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Deputy Constable Mark Diebolds new profile picture on Facebook is sure to melt your heart.

It shows the uniformed Texas police officer, looking like a big, friendly giant as he perches on a tiny white chair, enjoying a tiny tea party with a tiny toddler also dressed in blue.

The toddler is Evelyn Hall, a child whom the Tarrant County cop helped deliver at a Texas gas station a year ago, after her mom went into labor while en route to the hospital.

Evelyn celebrated her first birthday party earlier this month and the tea party photoshoot with Diebold was a special part of the celebration an adorable memorialization of the bond between the toddler and the stranger who brought her into the world.

She loved clinking her little tea cup with him, mom Destiny Hall told ABC News of the shoot, whichTexas photographer Cyndi Williamsphotographed. They had a bonding moment there for sure.

Mark Diebold, without a doubt, is one of the most genuine, loving, thoughtful and caring [people] we have ever met, the mom continued. He is quick to think of others and we are so blessed to call him friend and family.

Diebold had been on his way to work on July 18 last year when a car hurtled past him, driving over the speed limit. He told TODAY that he flashed his lights to alert the driver that he was going too fast.

At the next traffic light, the driver Destinys Halls husband, Caleb Hall rolled down his window and explained to Deibold the reason for the speed.

His wifes water just broke, Caleb Hall said. She was about to have a baby.

Minutes later, parked at a gas station, Deibold helped Destiny Hall deliver her baby.Caleb Hall caught the infant and Diebold helped clear the newborns airway.

Mark was like a little kid in a candy shop, high-fiving and celebrating with us! Destiny Hall recalled in an interview with HuffPost last year. He just couldnt stop smiling and was telling us that we just made his month. It was such a wild, weird and wonderful experience.

Local photographer Williams heard was so moved by Evelyns incredible birth story,she reached out to the Hall family to offer them a complimentary newborn session.

As a nod to Diebolds kindness, the family chose to pose the baby with the officers badge and uniform for the shoot.

It was amazing, Diebold told ABC News of the photos. It was heartfelt and it was a big deal. That photo shoot reminded me that [police work] is what I need to keep doing until its my time to stop.

Cyndi Williams Photography

After the recent birthday photo shoot, Williams expressed her amazement at the bond between Diebold and the Hall family.

The officer visited Destiny and Evelyn in the hospital after the birth. And hes stayed in touch with the family ever since.

Officer Diebold, and the Hall family have remained in close contact, the photographer wrote on Facebook. The Hall children even refer to Officer Diebold as Uncle Mark!

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Kind Cop Attends Tiny Tea Party To Celebrate 1st Birthday Of Baby ... - HuffPost

Trey Radel had no misconceptions about what he was getting into. When he came to Washington as a freshman congressman from Floridas 19th District in 2013, he expected the work would be one long grind of committee meetings and fundraising calls.

He knew any change hed be able to make as a fiscal conservative would likely be incremental. His love for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was fierce. (He compared meeting him to a basketball fanatic sitting down with Michael Jordan.)

On this episode of the Candidate Confessional podcast, Radel recalls those early days when Boehner came down to his district to fundraise, when his career seemed about to take off, when Washington still, for him, seemed like a place of opportunity.

And, of course, youll hear how it all came crashing down among cocaine and hubris.

Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Radel lived two lives: one as a tea party congressman and one that existed after-hours. The latter would begin innocently enough. At 5 p.m., hed have some beers. An hour or two later, hed attend a fundraiser and have some cocktails. By 8, hed say goodnight to his fellow members of Congress.

And where I was different and an idiot compared to everybody else in Congress is I would then end up going out with friends that I had made off the Hill that had nothing to do with politics, where I didnt have to be a politician or talk about dumb shit like tax reform or incentives, whatever, Radel explains.And then I started making really bad decisions.

One such decision was to start buying cocaine. Radel didnt last a year in Congress before he was busted by the FBI after making a buy outside a restaurant in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. His fall from grace wasnt as spectacular as that of then-Mayors Marion Barry of D.C. and Rob Ford of Toronto. Unlike those two, his bust wasnt videotaped. Nor did Radel become defiant after the sting.

In fact, Radel hoped no one would notice his bust. But when it did become public, he didnt lie or blame the media, police or anyone else for his troubles.

I was just drinking a lot and obviously making piss-poor decisions, Radel says. And there would be times where after a second espresso, a third espresso in the day where Im like Im dragging a little today, you know, maybe Im not in my 20s anymore, and there are moments where you start thinking like, you know, I havent seen my wife or child in days. My calls to my father began to taper off, and thats when I kinda started taking a look around maybe this is a little out of control. Maybe youre making these dumb decisions. And of course I was. Then it all came crashing down.

Listen to the full episode above.

Candidate Confessional is produced by Zach Young. To listen to this podcast later, download it on Apple Podcasts. While youre there, please rate and review our show. To subscribe, visit the following: Apple Podcasts / Acast / RadioPublic / Google Play / Stitcher / RSS

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How A Tea Party Darling Became Washington's Cautionary Tale - HuffPost

OTTAWA Aggravation is building for two freshman legislators from North Central Illinois.

The La Salle County TEA party on Tuesday hosted Jerry Long (R-Streator), who represents the 76th district that includes parts of La Salle, Bureau and Putnam counties and David Welter (R-Morris), who represents the 75th district that includes the eastern part of La Salle County, at the Pitstick Pavilion in Ottawa. They told attendees what they saw during the budget negotiations at the end of the legislative session.

When we went down there, in our minds, we were thinking budget, budget, budget, Welter said, Instead, he said there was no urgency or discussion the first several months in Springfield to get a budget done.

Long said he felt a similar tone when he first went to Springfield.

When a budget was proposed in July, both representatives voted against it and the included tax hike.

Long said people dont realize that government in Springfield is run by committee, and because Democrats control the legislature they also have all of the committee chairs. It makes it hard for Republicans to get out legislation of their own, he said.

From the clerks office, to committee, to the subcommittee, if they dont like it they can bury it, he said. Long said he filed a complaint once about a piece of legislation he wrote that wasnt being moved through the right committees. He said it got moved to another committee and was buried there.

As state representative I wanted to go down and make a change, Long said. I knew I was going against a wall. I just didnt know the wall was so big.

When they were in Springfield in June for the special session, Welter said his own form of protest was to not vote for anything that wasnt a budget bill.

The two also took questions from the audience, and gave their thoughts on a number of issues.

Long: This is a very strong union district, Thats why Im a shoo-in in this district. Im OK with the unions, but our union people need to wake up and realize that as long as we walk on down the path of having insane policies toward business, were going to chase our jobs right out of here.

Long: A lot of those representatives will find themselves being primaried. They made their decision for whatever reason. I disagree with their decision, but Im not going to pound on them.

Welter: They are going to have to answer to their voters, If you look at most of the Republicans that voted for that bill, they were in areas that were heavily state employees or college towns.

Long: Theyll never vote on it. Its a dead issue.

Welter: There is legislation that would bring Illinois in line with other states.

Long: I would like to consolidate social programs What Id like to do is put them under one roof and cut back on the manpower it takes to run each one of these social programs.

Kevin Solari can be reached at (815) 220-6931 or countyreporter@newstrib.com. Follow him on Twitter @NT_County.

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Local legislators talk to TEA party about their frustrations - LaSalle News Tribune

The IRS has finally agreed to a process for deciding on the last remaining nonprofit application that was snared in the Obama administrations tea party targeting, more than four years after the illegal singling-out of conservative groups for special scrutiny was first revealed.

In court filings this week, the IRS acceded to rules governing how the tax agency will decide whether to grant nonprofit status to the Texas Patriots Tea Party, which has been awaiting a decision for years.

The agreement doesnt mean the group will be approved, but it sets up a process for making a decision.

This does provide a path forward for TPTP, said Edward Greim, a lawyer representing the group, as well as hundreds of other tea party organizations that have banded together in a class-action lawsuit against the IRS. We will be watching the IRS closely to ensure that TPTP does in fact receive fair processing.

Nearly 500 groups applying for tax-exempt status from 2009 to 2013 were subjected to intrusive scrutiny by the IRS based on perceived political activity. Most of those groups came from the conservative side of the spectrum. Investigators said organizations with words such as tea party or patriots were automatically flagged.

Once singled out, groups faced intrusive questions about their political beliefs, their affiliations with fellow tea party organizations, how they came up with their names, and their members political activity and donation histories.

Of the groups targeted, the TPTP is the last one awaiting processing.

Applications for several other groups were processed late last year. One of them, the Tri-City Tea Party, won approval in April, and the Albuquerque Tea Party won approval this month. Albuquerque activists had been waiting more than seven years.

In the case of the TPTP, the sides had been arguing over the latest set of questions from the IRS the third iteration submitted late last year.

Under an agreement submitted to a federal court in Cincinnati this week, the TPTP will submit one final set of answers describing political candidates and educational speakers who have been invited to address the group.

The IRS agreed not to penalize the group for the words tea party in its name. The IRS also vowed not to consider the ideology of the groups members.

The IRS also said it will process the TPTPs application as of 2013, meaning it cannot deny the groups application because of the continuing fight over information.

The agreement was reached on the sidelines of the class-action lawsuit.

Judge Michael R. Barrett renewed his ban last week on release of testimony of Lois G. Lerner and Holly Paz, two former IRS employees who were at the center of the targeting controversy.

Each has been deposed in the lawsuit but complained that the release of their testimony would spark another round of threats to their safety.

Judge Barrett said that only attorneys and a small group of plaintiffs who are sworn to secrecy will have access to the transcripts.

A full trial is slated for February.

Meanwhile, two top House Republicans have asked the Justice Department to reopen a criminal investigation into Ms. Lerner.

The Obama administration cleared her of wrongdoing, saying that instead of being the problem, Ms. Lerner took steps to curtail the targeting when she learned of its full extent.

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IRS finally agrees to clear last tea party case - Washington Times

Excitement was high at the annual Seniors Prom at the Sulphur Springs Senior Citizens Center, themed A Mad Hatters Tea Party. Many who attended dressed in outrageous costumes and had a lot of memorable fun. Al Bass was named Prom King and Odell Tarpley was named Prom Queen. It also happened to be Odells 93rd birthday! Terry Cunningham clowned around the provide the entertainment. Karon Weatherman, director of the Srs Center, organized the event.

Prom King Al Bass and Prom Queen Odell Tarpley

Terry Cunningham, professional clown entertainer

Author: Enola Gay

Has enjoyed working for KSST since 1989. Hosts the Good Morning Show with Enola Gay on weekday mornings from 6-9am, so 'start your day with Enola Gay'! Guest interviews during the Morning Show can also be seen in playback on Cable Channel 18 TV. Along with local country music fan Benny Potter, co-produces 1230 West, a Country and Western Swing radio show which airs weekly on Saturdays from 7-8am and repeats on Thursdays from 7-8pm. Also writes "At the Corral Gate", a column appearing weekly in The Millennium Shopper and in the Lifestyles section of ksstradio.com.

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Senior's Prom was a Mad Hatter's Tea Party - KSST (press release) (registration) (blog)