"Woman Arrested in Kidnapping Hoax"

If you try to fake your sister's abduction -- your twin sister -- make sure she's not asleep nearby first.

SAN ANTONIO -- A woman who claimed she witnessed the kidnapping of her twin sister was arrested by police early Wednesday.

Police said the woman told officers that she and her sister were standing outside a home in the 9100 block of Ranch Corner when a man in a pickup pulled up, forced her sister into the truck and took off with her.

Police took the woman's claim seriously and launched a search for the woman and the pickup.

But officers soon figured out that the woman's story wasn't adding up and found the sister asleep at home, police said.

(from KSAT-12)

"U.S. Flag Missing Stars"

Looks like someone has been living in the past. Specifically in late 1890 or early 1891.

SAN ANTONIO -- Built in the bicentennial year of 1976, the Olympic-sized Northside Independent School District Aquatics Center has helped train a gold medal winner.

Banners that celebrate the achievements of the Holmes Huskies and the John Jay Mustangs are hanging from the roof of the aquatics center next to the Texas and U.S. flags.

But one person noticed and complained that the U.S. flag was seven stars short of the normal 50 stars.

...

"Just a simple mistake, that's all," Jesse Castoreno of Allied Advertising [the maker of the flag] said about the missing stars.

(from KSAT-12)

Who knows? Maybe someone at Allied Advertising has something against Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii. After all, Abe Simpson refuses to recognize Missourah!

UPDATE: Looking at the KSAT video, it seems they had the flag displayed improperly, too.

Gator!

The gators are spreading all over the Alamo City! Now you have to keep an eye out for them in your yard!

SAN ANTONIO -- Janie Diaz had no idea what her dog was barking at early Monday morning until a San Antonio police officer told her.

"Yeah, alligator. What?" Diaz recalls telling Officer Brian Christensen of the San Antonio Police Department.

Diaz couldn't believe her ears until she saw it with her own eyes -- a 3-foot alligator in the front yard of her home at the intersection of La Manda and Neer on the city's north side.

(from KSAT-12)

They're probably going to release it in Choke Canyon Reservoir. Watch out next time you go fishing down there.

Gettin' western in the street

Ever hear of a rolling block party?

How about a rolling block fight?

Police say 22-year-old Brandon Warren was attending a house party in the 700 block of W. Hollywood at about 4 a.m. Sunday when he decided to punch out the homeowner's wife.

That didn't sit will [sic] with the homeowner, and a fight broke out between the two.

Two other party-goers joined in the melee, which began in the font [sic] yard, but moved gradually down the street.

(from KENS-5)

It's not really a good idea to punch out a man's wife when you're in their home. You just may never get your casserole dish back that way.

Gettin' bit at the concert

When you go to a concert, perhaps it's best to check around and make sure you're not standing next to Mike Tyson.

Greg Drain said he was at a concert Saturday evening when a man bumped into his wife repeatedly. Drain said he stood between the man and his wife to protect her when he was accosted and punched in the face by two different men.

"I landed on my right side and he jumps on my back and bites my ear," Drain said. "I didn't realize that he bit it off. I was just laying on the ground trying to hit him off of me."

Doctors were able to re-attach Drain's ear, but he has been told part of the ear will be lost.

(from KSAT-12)

Seriously. Don't party near Mike Tyson. He's crazy enough to chomp on Evander Holyfield, so he's definitely not afraid to take a bite out of you.

But what about all those Chinese food restaurants?

Our mayor hopes to get the attention of the Chinese. For some reason.

“Our challenge in this global economy is to create the brainpower in this community to not only compete against Austin or San Francisco or Denver or Phoenix, but to compete against Beijing, China and Mexico City,” [Mayor Julián] Castro said to an audience of about 200 people, including students from the University of the Incarnate Word and three local high schools.

Castro emphasized two key platforms over the next year to spread the international word about San Antonio: the World Expo Shanghai, for which Castro's old friend José Villarreal will serve as commissioner general of the United States exhibit, and next year's 200th anniversary of Mexican independence.

Citing the growing economic power of China, he expressed the hope that Villarreal “will whisper in the right ear for our city, because (the Chinese) know about Texas, but they don't know yet about San Antonio — and we can teach them.”

(from the Express-News)


Really? The Chinese don't know about San Antonio? That may come as a surprise to a company called GrassRoots, as reported by the San Antonio Business-Journal:

GrassRoots is utilizing Port San Antonio’s new intermodal system for the China-Lazaro Cardenas-San Antonio corridor. This corridor is served in Mexico by LIT Comercio Internacional, a logistics company based in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and in China by H&T International, a logistics company based in Hong Kong. LIT and H&T are both Port San Antonio’s partners in the transportation corridor.

“We are excited for GrassRoots Imports,” says Jorge Canavati, vice president of business development for Port San Antonio. “We have been working with this company for over two years on this project. Our efforts are now bearing fruit. The Lázaro Cardenas-San Antonio corridor is proving to be a good niche for small and medium-sized shippers and receivers in San Antonio and our region. This is globalization at its finest.”

Or the Greater San Antonio Chinese Chamber of Commerce:

The Business China Roundtable will provide you with an opportunity to learn from experienced professionals who will share their knowledge and first-hand experience on how to do business in the Chinese market. Organized by the International Trade Center in collaboration with the UTSA East Asia Institute and the Greater San Antonio Chinese Chamber of Commerce, this roundtable will be conducted in an informal and open setting.

Or even the Filipinos in Zambales:

San Antonio borders on the South China Sea.

Oh, I think the Chinese know about us, Mayor. They really do.

"Husband kills wife, but not himself, in a possible suicide pact"

Wow. This is just weird all around.

SAN ANTONIO-- The San Antonio Police Department made a gruesome discovery tonight at a home on the city's northeast side. Officers got the call at 7:25 p.m. and when they made it out to the 16400 block Spruce Leaf near Judson, the 59-year-old man at the home confessed to killing his wife.

The man told police that he and his 79-year-old wife had a suicide pact but after he killed her, he wasn't able to go through with killing himself. Police tell KENS 5 that the woman was stabbed multiple times and that a hammer was also used to kill the woman; the male did not appear to have any injuries.

According to Police [sic], the woman had been sick for a lengthy period of time and the couple did have mental health issues. Police have also been called to this particular home numerous times. During the search, two dozen cats were also found inside the home.

(from KENS-5)

Whoever heard of a suicide pact gone wrong? With 24 cats on the side?

Fried pickles?

I don't care who you are, or whether you actually like that stuff, fried pickles are just strange.

Friendly fire

Perhaps it's best not to startle people in a jail. Or anywhere you can expect your co-workers to be carrying guns.

BANDERA, Texas – A Bandera County jailer thought he was playing a joke on a fellow jailer. Instead he surprised an armed deputy, who shot him on Sunday around 5 a.m.

...

The deputy shot Daniel Spangler in the leg when he sprang out. Spangler apparently thought he was scaring a fellow jailer, according to the sheriff.

(from WOAI-TV)

The man is expected to be OK. I bet he doesn't play many more practical jokes, though.

Cars crashing into things

I've been busy this weekend, so blogging's been light. But those cars were busy as well.

Here's a couple of recent stories:

"SUV slams into Somerset home" (from KABB-29, September 17, 2009)

A driver crashes his SUV into a home sending one man to the hospital. Police say that driver, who had a one year old in the car with him, was drunk. It happened just before one Thursday afternoon in Somerset, south of San Antonio. Investigators say 22 year old Jose Sosa slammed into a house and a man, who was taken to University Hospital. Police say Sosa is facing several charges: DWI, Possession of Marijuana, and Intoxication Assault.
He was booked into the Bexar County jail. The child was picked up by relatives. Police tell us the man taken to University hospital will be ok. [sic, all the way]

"Car crashes into Northeast Side beauty salon" (from WOAI-TV)

SAN ANTONIO -- A car slammed into the front of a beauty salon on Perrin Beitel on the Northeast Side Friday.

News 4 WOAI was told a 70-year-old woman was trying to turn into the parking lot when she went straight through the building.

The car went through the waiting area but luckily nobody was there.

"Scantily clad dancers raise eyebrows, complaints on River Walk"

Quick, someone call Diane Cibrian! There is sexiness that must be stamped out!

SAN ANTONIO -- There's a new club on the River Walk but some say the dancers there are more like strippers.

News 4 WOAI got a hold of cell-phone video showing what the dancers are wearing and we asked the club about it.

The club we're talking about is Acapulco Sam’s. [Great plug! --ed.] It’s above Joe's Crab Shack on the River Walk.

The person who gave us the cell-phone video says the girls are dancing on a balcony over there and anyone walking by can see what's going on. That includes children who might be outside with their parents.

The video’s a little shaky, but a restaurant worker nearby says the girls are wearing G-strings and very little else to cover themselves up.

The club’s management told News 4 WOAI on the phone Monday, it won't continue dancing like this [The publicity has done been got. --ed.] but stressed it is not doing anything illegal and the girls are wearing mini skirts and shorts.

(from WOAI-TV)

Call the media! Call the politicians! We must keep scantily-clad women away from the children! Think of the children and call ---- Oh, wait, Cibrian isn't councilwoman of the downtown district, is she?

Oh, wait, she's not even on City Council anymore.

Never mind.

Making it hard for the EMTs

Well, it certainly is getting difficult to help someone in an emergency these days. Besides getting the cold shoulder from paint sniffers, now emergency workers need to watch out for angry people at home, even when they are the ones calling 911.

Around midnight Sunday, EMS was called to an apartment complex at the 10000 block of Sahara to help an elderly man. After checking the man out, EMS told him his oxygen levels were low, and they said he needed to go to the hospital for further medical assistance.

But according to police, the man became upset and refused to go to the hospital. While paramedics argued their case, the man pulled out a pistol.

So the paramedics left and called police. A SWAT team -- with police backup -- surrounded the house.

(from KENS-5)

The guy eventually surrendered and got the help he needed.

By the way, this story weirdly says that the SWAT team showed up "with police backup." I may be wrong, but aren't the SWAT guys the actual "backup?" Wouldn't the regular police have responded first and then called for SWAT?

I'm genuinely curious.

Loving the paint a little too much

If you are into sniffing paint, what do you think would be a good sign that your habit has gone just a bit too far? Well, how about refusing rescue from a flooded ditch because you are too busy huffin'? That might be a good sign.

San Antonio police arrested a 50-year-old man suspected of sniffing spray paint from a beer can while San Antonio Fire Department crews rescued him from a water-filled drainage ditch on the Northeast Side after Wednesday morning rains.

...

Fire department spokeswoman Melissa Sparks said the man originally refused assistance and wouldn't grab a life vest that crews offered. It took them more than 30 minutes to convince him to accept the vest and climb a ladder to reach street level, she said.

According to a police incident report, police and fire officials saw the man repeatedly sniff something from inside a can. Firefighters told police they had seen the man take a can of spray paint from his back pocket and spray it into the can, the report states.

The man told officers he had been walking in the ditch when it began to rain and didn't cooperate with firefighters at first because he was afraid of falling in the water.

(from the Express-News)

Yep. Repeatedly sniffing paint while the fire department is trying to rescue you and the police are looking on. That's another good sign your habit's gone too far.

"Mayor, superintendent knock on doors to find high school dropouts"

I can't quite tell if this is laughable or laudable.

A personal visit from the mayor and superintendent got lots of attention Tuesday morning. Many people opened thir [sic] door to this greeting.

"Hello sir..[sic]I'm Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio. We're here as Reach Out to Dropouts volunteers."

At one home, they were looking for 17-year-old Yvonne.

"We're looking for Yvonne to hopefully get her back in school," the mayor said.

Yvonne's grandfather explained that she had moved and was enrolled in another school, but just down the street, when the mayor asked for a student named Ruby, her uncle answered.

"She just took off. Right now she's working and we're trying to get her to get her GED."

The mayor and SAISD Superintendent Robert Duron told him they could help her.

(from KENS-5)

Kids, go to school. Or the mayor will be knocking on your door. It could happen.

Not Strange in San Antonio

In fact, this seems like a pretty good idea for fighting the tagging.

Business owners like [Benny] Ward said they are fed up with having to clean up the mess because it's time consuming and costly.

"Especially when you have to keep painting your fence over and over and pressure wash it and staining it over and over," he said.

There's one way authorities say they can catch the taggers in the act.

"Cameras that you mount at street locations. They're portable and mobile," [Leon Valley Police Chief Randal] Wallace said.

Leon Valley is considering those video cameras that have been used in other places like California to get a clear picture of taggers which helps prosecute them.

"Locations where they had graffiti where they installed the systems ... they walk up and when the light flashes they run off," Wallace said. [ellipsis in original]

(from KSAT-12)

Can we program them to shoot paintballs at the twerps, too? That would be cool.

Hangin' out at the gallery

There are indeed some strange things in San Antonio, and sometimes you can find them in the art museum, as KeithAlanK found out.

Scammed by "psychics"

Anytime someone claims to be able to read the future while demanding large sums of money from you, I don't think you will be too far off base if you assume it is a scam.

But, if the "psychic" who is offering to fix all of your problems for a fee demands to be paid in home-improvement bucks, then you can rest assured that you are staring into the face of a bona fide, genuine, true, and authentic scammer.

Stopping by a Psychic Reader business, like the one off Walzem near I-35, could be just for fun or a real search for answers. The woman who sent us this e-mail was a believer. She spoke with someone called "Master Love" who, she says, conned her out of $1,800. She says even after she stopped visiting the alleged psychic she is still getting calls from someone saying they're trying to protect her. But the only way they can protect her is if she sends gift cards worth $400 from Home Depot.

(from WOAI-TV)

Does it get more San Antonio than that?

"'Chupacabra' May Be Mexican Dog"

You don't say.

The strange animal in the hands of a Blanco taxidermist has been speculated as being the mythical chupacabra. But that mysterious finding may not be much of a mystery at all. Some have speculated it could be a breed of dog called the Xoloitzcuintle, also known as a Xolo.

“It’s been around for about 3,000 years in Mexico,” said Rhett Rushing, a folklorist at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio.

The Xolo is a type of dog native to Mexico and Central America, and was considered a sacred dog in the Aztec culture. It bears similar resemblance to the gray hairless animal that is turning up all over South Texas.

But, of course, there is added strangeness, even if the animal is just a Mexican dog and not a chupacabra.

“It was bred by the Aztecs both as a food source and a companion guardian, and it also had healing powers,” said Rushing.

(from KSAT-12)

A food source and healing powers. But, was it necessary to eat the thing to take advantage of those powers? I am genuinely curious.

(Previous Blanco chupacabra post here.)

Body on the monkey bars

This definitely weird. And very macabre.

Police were called to George E. Kelly Elementary School at 1026 Thompson Place on the West Side around 7:12 a.m. after a school administrator spotted the body hanging from the monkey bars on the school's playground.

No identification was found, but police said the man appears to be between 17 and 20 years old. The man was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and no shoes.

(from WOAI-TV)

There don't seem to be any more details at this point, but it sounds like a suicide. If so, I wish that guy could have picked a better location to off himself.