Denying tumblers a spot in the parade

Fiesta time is almost upon us. Festivities, fun, and frivolity will reign, but you can bet one group of people won't be all smiles the whole time. Especially during the Fiesta Flambeau parade.

SAN ANTONIO -- One group is upset they've been denied a spot in the Fiesta Flambeau parade and said they haven't received a firm answer as to why their request was denied.

The Texas Wolverine All-Stars, a nonprofit gym for cheerleaders, boxers and tumblers, were denied entry into the parade, but gym managers said they've been given multiple reasons about why they weren't allowed to march this year.

(from KSAT-12)

Really? A nonprofit gym for cheerleaders? Who knew such things existed? I mean, besides the Wolverines, obviously.

"Ex-Soviet leader turns green in San Antonio"

Gorby was in town. And guess what? He was scoldin' us.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was in San Antonio, pushing for the city and the state of Texas to invest more in green energy, and get away from fossil fuels.

“Together, we must invest in the green economy. It’s the safest, best way forward.” he said through an interpreter.

...

Gorbachev is pushing solar energy, which he says is clean, renewable and available. His group says the current worldwide economic crisis needs solutions that will help the Earth, while acknowledging green energy is more expensive and lacks critical infrastructure.

(from KENS-5)

Hmm. I wonder how well Gorby's arguments to "get away from fossil fuels" fly back home.

Making it easy for the police

Picking up hookers in San Antonio is getting more difficult and costing the johns more.

SAN ANTONIO -- A bizarre chain of events led police to a home on the city's west side where at least two people had been held against their will.

Police said it all began when a man in his 50s picked up a woman he thought was a prostitute early Friday morning. According to police, she brought the man to a home at 1139 Lombrano St., where police said he was beaten, tied up, and robbed by three men.

"They robbed him of his car keys, ATM [card], got his pin number, and while he was tied up inside, went and took some money from his ATM," said Officer Joe Rios with the San Antonio Police Department.

Sometime during the night, the victim was able to free himself, run from the house and call police for help.

"The officers went to the location, found two suspects Friday morning, asleep," Rios said.

(from KSAT-12)

Sometimes the bad guys almost turn themselves in. Think about it: These thugs concoct a scheme where they kidnap a woman (revealed later in the story), force her to pose as a prostitute, and then lure at least one man back to a house where they beat and rob him. But they fail in epic proportions when, first of all, they bring the guy back to their own house! And then, while they are gone cleaning out the john's accounts, the man escapes, and when they return they do not consider, Hmm, that guy may go to the police and report what we have done. Perhaps we should go on the run. Instead they think, Hmm, that guy escaped. Oh well, we've got his money, and I'm tired. Let's go to bed.

I'm just glad the police took the john's story seriously.

Telling us what it is

In this Express-News story about the State Board of Education's wrangling over how to teach evolution, board member Ken Mercer from San Antonio argued for keeping in language that would require teaching about the "weaknesses" of Darwin's theory. That clause was eventually tossed out, but the news story included this quote from Mercer, which I have pasted here verbatim:

“There are questions about evolution…(ellipsis). There are weaknesses,” he said.

There you have it. If you have ever wondered exactly what an ellipsis is, now you know, (comma) thanks to the Express-News. (period)



(screen capture)

Banning kids from the day

I'm not so sure this is a good idea.

SAN ANTONIO -- Bexar County commissioners are considering a daytime curfew for juveniles.

A proposed curfew would affect minors under the age of 17 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The idea comes on the heels of the existing nighttime curfew, which was enacted in 1995 to deal with gang-related crimes. The curfew requires teens under 17 to be off the streets between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Monday through Friday.

But rapid growth in the county has prompted officials to consider making changes in an effort to crack down on juvenile delinquents.

(from KSAT-12)

I hope this curfew applies to school days only. The nighttime curfew may have been successful, but I would think some well-considered exceptions need to be written into this new code to ensure everyone under 17 in the county is not locked inside their homes during the day throughout the summer months. That's sure to cause more problems than it solves.

Your former city government, getting ripped off

Poor Henry Cisneros. Bad things just seem to keep finding him.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A long-time friend of former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros has pleaded guilty to stealing $473,000 from Cisneros' accounts.

Fred L. May III pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court on Wednesday. He was a long-time friend and former college classmate of Cisneros, who was a HUD secretary during the Clinton Administration and previously served as mayor of San Antonio.

(from WOAI-TV)

Nice friend to have.

Your city government at work

What are members of San Antonio City Council to do when the scourge of graffiti catches up to them? What would you do?

Would you get your fence painted at the taxpayers' expense?

That's what KENS-5 is saying Sheila McNeil did.

Neighbors in the Sunrise Subdivision on the Eastside say tagging sprouts like weeds in the spring. So, who cleans it up? Homeowners are supposed to make the repairs. But some are complaining city councilwoman Sheila McNeil got city crews to clean up hers.

McNeil claimed a harship, as city crews re-painted her fence Monday. But KENS-5 could find no record of chronic tagging problems at her home.

Her neighbors, on the other hand, have been cited by code compliance for their graffit[i] problems. They say it's not fair.

It's absolutely not fair. If this allegation is true, it's definitely an abuse of city resources, and McNeil should be ashamed that she did this. But, then again, I recall that McNeil was the only councilmember who had no problem with using city funds to pay for her trip to Obama's inauguration, even after she was called out on the expenses.

Last month [January 2009], Councilwoman Sheila McNeil flew to Washington, D.C., on questionable city business, attended the presidential inauguration on the taxpayers' dime and wondered why everyone made such a fuss.

And, she's running for mayor.

"Chupacabra or hairless wild pig?"

WOAI-TV has finally picked up on the furor over the chupacabra/mangy coyote that has been spotted running around the Northwest Side of San Antonio. Oddly enough, WOAI is the only source I have seen so far that doesn't consider this animal might be a canid of some sort and instead speculates that it might be a pig.

NORTHWEST SAN ANTONIO -- Jaime Garcia sent the photo of a strange-looking animal. Immediately, the image of a (mythical?) chupacabra leaps to mind.

Garcia says he took this photo about eight months ago. He and his boss have seen the animal since then as well. At the time of the photos, Garcia says it was about as large as a "medium-sized dog." In profile, the creature's head is shaped a bit like a horse's.

Garcia wrote to News 4 WOAI that “...the nose looks like a pig. Heis hairless on most of his body... except on the spine he has the hairof a wild pig (javalina).”

...

Pig or “goat sucker?” Take a look at the slideshow and you decide.

WOAI's slideshow is here.

For the record, I think it's a mangy coyote. But that doesn't mean you can't put it on a T-shirt!

Young and gay

They were that way at the Ursuline Academy many years ago. Alan found an album cover that proves it.

"Teen suspect attacks costumed tax service worker"

A bad day to be Ms. Liberty.

A man dressed like the Statue of Liberty, working for a tax service, is recovering after a group of teens ambushed him last night, with one teen body-slamming the unsuspecting man on to the concrete sidewalk.

According to police, two suspects approached the victim and began to talk to him. While they did, a third suspect, 19-year- old Justin Marshal ran up, grabbed the man and body slammed him to the ground causing the victim to begin to convulse.

While the first two suspects ran off, the third was chased by a good samaritan into the Wal-Mart off of Military Drive and Interstate 37, where he was held until police could arrive.

(from KENS-5)

Your city government at work

Our fine San Antonio city councilmembers want to get re-elected. Or do they?

SAN ANTONIO -- Lourdes Galvan's signs are up all over District 5, but it might be all for naught. Her application for city council is being questioned. News 4 WOAI obtained a copy of her application to run for city council before it was altered. In small writing it says ‘District 3’ and not ‘District 5.’

And in the revised version the number ‘3’ is crossed out and the city clerk's, Leticia Vacek, initials are next to it.

Vacek admits “that was my error. It was not the candidate's error. It was a clerical error.”

Because the lettering is so small on this portion of the application, Vacek says Galvan asked her to help out. And when the mistake was pointed out to Vacek about a week after it was filed, she called the Texas Secretary of State's office.

(from WOAI-TV)

Really, if you were running for elected office -- especially re-election! -- wouldn't you pay just a bit more attention to your paperwork? Why would you leave it up to a city employee to fill out the papers for you? Or do you think she thought it was the city manager's contract and was waiting for Justin Rodriguez to read it?

"Councilwoman, Residents Fighting West Avenue Strip Club"

Well, this sounds like a poorly run establishment anyway.

SAN ANTONIO -- A strip club most recently in the public eye for on suspicion of allowing a minor to dance topless has become the target of nearby residents as well as a city councilwoman.

Club Babylon, whose 37-year-old manager, Manuel Alvarado, was arrested and charged with allowing the sexual performance of a child last week, has been visited over and over again by San Antonio police for various calls, said District 1 City Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros.

San Antonio police found a 16-year-old girl dancing topless inside the club last week.

The club, located on West Avenue, has had 140 calls for service since opening in July 2007, including those for assault, theft and other misdemeanors. A taco vendor was also killed near the club in 2008.

(from KSAT-12)

H.R. Pufnstuf

He's from San Antonio.

Did you know that?

I'm a regular reader of another local blog called Blogonomicon, and the author there, Alan, is something of a vinylphile. He has many old LP albums that he has been ripping to his computer, and some of them are rare, curious, or strange. As he digitizes some of the more interesting ones, he does blog posts explaining how he got them and what the music means to him. This all makes for fun reading, but I recently learned something new about an old television show I used to watch.

The show was "H.R. Pufnstuf," a strange Saturday morning live-action puppet show featuring a dragon in cowboy boots and a boy with a magic flute. (Read more about it here, if you like.) I barely remember the show, and most of the people I mention it to do not recall it themselves, so it was refreshing to read that Alan remembered it and that I wasn't just some crazy person who made up memories about cowboy dragons. In fact, Alan has the original soundtrack of the album, and he recently ripped it to his computer and wrote a blog post about it.

I enjoyed reading about the album and the show, but imagine my surprise when I read one of the commenters on the post claiming that Pufnstuf had his origins in Hemisfair '68, the world's fair that was held in San Antonio! I was intrigued, so I consulted the vat of all human knowledge known as Wikipedia and discovered that the dragon and his flute-toting friend were indeed a product of the Alamo City!

After creating costumes for characters in the live-action portion of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Sid and Marty Krofft were asked to develop their own Saturday morning children's series for NBC. The plot was recycled from Kaleidescope, a live puppet show the Kroffts had staged in the Coca-Cola pavilion of the HemisFair '68 world's fair in 1968, including several key characters from this show, such as Luther the dragon and a silly witch^[4].

There you go. One more strange thing from San Antonio.

"Woman 'In Pain' Arrested In Meth Seizure"

If you wish to go into the drug trade, perhaps you might want to make sure you're in good health first.

SAN ANTONIO -- A neighbor concerned about a woman who sounded as if she was in pain appears to be the key to police making an arrest and large seizure of money and methamphetamine early Thursday morning.

San Antonio police arrested a 52-year-old woman from her home at the Enclave Apartments at 1550 Jackson Keller Road after finding about $250,000 in cash, seven ounces of meth and a gun, investigators said. Some of the drugs and money were packed into small bags, they said.

The woman, apparently a diabetic, was on probation for possession of drugs with the intent to deliver and felony possession of a firearm, said SAPD Chief Bill McManus. One of the woman's neighbors called for help when she thought she heard sounds of somebody in pain, McManus said.

(from KSAT-12)

If she goes to prison, at least she will have access to health care, thanks to the taxpayers.

Chupacabra!

Same mangy coyote, but this time it was reported on by KSAT-12:

SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio resident claims to have seen the mysterious four-legged animal we know as the Chupacabra.

This time, it was caught on tape on the city's northwest side.

The animal was also hit by a car going 40 miles-per-hour, said an e-mailer to KSAT 12 News.

It was dazed and confused before it suddently [sic] popped up and darted away.

Video here. And I like this screen cap for the story:



How cute! Someone got that poor animal a blanket to lay on. Of course, some mange medicine would be better for him.

"Porn addiction may cause brain damage"

Thanks, WOAI. This is just the ammo our City Council prigs need to cut back on sexiness in the Alamo City.

A porn study done in San Antonio found that watching pornography is as addictive as cocaine, meth, and alcohol. It can also lead to social problems in teenagers.
Dr. Donald Hilton, Jr. with the American Board of Neurological Surgery was one of the researchers. He discovered the frontal lobe of the brain shrinks in people who are addicted to porn. Dr. Hilton says that is the same thing that happens in drug addicts and alcoholics.

But what does it do to people who study porn?

By the way, I should note that WOAI does not link to a copy of Hilton's study, so readers cannot easily find the original document to see if this is exactly what the doctor claims. I doubt this claim, and I doubt this study actually exists. I'm not even sure where WOAI got this story. The only other reference to Dr. Hilton and brain-shrinking porn that I could find is on an obscure blog. The entry here is full of odd, strange language that makes little sense, and the closing line suggests that Dr. Hilton is more of an evangelist than a scientist.

In a seminar on the impact of pornography on the brain damage, nerve surgeon's Hospital San Antonio, United States, Donald L. Hilton Jr., MD said that adiksi result in the middle of the front of the brain called the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) physical decline.

Depreciation brain networks that produce dopamine (chemical trigger happy feeling) that, according to him, cause workplace disruption neurotransmiter ie brain chemical substances that act as the sender of the message.

...

According to Hilton, brain damage due addicted pornography is the most weight, more weight of the cocaine addicted.

However, he said, there is now hope that brain damage can be restored to near normal with the various methods of healing.

Therapy that can be used to restore the addicted brain damage as a result, according to him, among others, the personal motivation to drive the spirit of people to liberate themselves from the addicted, and the creation of a safe environment for the habitue drastically reduce access to pornography.

Besides, he added, with the formation of support groups and counselors therapeutist therapy increased spirituality and its impact is also very meaningful in the recovery effort.

"Research shows religious spirituality of any kind, will speed the recovery process," he said.

Weird stuff.

Threatening a deputy

If you're planning on visiting violence upon a member of the law enforcement community, by all means, please, announce your intentions. It saves everyone a lot of trouble.

A disagreement over an impounded motorcycle has landed a man in custody Friday after witnesses said he planned to retaliate against a Bexar County Sheriff's Deputy, officials said.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Michael Johnson, 28, outside his home in the 12000 block of Netherwood Lane on Friday and charged him with retaliation, a second-degree felony, Sheriff's Department spokesman Ino Badillo said.

Deputies obtained a search warrant for Johnson's home after witnesses reported he was trying to find out the address of a sheriff's deputy involved in a case that impounded Johnson's motorcycle.

Johnson said he wanted to send a package to the deputy's house, and witnesses said Johnson had knowledge of how to make pipe bombs.

(from the Express-News)

Chupacabra!

On Tezel Road!

Chuck McCollough of the Express-News reports:

As I drove out of my Northwest Side neighborhood around 4 p.m. Thursday I saw a group of neighbors staring at something a short distance away.

They kept their distance for good reason. It appeared to be a mange-covered coyote, and it was roaming the area just as school children headed home in the Tezel Road area.

Look at the photo and see what you think it is.

Some might think it is a chupacabra! T-shirts, anyone?

Car crashes into house

This time, it wasn't too far from home.

SAN ANTONIO -- A man accidentally drove his SUV into his own home on the Southeast Side Tuesday evening.

...

The man accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake, and crashed into his house.

(from WOAI-TV)

Random photo art selection ?

Here is a strange enough story from WOAI-TV:

Bexar County commissioners, San Antonio council members and mayors in surrounding towns all got the same email threatening their lives.

The writer of the email claims to be a contract killer who is getting paid to kill the person receiving it. It says things like "My men are monitoring you..." and "Someone wants your whole family dead."

County Commissioner Kevin Wolff was one of dozens of local leaders who received the email Friday. All of them are board members of the Alamo Area Council of Governments. But Wolff says he doesn't know why they were all targeted by the email.

Bexar County Sheriff's say the email is a phishing scam out of Nigeria.

Odd enough, sure. It was even a story on WOAI last year. But what's stranger is the choice of photo art to illustrate the story. Here is a screen cap:



What? Death threat spam is being sent to local political leaders and the best WOAI could do was post a generic picture of hands on a keyboard with a totally unsuitable caption from another TV station?

It must be sweeps month.

Cleaning the hippo exhibit

Not quite something you would expect to see when looking for hippos in the zoo, but I suppose it needs doing from time to time.

Dead in a parking lot

I would say this counts as an unusual occurrence: the finding of a dead body in a grocery store parking lot.

SAN ANTONIO -- A 46-year-old man was found dead in the parking lot of an H-E-B supermarket Sunday at 721 Castroville Road on the city's west side.

...

"Apparently, there was a female who saw another female trying to revive the man. When that female called 911, the female in the truck fled the scene, and we haven't been able to locate her," said Sgt. Joseph Barcena of the San Antonio Police Department.

Barcena said he hopes the woman who left the scene will come forward and shed some light on what happened.

(from KSAT-12)

Drugs may be involved.

Crashing horses

This doesn't happen very often, does it? I'm not much into horse racing, but I don't recall seeing too many stories like this.

It was a tragic scene at Retama Park Saturday night after a few horses collided during a race.

Witnesses say that at least two horses were killed after the crash and two jockeys were injured.

(from KENS-5)

A noose in an art park

Art or insensitivity?

You decide.

SAN ANTONIO -- Is it art? Or an offensive symbol of racism? That's what some people passing a popular sculpture garden on the Northwest Side are asking about a large noose seen hanging from a tree.

That noose is hanging from a tree in the 11,300 block of Vance Jackson Rd. Some people passing by are calling it disturbing. The 30-foot-long hangman's noose is draped over a tree at Sculptors Dominion.

...

The founder of Sculptors Dominion, Gilbert Barrera declined to talk to News 4 WOAI on camera. But he says the rope's an art piece by 85-year-old Hill Country artist James Cayton. He says it's titled "The National Political Necktie."

However, Derwyn Anderson says, “I don't see anything artistic about it. I only see death of a people. Fear factor. I'm really outraged."

(from WOAI-TV)

I don't know about you, but whenever I see a noose I always think about Tuco and Blondie.

[Tuco has captured Blondie and is planning to hang him]
Tuco: Get on that stool and put the rope around your neck. I have a different system, my friend; I don't shoot the rope, I shoot the legs from under the stool.
[Sound of distant rumbling]
Tuco: Even when Judas hanged himself there was thunder.
Man With No Name: That might be cannon fire.
Tuco: Thunder or cannon fire, it's all the same to you. Adios, Blondie.

Car crashes into house

And truancy is to blame!

SAN ANTONIO -- A 14-year-old girl who police said skipped school crashed a car into the garage of a home Tuesday on the city's west side, police said.

No injuries were reported.

...

Officer Greg Hovis of the San Antonio Police Department said the girl took a friend's car for a joy ride, lost control and the car hit the structure in the 600 block of Matthews Avenue.

"She doesn't understand how she ended up there," Hovis said.

(from KSAT-12)

Hm. Could she have ended up there because of a lack of driving skills?

"Suspected burglar makes his capture super-easy"

Yes, sometimes the crooks make it easy for the cops. Too bad it's not all the time.

SAN ANTONIO -- Rafael Q. Sanchez is a burglary suspect who some might say just did not use his brain. An arrest warrant from the San Antonio Police Department said the 36-year-old broke into a downtown architectural firm, left his belongings in the building, and returned to the scene of the crime to reclaim them.

(from KENS-5)

One of the things he left behind -- a backpack with papers in it that identified him.

Digging up the dead

Some people have no respect -- for themselves or for others.

SAN ANTONIO -- Police are looking for the person or persons who desecrated a grave and tampered with a corpse over the weekend.

The grave of Daniel Machado, who died in 1985, according to his grave marker, had his coffin ransacked and clothes from inside tossed around at the Loma China cemetery, a private facility on Zarzamora Road just outside Loop 410 on the city's south side.

...

[SAPD spokesman Joe] Rios said whomever is responsible faces a charge of abuse of a corpse, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

(from KSAT-12)

Of course, I guess it could have been these guys. If so, then how would they pay the fine?

UPDATE: This case has taken an even weirder turn, as KSAT reports:

Machado was 17 years old when he was struck by a truck. Family members said they had to collect donations in order to bury him, but his site has repeatedly been desecrated since then.

"The first time it happened, he was only buried like a week, and we found four black candles on each side of his headstone," said brother Preston Machado.

Police said they are investigating the latest incident, but have no leads as of yet. Family members said they also find dead animals and a lot of litter whenever they come by to clean the grave, including animals apparently used in voodoo ceremonies. Machado said the family would be visiting more frequently until more security measures are put into place.

Strange.

Strange in 78250

There are always little odd things around San Antonio, and the ever-vigilant Dave spots them from time to time. Here are his latest pics.

Someone who definitely should have thought a little more

If you get in an argument with your girlfriend while on the road, it's not a good idea to interfere with her driving. You might end up on the losing end of the whole thing.

Joseph Tovar, 23, was not wearing a seat belt, police said.

Traffic investigators said they later learned that Tovar caused the crash. According to police, Tovar was having an argument with his girlfriend, who was driving the SUV, when Tovar allegedly reached over and pulled on the steering wheel.

Police said the car veered toward the right, and Tover's girlfriend overcorrected, causing the SUV to flip over.

"He was ejected from the vehicle and the vehicle rolled over him, killing him there at the scene," said Sgt. Joe Rios, with the San Antonio Police Department.

(from KSAT-12)

Thankfully, the others in the car are going to be OK.

"Girl Scouts robbed as they sell cookies outside store"

Oh, this is just wrong. Somebody reeeaaalllly wants other people to think he's a bad man.

Two little girls and their troop leader were robbed outside a North Side store Wednesday night. The Brownie troop leader became emotional as she told News 4 WOAI how she witnessed the thief steal from the two 3rd graders.

...

"We were finishing up our shift and we were packing up our cookies," explained the girls' troop leader.

That troop leader, who doesn't want to be identified, said a man then walked up to their table.

"I didn't even think he was looking at the money," said told News 4 WOAI. "I thought he was leaning over to look in the box, like 'What do you have in there?'"

She said then all of a sudden, the man snatched their bag of money and ran off. He got away with about $250. The troop leader chased him, but he got into a car with a woman and drove off.

(from WOAI-TV)

What a winner. I bet his woman is proud of him.

UPDATE: The police have captured two suspects.

The wiener was in town!

And Alan at Blogonomicon got a good look at it!

That's one big hot dog.

"Illinois Man Charged With Defacing Alamo"

Taggers come in all stripes and have no respect.

SAN ANTONIO -- An Illinois man may not forget the Alamo after he faces charges of defacing the historic monument.

Stephen Henrey Wise, 44, of Evanston, Ill., has been charged with criminal mischief after allegedly writing three letters on a patch of limestone at the monument near the intersection of Avenue E and Houston Street.

(from KSAT-12)

Watch out, man. Ozzy got banned for this sort of thing.

Gambling in Universal City

The town of Universal City is already a suburb of San Antonio, and it even has its own casino!

Well, until recently, that is.

The 51-year-old woman was arrested and charged with running a sophisticated gambling operation outside her home last week, but it was an illegally parked vehicle that piqued investigators' interests, police said.

Denise Stewart, who lives at 604 Meadow Arbor Lane, was questioned by police who found out she was wanted on two outstanding warrants. During a subsequent search, officers found illegal drugs on her and she eventually admitted to keeping 15 8-liner machines inside her home, police said.

(from KSAT-12)

Do you think she had a full bar in there as well, or just beer and set-ups?

Thank God for the Trouble Shooters

It must be sweeps month.

How do I know? Because the News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters are letting nothing stand in the way of their investigation of that plane crash in New York. Not even the fact they they aren't in New York.

So, what have they found out? Here are their words ("News 4 Trouble Shooters Investigate Plane Crash"):

While investigators are still determining the cause of the crash in Buffalo, attention has turned to the airplane.

News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Brian Collister has been looking into the safety record of this plane.

The plane that crashed near Buffalo was new and had a clean safety record,

[sic] according to officials investigating the accident.

Whew. Thanks for clearing that up, WOAI. Now if we just had a board that could focus on transportation safety across the nation, perhaps we could get all aircraft accidents investigated properly.

Crashing a motorcycle

Strange events unfolded following an accident on Fredericksburg Road.

According to police, a man and a woman on a motorcycle struck an 18-wheel beer truck on the northbound lanes of Fredericksburg Road between Oaklawn and Loop 410. The man laid the bike down, but the woman was apparently run over by the beer truck, police said.

She was taken to University Hospital in critical condition.

Witnesses said the man driving the motorcycle then started shouting for his gun, found his gun and threatened the beer truck driver. The driver of the big rig took off, witnesses said, and the motorcyclist allegedly threatened witnesses and himself, but did not fire any shots. San Antonio police did not confirm any of the witness reports, only saying they were investigating the collision as a traffic incident.

The motorcyclist was taken to an unknown hospital with unknown injuries. The driver of the beer truck returned to the scene and spoke with investigators.

(from KSAT-12)

If you were caught in traffic on Fred Road today, this is probably why.

Chasing client robbers

Remember Diana Minella, the lady who told clients she would take care of their traffic tickets, but instead she just took their money?

The WOAI Trouble Shooters literally chased her down in the street.



It must be sweeps month.

Seymour Perkins has died

Remember odd, strange Seymour Perkins?

He has died.

Elaine Ayo at the Express-News recalls his controversial life:

Perkins, 78, an eccentric self-taught artist who earned a national reputation among collectors of so-called "outsider" art, died Tuesday night at a local hospital, said Carlos Richardson, president of the Denver Heights Neighborhood Association.

It was a reputation almost unnoticed amid the controversies surrounding his house. City officials and some neighbors had called the house a haven for criminal activity and a dangerous, dilapidated building that needed to be torn down.

But supporters of Perkins called it a priceless piece of San Antonio culture that just needed to be cleaned up. Perkins’ case now sits in the 4th Court of Appeals, more than a year after a city board voted to demolish the house.

Its walls had been adorned with paintings and drawings, but these works were lost when the house was damaged in an October (2008) fire. A November 1997 fire destroyed the initial stages of the museum Perkins was dedicating to his slain daughter, Debbie Jo.

R.I.P Perkins.



(E-N slideshow here. Earlier Strange stuff here.)

Car crashes into movie theater

On purpose!

SAN ANTONIO -- Thieves crashed through a movie theater early Tuesday morning in an attempt to take off with an ATM.

The would-be theft happened at the Rialto Theater off of Loop 410 and IH-35 on the Northeast Side.

The driver of the Suburban crashed the SUV through the door and then through the lobby area, leaving tire tracks on the floor.

...

A member of the cleaning crew told News 4 WOAI he saw everything. He after [sic] the SUV crashed into the theater, he asked the driver of the SUV what happened. He didn't get a response from the driver, who then sped off and crashed through another part of the building to get out. The driver then hit another ATM that was in the parking lot of the theater, but was unable to get any cash out of it, either.

(from WOAI-TV)

Bunglers.

Someone who should relax a little more

If you can't stand the hit, stay out of the mosh pit.

Or at least keep your girlfriend out.

A man upset that his girlfriend was roughed up in a “mosh pit” shot a man who allegedly pushed the woman at a punk rock show near downtown early Saturday morning, authorities said.

The incident happened after the show at about 1:30 a.m., outside the Rock Bottom Tattoo Bar at Avenue B and East Jones Avenue.

According to a police report, the suspect drove up outside the club to say something to the victim about him pushing the girlfriend in the pit. Witnesses told police the victim apologized to the woman for the incident and then walked away, but the suspect continued to argue about the incident.

“I already apologized to her,” the man told the suspect, according to the police report. “What more do you want?”

As the car was driving off, the suspect fired out of a car window, striking the other man, who collapsed in the street.

(from the Express-News)

The victim is in critical condition. I hope he pulls through, and I hope the shooter finds a new perspective on life.

Equipment

Does anyone out there know what this piece of equipment is?



I assume its some kind of machine for pouring concrete or asphalt because it is in a road construction zone and it's called an "Easi-Pour." Whatever it is, it looks kind of strange. And it's at least 16 years old. Can any locals spot why I know this?

Mailing drugs

Let's say your husband is in jail. And let's say he's dying for some heroin. What should you do?

Hm. Mail it to him, maybe?

SAN ANTONIO -- Two cousins are accused of mailing heroin to one's incarcerated husband in San Antonio.

The U.S. Marshal's Service says the packages were intercepted.

Officers on Friday arrested 26-year-old Monica Ramos of Von Ormy and 20-year-old April Villarreal of San Antonio.

Both were indicted Wednesday on two counts of distribution of heroin and possession of heroin. The 33-year-old inmate, Noe Martinez, is married to Ramos.

(from KSAT-12)

Yeah, I think the U.S. Postal Service frowns on that kind of mail.

Car crashes into house

A Jimmy takes on Jim's house, with predictable results.

Jim Wheeler said he was walking through his home when he heard tires squealing. Seconds later, his house shook and glass flew everywhere. "I didn't see the whole thing, but I was standing about 2 feet from that wall two minutes earlier,” he said.

The GMC Jimmy jumped the curb, hit a sign and sped across the back yard before smashing into the house, police said. It came to a rest on Wheeler’s bed.

Wheeler said he knows what would have happened had anyone been in the bed at the time. "They would have been dead,” he said.

(from KSAT-12 -- video here)



No word on the fates of any fences.

PETA protests with a shower

Dorks.

SAN ANTONIO -- Two women representing the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were part of a protest focusing on the bare essentials.

The demonstration in front of the Alamo was an effort to encourage [sic] people from eating meat, and used a nearly-nude woman in a portable shower to explain how the water used to prepare one pound of meat is the equivalent to six months of showers.

(from WOAI-TV)

Now, can the Texas Beef Council do the same thing with a hottie showering and explaining how much water is used to grow plants?

"Girl on Girl Kiss Leads to Arrests"

Lesbians in the mall? A kiss might get some attention.

Now that you've got the attention, try not fighting with a deputy.

Just a day after Christmas the two 22-year-olds came to Rolling Oaks Mall. One of the girls was Jessica Garcia. Her attorney says she was sitting on a bench inside the mall with her girlfriend's legs resting on her own legs. Garcia’s girlfriend then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Mall security and a Bexar County deputy saw the kiss and asked the two girls to leave for violating the mall's code of conduct. Garcia’s attorney says if the couple was heterosexual there wouldn't have been a problem and a kiss on the cheek certainly isn't offensive to reasonable people.

The other side of the story News 4 WOAI got from the arrest reports reads a little different. It says the two were making out and after the couple was asked to leave they came back inside the mall and the two sides began to argue. The arrest report says the girls were yelling profanities at the officers.

It ended with both girls under arrest and Garcia thrown to the ground.

(from WOAI-TV)

And here's an excerpt from a statement the mall management gave:

You will find that the women were not arrested for kissing at the mall. Rather, their aggressive behavior led to their arrest and resulted in the pending criminal charges. The women refused to comply after they had been warned about their disruptive behavior. They began using profanity with the officers and subsequently were asked to leave the mall. Unfortunately, they decided to re-enter the mall and upon being approached by a Bexar County Sheriff's Deputy and mall security, the women became physically combative and verbally abusive.

Now you have both sides of the story. Kissing or making out? Would they have been ejected regardless of their orientation had the making out been heavy enough? Should they have gone back inside to argue their point or just gone home?

You make the call.

Chupacabra!

In Silver Creek 78250!

Fork

What do you think, art or sign?



The Stone Oak Property Owners Association doesn't like it, no matter what it is.

A sculpture of an oversized fork recently installed outside two new Stone Oak restaurants has drawn the ire of the local property owners association.

The Vatel Restaurant Group didn't have permission to install the giant aluminum fork on its property at 20626 Stone Oak Parkway, and now must either remove it or relocate it to a spot not easily seen from the road, said the Stone Oak Property Owners Association.

The flap over the big fork: Its owner has deemed it a work of art; the POA has deemed it advertising, a sign that screams “Eat here.”

“It's a lovely piece of work, but it's a sign,” said Sandy Whitley, chairwoman of the Stone Oak Architectural Review Committee. “If you allow something like that, there's nothing to prohibit a Shoney's Big Boy. That's the problem.”

Were the sculpture of anything else, there likely wouldn't be a problem with it, Whitley said. [emphases added]

(from Jennifer Hiller of the Express-News)

I think the property owners association is being a bit of a stick in the mud here. That fork is obviously a piece of art, even if it is advertising a restaurant. And what kind of argument is it to say if the sculpture were "of anything else, there likely wouldn't be a problem"?

Really? Anything? What about a nude woman (as long as it isn't in Diane Cibrian's district)? Or a zombie eating brains? Or a giant garden gnome? Or anything by Picasso? Are all these really preferable to a tasteful, if odd, work of art that might also be construed as drawing attention to the business it is installed in front of?

I think not. The fork is fine, and it should be left where it is. It will give the place some character, and it may even draw people out there (to spend money, perhaps, at area restaurants and shops) who might not otherwise brave the traffic of North Loop 1604.

Stone Oak should be glad for the fork.

"Driver Crashes into Mother & Kids"

A car accident by itself is not very strange, but when the driver that did the crashing is allegedly drunk, hits a car with a family inside, injures those people while escaping injury himself, and then gets angry when some Good Samaritans try to help out the injured woman and children, then that's just weird.

San Antonio Police say two men were driving an SUV on San Eduardo when they ran a stop sign at Durango. That’s when they hit a family of three. The two vehicles collided and the SUV flipped over and landed on it roof.

The men inside were fine, but the driver was arrested on charges of driving under the influence. The mother and her two young children were taken to the hospital. None of them have life-threatening injuries.

Officer Reyna with the San Antonio Police Department tells News4 WOAI the men started a fight with neighbors who came out to check on the safety of everyone involved.

“They tried to get out of the car, the residents tried to help the other people who were inside Malibu. I guess the people in the Blazer didn’t appreciate it too much, and got into an altercation over it.”

(from WOAI-TV)

Amazing.

"Driver Killed In NW Side Crash"

Wow. He must have been going fast. Look at the way that car is wedged up there.

SAN ANTONIO -- A man was killed Friday morning in a one-vehicle crash on the city's northwest side.

Police said the driver may have been speeding on a Loop 1604 access road near Interstate 10 West at around 1:30 a.m. when he lost control of his sport utility vehicle.

The SUV then went up a concrete embankment and got wedged underneath an I-10 overpass, police said.

The man died at the scene.

(from KSAT-12)

Keeping it in the family

Where do criminals come from? Their mothers.

Richard Stewart stopped at the Stop Buy Food Mart last month when he dropped his keys before paying.

"I was on the cell phone, I paid the clerk... with my money, and I left the wallet on the counter," he said.

Minutes later, video surveillance shows a woman and two children walk to the counter. One of the children begins to play with the wallet before the woman places the wallet in the child's hands and they leave.

(from KSAT-12)

No word on whether they caught the woman and child.

"David Crockett Re-enlists During Alamo Ceremony"

This is pretty cool.

SAN ANTONIO -- A reenlistment ceremony at the Alamo on Wednesday included Davy Crockett.

Despite his famous name, Army Staff Sgt. David O'Neal Crockett, said he wasn't trying to draw a crowd for his re-enlistment ceremony in front of the Alamo shrine, but about 70 people including at least 10 other military members watched Crockett take his oath.

"I felt a devotion to my namesake to re-enlist here due to the fact that I may be a distant relative of the David Crockett of Tennessee," Crockett said.

The former Crockett is known to Texans as one of the defenders of the Alamo who died on March 6, 1836, in the final battle for the downtown settlement.

(from KSAT-12)

Someone who needs to start thinking more

If you don't have children now, here's what you can expect: Your life is never the same again. You don't get to go out like you used to, your money is in shorter supply, and your efforts are completely dedicated to a little human being that depends on you for everything.

In short, it's hard work, and it's a lot of responsibility, but it's strangely gratifying, too.

But, I suppose this woman never really thought about parenting in that way.

SAN ANTONIO -- A mom was arrested for leaving her children in a car while she goes into a bar. That mom, police say, was drunk when they found her.

Police say the mom left both of the children in the car parked across the street from the E&G Sports Bar.

Officers arrested 39-year-old Eva Mauricio inside the sports bar over the weekend. Police say the mom left one of her children asleep in the backseat and the other child was left awake in the front seat.

(from WOAI-TV)

I guess it's a good thing the night wasn't as cold as it's supposed to be tonight.

Car crashes into house!

OK, it's not really a house. It's a church. And it's in Germany, not San Antonio. But this bit from Willie Geist at MSNBC.com shows that the practice of vehicle-on-building violence is international in scope, no matter how prevalent the incidents are here in the Alamo City!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Egads, that car was flying!

P.S.: Watch the rest of the clip for some Blago craziness and some lucha libre!

"Man Kills Father, Son Before Committing Suicide, Police Say"

It's a sad thing, but strange in its generational sweep.

SAN ANTONIO -- Police are investigating an apparent double murder-suicide on the city's north side.

Investigators said a man in his 50s shot and killed his 90-year-old father, then shot and killed his son, believed to be in his 20s, before turning the gun on himself. The shooting happened about 6 p.m., at 2139 Babs Drive near the intersection of West Avenue and Basse Road.

(from KSAT-12)

"Jailed Drug Offender Mistakenly Let Go"

Oops.

Reginald Adams pled guilty to a 2006 possession with intent to distribute and was serving his sentence in the Bexar County Jail. During the ensuing years, the 28-year-old was charged with as many as 16 other crimes. One by one, the charges were dropped. Finally, on Jan. 16 the final three offenses were dismissed.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s office says court personnel erroneously entered information which showed Adams was free to go – and neglected to show the current 12-year-sentence he was serving. So on Jan. 17, a surprised Adams was released from county custody.

...

On Friday, deputies and U.S. Marshals were searching for Adams. In addition to his current sentence, he faces a possible escape charge. Officials explain even though he was released through a clerical mix-up, Adams should have told jailers of the mistake – and remained behind bars. [emphasis added]

(from WOAI-TV)

Just can't get good, honest prisoners these days.

Telling you what's good for you

Diane Cibrian, the District 8 city councilwoman who wishes to be San Antonio's mayor, has been emboldened by her efforts to keep a strip club out of a neighborhood (it was really the access road of a highway) in her district. Now she wants to prevent any strip club from ever opening in San Antonio, according to KSAT-12.

Welcome to prigville. (Emphases added.)

District 8 City Councilwoman Diane Cibrian is once again trying to keep the man who previously attempted to open Boobie Rock from trying again in another part of his district, and also throughout the city.

"The city of San Antonio has faced a very serious situation with strip bars that have attempted to move into neighborhoods," she said. "We know that when live entertainment is coupled with a cover charge, many times this is for the usage by strip bars."

That'll come as a surprise to all the live-music venues out there.

Cibrian said her proposal would prevent strip clubs from opening across the city. Should her proposal pass, all existing businesses would be grandfathered [for now --ed.]. The attorney representing the man who attempted to open the club the first time would neither confirm nor deny his client was trying to open a new club.

If I remember correctly, some news article somewhere once said that Cibrian was pro-business. Well, at least business she approves of, I guess.

Car crashes into house

If you get into an argument with someone in the car, you might want to hold off on the angry outbursts until you come to a stop. Otherwise, you might end up in a house.

An argument that began in a car ends in someone's kitchen. Police say the driver of a car was speeding down Henderson Pass while arguing with a passenger. That's when that driver lost control of the car and ended up going through the yard and inside a home on Laurel Hollow. No word tonight if that driver faces any charges.

(from KABB)

"Can of Beans Opens Up Lawsuit"

But it's not about the money, no sir.

A couple barbecuing for some friends finds an unexpected ingredient in their baked beans. They sent the contents of the can off to a lab and now they are suing food giant ConAgra.

This happened two years ago, no one went to the hospital no one even got sick [sic] -- so why the lawsuit?

Sauce and, of course, beans. That's what Rodolfo Zuniga and his fiancée Velma Dimas expected when they bought a can of ConAgra’s Ranch-Style [sic] Beans.

Zuniga says, “We were getting ready to eat and I opened up the can beans [sic] and put it in the pot.”

Velma even tasted the beans before noticing something besides beans in the pot.

She says, “To me it looked like a rat but then I started messing with it.”

What the couple says they found was a green-grayish blob, which a lab later determined was mold. They say they immediately called the 800 number on the can to alert ConAgra, which then offered the couple coupons worth $200.

(from WOAI-TV)

The $200 obviously wasn't enough, so they sued for more. But the story notes that "[b]ecause of how the lawsuit was filed the most the couple can get is $10,000." But, remember, it's not about the money!

On a side note, here is a close-up of the can's label that WOAI used to illustrate the story.



Does anyone else remember when Ranch Style Beans were Husband Pleasin'? I guess that phrase wasn't feministically correct and was changed somewhere along the way.

(Note to self: Buy some Ranch Style Beans the next time I'm at the store. It's been too long since I've had some.)

More shenanigans in Alamo Heights

If you want to make a point at a city council meeting, a different approach might get the attention you are seeking. But, it also might get you some unintended consequences.

During the Jan. 12 Alamo Heights City Council meeting, residents living along Mary D Avenue urged city leaders to exert parking restrictions along the street, amidst commercial property owners' requests for more areas along Mary D to be designated for two-hour parking. The street begins at the 4900 block of Broadway and ends at Encino.

Homeowners share street frontage along the artery with commercial property owners, including the popular Cappy's restaurant. With no parking restrictions, the south end of the street is the point of contention, while the north side of the street has both two-hour parking zones and “No Parking Anytime” areas fronting residences.

...

Commercial property owners George Geis and restaurateur Cappy Lawton denied their garbage collection began at dawn, as residents suggested. Instead, Geis said his trash collector makes rounds at 7 a.m. while Lawton said his service operates between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Resident Tom Hall of the 100 block of Mary D insisted garbage collection for Cappy's starts at 3 a.m.

Prefacing his commentary by noting his penchant for visual aids, he distributed condoms to council members to illustrate part of refuse accumulating on his yard from the increased motorist traffic. He then unfurled a plastic garbage bag, strategically placing it at the podium to further illustrate impromptu garbage collection on his lawn.

...

After Lawton's remarks, Hall asked to re-address the council. Ambling slowly to the podium, he paused for a moment while Lawton found his seat in the audience. He then loudly slammed the podium at full strength, startling both audience and council members.

His non-verbal illustrative tool did not go over well.

Councilwoman Susan Harwell was particularly stunned: “City council people have been shot at, sir!” she said, alluding to the huge, unexpected sound made by the podium pounding.

(from the Express-News)

I don't think Hall won the city council over to his side, especially the lady who has apparently been on the wrong end of a firearm. But he does seem to have a knack for presentation.

"Alamo Heights cracks down on crass ads"

Do you find your advertising efforts limited by local government? Apparently you just need to get creative!

Facing an increased trend of unique advertising methods by some merchants literally hurling their corporate literature on private property – including rolled-up flyers stuffed into cups thrown on lawns by a pizza maker – Alamo Heights is seeking to ban certain marketing methods.

...

[Alamo Heights Police Chief Rick] Pruitt also cited the example of a local landscaper that put rocks in a plastic bag with their advertising flyers, citing the danger that could result from that advertising ploy.

...

A related ordinance – written in detailed language seemingly to cover all the bases – already exists to protect property owners from local ad ploys: “…placing, attaching, painting, writing, stamping or pasting any sign, advertisement or other matter upon any house, wall, fence, gatepost, gate or tree box…”

As exquisitely detailed as the ordinance is, some merchants have found a way around it, necessitating even more restrictions. Pruitt proposed an amendment to the ordinance prohibiting projectile publicity.

(from the North San Antonio Times)

Heh heh heh. "Prohibiting projectile publicity." Journalists just live for alliteration, sometimes.

"High-rise For Seniors Still Empty"

Have you ever wondered how Robert Neville felt inside? The Guzmans know.

The Four Oaks Tower was supposed to have 24-hour security, a maintenance man, and other amenities. But instead, only two tenants ever moved in and the rest of the building is empty.

Inside the Four Oaks Tower, you'll find unfinished apartments, torn up floors, and building materials scattered everywhere. You won't find any tenants except for the Guzman family and one other couple.

"This was to be our retirement. He's 81 and I'm 82. And this was going to be it," said Velma Guzman, Four Oaks Tower tenant.

The Guzman's bought a luxury condo on the seventh floor early in 2006, when the building was originally called The Chancellor. Since then, the building has changed owners and construction was stalled.

Velma Guzman tells us they have no maintenance man and no one in the building to help them if something goes wrong.

(from WOAI-TV)

Charlton Heston or Will Smith might be able to help out. Except Heston's dead. Better get Smith on the phone.

Car crashes into house

This time with fire!

SAN ANTONIO – News4 WOAI is uncovering new information about how a driver had to jump out [sic] his car on I-37 before it crashed into a house and caught the house on fire.

Witnesses tell police that a car, which was on fire, left the expressway and hit a house. The driver was northbound on I-37 when he noticed his rear seat was on fire. He jumped out of the car, which then slammed into a home near S. Hackberry and Rigsby.

(from WOAI-TV)

The house caught fire, too, but no one inside was hurt. The driver was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, but his condition was unknown at the time of this report.

"Eastside Community is Victim of Taggers' Onslaught"

This is news?

Neighbors in a San Antonio community are busy cleaning up the mess some vandals are leaving behind.

Residents found bright-colored graffiti covering their homes and businesses.

It's a big problem covering a small Eastside street.

This is news.

"S.A. finds $30 million windfall"

And the politicians are stumbling over themselves trying to find a way to spend it.

No really. The Express-News says so:

Thanks to past lapses of financial oversight, stretching back 25 years in some cases, the City Council finds itself with a surprise $30 million — and it’s ready to spend.

"It’s kind of like your long-lost cousin has left you a bunch of money," Mayor Phil Hardberger said.

During a Friday news conference, Hardberger and Councilwoman Delicia Herrera lavished praise on City Manager Sheryl Sculley for finding the $30 million, essentially the financial dregs of more than 1,000 bond projects. According to Sculley, the money — left over from the projects — sat in the bank and collected interest, instead of going to debt repayment or into similar projects, as it should have.

...

Word of the windfall left Councilwoman Lourdes Galvan atwitter.

"Our hearts were pumping yesterday just thinking about all the things we were going to do with the money," she said.

Your tax dollars -- and salivating elected officials -- at work for you.

"70 Dead Cats Found in Bags Outside San Antonio"

Bad day to be a cat around San Antonio.

MARION, Texas (AP) - Authorities are trying to find out who stuffed 70 dead Siamese cats into seven large trash bags and dumped them onto a road in Guadalupe County.

(from WOAI-TV)

All Siamese. That's strange.

Fattest again. So what.

San Antonio made the top 10 fattest cities list again, according to Men's Fitness magazine. Ho hum.

I just wish our local news media would stop reporting on this annual insult to San Antonio as if it were real news.

Someone who has been thinking too much

And, just to outcreep the creepiness of the guy in the previous post, here's this shining example of humanity.

SAN ANTONIO -- A 58-year-old man was charged with improper photography after sheriff's officials said they found a hidden camera in his teenage stepdaughter's bedroom.

Sheriff's officials told KSAT 12 News they also found a flat-panel television in the family's garage with a live image coming from the 16-year-old's bedroom.

"She advised that upon entering the back garage, she noticed a flat screen TV on the center near the entrance of the garage, and she noticed what she recognized to be her bedroom," Bexar County Sheriff's public information officer Ino Badillo said.

...

The man has been married to the girl's mother for 10 years, sheriff's officials said. The girl's mother declined to comment when contacted by KSAT 12 News on Monday afternoon.

(from KSAT-12)

Yep, the guy was just dumbass enough to leave the feed on so the girl could discover it and alert the police. Thank God for small favors.

Someone who should have thought a little more

Teachers, guess what -- it's probably not a good idea to have sex with your students. Especially not if you teach middle school.

And it's definitely not a good idea to take pictures and send them to the student.

A Heritage Middle School teacher is arrested after the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says he sexually assaulted one of his students and used his cell phone to tape the assaults.

Bryan Kung has bonded out of jail. He’s facing charges of sexual assault on a child and possession of child pornography. Deputies say the alleged relationship began last March with the eighth grade student and 23-year-old Kung.

The mother of the student says she found naked pictures of the teacher on her daughter’s cell phone. Deputies tell News 4 WOAI that Kung admitted to sending them to the student.

(from WOAI-TV)

Similar story as a warning here.

Car crashes into home

Well, at least just the porch of the home, thanks to another, generous vehicle.

Police said the driver was speeding north of South Zarzamora Street at around 10 p.m. when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a parked pickup truck at West Gerald Avenue.

The car then flipped and took out the front porch of a home.

Police said the parked pickup truck acted as a buffer and prevented the car from crashing directly into the home.

(from KSAT-12)

No serious injuries were reported.

UPDATE: Zounds! It's the same crash as the previous post! The descriptions by the two television stations were so different that I initially thought I had come across two crashes in one day! But I didn't! It's the same crash reported differently by different outfits.

Just goes to show, you should never place all your faith in initial reports.

Truck crashes into house

Here's the latest crime visited upon a place of residence.

The incident happened around 9:30pm at a home on West Gerald and South Zarzamora.

It appears the truck hit a corner section of the house then stopped. There is no word on any injuries. Emergency crews are on the scene and neighbors have also gathered around to check out what happened.

(from WOAI-TV)

No word on the fates of nearby fences.

Shooting for the stars, and not expecting them to fall

San Antonio City Council is refining the wish list it sent to the federal government in hopes of a boon from Obama's stimulus package. Nothing particularly strange there, but I did like Mayor Hardberger's quote in the KSAT story.

City officials began compiling the list as soon as President-elect Barack Obama floated the idea of an economic stimulus plan for cities. The ideas outlined would create about 23,000 jobs and includes San Antonio River improvements, multiple public works projects and other priorities.

"The truth is, we will probably get something, but we don't know how much, and I think it behooves everybody not to get their wish list up too high," Hardberger said. "It's kind of like asking Santa Claus for 25 things, but you're lucky enough to get a tricycle."

That's a good quote, and it portrays Hardberger as a genuinely fine and honest fellow. I don't agree with some of the things he has a vision for, but he seems like a nice guy, and I think he would probably be re-elected handily if he could run for mayor again.

Robbing clients

Lawyers take your money, but you would expect them to actually do something, right? I mean besides taking your money.

Look at this tale, then, and think twice about paying a lawyer to fix a ticket for you.

Local attorney Diana Minella sent letters to thousands of people who got traffic tickets promising to settle their case for a fee.

She's accused of taking their money and not taking care of their tickets.

San Antonio's municipal court overflowed Tuesday with hundreds of people who thought their traffic citations were being handled by their attorney.

...

[Janie] Churbie paid attorney Diana Minella $200, plus the amount of her fines, to take care of her case. But the lawyer never did that.

Now, Janie is out of that money and still has to pay the fines and court costs to clear her driving record.

...

"I paid her $452 so she could take care of all of this and all I had to do was my defensive driving test." Zeke Ramirez paid Minella to clear his record. Minella only made a partial payment of $5. Zeke did not know that.

...

Back in court, lawyers from the San Antonio Bar Association volunteered to help the angry motorists. [sic] With even more still unaware their tickets are still hanging over their heads.

"What we had set for today was in the neighborhood of 700 to 1,000 cases," said Judge Bull. "We anticipate there is a larger volume out there of people that maybe don't know."

(from WOAI-TV)

Next time, if you get a traffic ticket, think about just mailing a check. It's probably easier, and it might not cost you as much.

Oh, and kudos to the lawyers from the S.A. Bar Association that are helping clear up this mess for free. They are doing a good thing for these people.

"Fight Breaks Out At House Fire"

They are firefighters, not fist fighters.

A man believed to have deliberately started a house fire was arrested Saturday when he got into a fight with firefighters.

When firefighters arrived at a home in the 100 block of Osage, they found two men involved in a fistfight.

While some firefighters tried to put out the flames, others tried to separate the men, said district Chief Pedro Garza.

"When they tried to separate them, the possible suspect started to turn his frustration on the fire crew," Garza said.

(from KSAT-12)

ASIDE: Do we really have to call them firefighters? I understand there's a sentiment out there that we should all adopt gender-neutral language, but, on this point, I don't think we should. I don't recall ever seeing a woman hold the position of firefighter. Do you? In such situations, I don't think there's any harm in referring to our brave fighters of blazes as firemen. After all, in the Air Force they still have airmen, whether they are female or not, and the Navy has seamen. Does gender-neutral language still matter these days? Did it ever, really, beyond the sentiments of feminists and politically-correct-minded people?

Car crashes through garage door

Domicile destruction ensues, but it looks like this is a case of a bad temper. And I'm having a bit of trouble following the sequence of events.

SAN ANTONIO -- A 38-year-old man was arrested Saturday after he drove his car though a garage door on the city's east side.

Sgt. Mario Cervantes of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said the man got upset with a 14-year-old niece and ordered the girl to leave with him.

The girl then got scared and ran to a neighbor's home, Cervantes said.

"He still thought she was inside the residence, so he came outside the residence, grabbed their dog, threw the dog inside the vehicle," Cervantes said.

The man then yelled for the teen to go with him, Cervantes said.

The man then drove the car though the garage at a home in the 7500 block of Rustic Trail, Cervantes said.

The girl was not seriously injured, Cervantes said.

(from KSAT-12)

Let me see if I've got this straight: Man orders girl to leave with him. She runs to another house. Man doesn't notice. Man grabs dog and throws it into vehicle. Man yells to girl in house where she is not. He drives through the garage. She is injured, but not seriously.

?

Was she in the house or not? If she wasn't, how could she have been injured at all? If the man drove to the house where she ran to and crashed there, then obviously he knew where she was, so why point out that the man thought she was somewhere else?

And what's with the dog? With that element, this story reminds me of the Book of Tobit.