More babies with bongs

I guess now we'll be seeing more cute photos of babies hitting bongs and smoking weed.

Aww, how sweet.

Parents Busted Over Pot For Tot

Cops: Texas couple gave marijuana bong to their 13-month-old son

From The Smoking Gun

Grapevine--The parents of a 13-month-old Texas boy are facing felony endangerment charges after the child's father allegedly put a marijuana bong on the toddler's lips.

The bong, pictured above, was seized by cops Monday night after they received a tip that Julio Garcia was smoking marijuana in the Grapevine apartment he shares with Brenda Duran, the boy's 19-year-old mother.

A witness told cops that after Garcia--who turned 20 Monday--took several hits from the bong, he placed his son's mouth on the glass device (Garcia also allegedly let the child play with a bowl of pot). Garcia was charged with child endangerment and marijuana possession, according to a Grapevine Police Department report.

Duran was hit with an endangerment rap since she was present in the bedroom where her child handled the bong. The boy was placed in the custody of relatives following the arrest of his parents.

The Undead made me crash!

I don't believe her.  Maybe it was caused by Eclipse fever.

Because a real vampire would have fed on her.  She wouldn't be here to tell the tale.

Hmmm unless he/she/it had already fed.  Okay so maybe there is one.  Buy plenty of garlic and crucifixes folks.

Western Slope woman blames vampire for car crash

KDVR.com -

FRUITA, Colo. - If a Western Slope woman is to be believed, vampires may be lurking in Colorado's Grand Valley.

The woman claims she spotted a vampire in the middle of a dirt road near Fruita, Colo. Sunday night. She told Colorado State Troopers she was startled by the undead being, threw her SUV into reverse, and crashed into a canal.

She was not injured.

State Troopers say the woman's husband arrived at the scene and took her home. The vampire, which was not seen by anyone else, apparently let her get away.

Troopers do not suspect drugs or alcohol to be factors in the crash.

Not a game

"I assassinated the (expletive)!"

Well, that statement by the defendant ought to be the icing on the cake.

We'll see shortly.

Murder defendant admitted 'assasination,' witness says

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News 

On the night before the corpse of Lynnderrick “D” Williams was discovered in a brushy area of a rough Northeast Bexar County neighborhood, Forest Holmes ran into a nearby home panting and sweating, a witness said Tuesday during Holmes' murder trial.

“I asked him, ‘Where's D?'” Michelle DeLapena told jurors, explaining that Holmes responded by sliding a finger across his neck.

“I assassinated the (expletive),” DeLapena recalled him saying.

The rest of the story:

How do you spell relief?

It can't happen soon enough and I sure hope the plan works.

If it doesn't, as I said several weeks ago, its time to blow the well.

Relief well making fast progress

By MONICA HATCHER - Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON — BP's progress drilling a relief well may put it within striking range of the blown out Macondo well in as little as two weeks, independent analysts said Tuesday, stoking hopes that the devastating gulf oil spill could be stopped nearly a month earlier than anticipated.

While BP has not adjusted its early August timetable for completing the first of two relief wells boring toward the Macondo more than two miles beneath the Gulf of Mexico seabed, independent drilling engineers and some energy analysts said the company could be in a position to intercept the damaged well and begin the critical kill operation within 14 days.

“Two weeks might be reasonable,” said Darryl Bourgoyne, director of the petroleum engineering research and technology transfer laboratory at Louisiana State University, though he added the company still has many steps to complete first.

The rest of the story:

If you lose you win!

My co-worker and friend Mel Koehler has lost 78 pounds since the start of the program! 

WTG Mel!!

He's even got me up and walking everyday too at the McKenna gym next to the Children's Museum.

Biggest Loser participants shed 3,156 pounds

By Eric J. Weilbacher - The Herald-Zeitung

More than 200 participants are still going strong in the McKenna New Braunfit Biggest Loser Challenge.

On Tuesday, they met for a celebratory group meeting at the halfway point of the six-month challenge. Though about 50 people have dropped out of the program, so far 3,156 pounds have been lost and 5,961 miles have been walked.

The rest of the story:

Physician heal thyself

Looks like he needs some self-help lessons.

Anger counselor who pulled out gun gets jail

apnews.myway.com

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A former priest and anger-management counselor who pulled a gun in a traffic dispute on two men who happened to be U.S. Marshals has been sentenced to a year in prison. Fifty-seven-year-old Jose Luis Avila of Annandale pleaded guilty earlier this year in U.S. District Court to assaulting a federal officer.

In January, Avila was driving by the marshals near his home. He honked his horn because he believed they were standing in the road. When he thought one of the marshals made an obscene gesture at him, he pulled out a loaded handgun.

The 12-month sentence was in line with what prosecutors had sought. Defense lawyers wanted probation or time served; Avila has been jailed since January.

Avila has also been ordered to undergo anger management.

I'm feeling the breeze

I don't think I would want to be on a plane being piloted by this fellow.

United pilot detained for removing pants in Rio airport

by Associated Press

A United Airlines pilot was briefly detained at the international airport in Rio de Janeiro after lowering his pants during a security screening, police said Saturday.

Pilot Michael D. Slynn, 49, was asked to remove his belt and shoes as part of a routine security screening Friday afternoon. In response, Slynn laughed at security guards and lowered his pants to his ankles, said a police spokesman who was prohibited by departmental rules from giving his name.

Slynn was detained but released shortly afterward and allowed to fly back to Washington, D.C., after signing a document promising to appear before a judge the next time he is in Brazil, the spokesman said.

Calls to United Airlines in Brazil were not immediately returned. When asked for comment, Sarah Massier, a spokeswoman for the Chicago-based company, wrote in an e-mail, “We are investigating the matter.”

Two telephone numbers listed for a Michael Slynn, in California and Florida, respectively, were disconnected or could not take messages Saturday.

Federal Police Chief Rafael Andreatta was quoted by the Internet site of the Brazilian newspaper O Globo as saying the pilot “did not respect security rules and made fun of officers.”

It was not the first time an American pilot has gotten into trouble for allegedly responding inappropriately to Brazil’s airport security measures.

In 2004, American Airlines pilot Dale Robin Hersh was fined $13,000 for allegedly giving the finger as he was being photographed at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. The photograph was among entry requirements for U.S. citizens implemented by Brazil at the time in response to similar rules in the United States.

Police accused Hersh of showing contempt for authorities and took him to a federal courthouse. Hersh agreed to a prosecutor’s offer to pay a fine in exchange for no charges being filed against him.

Guilty plea in murder case

18 years to close this case by a confession.

I wonder why she came forward at this late date?  I agree with the Bexar County D.A.'s office that this would have been a tough case to try especially if the defendant has mental health issues, coupled with the lack of witnesses.

Fired worker pleads guilty in boss' 1992 slaying

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A San Antonio woman with a history of mental illness pleaded guilty Monday to an 18-year-old cold case involving the shooting death of her former boss.

Prosecutors have agreed to seek no more than 20 years in prison for Carmen Hinojosa Najera, 51, who approached police with a confession in 2008. She will be sentenced next month before state District Judge Juanita Vasquez-Gardner.

Police first questioned Najera and her son, Gregorio Najera, then 18, on Feb. 8, 1992 — the same day store manager Darren Holden was found shot to death at the Phillips 66 convenience store on North St. Mary's Street.

The rest of the story:

Testimony begins today

Capital murder trial going on in neighboring Seguin.

The death penalty is not being sought.  The accused is charged with causing the death of 25 day old Kyndra Billig by shaking or tossing her down onto an ottoman.

Trial begins for accused baby killer

From staff reports - The Gazette-Enterprise

SEGUIN — The jury that will decide the fate of accused baby killer Michael League was impaneled Monday, and immediately afterward was told by prosecutors why they should send the suspect to prison for the rest of his life.

Assistant district attorneys Larry Bloomquist and Bill Squires presented their statement at about 4 p.m., opening the trial before Judge W.C. Kirkendall, who is presiding in 2nd 25th Judicial District Court.

Trial resumes at 8:30 a.m. today with opening statements by defense attorneys Gina Jones and Bill Maynard, and then Bloomquist and Squires will begin presenting prosecution witnesses, including Seguin Police Detective Sgt. Curle Price, who is the lead investigator on the case.

Police and prosecutors say League, now 34, became enraged the morning of April 10, 2007, and shook or tossed 25-day-old Kyndra Billig onto an ottoman. She died two days later.

League stands charged with the capital murder of a person under six years of age, although prosecutors have elected not to seek the death penalty in the case.

If League is convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence without parole.

The trial is expected to last two weeks or more.

No Space docking

Is it against Space law?  Who will enforce it?

Where's the Court?  Can I be the first Space Judge?

Yeah I know I'm being silly but its Monday morning. 

Has anyone told Captain James Tiberius Kirk about this ban?

International Space Station sex ban

Commanders do not allow sexual intercourse on the International Space Station, it has been disclosed.
Telegraph.co.uk


"We are a group of professionals," said Alan Poindexter, a NASA commander, during a visit to Tokyo, when asked about the consequences if astronauts boldly went where no others have been.

"We treat each other with respect and we have a great working relationship. Personal relationships are not ... an issue," said a serious-faced Mr Poindexter. "We don't have them and we won't."

Mr Poindexter and his six crew members, including the first Japanese mother in space Naoko Yamazaki, were in Tokyo to talk about their two-week resupply mission to the International Space Station.

The April voyage broke new ground by putting four women in orbit for the first time, with three female crew joining one woman already on the station.

Sexual intercourse in space may appear out of bounds, but astronauts have been known to succumb to earthly passions.

In 2007 former NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak allegedly wore adult diapers when driving hundreds of miles across the United States without bathroom breaks to confront a suspected rival in a romance with a fellow astronaut.

BOOM, shaka lakka lakka..............

I, for one, am very glad we are on top of this situation.  Now we know how much weapons-grade uranium Iran has.

You know, just in case their accounting system fails and they lose a few A-bombs over Israel or here and they don't know how much uranium they have left to restock their inventory.

In case you figure that's not a whole bunch, we ended World War II using two nuclear bombs.

CIA's Panetta:  Iran has enough uranium for 2 bombs

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – CIA Director Leon Panetta says Iran probably has enough low-enriched uranium for two nuclear weapons, but that it likely would take two years to build the bombs.

Panetta also says he is doubtful that recent U.N. penalties will put an end to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He says the penalties could help to weaken Tehran's government by creating serious economic problems. But he adds, "Will it deter them from their ambitions with regards to nuclear capability? Probably not."

The rest of the story:

LOL..... now I r upside dwn.....

He must've been going pretty fast to flip his car over.

And who in the heck was he texting at 3:30 in the morning??  I'm sure it was quite important.

Any one want to bet alcohol also played a part in this?

Parked car hit by texting driver

By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

A man who crashed into a parked car told San Antonio police he was texting while driving on the North Side early Sunday morning.

Nathan Edward Ellis, 22, was driving a black Ford Mustang east in the 300 block of Linda Drive around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, when he struck a parked Honda Accord, according to a police department incident report.

The Mustang rolled over, landing on top of the Honda, police said.

The rest of the story:

A slight disagreement?

Families.

God love 'em.


I'm sure the boyfriend will shortly turn up, dead or alive.

Family argument leads to shooting

By Lisa Carter - Express-News

One man was shot and another was injured during an argument Sunday night that occurred in the 2200 block of East Houston Street.

Police Sgt. Dean Reuter said a man and his daughter were having an argument around 10:30 p.m. when the woman's boyfriend intervened. The boyfriend hit her father in the back of a head with a stick.

The father then pulled a gun and shot four or five rounds into the man's leg, Reuter said. The woman's boyfriend fled the scene and police were looking for him Sunday night.

The rest of the story:

Special delivery foiled

That's weeding out the weed and the rest of the narcotics spectrum.

The problem is there's probably at least 10 more that get through for every one stopped.

Authorities seize $45 million of narcotics in California drug bust

By the CNN Wire Staff


(CNN) -- Authorities in southern California said the strong smell of marijuana helped them discover $45 million worth of drugs in the back of a tractor-trailer they had pulled over for a traffic violation.

Deputies stopped the truck Wednesday morning, then opened the trailer after finding problems with the paperwork for the load, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

An "overwhelming odor" led investigators to about 20 tons of narcotics stashed in pallets in the back of the truck, including about 38,000 pounds of marijuana, 2,700 pounds of cocaine and 67 pounds of methamphetamine, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Sheriff Rod Hoops said Friday night the seizure was one of the largest in the county's history.

The truck's driver, Fernando Luevano, 32, was arrested and charged with possession, transportation and sale of narcotics, authorities said.

Love - nothing

Really, I am surprised he wasn't banned for life.

I mean they probably wouldn't let Amy Winehouse play there and she was just spitting gum.

Tennis star escapes lifetime ban from Wimbledon tournament after being accused of SPITTING at crowd

By Daily Mail Reporter


A tennis player who spat at spectators at Wimbledon has escaped a lifetime ban from the All England Club.
Romanian Victor Hanescu was instead fined a total of 15,000 US dollars (£10,000) by All England Club chiefs for unsportsmanlike conduct and 'not using best efforts' after walking out on his third round clash on Court 18.

Video footage showed the Romanian reacting angrily to comments and jeers from the crowd before quitting his match against German Daniel Brands.

He was fined tonight after a review of the incident by championships' referee Andrew Jarrett and Grand Slam supervisors.

The rest of the story:

One for the road

Maybe he was upset he had just flipped his truck and so, he needed a drink?

He needs to be off the road until he stops drinking period.

Trapped drunk driver opens another beer as awaits rescue

AUCKLAND (Reuters) - A drunk driver trapped after overturning his car cracked open another can of beer while he waited for emergency crews to rescue him, a New Zealand court was told.

Paul Nigel Sneddon, 47, pleaded guilty to careless driving and drunken driving after being nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit in a district court in the city of Palmerston North, the Dominion Post newspaper reported on Wednesday.
 
Police found Sneddon, a former baker, trapped in his overturned Ford Laser on June 1, drinking a can of beer after he failed to take a corner properly and crashed through a wooden barrier, flipping his vehicle.
 
Defense lawyer Peter Young said that when Sneddon found he could not open the doors, "he had nothing else to do at that point, so he had another beer."
 
When asked by police how much he had consumed, Sneddon replied: "Plenty, I've been drinking for four days straight."
 
Sneddon, who is estranged from his wife, told the Wellington- based newspaper that he went on a drinking binge after losing his job at a bakery on the same day that he heard his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
 
Judge Gregory Ross fined him NZ$1,100 (US$780) and disqualified him from driving for 10 months. It was his first offence.

Road rage?

Horse and buggy road rage?

Only explanation I can think of.  Were the motorcyclists acting like jackasses on purpose?

Was the driver of the carriage acting in self-defense?  Why did he start fighting with them?

Carriage driver arrested in stabbing

By Alia Conley - Express-News 

A horse carriage driver was arrested on suspicion of cutting another man downtown Friday night.

Richard Yanas, 46, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on Saturday, and a magistrate judge set his bail at $50,000.

The incident occurred just after 11 p.m., when Yanas and two men on motorcycles were at East Martin and Navarro streets, according to a San Antonio Police Department report.

The rest of the story:

Who ya gonna call?

You can't say enough good things about these 911 dispatchers.

Thank you for what you do.

9-1-1 dispatchers derive satisfaction from saving lives

By Megan Holt - The Herald-Zeitung

As Comal County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher Pauline Cortez scrambled for the phone June 9, she realized the raging flood was worse than she first imagined.

Through broken cell phone reception, the woman on the other end of Cortez’s line was panicking.

The rest of the story:

Bag him and tag him

Bagging a criminal suspect doesn't mean this apparently.

Cop Fired for Putting Paper Bag on Perp's Head

Fort Lauderdale reserve officer let go for incident with spitting trespasser

By BRIAN HAMACHER -NBCMiami.com

A Fort Lauderdale cop is out of a job after he put a paper bag over the head of a spitting mad perp.

Part-time reserve Officer John Wezkiewicz had been with the force 20 years before he was sent home last month, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

The incident that got him fired happened Nov. 1, when a man, Gerald Feldhaus, was arrested outside Yolo Restaurant on Las Olas for trespassing and resisting arrest.

"He was spitting and screaming as he would look and yell at other people," Wezkiewicz told investigators.

The rest of the story:

Six million dollar cat

Wow, cool stuff they can do medically.

They can build him better.

Also I'm proud the first bionic cat is named Oscar.  My father's name was Oscar, Oscar Katz.

Amputee cat gets bionic feet

Yahoo News -

LONDON (AFP) – A cat which lost both back paws after a traumatic accident involving a combine harvester has regained a spring in its step after being fitted with prosthetic limbs.

In a groundbreaking surgery carried out by Noel Fitzpatrick, a Surrey-based veterinary surgeon, the custom-made implants "peg" the ankle to Oscar's foot and mimic the way in which deer antler bone grows through skin.

The prosthetic legs, called intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics (Itaps) were developed by a team from University College London, led by Professor Gordon Blunn.

The rest of the story:

Was the Mom high? Does it even matter?

What the hell??

I would certainly hope the mother is under investigation.

Maybe she needs to sell the baby at Wal-Mart.

Baby bong picture sparks fury

The Sun -

A SHOCKING picture of an 11-month-old baby apparently smoking a BONG has sparked fury after being posted on the web.

The tot is seen sitting on the floor wearing a nappy and putting his mouth to the smoking pipe as if he were using it to inhale marijuana. The baby's unnamed mother, of Jacksonville, Florida, has provoked outrage on online forums.

But she has strenuously denied that she would ever let her child take drugs.

She wrote on Facebook: "I would never ever ever let him get high."

Child protection agencies in Florida said they are investigating the case.

One boy for sale

$25 bucks?  That's pretty cheap, it doesn't even begin to cover the production and delivery costs.  But if you sell in bulk quantities I guess you can take a loss leader on babies to get folks into the store.

Just kidding, folks.  Calm down.

Couple Tried to Sell Baby Outside Walmart for $25: Cops

By JESSICA GREENE -  NBCbayarea.com

Everyone knows you can find just about anything you need for a low price at Walmart -- including baby stuff. But an actual baby? That's not usually part of the deal.

Unless you're desperate for cash and not in the best frame of mind.

That's the case in Salinas, California, where police say a couple tried to sell their 6-month-old baby for $25 outside the doors of a Walmart store. Now they're facing child endangerment charges.
   
Patrick Fousek, 38, and Samantha Tomasini, 20, were arrested Wednesday, hours after Fousek allegedly approached two women outside Walmart and asked if they'd like to purchase his child -- at the bargain price of $25. The women initially thought Fousek was joking, but when he became persistent, they got suspicious and reported it to police, Salinas police spokesman Officer Lalo Villegas said.

The rest of the story:

Child porn defendant sentenced

Don't forget he will serve the full term, 17 1/2 years in the Federal Pen.  If he gets out he will be supervised for the rest of his life.

Man gets 17.5 years in child porn case

By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News 

A 64-year-old man who dodged jail in a molestation case in the 1990s was sentenced to 17.5 years in a federal prison Friday for distributing child pornography.

David Michael Stanson pleaded guilty in April, admitting that he used peer-to-peer computer software to access and distribute more than 3,000 images and 150 videos of child porn over the Internet.

On Aug. 29, 2008, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement served a search warrant at his home and seized four computers and three external hard drives. A forensic analysis of the equipment turned up the child porn.

The rest of the story:

Its a bit of heaven on Earth so please don't drive like hell through it

Many years ago when I was in San Antonio clerking for a law firm for the Summer I discovered the delightful road that is the subject of the article.

What a thing of beauty to drive, I enjoyed the scenery as well as the drive.  Always mindful of its twists and turns.

Later, after moving to the area I would occasionally ride my motorcycle out there or take my children to see to view in my car.

Please be careful folks.  Its beautiful but drive responsibly.

TxDOT looks to make Texas 16 safer

By Tim Sampson - The Daily Times

Local drivers who’ve ever driven from Kerrville to Bandera along Texas 16 know it can be a tricky road to travel. It can be even more dangerous to those coming from outside the area.

That’s why the Texas Department of Transportation is looking to add enhanced safety features along the highway, from Upper Turtle Creek Road to the Bandera County line. A public meeting is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Upper Turtle Creek Volunteer Fire Department, 651 Upper Turtle Creek Road, to discuss the proposed changes and hear suggestions from residents.

“It’s no secret that road can be dangerous, especially if you’ve never traveled it before,” said Mike Boyd, transportation engineer for TxDOT.

In the last 10 years, there have been roughly 65 accidents, Boyd said. That number is unusually high for a rural road traveled as infrequently as the southern portion of Texas 16. The decision to update safety features on the road was prompted particularly by the number of motorcycle accidents that have occurred in recent years.

“About four years ago we saw an uptick in the number of motorcycle accidents as this became a more popular area for out-of-towners to come riding,” he said.

There won’t be any change to the size of the road, which will remain two lanes. Most of the upgrades will be to pavement markings, highway signs and guardrails. Many drainage ditches will have safety rails installed as well. Boyd said the project likely will begin in the winter or spring of 2011 and be completed in about four months. Because many of the upgrades will take place off to the side of the road, Boyd said the interference to drivers should be minimal during that time.

The purpose of the meeting is to answer specific questions from residents and to hear suggestions on parts of the road that could be enhanced for safety during the project.

“These are the folks who drive the road every day,” Boyd said. “They can best tell us how to improve it.”

Use with caution!!

Please be careful with fireworks this Fourth of July.

It has been pretty dry since the rains and flood almost three weeks ago.  All the rain has produced a lot of vegetation which has dried up and is just waiting for something to ignite it.

Of course do not use them within the New Braunfels city limits.

Please explode responsibly!

Anything goes in county, but fireworks are banned in New Braunfels

By Bryan Shettig - The Herald-Zeitung

With no burn ban in effect, there are no restrictions on the kinds of fireworks used in the county — but it’s still against city ordinance to use or even own them in New Braunfels.

It is a misdemeanor to light fireworks inside the city limits, said Lt. John Wells, a New Braunfels Police spokesman.

The rest of the story:

Wishing Mr. Abramoff good luck in his new job

I wonder if my son, Man o' Law Jr., his wife, and the Man o' Law grandchildren ever went to this pizzeria?

Of course it'd be hard to get a meat lover's pizza with extra cheese there.

Abramoff, From Prison to a Pizzeria Job

By MARK LEIBOVICH - New York Times


BALTIMORE — Like any new employee, Jack Abramoff is trying to keep a low profile — or as low a profile as a cause célèbre disgraced lobbyist and convicted felon can keep when news cameramen keep staking out his new workplace.

Mr. Abramoff started his new gig this week at Tov Pizza — “the best kosher pizza in town,” according to a catchy jingle that plays while callers are on hold.

He has so far stayed largely cloistered in a back office. He will work about 40 hours a week, said the owner, Ron Rosenbluth. He comes in around 10:30 a.m., leaves around 5:30 p.m., and wears a yarmulke to work, as many of the male customers and employees here do. He earns between $7.50 and $10 an hour (“or a little less than what he used to make”). He has been responsible, punctual, courteous. “He is not the monster he has been portrayed as,” Mr. Rosenbluth said.

The rest of the story:

Thumper indicted

Thumper ?!!  In jail!!??

In a white supremacist gang?  Okay then.

Exclusive Man o' Law photo!

White supremacist gang suspects indicted

By Guillermo Contreras - Express-News

A federal grand jury in San Antonio on Thursday indicted three men suspected of belonging to a white supremacist gang on racketeering charges related to the killing of one of their own.

The indictment charges purported Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang captain Frank Lavelle “Thumper” Urbish Jr., 38, of Beaumont, and members Jim “Q-Ball” Flint McIntyre, 42, of Houston and Michael Dewayne
“Bucky” Smith, 29, of Houston with murdering and conspiring to murder Mark Davis Byrd Sr. of Pleasanton.

They also are charged with being felons in possession of firearms and with racketeering and using a firearm to commit murder.

The rest of the story:

Battered woman syndrome defense

The trial in this case, if there is one, will be a test of the battered-woman syndrome defense, for sure.


Woman arrested in boyfriend's shooting death
By Guillermo X. Garcia - Express-News 

A San Antonio woman was arrested Thursday and charged with murder in the June 15 shooting death of her boyfriend at the apartment they shared.

Elizabeth Purdey Lutri, 38, was booked into the Bexar County Jail in the shooting death of Paul Stout, 46, that culminated what police said was a domestic dispute at the couple's Knights Peak apartment on the Northwest Side.

Lutri's bail was set at $75,000. A jail official late Thursday said Lutri was set to be released after posting bond.

The rest of the story:

Lose those Summertime blues!

C'mon in the water's fine!

Thanks to all of you whose hard work to clean up the rivers was so successful.

Tubers' delight: Rivers open

The Herald-Zeitung

Rivers and riverside parks in and around New Braunfels officially reopened Thursday. They’d been closed since June 9, when a storm front dumped 12 inches of rain, resulting in heavy flooding in the city.

Does NOT play well with others

Man, what is wrong with these folks?

They themselves wouldn't have passed Kindergarten.

Moms Brawl At Kindergarten Graduation

Puesta Del Sol Elementary Temporarily Put On Lockdown
KCRA.com

VICTORVILLE, Calif. -- Brawling parents interrupted a Southern California kindergarten graduation ceremony.

School officials placed Puesta del Sol Elementary in desert Victorville on lockdown Wednesday morning after a fight broke out among a group of parents.

San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Karen Hunt said witnesses told deputies several mothers were involved in a verbal argument and it got physical in a field near the ceremony.

Several men then jumped into the fray and the incident turned into a brawl. Hunt said arriving deputies didn't see any physical contact.

There were no arrests and no one reported injuries. No children were hurt.

It starts? Or has it never really stopped?

My prediction?

Nothing will come of this.  Nothing will be done.

I am pessimistic.


Group of youths attack Jewish dance group

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER, Associated Press Writer Kirsten Grieshaber, Associated Press Writer – 

BERLIN – A Jewish dance group was attacked with stones by a group of children and teenagers during a performance at a street festival in the Germany city of Hannover, police said Thursday. One dancer suffered a leg injury and the group then canceled their performance.

The teenagers also used a megaphone to shout anti-Semitic slurs during the Saturday afternoon attack, Hannover police spokesman Thorsten Schiewe said.

Police said the incident is under investigation and that they do not have an exact number of attackers yet. Schiewe said there were several Muslim immigrant youths among the attackers.

Two suspects, a 14-year-old and a 19-year-old, were being questioned, he said.

Alla Volodarska, whose Progressive Jewish community of Hannover group held the performance, told The Associated Press in an interview that members were still in shock.

"What happened is just so awful," Volodarska said. "The teenagers started throwing stones the moment our dance group was announced, even before they started dancing."

Volodarska said she did not attend the event herself, but had talked to several members of the eight-person dance group since the incident. She said one dancer, a woman in her forties, was injured by several stones that hit her leg.

"There were many kids throwing stones, many of them, but we don't know the exact number," she said, adding that the community had performed Israeli group dances at many festivals in the past and never experienced this kind of hostility before.
Volodarska said that the festival took place in Sahlkamp, an immigrant neighborhood of Hannover.

Bad doggie, Bad

Doggone it!

His dog license doesn't cover driving.

Personally I think he waited so long to call for help and go to the hospital because he was embarrased to tell then how he got injured.

Or he didn't want to get his dog in trouble.

Man run over by truck after dog puts it in gear 

SA - Express-News

RIDGE MANOR, Fla. (AP) -- A man was reportedly run over by his own truck after his dog put it into gear. The sheriff's office reported that 43-year-old Christopher Bishop was checking under his Ford F-150 for oil leaks Sunday evening. He had put the running truck into neutral and left the driver's door open. While he was under the truck, Bishop's bulldog, Tassey, jumped into the truck and knocked the vehicle into gear. The truck rolled over the left side of Bishop's body.

Bishop managed to get up, stop the vehicle and go into his house. After several hours of pain, Bishop finally called for help.

He was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

 

I can't believe they fought over that

Next thing you know they'll probably be fighting over whether the toilet paper should be placed so it rolls down over the top or rolls up from underneath.

Maybe they should have used the product in the photo.


Cops: Siblings brawl over butter in mac and cheese
SA-Express-News

WATERVILLE, Wash. (AP) -- An argument over butter in a macaroni and cheese recipe churned into violence between a brother and sister. A 21-year-old man called police June 6 to say his 17-year-old sister tried to cut his neck with the serrated edge of a spatula.

The police report said the sister was making macaroni and cheese when her brother asked if she was using butter. That led to an argument over the difference between butter and margarine. And, then butter battle escalated.

The Wenatchee World reported the girl was charged in Douglas County Superior Court with fourth-degree assault.

Not guilty of murder, guilty of criminally negligent homicide

Wow, color me surprised.

From the accounts in the paper I would have thought this would have been a slam-dunk guilty on the murder charge.

I guess it just goes to show you anything could happen when a jury deliberates.  Of course they have had the benefit of seeing and hearing all of the evidence in the case.  Which you and I have not.

Murder charge rejected by jury

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News 

A San Antonio man on trial on a charge of murder after telling police his wife shot herself playing Russian roulette instead was found guilty Wednesday night of criminally negligent homicide.

Richard Thomas Casanova, 48, now faces up to two years in state jail for the Oct. 12, 2006, death of Kimberly Rogers.

If he'd been found guilty of murder, he would have faced up to life in prison.

The rest of the story:

Storm rising for South Padre Rep.

Not a good thing to wake up in the morning to.

We'll wait and see how this turns out for her.  I hope okay for her sake.

South Padre state rep indicted

By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News 

BROWNSVILLE — State Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra is under indictment on suspicion of taking kickbacks to refer her dental patients to a McAllen oral surgeon as part of a multidentist scheme to bilk Medicaid.

Rios Ybarra, 38, D-South Padre Island, surrendered to U.S. marshals in Brownsville on Wednesday morning and was released on $100,000 bail.

Rios Ybarra is charged with three of 22 counts in an indictment partly unsealed Tuesday with the arrest of Dr. Gary Morgan Schwarz two of his office employees; and Rio Grande Valley dentists Willis David Egger, 40, of McAllen; and Reynaldo Casares, 53, of Mission.

The rest of the story:

Rest in Peace Edith Shain

On a sad note.

The woman who is the nurse in this iconic photograph taken on V-J Day in Times Square in 1945 just passed away at the age of 91.

The sailor has never been identified.

God Bless You Edith Shain.

Nurse being kissed in iconic wartime picture dies, aged 91

Edith Shain was photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt in Times Square in 1945 being kissed by a sailor

guardian.co.uk


A nurse who was photographed being kissed in Times Square in New York to celebrate the end of the second world war in 1945 has died, aged 91.

The iconic VJ Day picture of Edith Shain by Alfred Eisenstaedt was published in Life magazine.

The identity of the nurse in the photograph was not known until the late 1970s when Shain wrote to Eisenstaedt to say that she was the woman in the picture. It was taken on 14 August 1945 when she had been working at Doctor's Hospital in New York.

The identity of the sailor who kissed her remains unresolved.

The photograph made its mark on Shain's life, as her subsequent celebrity led to invitations to war-related events such a wreath layings, parades and other memorial ceremonies.

Her son Justin Decker said in a statement: "My mom was always willing take on new challenges, and caring for the World War 2 veterans energised her to take another chance to make a difference."

Shain, who died at her home in Los Angeles on Sunday, leaves three sons, six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Should I stay or should I go?

UPDATED:

General McChrystal out and General Petraeus in.


Previous:

That was an incredible display of poor judgment on the part of General McChrystal and his staff.

That being said I believe for the sake of the boots on the ground the President needs to stay the course and keep General McChrystal on as their Commander.

What President Obama, Gen. Stanley McChrystal will say

www.politico.com

Gen. Stanley McChrystal can save his job as U.S. commander in Afghanistan depending on how his Wednesday morning meeting goes with President Obama, top administration officials tell POLITICO.

Either way, the officials said, there will be a shakeup in the command because of the indiscipline among McChrystal's staff captured by Rolling Stone.


"This is one case where the meeting really matters," a senior aide said. "This is a chance for the president to express his displeasure and gauge whether or not McChrystal gets it.


“And McChrystal will have to make a judgment about whether or not he feels the president has lost confidence in him. And if so, he may be a good soldier and say, 'Sir I just get the sense that there is not full faith in my ability to lead this mission.”


The aide said McChrystal "wants to finish this job — he's just invested so much of his life in this."

McChrystal told Pentagon colleagues and superiors he is prepared to resign but had not submitted a formal letter before landing in Washington, officials said.

The rest of the story:

Justice demands a fair settlement of all the claims

The settlement amounts need to be fair and redress apparently long-term institutional bias and racism in the USDA.

Justice demands it.

Farm settlement offer seen as form of bias

By Elaine Ayala - Express-News

Modesta Rodriguez Salazar struggled to find words to express what she thinks of last month's $1.3 billion offer by the Justice Department to settle two longstanding discrimination lawsuits, filed separately by women and Hispanic farmers, against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“It's very discriminatory and stingy,” she finally said. “It would not even serve as a down payment.”

As her family's 523-acre farm sits untended and under $400,000 of debt, the $50,000 cap the Justice Department seeks for each aggrieved farmer won't make a dent in the Rodriguez Brothers Farm's hopes to start over.

The rest of the story:

Master of science?

The ultimate in an oxymoron would be allowing a Master of Science degree to be "created" for Creationism.

The belief in creationism would be a religion not a science IMHO.

Now, don't you go all hating on me.

Court rules against creationism degree

By Melissa Ludwig - Express-News

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a creationism think tank and school that attempted to force the state of Texas to allow it to offer master's degrees in science education.

In 2008, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rejected the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research's application to offer master's degrees, which taught science from a biblical perspective.

The institute's graduate school sued in 2009, claiming the board violated its constitutional right to free speech and religion.

The rest of the story:

The search for a new chief continues

It appears to me that the City of New Braunfels is casting a wide net in the search for a new police chief.

This can only increase the quality of the applicants which, I believe is a good thing for all concerned.

The applications will be accepted through July 30th.  Good luck!


NB police chief post drawing interest

By Bryan Shettig The Herald-Zeitung 

New Braunfels officials have begun receiving the first applications and resumes for the vacant police chief job and will do so until July 30.

The job listing, posted on several websites late last week, has drawn interest, though the number of applicants so far has not been released, said Julie O’Connell, human resources director for the city.

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Included in the 12 sites advertising the job is the city’s site, as well as the International City Managers Association, the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and the International Association of Women Police, O’Connell said.

The rest of the story: