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  • Affluenza Teen: Parents Get Discount On Treatment

    The Affluenza teen case out of Fort Worth, TX has taken another controversial, some might say face-palm-worthy, turn.

    According to AP, the teen’s wealthy parents, with the help of lawyers Reagan Wynn and Lance Evan, successfully argued that the teen’s reckless behavior was due to “Affluenza”. Now it is reported that they only have to pay a fraction of their son Ethan’s court-ordered treatment.

    The argument was that Ethan Couch’s parents had given him such a decadent, coddled lifestyle that he wasn’t responsible for driving drunk and high on Valium the day he plowed into and killed four people and injured several others as they helped a stranded motorist on the side of the road.

    As infuriating as the argument was, as well as the subsequent win of the case and light punishment, this new development takes the cake.

    The parents, who were too rich to raise a kid who is responsible for his actions, will be only be charged $1,170 a month for his treatment at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon. That would only pay for about two days. Who pays for the rest? You and me.

    Debbie Spoonts, who is Tarrant County Juvenile Services’ placement supervisor, said the facility decided what Fred and Tonya Couch would pay based on a sliding scale. I would like to see that scale.

    Evans, the attorney for Tonya and Fred Couch, said that after hearing the news of the slashed treatment bill for their son, the family “respects the decision of the facility and of the court, and will honor the payment system that the court has put in place.”

    Several of the families of the victims have sued the Couchs and won settlements, but there is one parent who isn’t taking a settlement. Kevin McConnell, who had a child that was injured in the wreck, says he wants a trial not money.

    Image via YouTube

  • Judge Orders Hospital to Remove Life Support From Pregnant Woman

    Marlise Muñoz has been on life support since November 26, at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. She collapsed in her kitchen with what doctors believe was a blood clot. She was also 14 weeks pregnant. Her husband found her unconscious and she was rushed to the hospital.

    Muñoz was being kept alive by respirator against the family’s wishes, and against her wishes. Marlise and her husband Erick are paramedics who were clear that they didn’t want life support. Especially if one of them became brain dead or comatose.

    When the family was told she was brain dead, Marlise’s mother and father, as well as her husband Erick, asked the doctors to remove her from respirators, as the pregnant woman had urged them to do if she was ever in that situation.

    However, the hospital refused. John Peter Smith Hospital had argued that it had to protect the life of the unborn child.

    Further, hospital officials have said a state law prohibiting withdrawal of treatment from a pregnant patient bound them. Several experts interviewed by The Associated Press have said the hospital is misapplying the law.

    On Friday, Judge R.H. Wallace Jr. of State District Court in Tarrant County, ordered John Peter Smith Hospital to pronounce the woman, Marlise Muñoz, dead, and remove her from life support by 5 p.m. on Monday.

    “This is tragic and very difficult case,” the judge said before siding with the family and ruling that the state law in question did not apply to Ms. Muñoz because she was dead.

    Regarding the baby (fetus) Erick Munoz’s attorneys said that the fetus, now believed to be at about 22 weeks, is “distinctly abnormal.” This information, they said, came directly from the hospitals medical records.

    Image via YouTube

  • Deion Sanders Fired By Charter School, Students Rally Behind Him

    Deion Sanders has been fired from the Dallas-area charter school he co-founded for the second time in as many months.

    Prime Prep Academy’s Superintendent Rachel Sanders made the decision to fire Sanders from his position as football coach on Tuesday.

    In October, Sanders was fired after being accused of assaulting a co-worker, but was rehired the next day. Sanders vowed to fight the charges.

    Prime Prep Board President T. Christopher Lewis, who has taken Sanders’ side against the administration in a bitter power struggle, said of the most recent firing “I did not approve this dismissal nor would I have made that decision.”

    Lewis called Sanders a “significant asset” to the school. The former Dallas Cowboys cornerback is generally regarded as the public face of the school.

    According to WFAA-TV Dallas (Channel 8 ABC) about 75 students walked out in protest behind Sanders.

    The Prime Prep Athletics Twitter account has retweeted several messages from Sanders as well as those who have spoken out in support of him:

    The Prime Prep school board is scheduled to meet on Friday, and Sanders hopes they will fire the current administrators. “Right now they are trying to overthrow the board and do everything that is not legal and lawful. It’s unbelievable.”

    Sanders says the administration is loyal to Prime Prep’s other co-founder, former CEO and Executive Director D.L. Wallace. Wallace resigned on November 21, one day after being confronted in a Fort Worth parking lot by WFAA about “mystery rent payments” made with Prime Prep operating funds.

    The recent upheaval at Prime Prep has drawn the attention of the Texas Education Agency. Although the agency hasn’t launched a formal investigation, spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson says they are aware of the issues there.

    “TEA continues to be diligent in gathering information related to specific complaints regarding finances, special education and allegations of nepotism. It would be premature to comment on any of the specifics until our fact finding in each of these areas is complete. However, TEA is prepared to take the appropriate steps should action be warranted.”

    Image via Twitter

  • Baby Elephant In Pool Is Your Daily Cute

    A baby elephant at the Fort Worth Zoo is getting quite a bit of attention after a video of her playing in a kiddie pool went viral.

    Baby Belle, who was born July 7, is only the second Asian elephant to be born at the zoo in over a hundred years, so her popularity was already a given. But when zookeepers gave her a little pool to cool off in, she endeared herself to visitors immediately with a childlike love of water, splashing and slipping around.

    When the weather gets unbearably hot, the adult elephants have a place to cool off, too, but because Belle is so small she needed a place of her own.

    “The Asian elephant exhibit has a 3,200-gallon pool that the adult elephants often utilize, so keepers provided Belle with a safer, smaller-sized pool for her to play in,” spokeswoman Katie Giangreco said. “Belle is full of personality and is learning and discovering new things every day, such as using her trunk to push, pull and lift objects.”

    Check out Belle and her mama playing in the water and delighting passerby.

  • Church Pastor Killed With Electric Guitar in Texas

    A church pastor was beaten to death with an electric guitar Monday after his attacker crashed a car into the wall of a North Texas church.

    According to an Associated Press report, the suspect crashed a car in to the side of the Greater Sweethome Missionary Baptist Church in Forest Hill, Texas at around noon on Monday. He then got out of the car and attacked Rev. Danny Kirk Sr., chasing him into the church while a church secretary called 911. Police found the suspect beating Kirk with an electric guitar and used a taser to subdue him.

    Kirk died from his injuries soon after, and the suspect was “found unresponsive shortly after being detained,” according to the AP report, which is based heavily on a statements from Forest Hill Police Chief Dan Dennis. The suspect was pronounced dead at a local hospital, and an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of his death.

    Dennis stated that it is unknown why the suspect had attacked Kirk, whether he attended the church, or whether he even knew Kirk. Forest Hill is a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas.

    According to the AP, Kirk was the founding pastor of the church and had started building his congregation in a strip mall location before the church was built.

  • Texas Tornado Throws 18-Wheelers Like Rag Dolls

    Texas Tornado Throws 18-Wheelers Like Rag Dolls

    The tornados that spun through Texas on Tuesday weren’t all massive in size, but they didn’t have to be.

    The storm system that left thousands without power and hundreds of people sleeping in a Red Cross shelter swept through several counties, cutting a swath of destruction as several funnel clouds branched off and made their way across the state. The exact number of twisters isn’t known, but surveyors are working through the paths of debris to determine how many were formed.

    One funnel spun through what appears to be a yard full of abandoned vehicles and picked up several 18-wheelers, tossing them aside with ease. The scariest part is, it all happened fairly close to a busy roadway. Part of the tornado’s path was caught on video, and you can see a steady stream of cars moving at the bottom of the screen.

    Despite the best efforts of these twisters, no fatalities have been reported, although several injuries have been. Twitter users took to the social media platform to offer their thoughts and prayers to Texas residents:

    (image)@IamSecond
    I am Second    Praying for everyone affected by the storms in Texas. http://t.co/B7xd677J(image) 14 hours ago via HootSuite ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Kristen_Beat
    Kristen Beat    Prayers going out to everyone affected by the tornadoes in Texas. My heart goes out to all of you. <3(image) 17 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@rsarver
    Ryan Sarver    Incredible that everyone was ok RT @nprnews: After Ferocious Texas Tornadoes, Two Incredibly Welcome Words: ‘No Deaths’ http://t.co/VLnvHNQl(image) 32 minutes ago via Flipboard ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@nickimayonews
    Nicki Mayo    HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Please pray for those impacted by the #tornadoes around North Texas, Arlington & Dallas.(image) 1 minute ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto