Best Of Texas Blogs: East Montgomery County

Toll highway mulled by Harris County

2012-01-25T07:30:00.001-08:00

THE CHRON:

Harris County may pick up where the Texas Department of Transportation left off as Commissioners Court considers whether to study the feasibility of building a tolled segment of the Tomball Parkway.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority is asking that it be allowed to look at State Highway 249, also known as Tomball Parkway, to see whether it would be make sense to build a toll road from Spring-Cypress Road about 10 miles north, to near Farm-to-Market 1774. Toll roads officials stress that the study is preliminary and no end point has been determined.

"You've got a populated area that's growing that needs more mobility," said Peter Key, executive director of the toll road authority. "We're taking those first steps to try to find something that's feasible."

Starting the toll road north of Spring-Cypress is natural, he said, as that is where the existing expressway ends and splits into two frontage roads separated by 400 to 500 feet of grass median.

"There was some forethought years ago when the state constructed that," Key said. "They were thinking long term: 'One day we'll come back.' Well that day has come, so now who's going to find a way to afford putting it in the ground?"

The Texas Department of Transportation and Montgomery County already have begun discussions on the project, Key said. About 64,500 vehicles per day travel between Beltway 8 and FM 1774, according to 2010 TxDOT data that includes trips in both directions.

"The people out in Tomball really want that to occur," said County Judge Ed Emmett, a former transportation consultant. "Everybody I talk to says it's almost a no-brainer that it's a financially good thing to do."

Shorter commutes

John Fishero, a vice president at Lone Star College-Tomball and chairman of the 249 Coalition, a nascent group advocating for growth along the road from Beltway 8 to Navasota, agreed.

Morning radio traffic reports, Fishero said, often cite 45-minute drive times on 20-mile stretches of the North and Eastex freeways. The commute on 249, he said, often is pegged at 30 minutes for a stretch of road one fourth as long.

"They're talking about Spring Cypress to Beltway 8, and that's only about 6 miles," Fishero said. "People are sitting there going nowhere. Getting the flow of traffic away from the stop lights and stop signs between Spring-Cypress and Magnolia will definitely help."

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle, whose precinct includes the area, said he has heard positive feedback from his constituents.

"That region is one where we are exploding in our growth," Cagle said. "Having the opportunity to explore avenues of increased mobility is just a positive discussion for us to have."

Terri Hall, of Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom, a group that opposes many toll roads, disagreed.

"People can't afford to pay tolls, especially with gas going up," Hall said. "You might be able to get it built sooner, but who's going to drive on it? They're going to still be sitting on frontage roads."

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

Severe weather expected today in Houston area

2012-01-25T07:21:00.001-08:00

KRPC: You can see a wall of heavy rain," KPRC Local 2 meteorologist Anthony Yanez. "From 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock is the time to watch for these dangerous storms."

"Do not take these warnings lightly. Typically, whenever we get these and see a pattern like we had this morning, we'll see a handful of tornadoes," Yanez said.

Gusty winds and scattered showers moved through the area at 2 a.m., knocking out power to 30,000 CenterPoint Energy customers. As of 6:30 a.m., approximately 18,000 people remained without electricity.

"Earlier this morning, we had wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph," Yanez said. "That's what knocked down some of those trees and power lines. We could still see some 60 mph straight-line winds, hail and lots of lightning."

A low-pressure system is responsible for strong storms in central and northern Texas, which are expected to drench the Houston area most of the day.

"There's a couple of lines that we're tracking. The strongest one will arrive in Houston around noon. It's a concern for this morning until early afternoon. The radar is picking up a lot of twisting winds," Yanez said. "It's going to be wet from 8 o'clock all the way through 2 o'clock. By 5 p.m., this storm system will be in our eastern counties."

Yanez said south of Interstate 10 is not expected to see the strongest storms.

"It's a lot more scattered and not as well put together," Yanez said.

Power outages caused problems for some southwest Houston businesses.

Whataburger on the Southwest Freeway near Weslayan had to turn away customers when employees could not prepare food for the morning rush.

"Their lights just came back on (at 6 a.m.), but they weren't ready to serve yet," customer Carol Bennett said.

Many Houstonians were worried about flooding after severe weather left its mark on Jan. 9.

Houston firefighters performed about 140 water rescues when people became stranded in high water.

Officials warned drivers to "turn around, not drown" if they approached rising water.

Flooding is the most common hazard in Houston and many times, individuals are not able to judge the depths of water along roadways and find themselves in perilous conditions.

Officials said 6 inches of water can cause tires to lose traction and begin to slide, and 12 inches of water can float many cars. Two feet of rushing water will carry off pickup trucks, SUVs and most other vehicles.

Water across a roadway may hide a missing segment of road or a missing bridge, officials said.

In flash floods, waters rise so rapidly they may be far deeper by the time you are halfway across, trapping you in your vehicle.

Be especially cautious at night, when it's even more difficult to gauge the amount of water in a roadway.

The safest option is to simply avoid driving over water and find an alternate, safer route, or wait until the danger has passed.

Logging truck accident shuts down Texas Highway 242

2012-01-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

A logging truck lost the load of lumber it was carrying on Texas 242 near Interstate 45 in south Montgomery County Thursday morning, forcing officials to shut down portions of the state highway.

The single-vehicle wreck occurred on the eastbound highway near the North Freeway about 7:30 a.m., according The Department of Public Safety.

Troopers said logs spilled onto the road, blocking traffic. The wreck caused officials to shut down the eastbound lanes near the crash site while crews worked to clear the area.

No injuries have been reported.

No information about what caused the mishap was immediately available.

Houston skyscraper implosion ...

2012-01-09T06:44:00.001-08:00

by KHOU
KHOU
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 7:57 AM
Updated today at 8:14 AM

HOUSTON — A big boom could be heard on Sunday at the Texas Medical Center in Houston as demolition crews brought down a 20-story building that was once the home of KVUE's sister station, KHOU-TV.

Rare treat: Houstonians can watch as Space Station crosses Moon

2012-01-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

A slice of Houston will have a chance to view a rare treat this evening.

Not only will the International Space Station make an incredibly bright, six-minute track across the sky tonight, some observers will be able to see the orbital laboratory blink across the moon.

Beginning at 6:28 p.m. the station will rise above the northwest horizon in Houston, and disappear just above the southeast horizon some six minutes later. Skies are forecast to be partly cloudy.

Along this path, for some parts of Houston all the way to Galveston, the station’s track will bring it across the face of the moon.

The following map, made by Steve Clayworth of Observable Universe, shows the approximate area from which this will be visible.

2012 is here!

2011-12-31T20:31:00.001-08:00

Texas jury awards 150 billion to family of Splendora boy who was set afire.

2011-12-21T08:49:00.000-08:00

LA GRANGE, Texas (AP) — An attorney says a Texas jury has awarded the largest verdict he has ever heard of — $150 billion to the family of a man who died 12 years after being set afire as an 8-year-old.

Robbie Middleton was set on fire near Splendora in Montgomery County on his 8th birthday in 1998.

Craig Sico says the punitive damage award is symbolic and the family expects none of it will be paid.

The defendant, Don Wilburn Collins, is currently imprisoned on an unrelated sexual assault charge. He was never charged and denies involvement in the 2010 death of 20-year-old Middleton.
Sico says he asked jurors to make a statement by topping the $145 billion Florida verdict against tobacco companies in 2000.

Neither Collins nor any attorney appeared for him at the civil trial. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice didn't respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Worst wildfire in East Texas history possibly caused by lightning

2011-12-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

THE CHRON:

The cause of the worst wildfire in East Texas history that burned across 19,000 acres and destroyed 83 homes is listed as "undetermined" - although a investigative report speculates that it mostly likely was triggered by smoldering underground roots or stumps from a lightning strike 10 days earlier in the same vicinity.

According to a report on the fire obtained by the Houston Chronicle, Assistant Montgomery County Fire Marshal Scott Burlin said he reviewed digital photos of the fire scene, reports on the lightning fire and examined the burned terrain before issuing his final report on the 16-day blaze that began Sept. 5 in the woods near the western edge of the Crown Ranch subdivision.

While stating the fire appeared to be accidental, he stressed it originated in the same general area as a fire caused by a lightning strike 10 days earlier on the far western edge of the Crown Ranch subdivision. The only access to the subdivision is off FM 1486 in Montgomery County, but the fire actually began on the subdivision's western edge which lies in Grimes County, he said.

"It is well documented that burning stumps and tree roots can and do smolder in the 'black areas' for several weeks after a forest fire if that fire is not fully extinguished," he said in the report. "This scenario cannot be ruled out and is most likely the cause of the Tri-County fire on Sept. 5."

The fire ravaged acres in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties with the most destruction occurring in Waller where 75 homes were listed as totally destroyed.

According to the report, Burlin said he examined several deer camps that were in the vicinity of the fire and might have possibly had camp fires or burn piles that could have initiated the blaze.

However, he said he found "no credible information or evidence" that any of the camps had contributed to the fire.

He also concluded that the drought conditions and high winds caused it to quickly rage and made it difficult to bring under control.

As a result, he said dozens of firefighters from as far away as Florida and California assisted in battling the blaze.

He said assistance came from area volunteers as well as the Texas Forest Service, U.S. Forestry Service and included water drops from giant planes.

Shadowhawk drone will be deployed in January

2011-11-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

HOUSTON (CN) - A Texas sheriff plans to launch an unmanned drone in January. The ShadowHawk will not be armed with weapons, but will be equipped with blue flashing lights, a camera and an infrared sensor, according to Montgomery County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel. Montgomery County is north of Houston.

The Montgomery County sheriff purchased the drone with a $300,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security.

The ShadowHawk was made by Conroe, Texas-based Vanguard Defense Industries. Conroe is the seat of Montgomery County, which is immediately north of Houston's Harris County.

The ShadowHawk weighs 50 pounds, is 79 inches long and can fly as high as 8,000 feet. The drone is operated remotely by a laptop computer system, runs off a mixture of oil and gas, and can stay airborne for more than an hour, depending on weather conditions.

Vanguard Defense Industries CEO Michael Buscher said his company manufactures and sells the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to commercial and law-enforcement customers, but most have been sold for military uses.

Vanguard's military UAVs can be equipped with 40-millimeter grenade launchers, and fully- and semi-automatic small arms, according to the company's website.
Though Montgomery County's ShadowHawk will not have weapons, Buscher said Vanguard is developing a system to arm its law enforcement UAVs with nonlethal munitions.

"Despite the press the aircraft has received, the Law Enforcement (LE) version is not what we would deem as a 'weaponized' system," Buscher wrote in an email to Courthouse News Service. "Within the next 60 days our R&D division will complete testing on a less-lethal firing system that can be integrated in the LE variants. This system will include provision of a unit which will be capable of firing 37mm or 40mm less-lethal munitions and not high explosives. These munitions will include tear gas canisters, flares, smoke, flash-bangs, etc."

Buscher directed Courthouse News Service to the website of an Ontario, Canada-based business, Police Ordnance Co., for an idea of what kinds of munitions its law enforcement UAVs will be capable of carrying.

Police Ordnance calls itself "the premier law enforcement products manufacturer and distributor serving the law enforcement professional worldwide."

Through its website, Police Ordnance sells tear gas, bean-bag projectiles, baton and sting-ball projectiles in 37mm and 40mm cartridges, and munitions designed to deliver a "combination payload of flash-bang charge and smoke charge" upon impact.

McDaniel said the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department "would definitely look into what the capabilities are" once Vanguard Defense Industries works out the kinks in its law-enforcement UAVs firing systems.

For now, the sheriff's department will use the ShadowHawk for "mission-specific issues," such as searching for people lost in Sam Houston National Forest, in situations involving hazardous materials, or to provide support for people on the ground fighting a forest fire, McDaniel said.

"The ShadowHawk can see through heavy smoke using its optic system to find hot spots, fire breaks and fire lines. And can help the ground crews figure out where to go," Vanguard CEO Buscher said.

The sheriff's office has been working with Vanguard on the ShadowHawk project for 3 years, after it was approached by Buscher, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Deputy McDaniel told the Chronicle there has not been any major opposition to the drone since the plans were unveiled in late October. But questions about its surveillance capabilities have stirred privacy concerns.

McDaniel told the Chronicle last week: "We're not about spying on the residents of this county. We are about putting criminals in jail and putting a stop to criminal activity. We have better things to do, and spying is not our role."
Buscher told Courthouse News that using the ShadowHawk is "no different from having a manned helicopter."

"They've been using helicopters since the 1940s. So cities and municipalities have been dealing with these issues for decades. You still have to get warrants and follow protocol you would for a manned helicopter. A lot of people don't realize a helicopter can conduct surveillance from high altitudes where you can't see it."
Deputy McDaniel said warrants are not legally required for the ShadowHawk to conduct surveillance.

"Air space is just that. Just as a news helicopter can fly over your house and poke a camera outside your window and record you in your yard, our helicopter can do that. There's no requirement for aerial surveillance," McDaniel said.
As for the ShadowHawk's potential to be equipped with nonlethal munitions, University of Houston professor of criminal procedure Adam Gershowitz said the mere existence of the technology does not raise any red flags.

"I can't think of any U.S. Supreme Court precedent that says you can't do it. I don't think there are any constitutional rules to stop it. I do think it would be a good idea for Montgomery County to put specific guidelines in place as to how it will be used," Gershowitz said.

The sheriff's department is training a two-man team to use the ShadowHawk. McDaniel said the department has had to work around the deputies' schedules to get the training done.

The training program is a "180-hour, FAA-based training program that includes physicals, as anyone who applies for a pilot license has to meet sight and hearing requirements," Buscher said.

ACLU concerned about police drone

2011-11-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

THE CHRON:

As the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office gears up to employ an unmanned helicopter to hunt criminals and find missing persons, civil liberties advocates are concerned about the spy in the sky used for policing.

Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of the sheriff's office said the $300,000 ShadowHawk drone - purchased from Vanguard Defense Industries with federal homeland security grant funds - will take to the air in the coming months to provide another tool in the law enforcement arsenal.

"It's an exciting piece of equipment for us," he said. "We envision a lot of its uses primarily in the realm of public safety - looking at recovery of lost individuals and being able to utilize it for fire issues."

It also could be used, he said, to provide surveillance for officers serving a warrant at a specific location. It would not, however, be used to track suspects' vehicles. McDaniel said that manned helicopters would continue to be used for that purpose.

The unmanned craft will be controlled by a pilot using a laptop with a game-like console, and it comes equipped with a powerful camera and heat-seeking device mounted on the front.

ACLU concerns

In the future, the drone could be equipped to carry nonlethal weapons such as Tasers or a bean-bag gun, McDaniel said.

Kirsten Bokenkamp, spokeswoman for the Houston-based American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the drones raise concerns because there are not enough safeguards in place to protect citizens from unreasonable search and seizure.

HPD's 2007 tests

"It's just another example of technology that is outstripping our lives," she said. "What we mean by that, is the technology moves so quickly and the interpretations of the Fourth Amendment are failing to keep up with the technology. That brings privacy concerns."

"Further," Bokenkamp said, "the use of drones kind of takes the place of good old-fashioned detective work, and it allows for a more pervasive surveillance than we've been accustomed to or that we know about."

McDaniel disagreed, saying the 50-pound drone is an extension of the aerial resources currently available to law-enforcement agencies - manned helicopters from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Houston Police Department.

League City man faces child pornography charges.

2011-10-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

SANTA FE, Texas — A 34-year-old League City man faces child pornography charges after investigators claimed the man downloaded illegal images to his computer, Santa Fe police said.

Santa Fe police Detective Heather Burd, who is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, tracked a series of child pornography downloads to a League City Internet address.

James Karl Dunivan was arrested at his home in the 1200 block of Halls Bridge in League City on Monday morning.

Bastrop is burning ...

2011-09-06T10:06:00.001-07:00

BASTROP

- The most destructive wildfire on record in Texas showed no signs of slowing down Monday, destroying 25,000 acres in Bastrop County and 476 homes, more houses than any single wildfire before and more than all other fires this year combined, according to the Texas Forest Service.

With more than 60 new wildfires raging across the state, Gov. Rick Perry left the campaign trail Monday in South Carolina to address the public and organize requests for more federal aid.

Closer to Houston, a fire in Magnolia burned 20 homes and more than 1,600 acres, and was threatening subdivisions in Montgomery and Grimes counties late Monday. It had moved southwest into Waller County last Monday.

It was one of several fires to hit the area, straining state and local resources as officials focused on the most dangerous blazes. One firefighter was injured and one fire engine burned in blazes in the Magnolia area, said Lt. Dan Norris, spokesman for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities did not yet know how much of the most dangerous fire had been contained Monday, but planned to continue fighting it "as long as necessary," Norris said.

Strong winds and dry conditions fanned the flames and aided the blaze's rapid growth, forcing the evacuation of more than 150 homes. Montgomery County officials were encouraging evacuations from the intersection of FM 1774 and FM 1488, about 42 miles northwest of Houston, up to the Grimes County line, an official said.

Magnolia fire

The Magnolia fire, located off FM 1774 and FM 1488, jumped FM 1488 late Monday and forced further evacuations, although some families were being allowed back to their homes. The Magnolia Independent School District canceled classes today because of the fires. Evacuation shelters were being set up throughout the area, including at Magnolia High School.

Another fire in the area had burned 100 acres and was 80 percent contained, Norris said. It had destroyed one structure and caused no injuries after 50 homes were evacuated.

A fire covering about 100 acres was burning in Oak Ridge North late Monday.

A fire near Nacogdoches that started Sunday night raged to 300 acres Monday and forced 60 families to evacuate their homes, said Ralph Cullom, a spokesman for the Texas Forrest Service. That fires grew with strong gusts of winds and fed off of dry conditions on the ground.

"This drought we're having is just unprecedented," Cullom said.

No injuries have been reported in Bastrop, but two people were reported killed in a North Texas fire Monday. A woman and her 18-month-old child died when a fast-moving fire near Gladewater, east of Dallas, set their mobile home on fire and they were unable to escape.

The Bastrop County Complex Fire, pushed by strong winds and fed by plenty of dry grasses, shrubs and trees, steadily moved south Monday and expanded throughout the day. It jumped the Colorado River twice.

"We will be working days on end," said Mike Fisher, the Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator. "The fire is so dynamic we really have no idea where it is."

'Lives at stake'

Perry said the wildfire burning in the central part of the state is "as mean looking" as he's ever seen.

Driest year on record plagues Texas ...

2011-08-29T08:34:00.001-07:00

VOA: Weather forecasters and agriculture experts in the southwestern U.S. state of Texas say there is no relief in sight for what already is the worst drought year on record. The searing heat and dry conditions have caused devastating wildfires in the western part of the large state and led to crop losses, cattle deaths and water rationing in areas of east Texas that are normally wet at this time of year.

Driving through the countryside northwest of Houston, one sees dried up fields, dying trees and livestock ponds that are not much more than a puddles of fetid, algae-covered water. In some towns, farmers' markets have been cancelled because local growers have little to offer. Those with wells for irrigation are struggling with the high cost of fuel to run their pumps.

Debbie Cross, who operates a farmers' market near Cypress, Texas, says people are becoming discouraged by the lack of rain and the high temperatures, which are around 40 degrees most days.

“The drought is hurting everything. It is hurting all the crops, the cattle, the hay. There is no grass. The chickens are miserable. I mean everybody is just miserable. We need water,” Cross said.

Cross says local farmers are unable to supply much fruit and vegetables and that she is getting by with produce trucked in from other states where conditions are better.

“We are getting it from the local southern states and southwestern states are kicking in -- Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma. Everybody knows that the Texas market is a great consumer market, so they are helping out a lot here,” Cross said.
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One of the hardest hit agricultural sectors is livestock. Texas is the biggest cattle producer in the United States and ships beef to many foreign markets. Earlier this year, ranchers endured one of the worst winters on record, with several days of subzero temperatures in a region where freezes are rare. The drought has made it even harder, driving up the cost of hay and leaving some areas so dry that cattle have died of thirst in their pastures.

One rancher who has managed to get through this crisis with most of her stock in fairly good condition is Dorie Damuth, owner of the Flying D ranch near Magnolia, Texas.

Damuth raises prize-winning Texas Longhorns for breeding and she has managed to find hay and enough water to keep them alive. She says she has seen dry spells before, but nothing that compares to this year.

“The drought is something I, as a cattle woman, and all of my fellow cattlemen and cattlewomen have never experienced before. This is probably the 100-year drought, just like you can have a 100-year flood. It is very devastating for all of us ranchers who work so hard to provide beef for our country as well as for around the world,” Damuth said.

In a dried up lake on her property, there is a Longhorn skull sitting on top of cracked earth that is muddy and soft underneath.

“We have had lakes and stock ponds on the ranch that have dried up because of no rain, no rainfall. They will dry down to a little mucky place in the middle that is still wet and the cattle will sometimes go down and try to get water and they can't. And they step into that mucky mud and it is kind of like quicksand, and they can't get out.”

Lately, there have been beautiful fluffy clouds floating over the area. But ranch hand Chris Quinters is not encouraged by them.

“Those are some nice clouds, but it don't look like they are going to bring any rain,” Quinters said.

East Montgomery County, Texas gets grant for eye-spy UAV.

2011-08-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Sheriff’s Office of Montgomery County, Texas was recently awarded a grant by the Department of Homeland Security for a squadron of ShadowHawks. Montgomery County’s Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel is psyched.

“We are very excited about the funding and looking forward to placing the equipment into the field. Both my narcotics and SWAT units have been looking at numerous ways to deploy it and I absolutely believe it will become a critical component on all SWAT callouts and narcotics raids and emergency management operations.”

The Department of Homeland Security grant is just the latest indication that the US is taking the military’s lead – with over 7,000 drones in the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan – and using drones as a key tactical tool.

In 2009 a surveillance drone called the Wasp was used during a SWAT raid in Austin, Texas. The Wasp climbed to 400 feet and beamed realtime video of a house in which an armed drug dealer was hiding. After the team had confirmed that there were no unforeseen dangers lurking in the backyard, they stormed the house and arrested the suspect. Drones are also helping the US to secure its borders against illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Just a few months ago the Obama administration began sending drones to Mexico to gather intelligence and help in the country’s war on drugs.

The ShadowHawk is the seven-foot, 50-lb copter from Texas-based Vanguard Defense Industries. The copter is the result of three years of development.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

Dozen Arabian horses perish in fire ...

2011-08-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

by Michelle Homer / KHOU.com

MAGNOLIA, Texas -- As many as 14 Arabian horses were killed Tuesday morning in a stable fire in Magnolia.
The 2-alarm blaze broke out at the Goslin Nix Stables at Superior Road and FM 1488 around 6 a.m.

The flames spread quickly trhough the 5,000 square foot stable and firefighters were unable to rescue 14 horses.
Neighbors and fire crews entered the burning building to open some interior stalls and free the others.

Some of the 14 surviving horses suffered burns and smoke inhalation and are being treated by a veterinarian. Most appeared to be unharmed as they grazed in a nearby pasture.

Each horse is valued between $60,000 and $100,000, according to the Montgomery County fire marshal.

The huge stable that housed them was gutted.

Firefighters from Montgomery County, Magnolia, The Woodlands and Needham volunteer fire departments battled the blaze.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

The forecast?

2011-08-03T06:18:00.001-07:00

Rangers investigating kidnapping ...

2011-07-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

By Nancy Flake
The Texas Rangers are seeking two men who kidnapped a woman at gunpoint Tuesday night from the parking lot of her East Montgomery County apartment and forced her to withdraw money from her bank.

The Rangers believe the kidnapping and robbery may be related to two similar robberies in the Atascocita area of Harris County.

The woman was unharmed, a Montgomery County Sheriff's Office press release states.
Around 11:45 PM Wednesday, the 24-year-old woman was returning home and was walking from the parking lot to her apartment building, located somewhere near Community Drive in New Caney, when two black men confronted her and took her at gunpoint in her car to a bank drive thru on FM 1960, MCSO Lt. Dan Norris said.
There, one of the men covered his face with a bandana and, using the victim's ATM card and PIN, withdrew money from the victim's bank account.

The suspects drove the victim to a remote area of a nearby parking lot and walked away, leaving the victim unharmed in her vehicle.
The men fled in a dark colored small sport utility vehicle that was waiting for them, with a third suspect driving. The victim then contacted local police authorities, the release states.

One of the men is described as a black male, approximately 5 feet, 6 inches tall and in his early 20s, wearing a navy blue baseball cap bearing a Cleveland Indians logo, a navy blue polo shirt with baggie jeans and black Nike Jordan shoes with silver on top.

The second man, also black, is described as approximately 6 feet tall and with a thin build, in his early 20s and wearing a red shirt and red
baseball cap.

The Texas Rangers have been investigating this case and they believe two similar robberies in the Atascocita area on FM 1960 may be related.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

Houston Area 4th of July Celebrations ...

2011-06-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

by Stacy Morrow / khou.com staff
khou.com

The Houston area is buzzing with activities for the celebration of our nation's independence. You can find events from fireworks displays to parades, in just about every city and community. Here's a list we've compiled of the things we have heard about so far. If you see we have missed anything, or if you want to add something, let us know in the comments below!

HOUSTON
Freedom Over Texas
Houston will set the stage for an extraordinary patriotic celebration at Mayor Annise Parker’s official Fourth of July event, Freedom Over Texas. The annual event is held at Eleanor Tinsley Park from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and culminates with a fireworks extravaganza set to a perfectly timed bed of patriot and current musical selections. Free with a can of food benefiting the Houston Food Bank or $8 per person (children under 2 free) Information from: http://www.freedomovertexas.org

ExxonMobil Star-Spangled Salute, Miller Outdoor Theatre
Enjoy an evening with Michael Krajewski and the Houston Symphony. Astronaut and vocalist Chris Hadfield will also sing Big Smoke, a song inspired by his first shuttle mission.

Make sure to stay until the end for the 1812 Overture—complete with booming cannons! This celebration concludes with a magnificent display of fireworks provided by the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board. Hours: 8:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. at 6000 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77030, Phone: 281-FREE-FUN or 281-373-3386 Information from: http://milleroutdoortheatre.com/events/133/

Bayou Bend Family Days Independence Day Celebration
Start your Fourth of July at Bayou Bend, where America's Colonial era is celebrated in patriotic style. Ring in the holiday with an extravaganza of Americana—performers, crafts, activities, refreshments, and more—and don't forget to sign the Texas-sized Declaration of Independence before you leave! With its unique blend of the arts and American history, Bayou Bend is the perfect place to spend Independence Day. From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. FREE! Information from:
http://www.mfah.org/visit/bayou-bend-family-days/

Kidpendence Celebration | Children's Museum of Houston
Friday, Jul 1 2011 6:00 AM to Monday, Jul 4 2011 10:00 PM CDT
We’re seeing stars and stripes at this special Independence Day celebration! Join us for a patriotic 21-soda geyser burst salute on the 4th of July and plenty of fun-filled activities that will cover you in red, white and blue! Claim Your Independence Discount: We know rising gas prices are making you see stars and stripes, so it is time to claim your independence from them! Receive up to $12 off/ 6 people on July 1 - 4. Special Activity - 21 - Soda Geyser Burst Salute: Celebrate America with a CMH tradition - 21 patriotic bursts of soda that will help you get excited for the rest of the day's activities. 1500 Binz, Houston TX 77004. Phone: (713) 522-1138 Informaton from: http://www.cmhouston.org/en/cev/2570

BELLAIRE
July 4th Parade and Festival
The parade begins at 9:30 am and the festival runs from 10 am to 1 pm. The parade route begins at the Bellaire Triangle and travels down Bellaire Blvd. and S. Rice Ave. A children's parade leads the big parade. Kids are encouraged to decorate trikes, bikes and wagons and meet by Community National Bank at Bellaire Blvd. & Fifth Street. No need to enter the children's parade ahead of time, just show up at 9 a.m. in the CNB parking lot. The festival begins in Bellaire Town Square immediately after the parade. Enjoy live entertainment, carnival games, food, a mini ferris wheel, petting zoo, moon jumps, dunk tank and much, much more! Admission into the festival is free, but games take tickets and the food is an additional cost. Join us for some home town fun! Information from: http://www.ci.bellaire.tx.us/index.aspx?nid=879.

CITY OF EL LAGO
July 4th Picnic
For this year’s July 4th Picnic, we are going to take it down home with a parade and then bar-b-que at the pool. Join us at 10:00 a.m. at McNair Park for the annual non-motorized parade around the park. Prizes will be awarded in the following three categories: Most Sparkling, Most Creative and Most Patriotic. After the parade, we will retire to the El Lago Swim and Racquet Club to visit with friends, listen to some music and enjoy a burger together. The City will provide the drinks, burger, bun and burger fixings; we are asking residents to bring a side dish and/or desert. You will also want to bring your lawn chair or blanket for relaxing around the pool and spray ground in the afternoon. Information from: http://www.ellago-tx.com/events.html#july4

CONROE
July 4th Walden and Bentwater Fireworks Show
Fireworks will be shot off at Dusk from the Marina near the Walden Yacht Club, 13101 Melville Dr, Montgomery. Parking at the Yacht club is reserved for dinner guests. There is limited parking on the streets. Suggested viewing is from the water. Information from: http://www.conroetoday.com/evps/evitem.cfm?evid=4548

FORT BEND
Freedom Rings Concert featuring the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra
Program includes Star Spangled Banner Finale with soloist, Armed Forces Salute, America the Beautiful – Dragon, God Bless the USA, Liberty Fanfare -Williams/Aguero, Joplin Rag, You're a Grand Old Flag, Variations on a Shaker Melody – Copland, Strike Up the Band, Sousa Marches, Gems of Stephen Foster and 1812 Overture. Event will be at the Stafford Centre from 7p.m. to 9 p.m. and a fireworks show will begin at 9 p.m. Location:10505 Cash Road, Stafford, TX 77477. Information from: http://www.fbso.org/
KATY
Annual Freedom Celebration at Katy Mills Mall
The 22nd Annual Katy Freedom Celebration fireworks display will be held at Katy Mills Mall on Monday, July 4. The fireworks are launched between the east side of the mall and Katy Fort Bend Road. The display begins at dark (approximately 9:00 p.m.) and can be viewed from several miles around the mall area. Information from: cityofkaty.com/katy-freedom-celebration-july-4/
KEMAH
Kemah’s Independence Day Parade
Kicking off the Independence Day Celebration activities is the Kemah 4th of July Parade, Monday, at 11:00 a.m. with the Children’s Parade starting at 10:30 a.m. The parade line up is behind the Kemah Visitor Center at 9:00 a.m. with the parade route travelling along the Kemah Lighthouse District. The theme for the patriotic parade this year is “The Spirit of Volunteerism.” The parade is open to all and easy to enter with no registration fee. Monday evening is the July 4th Kemah Boardwalk Fireworks, “Star Spangled Skies” extravaganza. From the Kemah Boardwalk and surrounding areas all will be able to see the fantastic light show over Galveston Bay. The annual fireworks display scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. For more information on these activities or lodging needs contact the Kemah Visitor Center at 281-334-3181. Information from: http://www.kemah.net/July_4_2011_Kemah_press_release.pdf

LEAGUE CITY
July 4th Citizen Appreciation Day
Mayor, City Council, Parks Board and staff will be serving free refreshments in appreciation of the citizens of the City of League City at League Park from 11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. There will be live music and other entertainment. FREE. Information from: http://www.leaguecity.com/calendar.aspx?EID=1348

NASSAU BAY
July 4th Parade and Fireworks Show
Decorate your bikes, floats, baby strollers, cars, or just yourself! Various prizes will be awarded. Join your friends and neighbors for a fun-filled evening. Bring a picnic dinner and a blanket for the fireworks show. Parade begins at 6:30 p.m. from Gloria Dei and ends at Lake Park Nassau. Activities at the park including bounce houses, food vendors, face painting, and live music. Fireworks Display begins at 9 p.m. Information from: http://www.nassaubay.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=48

PASADENA
Pasadena's Annual 4th Fest Event will take place Monday, July 4th, 2011
from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Pasadena Convention Center.
There will be a 20-minute long fireworks show, live music by “The Slags,” a car show, kidzone, USMC Toys for Tots BBQ Cook-off, games, prizes, vendors, water balloon war zone, sports and other entertainment. Information from: http://www.ci.pasadena.tx.us/default.aspx?name=prk.event-4thfest

PEARLAND
Celebration of Freedom
This year's program will begin with an explosion of patriotic excitement! A full-size carnival will be on site at noon on Monday. Stadium and Field seating will be available at no charge beginning at 6 PM on Monday. A VFW military salute will begin the evening's entertainment, followed by the National Anthem. The stadium will be filled with the tunes of Texas country recording artist, Hamilton Loomis. At sundown, enjoy a spectacular 20-minute fireworks display from your seat inside the stadium.. For more information, call 281-412-8900. Information from: http://www.pearlandparks.com/celebration_of_freedom.html
SUGAR LAND
Celebration of Freedom
The City of Sugar Land’s 26th annual Red White and Bluefest will set the skies ablaze over Oyster Creek Park. Celebrate America’s 235th birthday with family, friends and fellow residents while enjoying new main stage performances, delicious county fair-type goodies and numerous children’s activities. A free shuttle service will be provided from Mercer Stadium, 16403 Lexington Blvd., to Oyster Creek Park, 4033 State Highway 6 South, from 4:30-11 p.m. Information from: www.sugarlandtx.gov
THE WOODLANDS
South County Fourth of July Parade “Celebrating the American Dream”
On Sunday, July 3, stroll through Market Street - The Woodlands for its Fourth of July parade, “Celebrating the American Dream” starting at 9 a.m. The festivities continue later that evening when the Houston Symphony performs its Star Spangled Salute, a free concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion starting at 8 pm. Information from: http://www.4thofjuly.org/

Houston Symphony presents Star-Spangled Salute
The Pavilion dons red, white and blue July 3 for the return of the Star-Spangled Salute. This free Independence Eve spectacular features the Houston Symphony in a selection of patriotic favorites under the direction of Michael Krajewski. Don’t miss commemorating the birth of our nation by joining the Symphony in this grandiose celebration. It’s an evening of good, old-fashioned family fun complete with cannons blasting from the top of the hill during Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." Pre-concert activities begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Fidelity Investments Plaza.FREE event. Information from: http://www.woodlandscenter.org/tourarchive.html?n_id=346

Red, Hot & Blue Festival
The Woodlands will celebrate July 4 weekend with one of the largest firework displays in the greater Houston area, hot dog and watermelon eating contests, live entertainment, and more! Now in its 14th year, the annual Red, Hot & Blue Festival will be held Monday, July 4, 2011 from 6 - 10 pm at Town Green Park and Waterway Square, both located along The Woodlands Waterway. Admission to the event is free and tickets for food concessions and games may be purchased on-site. Information from: http://www.thewoodlandscvb.com/redhotblue/

Alvin woman jumps on hood of beer thieves ...

2011-06-23T07:39:00.001-07:00

Wild fires plaguing Texas

2011-06-20T07:51:00.001-07:00

Firefighters from Cut and Shoot, Caney Creek, Splendora, Montgomery County and Bear Creek fire departments were still at work by deadline Monday trying to put out a nearly 200-acre wildfire about 10 miles northwest of Cleveland.
No structures were harmed.
Four bulldozers, including one from the Texas Forest Service, worked to set up a fire perimeter to keep the fire contained.
Helicopters made 38 drops of water to squelch the flames. The cause was undetermined Monday night.

Texas Local Web Site Blooms into a Flower for the Community

2011-06-15T05:52:00.001-07:00

New exciting things are developing in the Summer of 2011 for ExploreHouston.com

Best Publications wants to welcome the public to this new web business directory and informational mecca for ExploreHouston.com that will continue to be filled with. . . Community Links and Events, Guide Pages for Restaurants, Weddings, Florist, Services, Auto Sales, Entertainment, Real Estate, Eye Care, Dental, Medical, Employment, Shopping! Read a variety of Articles | Forums Topics | Daily Deals | Coupons | Directory Hot Links | Interact Page to Join the Community Fun!

Register with ExploreHouston.com site so you can gain the benefits. User can post Social and Public Events.

Take the opportunity for High School and University Students to announce Sports and School Events, Professional Sports Links and Ticket Information | Post a photo or comment on other people’s Photos, Comment of Articles or Forum Topics | Post a Scan of your Child’s Artwork | Free Classified Postings & Add Your Own

The staff of ExploreHouston wants the community to benefit from the information we can share... as well as encourage you to participate. Send us a comment.

Post your event or Your Organization Benefit in ExploreHouston.com Event section. We want our information to accurate, so we depend on our community to help us stay in touch.

Are you a writer that wants to be published? Got an article? Send it in a word document to info@ExploreHouston.com

Engage! Enjoy! Grow with us!

~ ExploreHouston.com Staff

14 year old Conroe teen dies after leading cops on high speed chase ...

2011-05-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

HUNTSVILLE, Texas—A 14-year-old driver was killed and his 13-year-old passenger injured after their joyride led to a high-speed chase, then a horrific crash near Huntsville early Tuesday, according to authorities.

Authorities said a State Trooper attempted to pull over the two Conroe teens after spotting them joyriding in downtown Willis around 1 a.m., but the driver refused to stop.

Instead, he floored it and led authorities on a high-speed chase up Highway 75.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies joined in the chase, which ended after the teen failed to negotiate a sharp curve on Highway 1374.

"The suspect was traveling over a 100 miles an hour," said Sgt. Terry Barnhill. "He came through about a 45 degree turn, lost control of his vehicle and slammed into a telephone pole."

The impact of the crash nearly split the vehicle in two.

The passenger, Gustavo Roberto Casillas, was ejected from the vehicle and broke his leg. He was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in stable condition.
The driver, Collin Johnson, had to be cut from the floor panel. He died at the scene.
The family Johnson lived with said they took the teen in when he had nowhere else to go. They confirmed the vehicle was taken from their property.

Conroe ISD confirmed the teens were junior high students, but would not reveal which school they attended. They will, however, provide grief counselors to students in need.

Plane crash in Conroe claims two

2011-05-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

Sun May 8, 2011.
By Matt Stephens |
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Flight Standards District Office are investigating a fiery plane crash that killed a Conroe man and his daughter Saturday morning near Lone Star Executive Airport.

The aircraft’s pilot, Elzie Jessie Warren, 70, and his daughter, passenger Phyllis Jean Ridings, 52, died when his airplane crashed in the woods north the airport in Conroe.
Conroe Fire Chief Ken Kreger said the plane, an experimental Ravin aircraft, took off from runway No. 14 at 8:52 a.m. Warren called the air traffic controller complaining of smoke in the cockpit less than three minutes later.

The plane crashed in the woods at 8:55 a.m. about half a mile north of the airport, missing runway No. 19, which appears to be where Warren had planned to land, Kreger said. MCHD and Conroe Fire Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call from the control tower shortly before the crash at 8:54 a.m.
While firefighters and police arrived on scene at 9:03 a.m., the distance from the edge of the woods to the crash made it difficult to reach the scene, Kreger said.

About an acre of land was bulldozed around the fire by the Texas Forest Service, and Kreger said the blaze was “contained and under control” Saturday afternoon.

Dennis McCright, a pilot, said he has known “Bud” Warren for 10 years and called him “a good guy and a family man,” while praising Warren for his “genius” skills as an engineer and mechanic.
“He’ll be missed, not only him personally, but his expertise because he helped a lot around the airport,” McCright said.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE!

Texan heads Bin Laden raiders

2011-05-04T05:37:00.001-07:00

The commander of the U.S. military unit responsible for killing elusive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — Vice Adm. William H. McRaven — is a San Antonio native and graduate of the University of Texas in Austin.

McRaven, 55, earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1977, although a campus dean said a computer listing didn't indicate whether the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps member had an interest in the print side of news coverage, broadcast or public relations.
A fellow ROTC member recalled McRaven as eager for military service.

"He was extremely focused on preparing for special forces details," said Curtis Raetz, of McKinney, who majored in engineering at UT, served in the Marine Corps and now works in private business.
'He had drive.'

Raetz, who graduated a year before McRaven, said the ROTC program included required courses such as naval science.

James Gruetzner, who served in the same Navy ROTC batallion as McRaven, told Cox Newspapers, "He had drive. He went on extraordinarily long runs to stay in shape. He was very dedicated."
McRaven's Navy biography states he attended the Naval Postgraduate School and was its first graduate in Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict. In 1995, he wrote a book called Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare Theory and Practice.

McRaven became commander of the U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command in 2008.
In that role, he reportedly led the planning and execution of bin Laden's death Sunday at the hand of Navy SEALs, an acronym that stands for Sea, Air and Land.

Texas Independence will be celebrated at two sites

2011-04-11T12:27:00.001-07:00

LA PORTE
San Jacinto Day
This year’s edition of the San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Reenactment, planned for Saturday, commemorates the 175th anniversary of the battle.
During the event at San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site in La Porte, hundreds of history re-enactors will dramatize events that led to Texas winning independence. The festival also includes entertainment, food, games and other fun in a historic setting.

The Battle of San Jacinto is considered the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Gen. Sam Houston and the Texas army defeated the Mexican army April 21, 1836. The next day, Mexican Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna was captured, and later he signed a peace treaty.

The state’s annual “official” ceremony honoring the anniversary of the battle occurs April 21, as it will this year at 11 a.m. La Porte is 22 miles east of downtown Houston.
Contact: 281-479-2421; www.sanjacinto-museum.org.
Historic site: 281-479-2431; www.tpwd.state.tx.us.

CONROE
Lone Star flag park finally a reality
Many cities and historic sites in Texas are honoring their heritage this spring as the state celebrates the 175th anniversary its independence, and the city of Conroe is unveiling a new park dedicated to state history. It’s doing so April 21, San Jacinto Day, the anniversary of the 1836 battle that led to Texas independence.
For years, Conroe has dreamed of a monument to honor Montgomery County as the birthplace of the Lone Star flag. Dr. Charles B. Stewart, a Montgomery County resident who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, designed the flag at the request of Mirabeau B. Lamar, president of the Republic of Texas. The banner was officially designated the state flag in 1839. It became the official state flag in 1845, when Texas joined the union.

In 1997, the Texas House of Representatives passed a resolution designating Montgomery County as the birthplace of the Lone Star flag. And this month, Lone Star Monument and Historical Flag Park will open next to Montgomery County Central Library in Conroe.

The monument at the 3.5-acre park is a circular landscaped plaza surrounded by 13 flags that flew in Texas as the region fought for independence during the Texas Revolution. At the center of the plaza is The Texian, a 14-foot-tall bronze sculpture by Conroe artist Craig Campobella. The statue depicts an everyman volunteer soldier of the Texas Revolution.

The dedication starts at 5:30 p.m. April 21. Afterward, a free concert will star country singer Gary P. Nunn and other musicians. The park is at I-45 and FM2854.
Contact: 713-410-6076; www.texasflagpark.org or www.cityofconroe.org.

Houstonians feel pressure at the pump

2011-03-29T09:35:00.001-07:00

by Lisa Chavarria / KHOU 11 News
khou.com
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 8:48 AM

HOUSTON NEWS 11 -- The price at the pump appears to be forcing drivers around Houston to figure out ways to save cash.

Gas prices were averaging $3.49 on Tuesday morning, and that is forcing some drivers to find ways to other means of transportation.

Several commuters at one of Metro's Park and Ride said although they usually choose the bus over their vehicles, now it's saving them more than ever.
"It makes me want to ride the bus more. It's cheaper for me to take the bus than it is for me to drive to work now," said John Young.

Gloria Chen, recently decided she couldn't take her car on her usual commute anymore. She added, "I used to drive all the way to the Medical Center from Katy, but because of increasing gas prices, I've decided to use the park and ride."

Conroe environmental battle heats up

2011-03-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

CONROE - A giant red sign sitting in a front yard reads, "Warning. Toxic Wells Coming." Farther down a snaking, wooded road is a clearing with another sign posted on a metal gate warning trespassers of video surveillance.

This is ground zero in a 5-year-old battle that has pit residents of this city north of Houston, federal regulators and a multibillion-dollar oil company against Texas environmental officials who approved an underground landfill despite arguments it could contaminate aquifers that provide drinking water to millions of people in South Texas.

Opponents to the plan point to the cancer-stricken California town of Hinkley made famous by Julia Roberts' film Erin Brockovich as an example of what can happen when water is contaminated.
"Once your water is dirty, you'll never get it clean again," said Rebecca Kaiser, a Conroe resident who has spent five years fighting the plan by TexCom Gulf Disposal LLC to operate an injection well barely a mile from hundreds of homes and several schools.

TexCom wants to bury liquid commercial waste that is classified as nonhazardous, but could include trace amounts of toxic chemicals, including cancer-causing benzene. The company would inject the waste into a well thousands of feet underground.
The procedure is done safely in hundreds of places nationwide, but the proposed waste site in Conroe is an oil field pockmarked with hundreds of abandoned wells drilled in the 1930s, some of which officials say have not been properly plugged.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and some engineers fear these wells could act as a conduit for the waste to travel to aquifers, contaminate the water and go unnoticed for some time.

"There is some scientific evidence that there could be a problem there," said Philip Dellinger, EPA's chief of the groundwater underground injection control section.

$500 million drilling at stake
Matters are complicated further because Denbury Onshore LLC, a company investing more than $500 million in a lucrative oil drilling project in the Conroe oil field, believes the opposing pressures created by the oil production and the waste injection could contaminate the precious minerals it is mining.

Despite the widespread opposition, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted 2-1 in January to issue TexCom a permit to operate the underground landfill.
The permit was approved after the agency's own two-member administrative panel advised against it, the state's Railroad Commission said the oil and gas resources could be harmed and the EPA expressed concern.

Lou Ross, TexCom's president, said he is confident the company will be able to proceed with its plans after the expected appeals process is complete.
He said the science is sound and "the geology in the area is proper for this type of well," including 1,100 feet of impermeable shale that would separate the waste and the aquifer.

"It's problematic because of what's going on with humanity on the surface, not because of geology," Ross added.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT THE CHRON

"Poop" not funny to TxDot.

2011-03-14T15:30:00.001-07:00

by Tiffany Craig / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on March 14, 2011 at 4:54 PM

HOUSTON—A detour sign downtown has been getting a lot of attention over the past few days, but it’s sending the wrong message.

A prankster managed to hack into the electronic sign and change the message.
Britnie McFadden works in a building at Louisiana and Prairie.

"This morning when I came into work, I saw the LOL and smiley face and I thought it was hilarious," said McFadden. "I took a picture and posted it on Facebook."
The Monday morning message attracted plenty of attention, but it was the four-letter word a few days ago that really had people laughing out loud.

"Friday night it said ‘POOP,’" said Mustafa Guner. "I was coming back from a workout and I was shocked. Make a left turn if you need to poop!"
A similar prank happened in Austin two years ago. Somebody rigged a warning sign to say "Caution: Zombies Ahead," "Run for Cold Climates" and "The End is Near."
The sign is owned by a TxDOT contractor. They told us somebody broke into the guts of the trailer and hacked the system.

A man who goes by the name "John" believes it was all in good fun.
"You can’t get any better than that, you know what I mean," he said.
By Monday afternoon, the intended message was back, along with a new lock.
McFadden was a little upset to see the fun was over.

"I just think that somebody actually took the time to do it has given everybody a good laugh," said McFadden. "I mean, it’s all in good fun—not very legal -- but good fun nonetheless."

If caught, the hacker could be fined $500.
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NORAD exercise tomorrow over Houston

2011-03-14T14:57:00.001-07:00

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will conduct exercise flights tomorrow morning as they practice intercept and identification procedures. Exercise flights will take place over Southeastern Texas. Although they are scheduled for mid-morning, the exercise flights could be delayed due to weather concerns.

Those living southeast of Houston, specifically near Ellington Airport, may hear and/or see NORAD-controlled fighter jets in close proximity to a military or military contracted aircraft, which will be taking on the role of a Track of Interest (TOI).

In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft. All NORAD exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled.

NORAD has conducted exercise flights of this nature throughout Canada and the U.S. since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the command’s response to the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.

Breaking: Explosions rock Belvieu plant!

2011-02-08T11:58:00.001-08:00

Multiple explosions, fire at Mont Belvieu plant

Credit: AIR 11
A fire at Enterprise Products in Mont Belvieu was burning out of control more than an hour after witnesses heard multiple explosions.

by Michelle Homer / khou.com
khou.com
Posted on February 8, 2011 at 1:05 PM
Updated today at 1:39 PM

MONT BELVIEU, Texas – Several explosions at a Mont Belvieu plant were followed by flames that could be seen from miles around.
The explosions happened at Enterprise Products at 135 Sun Oil Road around 12:25 p.m.

Witnesses reported seeing workers fleeing from the Chambers County plant. Other workers were being told to stay inside.
The company hasn't released any details about injuries. An employee, who didn't want to be identified, said at least one contractor has not been accounted for.

The employee said the explosion happened in a subsection of the plant.
Chambers County officials say there's no known threat to the public at this time.

They have not called for evacuations.
State Highway 146 is closed near the plant.

The fire was still burning out of control nearly an hour after it began. The flames could be seen 25 miles away in Houston.

A Houston caller named Pat said she was talking by phone to a relative inside the plant when the first set of explosions happened. There were three more explosions while they were still on the phone. "Anywhere from eight to 11 explosions," according to Pat.

READ MORE AT KHOU

Controversy surrounds teen beating by Houston police

2011-02-05T18:59:00.001-08:00

(CNN) -- Houston's mayor and police department were on the defensive Friday, two days after graphic video came out showing several police repeatedly kicking and beating a 15-year-old burglary suspect as he lay on the ground.
An internal police investigation of the incident last March led to the firing of seven police officers, said spokesman John Cannon of the Houston police department.

Two successfully appealed and returned to their jobs, said Houston NAACP President D.Z. Cofield.

Five other officers were disciplined in other ways, Cannon said. And a Harris County grand jury indicted four of the officers this summer, based in part on the video.
Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos opposed the video becoming public and felt doing so might prejudice potential jurors and force the indicted officers' trials to be moved out of the county.

Quanell X, a local activist, got hold of the surveillance tape showing the scene outside a storage facility and gave it to the media.
He said he had every right to obtain the footage and make it public.

"I will show my people what they deserve to see, and let the public see what you don't want them to see," Quanell X said.
Mayor Annise Parker said the police leadership and city acted properly.

"I resent any implication that we were trying to hide the tape," she said.
After viewing the footage, Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland Jr. fired the seven officers and a grand jury called for misdemeanor charges against four of them in June.

Lykos told reporters Thursday there was not sufficient evidence to pursue more serious charges, such as aggravated assault.
"Without revealing what was presented to the grand jury, in order to have aggravated assault you have to have serious bodily injury or impairment or use of a deadly weapon," she said. "None of that was apparent in this case."

The tape, first shown Wednesday on CNN affiliate WTRK, shows the 15-year-old boy -- being chased by police and falling to the ground after being upended by a moving police car. He then falls face first and places his hands on the ground.

A disciplinary letter from McClelland, dated June 23 and posted online less than two weeks later by CNN affiliate HTRK, says that the boy had his hands behind his head and neck area, in an obvious position of surrender.

Then, the letter adds and the tape shows, Officer Raad Hassan "then ran toward (the boy) and kicked him a total of 15 times," then later kicked him more times in the groin area even after he "was handcuffed and no longer a threat."

READ THE FULL STORY ON CNN

Bay City Substitute Teacher Arrested For Making Death Threats

2011-01-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on January 27, 2011 at 11:23 AM
Updated today at 11:23 AM

BAY CITY, Texas – A substitute teacher has been arrested and charged in connection with death threats made to students in Bay City ISD, the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

Paul Nolen May, 41, was arrested on Wednesday.
He’s charged with 12 counts of making a terroristic threat – all of which are third-degree felonies.

The threats began on December 28 when the district received a hand-written, profanity-laced letter, purportedly from the parent of a student.

In the letter, the sender expressed anger over their child being disciplined at school. The letter detailed new "rules" for the school to follow regarding discipline and threatened to "kill a random student" if the demands were not met.
About a week later, a second threat was sent via text message.

The message, sent from an anonymous source and forwarded among Bay City ISD students, said this: "Hey! Forward this to everyone…1 rule broken, two girls dies at the jr. high and 2 from high school, dnt go! The school will be on lockdown."

It was not clear if May was suspected in both threats. Investigators declined to release any additional information Thursday.

May was being held in the Matagorda County Jail on bonds totaling $240,000.

Tomball man gets 10 years for fatal DWI

2011-01-26T09:58:00.001-08:00

A Tomball man who said he’s turned his life around after a drunk-driving wreck that has left one man in a vegetative state will spend 10 years in prison.
Judge K. Michael Mayes, of the 410th state District Court, sentenced Stephen Burks, 39, to 10 years in prison Friday for one count of intoxication assault. The accident injured Carlo Lujan, 21, also of Conroe.

Burks also received 10 years’ probation for injuring Aurelio Iglesias, 47, of Conroe, during an August 2009 accident at the intersection of Texas 105 East and Millmac Road.
Burks will have to serve at least five years in prison before being eligible for parole.

“I am happy (about the sentence),” Assistant District Attorney Tyler Dunman said. “This has been a case that has really impacted me because sometimes it may be easy if someone is killed by a drunk driver (because) the family can move on. But in this case, the good Lord left Carlo Lujan to really show the impact of drunk driving in our county.”
Lujan, a 2007 graduate of Caney Creek High School, played football for the Panthers.
DPS troopers who responded to the Aug. 15, 2009, accident testified during Burks’ sentencing hearing.

Burks was driving a pickup truck that ran into the back of Lujan’s passenger vehicle, which rear-ended a second vehicle that Iglesias was driving.

Lujan was airlifted to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, where doctors determined his head had dislocated from its spine during the accident, leaving him in a minimally-responsive state.

Iglesias, a preschool teacher with the Conroe Independent School District, testified how he was trapped inside his car for at least 30 minutes and suffered injuries to his knee, groin and ribs.

“At first, I was really scared ... I thought my car would explode,” Iglesias said. “Now, I’m like an old man; I’m still scared when I’m driving.”
Armida Lujan, the mother of Carlo Lujan, told Mayes about her son’s life before the crash.

“Carlo loved to be in church. ... He was a youth minister,” Armida Lujan said. “He had preached that night (of the accident) about faith.”
Carlo Lujan’s caretakers wheeled him into the courtroom on a stretcher during the hearing to let Mayes see his vegetative state.
“The doctors never gave us any hope,” Armida Lujan said. “I thought he just had injuries like broken ribs and he’d recover. But time passed, and he didn’t look good.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

Michael Jackson's Doctor Clueless

2011-01-05T08:14:00.001-08:00

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- The pretrial hearing for Dr. Conrad Murray continues Wednesday as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge decides whether there is "probable cause" to try him on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the death of pop star Michael Jackson.

The hearing, which began Tuesday, is expected to last two or three weeks, with 20 to 30 witnesses testifying.
On Tuesday, Jackson's former security chief testified that Murray seemed not to know how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation as he waited for paramedics to arrive at the singer's house.
Faheem Muhammed said he and and guard Alberto Alvarez saw Murray crouched next to Jackson's bed "in a panicked state asking, 'Does anyone know CPR?' "

"I looked at Alberto because we knew Dr. Murray was a heart surgeon, so we were shocked," Muhammed said.

Jackson's doctor heads to court Murray faces court hearing Events surrounding Jackson's death

When defense attorney Ed Chernoff asked if perhaps Murray was asking for help because he was tired, Muhammed said, "The way that he asked it is as if he didn't know CPR."

Jackson appeared to be dead at that time, with his "eyes open and his mouth open, just laying there," Muhammed said.

Prosecutor David Walgren earlier said that Murray used "ineffectual CPR with one hand while the patient was prone on a soft bed." Two hands with the patient prone on a hard surface is the proper method, he said.
Muhammed, the third witness on the opening day of the hearing, said he never saw

Murray performing CPR on Jackson before paramedics arrived and carried him to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Jackson's mother, Katherine, sister La Toya and brothers Randy and Jackie sat in the second row of the courtroom during Tuesday's opening session.
Jackson's two oldest children, Prince and Paris, were at their father's bedroom door as the drama unfolded just after noon on June 25, 2009, Muhammed said.

"Paris was on the floor on her hands and knees and she was just crying," he said.
The children would learn two hours later that their father had died when Murray and Jackson manager Frank Dileo talked to them in a hospital room.
"Frank blurted out and said, 'Your daddy had a heart attack and died,' " Jackson personal assistant Michael Williams testified.

At the start of the hearing Tuesday, the prosecutor said that Murray waited at least 21 minutes after he found Jackson unresponsive before calling for an ambulance.

"By all accounts, Michael Jackson was dead in the bedroom at 100 North Carolwood prior to the paramedics' arrival," Walgren said.
The coroner concluded Jackson died from "acute propofol intoxication" in combination with "the contributory effects of the benzodiazepines," Walgren said.
Propofol is a powerful anesthetic used to "put people under for surgery," and the benzodiazepines were sedatives Murray later acknowledged giving Jackson in the morning before his death, he said.

"Michael Jackson was preparing for one of the most important tours of his life" in the months before his death, Walgren said.
Murray's defense team has hinted it would argue that Jackson was under pressure from the concert promoter, which led him to demand treatments to help him sleep.
Kenny Ortega, who was directing what would have been Jackson's comeback concerts, was the first of about 30 witnesses the prosecution is calling.
Ortega described Jackson as "involved, active, participating" at his last rehearsal, which ended 12 or 14 hours before his death.
"He was in a delightful mood, and we had an absolutely fantastic day," Ortega testified.

But Ortega described a different, "scary" Jackson at the Staples Center rehearsal on June 19, six nights before his death.
"I just felt that he appeared, you know, really lost," Ortega said. "It was scary. I didn't know what was wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it."

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Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T07:30:00.001-08:00

The old give way to the young. New thoughts sprout from fertile ground.

While the New Year beckons us with many promises, don't forget to give the old year its due.

Learn from past mistakes and carry the lessons of time with you.

This year resolve to laugh more, love more, forgive more, friend more and learn more.

May 2011 be your best year yet!

5 teens charged with car burglaries ...

2010-12-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

TEXAS CITY, Texas — Five teenagers have been charged with stealing property from about 10 vehicles early Saturday on 15th Avenue North.

Around 4:23 a.m. Saturday, officers responding to a burglary call saw a young man running to a house near the 1500 block of 15th Avenue North, according to a police report.

Officers checked all the cars parked near the street and found about 10 cars that had been burglarized.

All the cars had been left unlocked by their owners, police said.

Three young men were arrested after officers searched an apartment at Tradewinds Apartment Complex and recovered stolen property.

A fourth teenager arrived at the apartment riding a bicycle, which had been reported stolen, and was taken into custody, police said.

At 7 a.m., another officer responded to a call of an intoxicated man at Burger King on 2500 Palmer Highway.

The young man was charged in the car burglaries, police said.

All five are younger than 17 and have been taken to the Juvenile Justice Center. They are facing charges of organized criminal activity.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com’s partnership with the Galveston County Daily News.

East Montgomery County Meth Lab Shut Down

2010-11-30T08:36:00.001-08:00

EAST MONTGOMERY COUNTY-- After receiving a tip regarding an active methamphetamine lab, Deputy Josh Bergland and other members of the Pct. 4 Constable’s Office went to a room at the Kingsway Inn Motel in New Caney around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, where they found two adults and a juvenile along with methamphetamine lab components as well as some finished product.

The DPS Methamphetamine Initiative Group (MIG) responded to the scene for the purpose of conducting safe collection, testing, documentation and removal of evidence.

Kerry Lee Datray, 34, of Cleveland and 38-year-old Wayne Paul Walters of Lufkin are each charged with two first degree felonies: Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance and Possession/Transport of Chemicals with Intent to Manufacture Controlled Substance. Datray also had multiple outstanding warrants from both Montgomery County and JP4.

Deputies contacted Child Protective Services who responded to the scene and took custody of the juvenile.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

What's that smell?

2010-11-16T10:12:00.001-08:00

TEXAS CITY, Texas — A smell similar to rotten eggs enveloped Texas City about 5 p.m. Monday afternoon after a leak from a subunit at BP’s Texas City refinery.

Workers were doing maintenance work on a sour water compressor on the refinery’s Power 2 unit when workers noticed a smell after a piece of equipment failed, company spokesman Michael Marr said. The odor, which forced some businesses on Palmer Highway about 13 blocks from the refinery to shutter their doors and close windows, lasted more than an hour.

The smell is believed to come from liquid in the subunit that contained hydrogen sulfide, which is a hazardous chemical that has a strong smell of rotten eggs, Texas City Homeland Security Director Bruce Clawson said. The Texas City Fire Department and BP industrial hygienists conducted ground-level air monitoring and did not find any readings of hazardous chemicals in the air, Clawson said.

Between one and two barrels of sour water — which is waste water that contains hydrocarbons and is pumped to an enclosed sewer system for disposal — spilled, causing the offensive odor, officials said.

There was not a shelter in place order for the city, but Clawson issued a phone and e-mail alert to residents notifying them of the situation.

There was a brief shelter in place order within the refinery for areas downwind of the leak, Marr said. BP set up an incident command center and the leak was contained at about 9 p.m.

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Illegal steroid operation busted

2010-11-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

SPRING, Texas - Hey, did you have an illegal steroids manufacturing operation from your home in Spring, Texas? Bad news: The cops found it.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies found laboratory equipment and several containers of growth hormone at a residence in the 29000 block of West Pecos River Court.

The Special Investigations Unit received info regarding illicit drugs being manufactured and trafficked from the suspected residence, according to a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office statement. The unit served a narcotics search warrant against the residence around 10 a.m. on Monday.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Houston murders may be work of a serial killer

2010-11-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

by Michelle Homer / khou.com
khou.com
Posted on November 1, 2010 at 1:38 PM
Updated today at 1:42 PM

HOUSTON – Police are looking into a possible link between the strangulation murders of at least three women since June.
The most recent cases involved homeless women. The body of Carol Flood, 62, was found on Oct. 10 in a stairwell behind the old YMCA building. She was partially nude. On Sept. 30, Retia LaFaye Long, 52, was found dead behind the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 1700 San Jacinto.

Now police believe the same killer may have strangled Raquel Mundy last June 17, then dumped her body in a field in the 300 block of St. Charles.
Mundy, 24, was murdered after accepting a ride from a stranger when she was stranded downtown.

She had dropped her mom and two kids off at the Greyhound bus station downtown around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. She then discovered her car had been towed from a McDonald’s parking lot across the street.
Mundy tried to call friends and relatives, but couldn’t find anyone to give her a ride to the tow lot. Witnesses saw her get into a grey car with an unknown man, according to police.

Mundy later sent a text message to her mother saying she thought she was in danger and feared the man was going to hurt her.
Angela Collins was still on the bus to California with her two grandchildren when she got the disturbing message.

She tried frantically to reach Mundy. Collins then called several relatives and asked them to try to find Mundy.
By the time the bus arrived in California, there was still no sign of her daughter.
"Next call we got, they had found the body. It was my baby, Collins said as she choked back tears. "This man took away my baby."
An autopsy revealed Mundy had been strangled.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE AT KHOU

Burn ban in effect!

2010-10-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-10-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-10-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-07T07:33:00.001-07:00

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.

2010-10-07T07:27:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-10-04T12:13:00.001-07:00

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

2010-10-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

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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MCABW Fashion Show Fundraiser

2010-09-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

By J. Werner

MCABW's annual fundraiser will feature 'women of influence' and raise money for college scholarships.

'Looking Haute' Women of Influence Fashion Show to help women reach their full potential.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - Some of the community’s most influential women will take to the runway on Thursday, September 30, to help other women reach their full potential. The Montgomery County Association of Business Women (MCABW) will be featuring community leaders, successful fundraisers, and prominent business women, in a fashion show fundraiser at April Sound Country Club, to raise money for college scholarships.

The MCABW holds an annual fundraiser to benefit essential causes and non-profits in need. Every year’s fundraiser is a different concept, and each year there’s been a different beneficiary. The MCABW’s motto is “Women Helping Women,” and MCABW founder and executive director, Carol Gooch, said the organization is on a mission to help a diverse cross-section of the community. This year’s “Looking Haute” Women of Influence Fashion Show will provide scholarships for young women graduating from Montgomery County high schools in 2011, and women seeking to achieve or advance their college educations.

Past recipients for the annual fundraiser have been the Women’s Center, Children’s Safe Harbor, and the Friends of Montgomery County Texas Animal Shelter, all of which hold membership in the MCABW. Currently there are eighteen non-profits in the organization, and on a quarterly basis one is selected to receive a donation and in-kind services which include volunteerism, collection drives, and media exposure.

This year’s fundraiser fashion show will be held at April Sound Country Club on Highway 105, from 6 - 9 p.m. on September 30. The fashion show is being coordinated by Stacy Harris of Stacy Harris Images, and will feature the latest in fall fashions for what is comfortable for our local climate. Ten influential community women have been selected to model the fashions, but the MCABW is keeping the names of the models as discreet as possible in order to create sense of anticipation. The fashions are being provided by boutiques and stores throughout the county who are either owned by women, feature women’s attire, or who want to support future women leaders of the community.

Ladies Night Out Chairman, Donna Wick, of New Visions Communications Group, said the program is coming together nicely and that attendees will enjoy a sit-down dinner, beautiful fashions, and have an opportunity to win donated raffle items and door prizes.

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Conroe ISD middle school teacher accused of online solicitation of a minor

2010-09-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on September 27, 2010 at 10:41 AM
Updated today at 10:41 AM
CONROE, Texas—A seventh-grade teacher from Conroe ISD has been charged with online solicitation of a minor.

Michael Brian Crawley, 30, was caught soliciting what he thought to be a 13-year-old girl over the Internet, prosecutors said. Turns out, that girl was an undercover officer in New Mexico.
According to prosecutors, Crawley discussed multiple sex acts with the officer via chat and webcam.

The first chat took place in early August, and the last on September 21.
Prosecutors said Crawley – who teaches math and science at Peete Middle School – was also actively involved with a national youth outreach group through the Methodist Church.
Investigators served a search warrant at Crawley’s home on September 24. He was taken into custody that day.

Crawley is the second Conroe ISD teacher to be arrested in the past three weeks.
Thomas Vickers, a seventh-grade history teacher, was arrested and charged with online solicitation of a minor, possession of child pornography and enticing a child on September 3.

9/11 contrail explained.

2010-09-15T19:16:00.001-07:00

No - it wasn't aliens - or "chemtrails" or fighters on patrol on the anniversary of 9/11 - but rather a NASA high altitude research aircraft that caused the "mysterious" contrails over the Houston area Saturday.

Houston Airport Systems spokeswoman Marlene McClinton told Local 2 that NASA's WB-57 is a high-altitude aircraft, operating out of Ellington Field.
"It is taking air samples between 45,000 and 51,000 feet," said McClinton.

According to McClinton, it was a normal operation, but due to atmospheric conditions, the contrails were extremely visible.

Many callers said the plane looked like a big commercial passenger plane with the NASA oogo on it.
"It was just circling," said Cindy Hamilton who lives in Friendswood.
She saw the plane around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

"It would go north and just circle back to the south. I was just concerned because of what day it is. Seeing the plane brought back memories," Hamilton said.
Karon Wisdom saw the plane in Channelview circling for hours.

"Because its 9/11, everyone's keeping their eye on the sky," she said. "I thought either someone was watching out for us on the Gulf Coast, or something weird was happening."

NASA officials said the aircraft was testing out a new instrument and that "they have made several flights this week. It's unfortunate for the atmospheric conditions that made it very visible on 9/11."
Officials said it was nothing to be alarmed about.

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Breaking: Fire destroys Houston complex

2010-09-15T12:43:00.001-07:00

by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on September 15, 2010 at 11:20 AM

HOUSTON—Eight units were completely destroyed and several families were displaced after a two-alarm fire damaged part of a southwest Houston apartment complex Wednesday morning.
Fire officials rushed to the burning apartments on Wilcrest at South Drive around 6:45 a.m.
HFD said they had a slight water pressure issue in the beginning, but managed to quickly get the fire under control. No firefighters were injured and all of the families got out safely.
One child standing outside was checked for smoke inhalation at the scene. He was determined to be OK.

Arson investigators do not know how the fire started at this time.

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY SHERIFF’S BLOTTER

2010-09-03T07:19:00.001-07:00

Updated: 09.02.10
District 1 – (North County)

A deputy was sent to the 13800 block of Henry Harris Road Aug. 26 in reference to a disturbance. A man said he was driving down the road when another man ran onto the road with a 2-by-4 board and swung the board at the complainant after getting out of his vehicle, striking him on the knee. The man then hit the complainant on the face with his hand. The man then went back into his yard and picked up a machete and started waving it. The complainant got back into his vehicle and went home. The man fled the scene. The deputy searched for the man and found him hiding under an abandoned mobile home. The 52-year-old Conroe man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

District 2 – (South County)

Deputies responded to a robbery call at 25650 I-45 N. Aug. 26. While sitting in his vehicle, the complainant was approached by a black man wearing a security shirt. The man demanded his driver’s license and registration. The complainant exited his vehicle and produced his wallet to retrieve the requested documents. The man took the wallet out of his hands, put the complainant against the vehicle and left with the wallet. A deputy located a person fitting the description of the man, and the complainant positively identified him by his face and clothing. The 43-year-old man had lived on the property for approximately two weeks as the onsite security officer. He was wearing a T-shirt that said “police I am the law.” The sergeant conducted a lengthy interview with the man, as well as his family. There were numerous discrepancies in their stories. The man was arrested for impersonating a peace officer and theft from a person.

District 3 – (East County)

A deputy responded to the 20000 block of Mizell Road Aug. 26 in reference to a suspicious person call. A school district officer had observed a man loading a riding lawnmower from the woods. The deputy arrived and observed that the man’s vehicle had the inspection sticker from another vehicle on the windshield. The lawn mower was believed to be stolen but had not been reported or entered stolen at that time. The 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with fictitious inspection sticker.

District 4 – (West County)

A deputy was dispatched to the Turtle Creek subdivision Aug. 26 in reference to a family disturbance. The reportee said a man and his wife were arguing and the wife had started shooting a handgun into the air while standing in their back yard. Both parties told the deputy they had been drinking and began arguing. They said it had become a heated verbal altercation but did not get physical. The 58-year-old wife walked outside with a loaded Smith and Wesson 40-caliber handgun and fired it into the air while she yelled at her husband. The woman was arrested for discharging a firearm on less than 10 acres.

District 5 – (Northwest County)

A deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 16200 block of Texas 105 West Saturday. The male driver was suspected of being intoxicated. The man was administered several standard field sobriety tests and later arrested.

District 6 – (Woodlands)

A deputy responded to 1201 Lake Woodlands Drive Aug. 27 in reference to a 35-year-old Spring woman being detained for shoplifting. She allegedly attempted to steal $116.55 in merchandise from Macy’s.

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Hawaii beats Pearland for Little League World Series title shot.

2010-08-28T16:44:00.001-07:00

South Williamsport, PA (Sports Network) - Noah Shackles went 2-for-2 with a homer, two RBI and three runs scored to back Ezra Heleski's two-hitter, and the Waipahu, Hawaii little league team beat Pearland, Texas, 10-0, in the United States championship game of the Little League World Series.

In the international title game, Ryota Norimatsu tied the game with an RBI single in the sixth, and Ryo Motegi's run-scoring single in the seventh won it, leading Japan to a 3-2 victory over Chinese Taipei.

In addition to striking out six over five shutout innings, Heleski went 2- for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Kahoea Akau added three hits in the resounding win, helping Waipahu win its second U.S. title in three years. In 2008, this same Little League squad beat Matamoros, Mexico to win the championship.

Mason Van Noort had one of the two hits for Pearland, which came back against Georgia to reach this U.S. title game.

With two runners on and one out in the opening inning, Kaimana Bartolome opened the scoring with a two-run double. Shackles homered later in the inning to plate Bartolome for a 4-0 advantage.

Shackles scored in the third on a wild pitch, and Heleski's RBI single later in the same at-bat made it a 6-0 game. Akau's run-scoring double provided a seven-run cushion.

Three more runs from Hawaii ended the game in the fifth due to the 10-run rule. Shackles walked and scored on Cody Maltezo's triple, and Heleski followed with another RBI single. A wild pitch later scored Heleski to end the game.

Japan trailed, 2-1, heading to the bottom of the sixth, but Koutaro Kamikura singled to left to lead off the inning. Following a strikeout, Kamikura advanced to second on an error by the catcher before Norimatsu's hit tied the game.

Kamikura stayed on to pitch a scoreless seventh -- striking out two -- before Masaya Ishii singled with one down in the home half to start the winning rally. A wild pitch sent Ishii to second, and Motegi's two-out single to center won the game.

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Houston man charged in cold case murders.

2010-08-25T14:00:00.001-07:00

by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on August 25, 2010 at 10:22 AM
Updated today at 10:54 AM
HOUSTON – A man long-suspected of killing a Houston woman and an infant in 1984 was finally arrested and charged this week.

Charles Leon Smith, 56, is charged with capital murder in the slayings of 23-year-old Pamela Clarence and 1-month-old Tashona Clarence.

Twenty-six years have passed since the young mother and her baby were killed in their home in the 4300 block of Rogers, but even after the case went cold, investigators never gave up.

The murders occurred on August 2, 1984. Police said Smith and Clarence were in a relationship at the time and had recently had a child together.
But that night, when Smith went to visit his girlfriend, investigators believe Pamela Clarence confronted Smith about another relationship.
Police said Clarence had discovered Smith had another girlfriend, who’d just given birth to Smith’s son.

When Clarence told Smith they should end their relationship, police believe he snapped.
Investigators said Smith strangled Pamela Clarence with an electrical cord and then smothered Tashona with a pillow.

The bodies were later found by concerned family members.
From the beginning of the investigation, police said they thought Clarence knew her killer, and they originally identified Smith as one of two suspects in the murders.
But investigators were unable to collect enough evidence to charge either suspect, and case went cold, lost among more than 700 other killings in Houston that year.

Then, when HPD cold case investigators reviewed the murders this year and again identified Smith as a suspect, things changed.
Police said Smith was taken into custody on August 23 and confessed to his role in the crimes.
He was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning, and was behind held in the Harris County Jail without bond.

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Houston stripmall destroyed in blaze.

2010-08-25T13:48:00.001-07:00

by Lisa Chavarria / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on August 25, 2010 at 8:23 AM
Updated today at 9:21 AM

HOUSTON—A three-alarm fire swept through parts of a southwest Houston strip mall, destroying several businesses in its path early Wednesday.
Houston Fire Department officials said the fire began inside the M. Trading Wholesale Shop on Fondren at Harwin just before 5 a.m.

The business houses wholesale supplies sold to dollar stores. HFD said there may have been hair products or chemicals on the racks that helped fuel the flames.
Two more businesses next door to the wholesale shop, Jessie’s Nail Salon and Sloreria Lee’s flower shop, were also destroyed.

The owner of Star Korean Karaoke Bar said he was inside his business when a man riding a bicycle knocked on his door and alerted him to the fire. He was able to get out safely and call 911. His business was not damaged by the flames, but may have smoke damage.

One firefighter was injured battling the blaze. He was treated at the scene for a laceration on his hand.

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Montgomery County Sheriff's Bust Illegal 8-Liner Gambling Operations

2010-08-20T17:03:00.001-07:00

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 16:55 | by The Editor

On Thursday, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Special Investigations Unit served search warrants at businesses located in the 23600 block of Hwy 59 Porter, Texas and the 24100 block of Loop 494 in Porter, Texas. These businesses were operating as illegal 8-liner gambling places.

The warrants were served at approximately 3:00pm. The Loop 494 location was operating under the name “Casa Blanca”. 3 arrests were made of employees on location and 17 citations were issued to customers found gambling during warrant service. In addition 45 mother boards were seized along with approximately $13,000 dollars.

The second location on Hwy 59s “Seven Swords” had 5 employees arrested and 29 citations issued to customers. In addition 90 mother boards were seized along with approximately $15,000 dollars.

Many of the customer citations listed occupations as unemployed, retired, on social security and disabled.

The SIU was assisted by the MCSO D-3 Patrol Division, MCSO CID Auto Theft, and the MCSO PCT 4 Constables Office.

The following were arrested and charged with Engaging in Organized Criminal Activities (SJF), Gambling Promotion, Keeping a Gambling Place and Possession of Gambling Paraphernalia.

Heather Shaw w/f 10/30/86 New Caney
Armando Silva w/m, 08/26/1986 Cleveland
Jean Marie Parnell w/f, 09/10/1962 New Caney
Timmy Lynn Leong w/m 08/23/1961 Montgomery
Bille Jo Bertrand w/f, 02/12/1969 New Caney
Julietta Carrena w/f, 05/06/1979 Kingwood
Douglas Roark w/m, 09/16/1959 Splendora
Maria Silva Gonzales w/f, 09/14/1983 Porter

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NW Houston toddler found in hot car dead

2010-08-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

by Courtney Zubowski / 11 News
Posted on August 19, 2010 at 7:32 PM
HOUSTON – A 2-year-old boy has died after being found locked in a hot car in northwest Houston, according to authorities.

The incident happened Thursday around 2:30 p.m. at 13813 Dentwood.
According to police, parents were arriving home from the grocery store when their 7-year-old child, who is autistic, began having seizures. While the parents went inside their home to tend to the 7-year-old, the 2-year-old boy was left locked inside the vehicle.

After going inside to help the 7-year-old , the parents realized their younger child was missing and eventually found him in the back seat of their SUV. Police said the boy was trapped inside the vehicle for about two hours.

One of the parents called 911 when they saw the toddler was not breathing. The boy was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators said the temperature inside the vehicle was 122 degrees when the toddler was found.
Neighbors of the victim’s family said it was an unfortunate incident that happened to good people.

"This is a good family, their children comes first with them," said Michael Carey. "I know for a fact that it was not intentional."

Investigators said the parents will probably not face charges, but the case will go to a grand jury.

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Houston Area Forecast: 100% Chance of Meteors

2010-08-12T07:00:00.001-07:00

After a week-ling lead-up, tonight, August 12/13, 2010, is finally the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Wit this event, meteor season 2010 will kick off in a big way.

Every August, Earth passes through the stretch of space junk shed by comet Swift-Tuttle, reaching the deepest concentration of debris tonight. According to some estimates, under ideal conditions (dark country skies), one can expect to see 60 meteors per hour. The reason the meteors are called Perseids is because the meteors seem to radiate from the constellation Perseus. The best time to view the shower is in the pre-dawn hours, with 3-5am being best.

Don't want to stay up that late? Don't worry, Perseus rises in the Northeast around midnight and will climb higher as the night progresses. However, unless one lives out in the country, the early post-midnight hours will probably involve Perseus being low in a light pollution dome. To improve odds of seeing meteors, travel out of light-polluted Cleveland and to the suburbs or, even better, the country if you can. In the suburbs, just going from the front to back yard can make a dramatic difference as this will eliminate glare from those pesky street/house lights to a large extent.

Two things can ruin the meteor shower: clouds and the Moon. The clouds? Well, that's a regional thing. Check your local Clear Sky Clock to see what the clouds have in store for your location tonight. For us Northeast Ohioans, tonight is looking good. As for the Moon, that's an Earth-wide issue. The good news is that, this year, the Moon is just a few days past new, which means that there will be no Moon up during the time of the meteor shower. There will be a slight lunar glow in the South (opposite Perseus), but this will disappear about midnight, which is about the time Perseus clears the Northeast horizon.

So how about viewing tips?

First, plan to stay out awhile, as it takes the human eye about 15 minutes to get optimal night vision capability. The bad news is that, even one bright flash of white light will wipe out night vision, requiring you to start the process all over again. Next, grab a lawn chair or, even better, a lounge-type chair. Trying to lean back with a straight-back lawn chair can be a pain in the neck, literally! Eyes ready for dark and with something to sit/lay on, settle in for a night of hopeful meteor watching (or at the very least, stargazing), just try not to fall asleep and don't forget the bug spray!

Besides meteors, tonight can be a great time for binocular viewing, owing to your use of a chair. Under suburban (maybe) or rural skies (definitely), a pair of medium power (10x50) binoculars can yield some stunning wide-angle sights. For someone truly dedicated, why not try and keep a tally of how many meteors you see for every complete hour? Really ambitious? Why not try photographing the meteors?

Whatever you plan to do tonight, good luck and clear skies!

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Truancy taken seriously in E Montgomery County

2010-08-05T08:33:00.000-07:00

by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on August 5, 2010 at 7:37 AM

EAST MONTGOMERY COUNTY – School-skipping teens and their parents were rounded up and hauled off to jail late Wednesday to face charges ranging from contempt of court to blue felony warrants. Constables arrested 19 in all and said the sweep was part of an ongoing effort to clear a backlog of outstanding warrants in the courts.

Judge James Metts held truancy court for teens that skipped school last month. Only half of the nearly 250 offenders showed up. Contempt of court charges were filed against the no-shows and the warrants were executed throughout the area Wednesday evening.
"Many of the folks here tonight had ongoing obligations to the court and they refused to take care of those obligations," said Judge Metts. "They’ve had many opportunities in the past to do so, but have blatantly refused, which resulted in their arrests here this evening."

The constables were aided by the Splendora Police Department and New Caney ISD police who helped serve warrants on juvenile offenders accused of refusing to go to court or disobeying court orders.

The cells became so crowded that extra offenders were put in the office area. Police said one teen girl who decided she did not want to stick around, thought she’d make a break for it and leave.
She was captured about 30 minutes later across the freeway and now faces escape charges.
Judge Metts said they still have many open warrants and will continue to work until they bring them all to a close. He suggests offenders come in and take care of their matters quickly. Metts said it is probably not as bad as they think.

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Montgomery County creates public health district

2010-08-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

Change comes after UTMB shifted its focus
By RENÉE C. LEE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Montgomery County has created a public health district to ensure that residents continue to have access to vaccines, immunizations and screenings for communicable diseases that once were provided by the University of Texas Medical Branch.
County commissioners formally approved the new district during a special meeting Friday. The Montgomery County Hospital District, which provides health care assistance to indigent residents, is now in charge of those public health services. The hospital district began serving patients July 1.

The change is in response to UTMB's decision to focus primarily on maternity care and the Women, Infants and Children program, said Montgomery County Judge Alan B. Sadler. UTMB had served the county's public health services needs on a contract basis since 1991, when the county got out of the public health business, he said.

County and hospital district officials began discussions of forming a public health district about six months ago. Allen Johnson, the hospital district's chief executive officer, said the agency has been coordinating and planning regional responses to public health outbreaks, such as bioterrorism and smallpox. Overseeing public health services will enable the hospital district to streamline and conserve resources, Johnson said.

Sadler said the transition should be seamless, and residents can expect the same level of services under the hospital district.

State law allows a county, municipalities and political subdivisions, such as a hospital district, to enter an agreement to form a public health district. In this case, the cities of Conroe and Panorama Village have joined with the county and the Montgomery County Hospital District.

The county will give the hospital district $90,000 a year to provide health services, the same amount it paid UTMB. The county will continue to provide other health services, such as environmental health services, restaurant inspections and animal control services.
Public health districts can receive state and federal grants. The Montgomery County Public Health District will get about $350,000 in grant money that UTMB used to receive to cover staff salaries, equipment and supplies, Johnson said.

The eight employees who used to work for UTMB in Conroe now work for the public health district. The hospital district also has leased added space at its headquarters in Conroe to set up a public health clinic.

Johnson said a side benefit of having the clinic has been that some low-income residents coming in for public health services have had the opportunity to be screened for eligibility for the hospital district's health care assistance program, which helps people who do not have medical insurance.

Tar balls found on Texas beach

2010-07-06T06:38:00.001-07:00

(CNN) -- Texas authorities have traced a small number of tar balls found near Galveston to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Coast Guard and state officials said Monday.
The tar balls collected from beaches in Galveston County over the weekend could fit in a five-gallon bucket, but have been confirmed to have originated from the ruptured BP well off Louisiana, said Jim Suydan of the Texas General Land Office.

Galveston is about 400 miles west of the site of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, which began in late April with the sinking of the offshore drill rig Deepwater Horizon. Coast Guard Capt. Marcus Woodring said authorities weren't sure how the tar balls made it that far, but tests confirmed that at least the first batch collected Saturday came from the Deepwater Horizon spill off Louisiana, he said.
None were found Monday, and the area's beaches and waterways remained open.
"Until we see a greater sum of oil, I can be cautiously optimistic that maybe this is something that will pass," Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski told reporters.

Tar balls occasionally strike the Texas coast, in part because of seepage from undersea oil deposits or from sunken vessels, Woodring said. "Seventeen or 18" cases of tar balls unrelated to the

Deepwater Horizon disaster have been reported to Woodring's Houston-Galveston Coast Guard sector since the spill erupted in April he said.

And though the ones found Saturday and Sunday were confirmed to have come from the ruptured well off Louisiana, they were less weathered than officials would have expected -- leading the Coast

Guard to suspect the oil was either stuck to the side of a ship's hull or mixed in with ballast water from a passing vessel, he said.

Ships passing through the spill are are supposed to be decontaminated before they head into port, he said.

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Freedom Over Texas Fireworks Show!

2010-07-01T08:47:00.001-07:00

Houston will set the stage for an extraordinary patriotic celebration at Mayor Annise Parker’s official Fourth of July event, Freedom Over Texas with Fireworks Presented by Shell. Texas singer-songwriter Pat Green will headline the annual event held from 4 to 10 p.m. on Sunday, July 4, with his performance culminating in the nation’s largest land-based fireworks show, presented by Shell Oil Company. Admission to the event is FREE with the donation of one canned item per person to the Houston Food Bank.

"As Americans, I believe it is our civic duty to celebrate the birth of our nation and reflect upon those brave men and women who have made great sacrifices for us to live in a free country," said Mayor Annise Parker. "I invite fellow Texans to join us in honoring our country, respecting the values of the founding fathers and instilling pride in our diverse community.”

Headlining the evening’s celebration on the Freedom Stage is Pat Green (with Cowboy Mouth and Little Big Town), an artist who has blazed his own trail and recorded a total of 10 studio albums. Fifteen of his singles have charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which the highest-peaking is the #3 "Wave on Wave" from his gold-certified album. Green has toured with many popular country music artists including Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Kenny Chesney, and many more. At this year’s event, Green will be presented by the Texas Music Charts with an award recognizing him as the “Most Played Texas Artist” of the last decade.

When the concert comes to a close at 9:30 p.m., eyes will turn skyward for an extraordinary fireworks spectacular perfectly set to a selection of America’s favorite tunes, from patriotic songs to rock ‘n’ roll hits to classic bestsellers. Shell Oil Company is the underwriter of the 2010 fireworks show for the fifth consecutive year, and with their contribution, the city’s official fireworks show will enliven Houston’s skyline. Producing the show will be world-renowned fireworks artists from Pyro Spectaculars North by Souza.

"For more than 80 years, Shell has been a strong supporter of the Houston community and our nation. As a country, we have much to celebrate, and we at Shell are thrilled to participate in the festivities this year,” said Ben Dillon, Vice President Corporate Affairs, Shell Oil Company.

In addition to this year’s entertainment headliner, the festival will also spotlight a top-notch selection of local and regional music. Throughout the day, four stages will keep toes tapping with music ranging from country western and rock 'n' roll to Latin, R&B, and oldies.

Booth exhibits and family friendly patriotic activities will encompass Buffalo Bayou and Eleanor Tinsley Park:

KBR Liberty Park

Encompassing more than three football fields in length, KBR Liberty Park will showcase military artifacts and vehicles including representation from all five military branches and more. The branches and the Houston Police Department will offer recruiting on site.
The U.S. Army will showcase an Apache Helicopter flight simulator and a 55-ton M-60 Battle Tank.
The Museum of Printing History and the Military Museum of Houston will exhibit historical items that have helped shape our nation’s history in this area.
Bud Light Zone

Cool off with a cold one at the Budweiser Beer Garden, and enjoy a prime view of the sixth annual Bud Light Texas Volleyball Championship Series Finals.
Make a rest stop at the Bud Light Build-A-Bar, which will offer a shaded sitting area equipped with plasma TV screens. Also, don’t miss a sneak peak of an event performer during their official Bud Light Sound Check.

Be sure to stop by the Budweiser Good Sport’s Booth and learn how you can save lives by being a designated driver.

Walmart All American Kids Zone

More than 30,000 square feet of free educational programming and entertainment await children.
Houston Public Library’s HPL Mobile Express computer lab, will teach child how to use a computer.
Houston Fire Department’s Smokehouse will teach kids the importance of fire safety.
Historical costumed characters will talk with children about the documents that defined our government.

Juno Baby will have sing-a-long activities for children and little aspiring stars are invited to perform in the Rising Stars Search contest for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to San Francisco and be featured in the next Juno Baby production.
Free games, rides, face painting and interactive activities will be open to children of all ages.
Additional activities:

Gexa Energy will be giving US Flag hand fans to the first 30,000 people who enter the gates. Booths will be setup for families to take fun photos with Shrek The Musical characters, enter for a chance to win a trip for two to Hawaii or Cancun, and also for a chance to win a Home Theater System, which includes a Sony Bravia 40’ LCD TV.
Visit KBR’s five primary beneficiaries on site: Career and Recovery Resources, Goodwill Industries, Houston Community College, Soldier’s Angels and Wreaths Across America-Houston.
The 2010 Land Rover models will be on display including the all new 2010 Land Rover LR4 and award winning Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.
Freedom Over Texas with Fireworks Presented by Shell will be simulcast on ABC-13/KTRK-TV from 7-10 p.m. on Sunday, July 4, and will be syndicated statewide from 8-10 p.m. In addition, KILT 100.3 FM will simulcast the music medley specially choreographed for the fireworks spectacular.

With the donation of one canned item per person to the Houston Food Bank, admission for the event is FREE. Without the donation, tickets will be $8 per person. Children two years and under will be admitted free. In keeping with last year’s theme, Freedom Over Texas with Fireworks Presented by Shell will expand its offering of recycling receptacles, encouraging all patrons to recycle.

Freedom Over Texas with Fireworks Presented by Shell sponsors include: Fireworks sponsor: Shell; Anchor Sponsors: Gexa Energy, Bud Light/Silver Eagle Distributors, KBR, Houston Area Land Rover Centres, and Walmart; Co-producers: City of Houston/Mayor’s Office of Special Events; Additional sponsors include Doubletree Hotel Houston Downtown; Houston Chronicle; 100.3 KILT; HOT 95-7; Mix 96-5; SportsRadio 610 and Mega 101 FM; Texas Lottery; Juno Baby; Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Texas Southern University and LifeGift. In-kind sponsors include Houston Dynamo, Houston Rockets, Houston Astros, Houston Aero and Metro. The event benefits Houston Central Improvement, Inc.

For more information, call 832.393.0868 or visit the Freedom Over Texas with Fireworks Presented by Shell Web site at www.freedomovertexas.org or www.houstonspecialevents.org.

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Killer of 12-year-old girl set to die in Texas

2010-06-30T07:55:00.001-07:00

By MICHAEL GRACZYK / Associated Press

Condemned prisoner Jonathan Green faces lethal injection for the abduction, rape and strangling of a 12-year-old girl near Houston 10 years ago.

Green is scheduled to die in the Texas death chamber in Huntsville on Wednesday evening. The 42-year-old inmate would be the 14th killer Texas has executed this year and the first of two on consecutive nights in the nation's most active death penalty state.

A Montgomery County jury sent Green to death row for the June 2000 slaying of Christina LeAnn Neal, who lived across the road from Green in the Dobbin community, west of Conroe. She'd been reported missing after not returning home from a friend's house nearby.

Green was arrested a month later when police cadaver dogs led authorities to her body in his home.

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Recovery Effort in Gulf Expected to Continue Despite Storm

2010-06-28T14:34:00.001-07:00

By JOSEPH BERGER

A tropical storm moving across the western Gulf of Mexico that is likely to strengthen into a hurricane is not expected to seriously disrupt efforts to capture oil gushing from the stricken BP well, officials of the Coast Guard and BP said Monday.

Adm. Thad W. Allen, of the Coast Guard, who is commanding the federal response to the disaster, said at an afternoon press conference that high seas produced by Tropical Storm Alex should not force the evacuation of rigs and other equipment from the blowout site, which is 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. Should an evacuation take place, he said, it could halt the work of collecting oil and drill relief wells for about 14 days.

“As it stands right now, absent the intervention of a hurricane, we’re still looking at mid-August," to have relief wells shut off the gusher entirely, Admiral Allen said.

However, BP officials said that what could be delayed, even by current wave heights, is an effort to prepare what is known as a “floating riser system” that will help raise the daily total of collected oil from, about 25,000 barrels to as much as 50,000 barrels. At a briefing Monday morning, Kent Wells, a senior vice president of BP who is overseeing BP’s efforts, said the storm is expected to follow a track that will take it well west of the blowout site, but it may produce waves of 10 to 12 feet, which Mr. Wells said was too high for the “very precise work” on the surface needed to prepare the floating riser system.

Mr. Wells said the containment cap and a second system that are collecting 25,000 barrels of oil a day would not need to be disconnected and the drilling of two relief wells should continue on schedule. The first relief well is supposed to pump in heavy mud and shut off the gusher sometime in August.

Tropical Storm Alex is on a course heading for northeastern Mexico and a stretch of Texas. Meteorologists at Accuweather.com said they are anticipating a landfall between Tampico, Mexico and Brownsville, Tex. Wednesday night or early Thursday.

Meanwhile Associated Press reported that BP had filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission that indicate the cost of capping and cleaning the spill have reached $2.65 billion. BP has lost more than $100 billion in market value since the drilling platform the company was operating blew up April 20. The costs include spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs, but not a $20 billion fund for damages the company created this month.

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Alex may effect Gulf oil production ..

2010-06-28T14:23:00.001-07:00

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Tropical Storm Alex, expected to become a hurricane Tuesday, seems to be headed on a path away from the bulk of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production and refining infrastructure. But some production impact will be felt as one of the largest energy producers in the Gulf said Monday it was shutting down several platforms as a precaution.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) said it had pulled 700 workers from its Gulf operations, and some 835 workers remained offshore. The company is shutting in production from its Western and Central Gulf of Mexico assets to prepare for the potential full evacuation of personnel Tuesday. The company started pulling workers from the Gulf over the weekend. The company didn't specify how much production would be shut or how many platforms were being evacuated.

At 11 a.m. EDT, Alex was located about 85 miles west-northwest of Campeche, Mexico, in the western Gulf of Mexico, and was heading towards southern Texas and northern Mexico. Most U.S. offshore oil and gas platforms are located in the eastern part of the Gulf, far from Alex's forecast path.

Alex "is not likely to have a major impact on production or refining in the U.S.," Doug MacIntyre, senior analyst at the Energy Information Administration, told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. "Alex's current path appears to avoid most of the oil and gas production platforms and any of the major refining centers."

Energy markets Monday seemed to take the storm in stride. Light, sweet crude for August delivery ended 61 cents lower at $78.25 a barrel a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 2.96% lower at $4.717 million British thermal units.

Gulf producers Apache Corp. (APA), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) also said Monday they have started evacuating non-essential workers from the offshore facilities expected to be in the path of the storm but none have so far reported any impact to their production.

BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) said Monday it pulled non-essential personnel from three offshore facilities in the the Gulf, and that production was not affected. The company evacuated workers from Atlantis, Mad Dog and Holstein platforms.

Alex may delay BP PLC's plans to increase the amount of oil collected from a leaking well in the Gulf by a week, a company official said Monday.

While the storm's winds are expected to stay far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon spill, high seas are likely to become an issue this week, said Kent Wells, a senior vice president with BP, in a press briefing. Waves up to between 10 feet and 12 feet would prevent BP from hooking a third rig up to an underwater containment system, a process that needs three days of good weather, Wells said.

Two rigs, the Discoverer Enterprise and Q4000, are already collecting between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels of oil a day from the well, which has gushed ever since a rig working at the site caught fire and sank in April.

Chevron Corp. (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP) said that they have not evacuated workers, but that they are closely monitoring the forecast for Alex.

A hurricane watch was issued for parts of the south Texas Gulf coastline area and parts of northern Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported Monday on its website.

The NHC, in its advisory, also said Alex likely will become a hurricane Tuesday and has increased in strength, now with winds of 60 miles per hour.

The watch area for the U.S. extends from south of Baffin Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande in Texas, with Mexico issuing a hurricane watch from the Rio Grande to La Cruz.

-By Isabel Ordonez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9207; isabel.ordonez@dowjones.com

(Brian Baskin and Angel Gonzalez contributed to this article

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DPS suspends probe of minor parking lot crashes

2010-06-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

By Matt Stephens
Updated: 06.14.10
The Texas Department of Public Safety is suspending the investigation of minor car collisions in parking lots in Montgomery County beginning July 1.

Now whenever minor wrecks occur in parking lots, it will be the motorists’ job to pick up a crash form, or CR-2 form, fill out the information and return it within 10 days.

DPS Trooper Erik Burse said the forms are required only if both parties have insurance, are not injured and are able to drive their cars away from the scene of the accident.

“If someone’s injured or doesn’t have insurance, it needs to be investigated,” Burse said.

The change in policy was made to ensure troopers focus their time on wrecks that occur on public roadways, which are more dangerous and require more attention. Roughly 30 percent of all accidents investigated in Montgomery County are minor crashes in parking lots, Burse said, and the new policy will help improve DPS response time on crashes that involve serious injuries or intoxicated drivers.

“If you have an accident while you’re driving home on Interstate 45 and get rear-ended at 65 mph, I might not be able to get to you because I’m responding to an accident in the Target parking lot,” he said.

Montgomery County was mandated by legislation to investigate all motor-vehicle crashes, including those that occur in parking lots. Burse said the information was brought to the state level in Austin, which allowed the county to adopt the new policy. Other areas in Texas have been allowed similar changes to the law, although Burse did not know the specific cities.

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Now when drivers call DPS regarding an accident, they will be asked the extent of the accident and their location to determine whether the crash needs to be investigated or the driver needs to pick up a crash report form.

The form can be picked up at any local law enforcement office or on the Department of Transportation’s website at www.dot.state.tx.us.

2010-06-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

by Alex Sanz / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on June 1, 2010 at 7:39 PM
WILLIS, Texas -- Willis firefighters are bracing for a tough summer as Montgomery County prepares to deal with prolonged and near-record drought conditions.

The biggest fear is a repeat of last year, according to Jimmy Williams, the Montgomery County Fire Marshal.

He said 2009 was an especially dry year in Montgomery County and the fire danger was exceptionally high. One in ten trees was dying and firefighters were brought in from out of state to battle forest fires.

"There is no moisture left in the ground," Williams said. "At this point [the dead, dry material] will readily ignite and burn."

Firefighters had responded to several grass fires by Tuesday, including one at the home of Wayburn Castleschouldt.

"[It's] the driest I've seen it this early," he said. "I imagine somebody threw a cigarette out."

Castleschouldt, who has lived in the same home outside of Willis since 1985, said he'd seen bad conditions before, just not this bad.

"We haven't even had a sprinkle," he said. "People say there is no such thing as global warming. Hell, I can plant a garden in January now."

Forecasters at the National Weather Service in League City said long-range models predicted a dome of high pressure would move over the area as early as this weekend and keep conditions dry.

Williams said Montgomery County would likely have to consider a burn ban by mid-June if conditions stayed dry.

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Texas Gulf Waits & Worries

2010-05-28T06:20:00.001-07:00

LAPORTE -- Richard Arnhart spends much of his days monitoring wind trajectories, scientific bulletins and TV newscasts.

Parts of an oily blob three times the size of Rhode Island -- and growing -- are believed by many experts to be lumbering closer to the Texas Gulf, and Arnhart is part of the first line of defense.
As a regional director for the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program in the Texas General Land Office, Arnhart is paid by the state to fight oil spills, and he's heavily involved in state and federal contingency planning for any possible impact on Texas from the massive oil spill lurking in the Gulf of Mexico.

Communities all along the Texas coast are making similar preparations as they join the rest of the world in tracking daily developments in one of the worst oil spill disasters in history.
No one knows for sure if remnants of the spill, which was about 160 miles east of the Lone Star State late last week, will reach Texas waters. The consensus seems to be that if there is an impact it will be in the form of tar balls or a frothy substance resembling chocolate mousse. Experts don't expect any residue to hit this far west for several weeks.

Beyond that, just what threat the spill poses for a region of the state whose economy and culture is tied to the gulf is difficult to gauge. Environmentalists warn of possibly irreversible damage to the state's fragile ecosystems and endangered wildlife. Others worry about potential losses to fishing and tourism, though local officials say they have yet to see any signs of an economic backlash.
"It's going to have an impact one way or another," said state Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg, chairman of the state House Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness, which has scheduled a Monday hearing in McAllen to examine Texas preparations for the spill. "We swim in that ocean. We eat the food that comes out of that ocean. It's part of our [committee's] charge to be prepared for emergencies, and this is certainly an emergency that Texas should be prepared for."
'No news is good news'

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, whose office would be in charge of fighting residue from the spill and enforcing the cleanup, took steps late last week to calm fears about the oil slick.

"We're watching and waiting, but it's just not time to go to general quarters," said Patterson, who is scheduled to testify at Monday's hearing. "No news is good news."

Patterson sought to dispel TV reports that tar balls from the spill are already showing up on Texas beaches. Although tar balls occasionally wash ashore along the Texas Gulf, they may be decades old and could come from natural seepage or earlier spills, the land office said. An analysis on tar balls collected from Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island last week proved conclusively that the substance did not come from the oil slick in the gulf, said Cmdr. David Berliner of the Coast Guard.
Nevertheless, an out-of-control underwater gusher dumping more than thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf each day is impossible for Texans to ignore. Houston area residents watching TV last week, for example, might have seen ads aired by attorney Jim Adler offering his service to victims of the spill.

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Oil spill threatens already weakened wetlands

2010-05-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

by Brad Woodard / 11 News
khou.com

Crews depart with giant box to help Gulf oil leak
With millions of gallons of oil already in the gulf and massive underwater plumes that could poison and suffocate sea life across the food chain, experts say the damage from the spill could endure for a decade or more. For Galveston, however, the picture isn't quite as bleak.

"There may be some kind of effect coming this way, some little tarballs, but we'd be talking about almost three weeks into the future, which gives it more time to break up. More time to sink," said Peter Davis, chief of the Island's Beach Patrol.

If Davis doesn't seem overly concerned, it's because he's seen it all before.

"I've worked here for almost 30 years, and before that I was on the beach all the time," says Davis. "I remember in the 80s when there was less regulation; there was tar around a lot more."

Long before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, in fact, long before offshore drilling, tarballs were washing up on Texas beaches. The state estimates as much as a million barrels of crude oil leaked into the gulf through natural seepage in just the last year.

Although the coast is clear in Galveston, at least for the moment, some business owners along the seawall worry all the news surrounding the spill with scare off tourists.

"They don't know if there is oil or no oil," says Izzy Wolraich, the owner of four businesses on the Island. "And we know there's no oil.

There're afraid about poisoned fish and dirty water, but there's not a panic yet."

And that's what he fears the most.

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EMC Constable Cages "BUZZARD"

2010-05-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

After a 3-day search, the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office captured fugitive Johnny Lee “Buzzard” Walley, Jr., 39, of Houston, at a home in Harris County near the Montgomery County line.

When Constable Kenneth “Rowdy” Hayden and his deputies searched the residence, “Buzzard” was hiding among some insulation in the attic. He remained still, but the sheet rock beneath him gave way and dropped Walley through the ceiling into the master bedroom where he was taken into custody and returned to the Montgomery County Jail, charged with bond forfeiture.

“The buzzard fell from his nest and we put him a cage,” Hayden said.

Walley gained notoriety last November when he unleashed a pit bull terrier on Precinct 4 officers as they conducted an unrelated investigation at a home in the 17600 block of White Oak Drive near FM 1485 in Grangerland. The dog lunged at Chief Deputy Barry Welch, who had to use deadly force to stop the attack.

At that time, Walley was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a public servant; felony possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine); and hindering apprehension or prosecution of a known felon. Walley was later released on bond, but failed to appear in court as scheduled and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The search for Walley included multiple locations, where Precinct 4 deputies arrested nine of Walley’s associates on outstanding warrants, drug possession charges and resisting arre

Child left in car rushed to hospital.

2010-05-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

BAYTOWN, Texas—A toddler was rushed to Memorial Hermann Tuesday afternoon after she was left in a hot car, police said.
Investigators said the girl’s father found her unresponsive in the back of his car, which was parked at the auto shop he owns in the 900 block of Alexander.

When the father found the girl, he rushed her to a nearby fire station, where paramedics performed CPR until Life Flight arrived.

Police said the father had taken his other two kids to school on his way to work, but apparently forgot to take the little girl to day care.

It was unclear exactly how long the girl was left in the car.
Her condition was not known.

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Oil spill threatens Gulf Coast

2010-04-29T19:29:00.001-07:00

(CNN) -- A huge oil spill oozing toward the Gulf Coast on Thursday threatens hundreds of species of wildlife, some in their prime breeding season, environmental organizations said.
The Coast Guard said Wednesday that the amount of oil spilling from an underwater well after an oil rig explosion last week has increased to as many as 5,000 barrels of oil a day, or 210,000 gallons, five times more than what was originally believed.

Although efforts to minimize the damage are under way and options under consideration include asking the U.S. military for assistance, wildlife conservation groups say the oil could pose a "growing environmental disaster."

"The terrible loss of 11 workers (unaccounted for after the rig explosion) may be just the beginning of this tragedy as the oil slick spreads toward sensitive coastal areas vital to birds and marine life and to all the communities that depend on them," said Melanie Driscoll, director of bird conservation for the Louisiana Coastal Initiative, in a statement.
Coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida could be at risk, the organization said.

"For birds, the timing could not be worse; they are breeding, nesting and especially vulnerable in many of the places where the oil could come ashore," she said. "The efforts to stop the oil before it reaches shore are heroic, but may not be enough. We have to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, including a true catastrophe for birds."

"The best case is, the wind shifts and the oil doesn't hit," said Tom MacKenzie of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "I'm not real confident about that. ... We're doing everything we can to prevent it, but it could be a bad one."

It's not just birds that could be affected, although they are usually the first to feel the effects, said Gregory Bossart, chief veterinary officer for the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. The birds are right at the surface, get covered in the oil and swallow it, causing liver and kidney problems.

"They need to be rescued and cleaned," he said.
But the coastline of Louisiana, with its barrier islands and estuaries, "is a very unique ecosystem. It's very complex," Bossart said.
Plankton found in the estuaries nourish organisms all the way up the food chain. Crabs, mussels, oysters and shrimp feed on the plankton, he said. Oil smothers the plankton, meaning they cannot eat.

Also, "the estuaries here are a nursery ground, literally a nursery ground, for the entire fish population in this area," Bossart said.

River otters in the region eat mussels and other animals. And "we know, in this area right now, that there are sperm whales. There are dolphins right in the oil slick," he said.
If an oil spill is small enough, animals can leave the area.
"Some of them can get away," Bossart said. "It's totally dependent on the size of the slick, and this is huge."

Exposure to the oil for a prolonged period of time can result in a toxic effect on the skin, and mammals can suffer lung damage or death after breathing it in, Bossart said.
"When the oil starts to settle, it'll smother the oyster beds. It'll kill the oysters," he said.

The Audubon Society, which is affiliated with the Louisiana Coastal Initiative, is recruiting volunteers in Florida and making its Center for Birds of Prey available for bird cleansing and rehabilitation. Elsewhere, Audubon said it was gearing up to mobilize volunteers and provide assistance as the oil reaches land.

The spill also threatens the Louisiana and Mississippi fishing industry, as crab, oysters and shrimp along the coast could be affected, along with numerous species of fish. Gulf shrimp are in their spawning season.

More than 400 species are threatened by the spill, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Thursday, citing the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
"When you stop and begin considering everything that this could impact, it really is stunning," Karen Foote, biologist administrator with the department, told the newspaper.

A handful of "Important Bird Areas" -- designated because of their value to bird species -- face immediate threat from the oil, the initiative said. They include the Chandeleur Islands and Gulf Islands National Seashore areas in Louisiana and Mississippi, along with the Active Delta area in Louisiana, which includes Delta Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area.

Several species of birds are cause for special concern, the Louisiana Coastal Initiative said. They include the brown pelican, the state bird of Louisiana, which nests on barrier islands and feeds near shore. The brown pelican's breeding season just began, according to the Initiative, and "many pairs are already incubating eggs."

The species was taken off the federal endangered species list last year, but "their relatively low reproductive rate means any disruption to their breeding cycle could have serious effects on the population."

More than 800 brown pelicans died when a smaller oil spill hit Louisiana's Breton Island National Wildlife Refuge a few years ago, MacKenzie said.

Species of beach-nesting terns and gulls, beach-nesting shorebirds, large wading birds, marsh birds and ocean-dwelling birds are also at risk, along with migratory shorebirds and songbirds, the Initiative said.

The migratory songbirds move across the Gulf during a two-week period from late April to early May, for instance.

"The journey across 500 miles of open water strains their endurance to its limits," the Initiative said. "They depend on clear skies and healthy habitats on both sides of the Gulf in order to survive the journey."

According to a 1998 study by Louisiana State University, more than 500 million birds fly over the Gulf and enter the United States along coastal areas in Louisiana and Texas each spring.
The barrier islands east of Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain have still not recovered from the blow dealt by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Bossart said, and a spill such as this one could seriously threaten their recovery.

"I think at this point it would be wrong to say it's catastrophic, because it really hasn't hit any area except out in the Gulf proper," he said. But "it's certainly a very serious thing" that could pose a long-term environmental challenge.

Plans have been under way to protect wildlife since the spill was discovered, MacKenzie said. "We know what we're doing to try to protect those key assets. ... A lot of people are leaning forward in the foxhole to address this."

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County reluctant on FM 3083 project funding

2010-04-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

By Howard Roden
Updated: 04.26.10
Conroe city officials approached Montgomery County commissioners Monday about helping fund construction of the FM 3083 overpass at the Union Pacific railroad crossing.

But with the 2010-11 budget process around the corner, county leaders were reluctant to commit funds for the project before a proposed road bond election in November.

“Right now, we don’t have the money,” Precinct 1 County Commissioner Mike Meador told representatives from the Conroe City Council, city staff and the Conroe Industrial Development Corporation.

“We all support the project, but we’re talking about tapping into an operational budget,” said County Judge Alan B. Sadler. “The timing couldn’t be worse.”

The overpass is deemed important in Conroe’s plan to keep the FM 3083 corridor – from North Loop 336 (Veterans Memorial Loop) to Texas 105 – as an attractive location for development.

Cost of the overpass is estimated at $15 million, but Conroe officials will settle for $300,000 to keep the project on track. Lynn Spencer, a consultant for The Goodman Corp., said that amount is the minimum needed to complete the engineering of the overpass. The actual design costs $500,000, but the Texas Department of Transportation’s Area engineers agreed to complete the design for $300,000, she said.

The environmental work on the overpass is only 30 percent finished, but TxDOT’s local area again agreed to complete that work at no additional expense.

Spencer said getting the overpass “shovel ready” when funds – whether they are local, state or federal – become available is key to FM 3083’s future.

Larry Calhoun, Conroe’s Downtown Manager, suggested that the city, CIDC and county agreed to an even split of $100,000 per entity. But CIDC member Mickey Deison said the group was willing to contribute $55,000.

Meador said the commissioners’ plan to promote a $250 million to $300 million bond election would focus on county roads.

“We’ve spent a great deal of money on state roads, and county roads keep getting pushed back,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount work needed on county roads.”

In other action taken at Commissioners Court Monday:

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MCHD transfer: The Montgomery County Hospital District is taking over many public health functions in the county after commissioners voted unanimously Monday to transfer those responsibilities from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

MCHD will assume control of duties that include coordination of health and medical response to disease outbreaks – like H1N1 and tuberculosis – bioterrorism preparedness, immunization, and local planning and coordination of the Strategic National Stockpile.

UTMB will continue operating its maternal, child and nutritional services at the UTMB clinic on East Davis in Conroe, said Carolyn Nelson-Becker, regional UTMB administrative director.

“They (UTMB) are at a place where they need to concentrate on their core mission,” MCHD CEO Allen Johnson said. “We think we’ve got the expertise to provide a more effective and efficient response. We’re excited about the possibilities.”

MCHD board members agreed to take over some of the public health functions at their meeting earlier this month.

Panorama preserve: Commissioners approved the submission of a $116,000 grant to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for the development of a nature preserve at Panorama Park.

Located a half-mile west of Interstate 45 on FM 830, the 12-acre park will include 3,200 linear feet of crushed granite trail, parking area and a 576-square-foot covered pavilion that will serve as a classroom for schools and nature groups, said county Parks Director Corliss O’Shaugnessy.

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Bass Bigger in Texas!

2010-04-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Shannon Tompkins for THE CHRON

We Texans tend to brag a lot about our state, and sometimes we can even back it up.
Here, at the start of the week in which we remember the Battle of San Jacinto, is a bit of Texas crowing: We have the finest largemouth bass fisheries in the country.
That covers a lot of ground, seeing as how largemouth bass are the most popular game fish in the nation and are found in every state except Alaska.

And, admittedly, there’s some subjectiveness in this claim. It’s hard to quantify “finest.” But by any measure, Texas can argue its largemouth fisheries are unmatched.
Access to the fishery?

We have more than 500 public reservoirs, every one of which holds these fish. And that doesn’t include the rivers and other public waterways that hold them. Almost without exception, any angler in Texas is within an hour’s drive of a healthy bass fishery. (Except, perhaps, for folks in the Trans-Pecos, where fisheries of any kind are a little thin. But even anglers in the farthest corner of the Panhandle aren’t that far from Lake Meredith.)

Abundance of fish?
Texas has dozens of lakes boasting bass densities and numbers as high as any in the country. Most states are doing good to have a dozen or more really good bass fisheries. We have scores of them.

Management?
The inland fisheries division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is largely responsible for the incredible bass fishery in this state, and its decades of cutting-edge management — from conservative bag limits to research and hatchery/stocking programs aimed at improving the genetics of largemouth bass stocks — are the envy of other state fisheries managers. We have incredibly smart, talented, dedicated and effective people, and it shows.

Sizing it up
But those things are, admittedly, open to debate. Minnesota has a lot of water, as does Florida and a few other states. Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi waters can produce as many bass as Texas waters. And states such as Missouri have incredibly talented, progressive and well-funded fisheries agencies.
But there’s one area in which it’s hard for any other state to challenge Texas’ largemouth fishery: big bass (fish weighing more than 10 pounds).

Yes, three or four states have produced largemouths heavier than the 18-pound, 2-ounce Lake Fork largemouth that holds Texas’ state record for the species.
Georgia, which stakes claim to having produced the world-record 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth, is one. But that fish was taken 78 years ago. A 10-pounder is a monster bass in Georgia these days.

California’s record largemouth is a 21-pound, 12-ounce fish. The state produces some truly monster largemouths, but they all come from a handful of small, deep, clear lakes that don’t support large populations of bass.
Odds are pretty good that more largemouth bass are caught from February through June on Sam Rayburn, Falcon, Fork, Choke

Canyon, Conroe, Amistad or any one of a dozen other Texas lakes alone than in all of California in a year.
Mississippi’s state record largemouth is an 18-pound, 15-ounce fish caught in 1992. And while Mississippi certainly has some fine bass fisheries and produces a good number of 10-pound-or-heavier largemouths, it doesn’t come close to Texas in overall quality and quantity of bass.

Florida has a great largemouth bass fishery. Its official largemouth record is a 17-pound, 4-ounce fish — almost a pound less than the Texas record.
The bigger the better

Here are some pretty telling numbers about Texas’ big-bass fishery:
TPWD maintains a list of the 50 heaviest documented largemouths landed in the state. The bass holding down the 50th spot weighed 15 pounds, 5 ounces.
That 15-5 is heavier than the state record largemouth in 36 states.
This past weekend, Texas’ ShareLunker program saw its 501st entry.

The ShareLunker program, which TPWD began in 1986, is the first of its kind. It solicits anglers who land a 13-pound-or-heavier largemouth to lend the live fish to TPWD for use in the agency’s fisheries research and hatchery production projects.
The idea is to integrate the genetics of these huge bass into the fish produced for stocking into Texas public waters, with the aim of spreading the genetic predisposition for top-end growth into the fisheries. (It works, by the way.)

Since the ShareLunker program began, 61 public waters in Texas have coughed up qualifying largemouths that have been donated to ShareLunker. One lake — Fork — has produced almost 250 of those entries.
So far during the 2009-10 ShareLunker season (fish are accepted Oct.1-April 30), 30 13-pluses from 13 different public reservoirs (and two private lakes) have been entered.
The heaviest of those 30 largemouths, a 16.17-pounder caught at Caddo Lake last month, is heavier than the state record in 39 states.

Every one of those Texas ShareLunkers is heavier than the fish holding the state record in 28 states.
The odds are good that somewhere in the state today one of the million-plus Texans who target largemouth bass will catch a 13-pounder.

Several will land a bass weighing 10 pounds or more. Most will catch a few bass, and many will catch a bunch.
And that — the very real possibility of an angler on any body of water in this state catching a huge largemouth and the near certainty of his landing at least a few — makes Texas stand taller than any other state in the world of bass fishing.
Having a state with the best bass fishing probably wasn’t on Sam Houston’s mind 174 years ago this Wednesday. But he’d probably be proud about it. Texas anglers should be, too.
shannon.tompkins@chron.com

Man Sentenced in Brother's Shooting Death

2010-04-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

ALEXANDER SUPGUL
NEW CANEY, Texas - A jury in Montgomery County has sentenced a New Caney resident to more than 37 years in prison in the shooting death of his brother.

William Phillip Norris Jr. was sentenced on Friday following a trial that lasted almost two weeks. The jury convicted Norris of first-degree felony murder on Thursday.

During the trial testimony, witnesses said that Norris arrived at the house where his younger brother, Steven Michael Morris, was staying and started shooting at him. Prosecutors said that William Norris was enraged when he confronted his brother.

Dan Zientek, a detective with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, testified in court that the brothers had a dispute over $2,000 that led to the shooting.

William Norris' defense attorney said that he acted in self-defense and in defense of someone else. Norris also said that he brought the gun with him for protection after allegedly finding his home ransacked.

During the trial testimony, William Norris said that because his brother was allegedly attacking his father, he fired two warning gunshots, then closed his eyes and fired five more shots to his brother's torso area. Norris said his brother was a methamphetamine user.

One of the prosecutors said that William Norris was a methamphetamine dealer with a violent record.

William Norris will not be eligible for parole until approximately 19 years into his prison sentence.

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Suspect identified in East County Shooting

2010-04-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit has identified a suspect in the Easter morning shooting in East County. The offense occurred in the Summer Hills subdivision at the intersection of Wisp Ct. and Gooseberry.

Witnesses stated that there were multiple shooters involved in this offense. The deceased victim Jorge A. Chavana was driving with his wife when suspects pulled their vehicle in front of the victim’s vehicle near this intersection and began shooting. Mr. Chavana did not survive the attack and his wife was struck twice and was later transported to Ben Taub Hospital where she has since been released.

On Friday, April 9, 2010 Detectives filed a complainant against Julio G. Gonzalez-Nieto of Houston and the arrest warrant was signed by Judge P. McDonald. The investigation is still ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-392-STOP (7867) or the MCSO Criminal Investigations Division at 936-760-5876.

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Deadly Crash in Porter

2010-04-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

By Howard Roden
Updated: 04.08.10
A Shepherd woman died Thursday morning after her pickup truck slammed into the back of a slow-moving construction vehicle on a U.S. 59 frontage road.

A 1994 Chevrolet Silverado, driven by Demetria Torres Cruz, 46, rear-ended a water truck traveling south on the feeder just past the entrance to the Forest Colony subdivision around 10 a.m., DPS Trooper Roger Wolsey said.

Wolsey said the larger vehicle, which was being used by Texas Sterling Construction of Houston, was irrigating the newly planted grass between the feeder and the main lanes as a finishing project for the expansion of U.S. 59 through Montgomery County.

The water truck, driven by Texas Sterling Construction employee Clarence Gibson II, was on the inside lane when the wreck occurred, the trooper said.

The speed limit of that section of frontage road between Community Road and FM 1314 in Porter is 55 mph. The speed limit on Cruz’s vehicle at the moment of impact was between 75 and 80 mph, Wolsey said.

“Family members said she (Cruz) was headed to work in Porter,” Wolsey said.

The trooper said an eyewitness traveling south on the U.S. 59 main lanes reported Cruz’s truck passed her vehicle. The eyewitness’ vehicle was traveling 65 mph, Wolsey said.

While there were no pre-impact skid marks, Cruz, who was wearing a seatbelt, must have noticed the water truck at the last instance, the trooper said.

“She attempted to evade the truck by swerving into the middle lane,” Wolsey said.

The pickup struck the back right of the water truck, triggering a 90-degree spin.

Members of Cruz’s family at the crash scene declined comment. Cruz’s body was transported by Rosewood Funeral Home to the Southeast Texas Forensic Center in Conroe for autopsy.

While no charges are pending against Gibson, Wolsey said the water truck will be tested for possessing the proper placards, and whether its hazard lights were working properly.

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Montgomery County death ruled accidental

2010-04-01T13:37:00.001-07:00

Montgomery County sheriff's detectives said they don't believe foul play was involved in the death of a man whose body was discovered last week in a ditch in The Woodlands.

On March 26, a man walking his dog came across a body later identified as Andrew Lee Harrison, Jr., 48. He was lying in a drainage ditch with about 12 inches of water along Tangle Brush and Green Haven in Montgomery County, authorities said.
The body was taken to Southeast Texas Forensic Center in Conroe for an autopsy. Harrison's death was ruled as a drowning. Montgomery County sheriff's officials said he also had previous medical problems.

More E.Montgomery County information HERE.

Officers shoot, wound EMC robbery suspect

2010-03-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

Law enforcement investigators take notes at the scene of a police-involved shooting near the intersection of Old Sorters Road and FM 1314 Sunday night in Porter.

By Howard Roden
Updated: 03.08.10
EAST COUNTY – A string of robberies along Loop 494 in the Kingwood and Porter areas Sunday evening led to a police chase and a shooting that wounded the suspect.

Houston police officers received a call for a robbery in progress around 8:15 p.m. Sunday at the Stop-n-Gas in the 22300 block of Loop 494 in Kingwood.

According to Houston PD Public Information Officer John Cannon, the suspect then allegedly robbed a Citgo in the 24000 block of Loop 494 in Montgomery County.

Then, in the 27000 block of Loop 494, a Houston patrol officer heard gunshots from yet another location of an attempted robbery. The suspect reportedly fired his weapon at all three robbery locations.

The pursuit, which covered around 10 miles, started down FM 1314 to Old Sorters Road, then around to Sorters Road and back onto FM 1314. The suspect reportedly fired at officers during the pursuit, striking one police vehicle in the front bumper.

The chase continued toward U.S. 59 when the suspect allegedly lost control of a Ford Excursion, which struck an advertising sign pole.

Cannon said officers told the suspect to exit the vehicle with his hands up. However, he said, the officers heard a shot and saw the suspect with a gun in his hand. Officers fired at the suspect, wounding him.

The suspect was transported to Ban Taub Hospital in Houston, where he was listed in stable condition with non-threatening injuries.

While the suspect’s identity was not released, Cannon said he is a 26-year-old East Montgomery County resident.

At least four HPD units were involved in the chase. Three officers reportedly discharged their weapons. At least 12 shell casings were on the ground at the scene. The intersection remained closed throughout the night Sunday and into the early morning hours Monday as law enforcement conducted the investigation.

The officers were placed on three days’ leave, which is standard, and Cannon said the administrative leave is not a punishment.

He credited the quick response of Houston police officers with preventing further threats to the community.

Law enforcement recovered a pistol that was believed to be used by the suspect in the robbery.

No officers or civilians were injured in the incident.

“Given his (suspect’s) dangerous behavior, we were fortunate that no one was injured,” Cannon said.

Cannon said the district attorney’s offices from Harris and Montgomery counties were discussing what charges to file against the man.

The Texas Rangers are the lead investigators in the case.

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Warrant roundup begins ...

2010-03-05T07:17:00.001-08:00

Thayer Evans wrote:
If you have any tickets you haven't gotten around to paying, this is the week to take care of them.

League City, Friendswood, Houston and other cities around Clear Lake will join hundreds of jurisdictions participating in the Great Texas Warrant Roundup this weekend.

Starting Saturday, March 6, police will be visiting homes, schools and workplaces to arrest those with outstanding warrants from municipal courts.

Most of the offenses involve unpaid traffic or parking tickets but more serious violations are included, and no amnesty is being offered. Those with outstanding warrants can be arrested at any location.

Cities are mailing notices to the last known address of those with warrants.

League City Police Chief Mike Jez said those with warrants needs to resolve them before the roundup. His police department will have “quite a few” officers participating in it this year, he said.

“The message to folks right now is avoid getting arrested on your job site or an embarrassing moment,” Jez said. “Come take of things. It’ll save you time, money and embarrassment. It’s something that’s easily avoidable. Most of them are minor offense violations anyway.”

If you think there may be a warrant out on you, contact your local municipal court to find out how to post a bond.

Clear Lake's Houston residents can call 713-731-3950 or visit the city's Clear Lake police station at 2855 Bay Area Blvd. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Woman dies in auto wreck

2010-03-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

A Department of Public Safety Trooper walks past a Ford minivan involved in a fatal accident Thursday on Texas 105 East near Cleveland. (Right) Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Warren Diepraam examines items scattered in the road, including a children’s stroller.

By Howard Roden
Updated: 03.04.10
EAST COUNTY – The front-seat passenger in a minivan died Thursday afternoon when the vehicle strayed into the path of a delivery truck on Texas 105 East.

Antonia Pacheco-Lara, 46, of Shepherd, was killed shortly after 2 p.m. at the intersection of Texas 105 and Lee Turner Road in far East Montgomery County near Cleveland.

A PHI medical helicopter transported the driver of the 2000 Ford Windstar minivan, Hermelinda Garcia-Gomez, 31, to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston. She was in critical condition, Department of Public Safety Trooper Eric Lopez said.

Garcia-Gomez also resides in Shepherd.

Lopez said a 1-year-old child of Pacheco-Lara was transported by ambulance to Memorial Hermann–TMC, where the child was “crying and responsive.”

Douglas Jaeger, 38, of Montgomery, was behind the wheel of the Borden delivery truck that struck the right side of the van. He was OK and remained at the scene of the wreck, Lopez said.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT THE COURIER

Man Helps Shooting Victim Get Medical Attention

2010-03-02T07:26:00.001-08:00

HUMBLE, Texas - Investigators say a good samaritan picked up a woman who had been shot in northeast Harris County and drove her to a convenience store to get help.

Harris County Sheriff's deputies say the shooting took place at approximately 11:45 p.m. Sunday at The Park at Stone Creek apartments on Mesa Drive near Audubon Forest Drive.

The woman was apparently driving her car out of the complex when someone opened fire on her. She was shot at least twice and crashed her car at the main entrance of the complex.

The good samaritan found her at the entrance, put her in his car and drove her to a convenience store at the intersection of Beltway 8 at Old Humble Road to call 911.

The woman was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center in serious but stable condition.

Investigators have not revealed if they were able to find any witnesses to the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Marijuana farm shut down.

2010-03-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

PORTER – Members of the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office discovered and dismantled a large hydroponic marijuana operation and arrested two people Saturday night at a home in the 22000 block of Woodmoss Court off Cumberland Blvd., south of FM 1314.

Roger Sanchez Klein, 40 and Elizabeth Lucia Vallatos, 34, were arrested and charged with 3rd degree felony possession of marijuana, greater than 5 pounds but less than 20 pounds.

“Acting on a tip, Cpl. Art Looza and Deputy Eric Mchugh went to the residence where they discovered Miss Vallatos had an outstanding warrant for an unrelated violation,” Precinct 4 Constable Kenneth “Rowdy” Hayden stated in a media release. “Mr. Klein stated he had some marijuana upstairs. The officers were given consent to search the residence and found two second-story rooms used to grow, harvest and dry marijuana.”

Deputies Beau Boudreaux and Josh Bergland, investigator Buck Clendennen, Lt. Mark Seals and Hayden assisted in the investigation. From the adjoining rooms, officers removed 114 marijuana plants of various sizes, along with mason jars filled with cut and dried marijuana, grow lamps, water pipes, scales, cigarette papers and other items.

“The smell of marijuana was almost overwhelming inside the two rooms but was confined, thanks to an elaborate filtration system in the attic, which was also dismantled and removed,” Hayden said, adding he was proud of his night-shift deputies for taking the initiative and discovering the illegal operation.

“Our officers continue to prove that the war on drugs must be fought not only on the freeways but in our neighborhoods, in the areas where our children play and go to school,” he said. “One by one, we will find and arrest those responsible for illegal drug activity and the crimes that go along with that in East Montgomery County.”

Investigation continues after firefighter’s injury

2010-02-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

By Brad Meyer in The Conroe Courier
Heavy smoke and reduced visibility contributed to an accident that caused a Montgomery firefighter to lose a portion of his hand Monday morning. The Montgomery Fire Department responded to a commercial warehouse fire on Commerce Row in Montgomery at 4 a.m. Monday. A firefighter using a saw to gain entrance through a metal door came in contact with a fellow firefighter, resulting in the accident, Montgomery Fire Department Chief Brian Edwards said.

The victim, Josh Cockrum, was transported by ground to Memorial-Hermann-The Texas Medical Center in Houston, where doctors are attempting to salvage his hand, Edwards said.

“They’re doing all they can,” he said, “but it’s too early to know for sure what will happen.”

Cockrum, a full-time firefighter, had been with the fire department for only three months, Edwards said. He attributed the accident to the reduced visibility caused by dense smoke. Assistant Fire Marshal Scott Burlin, of the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office, said officials were on the scene of the accident and continue to investigate the circumstances. A preliminary report is expected to be released later today.

Firefighers are making plans for a benefit in support of Cockrum, but they have not been finalized.

Man throws puppies off of Port Arthur sea wall.

2010-02-23T07:58:00.001-08:00

PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) - Three rescued puppies are recovering after being thrown over a seawall and on to some rocks in Port Arthur.

Firefighters rescued the crying pups and placed the creatures with animal control.

KFDM-TV reports the man who tossed the animals on Sunday was heard saying he was "turning them into soldiers." A bystander noticed the abandoned puppies and summoned help.

Pat Lavergne with Port Arthur Animal Control says the puppies, with health problems such as mange, were at the shelter Tuesday and available for adoption. She described them as a retriever mix.

The owner of the dogs, who was not immediately located, could face animal cruelty charges.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Speaks at LSC-University Park Event - Kingwood

2010-02-18T09:15:00.001-08:00

The symposium was hosted by ProfilesHouston.com Magazine, along with the North Houston Association, the Houston North Economic Forum, and the Greater Tomball Area, Lake Houston Area, Houston Northwest and Houston Intercontinental chambers of commerce.

"Although Texas leads the nation in so many positive categories - from Fortune 500 companies to job creation - we owe it to our citizens to strive for more," Perry told the breakfast group. "We need to stay ahead of our country's tough economic situation by adhering to proven conservative fiscal disciplines.

"People still want a few basic things from their government, starting with freedom," he said. "They want to live their lives free of oppression to make a dollar and the ability to keep more of what they earn and have a safe place to live.

"Here in Texas, we believe that the government's job is to stick to the basics, sustain a competitive culture, and then get out of the way," Perry said.

Other speakers at the event, in addition to Gov. Perry, included: State Sen. Dan Patrick, District 7: State Rep. Patricia Harless, District 126; State Rep. Debbie Riddle, District 150; Jerry Eversole, Harris County Commissioner, Pct. 4; Craig Doyal, Montgomery County Commissioner, Pct. 2; and Dr. Richard Carpenter, LSCS chancellor .

Commissioner Eversole told the attendees that Harris County is in a financial stretch for the first time in 20 years. At the same time, Eversole was optimistic. "Things have bottomed out and should be moving upwards in 2010," he said.

Eversole praised college officials for the new facility at LSC-University Park and said it would "go down in history" as one of the most important things to happen to the northwest Harris County area.

Texas Sen. Patrick said that the entire nation would be looking at LSC-University Park. "This is a model for the United States, and definitely for Texas," Patrick said.

LSC-University Park opened in January with about 4,000 students, and in addition to two-year degrees, will offer four-year degrees later this year through a partnership with multiple four-year universities.

"I believe that within less than 10 years, there will be 16,000 to 20,000 students on this campus," Patrick said.

The symposium at LSC-University Park was held to analyze the greater north Houston area's economic issues and to allow the participants to create shared visions for the future, along with innovative strategies to accomplish the visions set.

SEE ORIGINAL POST AT KINGWOOD.COM

Man charged with murder in former area resident’s death

2010-02-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

A Texas man has been charged with capital murder in the death of a former Whitfield County resident who was living near Houston.

Luis Eduardo Guzman, 31, was taken into custody on Wednesday by the Montgomery County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office and is being held without bond in the Dec. 21 home invasion death of Lisa Lynette Whitt-Ulloa, 34, who formerly worked as a real estate agent in Chatsworth and Dalton. Guzman was arrested without incident in the Waller County city of Brookshire at his place of employment as a welder, according to The Courier newspaper of Montgomery County, Texas (www.hcnonline.com).

A press release following the invasion said two masked men entered the home through an unlocked door and bound and assaulted family members with wooden clubs, including Whitt-Ulloa’s husband, Michael, 26, and her 18-year-old daughter. A son was staying with nearby relatives. The husband and daughter were taken to a hospital with injuries, but Whitt-Ulloa died by strangulation, according to a forensic report.

Whitt-Ulloa and her daughter were from Georgia, investigators said. Robbery is suspected as a motive.

Realtor Velma Ray recalled Whitt-Ulloa, whom she knew as Lisa Brock, as “bubbly” when they worked together at Peach Realty in Chatsworth.

“She was always a happy-type person,” Ray said. “I had not kept up with her, but it’s just so sad. She was so young, too.”

Mike Doran, owner and broker at Re/Max Select Realty in Dalton, also knew Whitt-Ulloa.

“She was very likable, and a hard-working person who did well,” he said. “She did a lot of new construction (real estate) with her late husband, Danny Witt. I was glad to see on the Internet posting where the guy who did it was arrested.”

Danny Witt, a Whitfield County contractor, died in August 2008 from what authorities determined was a self-inflicted gunshot to the abdomen.

Whitt-Ulloa was listed as an agent with ERA Trinity in an area real estate listings magazine in November 2006, and as working with Re/Max Select Realty in March of 2007 in a similar publication.

Officials with the Montgomery County sheriff’s office and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office declined comment on whether either department had additional suspects in connection with the home invasion, the newspaper reported.

Capital murder is punishable by life without parole or death by lethal injection in Texas. Prosecutors did not say whether they would seek the death penalty.

Condemned Montgomery Co. killer loses DNA appeal

2010-02-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

By RENÉE C. LEE Houston Chronicle

After nearly a decade on death row, Larry Swearingen has hit another roadblock in his fight to prove his innocence in the murder of a 19-year-old college student in 1998.

The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the trial court's decision in January 2009 to deny Swearingen's motion for DNA testing of evidence in the capital murder case.
In the unanimous decision, the appeals court agreed that some evidence had already been tested and that Swearingen could not prove other evidence contained biological materials that could be tested for DNA. The law says there must be biological material present for a defendant to pursue post-conviction testing.

“In light of the overwhelming evidence of the appellant's guilt, even if we were to grant appellant's request,” the court said, Swearingen cannot show the test results would create at least a 51 percent chance that he would not be convicted.
In November, a federal district judge denied Swearingen's petition of actual innocence.
Despite Swearingen's numerous petitions and two stays of execution, he has not yet exhausted the appeals process.
His attorney, James Rytting, said he plans to file an appeal with the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Houston attorney said he believes the state appeals court is trying to close the gate on Swearingen by engaging in “political murder.”

“They're greasing the skids toward execution of an innocent man,” Rytting said. “I will fight up to the last minute.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Local author publishes first children’s book

2010-02-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

By Jim Higgins
Special to The Daily News
Published February 10, 2010

LEAGUE CITY — Hurricane Rita uprooted trees and lives in East Texas in 2005, but one young woman who evacuated from the storm put down new roots in League City and began writing new chapters of her life.

The path she followed and the career she chose would at first glance seem incongruous to everyone except Christina Smith, who is as comfortable around pumps and compressors as she is reading Dr. Seuss or reciting Leonard Cohen poems.

But it is writing children’s stories and poetry that Christina Smith enjoys the most after a day of studying pumps and compressors in College of the Mainland’s process technology associate degree program.

“My dad has an English degree and reads more than anyone I have ever known but decided to work in the plants back in Orange where I grew up,” the full-time COM students and single mother of a 2-year old, said.

“My dad and mom read to me as a child. My mom wrote poetry. I guess I got my love of words from them.”

Her love for her young daughter, Samantha, coupled with a love of words led her to pen her first children’s book last year, “Skeeter Sneeter Doodlebop.”

“I came up with the name Skeeter Sneeter Doodlebop one day just talking nonsense to Sam, my little girl, when she was barely born.

“I wrote the name down and just built the story around it. Amy, a friend and illustrator who lost everything in Hurricane Ike, went with her own imagination to draw the characters.

“They are very unique-looking characters, unlike any I have seen before.”

After several rejection letters from publishers, Skeeter was picked up by Nimblebooks and became the publisher’s first children’s book.

Smith said the book, which can be purchased online, is doing quite well for an unknown author.

“Children’s books are the best. They are the happiest books on earth. They are filled with imagination and hope and offer a peacefully simplistic outlook on life in comparison to other genres.”

She already is working on her second children’s book, “Skeeter Uses Manners.” It will be available this spring. A book of her poetry, Orange Smiles and Simple Truths also was published this year.

Smith also works 25 to 30 hours a week for a local diving company.

So how will this single mom with a toddler in tow and a passion to write balance all that plus shift work once she graduates in December 2010?

“My mom and sister moved up here to help me out when I had Sam. It is because of them that I can actually do homework or go to Phi Theta Kappa events. It works out great, and Sam never has to be anywhere but at home even if I have a night class. I honestly couldn’t do it without them.

“Lone Star Diving Inc. is my adopted family. They have helped me with everything from actually getting into school, truck repairs, feeding me and even helping me study for tests. I am blessed to be surrounded by people who care about me and my future.

“I know there will be times that are hard because of shift work, but I also know that it is the quality of time you spend with a child that outranks the quantity. I am doing this all for her and I know that one day she will understand. We are going to be just fine.”

Atascocita growing by leaps and bounds!

2010-02-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Business Week:

Tired of reading about how rotten the real estate market is? Here's some good news that shows that even during the worst of the recession plenty of American cities, towns, and suburbs continue to grow.

One such place is Atascocita, Tex. A mostly residential community 20 miles from Houston, it gained more than 1,800 households in 2009, an 8% year-over-year increase, according to new data from Little Rock-based data firm Gadberry Group. Over the decade, amenities that have helped attract residents to this wooded locale include Lake Houston, just east of the city; the school district; and proximity to the city of Houston. With new roads in the area under construction, "we're starting to see major industry start to take a look at the area," says Mike Byers, president of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.

Migration levels nationwide stayed low last year as homeowners saddled with pricey mortgages stayed put—but there are some positive trends. Research by the Gadberry Group shows that some areas, resisting the effects of the recession, continue to attract both domestic and foreign migrants and, as an effect, bring in new businesses to provide services. While other cities across the U.S. have contracted, these have continued to grow.

Some states are better off than others, though. As thousands of people left places such as New Orleans and Flint, Mich. (the country's two fastest-shrinking cities), in the last decade, communities with the best mix of economic activity, proximity to job centers, and a good environment for families continued to grow. While not entirely spared by the economic downturn (some homes in these areas are now in foreclosure), people continued to move in during 2009.
Texas Grew the Most

Texas came out on top of Gadberry's survey, with four high-growth cities: Atascocita, Katy, Mansfield, and Wylie. The report only included areas larger than 10,000 occupied households that met requirements for growth rate, household income, length of residence, and other factors.

Larry Martin, principal of the Gadberry Group, says many of the places with the biggest housing growth at the beginning of the last decade, such as Nevada, Florida, and Arizona, also saw the biggest drop-off since the economy sank. Texas, however, enjoyed relatively strong housing and job markets over the last 10 years, thanks in large part to the presence of major employers in the robust energy business. As of December, the state unemployment rate was 8.3% (lower than the national rate of 10%), according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It also had the largest state population growth between July 2008 and July 2009, according to a December release by the Census Bureau. "New homes are still being built and people are still moving into these homes" in Texas, says Martin.

Part of the state's strength, says Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C., is its diversified economy. Main industries include petroleum refining, chemical production, aerospace, and information technology.

Meanwhile, areas that depended on the housing boom are now dealing with high foreclosure rates. Places such as Summerlin South, Nev., which appear in Bloomberg BusinessWeek's slide show of fast-growing cities, gained population but, like the rest of the state, may be dealing with high mortgage default rates.

"If you live by migration, you also die by migration," says Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. "It doesn't guarantee continued growth."
New Business Opportunities

Migration is typically highest among people in their 20s seeking jobs near large urban cores, but employment opportunities are not the only draw. "Amenities are also important in migrational decisions," says Johnson. Many families consider factors such as schools and recreational amenities like scenic areas and parks.

This is a consideration now in Spring Hill, Tenn., which gained 7,645 households since 2000 as many young families moved to the town for affordable housing and work at the General Motors plant, which is now idle. Dustin Dunbar, chairman of the Spring Hill Economic Development Commission, says this has created demand and opportunity for businesses that provide youth activities and entertainment. "We hope to recruit some businesses to cater to our largest demographics," he says.

While migration in 2010 may remain sluggish, "we'll see a continuation of urban sprawl once the economy bounces back," says Mather.

Dr. Conrad Murray to surrender today.

2010-02-03T07:15:00.000-08:00

Dr. Conrad Murray is expected to surrender to authorities in Los Angeles this week on charges related to Michael Jackson's death, according to The Associated Press and CNN. Murray arrived in Los Angeles recently from Houston in anticipation of a decision from the district attorney's office, spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik told the AP..

"Dr. Murray is in Los Angeles for a dual purpose — on family business and to be available for law enforcement," Sevcik told the AP. "We're trying to be as cooperative as we can."

"Dr. Murray is more than ready to surrender and answer to any charges," Ed Chernoff, one of Murray's lawers, told CNN, adding that prosecutors have not announced any charges, and Murray has not been told how or where he should surrender.

No official comment has been made about when charges might, come; David Walgren, the deputy district attorney handling the case, declined to comment to the AP on Tuesday (February 2).

Law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the AP that Murray is likely to be charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's June 25 death from an anesthetic overdose. Murray has denied criminal wrongdoing.

"We continue to maintain that Dr. Murray neither prescribed nor administered anything that should have killed Michael Jackson," Sevcik said.

Earlier this year, TMZ reported that the Los Angeles Police Department had completed its investigation into Jackson's death and was preparing to send the case to the DA's office within weeks.

Murray has told investigators that he administered the surgical anesthetic propofol, as well as other tranquilizers, to Jackson several times in the hours leading up to his death, and the coroner has ruled the singer died of lethal levels of the drug. Involuntary manslaughter charges would require prosecutors to show that Murray engaged in gross negligence in his actions but did not intend to cause harm or death to Jackson.

Cleanup under way in 462,000-gallon oil spill off Port Arthur

2010-01-25T06:08:00.001-08:00

CNN) -- Crews removed about 46,000 gallons of oil from waters near Port Arthur, Texas, on Sunday, roughly 10 percent of the oil spilled a day earlier when a tanker collided with two barges, a U.S. Coast Guard officer said.

An estimated 462,000 gallons of crude oil leaked from barrels aboard the tanker, forcing the closure of the port in southern Texas, Petty Officer Larry Chambers told CNN. The Sabine Neches Waterway near Port Arthur also was closed. It was unclear Sunday when the port, about 100 miles east of Houston, Texas, will reopen or when crews will finish the cleanup, he said.

"We certainly want it to be done as soon as possible, but with that said, safety is the main issue," Chambers said. "We're not going to open the port until it's determined that vessels can pass through cleanly, safely and not cause any further damage."

No injuries were reported when the Exxon Mobile-chartered tanker -- the 807-foot Eagle Otome -- collided Saturday with two barges being towed by a tug boat. The tanker was carrying about 570,000 gallons of crude oil to Exxon's Beaumont refinery when it crashed, Exxon Mobile spokesman Kevin Allexon told CNN. The cause of the crash was unknown, but is under investigation, he said.

"We are very concerned about how this could have happened," Allexon said. "We are very concerned about the impact to the environment, to the community. No one wants to see this happen."

The port is primarily for industrial use, but it is not far from wetlands. None of the nearby marshes or sensitive wildlife were adversely affected, Chambers said, but one heron was "oiled." The bird was alive and undergoing treatment, he said.

An evacuation order that was imposed in a 50-block area around the port after the collision was lifted. That area was evacuated Saturday out of caution, as the tanker was carrying a type of oil containing sulfide.

Fifteen skimming vessels sailed the area recovering the oil and workers dropped more than 45,000 feet of boom -- fencing-like material -- to keep the oil from spreading, Chambers said. More than 500 people were involved in containing and cleaning the spill, said Darrell Wilson, spokesman for Malaysia-based AET Tanker Holdings, the owner of the tanker.

The biggest oil spill in U.S. history occurred in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in the Gulf of Alaska, resulting in the spill of 11 million gallons of crude.

Man, woman die in first two road deaths of 2010

2010-01-19T05:58:00.000-08:00

By Nancy Flake
Two people died in separate accidents Monday in the first Montgomery County highway deaths of 2010.

Around 8 p.m. Monday, a 33-year-old woman attempting to cross the southbound main lanes in the 700 block of Interstate 45 was struck by at least one vehicle and killed, Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Trey Spikes said.

“One eyewitness said she was dancing in the lanes,” said Spikes, who pronounced the woman dead. “She was initially struck by at least one vehicle and then hit by a couple more vehicles.”

The woman was dressed in dark clothing, Spikes said. Her name could not be released because next of kin had not yet been notified.

Traffic was blocked on the main southbound lanes from Texas 105 to South Loop 336 as Conroe Police worked to clear the scene. Traffic was diverted onto the southbound feeder for at least two hours.

In East Montgomery County, a single-vehicle accident took the life of a Houston man early Monday.

Lesley McDuffie, 43, was killed around 1:30 a.m. Monday while driving a 2001 Dodge pick-up. He was southbound on U.S. 59 near West Wallis, located south of FM 1314, when he left the roadway and entered the roadway between U.S. 59 and the west feeder, a Texas Department of Public Safety official in Conroe said. The accident occurred half a mile north of Houston.

“The vehicle struck the guard rail and then a concrete pillar,” the DPS official said.

McDuffie was not wearing a seatbelt, the official said. Weather conditions were clear and dry.

DPS Trooper Ryan Clendennen was the investigating officer. Clendennen did not immediately return phone messages seeking additional information.

Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace James Oren Metts pronounced McDuffie dead at the scene of the accident, a DPS official said.

No other details of the crash were available.

McDuffie’s death marks the first vehicle fatality in Montgomery County on 2010.

In 2009, The Courier reported on 66 motor vehicle accidents on Montgomery County roadways. The Texas Department of Transportation did not yet have data compiled on 2009 fatalities by county, but reported 46 fatalities in 2008, according to www.txdot.gov.

Conroe PD arrests four men during attempted burglary

2010-01-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

By Nancy Flake

Updated: 01.11.10

Conroe police arrested four men who allegedly tried to disable the alarm at a Conroe jewelry Monday in a failed attempt to steal merchandise.

Alberto Carlos Escobar, 30, William Renee Vasquez, 29, Christian Javier Ramos, 25, and Santos Orlando Machados-Chicas, 34, all of Houston, were charged with burglary of a building and engaging in organized criminal activity in the alleged attempted robbery of Camillo’s Fine Jewelry at 2107 W. Davis St.

Officers responded to an alarm at the store around 2 a.m. Monday, according to a Conroe Police Department press release. When the officers arrived, they positioned themselves at the front and rear of the building. As officers checked the back of the store, the door opened and two men ran out.

Officers and captured the suspects about 100 yards from the building and located a third suspect near the rear of the store.

Two of the men climbed a ladder to gain access to the roof of the store, according to the Conroe Police Department, and had cut a hole in the roof to gain access inside. The third suspect was believed to be the lookout and was responsible for disabling the alarm.

That didn’t happen, however, according to police and Maryanne Camillo, one of the store’s owners.

“I guess the alarm maybe scared them off,” she said. “The alarm company called us at 2 a.m., so we went to meet the police.”

The alarm apparently wasn’t disarmed, the CPD stated, and the alarm company notified the police.

The fourth suspect, believed to be the getaway driver, was located less than a quarter-mile from the store sleeping in a 1998 Chevrolet Lumina.

Evidence at the store and inside the Chevrolet connected the driver to the three men at the store, police said.

Burglary of a building is a state jail felony, punishable by 180 days to two years in state jail and a fine up to $10,000. Engaging in organized criminal activity is a third-degree felony, punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000, according to the Texas Penal Code.

All four men were in the process of being booked into the Montgomery County Jail Monday afternoon.

Camillo and her family returned Sunday from a cruise, and the welcome back to her store wasn’t quite as warm because of the damage to the roof.

“It was 28 degrees outside, and it was freezing in the store,” she said.

Home Invasion Suspects Arrested After Chase

2010-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

intersection of Imperial Valley Drive and East Richey Road in north Harris County | KRIV-TV

HOUSTON -

Authorities have arrested one of two suspects involved in a car chase with Montgomery County deputies who is accused of taking part in a home invasion.

Investigators say the two suspects entered a Montgomery County home, handcuffed a man and woman, and robbed the couple before stealing their car.

The handcuffed man was somehow able to contact 911 on his cell phone.

The two suspects traveled southbound on Interstate 45.

A group of law enforcement agencies including Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Harris County Sheriff's Office and Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office surrounded the stolen car which crashed after 12 p.m. Tuesday on Imperial Valley Drive near East Richey Road in north Harris County. One of the suspects, who wore a blue uniform, allegedly ran into a wooded area nearby.

The Houston Police Department helicopter, Texas Department of Public Safety plane and K-9 units assisted in the search and investigation.

Co-owner of Brother's Pizzeria shot during attempted robbery in The Woodlands

2010-01-05T06:48:00.000-08:00

by Kevin Reece / 11 News

Posted on January 4, 2010 at 9:42 AM

Updated yesterday at 4:51 PM

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THE WOODLANDS, Texas—The man wounded during an attempted armed robbery in The Woodlands Sunday night has been identified as Manny Bekiri, 40, operator and co-owner of a chain of Brother’s Pizzeria restaurants throughout the Houston area.

Montgomery County Sheriffs Deputies responded to a call of shots fired at the Parkside Apartments at 10600 Six Pines Drive at 9:30 p.m. They said they found Bekiri with a single gunshot wound to the abdomen.

He told deputies that a gunman approached his car as he arrived with a female friend at the apartment complex. The gunman fired and then fled on foot in the direction of N. Millbend Drive. Bekiri was taken to Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center. As of 9 a.m. Monday, the hospital listed him in fair condition.

Deputies did not reveal if the gunman escaped with money, if he was waiting to attack Bekiri as he arrived at the apartment complex or if he had followed him to Parkside after Bekiri closed a nearby pizza restaurant.

SEE VIDEO AT KHOU

Gala Raises $215K for MCWC and Community Clinic

2010-01-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Two worthwhile local charities got a delicious taste of humanitarianism when Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in The Woodlands hosted a Black Tie Dinner and Auction Fundraiser on Nov. 8 to benefit The Montgomery County Women's Center and The Community Clinic.

Committee organizers created a Community Outreach Fund to benefit the two important non-profit organizations, whose services often go hand-in-hand, and were delighted when the event quickly became well sponsored and sold out. Dozens of guests filled the elegant restaurant to help raise $215,000 through a delicious steak and seafood dinner paired with fine wines along with a live and silent auction and a raffle, according to Shelli Moran, Operating Partner of Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar.

The Community Clinic is a non-profit health care center that provides free medical, dental, mental health and social services to those who are uninsured and on a limited income. Established in 1996 by Dr. Joel Kerschenbaum, it is donation-funded and staffed by licensed physicians, nurses, dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists, social workers as well as translators and support people, all who volunteer their time and services to run the Clinic, located in Oak Ridge North.

The Montgomery County Women's Center is a nonprofit organization serving victims of family violence and/or sexual assault or abuse with several locations in Montgomery and surrounding counties, including The Woodlands. All services are free of charge, and include safe shelter, counseling, legal assistance, educational programming, educational scholarships and other supportive services.

"Simply, this level of involvement shows our clients that there are people who care and people who want to make a difference," said Rebecca C. Jones, Executive Director of The Community Clinic. "Our clients are very often the unnoticed populace of our community and these types of events give them a sense of hope and a feeling of satisfaction to know that so many people care about them. As always we could not do this without the folks at Fleming's, especially Shelli Moran, but also her staff who were so willing to help and do whatever needs to be done to make this event a true success. And we thank those who participated in the event, planned the event, and to the many companies, wineries, jewelers and others that were involved in making this event such as success."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Lufkin hit by tornado.

2009-12-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

By Whitney Grunder -
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - Severe storms ripped through parts of East Texas Wednesday evening. Some Lufkin neighborhoods sustained extensive damage from a possible tornado.

Among them is the Lufkin VFW, which is now gone. The damage comes right after 10,000 dollars worth of recent tile work. A check for the construction was written Wednesday, before the storm hit.

One resident living near Gipson Funeral Home on Chestnut Street even reported seeing caskets in his backyard.
Jakoia Grimes and her children were happy to have made it safely out of their Lufkin apartment, before their entire roof collapsed. "I looked up and I just saw the light from outside and I had my girls come and sit by the door, and within minutes the entire roof caved in," said Grimes, who is now staying with family members.
Jennifer Mays watched the tornado touch down right outside Stephens Court Apartments. She described it as "massive." She said, "I couldn't believe it was so powerful to the point that it just opened up my door."
Next door, owners sifted through what remained of their welding business, part of Lufkin for 25 years. Max's Welding Shop on Denman Avenue was completely destroyed.
Owners said they can't blame God for the severe weather, and that fortunately another shop behind the building stands untouched by the storm.

"I think we're going to be able to salvage some of our equipment. I think we're going to be alright," said co-owner Betty Purgahn.
Cheddars employees also witnessed a tornado touch down in the middle of the Olive Garden parking lot. "I heard a bunch of commotion and they were talking about the patio chairs were nearly about to hit some cars so we ran to try to help," said Cheddars employee Brad Barrow.

According to witnesses, other than damaging a few of the vehicles parked in the Olive Garden parking lot, the tornado did not affect any of the buildings. The Department of Public Safety reported that the tornado lifted back up, and did not cause any injuries.
Utility crews were also working to remedy power outages caused by toppled power poles. Thursday morning, thousands of residents were without power. An Oncor spokesperson said approximately 2,500 customers were without power in the Lufkin area.

So far no severe injuries have been reported.