Thousands of pot plant seized in Montgomery County

By From Community Reports Law enforcement seized approximately 5,600 live marijuana plants on a wooded property in far East Montgomery County early Wednesday, Aug. 29. Around 6:30 a.m., the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit served a search warrant in a heavily wooded and undeveloped tract of land. Thousands of marijuana plants and items used to cultivate the plants were seized. No arrests have been made but the investigation is ongoing, according to MCSO Lt. P. Cash. The marijuana was first identified by SIU during a flyover of wooded areas. SIU was assisted by Montgomery County ATTF and District 3 patrol, DPS Narcotics and DPS Air Wing, DEA and DEA Air Wing, ICE, Patton Village PD and Roman Forest Police.

Hurricane warning issued for Houston area

By Eric Berger, Houston Chronicle McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Aug. 27--Tropical Storm Isaac moved into the Gulf of Mexico late Sunday, setting the stage for a midweek rendezvous with the northern Gulf coast.

In response to the growing threat, the National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings for the coast from Morgan City, La., to Destin, Fla.

Forecasters said it remained difficult to determine the storm's most likely track, but New Orleans was in the middle of the hurricane center's "cone of uncertainty."

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called a state of emergency on Sunday and suggested that people leave low-lying parts of the state. A voluntary evacuation of New Orleans began Sunday, and mandatory evacuations could begin as early as Monday.

An emergency declaration was also issued in Mississippi by Gov. Phil Bryant amid concerns of storm surge threatening low-lying areas.

By late Sunday Isaac remained a powerful tropical storm, with 65-mph sustained winds, and forecasters anticipated it would grow into a hurricane by Monday. The official forecast predicts Isaac will come ashore as a Category 2 hurricane along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast, although some forecast models strengthened it into a major hurricane before landfall.

Isaac could reach the northern Gulf coast by Wednesday -- the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Passing through the Florida Keys as a tropical storm, Gov. Rick Scott said Sunday evening that only minor damage was reported in Florida.

In Tampa, Republican National Convention officials said they would convene briefly on Monday, then recess until Tuesday afternoon, when the storm was expected to have passed.

Offshore, energy companies were preparing for the storm, as they stepped up evacuation of workers from the Gulf and shut down some production.

By midday Sunday, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported 24 percent of the current daily oil production in the Gulf had been shut down, along with just over 8 percent of current daily natural gas production.

Satish Nagarajaiah, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, said the evacuations and production shutdowns were routine. More platforms will be shut down by Monday, he said, most of them in the eastern Gulf. And once the storm passes, production will be restarted quickly unless the platform sustains damage, he said.

Drilling in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico accounts for 23 percent of domestic crude oil production and about 7 percent of natural gas production, according to U.S. government statistics.

More than 40 percent of the country's refining capacity is located along the Gulf coast, too. So far, refineries are continuing operations.

BP said Sunday it had temporarily suspended production at all of its operated production platforms in the Gulf. Apache Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. both said they shut in some production. BP had begun evacuating workers Friday; by Saturday, Chevron, Murphy Oil, Shell, Exxon Mobil and other companies were evacuating nonessential workers.

On Sunday afternoon some forecast models suggests Isaac could move as far west as the Texas-Louisiana border before moving inland, possibly posing a hurricane threat to Texas.

But that scenario remained unlikely, forecasters said. "There's not a zero percent chance on Texas, but it certainly is still an outlier" that the state would get hit, said Bill Read, the recently retired director of the National Hurricane Center.

Depending how close Isaac moves to Texas, waters offshore Galveston could see some higher waves, and winds could rise over the region on Wednesday and Thursday. Some rain is also possible.

Staff writer Jeannie Kever contributed to this report.

2 women fight with officer, urinates in squad car

by Nakia Cooper / KHOU.com

khou.com

Posted on August 15, 2012 at 12:35 PM

Updated today at 1:37 PM

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas—Two women were arrested Tuesday after a bizarre chain of events involving road rage and a scuffle with an off-duty officer in Montgomery County.

It all started when a mother and four small children were traveling east on Rayford Road near Fuzzel Road when two women in another vehicle came up behind them, according to Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies.

The mom told Montgomery County Police Reporter Scott Engle that a woman driving the other vehicle continuously blared her horn, then intentionally ran into the back of the van.

The two vehicles stopped and all three women got out. The mom said the other two women got very confrontational and used foul language, but left when she threatened to call police.  It did not end there.

The mom said as she drove into the Creekside Village subdivision, the women ran past a stop sign, caught up with her and confronted her again.

An off-duty Harris County Sheriff’s deputy who was with his family witnessed the event and pulled over to help.

The deputy displayed his badge and approached the two confrontational women. That is when the driver, 21-year-old Robin Scott, allegedly hit the deputy’s vehicle and ran over his foot.

The deputy drew his weapon and removed Scott from the vehicle, but she began to struggle with him. While those two were scuffling, the passenger, 23-year-old Renee Rose Williams, hopped out with her camera phone and began recording. Williams then jumped back into the vehicle and drove off as the deputy called for backup.

More officers and emergency responders arrived, took Scott into custody and checked the deputy’s injured foot.

Deputies then searched the area and found the abandoned vehicle nearby. Witnesses told them which house the driver was seen going into.

Deputies went to the home, but were told that Williams had already left with a male companion in a Scion.

Deputies quickly located Williams and the man at the front of the subdivision.

She was then taken into custody.

Scott and Williams were both given – and failed – field sobriety tests, according to deputies.

Deputies said Scott got combative with officers once more and it took at least four of them to put her into the squad car. She then urinated in the back of the patrol car.

Scott was charged with DWI, assaulting a peace officer and criminal mischief. Her bond was set at $5,600.

Williams was charged with DWI and evading. Her bond was set at $2,500.

Both women were booked into the Montgomery County Jail.

The Montgomery County Police Reporter was on the scene at the time of the women's arrest.  Click here to see more exclusive images and footage.