Jailhouse ministry

Perhaps he can minister to the other prisoners.


Jury orders 15-year sentence for DWI death
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A church deacon from Schertz who killed a pedestrian last year while driving drunk was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison.

Jurors in the 227th state District Court also decided Gregory Everett Mitchell, who they found guilty Thursday, used his SUV as a deadly weapon. That means he will have to serve at least half the sentence before he can apply for parole.

Ryan Bettcher, 29, also of Schertz, was walking to a friend's house along Airline Boulevard in Universal City in May 2011 when he was hit by Mitchell, 49, who authorities said swerved about 15 feet off the road.

The rest of the story:

Operation Polar Bexar: Chilling folks out

Hello!

I am back from hand surgery and trying out typing again.  Let's see if I can get through a couple today.


64 nabbed in 9-hour prostitution ring
By Ana Ley - Express-News

Sixty-two men and two women were arrested on suspicion of soliciting prostitution during a nine-hour undercover sting on the West Side using female detectives.

That's more than seven arrests an hour.

“Operation Polar Bexar” was carried out Sept. 21 by 30 officers with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, the Homeland Security Department and the San Antonio Police Department.

The rest of the story:

Surgery on hand coming up on Wednesday

Dear Readers;

Some of you may have noticed a reduction in my postings recently.  This is in no small part due to the fact that I have developed a rather severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand.  Typing is excruciating and using a mouse pretty near just as bad.

It is so severe that I am having surgery on Wednesday, September 26th.  I do not know how long it will be until I am back up to full speed.  I will experiment with using a voice recognition program so we shall see.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely;

Man o' Law (a/k/a Sam Katz)

Over $2.5 Million in fraudulent claims

This is just amazing that they were doing this.

Its just as amazing that they got caught.


Ambulance service administrators face federal charges
By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News

Two long-time ambulance service administrators in Medina County were arrested Friday, along with a billing firm's owner, on federal charges of health care fraud, conspiracy and theft.

Mike W. Farris and Sherry J. Trouten are accused of corruptly using their positions at Medina Valley EMS in Castroville and Community EMS in Hondo to secretly divert service calls to Tejas Ambulance, which Farris established in 2011.

Since Tejas was not authorized initially to seek Texas Medicaid or federal Medicare reimbursements, the indictment says, Trouten and Farris corruptly used the credentials of Community EMS and Medina Valley EMS to fraudulently obtain government reimbursement for Tejas runs and for services never provided.

The rest of the story:

Doing the courtroom shuffle

Quite an undertaking but it does make sense to house all of the criminal courts in the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center because it was designed to handle and secure criminal defendants, including jail cells and secure elevators.


Courthouse shuffle suddenly on hold
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A major reorganization at the Bexar County Courthouse is near completion and will move all criminal courts from the century-old structure to a neighboring building.

The $11 million shuffle involves relocating all remaining criminal state district courts and county courts-at-law to the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center.

The massive move, involving eight courtrooms that will reside on the recently renovated fourth floor of the justice center, initially was slated to take place later this week. The final step was signaled by moving bins stacked in back offices throughout the two buildings last week.

The rest of the story:

The devil he says!

I am thinking that Governor Perry is acting more strangely these days  particularly when he calls for an end to separation of church and state.


Perry says Satan exists and that sky-high tuition rates shouldn't
By Peggy Fikac - Express-News

AUSTIN —Satan, the state budget and tuition rates were fair game Friday night when Gov. Rick Perry sat down for an interview with the Texas Tribune's Evan Smith.

The interview on the opening night of the Texas Tribune Festival on the University of Texas campus opened with the devil.

“Let me go on the record as saying, I believe in Satan,” Perry said when Smith asked about recent comments that Satan is spreading untruths in the world. “If you don't want to think there is forces of darkness and spirits and spiritual warfare, that's your call.”

The rest of the story:

This is the fault of the burglar NOT the police

Add felony murder to the list of charges.


Another SAPD chase ends with a fatal crash
By Michelle Casady - Express-News

A man was killed and a woman was seriously injured Friday night after a home robbery on the South Side led to a police chase that ended in a crash, officers said.

It was the second time this week that a pursuit police called by the book ended in a fatality.

Chief William McManus said the incident began about 7:30 p.m. when an armed man attempted to burglarize a home in the 5100 block of Sagamore Drive.

The rest of the story:

Photo play puts him away

Putting out the trash.

Bye!



NB man gets 30 years for child porn
New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung staff
 
NEW BRAUNFELS — A New Braunfels man was sentenced to 30 years in prison recently for distributing child pornography, according to the U.S. District Clerk’s office in San Antonio.

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia passed sentence Thursday morning on Charles Leroy Earl, 65, said a clerk at the U.S. District Clerk’s office. The clerk said Garcia also ordered that Earl receive no parole and submit to supervised release for the rest of his life after he leaves prison, the San Antonio Express-News reported on Friday.

Earl was a police officer in Reno, Nev., for nine years until he was convicted there in 1985 of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old, one of three teens he was accused at the time of sexually assaulting. He served 12 years.

The rest of the story:

Dear Reader

Posting Later

I am at a Conference/Seminar in South Padre Island and will have to post later as I am running out the door to go to class.

I will catch up with y'all later today or tomorrow after I get home.

Sincerely

Man o' Law

Shocking? . . . Not so much

Why I'm shocked;  s. h. o. c. k. e. d.!!

Not really.

She's a walking and driving clusterfark.

Lindsey Lohan Arrested allegedly fled scene of accident

TMZ -

Lindsay Lohan was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident early this morning after allegedly clipping a pedestrian in downtown Manhattan ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Lindsay was pulling in to park her Porsche Cayenne near the Dream Hotel in downtown NYC when -- at a very low speed -- she allegedly hit the knee of a 30-something year old guy. That was around shortly after midnight.

We're told one of Lindsay's passengers in the SUV got out and checked the vehicle for damage, and then LiLo and co. went inside the hotel.

The rest of the story:

Hulk road rage

Folks do stupid shit on the road and other folks react stupidly.

Cool it.

Raging 'Hulk guy' terrifies women in car

By Greg Anglin - Express-News

You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

Police in the Seattle suburb of Mukilteo are looking for a tall, muscular man who, in a fit of road rage Sunday evening, ripped the spoiler off a car with two women inside. He then used it like a bat to bash the car before tossing it through the back window as the women drove off.

“We thought he was going to kill us. He was so freakishly angry and upset over what, we couldn’t understand why,” Emily Lawson, 34, told KING-TV.

The rest of the story:

Another casualty of the approaching Health Care cliff?

Its happening, my friends.

Scooter store cuts 220 workers

By Patrick Danner - Express-News

The tumult continues at New Braunfels-based The Scooter Store.

In a statement Tuesday, the provider of scooters, power chairs and other medical equipment said it terminated 220 people employed in all parts of its business.

The cuts represent slightly less the 10 percent of The Scooter Store's workforce, which now numbers about 2,100. About 1,400 currently work at its headquarters, company spokesman Tim Zipp said.

The rest of the story:

Alleged improper relationship in New Braunfels

He's looking at a range of punishment between 2-20 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000.

Sneed turns self in

By Dalondo Moultrie - Herald-Zeitung


NEW BRAUNFELS — After being wanted by police several days for allegedly having had a sexual relationship with one of his female players, a former New Braunfels Christian Academy basketball coach turned himself in to authorities Tuesday.

According to a New Braunfels Police Department news release, Leon Eugene Sneed, 44, of San Antonio, showed up about 2:50 p.m. Tuesday at Bexar County Jail in San Antonio to be arrested on a warrant out of New Braunfels.

Sneed had been a wanted man since Friday, when he failed to turn himself in to NBPD detectives as agreed. He faces one count of improper relationship between an educator and a student-sexual contact.

The rest of the story:

Juvenile imprisoned for life? or Not?

This kid never stood a chance did he?

At what point do we, as society, throw in the towel?

He murdered his 2-year old half-brother and sexually abused his 5-year old half-brother.

Work with him more?  or Lock him up for the rest of his life?


Police:  Fla. boy, 13, killed 2-year old brother
Associated Press -

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A decade before he was charged with murder, a 2-year-old Cristian Fernandez was found naked and dirty, wandering a South Florida street. The grandmother taking care of him had holed up with cocaine in a messy motel room, while his 14-year-old mother was nowhere to be found.

His life had been punctuated with violence since he was conceived, an act that resulted in a sexual assault conviction against his father. Fernandez' life got worse from there: He was sexually assaulted by a cousin and beaten by his stepfather, who committed suicide before police investigating the beating arrived.

The boy learned to squelch his feelings, once telling a counselor: "You got to suck up feelings and get over it."

The rest of the story:

Jeeze Louise!!

Man!

What the hell?!!

Is everyone driving crazy or what?


Two killed when car crashes into house, ignites blaze
By Hollie O'Connor - Express-News

Two people were found dead early Sunday after a car crashed into a Northwest Side home and set off a fire that apparently was fueled by leaking natural gas.

The crash occurred a few blocks north of Ingram Park Mall in the 4200 block of Timberhill Drive around 2:30 a.m., said Matthew Porter, San Antonio Police Department spokesman.

Bodies of the vehicle's driver and an occupant of the home were found in the charred rubble, officials said. Video of the still-burning crash scene indicated a natural gas line in the house had ruptured.

The rest of the story:

Flatter than a pancake

Man, he must've really, R. E. A. L. L. Y.  pissed her off.


Woman charged with killing man with her car
By Hollie O'Connor - Express-News

A woman has been arrested after police said she intentionally ran over and killed a man Saturday night.

Jillian Johnson, 31, allegedly argued and physically fought with the man in the 300 block of Bellinger Street, said Matthew Porter, San Antonio Police Department spokesman. At some point, Johnson struck the man and dragged him with her vehicle, Porter said.

The man was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center, where he died from his injuries shortly after.

The rest of the story:

Justice .... Finally

Rest in Peace little Maria Ridulph.

Justice has finally been served in your case.

Guilty! Former police officer, 72, convicted of the abduction and murder of 7-year-old 'Pretty Maria' after 55 YEARS . . . the longest cold case in history

By: Daily Mail Reporter

A former police officer was today finally found guilty of the abduction and murder of a seven-year-old girl 55 years ago. 

The conviction of Jack McCullough, 72, represents the longest cold case in history after a DNA breakthrough placed him at the scene of the abduction of Maria Ridulph in 1957.

Maria's mother died without seeing justice for her daughter's slaying - a case that caused so much of a national outcry that President Eisenhower and FBI director J Edgar Hoover demanded daily updates.

McCullough, 18 at the time, was initially considered a suspect when the young girl's decomposed remains were found a year after she disappeared. But he had been ruled out thanks to a fabricated alibi, and thought he had got away with the terrible crime for most of his life.

The rest of the story:

The Genie is out of the bottle

Will the lawsuit stop the Internet?

I doubt it.

Its unfortunate but it happened.  Maybe it will stop the paparazzi in the future?

Nah.

But I bet France won't be getting a Christmas Card from the Queen this year.


Palace:  Lawyers seek injunction over topless photos
By Jill Lawless - Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for Britain's royal family will go to court in France on Monday in a bid to stop further publication in that country of topless photos of William's wife Kate, the prince's office said Sunday.

St. James's Palace says lawyers will seek an injunction against Italian media group Mondadori, which publishes France's Closer and Italy's Chi gossip magazines.

The palace also will seek damages from the publisher, which is owned by former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

The rest of the story:

BOLO (Be On the Look-Out) for Terry Jackson

Seems a bit old to be running around stabbing people; but there it is.

If you have any information about the case please call the SAPD Homicide Unit at 207-7635 or use the Crime Tips button on the department's Facebook page.


Police identify murder suspect
By Michelle Casady - Express-News


San Antonio police have issued a murder warrant for Terry Jackson, 59, in connection with the stabbing death of a man on the Southeast Side early Saturday.

Police said a man, who had not been identified pending notification of his family, was dropping off his girlfriend at her Rigsby Avenue home just after 2 a.m. when Jackson approached them and stabbed the man.

The man was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center, where he died.

The rest of the story:

There's a new (Juvenile) Sheriff in town!!

Good luck Sir!

You have a lot of work ahead of you.


New Juvenile Justice Director isn't kidding around
By Peggy Fikac - Express-News

AUSTIN — There's a new sheriff at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and his shakeup of the troubled agency only has begun.

Executive Director Michael Griffiths marked his first day at the agency Monday by removing two top managers.

He chased that with a management reorganization that eliminated two more positions and anticipates annual savings of $373,000.

The rest of the story:

All a horrible mistake?

Wow.

This may have some pretty far-reaching implications for all involved in law enforcement, the prosecution, the defense attorneys and the Judiciary as well.

If they are truly innocent this has been a horrible thing for them to go through.


Woman recants accusation of sex assault
In 1994, four women were accused of sex assault.  Now a witness has recanted.
By Michelle Mondo - Express-News


Sitting in the prison where she's spent nearly half of her life, Elizabeth Ramirez is stunned by the words that could help exonerate her and three friends of the sexual assault of her two nieces, a crime she said she couldn't fathom let alone commit.

It never happened, one niece now says of the debauched, orgy-like nightmare that she and her older
sister described to San Antonio police in 1994 when they were 7 and 9.

“I want my aunt and her friends out of prison,” Stephanie, 25, said by phone last week. “Whatever it takes to get them out I'm going to do. I can't live my life knowing that four women are sleeping in a cage because of me.”

Sixteen years into a 37½-year sentence, Ramirez prayed for such a turn of events.

While Stephanie's recantation may not ultimately lead to the legal exoneration the women are fighting to win, it's closer to vindication.

The rest of the story:

Bad, don't make fun of Islam, anyone or anything else, OK?

So much for First Amendment Rights, eh?

Get yourself investigated if you do something this Administration believes may cause "problems" like Muslim protests against the American "Satan".


LA Sheriff: Feds interview Calif. filmmaker 
Associated Press -

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Southern California filmmaker linked to an anti-Islamic movie inflaming protests across the Middle East was interviewed by federal probation officers at a Los Angeles sheriff's station but was not arrested or detained, authorities said early Saturday.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was interviewed at the station in his hometown of Cerritos, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Don Walker said.

Federal officials have said they were investigating the activities of Nakoula, who has been convicted of financial crimes. If the probation department determines Nakoula violated terms of his release, a judge could send him back to prison.

The rest of the story:

Bye! See you in 61 years

Good verdict and sentence for this hooligan.


Jury orders 61-year sentence for rock assault
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

Jurors this week appeared to want to send a message to aggravated assault defendant Ralph Jerome Clemons, who used a large rock last summer to bash in the head of a disabled veteran holding a puppy.

Randolph Tidwell was 61 at the time Clemons sent him into a coma as he walked down the street of an East Side neighborhood. After quickly finding Clemons guilty, jurors ordered him to serve 61 years and pay a $6,100 fine.

Clemons, 35, had no apparent motive for attacking the man, prosecutors Wendi Wilson-Ortiz and Daryl Harris said during the three-day trial. Tidwell's injuries were so severe that he was taken off life support, they said.

The rest of the story:

He was on a four day binge of boooze and drugs and fired at the officers who came into the room.

He chose poorly.


Girlfriend: Man killed by cops was on a 4-day binge
By Ana Ley - Express-News

Trish Gray said she just wanted to help her boyfriend.

She said she'd watched over him during a four-day drug and alcohol binge at a Northeast Side motel room that ended early Friday when he was killed by two officers he engaged in a shootout.

“He just needed help,” Gray said of the man, who she declined to name. “I couldn't give it to him.”

The rest of the story:

Open war on law Enforcement?

I knew Sgt. Vann.  We lost a good man and Sheriff's Deputy when he was murdered.

Be safe out there officers.


Killings of cops fueling concerns
By Dan Freeman - Express-News

WASHINGTON — It was after 2 a.m. and he was on his way to a nonemergency call when Sgt. Kenneth Gary Vann of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office stopped at an East Side intersection in May 2011.

Seconds later, a man who friends would later say had been drinking and taking anti-depressants pulled next to Vann's car and opened fire.

Vann was hit multiple times with rounds from a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 .223-caliber rifle.

The rest of the story:

Incompetent fools if true

Boy, I sure hope this isn't true.

We're busy feeling up folks getting on planes but ignore this?

And yet somehow these fools are getting a pass on this?

Revealed:  Inside story of U.S. envoy's assassination

Exclusive: America 'was warned of embassy attack but did nothing'

The Independent.co.uk -

The killings of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff were likely to have been the result of a serious and continuing security breach, The Independent can reveal.


American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential.

The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the "safe house" in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed "safe".

The rest of the story:

God, another angel is their way to you

So very sad.

My heartfelt condolences go out to her grieving family and friends.  May she rest in Peace.

As for the alleged murderer; certify him to stand trial as an adult.

If he did this; may he eventually rot in Hell.


Teen accused of murder seemed confused
By Eva Ruth Moravec and Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje - Express-News

A schoolteacher for 20 years, Adriana Carrillo Terry was determined to help disadvantaged students get high school diplomas, which she saw as a key to succeeding in life.

She helped everyone she could, often sheltering relatives or friends who needed care and comfort. On Wednesday, Terry, 63, planned to leave San Antonio for her hometown of Benavides, where she was to join a charter school.

But before she could leave town, she was killed. Police blame someone she'd taken in and cared for since he was an infant — Isaac Rodriguez, 16.

The rest of the story:

Steals from Uncle

Pretty pathetic nephew.


Nephew accused of pawning ex-Spur's rings
By Ana Ley - Express-News

A nephew of former Spurs point guard Johnny Moore is accused of stealing his 1999 and 2003 championship rings and pawning them at a fraction of their value.

The rings were stolen from his North Side home in July, along with a University of Texas ring.

The three pieces had a total estimated value of more than $33,000, police said.

The rest of the story:

Compass Bank employee loses her moral compass

Screwed up his life and the life of his otherwise duped girlfriend who loved him at her own peril and did some pretty stupid things.


San Antonio man guilty in bank fraud
By Guillermo Contreas

An ex-boyfriend of a former Compass Bank employee pleaded guilty Thursday to bank fraud for coercing the woman to embezzle $97,000 for him.

Anthony Regalado, 29, of San Antonio admitted he duped Angela Salinas, 20, to take the money because of her connection to the bank. Salinas pleaded guilty in January to bank fraud.

Their plea deals said Salinas was a teller for BBVA Compass Bank in Alamo, in the Rio Grande Valley, from July 2009 through August 2010. Salinas then went to work for Atento, which provided contract employees for Compass Bank.

The rest of the story:

Beware stray bulletts fired by some (probably drunken) yahoo

Be careful out there!


8-year-old boy hit by stray bullet
By Ana Ley - Express-News

An 8-year-old Wilson County boy hit by a stray bullet was the first of three people accidentally shot in the San Antonio area in as many days.

Sheriff Joe Tackitt said the child was walking to his home's garage on County Road 101 near County Road 102 when he was struck in the right calf about 1:15 p.m. Sunday.

The bullet apparently was fired by someone shooting at a road sign, Tackitt said.

The rest of the story:

Are you fricking kidding me!!??

Well I guess in this "post-racial" modern new world; everything is now somehow racist.

Why, you may even be a racist because you are reading this.


Portland principal claims PB&J sandwiches could be racist
Verenice Gutierrez seems to believe there are racial connotations associated with America's treasured sandwich. 
WOAI.com -
 
Billy Hallowell) -- Are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches racist? A bizarre question, to say the least, but one that at least one school administrator is asking out in Portland, Oregon. Verenice Gutierrez, principal at Harvey Scott K-8 School, seems to believe that there are racial connotations associated with the common lunch-time meal.

According to Gutierrez, using the example of a peanut butter sandwich in classroom lessons is technically a problematic and discriminatory move — one that was made by a teacher in her building last school year. While such a notion may bring out laughs among those who find it absurd, the principal explains her logic.

“What about Somali or Hispanic students, who might not eat sandwiches?,” she said. “Another way would be to say: ‘Americans eat peanut butter and jelly, do you have anything like that?’ Let them tell you. Maybe they eat torta. Or pita.”

The rest of the story:

Afternoon excitement

Thank you alert citizens who kept track of the fleeing suspect who had crashed his vehicle subsequent to having hit the victim's car.

He fled on foot and was captured by the NBPD.


Car chase ends in suspect's capture
By Dalondo Moultrie New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
 
NEW BRAUNFELS — After a short search, police arrested a man suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run crash Wednesday afternoon near Morningside Elementary School in New Braunfels, authorities said.

The man crashed a sport utility vehicle into a car driven by a woman and ran away. With help from onlookers, police found the man and arrested him, a New Braunfels Police Department spokesman said.

A fire department official said the woman was not hurt in the crash.

The rest of the story:

No hope and no change

There you go!

$9 a gallon gasoline.

Happy yet?

Yes, I know its a protest but you just wait.


$9 a gallon for gas in NJ and NY

MYFOXNY.COM - 

If you had sticker shock at $4 a gallon for gas, get ready for $9 gas.

Several LukOil franchise owners raised their prices to more than $8 a gallon on Wednesday to protest what they say is the company's unjustified pricing policies.

They complain that they have to pay up to $.20 a gallon more than other station owners and can't be competitive.

The rest of the story:

Nuclear Iran? Big deal, I'm gonna to be on Letterman!

No time to visit with the Israeli Prime Minister I must go on Letterman.

Oh and send me more money for my re-election too.

President Barack Obama will be visiting one of his biggest fans soon - late night talker David Letterman.

Brietbart -

The president will chat with the "Late Show" host during a trip to New York City next week, according to the National Journal. Letterman's nightly monologues mostly spare the president from satirical ribbing, saving his most cutting remarks for the Romneys ... or even former President George W. Bush.

The news comes on the same day Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he couldn't meet with him due to a scheduling conflict.

The interview will be the second Obama has had with Letterman since the comic made a crude, demeaning joke about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's daughter.

Letterman later apologized.

Mr. President your 3 A.M. phone call is here

Mr. President?

Wake-up Mr. President.

Your 3 a.m. call has just arrived.

No sir, Mr. President; wake up you can't go back to sleep!  Do your job.

Our Embassies attacked in Egypt and Libya.  Our Ambassador to Libya and 3 other consulate workers are murdered.  Our President apologizes and we're still getting ready to send Billions of dollars in aid and weapons to these countries? 

Really?  President Obama?  Four more years??  I most respectfully President Obama, tell you to go eff yourself.

U.S. ambassador to Libya killed in Benghazi attack
By Tamim Elyan and Omar al-Mosmari - Reuters


(Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on their car, a Libyan official said, as they were rushed from a consular building stormed by militants denouncing a U.S.-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammad.

Gunmen had attacked and burned the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, a center of last year's uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, late on Tuesday evening, killing one U.S. consular official. The building was evacuated.

The Libyan official said the ambassador, Christopher Stevens, was being driven from the consulate building to a safer location when gunmen opened fire.

The rest of the story:

Remember the 11th of September!

Comal County remembers and will not forget what happened on the 11th of September.g

My daughter's school, Norwich University, honors the victims of September 11th by placing one flag for each victim in the Upper Parade grounds and then stands sentries and take turns doing guard walks for 24 hours.  The ceremonies end with the entire Corps of Cadets turning out last night for the shadow taps ceremony.

The picture below the piper was taken by a cadet of the field of flags.

Do not ever forget.

Ever.

Meanwhile our embassies are attacked and our Ambassador is murdered and our President's response was to apologize.

Comal County joins country in remembering terrorist attacks
By Dalondo Moultrie New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
 
NEW BRAUNFELS — The years move on and sometimes so do our attention spans.

Memorials commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, PA., — where hijacked jet planes crashed killing thousands of people in the worst terrorist attack in United States history — seem to be growing less numerous than in years past. The day might be becoming less and less prevalent in our minds, though no less significant in our hearts.

Local events in Comal County signaled that the day remains important.

The end of this sad tale?

Will this be the end of this long and arduous tale of deceit and theft?

I'm sorry Michele that it ended this way for you.


Lawyer agrees to plea in embezzlement case
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A San Antonio attorney who has seen the inside of a jail cell multiple times in the four years since she was accused of embezzling roughly $500,000 in inheritance money from her grandmother opted Monday to forgo a felony trial — instead pleading no contest to misapplication of fiduciary property.

Under terms of the plea agreement, Michelle Lorenz Valicek, 54, could face up to 20 years in prison instead of up to life when she is sentenced in November before visiting Judge George Godwin. Her father, who inherited the money after Valicek's grandmother, 97, died last year, has agreed not to seek restitution.

Margaret Lorenz, a retired ballet instructor diagnosed with Alzheimer's, was determined by a probate court in 2006 to be the sole heir to her reclusive, childless nephew's fortune. Robert Bonner had amassed an estimated $2.38 million before he died without a will in 2005.

The rest of the story:

She lit him up alright

Damn!  Woman.

That's some cold-hearted shit there alright.

I predict the defense will be that the husband was a wife-beating monster or whatever.


Austin man dies of burns; wife accused of torching
Express-News -

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A 29-year-old Austin man whom police say was set on fire by his wife last April has died of his burns.

The Bexar (BAYR) County medical examiner's office has ruled Bimal Patel's death at San Antonio Military Medical Center on Saturday a homicide. He had been in the hospital's burn unit since April 17, when Austin police responding to a reported domestic disturbance found him severely burned on his apartment floor.

His 25-year-old wife, Shriya Biman Patel, has remained in Travis County Jail in Austin on arson and aggravated assault counts since. Bond remains $1 million with a charge upgrade expected.

Investigators had said the woman lured her husband into a bathtub with the promise of a massage. Instead, they say she poured gasoline on him and set him afire.

WTH was she thinking?

Well look at the bright side of this story.

She is a former  school board President and not the current school board president.


Former Poteet school board member held in booze bash
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

POTEET — A former school board president was arrested Monday on allegations she provided alcohol to minors at her daughter's 16th birthday party, Poteet police said.

Bonnie Lynn Horn-Guerra, 41, was released from the Atascosa County Jail on Monday evening after posting $8,000 bail on one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor. Poteet police said she could face further counts of the charge, a misdemeanor, stemming from a party she threw Saturday night.

Police Sgt. Luis Farias said he and three other officers cited 28 teens between the ages of 14 and 19 when they broke up the party, which took place at Horn-Guerra's home in the 400 block of West Fourth Street.

The rest of the story:

Forever Remember September 11

We cannot, we must not, forget.


Father's note changes family's 9/11 account
By John Breunig - Stamford Advocate

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The note is just five words and two numbers.

Randy Scott scrawled these five words and two numbers on a piece of paper on Sept. 11, 2001, while at work at Euro Brokers Inc. in the World Trade Center.

But if a picture is worth a thousand words, these five words and two numbers have changed the picture completely for Scott's family. Family members refer to it simply as "the note." The note that floated from the 84th floor of Two World Trade Center to chaotic streets below, and was tenderly preserved as it traveled from hand to hand and through time to reach them.

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VP Joe a/k/a "Easy Rider"

Really Joe?  Really?


Joe Biden and the Bikers
Associated Press -

SEAMAN, Ohio — Vice President Joe Biden was looking to cozy up with voters as he toured Ohio this weekend, but he did not imagine that an Ohio woman would nearly end up in his lap.

Biden was chatting up customers in the Cruisers Diner in southern Ohio Sunday when he met a group of motorcycle riders in black leather vests and bandanas.

A female group member was watching, and Biden waved her over, telling her, “I know who runs the show.”

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Fire the lot of them and hire new teachers

Really?

They're turning down 9% raises over the next 4 years?

Who gets that kind of guarantees these days and they still want more?


Chicago teachers strike for first time in 25 years; contingency sites ready; charter schools remain open
BY ROSALIND ROSSI  and LAUREN FITZPATRICK Staff Reporters- Chicago Sun-Tmes

Chicago teachers began walking the picket line for the first time in 25 years Monday morning, leaving parents to scramble for alternatives for their children.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel quickly blasted the strike announcement Sunday as “a strike of choice.” He repeatedly declared: “My team is available now.”

The first pickets appeared outside Chicago Public School headquarters at 125 S. Clark early Monday, and more were expected outside schools throughout the city.

“Negotiations have been intense but productive, however we have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike,” Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said at a dramatic 10 p.m. Sunday press conference. “Real school will not be open [Monday]. ... No CTU member will be inside our schools. 

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My next ride?

Well, isn't this just wonderful news.

Someone is running around shooting people on the highways of San Antonio.

I don't care whether they knew him or not; they still shot someone who was driving on the highway.

So, I gotta get me one of those!


Gunshot victim found after wreck on I-10
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

A gunshot victim is recovering after he crashed on north of downtown early Sunday, officials said.

Around 1 a.m., Martin Trujillo, 44, was found after he collided with a concrete barricade on Interstate 10 near Fresno Drive, according to San Antonio police.

Trujillo had been shot in the lower back, and told police he was shot while driving down the highway.

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Payback?

I guess he'll be eating a wee bit better for the next 60 days anyway.


Hungry homeless man sentenced to 60 days in jail for choking a pelican to death
Daily News - Los Angeles


A homeless man was sentenced today to 60 days in jail for choking a pelican to death because he was hungry.

The District Attorney's Office said Sergio Alvarez, 30, caught the bird near the Malibu pier on Aug. 22.

About 5:50 p.m. that day, a bystander flagged down a sheriff's deputy and said a man was choking a pelican.

When the deputy showed up, the brown pelican "flapped its wings in distress until its body went limp and died," sheriff's Lt. Robert Wiard said at the time.

Alvarez first said he found the bird dead, but later admitted he caught it and killed it because he was hungry and hadn't caught any fish, a spokeswoman for the district attorney said.

Brown pelicans are protected by state law. In a Van Nuys courtroom, Alvarez pleaded no contest to animal cruelty. Judge Jessica Silvers sentenced him to 60 days in jail and a year's probation, prosecutors said.

Big Brother is watching

Wow, this is a great idea, why?


FBI begins installation of $1 Billion face recognition program across America
RT.com -

Birthmarks, be damned: the FBI has officially started rolling out a state-of-the-art face recognition project that will assist in their effort to accumulate and archive information about each and every American at a cost of a billion dollars.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reached a milestone in the development of their Next Generation Identification (NGI) program and is now implementing the intelligence database in unidentified locales across the country, New Scientist reports in an article this week. The FBI first outlined the project back in 2005, explaining to the Justice Department in an August 2006 document (.pdf) that their new system will eventually serve as an upgrade to the current Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) that keeps track of citizens with criminal records across America .

“The NGI Program is a compilation of initiatives that will either improve or expand existing biometric identification services,” its administrator explained to the Department of Justice at the time, adding that  the project, “will accommodate increased information processing and sharing demands in support of anti-terrorism.”

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