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Federal Court Ruling: Strict Abortion Law in Texas Is Constitutional; May Close All but Seven Clinics Statewide

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A federal appeals court upheld strict abortion restrictions was passed by the state of Texas on Tuesday. That decision means that as few as seven abortion clinics could stay open in that state based on those regulations.

According to a report in the Associated Press, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made a decision that would allow Texas to require abortion clinics to meet “hospital-level” operating standards. The restrictions were approved in 2013 by a Republican-dominated state government.

“Abortion practitioners should have no right to operate their businesses from sub-standard facilities and with doctors who lack admitting privileges at a hospital,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said.

However, pro-choice groups told the Associated Press that they will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which temporarily halted enforcement of the law last year. Nancy Northrop, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, expressed dismay with the lower court’s decision.

“Not since before Roe v. Wade has a law or court decision had the potential to devastate access to reproductive health care on such a sweeping scale,” Northrop said. “We now look to the Justices to stop the sham laws that are shutting clinics down and placing countless women at risk of serious harm.” (Read more from “Federal Court Ruling: Strict Abortion Law in Texas Is Constitutional” HERE)

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Revealed: What Ex-McKinney Cop Did to a Teenage Girl Before Arriving at Pool Party

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Cpl. Eric Casebolt, the McKinney, Texas, police officer who resigned after video showed him brandishing his firearm and restraining a 15-year-old black girl on the ground last week, said his emotions ran high, per his attorney . . .

The video which led to Casebolt’s downfall shows him subduing 15-year-old Dajerria Becton to the ground and drawing his firearm when other teenagers approached him during a disturbance call at a pool party, though he never fired. McKinney police chief Greg Conley called his actions “indefensible” and “out of control.”

WFAA described how Bishkin defended his client during the press conference, explaining Casebolt’s day had already taken an “emotional toll” on him before he responded to the disturbance call.

The attorney started the press conference by saying Casebolt let his emotions get the best of him before he answered the disturbance call at the Craig Ranch community pool.

He had already been called to two suicide calls that Friday — one involved having to console the wife of a man who had just ended his life. During the second call, he managed to talk a teenage girl off her parents’ roof.

(Read more from “Revealed: What Ex-McKinney Cop Did to a Teenage Girl Before Arriving at Pool Party” HERE)

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Viral Video: Every American Should Hear This Black Mom’s Take on Texas Pool Party

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A black Texas mother took to Facebook with a video message after a heated discussion with co-workers about the events in McKinney, Texas, and her message has taken off on social media.

Kisa Jackson spent a lunch break this week blasting the race-baiters and agitators who say the McKinney police officer acted inappropriately when he drew his gun on a group of teenagers. Blaming parents for not teaching their kids to respect authority, she also blasted the teens who tangled with the cops . . .

Jackson also blasted the parents of the kids who disobeyed the officers’ orders, saying cops don’t always have enough information to judge who is a threat.

“When the police arrive on a scene, you should stay there and you wait for instructions… because the cops don’t always know what’s going on,” she said. “It’s about again the parents, and teaching our children to respect authority figures, whether it’s an officer. Whether it’s a teacher. Whether it’s just a parent walking down the street.”

Jackson’s refreshingly honest assessment of the pool party in McKinney caught fire on social media, with most users celebrating her bold message.

(Read more from “Viral Video: Every American Should Hear This Black Mom’s Take on Texas Pool Party” HERE)

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Watch: Intense New Video Reveals What Happened Before Cops Arrived at Texas Pool Party [+videos]

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Photo Credit: Western Journalism By Ashley Fantz, Holly Yan and Catherine E. Shoichet. Just days after a video that went viral online showed him yanking a 14-year-old bikini-clad girl to the ground and kneeling on her back, Eric Casebolt has resigned from his post as a corporal for the Police Department in McKinney, Texas.

[Here’s the original video that led to officer Casebolt’s resignation:]

The video posted to YouTube showing the police response to reports of fighting at a pool party sparked swift allegations of racism. Critics decried the white officer for cursing at several black teenagers, slamming the girl to the ground and unholstering his gun.

Protesters marched Monday over the incident in the Dallas suburb. Outraged parents demanded the officer’s firing.

At a press conference Tuesday announcing Casebolt’s resignation, the city’s police chief called his actions in the video indefensible.

“Our policies, our training, our practice, do not support his actions,” Police Chief Greg Conley said. “He came into the call out of control, and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident.” (Read more from this story regarding the police officer’s resignation following the Texas pool party incident HERE)

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New Video Shows What Happened Before Police Arrived

By James Beattie. A video has surfaced showing violence breaking out before police intervened at a McKinney, Texas, pool party Friday.

NBC News details what happened the night the event occurred:

Police were called to a disturbance on Friday night at a pool in McKinney. Police said several calls reported that teens were fighting, and Conley said officers encouraged a large crowd that refused to comply with police commands.

Twelve officers responded in all, the police chief said. Video of the encounter appears to show an officer wrestling the girl in the bikini to the ground and using his knees to pin her. The officer is also shown pointing his gun at the teens and cursing . . .

While the original video shows the officer acting in an unsympathetic manner, recently revealed footage shows a fight between a teenage girl and two adults:

One resident of the neighborhood where the infamous pool party took place said she supported the officer and his actions. (Read more from “Watch: Intense New Video Reveals What Happened Before Cops Arrived at Texas Pool Party” HERE)

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US Chopper Shot Down at Texas Border, Fired on From Mexico

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Photo Credit: Breitbart Breitbart Texas has learned that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter was shot down or forced to initiate an emergency landing in Laredo, Texas due to receiving gunfire from the Mexican side of the border. The helicopter was interdicting a narcotics load and working alongside agents from the U.S. Border Patrol, who operate under the umbrella of the CBP. The helicopter was operating in the Laredo Sector of Texas, immediately across the border from the Los Zetas cartel headquarters of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

The helicopter was in U.S. airspace and participating in the interdiction of a narcotics load coming from Mexico into the United States.

A federal agent who spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity said, “U.S. Border Patrol agents were attempting to intercept a drug load. A law enforcement chopper was assisting Border Patrol agents. The chopper received gunfire from the Mexican side of the border. The chopper had to do an emergency landing due to the gunfire.”

Border Patrol agent and National Border Patrol Council Local 2455 President Hector Garza confirmed that he received unofficial reports on this matter that indicate the information provided to Breitbart Texas by the unnamed federal agent is accurate . . .

The shooting occurred in an area known as La Bota Ranch, a subdivision of Laredo, Texas. A source who operates under the umbrella of the CBP told Breitbart Texas that the narcotics trafficking event was a well-coordinated operation with individuals participating on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The shooting came from the Mexican side and all individuals fled and got away. The individuals on the U.S. side also got away into the state of Texas. (See “US Chopper Shot Down at Texas Border, Fired on From Mexico” HERE)

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Texas Floods 2015: After Devastation, Houston Churches Turn to God for Support

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Photo Credit: International Business Times As Houston was ravaged by floods starting last weekend and continuing through Saturday night, church members here sprang into action. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention sent 50 volunteers out to deliver food, Houston’s First Baptist Church donated money to disaster relief and Riceville Mount Olive prepared for increased applications to its benevolence fund from which members can request financial aid for rent or bills.

“That’s part of what we believe a church is supposed to do, is assist,” said Deacon Reginald Fields of Riceville Mount Olive. “It’s one of the foundations of Christianity to help those that cannot help themselves.” Speaking slowly from an office inside the church, he continued: “Jesus Christ came and gave his ultimate that we might have and because of him, we feel an obligation to do the same. We realize we can’t do it on the same scale he did, but we’re called to do it.”

In an arena a few miles away, superstar the Rev. Joel Osteen aimed to inspire the thousands who attended Sunday service at Lakewood Church, the nation’s largest. Between rambunctious band performances and colorful light shows, Osteen solemnly preached about the purpose of pain. He urged churchgoers to believe in God’s higher purpose and said God would look out for them.

“We just pray for Your comfort for their families,” he prayed out loud on stage, eyes closed. “We pray that You will help those who have lost and they will recover all.”

During the rain, drivers on Texas highways were forced to abandon their cars to floodwaters. Police pulled bodies from bayous amid mandatory evacuations. Rescue boats capsized in the surging water. Family members were reported missing. (Read more from “Texas Floods 2015: After Devastation, Houston Churches Turn to God for Support” HERE)

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Hundreds of Homes Destroyed, Deaths as Flash Flooding Sweeps Through Texas, Oklahoma

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A storm system dropped record amounts of rainfall across the southern Plains Sunday, causing flash floods in normally dry riverbeds, spawning tornadoes, destroying homes, and forcing at least 2,000 people to flee.

Two people were confirmed dead in Oklahoma where a firefighter was swept to his death while trying to rescue people from high water and a woman in Tulsa died in a traffic-related crash. In Texas, a man’s body was recovered from a flooded area along the Blanco River, which rose 26 feet in just one hour and left piles of wreckage 20 feet high, authorities said.

In Wimberley, Texas, southwest of Austin, eight people were reported missing, including three children, according to KXAN.

“It looks pretty bad out there,” said Hays County emergency management coordinator Kharley Smith, describing the destruction in Wimberley, part of a fast-growing corridor between Austin and San Antonio. “We do have whole streets with maybe one or two houses left on them and the rest are just slabs,” she said.

Between 350 and 400 homes were destroyed in Wimberley, many of them washed away, Smith said. In nearby San Marcos, flooding had damaged about 300 homes, she said. Kenneth Bell, the emergency management coordinator in San Marcos, said the damage in Hays County alone amounts to “millions of dollars.” (Read more from “Hundreds of Homes Destroyed as Flash Flooding Sweeps Through Texas, Oklahoma” HERE)

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Feds Pay Texas Landowners Paid to Accommodate Jade Helm, Says Mayor

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Photo Credit: News West 9

Photo Credit: News West 9

Military officials have negotiated contracts with local ranchers to conduct Jade Helm training on their property, according to Big Spring Mayor Larry McLellan.

However, he said residents will not be “forced out of their homes” to accommodate troops during the large-scale military exercise, scheduled to run July 15 through September 15.

McLellan had no details about the contracts supposedly offered to Big Spring homeowners. Military officials were not available to answer questions about how many ranchers were being displaced or inconvenienced due to Jade Helm, and how much they would receive in compensation.

Jade Helm operations planners previously confirmed training will only be conducted on private and public land with the permission of landowners or regional authorities. . .

McLellan confirmed Jade Helm personnel would be purchasing groceries and other supplies locally. Operations planners and city officials calculated “wherever they’re training could see as much as $150,000 increase in sales” during the two-month exercise. (Read more from “Big Spring Landowners Paid to Accommodate Jade Helm, Says Mayor” HERE)

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Rand Paul “Mocked” for Comments on Military Exercise While Texas Governor Works to Calm Nerves

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download (13)By Jeremy Peters. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has been mocked by liberal pundits who accused him of fanning conspiracy theories about a military exercise along the Texas border, an event that some on the far right believe is a covert effort to impose martial law.

But in an interview this weekend, Mr. Paul said he had no idea what the training exercise — known as Jade Helm — was when he was first asked about it last month on an Iowa radio program.

“Someone on a radio program asked me what it was. I didn’t know,” Mr. Paul said after he christened a new work space for his presidential campaign in the Bay Area. He expressed befuddlement at how his comments about “that ridiculous Jade something” had been blown out of proportion.

“I said sure, I’ll ask my staff to look into it because I didn’t know what it was,” he said.

The comments that drew ridicule by people like Bill Maher, who accused Mr. Paul of pandering to the right-wing fringe, occurred on the Jan Mickelson program. Mr. Mickelson brought up the exercise, telling the senator, “I’d like to know what the rest of the story is on that.” (Read more from “Rand Paul Plays Down Comments on Military Exercise After Mockery” HERE)

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Greg Abbott Says He’s Working to Calm Some Texans Upset Over Jade Helm 15 Exercise

By NBC News. Governor Greg Abbott, R-TX, says he’s trying to bring calm to some Texans about a military exercise that will take place in Texas and six other states.

The eight-week exercise, known as Jade Helm 15, will begin July 15 and involves U.S. Specials Operations Forces such as Navy Seals and Green Berets. They will use public and private lands to train for overseas missions.

The prospect of armed federal troops in Texas has ignited a host of concerns and speculation about the military’s motives — ranging from the military’s intention to impose martial law to a government conspiracy to launch a hostile takeover of Texas to taking away people’s gun rights. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Military Training Exercise Causing More Worry in Texas, but Gov. Perry Says Chill

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Governor-Perry-HeadshotFormer Gov. Rick Perry said Texans — including new Gov. Greg Abbott — don’t have any cause for worry about an upcoming military training exercise in Texas.

Abbott last week directed the Texas State Guard to monitor Operation Jade Helm 15, an eight-week federal training exercise that will bring about 1,200 troops to Texas this summer to simulate special operations, because he’s worried the training could infringe on Texans’ rights.

“I think it’s OK to question your government,” Perry, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, said Tuesday before speaking to a World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth luncheon at the Tower Club in Dallas. “I do it on a pretty regular basis” . . .

Some officials and citizens in Texas, including Congressman Louie Gohmert, see something potentially more nefarious in the exercise.

In a Tuesday statement, Gohmert said his office has been inundated with calls referring to the Jade Helm 15 military exercise scheduled to take place between July 15 and September 15. His statement said the military practice has some concerned that the U.S. Army is preparing for modern-day martial law. He went on to say that he understands these concerns. (Read more from “Military Training Exercise Causing Worry in Texas” HERE)

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