Gold Rush
Monday evening, I watched the Nashville Mayor and Police Chief conduct their briefing on the school shooting. Without mentioning the Uvalde shooting response, it was pretty clear that the Nashville Police Chief wanted America to know that his officers were not cowards.
Here is this from the Stateman:
About 1,000 miles away from the worst school shooting in Texas history and one of the nation’s most botched police responses ever, Metro Nashville police respond to a school shooting with urgency and teamwork painfully absent in Uvalde.
Amid a wailing siren, officers move quickly throughout the Covenant School, a private Christian academy, some with raised assault rifles, but others with pistols, shouting “door! door!” as they turn the knob on doors to classrooms and bathrooms searching for the shooter.
They race up a concrete stairwell – “Go! Go! Go!” they shout – before confronting the shooter in a second-floor lobby with a large scenic window. They fire rounds of gunfire. Moments later, the shooter lies dead.
Fourteen minutes passed Monday from the first 911 call to the time police stopped the attacker, who killed three children and three school employees.
“It was absolutely professional, very, very brave,” said Robert J. Louden, a professor emeritus of criminal justice and homeland security at Georgian Court University in New Jersey. “It is the epitome of what police should be doing.”
The Nashville shooting response — police released body camera footage Tuesday — stands in deep and haunting contrast to what happened 10 months ago at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School, where an army of heavily armed police officers paced in the hallway for more than an hour as the gunman remained in a classroom.
“This was a 180-degree difference,” Louden said. “They sized up the situation, they entered, and they did not hesitate.”
And this:
Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat from San Antonio whose district includes Uvalde and who has sharply criticized state law enforcement for its Uvalde response, posted on Twitter: “Nashville police neutralized the killer in 14 minutes. Then in less than 24 hours later they released body cam footage. Meanwhile, (the Texas Department of Public Safety) let the Uvalde killer wreak havoc for 77 minutes and made legislators sign NDAs to view footage. Ten months later, they have YET to be transparent.”
The degree to which the failed response in Uvalde played any role in the effective Nashville deployment is not clear. But Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake emphasized the officers’ urgency: “We will not wait. I was hoping that this day would never come here in this city, but we will never wait to make entry and to stop a threat.”
Pitiful.
The Nashville Mayor is a Democrat. Just saying.
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Charles Kuffner has another very good take on SJL and her entry into the mayoral campaign here: So what happens with CD18 now? – Off the Kuff.
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This makes sense. See this from the Chron hard copy front page:
Skipping the gasoline pump can save Texas electric vehicle owners some hassle and some costs, but lawmakers are working to make sure they do not skip out on their share of road costs.
Because all-electric cars and trucks do not pay any gasoline excise taxes — the bulk of how the state raises money for roads — state officials are considering a $200 annual renewal fee for any EV, to be paid with the owner’s vehicle registration. Two identical bills, Senate Bill 505 by Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and House Bill 2199 by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, are both making their way through the Legislature. Nichols and Canales are chairman of the state senate and house transportation committees, respectively.
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Commentary went to The Yard last night and I picked up the gold rush World Series lid which is in the featured photo. Pretty cool.
From the Chron:
For Thursday’s opening day (6:08 p.m.) at Minute Maid Park, Houston rapper and three-time Grammy Award winner Megan Thee Stallion will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Country music star and Huntsville native Cody Johnson will sing the national anthem and actor Mark Wahlberg will call “Play ball.” Although a Boston sports fan, Wahlberg’s connection to the Astros is through third baseman Alex Bregman, who has struck up a friendship with the actor. The two even teamed up for a video promoting Bregman’s Breggy Bomb salsa and Wahlberg’s Flecha Azul tequila recently.
From a Julia Morales twwet:
On Friday, the Astros will receive their World Series rings. Lyle Lovett will sing the National Anthem and Jason Castro will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Paul Wall will have the Play Ball call. All fans in attendance will get a replica World Series Trophy.
