Police Beat

It's been a while since we checked in on a couple of lawsuits against the Richardson Police Department. First, there's a lawsuit by former police officer Kayla Walker charging the RPD with running an illegal ticket quota system. Walker's lawsuit is still slowly, slowly, making its way through the wheels of justice. Then there's the lawsuit by Neco Bonham, who, as an eighteen-year-old in 2021, was stopped by RPD for what seemed like a routine traffic stop, only to end up Tased, punched, and arrested. The district attorney's office dropped all charges against him. The arresting officer was reprimanded. Bonham sued. I haven't read anything about Bonham's lawsuit in over two years. I did read something about the officer who stopped him — he's still with the RPD and, two years later, was promoted.

That brings us to this week's news.

District 112 Draws a Challenger

The San Antonio Express-News reports that "Last year’s Miss Texas is entering another competition where she’ll be judged on her talents, leadership abilities and appearance. But this time it won’t be a beauty pageant. Averie Bishop became the first Asian American winner of the Miss Texas competition in its 85-year history. Now she’s running for the Texas House."

What's the Richardson connection? Two, actually. Averie Bishop is running for Texas House District 112, which includes much of Richardson up to the Collin County line. And Averie Bishop was crowned Miss Texas at the Eisemann Center right here in Richardson.

Barbie (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Barbie (2023): From great opening scene to brilliant closing joke, Greta Gerwig deftly balances the childhood joy of owning a doll (I presume) with the problematic associations that attached to that doll. An adult movie that raises themes worth exploring long after the credits roll. A-

Council Recap: Proposed Budget

At a work session August 14, 2023, the Richardson City Council reviewed the 2023-2024 budget proposed by City Manager Don Magner. With property appraisals up, the City is awash in additional tax revenue. With the economy booming (historically low unemployment and solid consumer spending), public complaints about the cost of local government are unusually muted. There were no public speakers at this week's Council meeting. Drawing up this year's budget must have been as easy as falling off a log. The bottom line: the City has $15.4 million more in revenues and is having no trouble finding ways to spend it.

Missing (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Missing (2023): Teen's mom takes vacation in Columbia and goes missing. Teen turns online detective to find her. The action in this low-budget thriller is watching her skills at hacking phones, email, and social media. Enough plot twists (and holes) to keep it interesting to the end. B+

An Underfunded Mandate for Texas Schools

Texans who follow the history of public schools in Texas are familiar with the story. The legislature passes mandates theoretically to improve schools but fail to provide sufficient money to pay the costs of implementing the new requirements. The latest example is Texas House Bill 3 (HB3). Except this time, it doesn't even pretend to improve education. It requires Texas school districts to have an armed officer on every campus, as if the secret to better reading scores is more guns. No, that's too absurd for even the Texas legislature. For them, it's the secret to ending gun violence in schools that is more guns. More guns seems to be their answer to every problem. In any case, for Richardson ISD, it's an underfunded mandate requiring the hiring of an additional 34 security personnel (plus two supervisors) and equipping them with handgun, duty belt, ballistic vest, and RISD Logo shirt.

POTD: Chromesthesia

From 2022 11 03 Athens

"Chromatic music,
Athens sings in bright colors.
Melody of paint."
—h/t ChatGPT

This photo-of-the-day was taken in the Stavros Niarchos Park in Athens, Greece. It's just an open piano where park visitors can sit for a minute and pluck out a tune. Or an hour and play a concerto. If you are lucky enough to experience chromesthesia, so much the better for you.

POTD: The Eleventy-Seventh Portrait of Jesus

From 2022 11 03 Athens

"In oils and water,
The most painted soul endures,
Art's eternal muse."
—h/t ChatGPT

This photo-of-the-day was taken in Athens, Greece. Who is the most painted person in history? It's got to be Jesus, right? By a long shot. Wikipedia has a page devoted to a partial list. Wikipedia even has a page devoted to paintings of Jesus just in the Louvre, and even that is long. Anyway, no matter what the answer is, this artist at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, is adding to history's collection of Jesus art. And doing a pretty good job of it, too, in my untrained opinion.

The Secret Invasion (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Secret Invasion (TV 2023): Dark and foreboding, the fate of humanity is on the line. Many Marvel shows feature superheroes and humor. This is not one of them. Not for the uninitiated. It was only in the last couple of episodes that I felt I knew what was happening. Great cast. C+

The Beanie Bubble (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Beanie Bubble (2023): Story behind Beanie Baby boom and bust. Ty Warner caught lightning in a bottle but never understood why. Women around him did but were exploited. They aren't victims, though, exactly. It's hard to say what the moral of this one dimensional story is. C+