN6meS4HlPkJkFG2UVFcl_aN2vTxWfp-EqCzygQw/s320/KingpinLarsenBW.gif" /></a>rial abuse to convince the jury to bring the indictments against their client.<br /><br />“The government as a matter of law cannot allege two leaders in one racketeering enterprise and use the same overlapping and common facts,†Gamez wrote in the motion.<br />In a curious turn of events, Gamez also charged that Limas had in a sense "overpleaded" to offenses he could not have possibly committed to protect his family â€" his wife and son â€" from going to prison in the case.<br /><br />"In one instance Limas pleaded guilty to setting a case, but as a judge he cannot possibly set the case," said another lawyer. "That is up to the courts administrator. If I was trying to keep my son and wife from going to prison, I would probably do the same thing.<br />Prosecutors have yet to file a response to the petition for dismissal.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-6691366362976429748?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/02/just-how-many-kingpins-can-there-be-in.html
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