Rest in peace Private Adame, rest in peace

My heart goes out to his family and loved ones, especially the daughter who will never know her father.

Rest in peace Victor.

Please everyone, be careful out there.

Soldier's trip back to S.A. ends tragically

By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

U.S. Army Pvt. Victor Adame had finished basic training in Virginia and was driving Saturday to see his family in San Antonio, eagerly calling several times as he was getting closer to home.

But somewhere near Houston, Adame, 18, told his mother and stepfather he was starting to have problems with the late-model BMW he was driving.

The speedometer wasn't working and it was making strange noises, he told his wife, Hilda. He also told her he was tired, but was too excited about getting home to see his year-old daughter to pull over and rest.

The rest of the story:

Will sanctions of some sort be assessed?

The special prosecutors are continuing the hunt for sanctions of some sort against Judge Sharon Keller.

I believe they might disregard Judge Berchelmann's findings and levy a sanction.

I do not believe she will, as some want, be removed from her position.


Discipline sought against Keller

By Peggy Fikac - Express-News 

 

AUSTIN — Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller should suffer consequences for her conduct in a death row inmate's failed effort to file a last-minute appeal, special prosecutors in the case against her contended Wednesday.

“This is not a case as to whether the death penalty should or should not be administered. This is a case, however, concerning whether a judge should allow herself to disregard at will a long-standing established protocol of her court that is designed to safeguard proper handling of all time-sensitive communications on an execution day,” said the filing, which objected to a special master's earlier conclusions in the case.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct accused Keller of discrediting the judiciary after death row inmate Michael Wayne Richard was unable to file an appeal after the court clerk's closing time on the day of his execution, Sept. 25, 2007. Keller said the clerk's office wouldn't stay open past 5 p.m.

The rest of the story:

Well done Sir!

What an uplifting story.

Well done Chris you are an inspiration to us all.

'I decided to lend a hand'

Eric J. Weilbacher  - The Herald-Zeitung

Christopher Martz was not supposed to make it. That is what his doctors said, at least, after a tragic car crash that flung him, his sisters and his father from their SUV more than six years ago, while the family traveled through the Nevada desert on their way home to Sacramento from a vacation in Salt Lake City.

His sisters were injured, his father died and Chris Martz suffered a broken arm and lesions on his skull, resulting in traumatic brain injury that left him in the hospital for six months to recover.

“I was airlifted by a hospital jet out of the middle of nowhere to Reno,” Martz said. “The brain damage was really severe.”

In fact, many doctors considered the brain damage he endured irreparable. Through rehabilitation, he had to relearn everything — speaking, reading, writing and walking.

While rehabilitating in the Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nev., Martz’s sisters and mother stayed at a Ronald McDonald House. The Ronald McDonald House is a facility that houses families that have children in the hospital usually for severe illness, injury or disease, housing them close to the hospital.

“The Ronald McDonald House helped me remain stable during recovery,” he said, by keeping his family close by his side.

“I’m known as the million dollar man now because of the amount of money that went into my treatment,” he said.

That was more than six years ago. Now Martz, 17, a New Braunfels resident, has been recognized as one of ten finalists for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. He received a Presidential Letter of Achievement for logging more than 500 hours of community service this past year, all going toward a toy drive he set up while a freshman in high school four years ago. That toy drive, in its fourth year, collected more than 2,700 toys, gifts and supplies in 2009. Volunteers in the toy drive also made Christmas dinners for families staying at the Ronald McDonald Houses in San Antonio.

A long recovery

After being discharged from the medical center in Reno, Martz family went back to Sacramento to find a medical community skeptical that his mind could fully recover and return to normal. They needed a fresh start.

So they moved to San Antonio, and found a group of neurologists — including Dr. Tomasavich out of the Stone Oak Medical Center — who believed in his recovery, helping him recover to full mental capacity.

“It’s funny, I used to be a math whiz, I was doing high school level math in the fifth grade, but after the accident I struggle with math and science,” Martz said.

Upon entering high school at the Health Careers High School, magnet high school in Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Martz noticed something familiar down the street — the Ronald McDonald House on Sid Katz Road.

“It was less than 500 yards away. It was really bleak and dark, so I decided to lend a hand,” Martz said.

His efforts that first year were small, recruiting a few volunteers from his high school and help from ReMax Realty where his mother, Leslee Martz, is employed.

“Always make sure your mom is on board, because she is half the work force,” he said.

Over the intervening years, Martz has built a relative toy-drive empire, with about 200 volunteers a year, from his high school and from groups in New Braunfels where he and his family now live, such as Independence Title, All Star Elite Cheer, Gruene Kountry 4-H, New Braunfels Girl Scouts, Office Max, Schoebel’s Restaurant, Walgreens on Walnut Avenue and Loop 337 in New Braunfels.

Wal-Mart’s headquarters also donates to Martz’s toy drive, and in 2009 shipped in 72 lbs. worth of toys and towels.

“These things may seem tedious,” Martz said of the dinners and toys, “but a meal or Christmas presents are the last thing you need to think of when your child is in the hospital.”

Not a game

What a heartache for their parents.

I hope they are okay and  re-united with their family soon.

Please click on the poster to read the information.

Sisters missing from home since Feb. 11

By Bryan Shettig  - The Herald-Zeitung

SPRING BRANCH — Elsa and Celia Fitch, Spring Branch residents and sisters, disappeared sometime after the family went to bed Feb. 11 and parents believe they are with a California woman they met online.

The girls, ages 16 and 15, are Smithson Valley High School students. The Comal County Sheriff’s Office currently lists them as runaways, because they apparently met a woman through an online role-playing Web site and decided to visit her in San Diego, according to a classmate who asked that she not be identified.

When the parents went to wake their children for school Friday morning, the two girls were not in their beds, according to a Facebook.com page called “MISSING GIRLS: Elsa and Celia Fitch” created by the girls’ parents, Anne and Hollis Fitch. The parents did not return calls for comment.

The girls told children at school they were going to Florida and California, the classmate said.

According to a flier the parents are distributing, they believe the unknown woman, who goes by “Tristan” online, provided transportation for the girls along with cell phones.

Investigators from the sheriff’s office are working with telephone providers to track the girls, said Lt. Mark Reynolds, a CCSO spokesman.

“Wherever they’re going to be, we want to be there before they arrive,” Reynolds said.

According to the flier, the sisters are both 5 feet 3 inches tall. Celia has brown hair and Elsa has blonde hair; both have hazel-colored eyes. The girls could be wearing zip-up hooded sweatshirts and a camouflage shirt. They sometimes speak in British accents, according to the flier.

Hey! We're sorry what else can I say?

Update to yesterday's story.

The TSA apologizes to the family.

Big deal.  What they did was still pretty reprehensible in my opinion.

TSA apologizes to boy who had to remove leg braces

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Transportation Security Administration has apologized to a boy allegedly forced to take off his leg braces during screening at Philadelphia International Airport.

Bob Thomas, a Camden, N.J., police officer, says it happened in March when he and his wife were flying to Orlando, Fla., with their 4-year-old son, Ryan.

The boy wears leg braces because he is developmentally delayed. Thomas says a screener told the family the boy had to take off his braces.

The case was featured in a column in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis says the agency's regional security director apologized to the Thomases on Friday.

Davis said the agency has no reason to doubt the family's story. She says there are other ways to screen people with leg braces.

BOLO

My heart goes out to this poor girl and her family.

Finding the perpetrator is not as easy as the picture makes it out to be.


If you have any information please call the SAPD Sex Crimes Unit at (210) 207-2313.

Man being sought in rape of teen

San Antonio Express news

Police are looking for a man who is suspected of raping a teenager near her South Side home Friday night, officials said.

A 14-year-old girl alleges she was sexually assaulted around 8 p.m. while walking in a drainage ditch near her home.

The unidentified teen told authorities a man attacked her from behind. The sexual assault lasted two minutes, police said. The girl immediately rushed home and reported the incident to her parents, who then called police.

The rest of the story:

Powering the future

My opinion, for what its worth.

Good, let's settle this and move forward with the plans to expand the nuclear capability of the STP.  Oil, natural gas and coal all have their own major problems as fuels for power generation as does solar and wind energy at the present time.

Expanding the capability of STP by building two new reactors will insure that the power needs of the region will be met in the near to long term.  Waiting will only make the costs go up and the strain on the power grid worsen.


CPS, partner might settle lawsuit today

By Tracy Idell Hamilton and Anton Caputo - Express-News 

 

CPS Energy expects to announce a settlement today in its $32 billion lawsuit against its partner in a proposed nuclear project, Nuclear Innovation North America.

Utility officials confirmed they are planning to make an announcement this afternoon, barring any last-minute breakdown in negotiations.

A settlement could put the proposed expansion of the South Texas Project back in the forefront for federal loan guarantees that both partners say are crucial to its fate.

The rest of the story:

"To serve and protect"

To serve and protect, a simple phrase really.

However, it means so much when situations like this occur and men like Russell Koehler answer its call.

He is a hero, plain and simple.

Thank you Corporal Russell Koehler!

Deputy is honored for saving life

By Ron Maloney - The Gazette-Enterprise

SEGUIN — What would you do if you saw a head-on collision happen right before your eyes and one of the cars involved burst into flames?

Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Cpl. Russell Koehler knows.

Koehler was on patrol on State Highway 46 at about 11 p.m. on Jan. 24 when he saw a bad car accident.

“He saw a car cross the center stripes, hit another car and then burst into flames,” said Seguin Fire Chief Scott MyCue, who came to Commissioner’s Court Tuesday to present Koehler with a plaque for heroism above and beyond the call of duty. The fire was an uncommonly bad one for a modern vehicle, MyCue said.

“That’s very unusual in a car accident — and very dangerous,” the fire chief said.

Authorities knew exactly what Koehler saw and what he did, because it was all captured on his patrol car’s video camera.

Initially, the man driving was trapped inside, but he struggled out through the driver’s side window and fell to the ground right beside the vehicle — still not out of harm’s way and unable to move further.

In spite of the fire and the danger it posed, Koehler rushed to the car and dragged the victim away from the vehicle, which by then had its entire undercarriage and trunk area — where the gas tank is — burning.

That isn’t exactly the way a fireman might approach the situation, MyCue noted. For one thing, the firefighter would have the means available to beat back the flames, and would have protective gear to keep himself from being burned.

Koehler had no time to think about any of that.

Shortly afterwards, firefighters arrived to see the vehicle explode.

“It was startling to see something like that happen,” Koehler said, after thanking MyCue for the award and commissioners for their recognition.

Sheriff Arnold Zwicke thanked commissioners, MyCue and the fire department for recognizing Koehler and praised the officer for a job well done.

“If you saw it on the video, it happened quickly, but Cpl. Koehler was able to take control of the situation and save a man’s life,” Zwicke said.

County Judge Mike Wiggins spent a 30-year career as a Department of Public Safety trooper — the last half of it as Seguin’s DPS sergeant.

“Too many times, when an officer responds when something like this happens, it goes without any recognition at all or with very little recognition. There’s nothing that ever made me more proud when I was a sergeant than when a trooper who worked for me went above and beyond the call of duty and received similar recognition,” Wiggins said. “It’s a reflection of Sheriff Zwicke’s department that we had a man in a time of crisis and stress who could lean on his training and do what he had to do and saved a life.”

Zwicke agreed that Koehler had reflected well on the department he’s worked at since 2006.

“When you look at the video, he should be credited for getting that person away from that vehicle and saving his life,” Zwicke said.

More TSA lack of common sense

OK this is just ridiculous.

I appreciate what they have to do, but please use some common sense.

Daniel Rubin: Another case of TSA overkill

By Daniel Rubin-
Philidelphia Inquirer Columnist

Just when I thought I was out of the Transportation Security Administration business for a few columns, they pull me back in.

Did you hear about the Camden cop whose disabled son wasn't allowed to pass through airport security unless he took off his leg braces?

Unfortunately, it's no joke. This happened to Bob Thomas, a 53-year-old officer in Camden's emergency crime suppression team, who was flying to Orlando in March with his wife, Leona, and their son, Ryan.
Ryan was taking his first flight, to Walt Disney World, for his fourth birthday.

The boy is developmentally delayed, one of the effects of being born 16 weeks prematurely. His ankles are malformed and his legs have low muscle tone. In March he was just starting to walk.

Mid-morning on March 19, his parents wheeled his stroller to the TSA security point, a couple of hours before their Southwest Airlines flight was to depart.

The boy's father broke down the stroller and put it on the conveyor belt as Leona Thomas walked Ryan through the metal detector.

The alarm went off.

The screener told them to take off the boy's braces.

The Thomases were dumbfounded. "I told them he can't walk without them on his own," Bob Thomas said.
"He said, 'He'll need to take them off.' "

Ryan's mother offered to walk him through the detector after they removed the braces, which are custom-made of metal and hardened plastic.

No, the screener replied. The boy had to walk on his own.

Leona Thomas said she was calm. Bob Thomas said he was starting to burn.

They complied, and Leona went first, followed by Ryan, followed by Bob, so the boy wouldn't be hurt if he fell. Ryan made it through.

By then, Bob Thomas was furious. He demanded to see a supervisor. The supervisor asked what was wrong.
"I told him, 'This is overkill. He's 4 years old. I don't think he's a terrorist.' "

The supervisor replied, "You know why we're doing this," Thomas said.

Thomas said he told the supervisor he was going to file a report, and at that point the man turned and walked away.

A Philadelphia police officer approached and asked what the problem was. Thomas said he identified himself and said he was a Camden officer. The Philadelphia officer suggested he calm down and enjoy his vacation.

Back home in Glassboro a week later, Bob Thomas called the airport manager and left her what he calls a terse message.

He was still angry enough last week to call me after I'd written a couple of columns about travelers' complaints of mistreatment by screeners at the airport.

"This was just stupid," he told me.

At the very least, it was not standard procedure.

On Friday, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said the boy never should have been told to remove his braces.
TSA policy should have allowed the parents to help the boy to a private screening area where he could have been swabbed for traces of explosive materials.

She said she wished Thomas had reported the matter to TSA immediately. "If screening is not properly done, we need to go back to that officer and offer retraining so it's corrected."

Davis also said TSA's security director at the airport, Bob Ellis, called Thomas last week to apologize. He gave Thomas the name of the agency's customer service representative, in case he has a problem at the airport in the future.

Afterward, Thomas said he appreciated Ellis' call. He said he had no interest in pursuing the matter further or in filing a lawsuit.

"I'm just looking for things to be done right," he said. "And I just want to make sure this isn't done to anyone else. Just abide by your standard operating procedures."

Seat jerk

Good for him in letting the crew handle this.

Romney threatened on flight out of Vancouver

Jane Taber - the globe and mail

Republican politician Mitt Romney was physically threatened by a violent passenger on an Air Canada flight leaving Vancouver this morning.

Mr. Romney, who has been in Vancouver since Friday for the Olympic Winter Games, did not respond to the attack. Instead, he allowed the airline crew to deal with the incident, according to his spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.

Mr. Romney, 62, and his wife, Ann, were sitting in Row 15 of the economy section of the Embrarer 190 airplane, waiting for the plane to take off when the incident happened.

The man sitting in front of Mr. Romney’s wife dropped his seat back and when Mr. Romney asked him to move it upright for takeoff, the man became “physically violent.” Another report said that the man tried to strike Mr. Romney.

“Gov. Romney did not retaliate,” said Mr. Fehrnstrom.

Mr. Romney was not injured. The pilot returned to the gate and the passenger and his bags were removed by the RCMP.

Mr. Romney ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. He also served as governor of Massachusetts. There is much speculation that he is preparing for another bid for the Republican nomination in 2012.

He and his wife were in Vancouver for the opening of the Olympic Winter Games. As the former president and CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake Games, the Romneys were guests of honour at these games.

They attended Friday’s opening ceremony and had always been scheduled to leave today.

About his Olympic experience in Vancouver, Mr. Romney wrote on his website: “An Olympic update from Mitt and Ann Romney shows they’re having fun in Vancouver as they take in the action at the speed skating venue. As you can see, it’s a great place to wear some great USA Olympic gear of one’s own.”

Securing the border

A noble effort but one the Feds, IMHO, are supposed to undertake.

I hope this helps and is not just more campaign kabuki theatre.



Perry announces $1.7 million border-security grant

By Guillermo X. Garcia - Express-News

 

The 16 district attorneys along the Texas-Mexico border soon will be able to draw on prosecutors and investigators from a newly created Border Prosecution Unit to help fight the flow of drugs and transnational gang activity, Gov. Rick Perry announced here Monday.

The governor, locked in a GOP primary with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and conservative activist Debra Medina, announced a $1.7 million grant to increase the number of prosecutors and special investigators assigned to border-related crimes such as money laundering and smuggling of drugs and humans.

Perry made the announcement at the Texas Homeland Security Conference, which has drawn 5,000 military and civilian law enforcement officials and first responders to the Convention Center this week.

The rest of the story:

Water fight!

This seems to prove the adage that only the lawyers win in this kind of lawsuit.

Why are we spending more money on this?  Are we spending the money because the SAWS Chairman feels wronged?

Are we throwing more good money down the rabbit hole?

SAWS not giving up legal fight with LCRA

By Colin McDonald - Express-News 

 

The San Antonio Water System is no longer looking at the Colorado River as a water source. After 10 years of planning and study, the utility just wants its money back.

“We feel we have been wronged,” board Chairman Alex Briseño said.

He was referring to the Lower Colorado River Authority, which SAWS sued for breach of contract. While SAWS lost the $1.2 billion suit last month, its board voted Monday to appeal the ruling of Travis County District Judge Stephen Yelenosky, who found that the LCRA couldn't be sued because of sovereign immunity.

The rest of the story:

Climate change? What climate change?

This has been quite a scientific mess hasn't it?

Climategate U-turn as scientist at centre of row admits: There has been no global warming since 1995

By Jonathan Petre - MailOnline

• Data for vital 'hockey stick graph' has gone missing
• There has been no global warming since 1995
• Warming periods have happened before - but NOT due to man-made changes

Data: Professor Phil Jones admitted his record keeping is 'not as good as it should be'

The academic at the centre of the ‘Climategate’ affair, whose raw data is crucial to the theory of climate change, has admitted that he has trouble ‘keeping track’ of the information.

Colleagues say that the reason Professor Phil Jones has refused Freedom of Information requests is that he may have actually lost the relevant papers.

Professor Jones told the BBC yesterday there was truth in the observations of colleagues that he lacked organisational skills, that his office was swamped with piles of paper and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’.

The data is crucial to the famous ‘hockey stick graph’ used by climate change advocates to support the theory.

Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.

And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming.

The rest of the story:

Indictments

Good work here by Heather Holub, the District Attorney in Guadalupe County and the Texas Rangers with the help of the Guadalupe County Sheriff's Dept. Investigator Robert Murphy.

Congratulations Madame D.A. and Gentlemen.

Former Marion PD reserve officer indicted

By Ron Maloney - The Gazette-Enterprise

SEGUIN — A former Marion reserve police officer accused of indecent acts involving a young girl was indicted Friday on a first-degree felony allegation that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

The Guadalupe County grand jury indicted Dennis Dale Lee on an allegation of continuous sexual abuse of a child.

Lee, 57, was arrested May 12, 2009 on allegations that he touched the genitals of a young female relative.

He was booked by Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Investigator Robert Murphy and subsequently released from custody after posting $100,000 bail.

25th Judicial District Attorney Heather Hollub said Friday’s indictment came out of an investigation conducted by Murphy and the Texas Rangers.

Friday’s indictment raises the ante for Lee, and comes under House Bill 8, legislation passed two sessions ago that created a new category of crime — continued sexual abuse of a child or children under age 14 — and set a sentence of 25 years to life for someone who is convicted under the statute.

According to a statement released by Hollub’s office, Lee will also have to serve the entire sentence, if one is imposed, without parole.

“It’s always a sad day when we have to prosecute a member or former member of law enforcement, but when they violate the public trust it is vital that the public know we will hold them accountable,” Hollub said.

According to the affidavit Murphy filed last May 12 seeking Lee’s arrest, the situation came to light a week earlier when the mother of the victim had reported an outcry in New Braunfels regarding Lee and his alleged conduct.

The affidavit said Lee had been playing a game with the 5-year-old girl he called “mouse” that included “the touching and rubbing of the child’s genitals by the hands of ... Dennis Lee.”

The child was taken to Guadalupe Valley Regional Medical Center for a forensic examination, Murphy reported.

Murphy and other investigators believe the abuse went on for a period of months or longer. Forensic examinations revealed it had been “at least one and more likely several years,” Murphy wrote.

“The examination revealed that ... Dennis Lee had been touching and rubbing the child’s genitals over the clothing, and this had been occurring for a number of years,” Murphy wrote in the affidavit.

The original allegation, indecency with a child by sexual contact, is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

In addition, the grand jury handed up indictments on two people who were allegedly involved in an October, 2009, home invasion in which the victim was forced to withdraw money from ATM machines, as well as a variety of charges for violent crimes authorities say involved several alleged members of the 74 Hoover Crips criminal street gang, among others.

Troy A. Cunningham, 29, indicted on an allegation of possession of a controlled substance, has been indicted on enhanced charges as a habitual felon and faces 15 years to life in prison for the alleged possession of a large amount of cocaine, Hollub’s office reported.

Gregory McClure, 19, was indicted in four cases.

McClure and co-defendant Damien Ussery, 24, were indicted on two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and engaging in organized crime for a June 2009 assault on rival gang members who Hollub said were beaten so severely they were airlifted to a trauma center for emergency treatment. McClure and Ussery face five to 99 years on each of the four charges.

McClure, co-defendant Patrick L. Wilson, 24, and three others were indicted on 10 counts of burglary of a habitation and engaging in organized crime for a string of burglaries that occurred in June and July of 2009. McClure and Wilson face five to 99 years on each of the 10 allegations.

McClure was also indicted for the alleged theft of a firearm in October, 2009, and for the alleged burglary of a habitation, aggravated robbery and engaging in organized crime for a November, 2009, home invasion robbery. McClure faces five to 99 years on the burglary and robbery allegations and two to 20 on the engaging in organized crime charge.

Hollub declared war on organized crime shortly after taking office in January, 2009, and more arrests and indictments are expected, authorities say.

“We’ll continue to prosecute these cases aggressively and believe this will send a strong message to those who would terrorize our community,” Hollub said.

Self-evident evidence

How wonderful a crime-fighting tool DNA evidence can be if the lab performing the analysis is trustworthy.

How likely would his DNA evidence be? 

Not very likely as they broke up apparently 2-3 months before her murder.

DNA evidence ties former boyfriend to 2009 slaying

By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

The father of a woman strangled in an apartment near Alamo Heights in 2009 says he always suspected her ex-boyfriend played a role in her death, but it took DNA from a bloodied towel for San Antonio police to arrest him Saturday morning.

Jon Thomas Ford, 41, remains in Bexar County Jail on one count of murder in connection with the Jan. 1, 2009, death of Dana Clair Edwards, 32. Ford's bail is set at $100,000.

“It really doesn't bring closure. I think we're a long way from being through,” said Darrell Edwards, who with his wife discovered their youngest child brutally murdered in her apartment about 24 hours after she was killed.

The rest of the story: