Free Republic

U.S Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee today said she has called for congressional hearings to investigate what she calls ''the many downfalls" of the Harris County judicial system. Recent incidents, including a grand jury's decision not to indict a Pasadena man who shot and killed two men suspected of burglarizing his neighbor, have brought into question whether the system is fair and unbiased, she said. The Democrat, who represents District 18, said she is also concerned and frustrated about derogatory e-mails circulated in the Harris County Sheriff's Offices, the mishandling of DNA by the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the...

An Austin woman credits her handgun and her own quick thinking with saving her life after she shot a man who was trying to attack her. Leonie Burgos said the man scaled a fence outside her apartment near Barton Skyway and South Lamar. When Burgos saw the man jump the fence, she ran inside and grabbed her .38 caliber pistol. She went back outside to see if the man had left. She said that's when he attacked her by tackling her to the ground from behind. Bergos said she shot the man only after trying to scare him with the...

Two hours were enough for José Luis Sánchez and his family to pack their most valuable belongings in two vans – items accumulated in 10 years of living in the Dallas area. With his wife, children and their suitcases in place, Mr. Sánchez closed the door of his Mesquite apartment for the last time, sat at the wheel of one of the vehicles – his brother drove the other – and hit the road back to his homeland. So ended his decade-long adventure as an illegal Mexican immigrant in the United States. According to Mexican consulate officials in Dallas, some...

Austin Police revealed Tuesday that 32-year-old Shane Flournoy, who is accused of paying a TSD student to expose himself, had inappropriate sexual contact with at least five boys in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Police say the boys were between the ages of 13 and 16-years-old and the abuse took place in the Houston and Harris County area. Investigators say he admitted to the abuse during questioning. Flournoy moved to Austin in May of 2007 and was hired at the Texas School for the Deaf as a dorm worker. He was also a youth minister at the Solid Rock...

At least 9,684 sterilizations and even some abortions may have been performed at Catholic hospitals in Texas between 2000 and 2003, a whistleblower report based on state records alleges. While Catholic ethical directives are supposed to govern Catholic healthcare systems, the report claims that “all six US Catholic hospital systems operating in Texas do not follow these directives.”  The July 13 issue of Our Sunday Visitor examines the anonymous group’s report, based upon data from the Texas government, which requires most major hospitals to file information from inpatient records. The group reportedly includes a self-described biostatistician who says she worked...

Since last October, Joe Horn has kept his voice to a minimum, granting few interviews to the media and erecting a prominent “No Trespassing� sign in the front lawn of the Pasadena home where his notoriety began. In the two days since a Houston grand jury decided not to indict Horn in the fatal shootings of two men he claimed were posing a threat to his life, the 62-year-old Pasadena retiree has suddenly become more talkative. By Wednesday, Horn, with his lawyer by his side, had granted excusive interviews to several print, radio and TV news entities, including Diane...

WASHINGTON — Besieged Texas sheriffs have vowed to press the White House and Congress to deliver emergency assistance to law enforcement officers battling drug cartels along the Mexican border to match the $400 million on its way to Mexico. The sheriffs said they were frustrated that President Bush and Congress agreed to provide assistance to Mexico as part of the Merida Initiative, without offering additional federal help to their departments. The officers said they'd seek direct federal assistance, as well as changes in Department of Homeland Security restrictions to permit local law enforcement departments to use homeland security funds to...

BROOKS COUNTY -- It's just before noon in the tangled woods of La Copa Ranch. U.S. Border Patrol Agent Rick Garcia makes his first discovery of the day. Through the web of mesquite brush and weeds, the footsteps of three immigrants crunch louder on the blanket of dead leaves as they approach the weathered ranch path. Garcia's partner, K-9 agent Chico, just found the immigrants struggling through the woods. Garcia asks the exhausted group in Spanish whether any of them have weapons, then how long they have been traveling on foot. "Two days," one woman replied in Spanish. The group...

2 leaders and 3 managers face charges after operation Last week their undocumented workers were hauled off to a detention facility, but today the owners and managers of a Houston rag exporting firm are in custody for employing the illegal immigrants. This morning a U.S. magistrate in Houston is scheduled to preside over the initial court appearance of two owners and three managers of Action Rags USA. The eastside company, located in a sweltering factory near the Port of Houston, was the scene of one of Houston's largest immigration raids when 166 undocumented workers were detained June 25. Federal charges...

Probe of launch near Bush airport has stalled... ... ...Continental pilot reported ... object that "went straight up" and left a long white vapor trail. ...A ... recording...shows the radar detected nothing but dozens of airplanes. ... airport ... radar is designed to track the departure and arrival of planes ... It would usually not pick up a small object ... that is going straight up... ... the pilot acknowledged spotting the object. The plane had then reached 4,750 feet elevation and was traveling at 277 mph... "...what this is on my 12 o'clock ... ? It's climbing about 20...

God knows I try–I really do–to keep an open mind when reading the less-than-conservative opinions put forth by columnists and editorial board writers of the Houston Chronicle.But then, in the midst of trying to argue a supposedly centrist, reasonable, moderately progressive argument about Texas’ Castle Doctrine and the  many complex issues surrounding property rights, personal protection, the criminal justice system, and the inherent regret most humans feel upon taking the life of another, they include a howler like this: What if Horn accidentally had killed a pair of teen-age boys engaged in an illegal graduation prank? What if one of...

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards says that he is not working to become the next vice president. But if Barack Obama offered him the chance, Edwards said, he would take it. "Would I serve if asked? Yes," he said in a brief interview on the Texas A&M University campus Wednesday morning. "It is a privilege just to be mentioned." Edwards' name surfaced as a possible candidate last week when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a Newsweek reporter that the Waco Democrat would be a good choice. Soon after the suggestion, Edwards -- who represents the 17th Congressional District, which includes Bryan-College...

Not even a week after the Supreme Court decided that gun bans are unconstitutional, a man accused of shooting to death two burglars who were robbing his neighbor's home has been set free despite the viciousness of his act. If you'll remember the story, Joe Horn, a 61-year-old Pasadena, Tex., resident spotted two burglars breaking into his neighbor's home in Nov. 2007. He dialed 911, but despite being warned to stay in his home, he declared that he has a right to use deadly force to defend his neighbor's property and that he was going to confront the robbers. He...

Just hours before a San Antonio homeowner shot and critically wounded a 21-year-old man who police said walked into his home, a Harris County grand jury cleared a Pasadena grandfather in the shooting deaths of two men suspected in a burglary of his neighbor's house last fall. The grand jury's action in the case of Joe Horn, 62, and the shooting by San Antonio homeowner Brian K. Stevens, 30, on Monday came one week after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed an individual's right to own a gun, striking down a longtime ban on handguns in Washington, D.C., that may lead...

MISSION -- Police busted a stash house Tuesday after a Honduran woman said she was sexually assaulted there. Officers raided the house -- at 2113 Sierra Court, near Mission Veterans Memorial High School on Mile 2 North and N. Mayberry Ave. -- about 11:25 a.m. Police had found the woman wandering along a nearby road in the wee hours earlier that morning. Police pulled over to see if she was OK and she told them she had been sexually assaulted at the brick house, Mission police spokesman Lt. Martin Garza said. The house likely sheltered illegal immigrants traveling north, he...

Youths, all 17, are being held at county jail Three 17-year-old male Bokencamp Children's Shelter detainees from Honduras were arrested by police about 8 p.m. Monday following an assault on four center staff members. Staff members told police that Edgardo Casco-Perez, Sergio Davine-Paz and Javier Nunez-Ramirez appeared to be plotting an escape attempt and they attacked staff members who attempted to separate them, according to a Tuesday police brief. The teens are suspected members of an El Salvadoran street gang, the brief said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol agents asked police to book the teens on...

Onenewsnow, the news clipping service of rabid right wing hate group American Family Association, heavily edits news content, blocks certain content, and uses a function called auto change to alter news service stories to fit the agenda of the hate group it serves. Well. They got caught big time yesterday by rewriting an AP headline on their website. It read "Homosexual eases into 100 Final at Olympic Trials". The actual AP headline was "Gay eases into 100 Final at Olympic Trials". The story was about sprinter Tyson Gay, brilliant 25 year old sprinter who ran a 9.68 100 meter race...

President Bush is scheduled to stop in Houston to help raise money for Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson's opponent and the Republican Party's statewide campaign for the Nov. 4 election. Bush will be the featured guest at a July 18 fundraising luncheon at the River Oaks home of former energy pipeline executive Dan Tutcher, according to an invitation sent to potential donors.

ELDORADO, Texas - A new clothing brand may be born out of the Texas raid on a polygamous sect. FLDS women for the first time are offering their handmade, distinctive style of children's clothes to the public through the Web site fldsdress.com. Launched initially to provide Texas authorities with clothing for FLDS children in custody, the online store now is aimed at helping their mothers earn a living. The venture, which has already drawn queries from throughout the U.S., is banking on interest in modest clothes, curiosity and charity to be a success. "We don't know what to expect on...

Michelle Obama has the goods on everyone down here in Texas.  She is telling the world what backward cretins Texuns is.  In a speech last week, Mrs. Messiah laid the wood to you sorry bastards: It’s not just about positions that you take. It’s also about the leadership that you provide on these issues. Barack has the courage to talk to skeptical audiences, not just friendly ones. That’s why he told a crowd at a rally in Texas that gays and lesbians deserve equality. And you can imagine in Texas that that crowd got a little quiet. Well, can’t you...

Austin (Texas) – BMW’s Hydrogen 7 sedan may still be a few years away, but if you just can’t wait and have the necessary cash on hand, you may be able to buy a hydrogen car later this year. Ronn Motors has begun accepting orders for its Scorpion sports car, which, according to its manufacturer, will be able produce hydrogen on-demand from an on-board water tank. If the Tesla Roadster and the Fisker Karma are too generic for you, there may be another choice this fall: Texas startup Ronn Motors unveiled its Scorpion yesterday. The sports car does not...

A Nigerian couple who are victims of a mortgage mix-up filed a lawsuit Monday in Williamson County against the company that removed everything they owned from the house, including family heirlooms, furniture and even food from the pantry. Bobo and Joy Dickson are suing Field Asset Services Inc. for failing to return their property. The lawsuit seeks money for the lost property plus compensatory damages, and called the company's conduct "malicious, callous and wanton." EMC Mortgage Corp., the Lewisville company that held the previous owner's loans, has apologized to the Dicksons. On Monday, EMC's parent company, banking giant JPMorgan Chase,...

Albert Einstein once said "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." Yesterday DBKP wrote about Joe Horn, the Texas man who was cleared by the Harris County Grand Jury after he shot two illegal "immigrants" when they had broken into a neighbor's home in Pasadena TX in November. Horn's actions, that of a private citizen using deadly force against someone committing a felony, were covered by a new Texas statute, the Castle Law, or Senate Bill 378. “Don’t go outside the house,” the...

Well, well, they just couldn’t leave well enough alone. In her latest attack on Joe Horn, the law abiding citizen that protected his neighbor’s home and his neighborhood’s peace and security, Lisa Falkenberg ends her column:The little old man from Pasadena gunned down two men like dogs. That is outrageous and she should be fired.Opinion is one thing. Baseless statements like that are slanderous and have no place in a serious newspaper. Joe Horn didn’t wake up one day wanting to shoot anyone. Two criminals broke into his neighbor’s home and then ran towards him as he was pointing a...

HIDALGO -- The pair of U.S. Border Patrol agents guide their horses under the fiery midday sun. One man spots more than a dozen people huddled beneath a grove of trees that sit just several yards before them. The two charge forward. Part of the gaggle breaks apart as the immigrants try to outrun the agents - a desperate run for escape while others remain beneath the trees. As one agent chases the runners while still on horseback, his partner breaks off and confronts the others in the shade. But as he approaches, the supposed coyote - clad in green...

REYNOSA - The family of a Pharr man brutally murdered last week could be linked to his death, Mexican authorities said Monday. Ramiro Torres Hernández, 25, was with his wife and cousin when he was kidnapped by two men, according to authorities. But neither the wife or cousin reported the kidnapping when it occured after midnight Wednesday, they said. The wife's and cousin's names were not released. A family member told investigators Torres had gotten off his vehicle at a Super 7 in the Luis Donaldo Colosio neighborhood of Reynosa when he was kidnapped, homicide unit chief Fernando Miranda Guerrero...

HOUSTON — A grand jury on Monday refused to indict a 62-year-old man who fatally shot two burglars last November as they fled his neighbor’s house.

new clothing brand may be born out of the Texas raid on a polygamous sect. FLDS women for the first time are offering their handmade, distinctive style of children's clothes to the public through the Web site fldsdress.com. Launched initially to provide Texas authorities with clothing for FLDS children in custody, the online store now is aimed at helping their mothers earn a living. The venture, which has already drawn queries from throughout the U.S., is banking on interest in modest clothes, curiosity and charity to be a success. "We don't know what to expect but we have had a...

In what authorities described as a bungled carjacking, a 28-year-old man was shot and critically wounded outside a South Side convenience store late Sunday night. San Antonio Police Officer Matthew Hollenbeck said the man, whose name was not immediately released, was shot by his would-be victim, in turn becoming the victim himself. He was among a group of people who arrived at the Kwik Trip Food Store at South Flores and East Southcross streets about 11:30 p.m. Half of the group went into the store, and the man, armed with a knife, went into a truck, whose driver was inside...

A Harris County grand jury decided today that Joe Horn should not be charged with a crime for shooting two suspected burglars he confronted outside his neighbor's home in Pasadena last fall.The decision to clear Horn of wrongdoing came two weeks after the grand jury began considering evidence in the case, including Horn's testimony last week.Horn, a 62-year-old retiree, became the focus of an intense public debate after the Nov. 14 shootings. Many supporters praised him as a hero for using deadly force to protect property, while others dismissed him as a killer who should have heeded a 911 operator's...

Waste Not, Want Not by: Deborah Lambert, June 30, 2008 There’s a new “academic endeavor” coming soon to a campus near you. It’s called “Waste Studies,” and according to Charlotte Allen in mindingthecampus.com, it’s not “the study of sewage systems or waste-processing plants.” Founded by Susan Signe Morrison, an English professor at Texas State University, San Marcos, the field of Waste Studies involves the way “societies are . . . structured around the control and regulation of excrement.” Not surprisingly, this new Marxist-inspired field of study was cooked up by the women’s studies movement. It seems that the dearth of...

A sign in front of Mauro Morales' Rio Grande City home announces his business for everyone to see. "Peyote Dealer," it proclaims in large block letters. Each day, drivers passing by slow down for double takes and some even pull over, get out and snap photos. Who can blame them?, Morales asks with a mischievous grin. He is, after all, part of a dwindling fraternity. The slight, 65-year-old Rio Grande City man is one of only three people in the United States - all in Starr and Webb counties -authorized to harvest and sell the psychedelic cactus. But as overharvesting...

Team rescued 120 women from grim conditions when it dismantled the operation in Houston The farewell party was in full swing at midnight when police came for Maximino "El Chimino" Mondragon, his accomplices and his victims — scantily dressed women and girls he forced to sell beers and sexual favors under the flashing lights of a revolving crystalline disco ball inside his strip mall bar off Hempstead Highway. Mondragon was celebrating his retirement at El Potrero de Chimino bar, also known as the Wagon Wheel. He had a one-way ticket back to his native El Salvador and blueprints in the...

McALLEN - A local resident was found wrapped, tortured and shot execution-style in Reynosa on Friday, according to a Mexican news report released Sunday. Ramiro Torres Hernández, 24, - a manager of a Burger King in McAllen - was found inside an abandoned vehicle's trunk in a rural field heading toward Rio Bravo in Ejido El Porvenir, El Universal wire service reported. Tamaulipas state police identified Torres as a Pharr resident. His visibly tortured body was wrapped in a blanket inside the trunk of a white 2000 Buick sporting Texas license plates, El Universal reported. He had been shot in...

Friendswood physician Robin Armstrong, a former medical missionary in Africa, recently was re-elected vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party, the only black person to serve in one of the state party's top two positions during the 20th and 21st centuries. Q: Affirmative action, what about that? A: I don't think it's a policy that's really necessary, and I think Barack Obama is a good example of that. People generally want to be helpful to minorities and want to see them succeed on their own. Sure, racism is out there, but I don't think that is the majority of people...

SAN ANTONIO — AT&T, the former Baby Bell that grew from San Antonio's largest corporate citizen into the world's biggest telecommunications company, stunned local business and government leaders Friday by saying it was moving its headquarters to Dallas. The move of about 700 executives and corporate support employees for the global telecommunications giant will begin in a few weeks and finish by early next year. About 5,300 jobs will stay in San Antonio and the city will remain the headquarters of AT&T Telecom Operations for 22 states. That was little consolation Friday for San Antonio leaders. "There was no inkling"...

SAN JUAN -- A Mission police officer has been suspended indefinitely after a Saturday morning arrest for allegedly driving an unmarked police car while drunk, officials said. This is at least the third arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated for Officer Martin Flores Villarreal, 40, of Mission, and at least his second while driving an unmarked Mission police car, according to court records and Trooper Johnny Hernandez, a local spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The first two charges, in 2004 and 2006, were both dismissed, court records indicate. Villarreal is suspended from the department indefinitely and...

The El Paso sector Border Patrol chief, a UTEP professor and the special agent in charge of the El Paso FBI spoke about the cartel war in Juarez and Mexico. The deadly cartel war responsible for dozens of deaths a week in Juarez is liable to go on for another two years, the El Paso’s Border Patrol Chief Victor Manjarrez said at today’s El Paso Press Club Meet the Press forum. UTEP Professor Tony Payan blamed the former governor of the state of Chihuahua and mayor of Juarez for allowing the lawless atmosphere that led to the armed struggle between...

As supporters pour into Bergfeld Park for that event, some less fortunate East Texans also want to help. KLTV 7 News' Lakecia Shockley shows you how a group of east Texans with so little, have found a way to donate so much to the Blood Water Mission. Every week, Newgate Missions provides free hot meals to homeless East Texans. But it's what the homeless give back that their ultimate sacrifice shows. For the past year, before every meal, the "homeless givers" have donated money to aid Blood Water in Africa. "I've been homeless for a while and I get to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- McCain appealed to Hispanic voters Saturday with a message against raising taxes and highlighting his patriotism alongside Latinos during the Vietnam War. McCain told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials it is a “terrible mistake to raise taxes during an economic downturn” and said increasing business and individual tax rates could hurt Latino businesses.

A recent article on OneNewsNow featured comments by Methodist pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, a Barack Obama supporter. The pastor took issue with James Dobson's contention that Obama distorts the Bible with his theological views. Caldwell, who is affiliated with the website JamesDobsonDoesntSpeakForMe.com, initially told OneNewsNow that the website was operated by Matthew 25, a political action committee working with Obama supporters. However, upon investigation, it was found that the site was actually registered to Alyssa Martin, an intern in the Obama campaign's "religious affairs" department. The domain registration has since been changed to Pastor Caldwell's name. In an earlier interview, Caldwell...

Marketers increasingly use commingling of languages for ads A billboard on U.S. Highway 77/83 reads, "Our huevos are bigger." The bigger huevos are the subject of a Stripes' convenient store advertisement for its in-store restaurant, the Laredo Taco Company. The sign's clever use of bilingual double entendre has caused quite a stir on this stretch of the Texas-Mexico border, in addition to being a source of amusement for some. The success of the sign hinges on the Spanish word huevo, which literally translates as egg and figuratively refers to a part of the male anatomy. The commingling of Spanish and...

A campaign worker for Barack Obama and the Texas Methodist pastor who advises President Bush have been linked to a website that bashes prominent Christian leader and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. The site, called "jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme," appeared just days ago after Dobson criticized Obama's interpretation of the Bible during a 2006 speech and Obama responded essentially by calling Dobson a liar, accusing him of "making things up." Now a report from OneNewsNow, a division of the American Family Association, said the website originally was registered to Obama campaign worker Alyssa Martin, but the registration later was changed to...

AUSTIN — The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday selected San Antonio's Zachry Construction Corp. and a Spanish toll road developer to plan a superhighway from Texarkana to Brownsville. The $5 million contract calls for Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure to create a financial plan for the Interstate 69 segment of the Trans-Texas Corridor. "This team represents the best in the balance of local and global expertise necessary to complete a project of this scope," said David Zachry, chief operating officer of Zachry Construction Corp. The private developers' plan calls for seven new loops around Corpus Christi and other cities...

Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, the minister who presided over the recent marriage of President Bush’s daughter Jenna, has launched a pro-Barack Obama Web site sharply critical of conservative stalwart James Dobson. Caldwell, leader of the largest Methodist congregation in the country, launched his “James Dobson Does Not Speak For Me” site a day after Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio program aired a statement charging that Obama distorted the Bible to fit “his own confused theology.” The site urges readers to sign a statement declaring that Dobson does not represent them. The statement reads in part: “James Dobson doesn't speak for...

Suspect in Harlingen police shooting, Abraham Mar, has been (Captured) The suspect in the shooting of a Harlingen police officer was transferred to U.S. custody from Mexican authorities Thursday evening, officials said. Abraham Mar, 18, of Harlingen, was in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection as of 7 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. Earlier in the evening police confirmed he was in the custody of Mexican authorities in Matamoros, Mexico, police spokesman David Osborne said. Mar faces a charge of attempted capital murder in the Wednesday night shooting of Officer Carlos Diaz, who was shot multiple times during a...

ROANOKE — Call it two-wheel road rage. A Keller bicyclist was cited for simple assault Saturday after he threw a water bottle at a motorist who he believed had cut him off. Several cyclists were riding about 9:30 a.m. in the 400 block of Ashley Lane when a Toyota driven by a 43-year-old Trophy Club woman veered in front of them, according to a police report.One bicyclist pursued the motorist and got her to stop a few blocks away, the report states.The bicyclist threw the bottle, which went through a window and struck the woman.

A woman who sneaked into Houston this week after hiking miles through one of the most brutally hot and deadly stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border is frantic for help, but scared to ask for it. While evading U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints in South Texas, she left behind the body of another woman who collapsed and died, perhaps from a scorpion sting or snake bite. The woman, who gave her name as Karina and insisted on anonymity, said she tried to help her friend walk when they fell far behind a larger group led by a smuggler. Now she is carefully...

Mexicans urged to reclaim a piece of Texas By Tom Leonard Last Updated: 9:11PM BST 26/06/2008 Mexicans are being encouraged to reclaim a piece of Texas, more than 150 years after they lost the Lone Star state to the United States. Texan estate agents are heading south of the border to drum up the interest in buying cut-price land and property in the foreclosure-hit state. Thanks to a rising Mexican peso and an economy which is growing faster than that of the US, a country that has previously been looked on by America as a source of cheap labour is...

Ten people have been indicted in connection with a killing prosecutors allege was a botched kidnapping attempt carried out by members and associates of the Texas Syndicate prison gang on behalf of the Zetas. Juan Manuel "Pugs" Marquez Rodriguez, 27, is charged in the indictment with murder in the Dec. 21, 2006, death of Julio A. Serrano. He and nine others were indicted last week in state district court. Only Marquez is charged with murder. All 10 face charges of criminal conspiracy and engaging in organized criminal activity involving the attempted kidnapping of Serrano, which resulted in Serrano's death. The...