"Alligators Spotted In East Side Neighborhood"

An alligator sighting in East Texas won't raise too many eyebrows, but it will around San Antonio. As such, some East Siders are keeping their eyes on a nearby creek, as KSAT reports.

Neighbors along Rosillo Creek near Rigsby and Loop 410 have seen an alligator and two baby gators in the area lately. They said they don’t want to see the alligators killed, but they don’t want them around. ...

Officials said that if residents see the alligators, not to feed them, get too close to them or swim near them. And especially don’t try to catch one.

Nice bit of advice. Leave the alligator wrestling to the professionals.

"Man Discovers Chop Shop In His Garage"

Sometimes, when a man comes home early from a business trip, he finds his wife or girlfriend in the act of cheating on him. For one local man, not only was his woman seeing another man, they were apparently using his property for an illegal business.

From KSAT:

Police said Homer Barrett, 26, arrived early from work, which usually keeps him away from home for weeks or months at a time, to find an unfamiliar pickup truck parked in his driveway, police said.

Suspecting that a burglary was in progress, Barrett called police.

Inside the home, police found Barrett's girlfriend, Gina Beaulieu, 25, and a man, Douglas Ewert, 24.

Police found two stolen vehicles, some motorcycles, including one that was in the process of being stripped for parts, police said.

I bet he broke up with his girlfriend after that.

"More than 50 Illegal Immigrants Found in Home"

Wow, first it was 50 cats. Now it's 50 people!

As WOAI reports:

Police were called to the home on Senisa Wednesday after they received a tip about stolen cars, officials said. When they arrived, they saw four people running from the house. They looked inside and found the immigrants — 38 men, 12 women and a teenage girl, authorities said.

“This is a case where we obviously just can't walk away,” Sgt. Gabe Trevino with San Antonio Police said. “We called the federal government to come out here and do their job.”

That's a crowded house.

Shocking the drunks

Electric chairs at a bar. San Antonio Daily Photo has the picture to prove it.

"Russian Roulette Turns Fatal For Teen"

Don't drink and play with guns. And, don't ever play Russian Roulette, even when you haven't been drinking.

From KSAT:

Police said that Juan Garcia, who had been drinking heavily, showed off a partially loaded revolver to several other people inside a home in the 1300 block of Swaying Oak at 2 a.m.

Garcia put the gun to his right temple and fired, but nothing happened, police said.

Witnesses told police that Garcia then put another bullet in the chamber and spun it and fired again, police said. This time, the gun discharged, instantly killing Garcia.

The Deer Hunter is an ugly movie. There's nothing beautiful about it. I wonder how anyone could ever watch that movie and actually think Russian Roulette would be fun.

It's strange, and sad.

The "Grotto" in San Pedro Springs Park

San Pedro Springs Park is the oldest public park in Texas, and the second-oldest in the nation. Established in 1729 by King Philip of Spain, the park has had plenty of time to amass an interesting history, and you can find out more about the park here.

Probably one of the oddest features of San Pedro Springs Park is the "grotto", a strange heap of a building covered in moss and other growth. Here's a picture:




















The origins of the grotto are unclear, and the structure is strange enough by itself. But, one day while strolling through the park, I noticed something a little peculiar about the low wall that surrounds the verdant pile. The wall is topped with shallow depressions that are vaguely crescent-shaped, and it took me a while to figure out their purpose, for I believe them to be more than mere decoration.

Take a look at these pictures I took, and see if you can figure out the purpose of the depressions.






























Figured them out, yet?
















Well, I'll let you know what I think they are, and see if you agree.

They're butt grooves.

Honestly, I think that's what they are. The wall is just the right height to squat down upon, and the depressions nicely conform to one's posterior when seated. Look again:

















It's quite odd, don't you think?

Seriously, though, San Pedro Springs Park is one of the gems of San Antonio. You can read more about the place here and here. It's full of history, and it's quite beautiful, too. If you're new to town, I urge you to check it out sometime.

"50 Cats Taken From Local Home"

Wow. Fifty cats in one house.

Investigators loaded up the cats up in cages Tuesday morning from a home on Cartwright Trail in west Bexar County, and said the home had a lot of animal waste inside.

"She cares about animals and she had way too many, and it's just not livable in there", said Det. Jesse Vidal Bexar County Sheriff's Dept.

Phew! What a bad day to be an animal control officer.

"Unbelievable Chain of Events Trigger Chase & Explosion"

A man gets cut. He and his father confront someone at their home. Shooting from the home ensues. Three men from the home bolt in a truck. Father and son follow. Father and son ram the truck. Truck catches fire. Truck explodes. Ammunition in truck goes off. Men in truck exit burning truck. They are on fire. They get taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, an excellent burn facility.

Let's hope they make a full recovery. In the meantime, let's marvel at their adventure.

WOAI has the full story here.

"School Bus Driver Accused Of Pinching Girl's Nose"

Hmm. I wonder what damages this man will claim.

SAN ANTONIO -- The father of a 7-year-old girl is threatening to sue a Judson Independent School District bus driver for allegedly pinching his daughter's nose.

Anastasia Mireles, who attends Coronado Village Elementary School, said that the bus driver pinched her after the children in the bus got rowdy. ...

An investigation into the incident continues and Judson officials will decide if further action is needed, although the driver will probably not be terminated, Hoffman said.

But Benjamin Mireles said the driver has no business driving a school bus and plans to file assault charges.

Assault? For a pinch on the nose? Assuming the incident did happen, I can't help but feel that Mr. Mireles is overreacting. A reprimand might be in order for the bus driver, depending on the circumstances (which I admittedly do not know the details of), but I think a lawsuit is a bit strong right out of the gate.

"Kinky Starts College Tour with Support from Jesse Ventura"

OK, this is really strange in San Antonio.

Kinky Friedman, making no apologies for recent racially charged remarks, began a three-day college tour [at the the University of Texas at San Antonio] Monday with Jesse Ventura, the former Minnesota governor whose surprise victory in 1998 is serving as the template for Friedman's independent populist run for Texas governor. ...

The independent Friedman faces Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Democrat Chris Bell, independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Libertarian James Werner in the Nov. 7 election.

Ventura is accompanying him on planned stops this week in San Marcos, Houston and College Station.

Ventura, wearing his long beard in a single braid and a SEAL Team cap, railed about Republicans and Democrats preferring a small turnout like the 29 percent voter turnout in the last Texas governor's race and urged the students to vote for Friedman and boost the overall voter count.

If you get a chance, check out this story on video [You can find video here. Look for the piece titled "Friedman, Ventura Court Young SA Voters", because they don't make it easy to link directly to it --ed.]. Ventura has really let himself go, and he looks like crap. I liked his bald look while governor, but the crazy braids he has now are pitiful.

UPDATE: I'm not a big fan of John Branch, the editorial cartoonist for the Express-News, but he did capture Ventura's nutty look quite well in this cartoon.

"West Side ice cream truck also allegedly stocked drugs"

We all scream for it. Except one ice cream truck one the West Side seemed to be drawing an older crowd.

Lomi Kriel at the Express-News has the story:

Wednesday, Edgewood Independent School District police arrested a 49-year-old ice cream vendor and accused him of selling cocaine, marijuana and Xanax through his van window.

"I haven't seen something this bold," Police Chief Charlie M. Peña Jr. said. "Right out of the truck, like you buy ice cream." ...

Most of his customers were regulars, Peña said, and, "at this point, it looks like their ages were between junior high and high school."

A system of codes was used by customers to indicate they were to be trusted, Peña said, and referrals for new customers were accepted.

One scoop of snow, one scoop of grass, and don't forget the sprinkles.

In other news, customers keep coming into restaurants

"Tourists Keep Coming To SA"

"Four girls with cameras ..."

Here is a nice blog called San Antonio Daily Photo. There's nothing strange about it. It's just four girls posting pictures of the Alamo City. I only draw your attention to it because I like it.

Strange way to get free gas

If your car is about to run out of gas, and you have no money to pay for fuel, what should you do? Beg? Assault the clerk?

Or do both?

From the Express-News:

According to police the woman walked inside the store and said she needed free gasoline because she had no money and her car was about to run of gas.

When the clerk refused to give her free gas the woman pulled out a hammer and whacked him on the head. The suspect then grabbed $2 worth of rolled up coins.

The clerk called police and was taken to the hospital.

Police caught up with the woman stranded in her car in 4800 block of Military Drive.

Two dollars doesn't buy much gas these days.

Car crashes into house

OK, it's actually an apartment building, but the car still ended up in a dwelling.

From KSAT:

SAN ANTONIO -- While reportedly avoiding a dog in the road, a woman, 34, swerved into a pedestrian then crashed through a fence and into a building.

The crash happened early Sunday morning on the city’s north side on the 1900 block of Larkspur Drive.

Police said the 35-year-old man who was hit suffered serious injuries and was brought to University Hospital. He was walking his dog around 4:30 a.m. when he was hit.

No one was killed, thankfully, but that was some crash.

Worst getaway ever

From WOAI:

Two men ripped off a gas station at loop 410 and Roosevelt early Saturday, police told News 4 WOAI. After leaving the scene, both suspects bailed out of their getaway car. The driver was caught shortly after, but the other suspect led officers to an apartment where he was found hiding in a baby bed, next to a baby.

I suppose its less obvious than hiding in your own bed.

"Poisoned Dead Pigeons Mar Texas Festival"

OK, this didn't take place in San Antonio. It happened on the border of Texas and Arkansas. But it's so strange, I felt I had to include it anyway.

TEXARKANA, Texas -- The organizers of Texarkana's annual festival never counted on dead pigeons dropping from the sky.

In the midst of one of the Texas town's most anticipated events, authorities had to scoop up birds that were nose-diving onto the pavement and dying on downtown sidewalks.

A bank president said the pigeons fell victim to a pest control effort, eating poisoned corn that was put on the bank's roof after bird droppings fell on a customer.

That's so weird, I'm amused and revulsed at the same time. And, the situation brings to mind Les Nessman's turkeys.

"JP Gets Into Scuffle With Police"

Justices of the peace shouldn't be throwing their weight around in a police office. Especially after they've run afoul of the law before.

From KSAT:

SAN ANTONIO -- Bexar County Justice of the Peace Pct. 4 Albert McKnight got into a scuffle with a San Antonio Police Department detective Thursday.

One of McKnight's relatives was being questioned at police headquarters about an alleged kidnapping, when police said, Mcknight tried to stop the questioning and sparked a confrontation. ...

McKnight has had run-ins with police before.

Two years ago, he was charged with exposing himself to an undercover Park Police officer.

He was found guilty on a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and was fined.

Strange JP.

Car crashes into house

But, I have no proof.

Dang.

Last night (September 5, 2006), the 10:00 p.m. broadcast news of either KSAT-TV or WOAI-TV aired video of another car crash that involved a house. The problem is, I was flipping back and forth between the two newscasts and can't remember which station actually had the video. And, I can't seem to find the video on either of the two Web sites so that I can link to it.

Until I do link the story (if I can), I hope you will accept my word that I did see a report of a car crash into a house.

"Man Killed In Unusual Accident"

After a night of drinking, it's best to get a ride home. Or else you might put your car in reverse, think it's in drive, and rocket off across a field.

That seems to be what happened in this story from KSAT:

Authorities said a 66-year-old man was killed in this accident. His body was lying in a nearby field.

Witnesses told police the man was leaving a bar from across the street. It seemed he sped off in reverse through the field, hit what appeared to have been a pole which pulled his door off, and, according to police, fell out of the truck.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are still investigating.