#dallas texas 2007

[rubbish78]

Gerard Way trying to get Matt Cortez to take his shirt off but instead Frank Iero beats him to it (x)

[missing-girls-and-women]

Norma Morales, 32

Last seen in Dallas, Texas in 2007.

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #321 - Okkervil River, The Stage Names, 2007

Fino a 15 giorni fa non conoscevo questo gruppo, e la sua storia variegata e spassosa. Non conoscevo ovviamente nemmeno il loro modo di fare musica, che mi ha colpito davvero tanto. Will Sheff, voce e chitarra, Zach Thomas al basso e al mandolino e Seth Warren alla batteria sono tre amici sin dal tempo del liceo, e vivono nel New Hampshire. Si trasferiscono dopo il college ad Austin, in Texas, e mettono su una band: prendono nome dal titolo di un racconto di Tat'jana Nikitična Tolstaja (che discende da un ramo minore dei Tolstoj), contenuto nella raccolta Sotto Il Portico Dorato, che si intitola Sul Fiume Okkervil, che è un breve fiume che passa per San Pietroburgo: Okkervil River. Siamo a fine anni '90 del '900 e i nostri registrarono un album autoprodotto composto da sette canzoni intitolato Stars Too Small To Use. Iniziano a fare concerti, la band si allarga (Jonathan Meiburg alla fisarmonica e poi all'organo). Nel 2002 la famosa etichetta indipendente Jagjaguwar li mette sotto contratto: Seth Warren abbandona per seguire la carriera accademica a Berkely e viene sostituito da Mark Pedini alla batteria. Nello stesso anno pubblicano il loro primo LP, Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See. Un anno dopo si spostano a San Francisco, Warren ritorna in gruppo, e pubblicano Down The River Of Golden Dreams. La band ha continui cambi di formazione, ma raggiunge una certa forma quando Travis Nelsen sostituisce Pedini alla batteria e si aggiunge un altro chitarrista, Howard Draper. Con questa formazione, nel 2005, pubblicano il loro lavoro più riuscito, che li fa conoscere in maniera decisiva anche oltre la scena indipendente: Black Sheep Boy è osannato dalla critica e vende benissimo per un disco indipendente, tanto che la band lo pubblica nel 2006 anche in Europa e ne fa uscire un mini EP in accompagnato, Black Sheep Boy Appendix. Zach Thomas esce dal gruppo e viene sostituito da Pat Pestorius. Il suono è un folk rock ricco, delicato, gioioso ma sono le idee dei testi di Sheff che stupiscono, in una sorta di costruzione di musica cabaret dove il racconto, a volte stucchevole, di ciò che succede intorno a lui è il fulcro della musica degli Okkervil River. E prova maestra è il disco di oggi, uscito nell'Agosto del 2007 e quasi da subito un classico della musica indipendente.

The Stages Names è, come suggerisce il titolo, una riflessione ironica e senza peli sulla lingua sull'essere un'artista e sulle storie che l'esserlo nasconde. Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe prende in giro il già allora evidente e potente ingigantimento di qualsiasi cosa succeda nella vita di chiunque, o per meglio dire, la voglia di rendere le cose della vita molto più drammatiche o epiche di quello che sono (It's just a life story, so there's no climax\No more new territory, so pull away the IMAX). Unless It's Kicks è una analisi sul rapporto artista fan, A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene è la prima genialata, infatti è una canzone che racconta della trama di due programmi TV, Cold Case (famoso anche in italiana, sulla squadra dell'FBI chiamata a risolvere i casi irrisolti di anni precedenti) e Breaking Bonaduce (una sorta di documentario su Danny Bonaduce, famoso attore bambino degli anni'70, che raccontava dei suoi problemi familiari da adulto) in cui furono usate canzoni della band (in Cold Case Black Sheep Boy). Savannah Smiles è la storia di Shannon Wilsey, famosa pornostar americana, che prese il suo nome d'arte da un film, Savannah Smiles del 1982: la sua è una storia tragica, poichè dopo un incidente stradale dove rimase sfregiata, decise di suicidarsi per non essere vista "brutta". Plus Ones è un piccolo capolavoro: l'espressione indica nelle liste dei concerti le aggiunte che gli ospiti dei backstage hanno per le entrate, ed è un testo quasi non sense che aggiunge uno o più unità a famosi titoli di canzoni: ? and the Mysterian che scrissero 96 Tears diventano 97, le 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover di Paul Simon diventano 51 e così via, citando anche i The Byrds di Eight Miles High, i R.E.M. di 7 Chinese Bros., David Bowie in TVC15 ed altri. You Can't Hold The Hand Of A Rock And Roll Man cita nel titolo un testo di una canzone di Joni Mitchell, Blonde In The Bleachers, e cita nel testo un quadro di Marchel Duchamp, La Sposa Messa A Nudo Dai Suoi Scapoli, Anche. John Allyn Smith Sails è dedicata alla vita e al suicidio del poeta confessionale John Berryman (originariamente John Allyn Smith). La canzone si conclude rielaborando la tradizionale canzone popolare Sloop John B (resa famosa dai Beach Boys), paragonando la morte a un viaggio di ritorno a casa. Non posso non citare anche Title Track (che cita Hollywood Babylonia di Kenneth Anger) e la toccante A Girl In Port, canzoni misteriosa e dolente. Le canzoni hanno una gioiosa musicalità e il disco va persino in classifica su Billboard. Will Sheff si mostra un cantautore davvero poliedrico e la band gira a mille, usando spesso solo strumenti acustici (tranne in Title Track e poche altre occasioni). Un piccolo gioiello scoperto in questo mese di Aprile, che con la seconda copertina capite benissimo a cosa è dedicato (almeno spero....)

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To You

The Funny Blonde 👱‍♂️ Haired Comedic Actor Of Movies 🎥 Of The 90's

Born On November 18th, 1968

Wilson was born in Dallas, the middle child of three sons of photographer Laura Cunningham Wilson (born 1939) and Robert Andrew Wilson (1941–2017), an advertising executive and operator of a public television station. His brothers Andrew and Luke are also actors. Wilson's parents are of Irish descent. After getting expelled for cheating in geometry, he attended New Mexico Military Institute. He later attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, but did not graduate. While in college, he met and was roommates with director and frequent collaborator Wes Anderson.

He is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), the last of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay. He has also appeared in Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and The French Dispatch (2021). Wilson also starred in the Woody Allen romantic comedy Midnight in Paris (2011) as unsatisfied screenwriter Gil Pender, a role which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 2014 he appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice, and Peter Bogdanovich's She's Funny That Way.

Wilson is also known for his career as a comedic actor and member of the Frat Pack, which included starring roles in such comedies as Shanghai Noon (2000), Zoolander (2001), Starsky & Hutch (2004), Wedding Crashers (2005), You, Me and Dupree (2006), How Do You Know (2010), The Big Year (2011), and The Internship (2013). He is also known for the family films Marley and Me (2008), and the Night at the Museum film series (2006–2014). He voices Lightning McQueen in the Cars film series (2006–present), the title character in Marmaduke (2010) and Reggie in Free Birds (2013). He stars as Mobius M. Mobius in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Loki (2021–present) streaming on Disney+.

Please Wish This Iconic Funny Blond 👱‍♂️ Haired Actor Of The 90's Cinema 🎥, 

A Very Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

YOU KNOW HIM

YOU LOVE HIM & YOU CANT RESIST HIS HUMOROUS ACTING

THE 1 & ONLY

MR. OWEN CUNNINGHAM WILSON 👱‍♂️

HAPPY 55TH BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 TO YOU MR. WILSON & HERE'S TO MANY MORE YEARS TO COME

#OwenWilson

[pansy2005]

no sorry i can’t come into work tomorrow they played the after life of the party for the first time live since 2007 in FUCKING DALLAS TEXAS OF ALL THE GODFORSAKEN PLACES

[goblinosophy]

Non solo semplici Cartoni! - Animazione

In un tranquillo pomeriggio di qualche giorno fa mentre preparavo un caffè risanante, mi è capitato di avere un' insolita chiacchierata con uno dei miei parenti su un mediometraggio di animazione trasmesso in televisione proprio in quel momento: "Saludos Amigos", classico Disney del 1943!

Inutile dire che ero in estasi! Dopotutto io adoro l'animazione, e non ho potuto fare a meno di intromettermi per sapere cosa ne pensasse. Insieme alla voglia sfrenata di raccontare alcuni piccoli dettagli su questa pellicola con un po' di fierezza personale. L' entusiasmo era eccessivo e per quanto la persona in questione amasse davvero i personaggi di Walt Disney, lo scambio di battute fra di noi fu breve e venni congedato abbastanza in fretta da una classica frase di chi non vuole saperne di subire delle info-dumping "Io so solo che sono cartoni animati di quando ero piccolo e mi basta solo questo" e andava bene così.

Ma io non demordo e ne parlo qui al meglio delle mie possibilità!

Con l'inizio della seconda guerra mondiale l'attenzione del mondo si concentrava in larga parte sugli eventi salienti degli scontri in Europa. Come è facile immaginare l'animazione della Disney non potette godere appieno dell'attenzione del mondo, rimanendo con pochissimi finanziatori disposti a investire nelle produzioni degli artisti di casa Disney di cui si interesso solamente il governo statunitense a preservare attraverso alcuni finanziamenti federali, destinati però a essere utilizzati alla produzione di corti di propaganda con soldati, armi o persino alcune guide su come il popolo americano poteva contribuire alla causa bellica.

Qui si ritorna al nostro topic iniziale. Con la produzione di Saludos Amigos (1943) si stava tentando di sfruttare appieno la popolarità dei personaggi dello studio di Hollywood in Sudamerica, decidendo così di impiegare la fama mondiale di Disney trasformandolo nell'ambasciatore ideale con cui era possibile saldare dei buoni rapporti diplomatici con i vicini degli statunitensi. Difatti quest'opera era anch'essa un progetto nato dal sostegno diretto del governo statunitense, seguendo così fedelmente l'idea politica del "buon vicinato" intrapresa in quegli anni dal presidente Delano Roosevelt (Good Neighboor policy) sosteneva l'idea che mantenere dei buoni rapporti con i paesi limitrofi potesse favorire il governo Americano riducendo al minimo le influenze esterne della Germania Nazista.

La produzione dei 4 corti del mediometraggio furono il risultato di una vacanza di circa 2 mesi a cui partecipò lo stesso Walt Disney assieme ai suoi animatori. Viaggiando per l'America meridionale i dipendenti della Disney col tempo confezionarono un prodotto animato frutto diretto delle loro esperienze con la cultura locale trasmessa dalla gente del posto. Lo staff di artisti ha rappresentato i in modo personale i colori dei paesi visitati accompagnando lo spettatore attraverso un secondo viaggio riproposto per il pubblico, con un misto di sequenze dal vivo da una parte e dall'animazione dall'altra. Offrendoci interessanti incontri di culture con un Pippo che scopre il gaucho argentino o un Paperino in visita in Perù o quest'ultimo in visita a Rio de Janeiro per fare la conoscenza di un novello personaggio brasiliano conosciuto come il futuro amico José Carioca!

La storia di questi grandi lavori non smetterà mai di affascinarmi.

(Primo vero articolo çwç, accetto critiche costruttive volentieri!)

Fonti utilizzate

Articoli:

Dale Adams, Saludos Amigos: Hollywood and FDR's

Good Neighbor Policy, University of Texas, Austin, 2007.

Siti Web:

https://www.ilsollazzo.com/c/disney/scheda/SaludosAmigos

[unwelcome-ozian]

Hi. When you get the chance, do you mind linking resources on articles detailing at least some of the... less-than-good things Freemasons have done? Other than the. William Morgan stuff. I mean more like in this post (https://www.tumblr.com/unwelcome-ozian/173401786219/hi-there-its-star-anon-again-sorry-i-meant-it-in?source=share) where you say "numerous reports" -- do you happen to have any of those on hand? I know it's been a while since that post was made, but it would help immensely. Thank you so much.

Hello. Oz has listed some of the reports of abuse in the past (here).  Though not all of them directly refer to sex-rituals, there is language of sexual abuse involved. I have included links referencing those articles and have included two additional articles at the end. I have also included a link to a survivor testimony. There are also various survivor reports that we've heard through interactions with survivors that are not in the form of articles. Known forms of Masonic programming within survivor systems is also evidence of “less than good things Freemasons have done”.  Not everyone involved in Freemasonry is aware of these kinds of abuses.

There was the Waterhouse report regarding children’s homes that involved abuse by masons.

link

Here are some news stories of Freemasons and sexual abuse:

Jones v. Masonic Home of California (Covina, CA) Child sex abuse verdictMasonic Homes of California Held Liable for Childhood Sexual Abuse For Second Time - More Than $12.5 Million in Damages Awarded, Including Punitive Damages

On Tuesday, July 24, 2007, a Pomona jury found Masonic Homes of California liable for more than $12.5 million in damages to three adult-male victims who were sexually abused while they were children residing in the Masonic Home for Children in Covina. The award quickly followed the jury’s unanimous findings that Masonic Homes of California knew or had reason to know that Wayne Rose, now of Newport Beach, California, was committing unlawful childhood sexual abuse, yet failed to take any reasonable steps to prevent further abuse of the plaintiffs. These three plaintiffs were the second trial group out of fourteen total plaintiffs who claim they were sexually abused by Masonic Homes of California’s employees and agents while they resided in the Masonic Home for Children in Covina from the late 1960s through the 1990s. The plaintiffs in the first trial in October, 2006, 7 year old girls at the time of the abuse in the late 1960s, were awarded more than $3.5 million dollars by a jury that unanimously found Masonic Home knew or had reason to know the Home’s agents or employees were molesting child residents. Nine of the remaining plaintiffs’ cases against Masonic Homes of California are set for trial through July, 2008. David N. Bigelow and Graham B. LippSmith of Girardi | Keese represented the plaintiffs in this and the previous trial. They also represent the remaining plaintiffs in the upcoming trials against Masonic Homes of California.

link

Sex-abuse settlements may lead Masonic school to close

DALLAS (AP) — A financial crisis caused in part by at least $6.9 million paid to settle lawsuits alleging sex abuse at the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas’ Masonic Home and School has led to a convention this weekend where masons will decide the school’s fate. Bickle’s lawsuit involved at least a dozen other students, his former attorney said. Stewart left the school shortly before Bickle’s lawsuit was settled. The lawsuit alleged that school and Masons leaders “had a significant history of documented child sexual abuse at their facility dating as far back as the 1970s” and refused to seek criminal charges “in every confirmed instance of sexual abuse/assault of children residing at the Masonic Home.”

link

Masonic Camp for Children

John Shirley was arrested in 1997 for photographing teens “mooning” (showing their buttocks) his camera at a Masonic camp. Instead of removing Shirley from his voluntary position as a DeMolay Chapter Dad, national and state DeMolay officials investigated the complaints and concluded Shirley had used “bad judgment.” In 1998, at least 11 boys in his DeMolay Chapter told police Shirley gave them alcohol and drugs, fondled them or had sex with them. Most of the sex-related activities happened over three years. Shirley, a Mason aged 48 at the time of conviction, was sentenced to life imprisonment being found guilty on 27 of 36 felony child sex abuse charges. He was also convicted of 13 misdemeanors, including charges he contributed to the delinquency of minors.

link

Investigation of abuse by Royal Order of Jesters 

link

Case Study

link

Presentation by Kristin Constance (survivor) at 2012 S.M.A.R.T. Conference

link

~Josha

[at-thestillpoint]

fic writer asks: 5, 17

[fic writer asks!]

​​5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

There are so many, and they make me varying degrees of sad that I won’t write them:

Top Gun: Maverick— Natasha and Jake’s relationship fascinates me, and I’ve vaguely kicked around writing an exes-to-something-to-lovers fic when I wrap up writing about the next six years of their wild and unruly life, but I can’t figure out a world in which a young Natasha actually gives young Jake the time of day.

Gilmore Girls— At various points in the last very many years, I have wanted to write: Rory says yes to Logan’s proposal in 2007, Rory doesn’t tell Logan about the last four words, and Logan comes to Richard’s funeral.

There’s also the modern AU of Sanditon that I stopped being interested in writing when I learned Theo James doesn’t come back. 

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

For texas man, I did a ton of research to figure out what Texas city Jake's family would be from, and then what Dallas neighborhood they would live in, and then legitimately Google Street Viewed the driving route from their house to Highland Park High School (the description in the fic is largely accurate). I spend a lot of time on minutiae like this, even though I could absolutely just hand wave it away. Luckily for me, since I’m writing slice of life, it’s usually real estate and whether you have to be Catholic to get married at the Naval Academy Chapel, and not rocket science or how to maneuver a trebuchet. 

Oh! I also looked into aerodynamics (the four forces of flight) for california sand for hopefully very satisfying payoff.

[tyforthevnm]

did i spend 3h trying to find a prison perf vid from august 4 2007 projekt revolution at the smirnoff music centre in dallas texas to find specific moments of shirtless frank and ray only to come to the conclusion that the videos are either: 1) deleted from yt OR 2) inaccessible because they were hosted on defunct websites? yes. yes i did.

[heavenlyhoundoom]

Here's some more information on the Wonderland crew's parents. (Trigger warning: plane crash and mass shooting mention)

Grace Smith (kept her last name)

.Species: Human

.State: Alive (dead to Knighty)

.Age: 45

.Birthday: April 7 (Aries)

.Birthplace: Pitlochry, Scotland

.Current residence: Inverness, Scotland

Marlow Anderson

.Species: Human

.State: Alive (also dead to Knighty)

.Age: 45 (will be 46 later this year)

.Birthday: May 26 (gemini)

.Birthplace: Birmingham, England

.Current residence: Inverness, Scotland

Jonathan Chip

.Species: Beaver

.State: Alive (dead to Tito)

.Age: 43 (will be 44 later this year)

.Birthday: July 30 (leo)

.Birthplace: Dallas, Texas

.Current residence: Jackson, Mississippi

Maria Tortuga (kept her last name)

.Species: Common snapping turtle

.State: Alive

.Age: 43 (will be 44 later this year)

.Birthday: May 14 (taurus)

.Birthplace: Bernal, Mexico

.Current residence: Bernal, Mexico (she moved back to her home town after she and Jonathan divorced.)

Oliver Everest

.Species: Forest fairy

.State: Alive

.Age: 45

.Birthday: February 25 (pisces)

.Birthplace: Ashland, Oregon

.Current residence: Ithaca, New York

Iris Siren

.Species: Siren

.State: Alive

.Age: 44 (will be 45 later this year)

.Birthday: June 29 (cancer)

.Birthplace: The Pacific Ocean

.Current residence: Ithaca, New York

Liam Gorilla

.Species: Gorilla

.State: Alive

.Age: 46 (will be 47 later this year)

.Birthday: September 13 (virgo)

.Birthplace: Woodstock, Vermont

.Current Residence: Boone, North Carolina

Helga Gorilla (maiden name is Primate)

.Species: Gorilla

.State: Alive

.Age: 47

.Birthday: February 8 (aquarius)

.Birthplace: Billings, Montana

.Current residence: Boone, North Carolina

Winifred Weasel (maiden name is Stoat)

.Species: Weasel

.State: Alive

.Age: 48 (will be 49 later this year)

.Birthday: August 12 (leo)

.Birthplace: Syracuse, New York

.Current residence: Skaneateles, New York

Jerry Weasel

.Species: Weasel

.State: Dead

.Age: 33 (at death)

.Cause of death: Succumbing to bullet wounds. (He was a victim of a mass shooting at his work place.)

.Birthplace: Skaneateles, New York

.Birthday: March 28 (aries)

.Date of death: 6/20/2007

.Place of grave: Lakeview Cemetery

Dylan Alligator

.Species: Alligator

.State: Alive

.Age: 44 (will be 45 later this year)

.Birthday: November 2 (scorpio)

.Birthplace: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

.Current residence: Quebec, Canada

Solène Beaulieu

.Species: Alligator

.State: Alive

.Age: 44 (will be 45 later this year)

.Birthday: June 19 (gemini)

.Birthplace: Riquewihr, France

.Current residence: Quebec, Canada

Christopher Chameleon

.Species: Chameleon

.State: Alive

.Age: 45 (will be 46 later this year)

.Birthday: April 21 (taurus)

.Birthplace: Riverton, Wyoming

.Current residence: Tampa, Florida

Barbara Love

.Species: Chameleon

.State: Dead

.Age: 37 (at death)

.Cause of death: Plane crash

.Birthplace: Tampa, Florida

.Birthday: October 4 (libra)

.Date of death: 12/9/2014

. Place of grave: Myrtle Hill Memorial Park

Eva Ostrich (maiden name is Avian)

.Species: Ostrich

. State: Alive

.Age: 47

.Birthday: March 17 (pisces)

.Birthplace: Mansfield, Georgia

.Current residence: Malibu, California

Jacob Ostrich

.Species: Ostrich

.Age: 46 (will be 47 later this year)

.Birthday: December 10 (sagittarius)

.Birthplace: Frankfort, Kentucky

.Current residence: Malibu, California

[thatsonemorbidcorvid]

“Data from statistica.com has revealed that since 1982, a total of 127 mass shootings have taken place in the US which had male shooters.

In contrast only three mass shootings have been carried out by women.

The data published on 14 July has surveyed mass shootings from 1982 to 4 July 2022.

Mass shooting has been defined in the survey along the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s definition of a single attack in a public place with three or more fatalities.”

That’s a ratio of approximately 42:1. The percentage is 2.3%. Incredible. Full article under the cut.

Only three mass shootings in the US have been carried out by women since 1982, data has revealed.

On Monday, a woman was shot by the police after she fired a handgun inside the terminal at Dallas Love Field Airport. Love Field, located north of downtown Dallas, is one of two major airports in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Police said that the incident happened after 37-year-old Portia Odufuwa was dropped off near the Southwest Airlines ticket counter at around 11am.

Ms Odufuwa then went into a toilet, where she changed her outfit and came back out. An officer in the terminal saw her pull out a handgun as she began firing into the air and “aiming at the ceiling”, police said.

She was shot at by police officers present at the airport and then taken into custody.

Data from statistica.com has revealed that since 1982, a total of 127 mass shootings have taken place in the US which had male shooters.

In contrast only three mass shootings have been carried out by women.

The data published on 14 July has surveyed mass shootings from 1982 to 4 July 2022.

Mass shooting has been defined in the survey along the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s definition of a single attack in a public place with three or more fatalities.

Gun ownership in the US is protected under the second amendment.

Recent spate of shootings, including those at Texas’s Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School, a July Fourth parade near Chicago and an Indiana mall, have brought the spotlight back on gun ownership laws in the US.

The five deadliest mass shootings in the country have all occurred since 2007.

The deadliest shooting was the 2017 Las Vegas massacre in which 58 people were killed and over 546 injured.

[tengomilpalabrasparati]

Tal día como hoy 22 de noviembre ...

2019: Se ordena el Toque de queda en Bogotá, la capital de Colombia, a causa de los numerosos actos de vandalismo que se sucedieron a las manifestaciones convocadas para expresar el rechazo al Gobierno. 42 años después de la última vez que se decretó el Toque de queda en este país.

2010: Una avalancha humana durante la Fiesta del Agua, en Phnom Penh (Camboya), causa más de 350 muertos y 700 heridos.

1977: La compañía British Airways comienza a operar los vuelos regulares del Concorde, entre Londres y Nueva York.

1968: La banda de rock británica The Beatles, publica su disco homónimo, 'The Beatles'.

1963: El presidente de Estados Unidos, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, es asesinado en Dallas (Texas), a causa de lo disparos que le alcanzaron mientras circulaba en el coche presidencial.

1963: La banda de rock británica The Beatles, publica su segundo disco de estudio, llamado 'With the Beatles'.

1955: En el marco del golpe de Estado contra el gobierno de Juan Domingo Perón, en Buenos Aires (Argentina) militares del Ejército Argentino secuestran el cadáver embalsamado de Eva Perón que se encontraba en la CGT (Confederación General del Trabajo). Será devuelto en 1973.

1949: El presidente de Argentina Juan Domingo Perón publica el decreto n.º 29.337 que ordena que las universidades nacionales de ese país sean gratuitas para los habitantes de Argentina y de todos los países latinoamericanos. El cual sigue vigente en la actualidad y es por lo que en 2007 la presidenta Cristina Fernández de Kirchner declaró este día como 'Día Nacional de la Gratuidad Universitaria'.

1873: Se hunde el transatlántico francés Ville du Havre, en la travesía que realizaba hacia Nueva York. En la tragedia mueren 226 personas.

1497: El navegante portugués Vasco da Gama comandando la pequeña escuadra formada por cuatro navíos, dobla el Cabo de Buena Esperanza, en el extremo sur de África.

(Una avalancha humana durante la Fiesta del Agua, en Phnom Penh (Camboya), causa más de 350 muertos y 700 heridos)

[alexlacquemanne]

On this day in CM Punk History :

August 13rd 2007

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Taping : CM Punk & The Boogeyman Def Big Daddy V & John Morrison live from Madison Square Garden, New York, New York

August 13rd 2012

Monday Night Raw : CM Punk Def The Big Show by DQ live from American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

August 13rd 2012

Monday Night Raw : Tag Team : CM Punk & John Cena Def Daniel Bryan & The Big Show live from American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

[anotherone13]

October 7

1967 Joplin Missouri Danny Hodge & Skandor Akbar became TRI STATES US TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1968 Memphis Tennessee Ken Lucas & Dennis Hall became NWA SOUTHERN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1969 Halifax Nova Scotia The Stomper became MARITIME NORTH AMERICA CHAMPION

1971 Bakersfield California Classy Freddie Blassie became LOS ANGELES PACIFIC COAST CHAMPION

1971 Tampa FLA Bobby Duncum became NWA FLORIDA SOUTHERN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

1977 Calgary Alberta Frenchie Martin became STAMPEDE NORTH AMERICA CHAMPION

1978 Des Monies Iowa Col Buck Robley became NWA CENTRAL STATES CHAMPION

1979 Dallas Texas Spoiler became TEXAS AMERICA CHAMPION

1979 Indianapolis Indiana Bruiser & Spike Huber became WWA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1980 Mobile Alabama Robert Fuller & Jos LeDuc became NWA SOUTHEASTERN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1984 Charlotte NC Wahoo McDaniel became NWA MID ATLANTIC US CHAMPION

1984 Mexico City Adorable Rubi became MEXICAN NATIONAL CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION

1985 Memphis TN Harley Race became NWA MID AMERICA CHAMPION

1986 Memphis TN Boy Tony became MID AMERICA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

1987 Catano PR Galan Mendoza WWC JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

1988 Calgary Alberta Chris Benoit & Lance Idol became STAMPEDE INTERNATIONAL TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1988 Paris France Rockin Robin became WWE WOMENS CHAMPION

1989 Bayamon PR Mercenaries became WWC CARIBBEAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1989 Bayamon PR the Youngbloods Chris & Mark became WWC TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1989 Bayamon PR Invader 1 became WWC PUERTO RICO CHAMPION

1989 Bayamon PR Carlos Colon WWC UNIVERSAL CHAMPION

1989 Portland OR Rex King PACIFIC NORTHWEST CHAMPION

1990 Tokyo Japan Manami Toyota ALL PACIFIC CHAMPION

1991 Memphis TN Robert Fuller & Jeff Jarrett USWA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1995 Philadelphia PA Public Enemy ECW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

1995 Memphis TN Road dog Jessie James Armstrong USWA CHAMPION

1997 Topeka KS Legion of Doom WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

2001 Guadalajara Mexico Shocker CMLL LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

2007 Chicago IL Randy Orton WWE CHAMPION

2007 Chicago IL Beth Phoenix WWE WOMENS CHAMPION

2009 Louisville KY Holly Blossom OVW WOMENS CHAMPION

2012 Tokyo Japan Seiya Sanada GAORA TV CHAMPION

2012 San Luis Potosi Mexico Halloween & Fabi Apache AAA MIXED TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

2012 San Luis Potosi Mexico Vampiro & Joe Lider AAA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

[archactor8]

Hip Hop and Dance Music Streaming Providers

If you enjoy hip hop and dance music, it's easy to discover streaming services that feature both genres. You can stream hot hip hop from artists like Post Malone, Drake, and Cardi B. You can likewise delight in Emotional R&B from artists like Kehlani and 2 Chainz. You can likewise listen to R&B from Motown greats, like the late Queen B. In addition, you can also stream RnB music from artists like Kehlani and Ari Lennox.

Dance R 'n' B is a subgenre of R 'n' B. In 2007 Lil' Jon coined a phrase, "Crunk & B," which emphasised the impacts of R 'n' B on the hip hop style Crunk. Following the success of this term, Usher and Ciara launched tunes of this type. As the appeal of electronic music grew, the category began to feel the influence of dance music. Numerous artists acquired chart success and fame due to the popularity of "Dance R 'n' B". The roots of R 'n' B music go back to the 1940s, when large areas of the Black population began to migrate to city centers throughout the United States. Much of these brand-new homeowners brought their music and culture with them, and started to tape their music in northern cities. This kind of music was particularly well-suited for the radio. In the 1960s, however, the appeal of R 'n' B music grew so rapidly that it quickly ended up being the most popular genre. This category has numerous uses. Some individuals describe the category as "R 'n' B" without knowing that it refers to a specific subgenre of R 'n' B. 'R' and 'B' can likewise be utilized interchangeably. The abbreviation RNB is likewise utilized by Nankai Broadcasting. There are lots of subgenres of R 'n' B, but this short article focuses on dance R 'n' B. Rhythm and blues originated from gospel and African American music. The memorable beats and emotional lyrics quickly broke the color barrier. Motown and Atlantic Records popularized rhythm and blues. Early R&B music brought messages of social oppression and the struggle for flexibility. Its success has made it among the most popular categories in American culture today. For many, the genre will never be totally over.

Post Malone. With stream country radio of 26.5 billion streams in the U.S., Post Malone is among the most successful artists in the nation. His three studio albums have all reached Billboard's top five, including 2 which topped the chart. He launched his last album 2 years earlier, however it has actually already accomplished the status of his very popular album. He is now preparing to release his fourth studio album, Twelve Carat Toothache. Regardless of his fairly young age, Post Malone has had a remarkable career. He first got substantial fame in August 2015 with his very first single, "White Iverson." Though he's become a multi-talented artist, he's remained true to his roots. His real name is Austin Richard Post. He relocated to Texas when he was nine and his daddy worked as a concessions supervisor at the Dallas Cowboys. While rapping is Post Malone's main design, the musician also plays rock music. While the genre is among the most popular and commercially successful in the U.S. today, the artist has effectively mixed aspects of both categories to produce his own noise. His tunes have actually been supported by established artists, consisting of Travis Scott and Ozzy Osbourne. The crossover sound of Post Malone's music has actually offered him a distinct identity. Although his newest single, "Sunflower", has actually been the most wildly popular post by Post Malone to date, it likewise has the greatest amount of streams worldwide. The single broke Spotify's streaming record and was the top-streaming song on Apple Music for a complete week. In addition to "Rockstar," Post Malone also produced tunes by 21 Savage and Quavo. These artists are all major influences for Post Malone's music, so fans should anticipate absolutely nothing less than a major hit from him. 2 Chainz. After releasing his sophomore album, 'Pretty Girls Like Trap Music,' 2 Chainz teased fans with the release of an all-star lineup of visitor stars. The list includes Drake, Nicki Minaj, Pharrell, Ty Dolla $ign, Travis Scott, and more. Despite this outstanding lineup, it's difficult to tell whether the songs on the album are the same ones he'll be playing on his forthcoming trip.

His next task, Rap or Go to the League, is expected to drop late February. The critically-acclaimed So Assist Me God!, which also included Kanye West and Lil Wayne, is the current offering from the Chicago rap artist. In addition to the new album, 2 Chainz is presently starring in a new NFL commercial, entitled' Whose Back You Got? '2 Chainz will also sign up with Rick Ross on his upcoming Legendz of The Streets trip, which kicks off on February 3 in the Columbus Civic Center and concludes Feb. 21 in Detroit's Little Caesars Arena. Fans can likewise anticipate to hear tunes from his new album,' Dope Don't Sell Itself'. The rapper's newest album is likewise referred to as his last trap record.' Dope Don't Offer Itself' is a collaborative effort between 2 Chainz, Moneybagg Yo, Roddy Ricch, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. The album was released to accompany his Legendz of the Streets trip, which will be his first solo album in five years. Another artist who is teaming up with 2 Chainz is Tink, who released her brand-new single' Cater' last weekend. The tune is a nod to Destiny Kid's" Cater 2 U." The music video was directed by Daniel CZ and functions Tink and her boyfriend.' Cater' is a sluggish jam, which intends to record the essence of love and sexuality. Cardi B. In September 2018, Cardi B made history by ending up being the very first female rap artist to receive 3 elections on the MTV Video Music Awards, and a year later on, she tied Drake for the most elections at the American Music Awards. "Money "topped the Hot 100 charts in the United States and Canada and was chosen for a fourth Video Music Award. In October 2017, Cardi B headlined Power 105.1's annual Powerhouse music festival, carrying out along with The Weeknd, Migos and Lil Uzi Vert. In December 2017, she launched her first full-length album," Bartier Cardi, "which got positive evaluations across the internet. In August 2020, the 24-year-old rap artist released her single" WAP," including Megan Thee Stallion. The song reached # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and broke several records. It ended up being the most-streamed tune in the United States, and the very first female rap artist to attain a # 1 single on the Worldwide 200 Chart. In addition, "WAP "topped Spotify's weekly leading 200 tunes chart, and spent 9 weeks atop the chart. The song was likewise among the top 3 most-streamed hip-hop tunes of all-time. Among the top songs of in 2015," No Love," by Summer Season Walker and SZA, has recently received an extended variation. Earlier this year, Cardi B validated rumors of a partnership with the singer, and the two have since teamed up to develop a video for the track. The music video, which features a brand-new song by Summer season, reunites the vocalist with director Lacey Duke. In the video, Summer season and Cardi B invoke their Zodiac signs as they sing and dance to a brand-new tune. As Cardi B continues to exceed on Spotify, she is ending up being more popular than ever. She is the first female rap artist to go beyond a billion streams on Spotify. As of August 2018, she is the only female rapper to have 2 songs certified triple platinum on Spotify. The next female in rap to accomplish this task is Nicki Minaj, whose" Side to Side" has actually exceeded 900 million views. DaBaby. DaBaby has actually remained in the news for a few weeks now, but not for the factors you may think. The rap artist is reported to be preparing a return, however fans have actually been trashing him on social networks. He's likewise been canceled from a handful of music festivals after making homophobic remarks at a Rolling Loud celebration in Miami in July. His behavior has also been the topic of a great deal of criticism, with his treatment of his ex-girlfriend and her fans. Given that signing up with forces with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, the duo have worked together on a brand-new song entitled "Better Than You." This single was previewed on Instagram Live and follows DaBaby's EP Back On My Baby Jesus Sh!t AGAIN and YoungBoy's Colors mixtape. DaBaby's brand-new single is readily available on Spotify. DaBaby and YoungBoy recently launched a joint album called BETTER THAN YOU, which features many new tunes. Considering that the album's release, DaBaby has been making headings. His most current album, Blame It on Baby, was launched in April and was a hit. It peaked at top on the Billboard Top 200 albums, R&B/ Hip Hop albums, and Rap albums. This made him a household name and he counts celebrities like Kendall Jenner among his fans. DaBaby's appeal has actually been increasing at a quick rate. The Weeknd is the most chosen artist at the 2021 Signboard Music Awards with 16 elections. He is the most nominated male artist, rap artist, and hot 100 artist. DaBaby is 2nd with 11 nominations and 2 elections in the Top Streaming Tune classification. There are many more artists who are rumored to win, so make sure to take a look.

[dankusner]

TOLLS Big D

TIMELINE

From 2001 to 2021, Texas built more toll roads than nearly all other states combined.

Here are some highlights of its long history with tollways:

1953 — The Texas Legislature creates an independent entity with statewide authority to construct toll roads and bridges, the Texas Turnpike Authority.

1957 — The first toll road in the state, the Dallas/Fort Worth Turnpike, opens in North Texas on what is now known as Interstate 30. The tollway directly connects downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas.

1968 — The Dallas North Tollway opens in North Texas, connecting downtown Dallas to Collin County and northern Dallas to Denton County.

1977 — Tolls on the former Dallas/Fort Worth Turnpike are removed, and the road is designated Interstate 30.

1983 — Harris County Toll Road Authority opens for business after voters approve $900 million in bonds to build and maintain toll roads.

1996 — Southern California unveils the first set of “managed lanes” in the U.S. along a stretch of highway known as State Route 91. The toll lanes are built in the middle of a free road and are open to anyone who is willing to pay the fees, which can change based on the amount of congestion on the free lanes.

1997 — The North Texas Tollway Authority is created.

1998 — President George Bush Turnpike, operated and maintained by the NTTA, opens between Preston and Midway. Today, it is a 52-mile toll road that forms a sweeping arch across the eastern half of the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

2001 — Criminal penalties for failure to pay required toll or administrative fees become the law in Texas.

2003 — Texas enacts new laws that allow private entities to design, build, operate and finance toll roads and revenue-producing rail systems.

The Texas Transportation Commission is authorized to create regional mobility authorities that can build tollways and allow counties to construct and maintain toll road projects under certain conditions.

2003 — The Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority opens in Smith and Gregg counties and expands to more counties over the next several years.

2004 — Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority opens in South Texas. Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority opens its first toll road, the Fort Bend Parkway.

2005 — A private tollway operator unveils a proposal to develop the TTC-35 High Priority Trans-Texas Corridor, according to TxDOT. The idea, touted by then-Gov. Rick Perry, involved the construction of a 4,000-mile network of toll roads, railroad tracks, pipelines and utility lines that would stretch across the state. The estimated cost was $175 billion for a project that would take 50 years to complete. 2007 — A consortium led by Cintra begins construction of State Highway 130 in Central Texas, a 100% privately financed toll road project. This is the first comprehensive development agreement signed in Texas, known as a concession, in which a private sector company can develop, finance, construct, operate and maintain a facility for a specific period of time, up to 52 years. The developer collects tolls during the life of the agreement. The project results in a bankruptcy in 2014 and the toll road project’s financing is restructured under new ownership. Creditors blame the failure on overly optimistic financial forecasts.

2007 — State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, files a pair of bills aimed at placing a two-year moratorium on road construction contracts with private companies. “We must closely evaluate private toll contracts before we sign away half a century of control of our transportation system,” he wrote at the time. Nichols recommended that the state require the developers to ensure toll rates remain reasonable and establish a formula to determine cost should the state need to terminate the contracts early.

2007 — Concerns from some members of Congress are sent to governors of all 50 states warning that rampant construction of private toll roads operated by private companies could fragment an integrated transportation system and prove a disservice to taxpayers. A key concern is that noncompete clauses make it extremely difficult if not impossible for public transportation agencies to address safety and congestion problems on highways and streets adjacent to private roads.

2007 — TxDOT’s Keep Texas Moving campaign comes under public attack after spending $9 million in state highway funds on a public relations campaign to build more toll roads. Opponents question TxDOT’s decision to partner with private companies to build toll roads.

2007 — Texans for Public Justice, an Austin-based watchdog group, finds that lobbyists spent thousands of dollars sending Texas transportation officials to events related to public-private financing of toll roads as the state prepares to launch $7 billion worth of new toll road projects. The lobbyists also paid travel expenses for 83 Texas lawmakers and transportation officials on 383 occasions between January 2005 and November 2006, according to TPJ.

2008 — The NTTA assumes responsibility for operations, maintenance and construction of State Highway 121, known as the Sam Rayburn Tollway, a 26-mile corridor through the cities of Allen, Carrollton, Fairview, Frisco, Lewisville, McKinney, Plano and The Colony.

2008 — Texas Department of Transportation officials begin to hold a series of hearings seeking public input to answer questions about the Trans-Texas Corridor project.

2008 — Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank based in Southern California, awards then-Gov. Rick Perry a recognition for his introduction of private-sector tolls in Texas. Perry is noted as an innovator for his work in developing solutions to cope with growing infrastructure and traffic problems.

2008 — TxDOT is bombarded with criticism over Perry and its toll policies. The state Legislature places a two-year moratorium on long-term toll road agreements.

2009 — TxDOT signs a contract — executed as a comprehensive development agreement — to build the tollway known as North Tarrant Express in Fort Worth. These are segments that include Interstate 820 from Mark IV Parkway to State Highway 121/State Highway 183 and Highways 121 and 183 from I-820 and FM 157.

2009 — TxDOT enters into a $2 billion contract to construct a toll road on Interstate 635 known as LBJ Express Dallas from east of Luna Road to east of U.S. Highway 75 (near Greenville Avenue).

2011 — Regional mobility authorities are given the power to borrow money or enter into loan agreements or similar arrangements with any public or private entity.

2012 — Optional remedies for the nonpayment of tolls and administrative fees are introduced.

2013 — The Texas Transportation Commission creates the Grand Parkway Transportation Corporation, a nonprofit Texas corporation, to finance a segment of State Highway 99 known as the Grand Parkway System.

2013 — TxDOT enters into a $2 billion contract to expand the North Tarrant Express.

2016 — TxDOT enters into an $800 million contract with a private company to build toll lanes from U.S. Highway 59 to the Harris County line within the median of State Highway 288.

2019 — A new bill signed into law requires toll operators to disclose certain financial information, including revenues and expenses and capital plans over several years after construction and design costs.

2024 — The Texas Transportation Commission votes unanimously to begin the process of ending its agreement with the private company that built toll lanes in Harris County within the median of State Highway 288.

Texas Made Wrong Turn on Toll Roads

It’s time for lawmakers to reconsider costly, unfair policies

The state of Texas has abdicated its responsibility to provide necessary transportation infrastructure in exchange for a vast web of toll roads controlled by a patchwork of powerful, self-interested organizations that often act to the detriment of residents.

That’s our conclusion after reading a yearlong investigation conducted by our newsroom into how Texas built more toll roads than nearly all other states combined over the last two decades, and the alarming consequences for the public.

State leaders, seeking ways to handle an influx of residents without raising taxes, approved policies and laws far too favorable to outside toll operators, paving the way for today’s sprawling toll road network and a host of concerns, the recently published Toll Trap series reveals.

It also documents what many of us have long suspected: unfair pricing, especially during peak driving hours, and overly harsh enforcement practices that take advantage of unsuspecting motorists and that lead to economic segregation.

Some state leaders now rightly regret supporting the policies and laws that drove the toll road construction boom.

“We were sold a bill of goods,” state Rep. Ramon Romero, D-Fort Worth, told investigative reporter Yamil Berard. “We were just looking for how to find money. We now know that this was the wrong way to do it.”

If that’s not a compelling argument for reconsideration of those decisions, we don’t know what is.

We support the efforts of state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, chair of the House Transportation Committee, who earlier this year urged House Speaker Dade Phelan to appoint a group of lawmakers to review the state’s complex toll system and to make recommendations for reforms during the 2025 legislative session.

We call on Phelan to grant that request.

Done right, toll roads are a reasonable and smart way to fund roads.

Often privatized and built relatively quickly, they’ve allowed communities and even whole regions to handle population growth without burdening taxpayers.

North Texas in particular has benefited from these massive projects.

But our newsroom investigation highlighted several disturbing aspects of Texas’ toll road system.

For example, some lease agreements between operators and the state have allowed operators to collect tolls for 50 years, netting them excessive profits far beyond their design, construction and maintenance costs.

Toll roads also sometimes engulf whole middle- and low-income neighborhoods, making it difficult for residents who can’t afford them to make their way to free roads, which are then often highly congested, the investigation revealed.

And, particularly troubling, toll operators aren’t always required to be transparent with their financial and safety records.

With thousands of motorists driving down more than 800 miles of Texas toll projects every day, and more projects likely on the horizon, too many people are impacted by the concerns revealed in our newsroom investigation.

The Legislature must not turn a blind eye to these issues; it’s time to reconsider some of the wrong decisions that created them.

Texas tollway authorities show little mercy for Texans of color, vulnerable communities

The News’ examination found that the methods Texas uses to criminally charge vehicle owners for unpaid toll road fees may stand on shaky legal ground.

Tarrant County Justice of the Peace Precinct 5 Sergio L. De Leon shows some of the thousands of older pending toll road pleas that have been stored in a room at his Fort Worth Police Administration Building office in downtown Fort Worth, February 22, 2024.

De Leon has been deluged with toll citations -- so much so that he has asked the Tarrant County Commissioners court for an additional clerk.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

On a crisp February morning, LaTasha and Morris Shepard stood in front of a Denton County justice of the peace, trying to avoid jail.

A letter delivered a few weeks before to the couple’s McKinney home didn’t mince words: If Morris Shepard didn’t show up to court, a warrant would go out for his arrest.

Millions of Texans rely on toll roads daily in a state that has built more paid thoroughfares over the past two decades than almost all U.S. states combined.

The affordability, safety and management of these roads impact us all, especially as some leaders admit more are likely coming to handle substantial growth throughout the state and in North Texas.

Morris Shepard is a disabled military veteran in his 60s who served 17 years in the Army.

LaTasha, his wife, works as a legal advocate for the National Urban League. They knew they could not miss court.

His alleged crime? A total of $272 in unpaid tolls.

Morris Shepard happens to live in Texas, where there is little mercy for those who fail to pay toll fees, even if, like in his case, it’s because of a bank account error.

Texas is one of only a handful of states that criminalize toll drivers for unpaid fees and where courts regularly issue arrest warrants over the

debts. It’s also not uncommon for governments in cities like Dallas to post so-called tollway offender names on county websites, a yearlong Dallas Morning News investigation on tolls found.

On average, Texas seizes thousands of driver’s licenses a year and blocks vehicle registration stickers for unpaid toll fees.

A total of 226,847 motorists last year received letters that their registration renewals would be blocked by just two of the state’s largest tollway authorities — the North Texas Tollway Authority in Dallas and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority in Austin,

The News’ reporting revealed. NTTA has also impounded a handful of cars over the last 10 years.

And unlike other states, which offer discounts to drivers who frequently use tollways or for those from low-income households, most of Texas’ more than two dozen toll operators offer few concessions or price cuts.

The vigorous collection practices continue even though some of the state’s largest public tollway operators have amassed so much money in cash reserves they could offer millions of drivers free access to toll roads and still have enough money to pay their debts to investors, The News’ investigation found.

For example, the Harris County Toll Road Authority, which manages toll roads in the Houston area, is holding $1 billion in unrestricted cash and investments as of the fiscal year that ended Feb. 28, 2022, the most recent report available to the public.

From 2019 to 2022, the authority transferred another $1.06 billion in surplus toll revenues to Harris County to pay for transportation-related items that did not include customer discounts, according to the February 2022 financial statement and an independent auditor’s report.

LaTasha Shepard holds the letter her husband received at their McKinney home notifying him that a warrant would be issued for his arrest over unpaid tolls.

The couple contacted the North Texas Tollway Authority to try to address the debt but were still required to appear in court.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Other toll operators say the reserves allow them to borrow at lower interest rates to build and maintain future roads.

“It’s incredibly expensive,” said Nancy St. Pierre, NTTA spokeswoman. “People underestimate how much that is.”

In addition to reviewing audits and financial documents for the state’s three largest public tollway systems for roads that were built as early as 1983, The News’ investigation included interviews with dozens of elected officials, legal analysts, county tax assessors and court clerks.

Clerks are responsible for processing tollway tickets for unpaid fines and tax assessors issue vehicle registration blocks.

The News attempted to speak with the state’s three largest tollway operators, nearly two dozen justices of the peace in Dallas, Collin, Tarrant and Denton counties that handle toll tickets and state and national transportation officials.

Journalists also attended court hearings and reviewed thousands of pages of documents officials sent after receiving Texas Public Information Act requests.

The investigation revealed North Texas — where the pace of construction of tollways over the past two decades has far exceeded other regions in the state — is the epicenter for criminal enforcement of unpaid tolls.

Among other findings:

Citations issued by the NTTA — which oversees five toll roads, two bridges and a tunnel in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties — eclipse all other cases handled by some justices of the peace and municipal courts in North Texas, including evictions, debt collections and small claims disputes.

To handle the backlog of cases, a Tarrant County judge told The News he has to pay his staff overtime.

Tarrant Co. Justice of the Peace points to lack of resources and staff to handle NTTA toll violators

Sergio L. De Leon and his staff have received many toll citations.

To handle the workload, he has asked Tarrant County Commissioners for an additional clerk.

Justice of the Peace Sergio De Leon showed The News a standing-room-only storage area filled with active cases of defendants who have not responded to notices and in a matter of weeks will have their driver’s licenses suspended unless they enter a plea to clear the citations.

NTTA representatives who appear in court to negotiate with defendants have been so overwhelmed by the number of citations that key evidence is sometimes left out of court files, according to a Dallas attorney who shared the public files of his ticketed clients with The News.

The News’ examination also found that the methods Texas uses to criminally charge vehicle owners may stand on shaky legal ground.

The only available evidence that triggers toll fees is a photo of a vehicle’s license plate traveling a toll road.

Prosecutors can’t legally meet the burden of proof necessary in a criminal case with just a photo of a vehicle, several legal experts said.

Under criminal law, evidence must support convicting someone without any doubt that they acted illegally.

If there isn’t proof to show who was driving, there isn’t enough evidence to convict, they said.

In 2019, the Texas Legislature voted overwhelmingly to ban red-light cameras because of similar concerns.

“You have to prove in a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt that a person drove a vehicle through without paying a toll,” said Lisa Foster, a retired California superior court judge who is now co-director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, an organization that works to ensure fines are equitably imposed and enforced. “You can’t prosecute a car, you have to prosecute people for doing things illegally.”

It’s also unclear whether some toll operators are giving drivers a chance to dispute registration blocks on their vehicles, The News found.

While state law spells out a person’s right to request a court hearing over a registration block no later than 30 days after they are notified, the NTTA said only two people have set a hearing since it began collecting tolls.

However, an attorney in Dallas who defends people for toll citations provided The News with documents supporting multiple requests he sent to NTTA that went unanswered.

Another troubling dilemma is the fact that it appears that some toll operators might not have processes in place to adequately ensure that drivers understand the fees and fine they are being charged.

The News’ investigation found some people are routinely surprised by penalties.

Sometimes, they occur because drivers don’t know their credit cards stored with the tollway authority have expired, the investigation found.

Other times, it’s because someone sold the vehicle but didn’t notify the state about the sale.

NTTA said it sends notifications to anyone who opts into their alerts.

State lawmakers passed a law last year that now requires tollway operators to notify drivers if the payment methods they link to their NTTA accounts have expired.

Still, the notification efforts haven’t helped Texans like Morris Shepard who, to date, has spent countless hours trying to resolve his issue with NTTA, which pursued him for unpaid tolls when it could not withdraw money from his bank account.

His account was frozen suddenly because of potential fraud, he said.

Shepard, like so many other drivers The News interviewed, still ended up in court.

The News also found that toll enforcement across North Texas overwhelmingly impacts people of color and those who live in low- to moderate-income communities.

The News analyzed 10 years of data, from 2013 to 2023, for roughly 160,000 tickets issued across the state for failure to pay tolls.

The analysis found nearly 40% of defendants were African American drivers like the Shepards, or Fort Worth single mother Dee Davis, who owed $17,200 in tolls and penalties, even though Black people make up only 13% of active license holders in Texas.

The analysis was based on data provided by municipal and justice of the peace courts under a voluntary reporting program of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Who bears the burden of tolls

A Dallas Morning News analysis of 10 years' worth of unpaid toll tickets found 40% of recipients were African-American motorists.

Our analysis also found that overwhelmingly, toll enforcement across North Texas impacts people of color and those who live in low- to moderate-income communities.

Click on this map to learn how many people have been ticketed for unpaid tolls in your zip code.

SOURCE: Texas Department of Public Safety, voluntary reporting by Justice of the Peace Courts, Census Bureau. MAP: Shuyao Xiao / The Dallas Morning News

Tollway operators acknowledged that their systems make mistakes.

NTTA, for example, processes close to 3 million transactions a day, St. Pierre said.

Most are undisputed.

But when there’s an error, NTTA corrects it, she said.

The CTRMA in Austin also “strives for fairness” and will dismiss charges if it is proven that its technology or processes were at fault, said spokeswoman Jori Lui.

Bottom line: Taking a toll road is optional, operators said.

“If you don’t like the amount you’re being charged, whether it’s on our roads or any other, don’t do it,” St. Pierre said.

How it started

The collection concerns held by so many people The News spoke to didn’t always exist.

That’s because toll fee collection used to be far simpler.

Those born before 1989 may remember throwing a few quarters in a large bin and waiting for a guard rail to rise as you made it through a toll road.

If you didn’t have the exact amount, you drove to an attended booth for change.

Back then, payment was guaranteed because drivers were forced to stop at a toll plaza to pay or toss money into a catch basket, said Mark Muriello, director of policy and government affairs at the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, a Washington, D.C.-based worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities.

In 1989, North Texas was among the first communities in the country to contract with a company to manage an automatic cash payment system for tolls, according to news reports.

While the changes created a need for more technology, it made the process more efficient, Muriello said.

There were fewer accidents because drivers no longer had to merge into traffic after leaving toll plazas, he said.

By 2009, electronic toll tags largely ended cash-pay tolling.

That’s when drivers started mounting electronic tags they received from tollway operators to their car’s front mirrors.

The tags contained microchips that connected to prepaid toll accounts that drivers set up online.

Now, each time a driver enters a tollway, an electronic reader above the toll road scans the microchip inside the tag and a toll fee is debited from the driver’s account.

For drivers who don’t have toll tags, an image of their license plate is taken and the tollway operator uses it to scan Department of Motor Vehicles records for the car’s registered owner.

Tollway operators then send a bill to the name listed on the DMV’s website as the owner.

The big squeeze

While technology made it easier for drivers to use toll roads, it made it harder for toll operators to collect fees for people without toll tags.

So NTTA doubled down.

By 2010, NTTA began keeping records of vehicle owners who did not have toll tags and frequently used a toll without paying.

It slapped these drivers with fees and penalties, which sometimes added another 80% to their toll costs, according to articles from The News at the time.

Two years later, it created a “Top Violators” webpage that contained the names of individuals who owed money for more than 100 outstanding tolls.

In a 2012 news release, NTTA said the list was designed to provide the public with a way to easily determine if they owed a significant debt and put them on notice that they may be subject to collections lawsuits and other enforcement actions.

Over the next few years, NTTA published additional lists for what it described as “deadbeats.”

The authority sued those who wound up on this list in justice of the peace courts throughout North Texas, News articles show.

CTRMA, which oversees six toll roads in the Austin area, also refers cases to justice of the peace courts, a CTRMA spokeswoman said in an email in response to questions from The News.

By 2013, a new state law gave toll operators another tool to penalize those with unpaid toll fees: the power to impound vehicles and block vehicle registrations.

The registration blocks are allowed in about a dozen states, but lawmakers in states like Oklahoma want to stop them, according to news reports.

To help them more effectively pursue offenders, NTTA and the state’s two other public toll operators for nearly two decades also have relied on help from debt collection attorneys and hired high-profile law firms to represent them.

NTTA also does this work for others.

Private tollway operators pay NTTA to pursue drivers with unpaid toll bills in North Texas justice of the peace courts.

From 2018 to 2023, HCTRA paid $30 million in collection attorney fees in addition to $20 million to Austin law firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson to pursue other remedies such as registration blocks and driver’s license suspensions on toll evaders, according to records The News obtained from the Houston-area toll operator under the Texas Public Information Act.

From May 2022 to May 2023, NTTA sent nearly 172,000 scofflaw requests to Texas DPS for habitual violator statuses.

The designation, which applies to a driver who has accumulated 100 or more unpaid tolls within 12 months, triggers vehicle registration blocks in Dallas, Denton, Tarrant and Collin counties.

From July 2022 to July 2023, NTTA collected $153 million in toll enforcement remedies, records show.

In total, based on those figures, North Texas counties have lost more than $10.3 million in registration fees that their city leaders cannot collect because of vehicle blocks by toll operators, based on the average cost to register each vehicle, which is $60 in Texas.

Collin County Tax Assessor Kenneth Maun told The News he refused to enforce the blocks toll operators like NTTA requested for more than a decade.

“I would find them tremendously out of date, items being billed to taxpayers who didn’t know it,” he said. “The car had already been sold one or two times. And, they (NTTA) didn’t clean anything up.”

“I wasn’t going to touch them (NTTA) because I thought they were doing a horrible job, that was for the counties, for the taxpayers, for everybody,” he said.

He finally relented around 2017, he said, when county commissioners included in the county budget three additional full-time positions to help with the workload. But years later, he said not much has changed. Billing errors for NTTA customers still exist, he said.

“I don’t respect their administrative abilities,” Maun said.

The chaos and confusion

Many of the concerns Maun described impact drivers in courts across North Texas every day, The News’ investigation revealed.

In a Frisco courtroom in February, Justice of Peace James DePiazza prepared to issue arrest warrants for people who had failed to respond to his court notices for unpaid toll fees.

He looked up at rows of empty seats. Four

of the five people sitting there that morning said they had addressed their citations with NTTA.

They wondered why they still received court notices.

DePiazza, who serves in Precinct 2 in Denton County, told The News much of his job is spent explaining to the public how the system works.

On that day, he shared from his bench that even if a driver contacts NTTA to address unpaid tolls, they must still enter a plea to address the criminal side of the infraction with the court.

DePiazza scheduled two pretrial hearings for people who pleaded not guilty with the Denton County district attorney’s office in his court that day.

One hearing was for a man who told DePiazza the NTTA had dismissed his charges in a bankruptcy he filed in 2021.

Another hearing was for a man who said he had sold his car before the citation occurred.

DePiazza told the man he needed to file a vehicle transfer notification within 30 days of the sale in order to clear the court citation.

“NTTA can come back and charge you for those tolls” if the buyer doesn’t register the vehicle or he does not file the transfer notice within 30 days of the sale, DePiazza told him.

Then, DePiazza heard his final case that day — and quickly dismissed it.

Seventy-six-year-old grandmother Andrea Peralta of Lewisville had loaned her car to her grandson, she said.

She was on a breathing machine because she caught COVID-19 in 2021 and it damaged her lungs, she said, so she needed to get back home as soon as possible.

“He took off and I guess left me holding the bag,” she said about her grandson.

DePiazza waived court fines after Peralta showed him she was on Social Security.

Peralta said she wasn’t sure how much she owed NTTA, but she sold her car for $300 more than a year ago because she couldn’t afford to fix it.

She couldn’t remember the exact date, though.

“It’s been a while,” she said.

Jeff Beltz, an attorney who defends people who have tollway tickets, waits for a hearing last summer outside the East Dallas Government Center.(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)

Jeffrey Beltz, an attorney who represents people at court hearings over unpaid toll fines, said too often, NTTA representatives do not provide enough evidence to prove a driver is guilty.

The News met Beltz last summer as he waited alone one day in Justice of Peace Sara Martinez’s Dallas court.

NTTA representatives were supposed to attend the court hearing to prove his client’s toll violation, but the court postponed the hearing.

Beltz’s client was on the hook for $380.01 in unpaid tolls in addition to $525 in administrative fees from NTTA, according to a court citation record he shared with The News.

His client’s paperwork included the information that noted the total amount of unpaid tolls owed, but not a breakdown of each tollway violation his client allegedly had incurred.

There was no way his client could verify the charges, he said.

The documents also did not include snapshots from NTTA of the license plate involved in the toll violations.

“If you’re filing a criminal case, how in the world can you sit there with a straight face and say this is enough evidence?” Beltz said. “These are criminal cases and they require the highest burden of proof in the land.”

NTTA also has not responded to requests he has made for hearings to contest blocks on car registrations, Beltz said.

NTTA told The News only two drivers have ever set a hearing to contest a registration block and in each of those cases, the court affirmed the block.

What’s more, NTTA simply follows the law, St. Pierre said.

“If your car is used in the commission of a crime, it’s your car,” she said. “There is a degree of responsibility that comes with owning a vehicle whether it’s paying tolls or making the car payment or keeping it insured.”

A closer look

Between 2013 and 2023, roughly 146,000 of the 160,000 court tickets sent out for violations across the state for unpaid toll violations were concentrated in Tarrant, Dallas, Denton and Collin counties, where NTTA operates, according to data The News reviewed from DPS.

The News called and emailed the state’s three largest toll road operators, HCTRA, CTRMA and NTTA.

Only NTTA agreed to an interview.

When presented with The News’ findings about the actions it takes to punish violators, NTTA officials said it operates fairly.

If a driver is concerned about affordability, there are alternative routes that might better fit their budget, St. Pierre said.

“We’re being asked, ‘Why aren’t you being fair to them?’ when my first question is, ‘Well they used the toll roads, why would they not pay for what they got?’ ”

At the end of the day, St. Pierre said, “We just want what’s owed for using the road.”

Dee Davis, a single mother in Fort Worth, is one of thousands of North Texas motorists who face mounting bills for unpaid tolls.

Texas is one of only a handful of states that criminalizes tollway drivers for unpaid fees.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Dee Davis, the Fort Worth single mom, was hoping a phone call to NTTA to explain her situation would resolve her $17,200 toll bill.

But their answer surprised her.

She was told that the only payment plan they would accept was at least $300 a month.

Several years ago, her ex-boyfriend used to borrow her car, often driving it on toll roads to get to work.

She had never driven on toll roads.

She guesses that he must have hidden the tollway citations from her, or maybe they had been sent to an old address where they lived before their breakup.

This year, she said she’s already been stopped by police five times on her way home from work for an expired registration sticker.

NTTA blocked her from renewing her car registration because she is a habitual violator.

The status gives NTTA the authority to suspend drivers’ licenses, bar those drivers from using their tollways and impound their cars.

Many habitual violators are everyday Texans working to make ends meet, two judges said in interviews with The News.

They are hair stylists, bartenders, deployed military, single parents and grandmothers.

They are small business owners and construction workers.

Some mistakenly get on a tollway and don’t realize how quickly the fees add up, judges said.

One hundred charges can happen in a few weeks for a driver who passes several stations on a toll road to get to work and back every day.

Morris Shepard had a toll tag on his car.

For years, money was automatically withdrawn from his bank account to pay for his drives on toll roads.

But when his bank account was frozen to protect him after Amazon found potentially fraudulent activity, his bank declined his toll payments.

The Shepards said they never received notice from NTTA that toll payments could not be withdrawn.

They visited an NTTA office in Plano in February after receiving a letter from Denton County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 that said Morris Shepard could be arrested for unpaid tolls.

They said they were surprised after they explained their situation that NTTA still told them they had to go to court.

Because he’s a disabled military veteran, Morris Shepard is eligible to drive for free on some Texas toll roads under qualifying discount programs accepted by TxDOT and Austin’s regional mobility authority.

NTTA only waives tolls for Legion of Valor members under a program that is subsidized by an anonymous third-party sponsor.

In court that February morning, the judge set Morris Shepard’s next hearing for 9 a.m. on April 11, when he and his wife said they would have in hand documented proof of the fraudulent activity on their bank account.

But the case did not end that day.

And it didn’t matter that he had documents to show that he had not intentionally tried to avoid paying tolls.

At the April 11 hearing, an assistant district attorney with Denton County told Shepard he must still pay the toll fees he owes NTTA.

Shepard also learned he would receive an email with a Zoom link for an upcoming meeting to work out a payment plan with NTTA representatives.

After that, he needed to bring to the court documented proof of his agreement with NTTA and pay $81 in court costs.

Shepard’s ticket for unpaid tolls would be removed from his record if he did not receive another citation in the next 90 days.

In the hallway after the April hearing, Shepard said he was glad his court fees and fines were reduced.

He could have been ordered to pay as much as $331 but the Precinct 2 court reduces fines to incentivize people to clear their citations.

His wife was still upset that despite their proof and talk with NTTA, they still had to go to court and pay toll penalties.

“You get the runaround,” LaTasha Shepard said. “You had to go there first, and then you’ve got to come back here. You’ve got to do all this stuff.”

“This is a redundant process,” she said.

Part 3: As Texas prepares for more growth, lawmakers may soon look for ways to lessen the burden of tolls. In North Texas, one judge slashes fines to “help people take care of their business.”

Penalties don’t have to be extreme, he says. Meanwhile, some states offer rebates and discounts to low-income families and frequent users.

IN THE KNOW

Paying your toll bills

New to tolls and don’t have a toll tag?

Paying them can be confusing, but there are ways to navigate Texas’ paid roads without getting tripped up.

CHECK YOUR MAIL:

When you drive a toll road, a paper bill arrives in the mail about 30 days later. It includes a photo of your license plate, and if you pay the bill within 30 days, you’re done.

If you don’t pay after another 30 days, you receive an overdue notice that includes the unpaid toll charges and a $10 late fee.

If you still don’t pay after another 30 days, you receive an invoice that includes a $35 late fee, in addition to the unpaid toll fees.

COURT CITATIONS:

Stiffer penalties kick in if you wait yet another month.

That’s when your account is sent to a collection agency and the Texas Department of Public Safety, which can issue a court citation for failure to pay tolls.

The court mails a letter to you, as the vehicle’s owner, about the citation and requests that you contact the court to enter a plea of guilty, not guilty or no contest.

CHOOSE A PLEA:

A guilty or no contest plea comes with additional costs — generally about $330 to the court — on top of the unpaid toll and late fees.

A not guilty plea sends your case to the district attorney’s office, where you can request a jury trial or a trial with just a judge.

If you choose to not enter a court plea, the court suspends your driver’s license.

Thousands of driver’s licenses have been suspended related to unpaid tolls over the last year, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The court then sends a letter stating that if you fail to show up by a certain date, a warrant will be issued for your arrest.

HABITUAL VIOLATOR:

If you have 100 or more toll violations during a 12-month period, you are considered a “habitual violator” and the tax assessor’s office blocks you from renewing your vehicle’s registration.

Last year, more than 211,000 registration blocks were issued by two of the state’s largest tollway authorities — the North Texas Tollway Authority in Dallas and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority in Austin.

State law also allows tollway operators to ban you from driving on their roads.

So if you are stopped by law enforcement on a tollway, the officer can impound your vehicle.

KEEP RECORDS:

Keep in mind that the onus is on you.

These steps can still occur even if NTTA makes an administrative error or if you sell your car.

That’s because state law mandates that you file a document verifying the sale and change in ownership with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles within 30 days.

Yamil Berard