An El Niño Has Formed in the Pacific. These come every two to seven years, and they often mean a wetter spring. But this one’s fairly weak, which could impact how much rain we get. That means nothing for today, which should be beautiful and in the 60s.
Councilman Kevin Felder Denies Hit and Run. We’ll have more on this today once Felder’s attorney, Pete Schulte, returns our phone calls from yesterday. But his client says a person riding a scooter was zig-zagging in the road near his office in South Dallas, and the two got into a bit of a kerfuffle. The damage was already on his car, they allege.
Another Big Verdict Over Seatbelts. You may recall Shawn Shinneman’s feature from earlier this year about a $242 million verdict, related to the seats of a Lexus. Now it’s Honda’s turn to fork over $37 million, after a woman who was riding in the third row’s middle seat with her belt on was hurt when her driver ran a red light and was struck by a pickup truck. Her attorneys alleged that her injuries—she’s now a quadriplegic—were worse because of the poor seatbelt design. A jury agreed.
Ex-Wife of Man In Richardson Mayor Sex, Bribery Scandal Testifies. This is the one the News called “steamy” earlier this week, in case you forgot. The man was a developer. The mayor who he was sleeping with had the power to OK his apartment projects, which she had publicly opposed. The FBI says this amounts to bribery, to paying for votes. In the end, the developer received $45 million in incentives and gave the mayor—his mistress—a job she wasn’t qualified for. Yesterday, his ex-wife testified about the texts she found that pointed to the affair, among other things.
