Mildly disturbing headline of the day

"Snake Farm prepares its slithering residents for Alex"

Lucky Alex.


Oh. Oh wait ----

Castro on Colbert!

At last! State representative Joaquin Castro finally gets the national media exposure he deserves!

SAN ANTONIO -- It was a battle of wit and wisdom.

The wisdom of Mayor Julian Castro was tested by the wit of Stephen Colbert. The mayor took the stage as a guest on the Colbert Report. The show aired Tuesday night on the Comedy Network.

(from WOAI-TV)

Car crashes into house

It's simply not good enough to take out fences and homes! Now the dastardly automobiles are after our pets!

Armando Jimenez and his wife, Maricela, were out of their house Tuesday morning and that could have saved their lives. At 11 a.m., a teen heading was heading [sic] westbound on Guilbeau Road when a truck turned eastbound out of a shopping center right in his path. The teen swerved to avoid the truck but over corrected, going into oncoming traffic, then smashing through Jimenez's fence, past a small pool and crashing into the living room of the home at the corner of Guilbeau and Dawnwood on the city's Northwest side.

...

No one was home at the time of the crash, except for Ruffo, the family dog and he usually sleeps at the back wall of the living room, where the truck came through. Ruffo was the only thing the homeowners were concerned about when they showed up after the crash.

"I was more worried about my dog than anything else," said a relieved Jimenez. "He's fine...."

(from KSAT-12)

Bonus strangeness: Someone who names their dog "Ruffo".

"$170K worth of fireworks stolen in Bexar County "

Be wary of that homemade fireworks stand on the side of the road. Those boom-booms just might be a little hot.

"It's extremely frustrating, you're trying to survive in this heat, setting everything up, and to have a setback like this. It is extremely frustrating," said E.J. Cheney with Boom! Fireworks.

His business reported two burglaries within the last month to Bexar County authorities. Cheney said more than three truckloads of fireworks were stolen on the city's south side of town, from locked shipping containers. The theft cost the firework stand $170,000 dollars.

(from KENS-5)

So, you ask, what might a homemade fireworks stand look like? Well, if it were on the beach, it might look like this:




Just sayin', be wary.

Gettin' western in downtown

You know those horse-and-carriage combos that clop-clop through downtown to the delight of tourists and others taken in by such romantic sights? Turns out they're driven by some pretty tough sorts of people.

SAN ANTONIO -- A man riding a motorcycle downtown Friday night landed in the hospital after spooking a carriage driver's horse.

According to Officer Matthew Porter, the motorcycle's rider pulled up alongside the horse and carriage a little after 1:00 a.m., at the intersection of East Martin and Navarro Streets and revved his engine. This startled the horse and infuriated the carriage driver, who Porter said began screaming at the rider.

After calming his horse, the driver continued his argument with the motorcyclist and the confrontation turned physical. At that point, Porter said, the driver pulled a knife and slashed the other man across the stomach.

(from KSAT-12)

It seems you shouldn't mess with a man's horse. At least not one driving a carriage in downtown San Antonio.

"S.A. resolution gives thumbs down on Arizona immigration law "

Big whoop.

What's going on in Arizona is San Antonio's business. That's what eight City Council members said with their vote.

In a public hearing that lasted four hours, 45 residents spoke out. Most of them supported Mayor Julian Castro's idea to say what is happening in Arizona is unacceptable for the Lone Star State.

...

Despite three negative votes from council members Reed Williams, John Clamp and Elisa Chan, the City of San Antonio sent a bold message.

"We needed to make a statement now instead of waiting and being behind the curve later," said Castro.

(from KENS-5)

Now, City Council, now that you have gotten that out of your system, can you do a little to fix some real problems here in San Antonio, Texas?

Car slams into apartment building

Wow. This guy was really haulin' something.

Donna Jones said that she and her grandson woke up to a startling noise.

"I just heard a loud bang when I was asleep in my bed," Jones said.

Christian Phillip Hemmi, 23, who police said was driving the car, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of drunken driving, police said.

"He was still stumbling when he was talking to the cops," said Amber Stevens, an apartment resident.

Officers said Hemmi went through a stop sign, clipped a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot and hit a central air unit before crashing and landing sideways into the complex's leasing office.

The crash left a huge gaping hole in the building and plenty of damage in the office, police said.

(from KSAT-12)

The only thing not hit was a fence!

Finding buried treasure in San Antonio

It happened, once. Eighty-eight years ago. It's reported that way in San Antonio Remembers.

1922
A pot of gold was unearthed on the site of the new park at Main Ave. and Romana St. today. Workmen reported the gold was in $5, $10 and $20 pieces but gave no estimate of the total find.

No word on any nearby rainbows. Or leprechauns.

"Disguised Robbers Attack Woman"

It's a little strange when home invaders try to get you to open the door by posing as pizza delivery guys, but it gets downright weird when those guys turn out to be such wimps.

The 50-year-old woman answered the knock around 1:20 p.m. in the 14900 block of Burning Creek after she saw two men standing at the door, one of whom was holding pizza boxes, police said.

Investigators said the man holding the boxes asked the woman if she ordered pizza. When the woman said no, the men tried to force their way inside.

"This is kind of unique for this one. I haven't seen this method of operation yet," said Sgt. Daniel Alonzo with the San Antonio Police Department's Robbery Task Force Unit.

According to Alonzo, the woman used the door to block the men from getting inside the home. During the struggle, one of the men pulled out a Taser gun and fired it at the victim but it missed.

Police said the woman eventually overpowered the two younger men, both of whom are believed to be in their 20s, and managed to close the door. [emphasis added]

(from KSAT-12)

Bottom line: If you didn't order pizza, don't answer the door, especially if you see more than one delivery guy.

"Man Claims to be Navy Seal and threatens to Kill Deputy"

Somehow, I don't think this will actually work in getting you out of a speeding ticket. Or arrested.

Gregory Gomez was pulled over on Marbach near Ellison, after a deputy caught him going 111 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone. Once he finally stopped, the deputy said Gomez got angry and said, "You don't know who you're (expletive) with. I'm a Navy Seal. When you (expletive) with the best, you die like the rest." Then Gomez threatened to cut his head off. [His own? --ed.]

Gomez was arrested for retaliation and reckless driving but has since bonded out of jail. News 4 WOAI tried contacting him Friday, but no one was home.

(from WOAI-TV)

Oh, he was probably in the house, but no one's been home for a while.

Gettin' western on San Pedro

Now this is something you don't see every day -- in the middle of the day -- on San Pedro Avenue.

San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus said San Antonio SWAT and crisis negotiators were called to a home in the 400 block of Odell Street, where Rudy Villarreal had barricaded himself inside.

Officers with a special unit that handles stolen vehicles recognized Villarreal earlier Thursday afternoon and pulled him over in the 4200 block of San Pedro Avenue, police said.

While an officer was handcuffing Villarreal, who had just gotten sprayed with Mace, he got away and managed to get a gun and shot at the officer, McManus said. The officer returned fire and wounded Villarreal, who ran to a nearby neighborhood with one handcuff dangling. The officer was not injured.

Two other people were in the car, including the man's mother, police said. Both people were taken into custody, McManus said.

Police canvassed the neighborhood and made contact with a woman living at the home on Odell Street, who told them she had not seen Villarreal. However, McManus said Villarreal was, in fact, in the home and the woman declined to tell police that, fearing he would harm her children.

When Villarreal went to take a shower, McManus said, the woman and her two children fled the home, allowing a SWAT team and crisis negotiators to surround the home.McManus said Villarreal demanded $10, a pair of jeans and a soda, which were given to him.

McManus said Villarreal then gave up and surrendered himself to police, who arrested him without incident.

(from KSAT-12)

You're on the run from the cops----and you decide to take a shower? In a stranger's house? With the people still at home? With one handcuff still dangling?

And all you demand is a pair of jeans and a soda?

I bet this is a day Villarreal never forgets.

Taking care of the inmates

The Bexar County Sheriff's Department has an embarrassment on its hands -- one of its own deputies has been selling drugs to guests in the pokey. At least the higher-ups took the tip they received seriously and did a little investigating. Now they have arrested their man, and now they know not to trust anyone's lunch.

[Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo] Ortiz said investigators set [Deputy Robert] Falcon up with simulated heroin, which he says Falcon had intended to deliver to the jail.

Although Falcon was caught with simulated drugs on Friday, Ortiz said they have information that he has done this before with real heroin and that he would bring it in, concealed under a Styrofoam container.

"He acted like he was bringing his lunch with him. He had a lunch bag, some tacos and some refried beans, and the drugs were taped to the Styrofoam cup," said Ortiz.

(from KSAT-12)

I don't know ---- do you think he could have deflected suspicion if he had just said someone must have switched out his sal-limon? (While shrugging a lot.) Do you think?

Fuzzying up the radical past

Have you ever been to the Build-A-Bear Workshop? It's an interesting place. You can make your own teddy bear (or other cute, cuddly animal), and you can dress it up a number of different ways to suit your tastes and your wallet.

I'm not big into bears myself, but I did like the generic patriotic military bear some employee had dressed up as a display example.





Too bad it was placed next to the 1960s revolutionary socialist bear.





I'm surprised the star on the beret flash isn't red, or yellow on a red background. But I guess that's all the employees had to work with.

Eschewing color photography

St. Hedwig is a small town just east of San Antonio. (By "small" I mean population-wise; the land area is actually quite large.) It's pretty much a farming community, and not much goes on out there, but sometimes crime does happen.

Last night, a domestic squabble ended in the death of one man. Here's the KSAT-12 version of the story:

According to the Bexar County Sheriff's Department, deputies were dispatched to the home 32-year-old Cameron Wilburn and his girlfriend shared Monday evening for a disturbance. But when they got there, department spokesman Lt. Martin Molina said, Wilburn was already gone.

Molina said four hours later, they got another call from Wilburn's neighbor, who told dispatchers he had shot and killed his neighbor.

Molina said Wilburn's girlfriend went to the house of her neighbor, 43-year-old John Vollmer, shortly before 11 p.m., fearing Wilburn would return home. While she and Vollmer were talking, Molina said, Wilburn showed up at the house with a handgun. Wilburn's girlfriend went inside her neighbor's home with her two kids, while the two men struggled over the gun.

Wilburn ended up getting shot, and he died. So far, nothing really strange. Until you watch the video of the story. There, KSAT uses what looks like a booking photo of Wilburn. And the photo itself looks bizarre because it has the appearance of an antique, sepia-toned picture from the late 19th Century.



I don't know what police department took this picture, if it is indeed a booking photo, but it's weird that they didn't use full-color. Perhaps someone at the police station was playing around with photo-editing software and saved the wrong version, resulting in a sepia master instead of color. Or perhaps they were fiddling with the camera controls and couldn't figure out how to get back to color when the next booking came in. Or maybe KSAT made the mistake themselves when capturing the photo for use in the video.

I don't know. Do any of these seem plausible to you?

"Baby reportedly thrown from SUV"

Do you think we are not getting the whole story here?

Around 11:30 p.m., police were called to the intersection of S.W. 30th and Cordelia streets, where witnesses found the injured [1-year-old] boy.

The witnesses told police they saw a woman in her late teens driving a white SUV stop in the middle of the road.

“They noticed that the female turned around, reached for the rear passenger door, and an unknown object was thrown out of the vehicle,” Porter said.

They were curious, Porter said, and discovered the unresponsive boy. Moments later, the baby began to cry, and the witnesses called 911.

The SUV was seen driving around the area with the back door ajar and a child seat hanging out of the vehicle, according to police. Witnesses near the intersection of S.W. 30th and Randall Avenue told police the woman said that someone had stolen her child before she threw herself onto the pavement, authorities said.

While paramedics were treating the boy, the SUV returned, and officials asked the woman why it took her several moments to return to her injured child.

“She couldn't account for the time and couldn't explain why paramedics arrived before she did,” Porter said, adding the woman's story changed several times.

She and a man in his late teens, who was also in the SUV, gave varying accounts of what caused the child's injury, including claims that the boy was known to get out of his safety seat and had opened the door himself, according to police.

The SUV was found at the man's home in the 400 block of Randall, and although he claimed to have never seen a safety seat, one was found discarded about 20 feet away from the SUV.

(from the Express-News)

I've had two 1-year-old children. Neither one could do a lot by themselves, much less get out of a car seat. But, I suppose your experience could be different.

Car crashes into home

Oh, you know I had to post this one.

A luxury car lost control and crashed into a home on San Antonio's north side Friday morning.

The crash reportedly happened because the driver was trying to avoid a chihuahua in the roadway.

The crash happened at about 9:30 a.m. Friday in the 16500 block of Blanco Key, near the intersection of Classen Road and Knoll Creek Drive. [emphasis added]

(from KENS-5)





Now the mutts are involved in the bitter feud between the homes and the autos. Could this be a sign of the end times?

Feeling out of touch

Someone----please, anyone----tell my why this is news----in San Antonio!??

PLANO, Texas -- "Gossip Girl" actor Chace Crawford was arrested Friday morning on a possession of marijuana charge, police said.

According to the arrest report, Crawford was in Plano, Texas, when he was arrested early Thursday morning on a charge of possession of marijuana.

The address corresponding to the location listed on the arrest report is occupied by Ringo's Pub.

(from KSAT-12)

Who the hell is Chace Crawford? What the hell is "Gossip Girl"? Why does "Plano" look like "piano" with an "l"? And why do they have to drag Ringo's Pub into this sordid mess?

Really, KSAT? Nothing else was going on?

A man who should think. More often.

So you go to creep out your ex-girlfriend, and she calls the cops on you. What entirely appropriate action should you carry out to make your situation better? Well, how about calling her from jail to threaten her?

An arrest warrant affidavit states [Lamar Montiel] West's ex-girlfriend awoke to find him in her back yard in the 12600 block of Wilderness Trail last week. She called police, who found him in a nearby parking lot and arrested him for criminal trespass.

While he was in a holding cell at the city magistrate's office, West allegedly made threatening calls to the woman, she told police. According to the affidavit, the woman again called Live Oak police, who witnessed West's calls for themselves while they were taking her report.

He was calling her cell phone, the affidavit states, “and made threats to kill her if she did not drop the charges.”

(from the Express-News)

And the police will dutifully write down what they witness, as it happens, and that will help your case by ---- oh, wait ---- Never mind. Maybe you should put the phone down and call a lawyer instead.

(hat tip to The Pistolero)

Car crashes into house

This time, it's in Kirby, and another car is brought into the fray.

A car smashed into a house on Sunrise Bend near Binz-Engleman and Foster Road. Police say a driver had a seizure, ran a stop sign, hit a car, and then that car also smashed into the house. Luckily, no one was hurt.

(from WOAI-TV)

Providing fair warning

Looks like it's working out to be a pretty good deterrent.

No matter what Charles Earnhardt tried, nothing seemed to work. In the past six months his shop has been burglarized nearly 20 times.

So, with a little sense of humor, Earnhardt sent out a serious message which he posted in front of his shop: "Attention thieves -- I sleep here 4 out of 7 days with my shotgun. You guess which one."

Since putting up the sign a month ago Earnhardt Automotive has not been burglarized once.

(from KENS-5)