Drained Again

It looks like KPRC Channel 2 News Investigative-Consumer Reporter Amy Davis has focused on an upcoming plea deal involving former City of H-Town water department officials. See this from Channel 2 News:

First the headlines:

‘DRAINED’: Plea deal in works for ‘big fish’ of Houston water dept bribery scandal

Years-long KPRC ‘DRAINED’ Investigation into Houston water department issues

And the story:

New developments in the KPRC ‘DRAINED’ Investigation exposed widespread corruption in waterline repair contracts last year. Investigator Amy Davis reports: The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is set to make a plea deal with Patrece Lee and her assistant, Danielle Hurts, on Monday.

Lee, the water department manager, has been labeled the mastermind behind a multimillion-dollar scheme to divert tax dollars to herself, friends, and family.

Prosecutors described 33-year-old Hurts as Patrece Lee’s personal collection agent. They say she also used the alias ‘Rachel Taylor’ to collect from Patrece Lee’s fraudulent consulting business and two other city contractors, essentially triple dipping while doing ‘no actual real work’ to earn the payments.

Their indictments, along with five others, were announced last May when then-District Attorney Kim Ogg held a press conference to announce charges of bribery, abuse of official capacity, and engaging in organized criminal activity. Ogg was on her way out as new District Attorney Sean Teare had won the primary for the office.

Investigative reporter Amy Davis spoke with the new prosecutor assigned to the case, Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Smith, about the pending plea agreement. Davis recalled the May 31st press conference where the original prosecutor ADA Michael Levine spoke about the case.

“I was concerned because Michael Levine stood up and said, you know ‘we still have months to go of investigating. We want to get lots more tips. We know there were others involved,’” Davis said to Smith.

Here is the entire Channel 2 story: ‘DRAINED’: Plea deal in works for ‘big fish’ of Houston water dept bribery scandal.

I get why Amy is concerned. I don’t want this wrapped up until all the bad actors have been investigated. We need to clean house over there. Don’t let folks off the hook. We will see what Amy reports next week. See the featured photo from the story this morning.

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Donald Trump mentioned DEI as a possible cause of the air collision a couple of days ago in D.C. According to MAGA, DEI is some sort of evil policy that is bad for America.

I always thought celebrating and promoting our diversity and inclusion was a patriotic value.

When I hear about some in corporate America cancelling their DEI initiatives, I just think they are cratering to MAGA.

Now see this from the Chron:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in a letter signed by 18 other Republican attorneys general, called on Costco to end its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.

The letter, which was published by Paxton’s office in a Thursday news release, accused the grocery wholesaler of “inexplicably” doubling down on its commitment to DEI policies despite other companies, such as Walmart and Meta, pledging to end them. The letter characterized those companies’ decision to eliminate DEI as a “refreshing change” that allowed them to focus on their “fundamental mission” of increasing shareholder value. 

“Discriminatory DEI policies are unethical, unlawful and fundamentally un-American,” Paxton said in the release. “The fact that Costco continues to defend such practices is reprehensible. DEI programs consistently promote divisive and discriminatory ideology as opposed to ensuring that all individuals are treated equally and with respect, and that’s why I’m calling on Costco to end their woke policies immediately.”

Costco could not be immediately reached for comment.  

The letter came just under a week after Costco’s shareholders overwhelmingly voted down a proposal that would have examined the impact of DEI on company operations at its annual shareholder’s meeting Jan. 23. The proposal, which was included in a notice published by Costco ahead of the annual meeting, was unanimously opposed by the company’s board of directors, who issued a statement in opposition in the same notice.  

“Our success at Costco Wholesale has been built on service to our critical stakeholders: employees, members, and suppliers,” the board wrote. “Our efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion follow our code of ethics.” 

Here is the entire read: Ken Paxton, 18 other attorneys general, call on Costco to end DEI.

This is just plain old government bullying. To my knowledge, there is nothing that prevents private businesses from promoting DEI. This is crooked AG Paxton being a bully.

I know a lot of folks who shop at Costco. I really don’t think anyone is going to stop shopping at Costco because of their DEI policies.

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Hall of Fame great Nolan Ryan is 78 today. Happy Birthday, Nolan!