Texas

Update: The Austin American-Statesman notes that Abdo received two life sentences today, plus an additional 60 years in prison. 

The daily reports that Abdo expressed no remorse at sentencing: 

“I don’t ask the court for mercy because Allah is the one who gives me mercy,” Adbo said, referring to God in Arabic. He said he was motivated by what he called crimes committed by the U.S. and the U.S. military against Muslims.

“I have continued to answer the call of jihad and will continue to the day I am called to account for my deeds,” he continued.

Original post: This morning, a  federal judge sentenced the AWOL soldier convicted of plotting to blow up a restaurant popular with Fort Hood troops to life in prison.

Private First Class Naser Jason Abdo was found guilty in May of charges including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Killeen police arrested Abdo last July with bomb-making materials.

Until recently, beer drinkers who took their time to read the labels on their bottles or cans may have encountered some head-scratching fine print concerning Texas.

Underneath the name of Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyn Lager, for instance, was the note “In Texas, malt liquor.” Even closer inspection would reveal that the word “beer” did not appear on the label.

The labeling quirks were the result of a law that required all malt beverages (read: beer) containing more than 4 percent alcohol by weight to be labeled as either “ale” or “malt liquor” to be sold in Texas. The same law also prevented any drink with an alcohol content of more than 4 percent from being advertised in Texas as a “beer.” 

“It made for a very awkward label,” said Eric Ottaway, the general manager of Brooklyn Brewery. “Try writing a description without using the word ‘beer.’”

Update: Wilson was executed. The lower courts agreed with state lawyers that the results of the IQ test were faulty. The Supreme Court denied the request to stop the execution. Wilson was the seventh prisoner executed in Texas so far this year.

Earlier: Attorneys for a Texas man scheduled to die Tuesday evening are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution.

Marvin Wilson, 54, was convicted for the 1992 abduction and shooting death of a police informant – 21-year-old Jerry Williams – in Beaumont.

A psychological test found Wilson’s IQ was 61 – which defense lawyers say indicates mental impairment and makes him ineligible for execution. State lawyers argue that the test result was faulty and that all other tests showed his IQ above the impairment threshold of 70.

City to Break Ground on Boardwalk

Today the City of Austin and The Trail Foundation will officially launch the Boardwalk Trail Completion Project for the hike and bike trail around Lady Bird Lake.

The project will close a 1.1-mile gap in the trail. The boardwalk will be over land and over the lake. Construction could be done by early 2014.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell, city officials and Trail Foundation officials will take part in today's groundbreaking. The ceremony will take place at International Shores Park near the trail. The Austin Fire Department will shoot off celebratory water cannons at the park to commemorate the project’s launch.

A recent case study examines the details of last September’s Bastrop wildfire. The fire destroyed 1,600 homes and burned 32,000 acres.

But there seems to be some confusion over whether the report of the fire that’s being released by Bastrop County is the final version.

Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Fisher helped author the case study. Earlier this month, he presented the report to county commissioners. And he plans to release it to the public later this week.

But the Texas Forest Service – another partner in putting the study together – says the version that Fisher has released is not the final version. And, it says, it may not be completely accurate.

Today, alleged Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan was found in contempt of court, fined $1,000 and told he could be forcibly shaved if he didn’t remove his beard in time for his pending trial date.

Hasan’s facial hair has been a focal point throughout several recent court appearances. Army psychiatrist Hasan and his attorneys contend his beard is an expression of his Muslim faith; Army protocols, however, demand the beard be removed, which Hasan has so far refused to do.

The AP reports:

Hasan's defense attorneys argued that he had not shaved in observance of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, KWTX-TV reported. Ramadan is expected to end just before the trial starts.

Thirteen people are reported dead and 10 others injured, after a pickup truck carrying 23 passengers crashed into a tree in South Texas Sunday evening.

“This is the most people I've seen in any passenger vehicle, and I've been an officer for 38 years,” Gerald Bryant, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety told the Associated Press.

Officials believe the passengers may be illegal immigrants. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol Agents were called in to assist with the investigation. “It's unknown whether or not (the victims) were illegal, but it's possible,” Bryant told the AP.

Austin police have noted the popularity of similar trucks in the transport of undocumented immigrants before.

Texans Victims of Colorado Shooting

An Austin native was one of the 12 people killed in Friday’s shooting at a Colorado movie theater.

Gordon Cowden, 51, of Aurora, took his two teenage children to the midnight premiere. They were not injured.

Cowden’s family described him as a “true Texas gentleman.” They say he was a “loving father, outdoorsman and small business owner.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation released its report on the incidents surrounding the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood which left 13 dead and dozens wounded.

“The investigation did not probe the shootings, which are the subject of a U.S. Army-led inquiry and military criminal proceeding against Major Nidal Hasan,” a press release states. Rather, the report, drafted by Judge William H. Webster, considers whether the FBI missed warning signs that shooting suspect Hasan would launch an attack against fellow service members.

Discussion of the report has focused on competing assessments of army psychiatrist Hasan from separate FBI field offices – specifically whether correspondence with slain terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki was work-related or something more. 

While Texas has partially recovered from drought conditions thanks to heavy rain, the Midwest is going through one its worst drought years in decades. And conditions may impact some  – but not all  – Texas farmers’ pocketbooks.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the nation is going through the worst agricultural drought since 1988. For corn and soybean growers it’s been especially harmful, since more than three-quarters of those crops are considered to be in a drought area. But that could actually prove to be beneficial for Texas.

“With the Midwest suffering from drought, that’s driving prices up," says Bob Rose, chief meteorologist with the Lower Colorado River Authority. "So that means the market price for the corn, for many of the farmers in Texas and our area, is going to be very good."