Free Republic

Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that a grand jury has indicted five men on kidnapping conspiracy charges related to a January incident involving cross-border drug trafficking and torture. Charged in the indictment, and each facing life in prison if convicted, were Crystal City residents Heriberto Macias Diaz, David Perez and William Davalos, and San Antonio residents Leroy Guerra Garcia and Mark Anthony Jiminez. The men are accused of conspiring to kidnap a Pearsall tow truck driver and taking him to Piedras Negras, where he was tortured and threatened with death, all to find the location of missing drug money, according to...

PEARSALL — Overcoming some last-minute glitches, homeland security officials have opened the doors to the country's largest and most modern immigrant detention center. The $49.5 million South Texas Detention Complex is to begin housing detainees in the next month or two. It has room for 1,020 of them — 850 men, 150 women and a temporary holding area for 20 minors. It was hailed as an economic boon for Pearsall, a town of about 7,000 people an hour's drive south of San Antonio that will benefit from 300 new jobs with a yearly payroll in excess of $6 million. "This...

Texas transportation officials are expected to negotiate a plan this month that would launch the Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's grandiose vision of future transportation. The first planned route would run through Central Texas from Oklahoma to Mexico, and its first segment would be a four-lane toll road from Dallas to San Antonio. But officials in Houston and along the Gulf Coast are paying close attention. They're not alone. "The whole nation is watching Texas to see if we can pull it off," said Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson, Perry's appointee and go-to man for getting the corridor built....

Teacher, husband face charges over teen party PEARSALL (AP) — A high school teacher and her husband each face 41 counts of providing alcohol to a minor in connection with a party at their home involving more than 60 teenagers. Sonia and Anselmo Ornelas surrendered to authorities at the Frio County Jail on Friday after learning officers were searching for them, Pearsall Police Chief Roland Hernandez said. They were released on $82,000 bond each. The Ornelases declined to comment to the San Antonio Express-News. Providing alcohol to a minor can result in up to a year in jail or a...