Tag: texas

Texas teacher faces jail time for allegedly showing porn in class

A Texas high school teacher has been fired and faces up to a year in jail for allegedly screening porn on a projector during class, according to reports.

Kevin Welchel was watching porn on a laptop in Houston’s Klein Collins High School when it started showing on the classroom projector, seemingly by accident, the Houston Chronicle said.

“The individual was immediately removed and is no longer employed by the district,” district spokesperson Justin Elbert told the paper.

“The district does not tolerate such completely unacceptable conduct.”

In addition to losing his job, Welchel was criminally charged with “display of harmful material to a minor, ” a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000, the district told the paper.

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7-Foot Robot at Dallas Love Field Airport Watches for Unmasked Travelers, Will Notify Law Enforcement of Potential Crimes

A 7-foot robot at Dallas Love Field Airport is watching for unmasked passengers and will notify law enforcement of potential crimes.

What could possibly go wrong?

The robot, dubbed “SCOT,” was installed last month to “determine if they are capable of efficiently supplementing current airport operations,” said Love Field spokeswoman Lauren Rounds, the Dallas Morning News.

SCOT can detect if a person is wearing a face mask and can detect behavior of passengers based on what they are wearing.

The robot can bark warnings at people and call the police.

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Female Survivors of Child Sex Trafficking Allegedly Experienced More Sexual Abuse at Texas Healing Shelter 

A state-funded Texas shelter for young female victims of sex trafficking is under investigation after a former employee allegedly coerced two of its residents into creating “sexual exploitation material” for sale, the facility confirmed in a statement Thursday.

Operators of The Refuge Ranch in Bastrop, which serves females ages 14-19, said they fired the employee after the allegations came to light on Jan. 24, and “immediately” alerted the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Family and Protective Services.

An investigation has since revealed more victims who alleged they were trafficked by the same ex-employee, and that others who remained employed by the facility appeared to be involved as well, according to a court document obtained by Austin TV station KXAN.

In an emergency court hearing Thursday called by U.S. District Court Judge Janis Jack, nine perpetrators were alleged to have victimized seven children, ages 11-17, who remained in the facility for over a month after the claims were first reported, according to the Texas Tribune.

One staff member of The Refuge Ranch, who was not identified, has been arrested, KXAN reports.

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Elementary Schoolers Segregated, Shown Graphic Photos As Part Of Experiment

Children at an elementary school in San Antonio, Texas, were reportedly segregated by hair color and shown a Spike Lee film that included graphic autopsy photos.

News 4 San Antonio spoke to parents who reportedly “say they want their children to learn about racism and civil rights,” but believe that Northside Independent School District “went too far with the segregation experiment and by making children watch a documentary it admits was not age appropriate.” 

The outlet interviewed Mike and Brandi Lininger — parents whose 10-year-old daughter was “was confused and hurt by a classroom experiment in January at Leon Springs Elementary,” according to the report.

“All of the dark-haired kids, the brown- and black-haired kids, were treated as the privileged ones and the blonde-haired and the redhead kids were the ones treated not so nicely,” Brandi Lininger explained. The couple said teachers told students children in the fair-haired group were less intelligent. The group was intentionally given a game with pieces missing so they could not play and were later forced to clean up after their classmates.

“She was hurt, her friends, and she named to the principal and to district officials, names of her friends that were crying,” Brandi Lininger continued.

Meanwhile, teachers played a Spike Lee documentary called “4 Little Girls” — which depicts the 1963 bombing of an Alabama church — to fifth graders. The movie contains autopsy photos of the girls’ bodies. Although the teacher claims she skipped the more graphic portions of the documentary, Mike Lininger said that his daughter was indeed exposed to the images: “The things that she said that she skipped over, my daughter was able to describe to us to a ‘T.’ So that night our daughter was unable to go to sleep in our own room; she was scared.”

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At SXSW, Beto O’Rourke says legalizing weed is possible: ‘Republicans like to get high just as much as Democrats’

Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke said Saturday that if elected governor of Texas, he would pursue legalizing marijuana — and said he anticipates that the Republican majority in the Legislature would get on board.

“I’ll let you in on a secret: Republicans like to get high just as much as Democrats,” O’Rourke said, speaking during a South by Southwest panel in Austin.

While some Republican-led states have legalized recreational marijuana, Texas has not joined the growing national legalization movement.

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Now Beto O’Rourke Says He Will Buy Back Texans’ AR-15s

The shifting sands of Democrat gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s gun control plans have solidified, for now, into a pledge to buy back AR-15s and AK-47s from Texans if the state legislature will support doing it.

O’Rourke spoke with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith on Saturday and KVUE reported O’Rourke’s comments.

Smith asked O’Rourke to clarify his position on confiscatory gun control.

O’Rourke stressed his belief that citizens should not be able to buy a AR-15s, then said: “And if I can find the consensus within the Legislature to have a law in the state of Texas that allows us to buy those AK-47s and AR-15s back, we will.”

He has been down this road many times before.

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Texas Authorities Raid Far-Left Harris County Judge’s Office, Seize Computers in Probe Related to $11 Million ‘Vaccine Contract’ Awarded to Political Crony

Texas Rangers on Friday morning raided the office of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and executed a search warrant related to an $11 million ‘vaccine outreach contract’ awarded to one of the judge’s political cronies, KHOU 11 News reported.

Recall, radical far-left judge Lina Hidalgo was one of the most aggressive Covid tyrants in Texas during the pandemic.

In May 2020 Lina Hidalgo called on Texans to snitch on restaurants if they had big crowds.

Hidalgo also previously threatened 180 days in jail for those who opposed her stay at home orders.

Now she’s being investigated for canceling an $11 million vaccine contract after questions were raised that it was with a one-person firm with no experience.

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FBI agents descended on Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s house, but won’t say what they’re investigating

The FBI was on the scene Wednesday near the Laredo home of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar for what authorities described as a court-authorized ongoing investigation.

FBI spokesperson Rosanne Hughes confirmed law enforcement’s presence in the area but did not clarify what authorities were investigating.

Hughes said in a statement that the FBI was present on two streets around Cuellar’s house in Laredo “conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity.”

“The FBI cannot provide further comment on an ongoing investigation,” she said.

On Wednesday evening, Cuellar’s office released a statement: “Congressman Cuellar will fully cooperate in any investigation. He is committed to ensuring that justice and the law are upheld.”

Agents were seen taking cases and other items from the congressman’s home, according to MyRGVNews. FBI officials were also present at a downtown building owned by Cuellar that reportedly houses his campaign office as well as other private businesses, according to KGNS News.

First elected in 2004, Cuellar is a longtime representative of his Laredo-based 28th District.

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Two Men Arrested in UK Over Texas Synagogue Hostage Situation

Two men have been arrested in the UK in relation to the recent hostage attack on a Synagogue in Texas.

UK police have announced the arrest of two men in relation to the hostage attack on the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas.

Malik Faisal Akram — the UK national responsible for the attack — was shot dead after an 11-hour standoff after taking a number of hostages.

It has subsequently been revealed that Akram was previously known to UK Intelligence,  but was not deemed a threat to the public after an assessment in 2020.

As part of the UK’s ongoing investigation into the incident, The Telegraph has reported that a number of arrests have been made in Britain.

“Officers from Counter-Terror Policing (CTP) North West continue to support US authorities with their investigation into the events in Texas,” the publication reports the Greater Manchester Police as saying.

“As a result of this ongoing investigation, two men have been arrested this morning in Birmingham and Manchester,” the statement continues. “They remain in custody for questioning.”

The UK paper also notes that two teenagers who were also arrested after the attack have since been released without charge.

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Man running for Texas Lt. Governor drops out of race to make room for non-white candidates

Matthew Dowd has ended his campaign to become Lieutenant Governor of Texas in order to “step back” and make room for non-white candidates. Dowd, who is a white man, appears to believe that his presence in the race would make it harder for candidates of color to win the race.

In a December 7 statement, Dowd referenced a 2018 column of his entitled “Us white male Christians need to step back and give others room to lead.”

In a justification for his dropping out of the race, he quoted the column, saying “We as white male Christians should do what real leadership demands and practice a level of humility which demonstrates strength by stepping back from the center of the room and begin to give up our seats at the table. We should make this move not because we feel threatened, but because we know it is morally right and it is what would help America in this troubling time.”

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