This is True I

Sad but apparently true stories from This is true stories.

Sent Packing

Charles D. McKinley, 25, of Brooklyn, N.Y., had four weeks of vacation coming, so he decided to visit his parents in DeSoto, Texas. Rather than buy a plane ticket for $320, McKinley, a shipping clerk, packed himself into a shipping crate and air-expressed himself home, charging the fees to his employer. When the crate was delivered to his parents' front step, McKinley pushed out of the box and shook hands with the "shaken and frightened" delivery driver. The driver called the police. After an investigation by the FBI, the U.S. attorney, postal inspectors, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration, McKinley was charged as a stowaway, a federal misdemeanor. (Dallas Morning News) ...If he had only waited for the driver to leave, he would have been home free.

Shush, I'm playing with my new action figure

Disquieting Librarians are protesting a new "action figure" being released by Archie McPhee and Co. of Seattle, Wash. The $8.95 doll, complete with "amazing push-button shushing action!", is "a lovely idea and a lovely tribute to my chosen profession," says librarian Nancy Pearl, 58, whom the doll is modeled after. But other librarians don't like it one bit. "The shushing thing just put me right over the edge," says Diane DuBois of the Caribou (Me.) Public Library. "It's so stereotypical I could scream." (AP) ...Hey! What part of "shush" don't you understand?

What a man wants

Nine out of Ten Would be Adequate Researchers at Alabama's Auburn University say they have determined what men want in the "ideal woman": she is sexually inexperienced but likes sex, has a career but is a full-time homemaker, has a slim build, is athletic, and has pretty eyes, dark hair, good complexion and a firm butt. Large breasts are nice, but not all that important. The study's lead author, Erica Gannon, says the specifications are similar to what is found in the Bible. "Our participants, whether knowingly or unknowingly, espouse a view of the ideal woman that is very similar to the views held by individuals thousands of years ago." However, she adds, "It's hard to be this woman." (UPI) ...About as hard as being the ideal man: strong yet gentle, powerful yet sensitive, has a great career yet helps clean the house and raise the children, in control yet cries, and a sex expert who's only been with one woman.

Takes a hit and keeps on ticking

Use Your Head Virginia Tech is outfitting its football players with high-tech helmets with special sensors to gather data on the head blows the athletes suffer in normal games and practice sessions. The data are sent to a central computer in real time via a wireless link. "We'll get a better handle on how head injuries should be managed from a clinical perspective," says the school's chief athletics physician, Gunnar Brolinson. The system is called the Simbex Head Impact Telemetry System, or "HIT System" for short. (USA Today) ...Let's just say that wasn't their first attempt at a clever acronym.

Oh no he did...ent

Not a really good thing to say to the IRS. In my mind its the equivalent of beating on a hornet's nest with a stick while saying leave me alone.

Snipes warned IRS agents: Back off or face 'increased collateral risk'

OCALA - After being indicted in 2006, actor Wesley Snipes sent a document to the Internal Revenue Service declaring he was a "nonresident alien" of the United States, refuting his Social Security number and warning that continued prosecution could lead to professional consequences for federal employees.

Among other things, the letter claimed the IRS deceives people to "terrorize, enslave, rape or pillage" taxpayers.IRS Frivolous Return Program senior technical advisor Shauna Henline read excerpts of the document into the record during Snipes' tax evasion trial Thursday at prosecutors' direction.

In the 600-page declaration signed by Snipes and sent Dec. 4, 2006, Snipes said he had "no ill intent or malice" and didn't want to evade any lawful requirement to pay taxes. But he went on to say the government had "no lawful authority to impose any kind of criminal sanctions."Snipes was indicted in a sealed indictment in April 2006. The indictment wasn't made public until October of that year.Snipes declared he had no taxable U.S. income, making the IRS Form 1040 "absolutely the wrong form for me to file." He also claimed taxes withheld were "stolen funds."

He chastised the IRS and prosecutors, saying their position toward him was "simply false, fraudulent and misrepresenting."The document also warned the government's "illegal collection action" would result in "significant personal liability" for those involved."Warning - pursuit of such a high profile target will open the door for your increased collateral risk," Snipes wrote. "I certainly don't believe this is in your best interest and can be avoided."

Snipes lawyer Robert Barnes said the actor didn't intend to threaten anyone."Not at all, not at all," Barnes said after court proceedings ended for the day. "A lot of it was very gentle."The document was born of Snipes' frustration in trying to deal with tax issues for years and as a reaction to being indicted, Barnes said, adding that Snipes sent a copy of the document to the U.S. Attorney's Office."

Part of his emotions are frustration, exhaustion," Barnes said. "The response was a 600-page letter. His whole point in the letter is, 'I've been trying to reach out to you guys for two years.'

Snipes and codefendants Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile are charged each with one count of conspiracy to defraud and one count of aiding and abetting the making of a false and fraudulent claim as part of an alleged tax fraud scheme. Snipes also is charged with six counts of willfully failing to file federal income tax returns.

Earlier Thursday, a letter from Kahn to Rosile showed an apparent rift between the two over money issues. Rosile had worked for Kahn's American Rights Litigators preparing tax returns, including Snipes'. For every tax refund that customers received, ARL was to receive 20 percent, with half of that going to Rosile.

The letter, dated Jan. 14, 2002, accused Rosile of calling Kahn a "hypocritical Christian" who took advantage of Rosile. Kahn's letter said Rosile received every dollar he was due and called Rosile ungrateful.""We simply would not have used you for the work," Kahn wrote. "We would have hired another CPA or accountant that would have appreciated the opportunity we are offering."

Rosile was once a certified public accountant, but his certification was revoked in both Florida and Ohio in the 1990s.IRS agent Kathleen Arth testified she investigated tax returns prepared by Rosile, including a large number citing the so-called "861 argument" that alleges American citizens don't have to pay taxes on money earned in the United States. Rosile made no effort to meet with her, even after she issued a summons compelling him to do so, she said.The trial could be over by the end of next week.

Prosecutors said they will call their last witness Friday morning. Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges agreed to let Snipes' defense team start its case Monday, citing scheduling issues with witnesses. Snipes lead counsel Robert Bernhoft said he expected the defense case to last a maximum of two days, followed by the government's rebuttal case.

A Monster walks among them

How horrible, and it apparently has happened for twenty years.

This is one sick bastard.

Ohio Nurse Accused of Raping Elderly

SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) - A night-shift nurse accused of sexually abusing at least two dozen elderly or disabled patients at a nursing home was in jail Wednesday, authorities said.
Many of the victims at Concord Care and Rehabilitation Center were unable to report the abuse, and some have since died, said Perkins Township Police Chief Tim McClung.

Police said that suspect John Riems, 49, recalled abusing nearly 100 patients during a 20-year career but that he could remember specific information only on 24.

Riems, 49, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Sandusky Municipal Court to felony charges of rape and gross sexual imposition. The jail didn't have information on an attorney for Riems.

The director of the nursing home said in a statement that Riems had been fired.
"We cannot share any more detail at this time out of respect for the privacy of our residents, and in light of the ongoing police investigation," Jessica Short said in the statement.

Investigators are looking into Riems' past, which includes employment at other facilities. McClung wouldn't identify the other places where he worked.

out to porn

On computers we all pay for and to workers we all pay for, because isn't D.C. run by Federal dollars coming from our income taxes? 100 times a day? Wow, no wonder they can't work, they're probably too tired.

D.C. to More Closely Monitor Web Surfing

WASHINGTON - Now that 41 District workers have been fired or suspended after visiting pornographic Web sites on government computers the city is cranking up the technology to keep an eye on all government computers.

"We have a system for tracking people's use and re-directing people's computers away from those sites, to get people back to work, serving the citizens of the District of Columbia," says D.C. City Administrator Dan Tangherlini.

Before its investigation, D.C. could track 10,000 computers. Now the city can monitor 30,000.
"Content will be filtered. Those sites will be blocked and re-directed to our policy of appropriate use," says Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra.
Rather than just have a policy on paper, every time a city worker logs in on a city computer, he'll see a warning about inappropriate computer use.

The District fired nine employees and suspended 32 employees during its investigation. The fired employees include men and women, but officials would not say how many.
D.C. officials are continuing their investigation and say more employees may be fired or suspended.

An internal investigation by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer revealed 20,000 hits from pornographic Web sites on the nine fired employees' computers in 2007.

The 32 suspended employees accessed pornographic Web sites 2,000 times in 2007, the investigation found.

Of the fired employees' estimated 200 work days a year, the investigation showed that they visited pornographic Web sites 100 times per day, Mayor Adrian Fenty says.

Employees from 18 city agencies, including the Office of the Attorney General, were accessing pornographic or sexual Web sites. D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles says the employees' actions are egregious.

"It's outrageous that people should access hard-core pornography, but to do it on government time...," Nickles says. "This will not be tolerated in our government, and least of all in the Office of the Attorney General."

The investigation began on Dec. 15 after the Office of Property Management received a complaint from an employee about other employees browsing and downloading pornographic content on government computers.

None of the accessed Web sites involved child pornography.
(Copyright 2008 by WTOP Radio. All Rights Reserved.)

I'm Baaack

God, I am sooo tired of the Clintons. Go away, you had your turn in the White House.

Bill Clinton: Race, Gender Key in S.C.

DILLON, S.C. (AP) - He's not on the ballot but Bill Clinton seemed to dominate the South Carolina presidential campaign, disparaging Barack Obama and journalists and predicting that many voters will be guided mainly by gender and race loyalties.

The former president suggested that his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, may lose Saturday's Democratic primary because many black voters will side with Obama. The unusually direct comment on the possible role of race in the election was in keeping with the Clintons' bid to portray Obama as the clear favorite, thereby lessening the potential fallout if it proves true.
Voting for president along racial and gender lines "is understandable, because people are proud when someone who they identify with emerges for the first time," the former president told a Charleston audience Wednesday while campaigning for his wife, a role he has played all week.

His comments and a later outburst with a reporter came on a day when Obama continued to challenge Hillary Clinton's candor and trustworthiness. He said his chief rival has indulged in double-talk on bankruptcy laws, trade and other issues.

The atmosphere grew more charged after Clinton's campaign aired a radio ad in South Carolina suggesting Obama approved of Republican ideas. Obama responded with his own radio spot that says, "Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected."

read more: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080124/D8UC7BEO1.html

Look at thine own house

Just one more problem to add to those at the Guadalupe DA's office.

Former DA worker sentenced in theft
Express-News

A former employee of the Guadalupe County district attorney's office pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $18,000 from the office over three years.

Heather Hudgens had already made restitution of the $18,597 she pocketed from people making court-ordered restitution payments and bond payments at the office.

She agreed to perform 300 hours of community service and to pay court costs. She also was sentenced to two to 10 years in prison, which will be deferred. She will serve no jail time if she successfully completes community service and probation.

"She took responsibility for her actions and the money was paid back, so I'm satisfied with the plea agreement," District Attorney Vicki Pattillo said.

Hudgens was hired by Pattillo's predecessor, Bud Kirkendall, in 2003 and was fired after the embezzlement was discovered.

Woo! my room is spinning!

Hello? Front desk? Yes?, I want to report that my room smells funny and I think I am getting high too. Oh don't worry? the room has been thoroughly cleaned? What about the white crystalline powder covering everything? Oh, make sure I brush that off, and don't get any on my fingers or touch my eyes, mouth, and nose. Wait, I touched it and put some to make tongue which has gone numb. Woo!

It must've been one of those motels with the "kitchenettes" my wife likes us to stay in when we travel.

Man busted for making meth at motel
Barry Davis: KENS 5 Eyewitness News

San Antonio police say two people arrested Wednesday afternoon are accused of cooking methamphetamine in their motel room. Officers were looking for the man because of a parole violation, but say the woman was also wanted for violating parole on drug charges.

When police found the man staying at the Motel 6 in the 9500 block of Interstate 35 north, officers say they found the couple cooking meth in a makeshift meth lab.
Both were immediately arrested. [ya think?]

Officers say meth labs create new issues for police, the San Antonio Fire Department's hazmat team and other motel guests.

"You're dealing with not only carcinogens, you're dealing with explosive atmospheres and things like that, so when you get in there, each individual lab can be a little different, but the basics of it are pretty much the same that you're looking for," said Lt. Douglas Berry, with the SAFD. "'Hey is this a flammable atmosphere? Do I need to be able to ventilate this area? Is this something that we're going to have required respiratory protection?

"We take all those precautions before anybody even goes anywhere near those types of labs, and these guys are working in these atmospheres without any type of this protection, so it's extremely dangerous not only to them, but the public as well," Berry said.

Officials say the danger comes in the toxic chemicals that linger in the air and in the motel room after the meth lab leaves.

In this case, the SAFD hazmat team was not called in, but apparently another environmental clean up crew will be, because the motel room will have to be thoroughly cleaned before it can be rented out to any other guests.

Questioned travel expenses

More Justices under fire for travelling expenses.

Jeeze, keep your records better.

BTW the picture has nothing to do with the story. Its winter, I haven't taken any vacation and I want to be there.

Texas Supreme Court justice defends spending for travel
Janet ElliottExpress-News

AUSTIN — Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht said Wednesday he charged his campaign account for frequent flights to Dallas but that he was working and meeting with supporters during those visits.

He spent nearly $10,000 from his campaign funds on in-state flights last year, according to reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission, more than any other justice on the nine-member court.

Hecht, a Republican, denied commuting to Austin from Carrollton, a Dallas suburb where he owns a home. He said he lives in Austin, where he considers a home he has owned for 20 years his primary residence.

"I'm allowed to fly up there for officeholder and campaign purposes," Hecht says. "Those were some of my purposes as well as to see friends, build support."
Texas Watch, a watchdog group, plans to file a complaint today with the ethics commission concerning Hecht's travel.

Hecht is the third member of the high court to come under scrutiny in the past week for alleged improper use of political donations. A 1993 advisory opinion from the Texas Ethics Commission said appellate judges can't use campaign funds to commute from their hometowns to the city where the court sits.

Justice David Medina paid himself nearly $57,000 since 2005 for mileage reimbursement. His lawyer, Terry Yates, said Medina received bad advice from an accountant that he could charge his campaign for commuting costs between Houston and Austin.

And Texas Watch filed a complaint Tuesday against Justice Paul Green, accusing him of improperly spending nearly $17,000 on trips between Austin and San Antonio over the past three years.

Green said he lives in an Austin apartment although he still owns a home in San Antonio with his ex-wife. He said he'd try to document that the 272 trips were for allowable purposes such as speaking to legal groups.

Judges are not required to state where they flew or the purpose of trips within Texas, although they must provide that information for out-of-state travel. Hecht declined to provide information on his Texas travel to the San Antonio Express-News.

"Justice Hecht hasn't provided the public with enough information to determine whether he is toeing the line or crossing it," said Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch. "Texans deserve to know the truth and judges on our state's highest court must be held to the highest possible standard."

Complaints filed by Texas Watch last year against Hecht led to investigations by the ethics commission and Travis County prosecutors. Those probes, which are pending, concern a discount Hecht received for personal legal services from the Jackson Walker law firm.

The allegations are that Hecht failed to report the lowered fees as an in-kind political contribution and that the discount exceeded the $30,000 limit on judicial donations from a law firm. The legal fees stem from Jackson Walker's successful defense of Hecht in a dispute with the Commission on Judicial Conduct over Hecht's promotion of his longtime friend Harriet Miers' short-lived nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005.

Hecht has served on the Texas Supreme Court since 1989.

He said the Carrollton home belonged to his parents and he kept it after they died. He sometimes has served as an organist at his church in Dallas.

Hecht said it's important for an elected judge to keep in touch with citizens around the state.
"If you sit here in Austin and don't move, you're going to have trouble in the next election," said Hecht, who isn't up for re-election until 2012, having won easily in 2006 against a Libertarian opponent

About time

I'm amazed that the man still thought he might be kept despite his so-called resume "fluffing" where he claimed three degrees from the University of Maryland which were actually purchased online from a college mill offering degrees for life experience. Give him a Doctorate in Chutzpah.

I guess all of us can get a Doctorate in having screwed up something in our life at some point in time. Or how about a Masters of Regret degree? Some of these places even offer fake transcripts.

The possibilities are endless.

Eagle Pass manager is shown the door
John MacCormack: Express-News

EAGLE PASS — The City Council here fired interim City Manager Glen Starnes on Tuesday, with many hoping the termination will close a bizarre and embarrassing municipal misadventure.

"I hope this ends it," Mayor Chad Foster said as the council prepared to vote on the firing. "Our challenge now is to restore confidence in the city government."

Starnes, 42, hired last summer, was absent Tuesday night, having cleared out his office days ago. Even so, he did not accept a quiet invitation to resign.

As late as Monday, Starnes was hoping the council would overlook his resume "fluffing," and keep him on the job based on his good work over the past six months.

"I will send a package to council today to beg forgiveness and ask them to look at my qualifications and determine if they can keep me employed," he said Monday. "My resume was wrong. I'm guilty of that. I was really hoping my work would outweigh that issue. I know I am the right man for the job."

In a lengthy interview, Starnes did not bluster or deny the fictions on his resume. He praised the council and spoke of his fondness for Eagle Pass, while also alluding to earlier misdeeds and deceptions.

"I have a very shady past. I never tried to hide that, and I've been trying to change some of my ways," he said, adding that a series of heart attacks convinced him to reform. "I haven't been a good person. I've been pretty much a liar and a cheater all my life. But the high road is not the easy road."

Starnes said he sent the hastily composed resume to Eagle Pass last year with little hope of a response and was surprised to eventually be offered the job.

"I put down there what I thought they wanted to see. It was irresponsible. It was stupid. I think they would have hired me with my real resume, with my experience in the securities industry," he said. "I felt I could do the job. I'm bilingual. I have some experience working in governmental agencies. I studied Eagle Pass to see what it needs."

Starnes was hired to the $85,000-a-year job in July, based on the credentials and his strong personal presence.

His resume listed three degrees from the University of Maryland, four years as an assistant city manager in Converse and a decade as an aide to former U.S. Rep. Jack Fields in Houston.

But even though all of that was false, the lies went unnoticed for five months, as Starnes resolved a series of daunting city problems. Along the way, he won the unanimous support of the council and many residents, as he supervised 350 city employees and managed an $18 million budget.

"This guy was sincerely doing a good job," Foster said. "He wasn't local and he was objective. We haven't had someone from out of the county as city manager in nine years."

Starnes' false resume, however, was exposed in December with a tip to Foster. Despite this revelation, the council initially backed Starnes and appeared ready to hire him permanently.

A wave of public anger and protest, much of it harshly voiced on a blog shared by hundreds of Eagle Pass supporters, apparently caught the council's attention. Support for the well-spoken city manager evaporated.

A native of South Texas with a career as a securities broker and financial adviser, Starnes said he worries about ever getting another job after the fiasco.

"I'm very frightened about my future. I don't think anyone in the state of Texas will hire me. I've never been so scared in my life," he said. Last week, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge stemming from the false claims on his resume.

Foster said candidates to replace Starnes will be thoroughly vetted by an outside firm, with the process to begin next month.

"This has never happened before in Eagle Pass. We're from a part of the country where you kind of take a fella's word," he said, vowing recent mistakes will not be repeated. "First time, shame on you. Second time, shame on me."

What a mess

These folks are trying to help in a poor situation. The legislature approved a pilot program and it is not yet in place and these folks are swept up by a district attorney who likes to consider herself "tough as nails" on crime. No gray areas, no re-look at this, go for the maximum sentence prosecution.

I'm just not sure that justice is being served here by charging these folks with Class "A" misdemeanors rather than the more prosaic Class "C" misdemeanor offense. It sounds more like our political campaigns being served.

Syringe-swap activists handed citations
Don Finley: Express-News

Over the years, Bill Day has made no secret of the fact he trades clean syringes for dirty ones on the street corners of San Antonio's poorest neighborhoods to reduce the spread of HIV — even meeting with two police chiefs to explain his mission and providing the license number of his grant-funded minivan.

But this month, a San Antonio police officer cited Day, a 73-year-old retired commercial real estate appraiser and co-founder of the nonprofit group Bexar Area Harm Reduction Coalition, along with two board members, on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia — a Class C misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $500.

Now police say they plan to refile the case this week with District Attorney Susan Reed as a more serious Class A misdemeanor, distribution of paraphernalia, which carries a punishment of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. Meanwhile, a legal team that includes high-profile criminal defense attorney Gerald Goldstein is assembling to represent the three in court.

"These are enormously decent, charitable people, and what's happening with them smacks of persecution," said Neel Lane, an attorney with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which is representing the coalition at no cost and has filed a brief with the state attorney general's office on the group's behalf.

Looming over it all is a larger legal question, one that doesn't directly involve Day or his group.
Legislation passed last year authorized local health officials to organize a pilot syringe exchange program in Bexar County. It would be the first legally sanctioned program in Texas.
The program is stalled since the district attorney declared her view that the legislation authorizing it is faulty. Both sides await an opinion from the attorney general's office.

Assistant Police Chief David Head said the legislation — if it survives the legal challenge — authorizes only Bexar County's health authority to run a syringe exchange program, not a privately run group like Day's.

"Their meetings with this chief (William McManus) and (former) Chief (Albert) Ortiz did not lead to an approval to begin operating," Head said.

Police Officer Oscar Flores said in his report that he spotted a 2003 Chevrolet van parked at South Hamilton Avenue and Vera Cruz Street just before 4 p.m. Jan. 5, "with several known prostitutes and drug addicts next to the vehicle."

Day, Flores wrote, showed him a typical syringe kit, and said he was "swapping syringes" with people on the street. He produced business cards of a sergeant working in the chief's office and Deputy Chief Ruben Garcia with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, "stating he was given permission" to exchange syringes.

Both Head and Garcia deny that permission was given.

Day and board members Mary Casey, 67, and Melissa Lujan, 39, were cited. Police confiscated plastic tubs containing clean syringe kits but left them with the used syringes they'd collected — which Day said he routinely disposes of with the Metropolitan Health District.
Day declined to elaborate on the specifics of the arrest, except to say the police report had errors.

Reading from a statement, he added, "Our volunteers regard their involvement as a Christian ministry work intended to elevate egregious suffering and improve the lives of the least among us. The statement and actions of the district attorney have brought all needle exchange activities to a halt. As a result, we can expect transmission of hepatitis and HIV to increase."
Advocates say Texas is the only state without some legally authorized program.

A working group of health and government officials have been developing an officially sanctioned program. Bexar County Commissioners Court authorized spending $60,000 for a coordinator.

Houston, we have a problem

Holy crap! Our infrastructure which is beginning to wheeze now is getting stolen by human vultures looking for quick cash.

Pretty sad situation.

BTW stealing copper wire from lines is very hazardous as this thief found out first hand.

Copper thieves stealing from power lines
Joe CongerKENS 5 Eyewitness News

Some copper thieves are going to great heights to steal the metal, and it's putting some residents at risk. CPS Energy says they're stealing from high-power lines in a rural area of southwest Bexar County.

Electricians say they are replacing more and more of it — copper wires taken from outside A/C units, from construction sites and even from public utilities.
Sam Parks only had to look up to know something was wrong. From utility pole to utility pole for a third of a mile, torn wire was left dangling.
"This is the most blatant, and in my opinion, the most potentially dangerous that I have seen," Parks said.
Suspended 20 feet in the air, what CPS Energy calls the neutral line, had been stolen for its copper.

It set off circuit alarms at the utility and is prompting an investigation by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.
As a result of the theft, the 8,000-volt line began using Parks' electric box as a ground. It could have cost him his life had he gone to investigate.

"I would've become the path of least resistance, which is what electricity seeks to make the loop. And the results would've been, dare I say, shocking," Parks said.
More than 1,600 feet of copper was taken, and at $1.75 per pound, copper is a premium metal. The state mandates that anyone selling it provide identification to recyclers and other dealers.
But even recyclers say, despite the paperwork sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety, thefts continue.
"And nobody wants to look at it. We turn it in, once a month. So what?" said recycler Bob Brienden.

CPS is working with the sheriff's office on the case. CPS says touching any power lines can be deadly, not to mention, against the law.

Thieves targeting highway signs in Seguin
Nydia Lopez KENS 5 Eyewitness News

First it was copper, now it's aluminum. The new targets for thieves in Seguin are large highway signs.

The Guadalupe County Sheriff's Department is stumped, and deputies are asking for your help to corner these crooks. The signs are worth thousands of dollars.
They're not hard to miss, unless they're missing.
"It doesn't take but probably 10 minutes to drop the sign," said Russell Beck, with the Texas Department of Transportation's maintenance department.

Beck says it started in December. Thieves began targeting highway signs at night.
"We're assuming they're stealing them for the aluminum," Beck said.

Four signs have been stolen so far along Interstate 10.
"They're just dropping the signs at night and taking the signs and leaving the legs," Beck said.
Some of the signs that have been stolen measure 10 feet by 12 feet, weigh several hundred pounds and cost $3,000 or more each.

"They might be making a hundred bucks off of a sign that's costing us thousands," Beck said.
Replacement signs have been ordered and should arrive in about a month. The Guadalupe County Sheriff's Department is investigating.

There is a cash reward for any information leading to an arrest. Call the tip line at (830) 372-1000.

Under a microscope

I know Justice Paul Green, I believe he is one of the most ethical attorneys I have ever met and believe that these questions will be found to have a reasonable answer.

Having said that I also believe organizations like Texas Watch play a vital role in a democracy such as ours.

Texas justice's ethics in question
Janet Elliott: Express-News

AUSTIN — A judicial watchdog group said Monday it will pursue an ethics complaint against Texas Supreme Court Justice Paul Green over his use of political contributions for mileage reimbursement despite Green's denial that the costs were for commuting.
Green said the group Texas Watch is mistaken in assuming that his frequent travels between Austin and San Antonio were for commutes. He said he has lived in an Austin apartment since March 2005 and his travels to his former hometown were for meetings and speaking engagements.

The Texas Ethics Commission said in a 1993 advisory opinion that appellate judges cannot use their campaign funds to pay for commuting expenses between their hometowns and the city where the court sits. Judges are allowed to use their political funds for campaign travel and travel related to their jobs.

"This is a bit of a surprise," Green said about the allegations by Texas Watch, a group that monitors the Texas Supreme Court and civil justice issues.
"I'm invited, as we all are, to go to various places to speak at seminars," said Green, who served on the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio before winning election to the Supreme Court in November 2004. He started his six-year term in January 2005.
"Coming from San Antonio, I get lots of requests from the local bar, young lawyers, law school, any number of school groups to come in and visit," he said.

Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, said the information from Green won't change his plans to file a complaint today with the ethics commission.
"That as an explanation does not allay my concern about the potential that Judge Green violated the ethics statute," Winslow said. "The volume of trips between Austin and San Antonio, literally several times a week, raises doubts in my mind that he's going to speak to the Rotary Club. I find that very hard to believe."

Winslow said Green paid himself $16,761 for 272 separate trips between Austin and San Antonio over the past three years.

Green said he still owns a house in San Antonio, where his ex-wife lives. He said he is aware of the advisory opinion against charging commuting costs to his campaign.

Green is the second Supreme Court justice to come under scrutiny for possibly violating a state law that prohibits elected officials from converting political contributions to personal use.

The San Antonio Express-News reported Saturday that Justice David Medina charged his campaign nearly $57,000 since 2005, at a time he was commuting between his Houston-area home and Austin. Medina's Spring home burned last June in a suspicious fire.
Also Monday, an attorney for Medina said the judge will repay his campaign fund money that he improperly spent to commute between Houston and Austin.
Terry Yates said Medina relied on bad advice from an accountant that he could use his political fund for the commuting costs.

"It turns out that is not permissive. He's in the process of paying the campaign back that amount of money that was improperly deducted," Yates said.

As of his most recent campaign expense report, filed Jan. 15, he had paid back $2,000. Yates said he did not know how much Medina would return and said that amended campaign finance reports are being prepared.

Winslow said Texas Watch doesn't plan to file an ethics complaint over Medina's mileage reimbursements because his reports are vague about where the trips occurred. Medina claimed between $1,000 and $3,000 for unspecified mileage for most months in 2005, 2006 and the first half of 2007.

"We could not pinpoint which of the reimbursements were for commuting expenses," he said.
In Green's case, the justice listed each trip individually. Many said they were for a round trip between San Antonio and Austin on a specific day.

Other mileage reimbursements don't say where the travel occurred but are for similar amounts. Green said that he used the state comptroller's mileage reimbursement calculator to determine the amounts.

In his most recent campaign finance report, filed Jan. 15 with the ethics commission, Green listed his address as a post office box in San Antonio.

Say it ain't so

If true, this is, of course, a huge no-no. I hope for HEB's sake that is not what they did.

As I said many times before, jury duty is direct participation in our form of government, akin to voting, it should not be abridged.

Juror in lengthy Holy Land trial sues H-E-B grocery store over firing
H-E-B says 17-year worker's firing wasn't related to lengthy trial

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News jtrahan@dallasnews.com

A former Holy Land Foundation juror filed a federal lawsuit Friday against a grocery store that she claims fired her because she was missing work to serve in the three-month terrorism trial.
Kristina Williams, 49, is seeking lost wages and her job back after she was fired in early August from the H-E-B store in Waxahachie, where she had worked for 17 years. Her termination came about two weeks into testimony in the trial, in which organizers of a Muslim charity formerly based in Richardson were accused of raising millions of dollars for the terrorist group Hamas.

After her firing, Mrs. Williams told the trial judge, U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish, that store management claimed she stole a 99-cent salad, which she said she intended to pay for.
Firing someone who misses work to serve on a jury is illegal. Judge Fish appointed employment lawyer Kenneth Molberg to look into the allegations, resulting in Friday's lawsuit.
Leslie Lockett, an H-E-B spokeswoman, said Friday that the company encourages its employees "to fulfill their civic duty."

"Anytime we have ... [an employee] on any type of civic duty, we support them with continued pay and time away from the store," she said, adding that until she was fired, Mrs. Williams continued to receive her salary while on the jury.
"Mrs. Williams' separation from H-E-B is in no way related to her jury duty commitments," she said.

In the lawsuit, Mrs. Williams said she was fired from her job shortly after she told her bosses that the trial was expected to last up to four months. She worked at the customer service counter at H-E-B.

Mrs. Williams said Friday that her termination was "unfair because I was fired for serving on the jury. It's now in the judge's hands."

Mr. Molberg said his client has been living off savings since losing her job Aug. 2.

Mrs. Williams remained on the Holy Land jury until the case collapsed in late October. It was her last-minute reversal on several not-guilty verdicts that forced the judge to declare a mistrial on nearly all counts. Prosecutors say they intend to retry the case in front of a new jury.

Britney says he's gone! Y'all!

But the moment was quickly gone as she invites two of the paps over for drinks and fun.


UPDATE! Maybe Not

From CeleBitchy

You’ve probably already seen the pictures of Britney’s period-stained crotch. (Extreme warning with that link, but at least she’s wearing underwear.) I was seriously considering publishing said photos, but everyone advised me against it and I decided to take a pass. It’s hard to tell if it’s a mistake or is deliberate. It’s at least partially her fault for not wearing pants or a longer skirt that would have covered enough to make it hard to notice.
Britney had two X17 photographers over her house in the wee hours of the morning this weekend, and lest you think she was giving them a personal tour of her room ‘o cat of nine tails, her friend Sam Lufti was there too. It was thought that she was trying to make it up to them, as one of the guys was arrested last week and spent the night in jail for a high speed pursuit involving Britney.

While Britney had the other photographers over her house her friend Sam showed them a restraining order she wanted to take out against Adnan, her knight with shining Canon. I was trying to figure out how she could have soured on the British snapper so quickly, and it seems like she stopped hanging out with Adnan once Lufti was back in the picture. People might attribute it to Britney learning that Adnan was selling her out for photos, but she hardly seems to mind and is rumored to call the paps herself. So it seems like Lufti told her that Adnan was bad news and/or Adnan gave her the line about how he needed some “time off” and she decided to make it seem like she was the one who broke it off.

Either way, a girl who lets the world see her crotch multiple times including when she’s on her period is no catch no matter how much money her photos are worth. All that’s left for Britney is to take a crap on the street.
Adnan speaks out on the restraining order on his company FinalPixx’s blog and he said he was away at a family funeral all weekend and turned his phone off “out of respect for my family.” Maybe his wife finally put her foot down and/or he needed some time to get his head on straight after too much Britney. He also told TMZ that “everything is fine,” and Britney’s “been in the care of Sam.” Meanwhile Britney went to the dance studio again so at least she’s coping constructively with her supposed frustration.

OK! Magazine has a quote from the LAPD saying that no restraining order was filed, so it seems like it was Sam’s idea and that nothing came of it. Maybe Adnan will be back on the scene or maybe he decided it’s not worth the trouble to deal with Britney at this point.

Britney has brief moment of lucidity


BRITNEY SPEARS has dumped her British paparazzo lover ADNAN GHALIB - and got a restraining order on him, it was claimed last night.
She told pals the snapper, 35, was tipping off colleagues so they could sell exclusive photos of them.

The pop princess, 26, is now hanging out with other lensmen - and even invited two into her home for champagne and “fun”.
A source close to Britney said: “She thought Adnan was her knight in shining armour.

Pap ... Brit said Ghalib 'used' her
“He gained her trust by protecting her from photographers and being a friendly face in her darkest periods.

“But Britney now believes he was making money. She’s deeply upset and feels used.”
Last night Ghalib, from Birmingham, insisted he WAS still dating the star. The snapper said he had been in Santa Barbara for the past two days — and told celebrity news website TMZ.com:

“Everything is, and was, fine.”

Friends and family tried to warn Britney when she began seeing Ghalib at Christmas.
The source said: “She wasn’t interested — she was seduced.
“If he was in it for the money, it’s very cruel. Britney is very vulnerable.”

Britney reportedly showed a copy of her restraining order paperwork to two snappers from Los Angeles agency X17.
They spent four hours at her home after she invited them in.

An X17 spokesman said: “Britney said, ‘Come with me, let's have fun.’ She opened a bottle of champagne and went on the patio to smoke cigarettes.

“Britney expressed disappointment and anger toward Adnan for being ‘set-up’ in photographs that Adnan and his agency have sold.”

On Saturday night, the star was seen driving in LA with other pals, one with a camera.
Britney’s split with Ghalib comes amid claims of a bizarre plot to kidnap him and demand millions of dollars in ransom from her.

A source claiming to be a family friend of Ghalib, said pals of the snapper boasted of the plan last week.

He said: “They believed that because of her mental state, she’d hand over the cash.”

Sorry law suit

I am sorry for the family's loss but this seems a bit ridiculous.

Some pellet guns look real and the officer does not know the gun is a pellet gun.

Family Sues Over Teen's Pellet Gun Death At School

SANFORD, Fla. -- The family of a teenager fatally shot by a police marksman two years ago at his school is suing the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
Christopher Penley was killed while barricaded in a middle school bathroom in January 2006.

He had brought a pellet gun to school and brandished it as though it were real.
Sheriff's Lt. Mike Weippert told investigators he shot the teen in the head out of fear for his life.
Prosecutors cleared Weippert of any wrongdoing, but Penley's family said he was "an overzealous police officer."

The family says Weippert and the sheriff's office violated the teen's civil rights and wrongfully caused his death.

They are seeking unspecified damages.