[Yuki Maru Hoshi]

Dog leads authorities to missing Florida woman, authorities say
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-...say-rcna236106

Florida authorities released body cam footage on Monday that appears to show a dog leading a deputy sheriff to a woman reported missing by her husband that night.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office posted footage of the September 25 incident on Facebook on Oct. 6. The video begins by showing a man at the door of a home in Destin, Florida, a town about 50 miles east of Pensacola.

The man tells Deputy Devon Miller that his wife has been missing for an hour that evening. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said in an email that the woman is 86 years old, but declined to provide the couple's names.

"She just takes that dog, but she never takes more than 10 or 15 minutes," he said. "It's almost an hour now. It's over an hour now."

The video then shows Miller returning to their car and driving off before spotting the loose canine, which the sheriff's office identified as "Eeyore." Miller then gets outside to greet the dog before following it.

Eeyore then leads the deputy to the missing woman, who is near grass. The video does not show the woman, but Miller describes her to the sheriff's office as lying on the sidewalk, "alert and conscious."

Miller then tells the woman that the dog helped find her. The woman repeats back the deputy's comments in disbelief before revealing that Eeyore is her adult child's dog.

[Yuki Maru Hoshi]

Buddhist monks continue peace walk despite accident injuries
https://kfdm.com/news/local/buddhist...ident-injuries

SETX — A group of Buddhist monks is persevering on their peace walk from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., despite facing challenges, including a recent accident in Dayton that injured two monks.

The monks began their journey on Oct. 26 at the Hong Dao Buddhist Temple and have covered nearly 300 miles. They aim to complete the 2,300-mile trek in 120 days.

The monks say their mission is to support a suffering society and promote healing worldwide. "We try to spread that love, loving kindness, compassion, and hopefully that everyone will be living in harmony and unity, and that is our purpose of walking," they said.

Supporters have been inspired by the monks' dedication. One supporter shared, "I woke up my daughter and I was like, hey, we got to go and we flew here... I think it's awesome what they're doing."

Despite the accident involving a pickup truck, which left one monk hospitalized, the group remains committed to their journey. "The surgery went well, and he's well, and he's happy. He supported this walk, and he wanted all the monks to continue walk in to finish this journey," they said.

[Yuki Maru Hoshi]

[Yuki Maru Hoshi]

Crazy judge

Glamorous female judge's career ends in disgrace after she was caught out in outrageous lie
https://mol.im/a/15379631

Central to the fabrications that the judge pushed was claims that she was a veteran of Operation Desert Storm - the name for the US-led Gulf War in the early 1990s - despite being aged just 16 at the time.

In the investigation into Foxworth-Roberts' insurance claim, it was found that she had claimed around $40,000 in jewelry and expensive goods were stolen from her car during a break-in.

As she was removed from the bench, the Supreme Court said in its majority ruling that her conduct 'calls into question her honesty and integrity — minimum qualifications the public expects from every judge.'

Writing in the decision to remove Foxworth-Roberts from the bench, Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jay McCallum said officials were bemused by her continued attempts to defend herself.

'Rather than take responsibility for her conduct, (Foxworth-Roberts) has persisted with tortured explanations and excuses,' he wrote.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Yuki Maru Hoshi

Dog leads authorities to missing Florida woman, authorities say
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-...say-rcna236106

Well done, that dog

[Yuki Maru Hoshi]

Upstream homeowners flooded by Addicks, Barker reservoirs during Harvey win major court ruling
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...ource=facebook

Catastrophic flooding during (Hurricane) Harvey

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers controls gated dams at the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which were built in the 1940s and can hold about 410,000 acre-feet of floodwaters in an emergency.

The reservoirs were constructed to prevent catastrophic flooding along Buffalo Bayou, in the city of Houston and along the industry-heavy Ship Channel. According to court rulings in the flood victims' case, urban sprawl encroached on the reservoirs over the years, measurably reducing the capacity to mitigate upstream flood damage when the water rises in the reservoirs.

Facing Hurricane Harvey's extreme rainfall in August 2017 that drenched Houston for days, Army Corps operators had to decide when to open the flood gates and allow water to flow downstream. Harvey caused major flooding for over 10,000 upstream homes and businesses, according to lawyers' estimates. Properties downstream were also flooded when the Army Corps opened the gates.

Flood victims with properties downstream of the reservoirs are still waiting for a separate lower-court decision after arguments in their trial concluded in early 2025.

Ruling in favor of homeowners

The panel affirmed the conclusion by the Court of Federal Claims that the Army Corps should have foreseen flooding on these adjacent properties, and that it was not a one-time occurrence.

"Every property owner whose land is subject to the government's flowage easement deserves compensation," said Charest, the property owners' lawyer, in a news release after the ruling was handed down. His firm worked with several others to represent flooded landowners in the case.

In the appeals court ruling issued on Dec. 22, the judges found that "the flooding was permanently recurring and, in the alternative, that, even if the flooding were characterized as temporary, it would still constitute a taking."

MORE COVERAGE: These 5 Houston-area neighborhoods saw the most floodplain development since Hurricane Harvey

The three judges did deviate from the lower court on how to calculate flood victims' damages, though, telling the Court of Federal Claims to leave out line items including lost rental income before recalculating the dollar figure owed to six bellwether property owners presented at trial.

The federal judge had initially ruled in 2022 that those six victims should get over $450,000 compensation in total, plus interest. The final decision on their compensation is designed to set the standard for payouts to other upstream litigants.

If all property owners flooded above Addicks and Barker join litigation efforts, the federal government could owe a combined 1.67 billion before interest, according to a 2022 estimate by Charest's firm.

I wonder how this will impact the flood control district.. because most of our watershed is dotted with retention/detention areas and those do overflow in extreme rainfall events causing damage. Granted, those homes would've likely flooded anyway without drainage...

The same could be said about the reservoir, but they made a very public decision to hold back the water. So it's a bit different than a passive system that collects water so that it has somewhere else to go/drain more slowly so that the bayou/watershed has more room to take water downstream without cresting.

Could effect other states also.

These are rainfall totals across several days (the worst of Harvey was a 3-day event iirc)

[Yuki Maru Hoshi]

CAUGHT ON CAM: Escaped giant snow globe rolls through South Carolina town
https://www.wtoc.com/2025/12/29/caug...carolina-town/

EASLEY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - A giant inflatable snow globe was caught on camera blowing through Easley on Monday morning.

A viewer said she watched the snow globe blow from a car dealership along Old Easley Bridge Road to a gas station across the street.

While rolling along, the inflatable can be seen running into street lights, tumbling over cars and bouncing off a power line before deflating over a home.

Youtube video

Hope that car dealership has liability coverage

[Yuki Maru Hoshi]

Local police union at war with Houston Chronicle (local newspaper) for being terrible. Kinda sucks because they used to be good. I grew up reading their paper... and to be fair, it's the state of all media to write things for the effect it has rather than the information it provides, so not just this paper. Have seen information from sources well before it even hits coverage only to be reported very differently in the media. Not even just spin, just completely inaccurate and made up..., so that's not a new phenomenon for local news, sadly.

S: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BvqX7PBEH/

Op-Ed, by Douglas Griffith
Houston Police Officers' Union, President

The Houston Police Officers’ Union has always had a good working relationship with the media for the most part. As president, I have always been open and available to speaking with the media on any topic, good, bad, or indifferent. I am a very proud Houston Police Officer and believe that we have the best department in the nation! I also understand that we are not always perfect and will readily admit if or when we make a mistake. I have done this before with the SL Code cases, and other instances in the department. I believe that this is what gives the HPOU credibility within the community.

In the last few weeks, the Houston Chronicle has printed several stories about the immigrant mother whose “autistic” son was taken and placed with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ACF - ORR), or by Chronicle standards, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Several of these articles were crafted by the Editorial Board and not regular investigative reporters. Not only are these articles misleading, but the reports are crafted to produce an emotional outcome. The comments in the story are opinion based, as it does not have to be factual, just in the public mind.

The Chronicle has worked hard to make the public believe that the 15-year-old autistic migrant child was ripped from his mothers’ arms and placed into federal custody at the hands of incompetent police officers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Several of the Chronicle articles had headlines disparaging HPD like “Houston Police fractured a loving family”. Other articles had comments stating, “botched police investigation.” “Police fail at their most basic duty of protecting Houston Families”, and “the story is more about incompetence than malice,”. Each of these editorials disparage the great work of the officers of the Houston Police Department.

Have any of the editorial board writers or journalist reached out to the HPOU for comment? NO, because I do not believe that it would not fit their narrative. The department may not comment on current investigations, but the HPOU will. The body worn camera videos and reports generated the day Emannuel was found were provided to city council and many of them stated that the officers did a great job given the circumstances.

It is important to know that Emannuel told officers that he was homeless and from another country. Officers did what policy dictates and contacted Child Protective Services and followed their direction. Officers were told to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement and they did. The officers were advised to take the child to the Office of Refugee Resettlement as they match unaccompanied children with their families. That is exactly what happened and thank God it did. The child then had a medical emergency that his mother may not have been able to handle.

In at least four Chronicle news articles the headlines stated that Emannuel was autistic. This is not a factual statement, and the editorial board later pivoted by saying, “Though not diagnosed” his school records show he has learning disabilities. So now it is unclear to what extent or how severe Emmanuels issues are. It should be noted that Emannuel had conversations with firefighters and officers at the scene and according to Chronicle reporting, long conversations with his mother over the phone. It appears that he has the ability to understand what he was saying and what he told officers.

The editorial board blames HPD for failing to connect two different names. I know in their world they can Google and get different variations of different names. The department computers do not have that same ability. The officers who were called to help Emannuel did everything possible to help him. The editorial board running a headline of “Houston police called ICE on missing teen. Then they blamed his mom” is, in my opinion, inaccurate and inflammatory. In this editorial they insinuate that we blamed the mother, with the only evidence provided being Chief Diaz’s account of the incident at city hall.

The editorial board also stated that they found a complicated story, “one that reveals a botched police investigation and startling gaps that failed a child.” This is another claim that cannot be supported by facts only insinuations, as far as I can tell. Thanks to the officers, the child was safe and protected during this entire incident even to the point of receiving medical care.

These little hit articles by the Chronicle and the Editorial Board, do more damage to the community because of the accusations and fear that they spread. This is especially true right now in the immigrant community. HPD is dedicated to the safety and security of all Houston residents. It is for this reason that the Houston Police Officers’ Union will no longer provide statements to the Houston Chronicle, until a formal apology is printed to the HPD and its officers.

Until then, no further comments will come from the HPOU! Our officers and the citizens of Houston deserve to have a newspaper that prints only on facts, not politics and opinions!

- Douglas Griffith
Houston Police Officers’ Union, President