Free Republic

Rather than face a hearing on a petition seeking his removal from office for refusing to protect the citizens of Nueces County, Democrat Texas District Attorney Mark Gonzalez resigned Tuesday, then announced his candidacy for Republican incumbent Ted Cruz’s Senate seat. On September 12, a hearing at Nueces County Courthouse was scheduled regarding a petition to remove Gonzalez from office, which cites several charges of the George Soros-aligned district attorney’s dereliction of duty, including: High Rate of Criminal Dismissals: Nearly three of every four criminal cases, including at least one murder indictment, were dismissed in Nueces Country over a three-year...

CORPUS CHRISTI — A day after learning of the arrest of a former Corpus Christi resident involved in an alleged international terror plot to assassinate an ambassador, local and federal authorities met to strengthen communications. When federal agents announced Tuesday they had arrested Mansour Arbabsiar, 56, it was the first local authorities had heard about the case, said Sheriff Jim Kaelin. Arbabsiar had previous arrests in Nueces County during nearly 20 years living in the area. That meant arrest records and personal details were on file in the county's warehouse. But no one from any federal agency ever asked for...

CORPUS CHRISTI — For offenders in Nueces County, serving time doesn’t always mean sitting in a jail cell. Many are sweating off their debt to society on the side of highways picking up trash, on county beaches and lending a hand to local nonprofits. The Alternative Incarcerations and Jail Industries programs were started in the 1980s to help with jail overcrowding. Since then, the idea has remained the same: take non-violent offenders, most of whom would otherwise have been sent to jail, and put them to work. Offenders only can end up in alternative incarcerations program through a judge’s order....

The Texas Department of Transportation is asking Nueces County residents to attend a public meeting in Driscoll to comment and provide input on proposed upgrades of US 77 to a controlled access facility that meets interstate standards. The purpose of the meetings is to review proposed options for upgrading US 77 and to present recommendations, TxDOT officials said. The first round public meetings were held in early March. This second round of public meetings is being held as part of TxDOT's continued effort to gain public input on issues related to proposed improvements and to provide an opportunity for public...

ROBSTOWN, Tex. — Leon Little’s farm here near Corpus Christi would not be seized for Texas’s proposed $184-billion-plus superhighway project for 5 or 10 years, if ever. But Mr. Little was alarmed enough to show up Wednesday night with hundreds of his South Texas coastal neighbors to do what the Texas Department of Transportation has been urging: “Go ahead, don’t hold back.” Don’t worry. Texans have gotten the message, swamping hearings and town meetings across the state to grill and often excoriate agency officials about a colossal traffic makeover known as the Trans-Texas Corridor, a public-private partnership unrivaled in the...

A so-called “NAFTA Superhighway” earned support from the city’s mayor and discussion among residents Monday during a public hearing on the Texas Department of Transportation’s I-69 project. TxDOT held a public hearing at the Brownsville Events Center Monday to explain the progress of the Trans-Texas Corridor, a future segment of Highway I-69, which will link the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S.-Canada border. After a short presentation, the floor was open for comments. Among the local politicians, college students and retirees at the hearing there was a wide range of opinion on the project. According to Mario Jorge, district engineer for...

When the Texas Department of Transportation begins work on the I-69/Trans Texas Corridor, the U.S. 77 leg from Victoria to Brownsville will be developed first. Cameron County Commissioners revealed the information during Tuesday’s Cameron County Commissioners Court meeting. County officials received the news from the state’s Turnpike Authority Division on Monday. In a letter to Cameron County, Turnpike Authority Division Director Phillip E. Russell said, TXDOT has identified U.S. 77 as “high priority” and the “first near term facility to be developed under the I-69/TTC Comprehensive Development Agreement.” The U.S. 77 Highway runs from Victoria to Brownsville. Precinct 3 Commissioner...

CORPUS CHRISTI — The family of a man who was shot by a Nueces County Sheriff’s deputy in June filed a wrongful death lawsuit last week against the county and the deputy. Deputy Burl Smith shot Miguel Angel Ramirez 10 times on June 7 after Ramirez, who was walking along Interstate 37 with an 18-inch machete, did not obey orders to drop the machete. A grand jury in July declined to indict Smith on any charges in connection with the shooting. The suit, filed by Ramirez’s parents, Cirilo Ramirez of Rosanky and Maria Guzman of Arlington, accuses the county of...

Attorney General Greg Abbott announced Thursday in Corpus Christi that his office has indicted a Robstown woman on felony charges in connection with voter fraud. Maria Dora Flores, 65, of Robstown was arrested on two counts of felony voting fraud and taken to the Nueces County Jail by investigators with the attorney general's office. Abbott said this was his office's first felony charge in connection with voting fraud and follows nearly a dozen misdemeanor indictments in the state since last summer. "The difference in her case is she actually cast a ballot for someone else," said Angela Hale, spokeswoman for...

Friday, May 5, 2006 Nueces County Woman Sentenced For Voter Fraud Josefina Marinas Suarez sentenced, fined for mail-in ballot violations CORPUS CHRISTI – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today announced the sentencing of a Nueces County woman who illegally handled mail-in ballots in the May 2005 Robstown ISD elections. Josefina Marinas Suarez, 44, was sentenced in Nueces County Court of Law No. 1 to one year deferred adjudication probation and a $500 fine after she pled guilty to one count of possessing an official ballot or carrier envelope of another. During the probation, Suarez will be prohibited from assisting any...