Naked City
Beyond City Limits
Edited By Mike Clark-Madison, Fri., Feb. 14, 2003
On Feb. 10 state Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, filed a bill that would prohibit the governor from giving state grant money to multijurisdictional drug task-force operations like the now-defunct Capital Area Narcotics Task Force. These operations have come under increasing fire for their lack of training and supervision -- among other allegations. In Central Texas alone, the CANTF was at the center of two ill-planned warrant raids that ended in killings, along with an embarrassing raid in Spicewood where task-force members mistook a stand of ragweed for marijuana. Similar snafus are common throughout the state; the Panhandle-area task force and one of its rogue freelance cops brought you the controversial 1999 drug sting in Tulia that saw 10% of the town's black population thrown behind bars. -- J.S.
Earlier this week, Texans for Peace publicly invited Texans in the U.S. Congress on a five-day trip to Iraq to visit with doctors, business owners, and elected officials and gain firsthand knowledge of the next country the U.S. government intends to destroy. Several of Texas' 32 House members have already responded to the offer, says TFP founder Charlie Jackson, though he wouldn't say who seems most likely to accept. Among reps who have expressed interest are those who have already shown opposition to the war, he said. Today (Thursday) Jackson is in Washington to visit delegation members and discuss the proposed trip, among other things. -- Lauri Apple
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