Morning Roundup: Superfan edition

Good morning, Houston. We've run into some, uh, active parents of student athletes in our day, but we can't remember remember hearing about one who was actually banned from his kid's sporting events — until now, that is. Meet Joe Dalton, who has been barred from his son's Stafford High home football games because school district officials allege he assaulted a student. It happened at the last home game Dalton attended, where he said a 15-year-old boy took his rally towel — so Dalton grabbed the boy "by the seat of the pants." A school board member saw the incident and told the police, who filed a report; Stafford Municipal School District Superintendent H.D. Chambers told KHOU that it was "inappropriate physical force by a parent towards a student." The 15-year-old's parents decided to file charges, saying Dalton didn't seem at all remorseful over the incident, and police plan to forward the case to the district attorney. Meanwhile, Dalton said he won't be kept away from the stadium: "Parents' Day, I'm gonna be on that field standing next to my kid and my wife and my daughter," be told Channel 11. "They can take me away and do whatever they need to do, but it's gonna be after that."

>> Key walkout canceled: Students from Key Middle School planned to hold a walkout today to object to what they claim are unequal educational opportunities, but the protest was canceled Wednesday when police met planners as they handed out flyers. Ubiquitous community activist Quanell X said the police presence — which apparently involved both HISD and Houston police — was meant to intimidate the students. "Some [students] were isolated in certain areas. Flyers were taken from them," Quanell X told KPRC. "They actually had the dogs out on these children while they were doing this." HISD police said they had a K-9 unit on the scene, but that the dog was never out of the car; school district spokesman Terry Abbott warned that statements like Quanell X's "can be very inflammatory." Key students are attending Fleming Middle School while the Key campus is tested to discover what might have made students, teachers and staff members sick in the past few weeks. According to the Chronicle, Quanell X is now calling for a protest Friday outside HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra's home.

>> No verdict yet in Slade trial: Jurors in the trial of former TSU President Priscilla Slade haven't made a decision yet: They reported yesterday afternoon that they were locked in an 8-4 vote. It's not clear which side the eight jurors are on — finding Slade guilty of misspending a half-million dollars in state funds on personal expenses — but state District Judge Brock Thomas told attorneys in the case that he'll tell the jury to keep working toward a verdict. "The fact that it's an 8-4 split means they are a long way from being dismissed," KHOU legal analyst Gerald Treece said. Slade's lawyer, Mike DeGuerin, took the jury's report as a chance to ask for another mistrial, but Thomas shot that down. DeGuerin wasn't willing to say what he thought the 8-4 vote meant: "It means some people think she's not guilty and some people think she is, but I don't want to speculate," he said. Jurors have deliberated for almost 12 hours since they got the case Monday; they'll continue deliberation this morning.

>> Today's weather: Looks like another beautiful (if still warm) day: Lower humidity, clear skies and a high this afternoon around 86. The low tonight should dip into the lower 60s, just as it did this morning.

And now we'll dip into some headlines ...