Five stories that have North Texas talking: More than 200 in-custody deaths weren't reported by Texas police departments over a 10-year period; the grand champion steer at the State Fair sold for a record $131,000; the deadline to register to vote is today; and more.
Blue Bell Ice Cream is expanding its recall of products that contain cookie dough from third-party supplier, Aspen Hills Inc., over concerns that the cookie dough could be contaminated with Listeria.
The recall was initially announced last month, but Blue Bell expanded the products under recall Monday. Recalled products include: half-gallons and pints of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Cookie Two Step sold to retailers (i.e grocery stores) and three-gallon packages of Blue Bell Blue Monster, Chocolate Chip Cookie and Krazy Kookie Dough sold to food-service clients.
The products were distributed in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
No illnesses have been reported. However, Blue Bell exercises extreme caution these days after contamination in April 2015 was linked to 10 Listeria cases in four states, including three deaths in Kansas. [The Associated Press]
- Hundreds of police departments in Texas and California failed to report officer-involved shooting deaths in the past decade. A study from Texas State University finds that registries created by the two states to report all in-custody deaths did not list about 220 use-of-force fatalities in Texas and 440 in California from 2005-2015, The Houston Chronicle reports. Texas and California are the only states to require reporting of all in-custody deaths, including jail deaths and officer-involved shootings. [The Houston Chronicle, The Associated Press]
- A 14-year-old sold his steer, Clifford, for a record $131,000. The Dallas Morning News reports, “For the fourth year running, III Forks Steakhouse and Big Tex Champion Club clinched the top bid for the grand champion steer at the Youth Livestock Auction at the State Fair of Texas.” Jagger Horn, of Jones County 4-H gets $30,000 cut for raising the steer, and the rest will go to the State Fair of Texas Youth Scholarship Program. As for Clifford, he’ll retire at CEO of Consolidated Restaurant Operations Inc. John D. Harkey Jr.’s Hill Country ranch. [DMN]
- The deadline to register to vote is today. Your best bet will be to submit your registration form in person to yourcounty voter registrar’s office, but forms postmarked by Oct. 11 are accepted, too. If you think you might already be registered to vote, check here. If not, here’s the registration form to fill out, print and take to your county’s office. Forms are also available in libraries, post offices and high schools. Have more questions? Find answers here. [KERA News]
- Decking the halls with public money likely won’t cause any legal humbug in Texas this holiday season. In anon-binding opinion Monday, Attorney General Ken Paxton said state law allows commissioners courts to use county funding on holiday lights and decorations in public buildings, The Associated Press reports. He also said legal precedent has found such decorations to be "passive and not coercive," meaning a court would likely determine that displaying them didn't violate statute. [The Associated Press]
Correction: This post incorrectly reported the steer sold for $131 million. It sold for $131,000.
