"Eyewear pitchman Yuchnitz dead"

Remember a few years ago when local salesman-of-cheap-eyeglasses and all 'round character Mike Yuchnitz was charged with conspiring to kill his wife? Well, he's gonna miss his trial.

He has died.

Michael Yuchnitz, 60, was found in the parking lot of the InTown Suites in the 6400 block of Bandera Road after he apparently collapsed in a slightly hidden area between a car and some landscaping, said Leon Valley Police Chief Randall Wallace.

"It was in a position where you had to walk very closely to see (him)," Wallace added.

A maintenance man discovered Yuchnitz's body as he did his usual rounds at the extended stay hotel, Wallace said. Yuchnitz was unresponsive.

There was no trauma and police said the death appeared to be a natural.

(from MySA.com)

Whether or not you will miss him, the fact remains that no one in this town has ever pulled off a red Nehru jacket and matching fedora quite like Yuchnitz di--- ... OK, never mind. He didn't pull it off either.

Ransoming a dog

Here's a ponderable: Is it really a ransom situation if you know the people and owe them money anyway? It might be. I don't know. But I am genuinely curious.

San Antonio Police said two men intended to keep a disabled veteran's chihuahua for ransom.

Charles Stone from the Southside said the men took his 6-year-old chihuahua, "Guero," and held the dog ransom.

...

The men said Stone owed them upwards of $1,500. Because Stone wasn't timely in paying up, the men also allegedly tried to charge him interest.

...

The two men, whose names have not yet been released, are facing a charge of theft of a disabled person, which is a felony.

(from KSAT-12)

The dog was gone for about two weeks, and the police set up a sting operation to nab the two guys.

Which brings up my next question: A sting operation? Was that necessary? If someone steals someone else's dog, and then that person calls the police to say, Hey, those guys stole my dog, why wouldn't the police just go over to the dudes' house and say, Is that your dog? And then arrest them if they admit it's not theirs. I'm thinking that might be quicker than setting up a sting, and Guero would have been home sooner.

But then, that might not have made the news. Maybe.

Someone who should have thought a little more

About his getaway, that is.

[Bexar County s]pokesman Paul Berry said both [Charles] Adamson and the victim had been waiting at the same bus stop, on Loop 107 near Billy Sames Drive just prior to the shooting.

“After they boarded the bus, the suspect and the victim got into an argument with the suspect shooting the victim once in the face,” Berry said.

The victim was flown to San Antonio Military Medical Center by helicopter.

The suspect -- Adamson -- then removed his bicycle from the front of the bus and attempted to get back on it with the bicycle, Berry said.

"After the driver refused to allow him on, Adamson then pedaled away,” he said.

(from KSAT-12)

They caught the suspect later, and, last I heard, the victim is probably going to be OK. But if it were me (not saying I'd be shooting anybody on the bus in the first place, to be sure), I think I might choose the bike as my primary means of escape, not the bus. Public transit can be good for a commute or two, but it's not very handy for completing criminal acts.

Van crashes into garage

I said I'd be back today. What better way to ease myself back into blogging than by taking note of the latest skirmish in the ongoing war between the vehicles and the abodes.

That crash happened just before 11 p.m. near E. Southcross and Bill Miller Lane.

According to police, the man lost control of his van.

They say he then jumped the curb and took out a fence before crashing through the detached garage.

(from KSAT-12)

Curb, fence, garage. That's a trifecta.

On my way back

I've been gone too long, and I think I'm on my way back. Hope to see you soon, in the next few days or so.

Knowing your candidate

It's municipal election time in San Antonio. And, if you have not yet cast your early vote, you might want to get to know the candidates a little more. KSAT's here to help.

Several men running for several different municipal seats in San Antonio have criminal records, KSAT 12 News has learned.

(from KSAT-12)

You can get the details at the link; I won't reprint them here. But I will provide this quote from the news article from Antonio Diaz, who is running for the City Council seat in District 2, because I think this is the most important part of the story.

“I used to drink a lot in my life, and that led me to do many of those things,” said Diaz, who said he does not hide from his past. “But I’ve been sober for over 20 years and now I want to be a helpful, contributing member of society.”

Yes, it is a bit odd that so many people vying to run our city have criminal backgrounds, but, in all fairness, a lot of the charges listed in the article were dismissed or dropped. And the candidates who did have convictions served their time and/or fine, and they seemed to have learned from their mistakes. Let's hope they did. Let's also hope their victims were made whole or made to feel that justice was done.

And, if the candidates get elected, let's hope they serve as shining examples of what people can do to redeem themselves.

Raining on your parade

Parades ain't what they used to be.

Reports of several floats being kicked out of Friday's Battle of Flowers parade have been confirmed by KSAT 12.

SAPD booted the floats at the request of parade organizers-- including that of El Rey Feo's -- for throwing beads, medals and other souvenir items from the float to the people lining the Broadway parade route.

SAPD said parade organizers gave repeated warnings for those on the floats against throwing items off the floats.

(from KSAT-12)

When I was a kid, I remember almost every float in a parade threw candy to the kids. Of course, that was in a small town, and maybe they do/did things differently in a smaller scale parade than in a big city parade. In any case, it makes for an interesting notion to consider the possiblity of El Rey Feo being led away in handcuffs by the police.

A bit of Whataburger ... in your grocery store

This makes me kinda happy.

H-E-B is betting Texas consumers will opt for a home state favorite.

The grocery chain announced Tuesday that it would begin selling ketchup and mustard branded by Whataburger, which like H-E-B is headquartered in San Antonio. Starting this summer, the fancy and spicy ketchup varieties will be on H-E-B shelves in 20-ounce bottles and the original mustard in 16-ounce bottles.

(from the Houston Chronicle, via MySA.com)

Not that I think the mustard and ketchup will taste any different than other varieties (except for the spicy ketchup, maybe), but I just like Whataburger. And seeing the familiar orange and white stripes brings to mind so many yummy memories.

Now, if HEB would just start selling Whataburger onion rings ......

Describing your attacker's getaway car

Well, this is an odd detail to remember.

A female student from San Antonio College had her phone stolen while waiting at a bus stop, SAC police officials said.

Around 3 p.m. on Monday, the student was waiting on San Pedro at Courtland and was approached by a stranger who asked to borrow her phone.

When the student asked for her phone back, she was allegedly pushed by the suspect. The suspect then fled in what was described as a dark royal blue two-door sedan with a rounded dashboard and a crack in the stereo.

(from KSAT-12)

I can't remember the last time I drove a car where I could describe the dashboard as "rounded", though I did have a cracked stereo once.

Oh, wait. I meant a Kraco.

Hiatus, again

I'm going on another, short blogging hiatus. February was crazy busy, and I thought I would have a reprieve in March but it's actually shaping up to be even busier, what with my own kids' stuff and my own family members to keep track of and even some friends who need a helping hand from time to time. In short, it's a very busy time in the household.


I fully intend to be back, hopefully with a quieter April. In the meantime, enjoy this dinosaur on the loose in the Alamo City.

Doing laundry

Did you ever have the pleasure (or duty) of hanging wet clothing on a clothesline? If so, then you are well familiar with the tedious task of backyard laundry. And you know that nothing could make that chore lively at all.

Unless you did it at night, that is. And you got stabbed while doing it.

A woman is stabbed in her backyard while doing laundry late Friday night.

Police say the woman was stabbed at her home on Albert Street near Culebra Road around 9:00pm.

We're told someone walked up to her and stabbed her in the stomach.  Officers don't know who the person was or why he did it.

(from WOAI-TV)

I'm guessing alcohol was invovled. Or hallucinogens.

"City cleans up homeless campsites"

I read this with intense interest.

Cleaning up homeless campsites removed two truck loads of debris from areas around town Thursday morning.

San Antonio Police, Public Works and Haven for Hope partner up to periodically clean up places where the homeless live.  While Public Works crews work to remove any left-behind belongings, Ron Brown works to get people off the streets to Haven for Hope.

(from WOAI-TV)

And I couldn't help wondering, would Haven for Hope accept Bigfoot?

Cokes!

I think the Pistolero might be a bit disappointed to hear this.

An 18-wheeler transporting 40,000 pounds of Mexican soda crashed on Interstate 35 near downtown early Friday morning, causing a massive liquid spill that forced the freeway to be closed.

(from KSAT-12)

The news story doesn't say whether the sodas were specifically Mexican Coca-Colas, but if you see a brief shortage in San Antonio soon, now you know why.

Puzzling food

I don't normally draw attention to the weird antics of PETA. I don't agree with their message, and I know that they stage the kookiest stunts they can think of just to get some kind of attention -- any kind, really -- and I don't want to be seen as giving them the attention they crave.

But this short bit from KENS-5 on a PETA report listing the top 10 vegan sports arenas caught my eye, and it's not because the AT&T Center placed eighth on the PETA list. It's because of this:

It's fitting that familiar favorites, including bean burritos and tacos, vegan apple turnovers, and, in premium areas, vegan sloppy Joes, would be found at the home of the [Spurs].

Wut!?? The hell.

Is a vegan sloppy joe?

Don't tell me it's a textured protein or tofu and that it's indistinguishable from beef. Uh uh. I'm not buying that. A sloppy joe is ground beef simmered in a very delicious sauce and served on a bun, preferably toasted. It's not textured protein or tofu. I've had those items for many a meal, and I have nothing against them. They can be quite tasty, depending on how they are prepared. But I can't see how those meat substitutes can ever replace ground beef in a sloppy joe. I just can't get my head around it, and I can't see myself ever ordering or paying for something called a "vegan sloppy joe".

Least of all in the AT&T center. Hell, your meatless slop burger will probably run you $15 there, and that's without fries or a drink.

"Truck carrying port-o-potty crashes"

Does your commute take you through the southwest part of San Antonio? If so, did you smell something different along the way this morning?

One person was injured when the driver of a truck carrying a port-o-potty lost control and crashed on the Southwest Side Monday morning.

The accident happened around 8:50 a.m. Monday at Berman Road and Westover Road, between Port San Antonio and Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland. The truck ended up flipping over and spilling the contents of the port-o-potty.

(from WOAI-TV)

Don't worry. Hazmat teams made the scene. It's all better now.