Results tagged “quintinwiggins”

Good morning, Houston. Imagine it: a penthouse apartment in the Galleria area, complete with your own personal dome. Nice — and did we mention it's free? Or at least it is for one guy who's been squatting in the attic of an Uptown business: According to KTRK, he's set up a pretty sweet pad, with cable, a flat-screen TV, surround sound, air conditioning and a bathroom. It's a pretty sweet deal for the guy,...

Good morning, Houston. Sure, you've heard a lot about Alamo defender Davy Crockett — but have you ever read his final letter? Soon you'll be able to see it in person: The Texas Historical Commission has bought the letter, which was discovered in a file folder last month, for $550,000. Crockett wrote the letter to his children Jan. 9, 1836, shortly after he arrived in Texas and less than two months before he died...

Good morning, Houston. Are you feeling particularly crunk today? Maybe you should be: Crunk is among the words added to Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary this year. Also among the 100 new words are DVR, IED, gray literature and smackdown. But we think we'll get the most use out of crunk, which M-W defines as a style of Southern rap music but which has a variety of definitions in the Urban Dictionary. Which brings us to...

Former Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade is set to stand trial Aug. 10 on charges of misspending millions of dollars in public funds — but the trial's location could be up in the air. According to the AP, Slazde'a attorneys are asking for her trial to be moved to Travis County, saying heavy media coverage in Houston has "created a climate within this community where (Slade) can no longer obtain an unbiased jury of her peers." Prosecutors say they can find 12 unbiased people in Harris County — maybe they should start with the people who not-so-randomly called in to KCOH when Slade commandeered that station's morning show last spring, eh?

So Gov. Rick Perry has appointed five regents to the Texas Southern University board. That leaves four seats open, and though there has been a surge in the number of applicants in the last year, finding people to fill those empty spots won't be easy, as the Chronicle notes today. State records show that fewer than 50 people applied for spots on the TSU board over the past six years, while twice as many applied...

After four hours of deliberation, a jury yesterday sentenced former Texas Southern financial chief Quintin Wiggins to 10 years in prison for misspending nearly $300,000 in university funds on personal expenses for former TSU President Priscilla Slade. That doesn't mean the Wiggins story is over — his lawyer said he plans to appeal — but for now, we can't help but wonder how Wiggins' sentence will affect the outcome of Slade's trial this summer.

Jurors on Thursday found former Texas Southern University CFO Quintin Wiggins guilty of misspending nearly $300,000 in public funds on furniture, landscaping and a security system for the private home of former university President Priscilla Slade. The conviction means Wiggins could face life in prison — and it's probably not too good for Slade, who is scheduled to go on trial in August, either.

The emergency meeting of the remaining Texas Southern University regents Monday morning ended up not panning out after all when only three of nine voting regents attended, meaning the group didn't make quorum — perhaps because Board of Regents Chairwoman Belinda Griffin had submitted the regents' resignations to Gov. Rick Perry on Friday. But if the regents have already resigned, why were they planning to meet yesterday? Add that to the ever-growing list of questions...

Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial of Quintin Wiggins, the former Texas Southern University CFO who is among those indicted on charges of misspending state money at the university — and, not surprisingly, Wiggins' attorney claims that what appeared to be the mishandling of funds was really just Wiggins carrying out orders from his bosses. Wiggins is accused of misdirecting more than $200,000 in public funds toward furniture, landscaping and a home security system...

Well, it looks like we still have a few months before we get to hear why spending millions of dollars in public funds on personal expenses was OK: The trial of ex-Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade, who seems like she'll prove herself the queen of justifying outrageous actions, has been set for Aug. 10.

Looks like ex-TSU Priscilla Slade's spendy ways will continue haunting her for a while: Not only did the TSU regents fire her last month, but today, we found out that a Harris County grand jury has indicted Slade on two counts of criminally misusing university money for her own benefit.

The Texas Southern University regents voted Monday to fire President Priscilla Slade on grounds that she spent nearly $650,000 in the past seven years on expenses not allowed under her contract. The regents had planned to meet May 5 to decide what to do about Slade, but the meeting was moved to yesterday after Slade defied the board's instructions and started her own carefully controlled media campaign.