Burn ban in effect!

Harris County Commissioners Court approved a burn ban Tuesday, Oct. 26, following the lead of Montgomery County officials who announced a burn ban effective Oct. 25. Due to an increased threat of wildfires there are now 67 Texas counties with burn bans in effect, including Harris, Chambers, Grimes, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller counties.

No outdoor burning is allowed except in an enclosure which contains all flames and/or sparks, outdoor burning activities authorized by TCEQ, ceremonial fires, non-commercial cooking, and prescribed “hot work”. Backyard cook-outs and barbecues are also allowed, as is welding and other “hot work” performed in accordance with county fire code requirements.

Conroe police search for shooter.

CONROE, Texas – Police are searching for a suspect they say shot and killed a man in his home early Sunday in Conroe.

Police responded to a shooting in the 200 block of Oak just after 12:00 a.m. and found a 57-year-old man shot once in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a witness, a man in his late teens or early 20s knocked at the door of the victim’s mobile home. When one of the residents answered, the suspect shot through the glass window with a hand gun.

Police said a similar crime happened in the same neighborhood last week. In that incident, someone approached the home across the street and knocked. As a female resident answered, the suspect shot through the door, narrowly missing her.
The name of Saturday night’s victim was not being released pending notification of next of kin.
Police continued to investigate.

9-11 call - backfires because of open laptop.

by Courtney Zubowski / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 11:37 PM
Updated today at 9:54 AM

HOUSTON -- A woman who called 911 to anonymously report a crime says she’s in fear for her life after the man she turned in called her just minutes after she placed the call.

According to the woman, who does not want to be identified, on Oct. 1, she was driving near Beltway 8 and Veterans Memorial Drive when she witnessed a man in the car next to her beating his passenger. She did not know either one of them.

“I saw him hitting her and he was taking his fist and he was just hitting her, aside her, just hitting her and I’m like this is crazy,” said the woman.

She placed the 911 call at 1:28 p.m. and thought that would be the end of her involvement, but 30 minutes later she learned it was just the beginning.

“About 1:54 p.m. my phone rang back and it was the suspect,” she said. “He was asking me ‘Who was this, who is this’ and I am like, ‘Who is this, you called my number,’ and then he hung up."

After that call came another, and this time it was a woman’s voice, she said.

“She called me just as he hung up and it was like, ‘Ma’am, are you the concerned lady that called about my welfare,’ and I am like,

‘Excuse me,’ and she said, ‘Well I’m OK,’ and I said, ‘Excuse me,’” said the woman.

She received another call the next morning from the Harris County Jail where the suspect was in custody. He was arrested for outstanding warrants, but never charged with assault.

“My phone rings again and it says, ‘You have a call from Harris County processing jail,’ and I immediately hung up,” she said.
“I will never, ever get involved with anything else again, not when it comes to me being fearful of the surroundings in my life.”

A spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office says as far as she knows, this is the first time something like this has happened in their department.

HCSO spokesperson Christina Garza said the suspect was put in the back of a Harris County patrol car while the deputy talked to the woman he was accused of hitting. It was then he was able to read the woman’s phone number off of a laptop computer the deputy had left open in the front seat.

“It’s a very unique situation,” Garza said. “It’s never happened and we certainly don’t want this to discourage her, or anybody, from reporting crime to authorities.”

Garza said it’s common practice to keep laptops closed, but it’s not policy. In some situations, deputies are forced to rush out of cars quickly.

”If anyone is to blame in this situation, it’s the suspect who violated such important information and took it upon himself to do this,” said Garza.

Garza said the department is sending out e-mails to all deputies to remind them to keep their laptops closed.

The suspect is not facing charges for memorizing the information, or calling the woman. Garza said there is no proof that he ever threatened the woman.


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The 911 caller disagrees.

“I was threatened,” she said. “I was threatened when he received my information. My information should have been protected. I was threatened at that point, so what point of threat do they not understand?

13 Houston schools receive powder letters

by khou.com staff
Posted on October 8, 2010 at 8:09 PM

HOUSTON – At least 13 HISD schools received envelopes Friday containing a white powdery substance, according to an HISD spokesperson.
A Houston Fire Department Hazmat team was sent to each school to collect the envelopes.
Preliminary testing showed the substance appeared to be non-hazardous. The powder was tested for radiation, explosives and volatile chemicals. Further tests are being conducted.

The schools were Alcott Elementary, Almeda Elementary, Anderson Elementary, Ashford Elementary, Attucks Middle School, Barrick Elementary, Bastian Elementary, Black Middle School, Blackshear Elementary and Browning Elementary.
Fonville Middle School, Briar Meadow Elementary School and Bellaire High School were added to the list Friday evening.
HISD said its top priority is making sure all schools are safe before students return on Monday.

"All of our school administrators are going through their mail and are trying to identify any envelopes that may look suspicious," said HISD Police Chief Jimmie Dotson.
The typewritten envelopes were addressed to the schools, not individuals, and contained no notes. Each contained about a teaspoon of white powder.
The FBI, U.S. Postal Service, HPD and HFD are assisting HISD with the investigation.


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Police chase ends at Walmart

by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 7:50 PM
Updated yesterday at 12:58 AM

HOUSTON -- A police chase ended in a three-vehicle wreck Wednesday evening in The Woodlands.

The chase ended at about 6:20 p.m. in front of a Walmart store at the intersection of Interstate 45 and Highway 242.

Air 11 video showed three vehicles wrecked including a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office car. The video also showed a man slumped over on a steering wheel inside a black vehicle.

The suspect reportedly shot himself. There was no word on why the suspect was being chased or how the three vehicles wrecked.
There were no other injuries reported.

No waiting: Houston ship channel back in business

UPDATE 1-Coast Guard says no wait to exit Houston Channel

HOUSTON Oct 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard said no ships were waiting Thursday morning to leave the Houston Ship Channel, and 33 ships were lined up to enter the waterway to the busiest U.S petrochemical port after a three-day outage, which ended on Wednesday.

As many as 67 ships were waiting to enter or exit the waterway by the time early on Wednesday that workers had removed a leaning electrical highline tower that threatened to tumble into the waterway after being struck by a barge on Sunday morning.

Four Houston refineries were unable to receive crude oil by ship during the closure, but none said prodcution was cut during the wait that ended Wednesday when the first ships up the channel were crude tankers.

About 44 ships were waiting to enter the channel when it reopened on Wednesday morning and it might appear only 11 have moved up the channel, but the Coast Guard said several ships were added to the line waiting in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.

"It's a consant flow," said a Coast Guard spokesman.

There are about 12 ships more than on a average day waiting to move into the channel, the spokesman said. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by John Picinich)


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Drug deal goes bad - two shot - one dead.

khou.com
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:26 AM
Updated today at 8:45 AM

HOUSTON—A 24-year-old man was killed and his brother injured after the two were shot in what appears to be a drug deal gone bad Wednesday evening, according to HPD Homicide detectives.
Police officers responded to a home on Winter Briar at Winter Seasons in southwest Houston for reports of a drive-by shooting.

They arrived around 9 p.m. to find two brothers had been shot. They said the actual shooting took place at another location about a half-mile away, but the brothers somehow made it back home.
Police believe the brothers drove their Cadillac a few blocks from their home to meet a group of men and purchase drugs. Some sort of altercation occurred and one of the men opened fire on the brothers.

"The exact circumstances are unclear as to what transpired a t the two locations, but we have one dead," said Sgt. Thomas Biggs, HPD Homicide Division. "We believe we have all of the players in custody.

The bullet traveled completely through one of the brothers. Police said he was shot in the chest or the back, but it is unclear which point is the entry and exit.
The other brother was shot in the foot. He was taken to Southwest Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he was treated and released. He returned to the scene to talk to police.
Several suspects were taken in for questioning and police said they definitely know one of them is the shooter.


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Breaking: Houston Ship Channel Closed!

HOUSTON, Texas

—A four-mile stretch of the Houston Ship Channel remained closed to marine traffic Monday after a barge slammed into a tower supporting a high-voltage electric transmission line, threatening to topple it into the channel.

Coast Guard officials said a towing vessel named Safety Quest was pushing three barges loaded with scrap metal about 6 a.m. Sunday when it smashed into a Baytown power line, which remained upright only with the support of one of the barges.
No injuries were reported, but the six-member boat crew moved to another vessel and to safety.
Officials said the section from Crystal Bay to the Blackwell Peninsula would remain closed until at least Tuesday night.

"The situation is a little bit unstable right now," said Capt. Marcus Woodring. "The lines are sagging and we cannot allow any vessels to pass underneath with the unstable situation and chance of those lines falling in the water."
Centerpoint Energy officials said the power had been shut off to the line because crews had previously been working on a nearby tower. They said no customers had lost electricity following the crash.
Eighteen inbound vessels attempted to get into the port early Tuesday afternoon, and many remained anchored off the coast of Galveston. Twelve outbound commercial ships were also stuck.
The 25-mile waterway is lined by the nation’s biggest complex of petrochemical plants. The Port of Houston ranks first in the nation in foreign waterborne tonnage and imports and second in U.S. export tonnage and total tonnage.

"Anytime you see something like this, you hate it, because it’s affecting people and how they make their money," said Richard Zeno, a tugboat captain who was not involved in the crash but watched the teetering tower as he was fishing with his family Sunday.

Coast Guard officials said the ship channel handles more than $320 million in cargo and crude daily, meaning the Port of Houston would lose about $1 billion if the waterway stayed closed until Tuesday night.

"Commerce, of course, is very, very important," said Chief Warrant Officer Lionel Bryant. "But we don’t want to put lives in jeopardy doing so."

"This is actually very difficult because the tower is actually sitting on the barge," Bryant said.
The Coast Guard said the boat’s owner is St. Louis-based AEP River Operations.

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Montgomery woman named top child advocate volunteer

By Brad Meyer
Updated: 10.03.10
For her work in organizing the efforts of government agencies, private sector groups and faith-based organizations supporting the 2,000 children needing assistance in Montgomery County, a Montgomery woman has been named the top child advocate volunteer in the state.

The Texas Council on Child Welfare Boards, a nonprofit network of child welfare advocates concerned with the protection of children, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services have named Terri Jaggers as the statewide 2009-10 Lucille Rocus Volunteer of the Year.

“It’s a great personal honor,” Jaggers said, “but I see this more as a tribute to the coordinated group effort of all volunteers than have made Montgomery County a model for child protection and foster care programs across the country.”

The award is named after 93-year-old Lucille Rocus for her lifelong commitment and advocacy for children in the state of Texas.

Jaggers joined the Montgomery County Child Protective Services/Child Welfare Board in 2009, but her commitment to helping children in need goes back to 1985 when she became active in child welfare and foster care programs.

Since then, Jaggers and her husband, Pat, an attorney specializing in adoption, have been foster parents to 25 children and formally adopted five children.

Most recently, Jaggers has focused her efforts on organizing the donations and contributions of private business, governmental agencies, churches and civic groups to minimize overlap and maximize productivity.

“Many kids need help with school supplies, but they don’t need three sets of the same thing,” she said. “We are coordinating needs and contributions to maximize the impact of volunteers and donations.”

Jagger says state agencies have good intentions, but they are bureaucracies that move slowly and don’t have the financial resources or personnel to fulfill all the needs of the communities they serve. Her goal is to supplement state resources with assistance from the private sector and faith-based groups.

“The state does a decent job with what they have,” she said, “but there is no way they can handle all of the day-to-day needs of children.”

More than 2,000 children in Montgomery County have some sort of reliance on state or private assistance, Jaggers said. Approximately 700 have a conservatorship relationship – meaning they rely totally on the state for support.

“Some people donate time, others volunteer money,” said Dr. Frances Brandau-Brown, a Montgomery County Child Welfare board member. “Terri does both.”

Brown said Jaggers has been active in local child advocacy programs for many years and has become an invaluable asset to the organization, while operating a health club in Houston, teaching at a local college and being a wife and mother.

Jaggers was named the 2005-06 Mrs. Texas U.S. and the 2008 Mrs. U.S. America.

“She’s a generous person in every sense of the word,” Brandau-Brown said. “I don’t know when she has time to sleep.”

Jaggers credits a strong network of support groups and her family for enabling her to maintain her hectic schedule.

“There are a lot of talented giving people in Montgomery County,” she said. “It’s a privilege to work with them on a project of this importance.”

Jaggers, herself a foster child, has no plans to scale back on her volunteer efforts.

“The point of life is figuring out what you’re good at and what your calling is,” she said. “I found mine and I’m committed to make life better for children.”

For information on how individuals or groups can assist in helping children in need in Montgomery County, e-mail Jaggers at tjaggs@aol.com.

Brad Meyer can be reached at bmeyer@hcnonline.com.


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