Texas Begins Setting Up State Gold Depository; Concealed Carry Justice in Chicago

Here’s some of what we’ve been reading today…

AUSTIN, Texas: The Lone Star State is taking bids by firms across the country and around the world to set up a new Texas Bullion Depository, the first state-level facility of its kind and the product of a law passed in 2013, reports The Texas Tribune. Armored car company Brinks says it already has secure depositories in the state that it could make available. Texas Precious Metals proposed to build a 46,000-square-foot “monument to the state,” with 12-inch-thick reinforced concrete walls and a roof designed to “withstand the weight of a Boeing 767.” The paper reports that some companies are “infusing their visions of the new depository with unique political views.”    

Texas Precious Metals predicted the depository could serve as “a unique alternative to the federal monetary system” in the event of a banking crisis.

Toronto-based GoldMoney went so far as to argue in its proposal that Texas “develop a legal strategy to defend its constitutional monetary rights and obligations… Any attempt by the federal government to tax gold bullion within the Texas Bullion Depository would, as is the case with confiscation, effectively nullify Texas’s constitutional monetary obligations.”

Readers commenting on the story took an overwhelmingly jaundiced view of the plan.

Marcus Aguilar: “How about a Texas-branded bitcoin depository. It would take up less space.”

Roy Robertson: “When gold is manufactured by nanotechnology, it will become worth about the same price as lead.” [The Texas Tribune]

CHICAGO, Illinois: Another dispatch from the Second City’s shoot-em-up public safety war zone. A man with a paintball weapon tried to rob a currency exchange in the Gage Park neighborhood this week, grabbing the 13-year-old son of the owner and demanding money, reports The Chicago Tribune. As the boy’s sister working the counter tried to compute what was happening, the would-be robber was then shot dead in a hail of bullets by a customer in the front of the shop with a concealed carry license. The paper reports that it is the fourth time since the state's 2014 carry law took effect that a license holder shot a gunman or attempted to foil a robbery in the metro area. Police reviewed surveillance video and decided the customer acted in self defense. [The Chicago Tribune]

DENVER, Colorado: This revolt has been a decade in the making. Voters in 26 cities and towns across the Centennial State will decide Tuesday whether or not to lift a ban on public-sector Internet projects, reports The Denver Post. For years, the state has protected Internet businesses from local government competition, and broadband access in the state has suffered as a result. Over the past few years, spotty, slow service provided by unresponsive companies Comcast and CenturyLink in Front Range cities like Longmont and Boulder has led frustrated populations to vote to lift the bans and to begin to lay their own fiber-optic networks. Longmont led the way, winning tough battles against industry lobbying and campaign spending. In 2013, Longmont voters approved a $40 million bond measure that has so far seen 17 miles of fiber laid that serves about 20 percent of the city. The city’s NextLight system has been rated among the fastest Internet in the country and has drawn startup and research companies to set up shop in the new lightning-fast information zone. [The Denver Post]

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana: Last-minute campaign mailers threaten to publicly shame city residents for failing to vote, according to IndyStar. “What will your neighbors think,” a mail piece asks in bold letters over the image of a man peering through a set of blinds. Shaming has long been known as an effective technique among get-out-the-vote experts, but it has been rarely used for its likelihood to offend and draw backlash. The Indianapolis mailers are anonymous, but the paper reports that they appear to be sent out by a direct-mail form that contracts with the state Republican Party. The state Democratic Party sent out similar mailers last week.  [IndyStar]

SEATTLE, Washington: The number one complaint from commuters in King County is to report High Occupancy Vehicle lane violations, reports The Seattle Times. So state patrol stepped up enforcement. The effort has resulted in 3,000 additional citations this year and some very funny photos of mannequins and cardboard cut-outs and the like strapped into passenger seats. There have also been macabre tales from hearse and crematorium drivers explaining to officers that they really didn’t feel they were traveling alone. “Last week Trooper Guy Gill tweeted out a picture of a child-sized zombie doll buckled into the front seat of a car by a driver caught in an HOV lane near Tacoma,” reports the paper. “The trooper cited the driver for the HOV violation and also issued a warning for not having the little one in a child seat.” [The Seattle Times]