Rare treat: Houstonians can watch as Space Station crosses Moon

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!

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

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

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

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

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.

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.