Mistaking a creature

I don't guess she's ever heard of a miner's cat, either.

A strange sighting in the backyard of a San Antonio woman's home last night. Laurie Gawelko was shocked to see an animal with a small head and a striped, fluffy tail hanging out in her backyard last night. What was it? "It looked right at me," Gawelko said and wondered, "is it a cat?" She got a closer look and decided it was a Lemur [sic].

The ring-tailed lemur is a primate found primarily in Madagascar. It's better known in the United States as the animal in the movie, Madagascar [Apparently there was only one. Animal, that is. --ed.]. Laurie sent the picture to Primarily Primates here and they told her it was actually a Ring-Tailed Cat [sic]. They're indiginous to the area and they are rarely spotted [As in "seen," not covered in spots. Though they are rarely that, too. --ed.]. Gawelko thinks the sighting is pretty cool and hopes it comes back.

(from WOAI-TV)

Really? She thought it was a lemur? She must be from another state.

Someone who should have thought a little more

Is it really worth it? Is the pile of money you might get from selling stolen copper really worth your life?

All you small-time thieves out there think of this:

A witness reported seeing a vehicle leave a power station near Hwy. 97 and Hwy. 37 around 12:30 a.m. Friday morning.

Firefighters found the body of a man lying several feet away from the transmitter. They say it looks as though he was electrocuted while trying to steal copper.

Deputy Chief David Soward said the thief received a jolt of 69,000 volts of electricity, which killed him instantly.

(from KENS-5)

All you small-time thieves, rethink those entry level jobs. A low wage has got to be better than a 69,000-volt death any day.

"Police ask for tips after shot fired at second school bus"

Well, this is very disturbing.

SAN ANTONIO -- For the second time in just two weeks, someone has shot at a school bus carrying children.

NISD officials said a school bus was traveling at the intersection of Messenger Pass and Castle Creek around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, when someone fired a shot at it. The shot shattered the rear window of the bus. Four students were on the bus. None of them were injured.

Another NISD bus had its rear side window shattered by a pellet gun back on January 12th. That shooting happened at the intersection of Raton Falls and Roswell Canyon, near Potranco and Hunt. NISD officials said no students were hurt in that shooting either.

NISD police are investigating the shootings, but need the public's help to identify the shooter(s). If you have any information, please immediately call the NISD Tip Line at 210-397-SAFE (7233). Callers can remain anonymous.

(from WOAI-TV)

OK dumbasses, if you want to shoot each other up, pellet guns or not, then go ahead. Just don't hit any bystanders. Especially a school bus with children on board.

You're going to make a lot of parents very angry.

Multitasking

It may be hard to see in this photo, but I think it is obvious that this lady thought her work day began before she actually got to work.





I apologize. The quality of the photograph is not the best. Here is a hint to assist you in discerning what she was doing.





Be careful out there.

Wanting to be a creature

Sarah Rodriguez has some issues.

Wolfie Blackheart is not an ordinary 18-year-old.

She believes she is a wolf — technically, a werewolf — and so she wears a tail. She also wears a harness in case someone special wants to drag her around.

And last week, she used a pocketknife in her kitchen to decapitate a dog — already dead, according to Wolfie — that had been missing since Jan. 5

(from the Express-News)

And it goes downhill from there. Amateur taxidermy, bondage, Tourette's syndrome yipping, Internet rage, and an abetting mother -- all involved.

Happy reading.

Poor little car

Alan at Blogonomicon caught sight of the elusive pink Mustang. All I can say is, it's endangered for a reason.

"Sinkhole prompts evacuation on NW Side"

Bummer.

San Antonio fire and police officials evacuated 20 homes in a Northwest Side neighborhood Sunday morning, when a rapidly-growing sinkhole behind three houses pushed earth down a 30-foot hill and into two retaining walls that fissured and threatened to bury residences below.

While authorities were not sure why the ground had shifted behind houses in The Hills at Rivermist, agencies acted quickly to address the endangered homes near West Hausman Road and Loop 1604.

(from the Express-News)

UPDATE: They are calling it a "slope failure." Apparently a huge retaining wall has given way.

UPDATE II: The Associated Press has picked up on the story.

Seen at the MLK march

I couldn't be there, but I appreciated the slideshow of pictures that viewers sent in to KSAT-12. A few of the ones that caught my eye were:





A couple of sassy ladies, ...





... "The Spiritual Adventure of a Lifetime" (just call 1-800-Love-GOD), ...





... and drum majors for justice (who may or may not wear shirts bearing Popeye's decapitated likeness).

A body in the cememtery

Remember that body that was found in the cemetery a few days ago? The story just gets weirder as the police find out more.

On the day he was killed, [Samuel] Johnson told his fiancee he was going to [ex-girlfriend Vanessa] Cameron's house to pick up money he was owed, the arrest affidavit states.

After he arrived at the house, Johnson's feet were tied, his hands cuffed and tape was placed over his mouth. At some point, Johnson was hit on the head with a piece of wood, according to the affidavit.

His attackers then put him in the trunk of his Dodge Stratus and drove him to Seguin in Guadalupe County, where [Bernard] Brown allegedly shot him multiple times, the affidavit states. Johnson's body was driven back to San Antonio and abandoned on the East Side along with the car.

The affidavit doesn't state how the body ended up in the cemetery, but that the car was found Tuesday in the 100 block of Cosgrove Street on the Southeast Side.

(from the Express-News)




A life insurance policy may be the motive.

A burglarized street

What if you lived on a street where almost all of the homes had been hit by burglars at least once in the last couple of months? How well would you sleep at night?

A north side neighborhood called News 4 WOAI for help. They say their streets are falling victim to a slew of burglaries and property crime. Waxwood is one street hit particularly hard. More than half a dozen homes on that street have been broken into; while at night, burglars are stealing things out of cars.

News 4 WOAI got hold of a surveillance video that catches these criminals in the act. In the video you see a blue car pull into a driveway. Three men get out of the car, break through the front door of the home, and leave with armfuls of high-dollar property.

Homeowner Chris Cruz describes what they stole from his house, "They ended up taking all my electronics, my computers, everything." That was the second time they burglarized his home.

"The first time they broke in through my back door, they came in ransacked it, took money," Cruz said.

Nearly the entire street of Waxwood has been burglarized in the last few months. As you can imagine, Cruz and his neighbors want this crime spree to stop. Each time these criminals strike, neighbors call police and report the crime, but so far none of these suspects have been caught.

(from WOAI-TV)

I bet the criminals actually live on that same street. And I think, soon, one night will end very badly for someone on Waxwood Lane.

"Tagger busted at police station"

Sometimes the vandals make it sooooooooo easy for the police to catch them. And don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for their thoughtfulness.

SAN ANTONIO - An accused ‘tagger’ was quickly caught and arrested, mainly because of where he chose to commit his crime. San Antonio police say the man was caught spray painting the outside of the bike patrol station at Houston and Navarro late Monday night.

The man didn’t have anything to say, and tried to hide his face as officers put him in a vehicle to transport him to the jail.

(from WOAI-TV)

Stay in school, buddy.

"Three shot at Church's near finish line of MLK march"

Violence happened this MLK day.

Three people, including two teenagers, were shot at a Church's Chicken restaurant just steps from Martin Luther King Drive, where thousands of marchers walked Monday morning.

The shooting happened at near [sic] the intersection of Nevada and South New Braunfels Avenue at around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Police say the violence is especially uncalled for on a day meant to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

(from KENS-5)

I would say such violence is uncalled for on any day. But that's just me.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

I missed the MLK march, so I also missed this:


Original caption: Osvaldo Delgado carries a mannequin on his shoulders Monday while joining the crowd gathered for the Martin Luther King, Jr. March. Delgado said the mann[e]quin symbolizes how mankind needs to help shoulder each others burdens. (Taken from the Express-News slideshow, which is here.)

Someone who should have eaten a little later

If you're out on a crime spree, it's possible that you might work up a powerful hunger, and you might be tempted to stop for a bite to eat. If you do, you could do worse than Whataburger, but you should also remember that the police might not stop when you do.

Minutes after a string of robberies in which police say he hit four separate convenience stores, 31-year-old Jason Gonzalez was arrested while he stopped to eat at Whataburger.

...

The string lasted a little more than an hour.

The suspect description was broadcast multiple times before an officer followed Gonzalez into the Whataburger on Blanco near Bitters. Gonzalez was eating breakfast and the money was found in his pocket.

(from KENS-5)

I hope those taquitos were worth it.

"Body Found At Cemetery"

Besides the obvious, odd appropriateness of the headline, everything about this story is a bit strange.

SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio Police said they are investigating the discovery of a body on the city's east side.

Officers said a person found the body at a cemetery in the 1800 block of East Commerce.

Officers said the body is that of an african-american [sic] man between 30 and 35 years old.

At this point investigators are calling it a suspicious death.

They said the victim was found on his left side and had some dried blood on him.

Investigators also said there were no obvious signs of a stabbing or gunshot wound.

(from KSAT-12)

Another day, another domiciliary assault

This time we can count both a house and a fence in the auto's score column.

Police arrested a man after a stolen car was seen crashing into a house Wednesday afternoon on the North Side, officials said.

A white Oldsmobile crashed through a house in the 1000 block of West Thorain Boulevard around noon, San Antonio police report states. The vehicle slammed through a fence at the rear of the home near Michigan Avenue and West Mariposa Drive. The car hit the east side of the home and crashed through two bedrooms, the report states.

No injuries were reported.

(from the Express-News)

UPDATE: I substituted the adjective form of domicile in the title. Did you even know there was one?

Ring of honor

Hey, I'm a Dallas fan, too. Born and raised. But I didn't know you could buy replica Super Bowl rings.

And I didn't know you might actually wear them in public.




Here's the KSAT slideshow that picture came from.

No non-humans allowed

A reader drew my attention to this headline from the San Antonio Business Journal:

"San Antonio opens new District 9 field office"


No, not this:




This:




We're safe from South African aliens. So far.

Wrong road

I know some of the roadways in San Antonio can be rough, but I don't think I've ever driven on one so bad as to make it indistinguishable from a railroad. Ballast and ties make for poor pavement.

The cold probably didn't have anything to do with this, but police don't have a clue why a woman drove her car down the train tracks, thinking she was on a street.

The women was driving down Broadway near Wetmore when she decided to turn onto the railroad tracks and then got stuck.

Police say she wasn't drunk.

(from KENS-5)

No word on whether she was high.

"Man Arrested In Fight Over Nachos"

Don't hog the ones with all the cheese. Please, for sanity's sake.

When police arrived at a mobile home in the 100 block of Lorita Street at 10 p.m. Tuesday, they found a 44-year-old man with a cut to his neck.

The man told police he was cut with a knife by his 35-year-old brother during a fight over nachos.

The victim is expected to recover.

(from KSAT-12)

Those must've been some gooood nachos.

Building a trashy house

Think it's easy? One family just east of here does.

KINGSBURY, Texas -- The economy has led a lot of people to take innovative measures, but Sunny and Connie Gonzalez, of Kingsbury, have gotten especially creative: they decided to move out to the country and build a home out of trash.

The Gonzales family said their home is a dream in the making.

The family moved to the property, owned by their father, a year ago, after they lost their million-dollar Stone Oak home when Sunny lost his job as a contractor.

The family used beer bottles for walls, tires for fences, bricks were made from scratch and all the wood is recycled.

They said eventually the plan is to use only recycled materials for a 3,000-square-foot home, complete with a pool and a hot tub.

They said they would like to prove that they can live at the same standard of quality as everyone else "without being caught up into the system."

Most of their food is grown on the land, which allows the couple to survive on about $100 a week.

"We have nothing but free time, no stress," Sunny said. "In these very challenging economic downturns, we're always happy."

(from KSAT-12)

I wish them well, though I don't think they'll win any design awards.

FEMA feeding the homeless

I realize they may be hungry, but do homeless people by their very presence require intervention from the Federal Emergency Management Agency? If so, then aren't all cities in this nation in a state of emergency right now?

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency is furnishing $718,385 to help local organizations meet the needs of people without food or shelter.

U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, made the announcement.

“Hunger and poverty do not discriminate between young and old, male and female, veteran and non-veteran or different ethnicities,” Rodriguez says.

“Everyone suffers, and sometimes people just need a helping hand. During the harsh winter months, filling these needs becomes even more critical,” he adds.

(from the Business Journal)

Just as long as that helping hand doesn't come out for panhandlers at intersections.

"Ordinance Targets Handouts To Panhandlers"

Feeling generous? Be careful. City Council wants to clamp down on that giving spirit.

City Code Sect. 19-8 makes it illegal to solicit anyone in a vehicle without a specific permit, but the panhandlers haven't gone away.

"What's working now is not working," said District 10 City Council member John Clamp.

Instead, Clamp is proposing targeting the motorists who hand over their loose change or a dollar or two.

"I don’t want to penalize motorists, but we’ve got to create a system where they stop giving money," said Clamp, who is seeking input from San Antonio police, magistrate judges, neighborhood leaders and others as to how the proposed ordinance would work.

...

Under the ordinance, San Antonio police would have to witness the donation in order to issue a citation.

(from KSAT-12)

Me? I don't give money away to panhandlers in the roadway, so I'm not at risk under this ordinance. But this seems pretty heavy-handed. It's along the same lines as penalizing someone because some thug sprayed graffiti on his business.

Car crashes into house

Another new year, another new assault on a house.

A man loses control of his truck and crashes into a south Bexar County home Saturday morning. Investigators say the driver may have experienced a medical condition when he drove straight into the house on Savannah Heights. The truck crashed into the front of the home and stopped inside a bathroom. Authorities tell us the homeowner had just left the room.

(from KABB-29)

Twelve strangest of 2009

Just for fun, let's take a moment on this, the first day of 2010, to recap the twelve strangest stories in San Antonio over the last year. I'm going to pick one from each month that I found to be especially weird.


January
Seventy dead Siamese cats are found in trash bags.

February
Dumb criminal helps the cops catch him.

March
I learn a little more about H.R. Pufnstuf.

April
San Antonio's city manager dresses in drag (and she's a woman!).

May
A lawyer is busted for bringing pot to the courthouse.

June
Lame "Thriller" is put on display at the Alamo.

July
Meth lab workers do a little hanky-panky on the job.

August
A chicken on every table.

September
A school district puts history on display.

October
Huggers show up at the Alamo again.

November
A king acts as if he really was a king.

December
A chicken in every police station.


Let's hope your New Year is safe and prosperous, and let's hope it's just strange enough to be interesting.