AUSTIN — What should be Gov. Rick Perry's time to shine and shore up support for an unprecedented third term has turned lately into a series of missteps and accidents that are rare for such an experienced politician.
Whether they are coincidences, a show of uncharacteristic sloppiness by the Perry campaign or spin from the opposition, they seem to have given at least a temporary boost to Kay Bailey Hutchison, whose aides note every Perry setback.
"It's like when it rains it pours," said Bill Miller, a consultant who works for neither candidate but whose company's political arm has contributed to Perry. He called Perry's recent problems a "plague of bad incidents" but said they don't signal a breakdown in Perry's usually disciplined campaign. "It kind of raises questions, and, really, the beneficiary is always the opponent."
Last month, Hutchison staffers videotaped the governor appearing to question whether Texas is in a recession. Perry says the quip, designed to get a laugh from a crowd of suburban Houston business leaders, was taken out of context when the Hutchison camp circulated it on YouTube.
Two weeks ago, his big campaign Web announcement fell prey to a technology meltdown, and many supporters couldn't tune in to watch; the Perry campaign says it was the work of a politically motivated computer hacker and the FBI is investigating.
And Perry's apparent attempts to keep his appointees in line during the campaign has been seen as heavy-handed. Perry drew criticism for replacing university regents who supported Hutchison and for replacing members of a forensic science commission who were about to examine evidence that suggests Texas may have executed an innocent man on Perry's watch.
In a glaring slap at Perry, the Texas Farm Bureau last week toured the state with Hutchison endorsing her and chiding Perry, the former agriculture commissioner, for his Trans-Texas Corridor toll road network and for failing to protect property rights.
Perry's campaign denies he's lost any ground.
"If this is a football game, 32-1 would be a blowout," said Perry spokesman Mark Miner, referring to Perry's endorsements from business groups and social conservatives.
Miner said Hutchison had disappointing months in the spring and summer when she didn't offer "one new policy initiative." Now, he said, "you have a campaign, the senator's campaign, demonstrating that they'll do anything at any cost to try to win the election."
Hutchison's campaign said the governor has only himself to blame.
"I think he is an unbelievably arrogant person. And when you are as arrogant as Rick Perry is, you are prone to say and do very flippant things," said Hutchison campaign manager Terry Sullivan. "Now they're being held accountable for what they say and what they do."
At least in public, Perry doesn't appear to let a setback get him down for long. He is known to sometimes chew out an aide over a mistake, but he also gives pep talks to staffers and says he views the race as a lengthy process that will turn his way in the end.
Perry has never lost an election since he first ran for the Legislature in 1984. As lieutenant governor, he ascended to the governor's office when Gov. George W. Bush was elected president in 2000. He was re-elected in 2002 and 2006, but captured only 39 percent of the vote in the most recent, four-way race.
He has been known for occasional verbal gaffes. He was ridiculed nationally for suggesting that Texans might get so fed up they might want to secede from the union and once tried to paraphrase a vulgar expression after a radio interview, saying "Adios, mo' fo.'"
The Texas Farm Bureau endorsement of Hutchison was a blow that Perry likely long knew was coming. He and the organization have had their disagreements before, dating back to when the farm bureau endorsed Democrat John Sharp over Perry for lieutenant governor in 1998. But the group backed Perry for governor in 2002 and 2006.
The 421,000-member bureau had criticized Perry since his veto of a 2007 eminent domain bill the bureau wanted signed into law.
Perry might have had a chance to win the farmers back, but more eminent domain legislation the bureau wanted died in the Legislature's spring session and Perry didn't include it in a summer special session as the bureau wanted, said Farm Bureau legislative director Steve Pringle.
"If the governor had put the issue of eminent domain on the call of the special session this summer, it would have made our endorsement process a lot more complicated," Pringle said.
The Perry campaign didn't take the blow lightly. It suggested the Texas Farm Bureau backed Hutchison because she voted a year ago for a federal bailout of the financial and insurance industry. The farm bureau, which has a business arm that offers insurance to members, did not receive any bailout money.
To farm bureau officials, that remark just widened the schism between them and the governor.
"We feel like our members will be interested in this race," Pringle said.
Miner said the governor's endorsements from industry groups like the Texas Association of Realtors and social conservatives give him support from likely primary voters and their activist networks. Perry's confidence remains high, he said.
"We believe we continue to have the momentum," Miner said.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
In Election Season, Governer Perry Claims Public Records Should Not be Shown to the Public
AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry's office is refusing to release information about how it reviewed an attorney's attempt to stop an execution based on an arson expert's report, arguing that staff comments and analyses of the report aren't public records.
The Houston Chronicle reported Sunday that it tried unsuccessfully to obtain documents that might show whether Perry reviewed or if his staff discussed the report. It was faxed to the governor just 88 minutes before Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in February 2004.
The newspaper cited records it did obtain that showed Perry's office got the five-page faxed report at 4:52 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2004. The newspaper reported that it was unclear from the records whether Perry had read the arson report that day.
A statement from Perry spokesman Chris Cutrone, sent to the Chronicle late Friday, said that "given the brevity of (the) report and the general counsel's familiarity with all the other facts in the case, there was ample time for the general counsel to read and analyze the report and to brief the governor on its content."
Willingham, 36, was convicted of setting the fire that killed his three young children, 2-year-old Amber and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron, on Dec. 23, 1991, in the family's Corsicana home.
Investigators with the Texas State Fire Marshal's Office ruled it an arson started by an accelerant. The report sent to Perry by Austin-based arson expert Gerald Hurst, who holds a doctorate in chemistry from Cambridge University, said investigators "made errors" and relied on discredited techniques.
Willingham's attorney, Walter M. Reaves Jr., first alerted Perry about the new arson analysis three days before the execution and requested more time to develop it.
"There is nothing more I would like than to be able to present you with evidence of actual innocence," Reaves wrote Perry, according to a document released to the Chronicle. "I think we are close ... The death penalty whether you agree with it or not, should be reserved for the most serious crimes. More importantly, it should be reserved for those crimes about which there is no doubt about the guilt of the person."
Reaves later got word that Perry would not stop the execution and Willingham went to his death, at 6:20 p.m., proclaiming his innocence.
Summaries of gubernatorial reviews of execution cases previously were released as public records in Texas, most recently under former Gov. George W. Bush.
The Houston Chronicle reported Sunday that it tried unsuccessfully to obtain documents that might show whether Perry reviewed or if his staff discussed the report. It was faxed to the governor just 88 minutes before Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in February 2004.
The newspaper cited records it did obtain that showed Perry's office got the five-page faxed report at 4:52 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2004. The newspaper reported that it was unclear from the records whether Perry had read the arson report that day.
A statement from Perry spokesman Chris Cutrone, sent to the Chronicle late Friday, said that "given the brevity of (the) report and the general counsel's familiarity with all the other facts in the case, there was ample time for the general counsel to read and analyze the report and to brief the governor on its content."
Willingham, 36, was convicted of setting the fire that killed his three young children, 2-year-old Amber and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron, on Dec. 23, 1991, in the family's Corsicana home.
Investigators with the Texas State Fire Marshal's Office ruled it an arson started by an accelerant. The report sent to Perry by Austin-based arson expert Gerald Hurst, who holds a doctorate in chemistry from Cambridge University, said investigators "made errors" and relied on discredited techniques.
Willingham's attorney, Walter M. Reaves Jr., first alerted Perry about the new arson analysis three days before the execution and requested more time to develop it.
"There is nothing more I would like than to be able to present you with evidence of actual innocence," Reaves wrote Perry, according to a document released to the Chronicle. "I think we are close ... The death penalty whether you agree with it or not, should be reserved for the most serious crimes. More importantly, it should be reserved for those crimes about which there is no doubt about the guilt of the person."
Reaves later got word that Perry would not stop the execution and Willingham went to his death, at 6:20 p.m., proclaiming his innocence.
Summaries of gubernatorial reviews of execution cases previously were released as public records in Texas, most recently under former Gov. George W. Bush.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Train Derails in Cleburne Johnson County
CLEBURNE, Texas — A 100-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe coal train has derailed in a downtown Cleburne rail yard, spilling the train's cargo and closing the heavily traveled track.
Cleburne city spokesman Charlie Hodges says 44 of the coal-laden cars derailed about 6:45 a.m. Friday, dumping coal all over the railbed.
Spokesman Joe Faust of Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF said no injuries nor hazardous spills resulted from the derailment. He has no immediate details on what caused the derailment.
Faust says the train was carrying coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin coal fields to the W.A. Parish Power Plant at Smithers Lake in Fort Bend County, 25 miles southwest of Houston. The Texas Genco plant is a 3,000-megawatt, coal-fired plant that burns more than 11 million tons of coal per year.
Hodges says Amtrak, which uses the rail line, will move passengers around the derailment site by buses between Fort Worth and Temple.
Cleburne city spokesman Charlie Hodges says 44 of the coal-laden cars derailed about 6:45 a.m. Friday, dumping coal all over the railbed.
Spokesman Joe Faust of Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF said no injuries nor hazardous spills resulted from the derailment. He has no immediate details on what caused the derailment.
Faust says the train was carrying coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin coal fields to the W.A. Parish Power Plant at Smithers Lake in Fort Bend County, 25 miles southwest of Houston. The Texas Genco plant is a 3,000-megawatt, coal-fired plant that burns more than 11 million tons of coal per year.
Hodges says Amtrak, which uses the rail line, will move passengers around the derailment site by buses between Fort Worth and Temple.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Several Hurt in Car Wreck in Fort Worth
Five people, including a police officer, were hurt early Tuesday when a patrol car collided with a sport utility vehicle in east Fort Worth, according to reports.
The wreck was reported at about 2:50 a.m. in the 6700 block of Brentwood Stair Road, a police report stated.
Sgt. Pedro Criado, police spokesman, confirmed that a patrol car spun out on slick pavement and hit the SUV.
The officer in the patrol car was cut on the head and the four SUV passengers were taken to the hospital to be examined, but there were no life-threatening injuries, Criado said.
The wreck was reported at about 2:50 a.m. in the 6700 block of Brentwood Stair Road, a police report stated.
Sgt. Pedro Criado, police spokesman, confirmed that a patrol car spun out on slick pavement and hit the SUV.
The officer in the patrol car was cut on the head and the four SUV passengers were taken to the hospital to be examined, but there were no life-threatening injuries, Criado said.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Truck Driver Dies after Wreck
A Lubbock-area truck driver has died from injuries he received in an early-morning collision with another big rig on Interstate 20 in southwest Parker County.
Pascual Rincones Cisneros Jr., 57, of Lorenzo, which is northeast of Lubbock, died Thursday morning at a Fort Worth hospital, said Trooper Gary Rozzell, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety office in Mineral Wells.
The three-vehicle wreck was reported at 1:13 a.m. near mile marker 397, Rozzell said. The area is near the community of Brock and about six miles west of Weatherford.
A red passenger car driven by Lauren Vitale, 18, of Fort Worth was westbound on the service road of I-20, Rozzell said.
Meanwhile, he added, a 2002 Kenworth driven by Joshua Pottker, 31, also of Fort Worth, was westbound on the interstate.
Vitale drove onto the interstate, but not by taking the entrance ramp, Rozzell said.
Instead, she drove across the grassy area between the interstate and its service road, Rozzell said.
Pottker swerved to avoid the red car, but the car struck his right front tire, Rozzell said.
The Kenworth then entered the eastbound lanes, which put it in the path of the 2005 Freightliner driven by Cisneros, Rozzell said.
The Freightliner hit the trailer that was behind the Kenworth, Rozzell said.
"The Pottker vehicle turned on its side," Rozzell said, "but the Cisneros vehicle went through the trailer, cut it in two, and continued down Interstate 20, eastbound, for a short distance."
It came to rest, Rozzell said, "with massive front-end damage."
Pottker was taken to a Weatherford Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released, Rozzell said.
The red car spun out and came to a stop, but Vitale was unhurt, according to Rozzell.
He noted, however, that investigators did not immediately know why she entered I-20 by driving across the grass.
The investigation was continuing, Rozzell said
Pascual Rincones Cisneros Jr., 57, of Lorenzo, which is northeast of Lubbock, died Thursday morning at a Fort Worth hospital, said Trooper Gary Rozzell, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety office in Mineral Wells.
The three-vehicle wreck was reported at 1:13 a.m. near mile marker 397, Rozzell said. The area is near the community of Brock and about six miles west of Weatherford.
A red passenger car driven by Lauren Vitale, 18, of Fort Worth was westbound on the service road of I-20, Rozzell said.
Meanwhile, he added, a 2002 Kenworth driven by Joshua Pottker, 31, also of Fort Worth, was westbound on the interstate.
Vitale drove onto the interstate, but not by taking the entrance ramp, Rozzell said.
Instead, she drove across the grassy area between the interstate and its service road, Rozzell said.
Pottker swerved to avoid the red car, but the car struck his right front tire, Rozzell said.
The Kenworth then entered the eastbound lanes, which put it in the path of the 2005 Freightliner driven by Cisneros, Rozzell said.
The Freightliner hit the trailer that was behind the Kenworth, Rozzell said.
"The Pottker vehicle turned on its side," Rozzell said, "but the Cisneros vehicle went through the trailer, cut it in two, and continued down Interstate 20, eastbound, for a short distance."
It came to rest, Rozzell said, "with massive front-end damage."
Pottker was taken to a Weatherford Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released, Rozzell said.
The red car spun out and came to a stop, but Vitale was unhurt, according to Rozzell.
He noted, however, that investigators did not immediately know why she entered I-20 by driving across the grass.
The investigation was continuing, Rozzell said
Big Rig 18 Wheeler Accident Parker County I 20 Injuries
Interstate 20 in southwest Parker County reopened at 7:45 a.m. Thursday following a collision several hours earlier between two tractor-trailer rigs, according to reports.
Two people were taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, but their medical conditions were unavailable early Thursday.
The wreck was reported at 1:13 a.m. near mile marker 397, according to a preliminary report from the Texas Department of Public Safety highway patrol. The area is about six miles west of Weatherford.
A westbound truck was following a car that was exiting at mile marker 397 when the driver of the car suddenly decided to swerve back onto the interstate, according to the report.
The driver of the big rig swerved to avoid the car, but then it went into the eastbound lane, where it collided with another rig, the report stated.
The eastbound truck smashed into the trailer of westbound truck.
It took more than six hours to clear the wreckage.
Two people were taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, but their medical conditions were unavailable early Thursday.
The wreck was reported at 1:13 a.m. near mile marker 397, according to a preliminary report from the Texas Department of Public Safety highway patrol. The area is about six miles west of Weatherford.
A westbound truck was following a car that was exiting at mile marker 397 when the driver of the car suddenly decided to swerve back onto the interstate, according to the report.
The driver of the big rig swerved to avoid the car, but then it went into the eastbound lane, where it collided with another rig, the report stated.
The eastbound truck smashed into the trailer of westbound truck.
It took more than six hours to clear the wreckage.
Fraud Around Town
Hundreds of people were defrauded out of $8 million by a man identified as living in Arlington and two others from Waxahachie, according to accusations by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
One of the men, who was reached for comment, said he did nothing wrong and was shocked to see his name in court documents.
On Wednesday, the commission obtained an emergency court order freezing assets held by M25 Investments, M37 Investments, Scott P. Kear Sr. and Jeffrey L. Lyon, all of Waxahachie; and David G. Seaman, who is listed as living in Arlington but said he lives elsewhere.
The defendants are accused of running a foreign currency trading scheme out of branch offices in Watauga,West Virginia and Mississippi.
Many of the companies’ 224 customers are elderly and knew one another through churches, according to the commission’s complaint.
As of March, the companies had $3.9 million in assets, not enough to make promised interest payments and return the $8 million in principal investments, according to the commission.
Despite the shortfall, the men are accused of soliciting another $140,000 in May from more than a dozen additional customers.
Seaman, who declined to say where he lives, is the chief operating officer.
Seaman said he has been wrongly accused and has done nothing improper.
He said that as of Wednesday morning, when he called his bank, his assets had not been frozen.
"I’m sure you know with all the [Bernard] Madoff stuff that happened, the regulators are on a witch hunt right now," he said, adding that Lyon and Kear will also contest the allegations.
"I’m not an owner. My title was really . . . kind of a jack-of-all-trades type of guy. I ran customer service and stuff from day to day," he said.
The purported scheme promised monthly returns of 2 percent and annual returns of 24 percent yet engaged in "speculative and risky trading," according to court documents.
The men are accused in court documents of issuing monthly account statements that showed 2 percent interest credits when they actually consistently lost customer funds in trading or didn’t use the money for trades at all. Company promotional material showed the growth of an initial investment of $100,000 to more than $11 million after 11 years, according to the complaint.
Though the commission filed a complaint against the companies Tuesday,the National Futures Association, a self-regulatory organization for the U.S. futures industry, brought a disciplinary action against the companies after an audit in April.
Sharon Pendleton, the association’s director of compliance, said the two companies had issued promissory note agreements to customers but were "unable to provide us with proof they had liquid assets to cover those notes."
"The total was $7.6 million for the two companies," Pendleton said. "They had combined assets . . . [of] about $3.9 million. So there was a shortfall."
In a report on its Web site, the association accused the companies of "operating a Ponzi scheme whereby they have obtained hundreds of loans from unsophisticated persons who are solicited, among other ways, at or through churches."
Lyon and Kear were named in the association’s report. Seaman was not.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas is providing local counsel for the case, a spokeswoman said.
One of the men, who was reached for comment, said he did nothing wrong and was shocked to see his name in court documents.
On Wednesday, the commission obtained an emergency court order freezing assets held by M25 Investments, M37 Investments, Scott P. Kear Sr. and Jeffrey L. Lyon, all of Waxahachie; and David G. Seaman, who is listed as living in Arlington but said he lives elsewhere.
The defendants are accused of running a foreign currency trading scheme out of branch offices in Watauga,West Virginia and Mississippi.
Many of the companies’ 224 customers are elderly and knew one another through churches, according to the commission’s complaint.
As of March, the companies had $3.9 million in assets, not enough to make promised interest payments and return the $8 million in principal investments, according to the commission.
Despite the shortfall, the men are accused of soliciting another $140,000 in May from more than a dozen additional customers.
Seaman, who declined to say where he lives, is the chief operating officer.
Seaman said he has been wrongly accused and has done nothing improper.
He said that as of Wednesday morning, when he called his bank, his assets had not been frozen.
"I’m sure you know with all the [Bernard] Madoff stuff that happened, the regulators are on a witch hunt right now," he said, adding that Lyon and Kear will also contest the allegations.
"I’m not an owner. My title was really . . . kind of a jack-of-all-trades type of guy. I ran customer service and stuff from day to day," he said.
The purported scheme promised monthly returns of 2 percent and annual returns of 24 percent yet engaged in "speculative and risky trading," according to court documents.
The men are accused in court documents of issuing monthly account statements that showed 2 percent interest credits when they actually consistently lost customer funds in trading or didn’t use the money for trades at all. Company promotional material showed the growth of an initial investment of $100,000 to more than $11 million after 11 years, according to the complaint.
Though the commission filed a complaint against the companies Tuesday,the National Futures Association, a self-regulatory organization for the U.S. futures industry, brought a disciplinary action against the companies after an audit in April.
Sharon Pendleton, the association’s director of compliance, said the two companies had issued promissory note agreements to customers but were "unable to provide us with proof they had liquid assets to cover those notes."
"The total was $7.6 million for the two companies," Pendleton said. "They had combined assets . . . [of] about $3.9 million. So there was a shortfall."
In a report on its Web site, the association accused the companies of "operating a Ponzi scheme whereby they have obtained hundreds of loans from unsophisticated persons who are solicited, among other ways, at or through churches."
Lyon and Kear were named in the association’s report. Seaman was not.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas is providing local counsel for the case, a spokeswoman said.
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