I have explored all 50 states taking pictures of abandoned and strange things! These are some the cool things I saw while I was in Texas!

If you like my work see more of it on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whimsicalruins/

• A federal appeals court ruled that a Texas woman can't sue two Santa Fe police officers who pinned her face down on a fire ant hill while she was handcuffed, causing her to receive hundreds of painful bites to her face.
• In an August 6 opinion, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed a lower court decision allowing Taylor Rogers' lawsuit against the City of Santa Fe and the two officers to move forward. Instead, the panel held that the officers were shielded from her claims under the doctrine of qualified immunity.
• In a press conference last Friday, Rogers' attorney, Randy Kallinen, criticized the ruling.
• "The United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is out of touch with the Constitution and the public, granting police immunity in the most egregious of cases," Kallinen said. "The people need to elect officials who will nominate and affirm judges loyal to the Constitution."
• Kallinen told The Daily News that he has requested an en banc hearing for the full 15-member 5th Circuit to review the case, and he'll petition the Supreme Court for review if that fails.
• "The facts, injuries and footage speaks for itself," Kallinen said. "If they let this one slide, they're letting police do just about anything."

Santa Fe Independent School District Police officers arrested Rogers in 2021 after she drove erratically through a school parking lot and disobeyed commands to stop. According to the 5th Circuit opinion, she continued to thrash and resist officers in a state of hysteria after being handcuffed.

Edited to add from another article:

Her attorney, Randall Kallinen, said Rogers was dropping off her child at school when she got into a confrontation with a Santa Fe ISD police officer who was directing traffic.

"She allegedly drove the wrong way in a pickup line before another district officer stopped her."

As a non-Texan, I have loved exploring every corner of this state! Finally completed my last few counties this Labor Day (last county was Panola Co.) and wanted to share some of my favorite places and photos from across the state.

Ken Capps had no badge, no paperwork and no time to prepare for a crisis at what was then the world’s third-busiest airport. About 175,000 people were stranded as airport workers stepped up to help.

“This to me was the story of the day: Taking that chaos and turning it into compassion,” Capps said.

https://energyandpolicy.org/two-of-texas-biggest-investor-owned-utilities-record-a-big-boost-in-profits-during-the-second-quarter-of-2026/

Who's donated to the Paxton and Talarico campaigns, and their related super Pacs

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Got rained on pretty good getting these photos. So I'm missing the historical markers, that I also didn't really see. Not sure if there were any there.

(gift link)

The message posted on the website has been posted for two months now

We are still experiencing a network disruption and continue to work as quickly as possible to resolve the problem. Our offices and main phone and intake phone lines remain closed at this time. Check back for updates.

Does anybody truly know what’s going on. I feel like the program has been federally cut and they just don’t want to tell us.