Email Author Brantley Hargrove

2013 Stories by Brantley Hargrove

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  After Texas Parks & Wildlife's Slaughter of a Hunt County Deer Herd, Questions of Wildlife Ownership Abound

  published May 02, 2013

  For eight hours, rifle reports echoed across the Anderton Whitetail Ranch in Hunt County. In the larger paddocks, a wildlife biologist standing in the bed of a white Texas Parks and Wildlife truck pic... More >>

• 

  COVER STORY

  The Killings in Kaufman

  published May 2, 2013

  There was a time before 8:38 a.m. on January 31 when the people of Kaufman County would commonly leave their doors unlocked or sleep with... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  With Texas Reservoirs Dropping, State Lawmakers Kill a Water Supply Bill

  published Apr 30, 2013

  Last night, a bill to fund water projects across the state died an ignominious death in the Texas House of Representatives. This was strange because it looked like the rails had been thoroughly greas... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Mike Bishop, Hellbent on Stopping the Keystone Pipeline, Sues the Corps of Engineers

  published Apr 29, 2013

  Earlier this year we introduced you to Mike Bishop, the irascible ex-Marine with 20 acres in the path of the Keystone pipeline, just east of Nacogdoches. When we met him, the retired chemist and bio-... More >>

• In the Wake of Spills, the EPA is Urging Tighter Review of the Proposed Keystone Pipeline

  published Apr 23, 2013

  Back in March, the Keystone XL pipeline's approval looked practically assured. Construction of the 1,179-mile leviathan, connecting Alberta's tar sand mines with Texas Gulf Coast refiners, was already... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Texas Sues the Feds, Part Infinity: Greg Abbott Wants to Take Greenhouse Gas Challenge To Supreme Court

  published Apr 22, 2013

  Last summer, Texas, Big Oil interests, the automotive industry and other assorted industrial polluters were dealt an unambiguous defeat in a legal challenge to dismantle greenhouse gas regulations. Th... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Report: Customers Have Forked Over $500 Million to Cover Oncor's Phantom Tax Payments

  published Apr 17, 2013

  Dallas-based utility Oncor has collected half a billion dollars from ratepayers to cover federal income taxes it has never paid. Last year alone, customers paid $230 million to reimburse the utility f... More >>

• 

  Trinity East's Vapor Chase

  published April 18, 2013

  No meeting was too small, too incremental for Trinity East CEO Tom Blanton, because too much was at stake. Whether it was a task force... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Eric Williams, Suspect in Kaufman County Killings: "My Life has Taken a Drastic Turn"

  published Apr 16, 2013

  When Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse convinced a jury to convict a former Justice of the Peace on felony theft charges, Eric Lyle Williams said his life was effectively ruined ov... More >>

• Barry Smitherman Retweets Image of Noose, Accompanied by Names of Senators Who Voted To Consider Gun Safety Proposals

  published Apr 12, 2013

  RT @psychscriv: Make sure none of these people have seats in 2014. twitter.com/PsychScriv/sta...We are in trouble when these Rs side w/ Sen Reid— Barry Smitherman (@SmithermanTX) April 11, 2013 ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Angela Hunt and Scott Griggs Want a Vote On Trinity East Drillsites in 30 Days

  published Apr 09, 2013

  Before term limits and elections change the complexion of the Dallas City Council in unknowable ways, Scott Griggs and Angela Hunt want an up-or-down vote on proposed natural gas wells along the Trini... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Slain Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and wife Cynthia Laid to Rest

  published Apr 05, 2013

  In tiny Wortham, just a ways northwest of Mexia, the fire ladders on two engines from the Teague and Fairfield fire departments were crossed over 3rd and Main street. A flag hung from between them, to... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Touching Eulogies (and a Bomb Threat) as Kaufman County Mourned its DA and His Wife

  published Apr 05, 2013

  Inside First Baptist of Sunnyvale, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland lay in a flag-draped coffin alongside the ashes of his wife, Cynthia. That was fitting in a sad way, their friends sa... More >>

• Days After Slaying of Kaufman County DA and His Wife, Terrell Man Arrested For Threatening a County Official

  published Apr 03, 2013

  Nick Morale, a 56-year-old man from Terrell, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of making "terroristic threats" against the life of an unnamed county official. Lieutenant Justin Lewis of the Kaufman C... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  In Kaufman County, Authorities Hunt for Killers as a Neighborhood Remains in Shock

  published Apr 02, 2013

  Police had only just opened Blarney Stone Way in Forney Monday afternoon when this picture was taken. Satellite trucks were already stacked fender to fender for 100 yards or more, and cameramen were t... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Greg Abbott Wants To Make Texas' Interim (And Still Probably Unconstitutional) Redistricting Plan Permanent

  published Apr 01, 2013

  As you may recall, Texas' 2011 plan to redraw political boundaries was so brazenly partisan, so undeniably bent on reducing minority influence, and the evidence was so mountainous and convincing that... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Federal Appeals Court Ruling on Lawsuit Against EPA is a Partial Loss For Dallas-based Luminant and Enviros

  published Mar 28, 2013

  The ongoing legal war of many fronts among Dallas-based Luminant, the state of Texas, the EPA and environmentalists is mostly a war of incremental victories.This week, EPA arose victorious. Next mont... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  As the Texas Lege Tackles $2 Billion Water Legislation, Drought Records Are Set

  published Mar 26, 2013

  The Texas House and Senate took up legislation Tuesday to address a drought-induced water crisis. A proposed bill out of the House would pull $2 billion from the state's Rainy Day Fund to implement a ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Randy Travis Proved He Hasn't Lost a Step at Billy Bob's Texas

  published Mar 25, 2013

  On the main stage of Billy Bob's Texas, past the mechanical bulls and the neon lights and the line-dance floors throbbing to the "Cha-Cha Slide," Randy Travis, the reed-thin king of country, looked o... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Trinity East Appeals Plan Commission Defeat, Will Continue Fight for Drilling Permits

  published Mar 22, 2013

  City Council chambers erupted in applause Thursday afternoon as the Plan Commission voted to deny controversial drilling permits to natural gas producer Trinity East. It was a victory for drilling opp... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Hedge Fund Says Tottering, Dallas-based Electricity Giant is Screwing Creditors

  published Mar 20, 2013

  Aurelius Capital Management, a multibillion-dollar hedge fund and perpetual pain-in-the-ass for distressed companies like Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings, sued the massive utility in federal cour... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Syrian National Coalition's First Prime Minister Used to Be Chairman of Garland Academy

  published Mar 19, 2013

  Ghassan Hitto, the man elected early Tuesday morning to become the opposition Syrian National Coalition's first prime minister, also happens to be a North Texan. The Damascus-born activist was educat... More >>

• Plan Commission Prepares to Vote for the Second Time on Fracking Along Trinity River This Thursday

  published Mar 18, 2013

  For Trinity East, the Fort Worth-based shale gas producer, the Dallas Plan Commission meeting this Thursday is make or break. Nearly six years ago, the company bid on drilling city-owned land while ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Wendy Davis Aims to Restrict Seizure of Private Land for Pipelines -- But Not the Keystone

  published Mar 15, 2013

  You'd think in this state, property rights would be the inviolable bedrock around which damn near everything else revolves. You'd think eminent domain, the taking of private property for public use, w... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Rafael Anchia Files a Bill to Help Texas Export its Natural Gas

  published Mar 13, 2013

  State Representative Rafael Anchia of Dallas filed legislation Friday that he hopes will position Texas to lead the sustainable age. He describes it as a launching point for a dialogue in the Legisla... More >>