There was a scheduling conflict, so a certain McLennan County rancher will not show up on Monday in Waco, Texas, for jury duty after all.
"The president has other commitments," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
No problem, said Judge Ralph Strother of the state District Court, though US President George W. Bush's name had popped up on a random list of Texans summoned for jury service. Strother said he had now given Bush, who owns a 640 hectare ranch outside Crawford, a choice of six other dates from next month to June next year.
Does Strother expect him to show up?
Why, yes, the judge said, the White House assured him that "the president considers it an important civic responsibility and duty."
And, he said he was told, "the president didn't want to be treated differently than anybody else."
But to actually sit on a jury and hear a murder case, say, or perhaps just a civil suit?
"I'd be a little surprised," the judge admitted.
Would he ever lock up the president for being a no-show?
"It didn't cross my mind," said the judge, a Republican who has won two elections to the bench since first being appointed in 1999 by Bush, who was then governor.
Has a celebrity ever sat on one of his juries?
"Not anybody of that magnitude that I recall," Strother said. "And I think I would recall."
Asked about the jury summons, McClellan said at the daily White House briefing that the document had not actually been received by Bush but that news accounts of his name's coming up had prompted the White House to call the judge to reschedule.
It seems to be the first family's time. Just a month ago, Strother said, one of the president's daughters, Barbara, turned up on the jury list and also needed a postponement. Then, he said, on Thursday morning he was glancing at next week's list of 600 jury panelists and did a double take.
"Can you believe this?" he recalled exclaiming. "Now the president's name is on there."
Karen Matkin, the district clerk in Waco, said 27,600 people were randomly selected for service in the county every year from about 150,000 voters and licensed drivers.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA
COMMITTED: Lai said that Taiwan deeply appreciated the leaders’ statement, adding that the nation would remain steadfast in working to advance regional peace and prosperity US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait in a joint statement issued after they met in Washington for their first official meeting. Trump and Ishiba “affirmed their determination to pursue a new golden age for US-Japan relations that upholds a free and open Indo-Pacific and brings peace and prosperity to a violent and disorderly world,” the US-Japan Joint Leaders’ Statement said. “The two leaders emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the
RSS