"Decapitated birds found in south side neighborhood"

Don't worry. It's not as bad as WOAI wants you to believe.

Just down the street, James Wright tells News 4 WOAI he's found several decapitated birds in his yard for the past few days.

The mystery behind the deaths is ruffling some feathers for nearby neighbors.

"It's strange, but maybe somebody... somebody's doing it," says homeowner Melissa Garza [Breathlessly, I'm sure. --ed.].

The San Antonio Audubon Society says the weather may be to blame.

"Right now with the drought so bad, there's a great competition for food and water and bugs," replies Georgina Schwartz of the Audubon Society. "There aren’t as many bugs, there aren’t as many flowers, so right now its not a good time for birds."

In fact, Schwartz adds that birds can get aggressive if other feathered fowls get in the way of their food.

"Grackles are great for drowning baby birds," Schwartz says. "Screech owls are in the habit of decapitating...you have a lot of competition out there. Sex and violence, you got lots of that in the bird world."

(from WOAI-TV)

Relax, it's only sex and violence in the bird world. Nothing to worry about. It's just nature. Circle of life, and all that.

Someone who should have thought a little more ...

... before hitting that SEND button. A whole freakin' heckuva lot more.

An administrator at St. Philip's College is under investigation based on a professor's complaint that she sent hundreds of sexually explicit and racially offensive emails to a handful of employees over the past six years.

Warren Parker, a radiography instructor, claims his boss, program director Donna Laird, sent at least 400 emails from her work account featuring semi-nude women, animals having sex or masturbating, foul language and jokes stereotyping men, women, rednecks and people of all races.

Parker is speaking out now because he believes his bid for tenure is in jeopardy.

He provided the San Antonio Express-News with a sample of about 100 emails he had saved.

When asked about Parker's complaint regarding the emails, Retha Karnes, a lawyer for the Alamo Colleges, said an investigation into the matter is ongoing. She declined to comment further. Laird did not return a phone call and an email sent to her work account seeking comment.

(from the Express-News)

Warren Parker, the offended one, is a black man.

Donna Laird, the offending one, is a white woman. And she's his boss.

Alamo Colleges is the local taxpayer-funded community college district.

St. Philip's College, one of the Alamo Colleges, is a historically black college. It is on the East Side. The East Side is traditionally black.

This is an example of the things Laird was sending: "The emails include a musical slide show featuring scantily clad vaginas, pictures mocking young blacks dressed up for prom as “ghetto,” a woman simulating oral sex on the stick shift of a car, a young man lighting a bottle rocket stuck in his rectum and a satirical exercise program to hire black men to pose as muggers and chase white women."



Wow.


Just, wow.



Who in their right mind would ever think such things are OK to send via e-mail on a work computer? Especially one that is owned by a taxpayer-funded district?

Folks, be careful what you forward. And remember, government records are open records, at least in Texas. And what you send today can appear in the news tomorrow.

Joe Ball, the Butcher of Elmendorf

Delaine Mathieu at WOAI-TV recounts the tale of a killer who lived just south of San Antonio early in the 20th Century. And, yes, it is a little strange.

Joe[ Ball]'s story goes like this -- Back in the mid 1930's, after prohibition ended, Joe opened a bar called "The Sociable Inn" on Farm to Market Road 327 in Elmendorf, about 17 miles south of San Antonio. Back behind the bar, Joe kept a pond full of gators and fed them live animals to entertain the crowds. But then, women began to disappear. First, it was his long time girlfriend Minnie Gotthardt. Then, another girlfriend and barmaid at the inn, Hazel Brown.

On September 24th, 1938, when two Texas rangers [sic] went to the bar to question Joe, he put a gun to his chest and pulled the trigger. It was the day Joe Ball's life ended, and the day the legend of Joe Ball began.

The legend? That he fed parts of his victims to his alligators. And the really strange part? After Ball died, his alligators were donated to the San Antonio Zoo.

I bet the zookeepers were real careful around them.

Strange in Olmos Basin

Do you ever wonder why paranormal teams never actually find any ghosts?

SAN ANTONIO -- Olmos Basin Park hosts thousands of people on its various athletic fields, but according to many [How many? --ed.], there could be something more than just sports going on in the woods just behind the Olmos Dam. [Hanky-panky, maybe? --ed.]

There have long been stories, many turning into urban legends [how many, and where can I read them? --ed.], about UFO sightings and paranormal activity at the site. Its history of ancient Indian activity has led universities to archaeological digs there.

There is a team of investigators called Paranormal After Dark who recently set out to see if the legends were true, trying to find any sign of paranormal activity.

Their shiny black bus serves as a command center and the investigators use an array of various electronic devices. The team is made up of 13 members: teachers [!], police officers [Why? --ed.], firefighters [Why, why? --ed.] and a psychic [Just one? --ed.].

...

After their investigations, the team collects data to decide if a return trip is warranted.

(from KSAT-12)

Only if they like the scenery and the sports. Other than that, almost anywhere else should be more entertaining. At least Fiesta Texas has an actual Poltergeist.

Strange in La Coste

Dave, who recently moved out into the hinterlands, came across a house in La Coste that doesn't have to worry about stray automobiles destroying its precious fence.

Not strange in San Antonio

In fact, it's pretty cool, and something the Alamo City can be proud of.

SAN ANTONIO -- The mission to take out Osama bin Laden took months to plan, and we've learned the mastermind behind it all is from San Antonio.

Vice Admiral Bill McRaven, a Roosevelt High School grad, is being credited with planning the U.S. strike that took down the world's top terrorist. He's done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he has written a book on special-ops tactics. Admiral Bill McRaven is the head of the Pentagon's joint special operations command.

The story of the three-star officer begins decades earlier when his father, who flew missions over the English Channel during WW II, got stationed at Lackland Air Force Base.

McRaven and his two sisters grew up in San Antonio. After he graduated from Roosevelt, a track scholarship took him to the University of Texas.

A naval career would follow, eventually leading him to one of the top spots in the Navy.

(from KENS-5)

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Picking your candidate

Early voting begins tomorrow, and there are rafts of candidates out there running for many spots on San Antonio City Council.

Choose carefully, people.

Gettin' western at the diamond

I love to go see the Missions play, and I've seen some pretty exciting games. But I don't think I have ever seen anything quite this exciting at Wolff Stadium.

[Cody] Decker's three-run, eighth-inning homer was the difference in the Missions' 6-5 triumph over the Frisco RoughRiders, but it turned out that was only the beginning of what ended up as one of the wildest games in the franchise's 106-year history.

Before it was over, the small crowd of 2,153 witnessed a controversial ninth inning and a brief but frightening melee between Frisco players and a handful of unruly fans immediately after the game.

During the disturbance, heated words were exchanged. A trash can and bats were tossed into the stands by Frisco players from in front of their dugout, then back at the players by the fans.

By the time the dust had settled, at least three fans were handcuffed and detained by police.

(from the Express-News)

Puro San Antonio.



Photo Bob Owen/rowen@express-news.net

The King?

Or just another rey feo?




You decide.

Not quite getting the concept

It would be too bad if you were to have a disagreement with your adult son, and it would be even worse if that bad blood degraded into criminal acts.

But it would be somewhat good if your offspring were too dense to know how to do any real damage.

SAN ANTONIO -- An east side man and his roommate face criminal charges stemming from an incident outside the man's mother's home involving a Molotov cocktail.

Albert Rivas, 26, and his roommate, Todd Smith, 33, each face one count of possession of an incendiary device in connection with the April 21 incident.

San Antonio arson investigators described the device in an arrest affidavit as a beer can filled with flammable liquid with a burning cloth sticking out of the top. [emphasis gleefully added]

(from KSAT-12)

The son and his friend also threw rocks at his mother's house. Nice people.

Calling B.S. on a talking point

Some busybodies want you to feel guilty for using disposable diapers, so they organized this publicity stunt.

Dirty diapers can be a mess not only for parents, but also for landfills — a problem participants brought awareness to by setting a Guinness World Record on Saturday for the most cloth diapers changed at the same time.

The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2011, organized by a group of cloth diaper enthusiasts, had 400 sites across 24 countries help set the record. San Antonio supported the cause with 73 baby/parent pairs participating.

Using cloth diapers instead of disposables is better for the environment, safer for babies and cheaper, said Kim Webb, the committee chair for the San Antonio site, held at a La Quinta Inn & Suites.

(from the Express-News)

But the main reason I bring this up is not to give them publicity (which I most definitely have, I admit) but to draw attention to this little talking point.

“It can take hundreds of years for diapers to decompose in a landfill,” Webb said.

Really? How does she know?

I'm not being sarcastic, I really want to know how anyone can determine that it will take hundreds of years for an item to decompose when that item hasn't even been in existence for one hundred years. My complaint may sound silly, but I find claims like this to be flippant, as in frivolously disrespectful and shallow. Every time I hear something like this -- and it's always from an environmentalist that wants me to change the way I live my life -- my bullshit meter shoots to the red. I can't help thinking they are throwing out an arbitrary number to scare anyone in earshot because they don't think they can win the debate by the merits of their arguments alone. Why else would they use such a tactic?

Hundreds of years in a landfill before a diaper breaks down? Bullshit. Five hundred years for a styrofoam cup? Bullshit. One thousand years for a plastic bag? Absolute bullshit! (Take note, City Council.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for reducing waste where practical and for generally not dirtying up the air we breathe or the water we drink. But let's be reasonable, and let's propose new ways of reducing pollution and disposing of trash without resorting to crap statistics that cannot be proven or disproven for another couple of centuries.

(Crossposted at Painted Ocean.)

"2 Injured After Car Flies Over Interstate"

Wow. They missed their calling.

The crash happened around 2:30 a.m. on Hackberry Road.

According to police, the driver was going more than 90 mphour before he reached a dead end at Hackberry and Interstate 35.

Officers said that's when the car hit the curb, flew over the center median of the interstate, a guardrail, three lanes of traffic and an access road.

The car finally came to a stop after it hit an embankment and rolled several times, police said.

(from KSAT-12)

I'm glad no one else was hurt, and I certainly hope those two pull through and straighten out their lives. And then I hope they apply for jobs as stunt drivers.

Take a look at this.



That's IH-35, and the orange marked bits are where Hackberry Street dead-ends onto the access road of the highway. (Yes, that's a school bus on the bottom access road, there.)

Now picture a car hitting that embankment so hard it clears the lanes of traffic.

Wow. Ninety miles an hour will do that, I suppose.

Car crashes into house

The vehicles will smash your house, and they will crash your fence, and they absolutely will not let you sleep at night.

The Vargas family said it was just like any other night. They were sleeping -- until the entire house shook.

It was reportedly a man in a minivan who crashed into the side of their west-side home. That driver put his vehicle in reverse and left.

San Antonio police got the call about the accident after 4 a.m. Wednesday at the corner of Potosi and SW 21.

When officers arrived, the van was gone. However, the damage was clear, and parts of the suspected vehicle were strewn about the scene.

(from KENS-5)

This minivan was quite the efficient crasher; it took out an air conditioner and another vehicle, too. And then it just left.

I think it was up to no good.

"Teenager dies after accidentally shooting himself in the head"

This may have been an accident, but it could have been so easily avoided.

It happened at about 1:30 am Saturday morning on the 300 block of South San Gabriel. Police say a group of teens had gathered in a vacant lot in the area. At some point 16-year-old Joe Tenorio pulled out a gun. Police believe he may have pointed it at his head and accidentally pulled the trigger.

(from WOAI-TV)

Let me say it again: Russian roulette is not a cool game to play. It's not even a cool thing to pretend you're playing it, because when it ends badly, it ends very, very badly.

Battle of Flowers parade!

Be careful out there.

(Photo by Veronica Zaragovia / KENS 5, found on this slideshow.)

Leaping Danes!

I don't know whether I should be impressed by this stunt or just saddened in a "stupid dog" kind of way.

SAN ANTONIO -- A dog stuck on the roof of a building near Interstate 35 had to be rescued by firefighters, police and Animal Care Services workers on Tuesday morning.

Witnesses said the Great Dane had been on Interstate 35 and was probably frightened, so he jumped from the freeway to the roof of the Quincy Professional Building in the 300 block of Quincy Street.

(from KSAT-12)

If you're unfamiliar with the area, I-35 is a split-level roadway at that point, and the upper level is higher than some of the buildings nearby (some of which are very nearby!). In fact, here's Google's snapshot of that dog-luring building.



I hope that dog finds a good home. He needs a lot of love and affection. Or maybe just some pity.

Calling BS on a statistic

No, I'm not buying the notion that San Antonio women are sexually assaulted more often during Fiesta than at other times of the year.

SAN ANTONIO -- A sexual assault examiner said a rise in sexual assaults usually corresponds to the 11-day, citywide party, Fiesta.

Already this month, 20 sexual assault victims have been treated by Shelley Botello and her Sexual Assault Response team at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital.

In April of last year, she said, the hospital treated 80 victims. She said her team typically handles 50 to 60 cases monthly.

Now that Fiesta has begun, Botello said it's a sign of what's to come, because 67 percent of the hospital's cases involve alcohol and drug consumption prior to the assaults.

"It makes them easy prey for predators," Botello said.

Before isolating a victim from others prior to the attack, "the predator will often sit back, (and) kind of observe the behavior of that person," Botello said.

She said the victims range in age from 17 to 25.

(from KSAT-12)

This is akin to the bogus claim that women are victims of domestic violence more during the Super Bowl than on any other day, no matter what day it is. The statistic of a rise in sexual assaults sounds shocking, and -- on the surface -- it is such a no-brainer to believe (more drunk people = more sex) that it must be true. But I really don't see any evidence of it in this news story.

There's no link to any data on the KSAT news story or on Botello's Facebook page, which KSAT links to. Without the ability to quickly and easily examine the raw data she's referencing, I remain suspicious. What about the Aprils of previous years? How do they compare? Maybe 2010 was an anomaly, maybe it wasn't. It's impossible to tell with what we're given. The tips Botello gives on avoiding being a victim is good advice, but that goes for any time of year. I get that she is using San Antonio's big party as a chance to get media attention for her cause, but I'm not so quick to believe there's a causal relationship between Fiesta and sexual assault. Not enough to account for a significant rise every April, at least.

Hey, sexual assault is serious. I'm not claiming otherwise. But it's dangerous to imply causality where there is none.

"Wooden plank discovered in San Antonio boy's leg"

And by plank, they don't mean something larger than a board, they mean something much smaller.

More like a large splinter.

SAN ANTONIO -- Nine year old Ted Rodriguez was running after some fireworks when he tripped, causing a gash in his right leg on News Year's Eve.

"I was running with a stick," says the third grader. "I fell and it stabbed me, so I yanked it because I was so shocked."

He was rushed to Santa Rosa Hospital on the northwest side. Family members say doctors there stitched him up and sent him home. When the pain got worse, Ted came back for another diagnosis.

...

Doctors found a 3 by 1 inch wooden plank [sic] lodged inside Ted's right leg, just above his knee.

(from WOAI-TV)

Is it sweeps month, yet?

Yawn headline of the day

"Client Upset After Bruce Bowen's Spa Closes"

C'mon, KSAT. Punch it up a bit to hook that reader.

Picking on the elderly

Some people out there just aren't very nice, are they?

A woman was jailed Thursday after police said she knocked an [sic] man and his walker to the ground at a grocery store parking lot in an effort to steal cash he had in his pocket.

Yolanda Peterson, 56, remained in jail Friday on $75,000 bail on a felony charge of aggravated robbery of an elderly person causing bodily injury, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Peterson tried to hug Jerald Janke, 67, in an effort to distract him, and when he “politely tried to ignore her” because he did not know her, she reached into his pocket, according to the affidavit.

(from the Express-News)

See, this is why people get freaked out when strangers start offering them free hugs.