May 31, 2021

Disgraced neurosurgeon who practiced in Plano to be the subject of NBC television series

A disgraced Plano neurosurgeon convicted of maiming one of his patients is the subject of an upcoming television mini-series.

Christopher Duntsch was accused of injuring dozens of patients in hospitals across North Texas. The first of these was Baylor Scott and White of Plano, where he was hired as a spine surgeon. Hospital officials found that he engaged in negligence and malpractice, but rather than terminating Duntsch, he instead resigned and worked at other hospitals in cities such as Farmers Branch and Frisco.

In 2015, he was booked at the Dallas County Jail for five counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and one count of injury to a child, elderly or disabled person.

“Duntsch’s lack of competence, impaired status and failure to adequately care for his patients poses a continuing threat to the public welfare,” the Texas Medical Board said in 2013. “The board found Dr. Duntsch’s pattern of failing to follow appropriate preoperative planning standards and failing to recognize and respond to complications during surgery and postoperatively puts [his] patients at significant risk of harm.”

Read more: https://starlocalmedia.com/planocourier/disgraced-neurosurgeon-who-practiced-in-plano-to-be-the-subject-of-nbc-television-series/article_e0d7db62-b8d6-11eb-8794-871cfb42cd6a.html
(Plano Courier)

I've posted about 20 OPs on Dr. Death since 2013. They can be located in a search on the keyword "Duntsch" in my OPs.

May 31, 2021

Allen City Council candidate Dave Cornette under fire for alleged criminal history, anti-Muslim

Allen City Council candidate Dave Cornette under fire for alleged criminal history, anti-Muslim Facebook posts


Allen City Council candidate Dave Cornette is under fire after a series of social media posts under his name resurfaced, along with revelations of an alleged criminal history.

The latter was first posted to the r/Allen community on Reddit on Friday afternoon, a post which used screenshots to allege that Cornette has an active felony warrant and was previously charged with crimes related to prostitution, domestic violence and delinquency in child support payments.

Records show that some of these charges were dismissed.

The Place 3 candidate addressed these revelations in a Facebook post the following day in which he admitted to doing “some foolish things” and serving six months probation for unspecified crimes. He said despite this checkered legal history, he received an honorable discharge under honorable conditions from the U.S. Army and continues to pay child support to his ex-wife.

“You may have seen or heard about posts from a Reddit group about my past,” he said. “Some years [following the honorable discharge], I was divorced, fell behind in my child support payments and was arrested. I continue to repay my ex-wife every month. Since moving to Texas more than a decade ago, I have served at several VFW posts, been appointed to several boards and commissions. These experiences makes [sic] me empathetic to others. This country is a land of second chances and, having resolved these past issues, I am ready to continue serving.”

Read more: https://starlocalmedia.com/allenamerican/allen-city-council-candidate-dave-cornette-under-fire-for-alleged-criminal-history-anti-muslim-facebook/article_bafde9ce-be38-11eb-91a1-0bf2e47ac0fc.html
(Allen American)

May 31, 2021

McKinney man sentenced for Ponzi scheme, ordered to pay $13 million

A McKinney man who ran a Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $13 million in restitution to his victims, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah announced.

Patrick O. Howard, owner of Insured Liquidity Partners CGF I, Insured Liquidity Partners CGF II and Capital Ventures, LLC, pleaded guilty to securities fraud in November. He was sentenced May 20 by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle and taken into custody immediately after the hearing.

In plea papers, Howard, 49, admitted to running a Ponzi-type scheme, recruiting more than 100 investors to purchase $13 million in membership units for $50,000 apiece. His companies promised investors 12% annual returns, paid quarterly, and “insured liquidity.”

However, instead of properly investing the money, the companies issued phony account statements and paid any investors who elected to receive their earnings quarterly out of the investments of later investors, rather than out of the earnings of the fund.

Read more: https://starlocalmedia.com/mckinneycouriergazette/mckinney-man-sentenced-for-ponzi-scheme-ordered-to-pay-13-million/article_48737e04-bf38-11eb-9757-23e77c41ed85.html
(McKinney Courier-Gazette)

May 31, 2021

Malaysia Stocks Down 1% as Country Heads for 'Total' Covid Lockdown

Stocks in Malaysia fell in early Monday trade as the government announced a nationwide "total lockdown" to curb the rapidly rising daily Covid-19 infections in the country.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index fell around 1.5% at the open before settling around 1.1% — underperforming most Asia-Pacific markets.

Malaysia has been struggling to control a surge in Covid infections. Last week, the country reported five-consecutive days of record increases in coronavirus cases, taking cumulative infections to more than 565,500 cases with 2,729 deaths as of Sunday, health ministry data showed.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced Friday after market close that the country will enter a two-week lockdown starting Tuesday.

Read more: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/malaysia-stocks-down-1-as-country-heads-for-total-covid-lockdown/2645396/

May 31, 2021

Nepali Billionaire Says the Country Underestimated Its Second Covid Wave

Nepal underestimated its second wave of Covid-19 infections and needs to step up its efforts to address the crisis, Nepali billionaire Binod Chaudhary said last week. The country also should not hold its elections until the situation stabilizes, he said.

"I must admit, we probably underestimated, as a nation, the intensity of the second wave," he told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Friday.

The South Asian country's Covid cases surged in April and continued to hit new record highs in May.

As of May 30, Nepal has reported 557,124 coronavirus infections and 7,272 deaths, according to data from local health authorities.

The situation is similar to what's playing out in neighboring India, which has the second highest number of cases in the world.

Read more: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/nepali-billionaire-says-the-country-underestimated-its-second-covid-wave/2645457/

May 31, 2021

Illegal piranha found in Louisiana State University lake

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A piranha has been found in a lake at Louisiana State University, and fisheries agents are looking in case there are more, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said Friday.

The red piranha found earlier in the week was probably a pet that someone released into University Lakes, a news release said.

Piranhas are native to the Amazon Basin in South America, and it's illegal to possess or sell them in Louisiana, the department said.

“While their reputation in popular culture labels them as a vicious predator, piranhas are more likely to scavenge for dead or dying prey, including fish or crustaceans,” the news release said.

Read more: https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Illegal-piranha-found-in-Louisiana-State-16211340.php
(Midland Reporter-Telegram)

May 31, 2021

Dems walk, stop Texas GOP's sweeping voting restrictions

Source: AP

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A restrictive voting bill in Texas that was on the verge of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk failed to pass Sunday night after Democrats walked out of the House chamber before a midnight deadline.

Abbott swiftly said he would call a special session to try passing a voting bill again but did not say when.

“We've said for so many years that we want more people to participate in our democracy. And it just seems that's not the case,” Democratic state Rep. Carl Sherman said.

The bill known as Senate Bill 7 would have imposed a raft of election changes that eliminate drive-thru voting, empower partisan poll watchers and impose new requirements in order to cast a ballot by mail in Texas, which already has some of toughest voting laws in the nation.

Read more: https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Dems-walk-stop-Texas-GOP-s-sweeping-voting-16214234.php

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Link: Midland Reporter-Telegram

May 31, 2021

SpaceX and oil company in legal battle over 24 acres of land near Starship facility

SpaceX and several Texas energy companies are tangled in a legal battle over a barren strip of land near the commercial space company’s Starship production facility outside Brownsville, with multiple parties tussling over who owns what rights to the property, threats of criminal trespass charges, and allegations of theft and attempted extortion.

Set against the backdrop of property values skyrocketing with SpaceX’s rapid development in the area, the matter stretches back to 2017.

It moved into court in October, when Dallas Petroleum Group LLC filed a lawsuit in district court in Cameron County and a complaint with the Texas Railroad Commission. It alleges Sanchez Midstream Partners of Houston broke the terms of a 2017 purchase agreement, worth $6.25 million, for various oil and gas leases that included two wells on a 24-acre tract adjacent to the SpaceX facility.

The case has ensnared a web of affiliated companies, including Sanchez Midstream Partners Limited and General Partnerships, Sanchez Oil and Gas Corp., SpaceX real estate acquisition firm Dogleg Park LLC, and the space company’s oil and gas exploration company, Lone Star Mineral Mineral Development LLC.

Read more: https://www.mrt.com/sa-inc/article/SpaceX-and-oil-company-in-legal-battle-over-24-16208888.php
(Midland Reporter-Telegram)

May 31, 2021

Texas House, Senate fail to reach compromise on bill curtailing governor's pandemic powers

A bill that would curb the governor's powers during a pandemic has died after a committee of appointed members of the Texas House and Senate missed a midnight Saturday deadline to issue a compromise report on the measure.

The initial version of House Bill 3, known as the Pandemic Response Act, would have created an oversight committee with powers to strike down any governor's order, waiver or suspension. The legislation, a priority for House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, came in response to Gov. Greg Abbott's use of sweeping powers under the state's disaster declaration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many conservative Republicans chafed at Abbott's coronavirus restrictions, which followed the recommendations of public health experts, including state health officials and the governor's medical advisers. Abbott's pandemic performance, however, was not a central feature of debate about the bill.

Phelan has called the legislation “the House’s blueprint for pandemic response," and Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican and top lieutenant of the speaker, carried the measure.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2021/05/30/covid-texas-legislature-bill-limiting-governor-power-dies/7430431002/

May 31, 2021

'Who knows?' Matt Gaetz floats presidential run during Georgia appearance

U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene continued their rally tour Thursday, in the Congresswoman’s district, but it was Gaetz who sounded like a candidate.

Gaetz, who this week floated himself as a presidential candidate in 2024 should Donald Trump not run, refloated a trial balloon in Dalton, Georgia, Thursday night to a live crowd.

“I think Donald Trump is coming back in 2024 to secure the presidency for our movement and our people and our nation. And if he doesn’t? Who knows,” Gaetz said, to Trump chants.

Gaetz borrowed Trumpisms throughout, using fills about the “fake news media” and the “deep state,” while contrasting the America First movement to the old-style establishment GOP.

Read more: https://floridapolitics.com/archives/432414-who-knows-gaetz/