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Sharpstown vs. Tomstown
Capitol political scandal recalls memories of a more innocent time
By Michael King, Fri., March 5, 2004
Illustration By Doug Potter
"This is going to be bigger than Sharpstown."
That's a quote often heard this week among Capitol observers with particularly long memories. For the rest of us, "Sharpstown" refers to a Texas political scandal more than 30 years ago whose fallout included a remarkable turnover among elected officeholders and a consequent legislative effort to clean up state politics. It's frankly far too early to determine whether the current swirl of subpoenas with which Ronnie Earle has papered the Capitol will result in the sort of upheaval produced in part by another Travis Co. district attorney, R.O. "Bob" Smith, in 1972.
The scandal got its name from Houston businessman Frank W. Sharp and his Sharpstown State Bank. Sharp wanted some favorable legislation for the bank and its corporate sibling, the National Bankers Life Insurance Corp. So in time-honored Texas fashion, in 1969 he came down to Austin for a special legislative session and bought himself some politicians. According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit – and a subsequent indictment brought against House Speaker Gus Mutscher of Brenham, Mutscher's aide Rush McGinty, and state Rep. Tommy Shannon of Fort Worth – Sharp had arranged unsecured loans from his bank to allow numerous officials to buy stock in the NBLIC. When Sharp then artificially inflated the price of that stock, a whole bunch of pols made out like bandits.
Mutscher, McGinty, and Shannon became known as "the Abilene Three" when their case was tried there, and only they were convicted of any crimes (specifically "conspiracy to accept bribes," for which they received fines and probation). But several other officials were politically tainted by real or imagined connections to Sharp: Mutscher was finished (to be replaced by Price Daniel Jr.), and in the 1972 elections Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes and Attorney General Crawford Martin were each defeated by "reform" candidates Bill Hobby and John Hill. They were accompanied into exile by many of their legislative fellows. Gov. Preston Smith himself, who had been named at trial as an "unindicted co-conspirator," found himself tossed out (after a valiant run by Houston liberal Frances "Sissy" Farenthold) in favor of Dolph Briscoe, thus again proving we should always be careful what we wish for.
It's worth recalling that Frank Sharp himself may have had the biggest beef – against Gov. Smith, who vetoed the suspect legislation (which would have required the state to insure big deposits in Sharp's bank), but only after he had already cashed in on the insider stock deal. Smith (who insisted to his death that it was all just bidness-as-usual) seemed not to understand the time-honored definition of an honest politician: Once you're bought, you're supposed to stay bought.
That brings us to current Speaker Tom Craddick's defense of his disbursement of some $152,000 in corporate checks (courtesy of Union Pacific) to the campaigns of House candidates prior to the fall 2002 election. In addition to potential violations of Texas' ban on corporate funding of elections, Craddick's courier service may also have flouted the post-Sharpstown prohibition on providing "anything of value" to House members in potential exchange for a pending vote in a Speaker election. Craddick's lawyer Roy Minton and his spokesman Bob Richter have each insisted there was no "quid pro quo" for the money – Craddick simply had more time on his hands than those busy UP lobbyists – and in any case, he already had the speaker's race sewn up. Why pay for something you already own?
One needn't conclude that Craddick had explicit bribery on his mind when he just happened to drop by with his Secret Santa presents, nor even that a "quid pro quo" (not apparently necessary under the "speaker statute") was ever mentioned. Craddick had ample reason to want to ensure not just a GOP majority in the House, but the overwhelming and submissive majority with which he in fact became speaker. Too many ABC ("Anybody But Craddick") Republicans would not only endanger his rule, but make it more difficult to guarantee the radical legislation (uncompromising tort reform, re-redistricting, etc.) sought by the folks in the owners box, before which more moderate and less docile Republican lawmakers might blanch.
Lots of Money to Follow
However else the current tableau might eventually compare to Sharpstown, it does not (yet) appear driven by the desire for personal enrichment. The questions now under investigation by the district attorney and a grand jury – first raised by Texans for Public Justice nearly a year ago – are complex in detail but fall into four broad categories:
Craddick's personal involvement in disbursing corporate monies to 14 House candidates;
the extent to which corporate money was used (perhaps illegally) to bankroll the activities of Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC;
similarly, whether $1.9 million in corporate underwriting of the Texas Association of Business' highly dubious 2002 "issue ads" violated Texas campaign cash laws; and
the donation in September 2002 of $190,000 in TRMPAC corporate donations to the Republican National Committee, which thereupon (by incredible coincidence) disgorged an identical amount of "legal" (that is, laundered) money to seven Texas House campaigns.
Unlike the Sharpstown scandal, which called into question the personal integrity of a disparate group of elected officials, the current brouhaha – shall we call it "Tomstown"? – strikes at the integrity of the institutions themselves, which citizens rely upon to establish fairness and equity in lawmaking and the balancing of competing community interests. The corporate moneymen underwriting the Republican takeover of the Capitol – insurance, energy, construction, and so forth – weren't interested in lining a few politicians' pockets in return for "access" and occasional legislative deference. They intended, in the triumphant phrase of the TAB's Bill Hammond, to "blow the doors off" the Legislature, and to break down utterly the already indistinct boundaries between the people who govern Texas and the people who own it.
In that melodrama, most of us serve as mere spectators. Over the next several months, God and Ronnie Earle willing, we may find out if this time the bad guys went too far.
More Capitol Chronicle columns
More Tom Craddick
Who Wants to Be 'Anybody but Craddick'?
A front-runner has yet to emerge to defeat Craddick
Richard Whittaker, Nov. 21, 2008
Quorum-Buster Ponders Craddick's Fate
Will the House Speaker keep his job, or will the Craddick casualties see him get his comeuppance?
Richard Whittaker, Oct. 17, 2008
More Capitol Chronicle
Sore Winners
The GOP seems determined to make representative government a game of 'winner-take-all'
Michael King, Dec. 3, 2004
The Price of an Education
As the Lege looms, don't bet the house on new money for schools
Michael King, Nov. 26, 2004
Sharpstown, R.O. "Bob" Smith, Frank W. Sharp, Sharpstown State Bank, Gus Mutscher, Rush McGinty, Tommy Shannon, Ben Barnes, Crawford Martin, Preston Smith, Dolph Briscoe, Tom Craddick, Texans for Public Justice, Texans for a Republican Majority, Texas Association of Business, Bill Hammond, Ronnie Earle


The crew gather in the Dungeon of the Old Exchange to plot their next adventure!
Schooner Pride Captain Brian and his fine crew.
Disposing of dead pirate at the low water mark. Eric loved getting thrown into the pluff mud.
Eric and Stephen set the foresail.
Eric, Michael, and Lindsay "capture" Tony Youmans, Director of the Old Exchange Building.
Our pirate crew had great fun on the Schooner Pride during a shoot for WCBD, Charleston's NBC affiliate. Watch the segment here.


Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the federal law-enforcement agency with primary responsibility for enforcing immigration laws within the U.S. However, for over a decade, ICE has formed partnerships that also allow local police to enforce immigration law (i.e., identifying and arresting undocumented residents). Prior studies, using survey data with selfreported immigrant and citizenship status, provide mixed evidence on the demographic impact of these controversial partnerships. This study presents new evidence based on the public-school enrollment of Hispanic students. We find that local ICE partnerships reduce the number of Hispanic students by nearly 10 percent within 2 years. We estimate that the local ICE partnerships enacted before 2012 displaced over 300,000 Hispanic students. These effects appear to be concentrated among elementary-school students. We find no corresponding effects on the enrollment of non-Hispanic students. We also find no evidence that ICE partnerships reduced pupil-teacher ratios or the percent of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).


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Scheduling: The 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix
July 31, 2019 August 7, 2019 David NelsonLeave a comment
After one of the best Formula 1 races of the modern era, the Grand Prix paddock heads to the Hungaroring for the final stop before the Summer break.
At least two on-screen talent have already started their F1 break. Germany was Ted Kravitz's last race for Sky until Italy, meaning that neither him nor his Notebook output will be present this weekend in Hungary, or in Belgium after the break.
Over on the BBC, Jennie Gow is not with 5 Live out in Hungary, instead W Series lead commentator Claire Cottingham takes up station in pit lane.
The Budapest schedule takes up a different feel this weekend, with Formula Two and Formula Three swapping places on Saturday. The reason for this is that Formula Three qualifying takes place on Saturday morning, not Friday evening as at earlier rounds.
For UK viewers, Sky have opted to prioritise The F1 Show over the first Formula Three race, the latter airing on a short tape-delay.
Elsewhere on the scheduling front, MotoGP returns from its Summer break in the Czech Republic. But fans without BT Sport will discover that free-to-air highlights on Quest are now airing in an even later slot. The broadcaster has moved their highlights from 22:00 to 23:00, likely due to poor viewing figures.
It is a busy weekend, with the British Touring Car Championship and World Rally Championship also returning from their Summer holidays.
Channel 4 F1
03/08 – 18:30 to 20:00 – Qualifying Highlights
04/08 – 19:00 to 21:00 – Race Highlights
Sky Sports F1
02/08 – 09:45 to 11:55 – Practice 1
03/08 – 10:45 to 12:30
=> 10:45 – Practice 3
=> 12:10 – Paddock Walkabout
03/08 – 13:00 to 15:30 – Qualifying
=> 13:00 – Pre-Show
=> 13:55 – Qualifying
04/08 – 12:30 to 17:00 – Race
=> 12:30 – Pit Lane Live (also Sky Sports Main Event from 13:00)
=> 13:30 – On the Grid (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 14:05 – Race (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 16:00 – Paddock Live (also Sky Sports Main Event until 16:30)
Supplementary Programming
01/08 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Drivers' Press Conference
01/08 – 17:00 to 17:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
02/08 – 16:30 to 17:00 – The Story so Far
03/08 – 16:30 to 17:00 – The F1 Show
07/08 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Midweek Debrief
BBC Radio F1
All sessions are available live on BBC's F1 website
01/08 – 21:30 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
04/08 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Race Updates (BBC Radio 5 Live)
MotoGP – Czech Republic (BT Sport 2)
Also airs live on MotoGP's Video Pass (£)
02/08 – 07:45 to 15:15 – Practice 1 and 2
=> 07:30 – Warm Ups
=> 09:15 – Moto3
=> 12:30 – MotoGP
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag
MotoGP – Czech Republic (Quest)
05/08 – 23:00 to 00:00 – Highlights
British Superbikes – Thruxton
03/08 – 15:30 to 18:00 – Qualifying (Eurosport 2)
04/08 – 13:00 to 18:00 – Races (Eurosport 2)
07/08 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)
British Talent Cup – Czech Republic
03/08 – 15:15 to 16:15 – Race 1 (BT Sport 2)
British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton (ITV4)
04/08 – 10:45 to 18:30 – Races
Formula Two – Hungary (Sky Sports F1)
02/08 – 11:55 to 12:45 – Practice
03/08 – 09:00 to 10:15 – Race 1
Formula Three – Hungary (Sky Sports F1)
03/08 – 16:00 to 16:55 – Race 1 Tape-Delay
Porsche Supercup – Hungary (Sky Sports F1)
Speedway Grand Prix – Poland (BT Sport 3)
World Rally Championship – Finland (All Live)
Also airs live on WRCPlus.com (£)
01/08 – 17:00 to 19:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport Extra 3)
02/08 – 06:00 to 19:15 – Stages 2 to 11 (BT Sport Extra 1)
03/08 – 06:00 to 18:00 – Stages 12 to 19 (BT Sport Extra 1)
World Rally Championship – Finland
01/08 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport 1)
02/08 – 01:00 to 02:00 – Day 1 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
02/08 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Stage 11 (BT Sport 1)
04/08 – 11:00 to 12:30 – Stage 23 [Power Stage] (BT Sport 1)
05/08 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (5Spike)
As always, the schedule will be updated if details change.
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(Video) Iowa [ "Pro-Life is Pro-Personhood" ! ] – Ted Cruz does NOT support Personhood legislation !!!
Cruz campaign worker now actually breaks in and says "Thank you, appreciate it" to break off her conversation with Ted Cruz. As Cruz walks to next questioner, the Cruz campaign worker whispers something in Cruz's ear.
– DID TED CRUZ LIE TO GEORGIA RIGHT TO LIFE WHEN HE SIGNED PERSONHOOD PLEDGE ?
Senator Cruz received the endorsement after reviewing his activities supporting personhood and receiving his signed GRTL PAC Personhood Affirmation, which asks that candidates support a personhood amendment to the U.S. Constitution.


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You are here: Home > About Glyndwr University > News and media centre > News archive > Press Releases 2014 > Focus Wales Comic Con roundup
Thousands attend Focus Wales and Wales Comic Con
Thousands of music and movie fans visited Glyndŵr University as it hosted two of North Wales's biggest annual events.
The organisers of Focus Wales for the fourth year and Wales Comic Con for the sixth year chose to stage their events at the university's Wrexham campus.
Appearances from Creation Records founder Alan McGee and BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens kicked-off the string of star name appearances as Focus Wales got underway at the Catrin Finch Centre on Thursday.
X-Files and Walking Dead actor Charlie Adlard, Game of Thrones' Mark Addy, Willow star Warwick Davis and TV presenter Jonathan Ross were among the stellar acts at Wales Comic Con on Sunday April 27.
Lynda Powell, Glyndŵr University's director of campus management and commercial services, said: "Glyndŵr University is delighted to have hosted two of Wales' top events in the past week – Focus Wales and Comic Con.
"These events attract thousands of people from all over the world to Wrexham and showcase the facilities we have here and in the town, as well as building on Glyndŵr's reputation as a top venue for music, comedy and the arts.
"We hope everyone who came to both Focus Wales and Comic Con had a great time. We look forward to seeing you all here again next year."
More than 4,000 people alone flocked to the Focus Wales festival, which was held at multiple venues across Wrexham over four days.
Festival co-ordinator Andy Jones said: "The festival was brilliant. We are growing Focus Wales year on year and we hope it's just going to get better and better.
"Ninety per cent of visitors to the festival this year are from outside Wrexham county, which is fantastic, and hopefully businesses in the town will benefit from this.
"When we started Focus Wales we wanted to create a festival which Wrexham could take ownership of and it's great that we now have so many partners which is enabling us to grow the event."
Wales Comic Con photo gallery:
https://plus.google.com/photos/+GlyndwrUniofficial/albums/6007263942938329233
Focus Wales photo gallery:


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Home › Gary Cheung
Tag: Gary Cheung
Blackwell Global HK CEO Gary Cheung named Hong Kong FDRC Director
Blackwell Global Hong Kong CEO Gary Cheung has been appointed as Director of the Financial Dispute Resolution Centre (FDRC) for a term of two years commencing on 1 March 2018. His active involvement as Director of the FDRC further cements his enthusiasm in bettering Hong Kong's financial scene, and offers enhanced assurance to Hong Kong…
November 10, 2017 BY Valentina Kirilova
Blackwell Global Hong Kong CEO Gary Cheung appointed as HKSA's 20th Chairman
Multi-asset brokerage Blackwell Global informed that its Hong Kong CEO Gary Cheung was inaugurated on 2 November 2017 as the 20th Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Association (HKSA) at the association's 38th anniversary dinner. Mr. Cheung's appointment will last for two years, from November 2017 to October 2019. He has taken over this role…


The 6oz or 8oz Theatre Popcorn Cart provides easier access, better merchandising and great mobility. The sturdy. all steel construction has a chip resistant coating. Also features convenient built-in storage space and breaks down easily for storage and transportation.
• For 6oz / 8oz theatre popcorn kettle.


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