Thursday, January 27, 2011

Bay City Substitute Teacher Arrested For Making Death Threats



by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on January 27, 2011 at 11:23 AM
Updated today at 11:23 AM


BAY CITY, Texas – A substitute teacher has been arrested and charged in connection with death threats made to students in Bay City ISD, the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

Paul Nolen May, 41, was arrested on Wednesday.
He’s charged with 12 counts of making a terroristic threat – all of which are third-degree felonies.

The threats began on December 28 when the district received a hand-written, profanity-laced letter, purportedly from the parent of a student.

In the letter, the sender expressed anger over their child being disciplined at school. The letter detailed new "rules" for the school to follow regarding discipline and threatened to "kill a random student" if the demands were not met.
About a week later, a second threat was sent via text message.

The message, sent from an anonymous source and forwarded among Bay City ISD students, said this: "Hey! Forward this to everyone…1 rule broken, two girls dies at the jr. high and 2 from high school, dnt go! The school will be on lockdown."

It was not clear if May was suspected in both threats. Investigators declined to release any additional information Thursday.

May was being held in the Matagorda County Jail on bonds totaling $240,000.

Monday, January 10, 2011

No one said criminals were smart ...


FRIENDSWOOD, Texas — Police didn’t have to go far to serve a felony theft warrant after the suspect called to ask when he could pickup the electronic equipment authorities claim was stolen.

Jonathan Robert McMinn, 25, of Bayview, was charged with theft and jailed on a $5,000 bond, Friendswood police said in a statement released Thursday.

Friendswood police stopped McMinn on Sept. 7 on a traffic violation and seized an iPod, camera and Wii game components found in the car, Karen Peterson, a police spokeswoman, said.

Police arrested McMinn on a charge of driving with an invalid license and stored the electronics at the police department.

“A routine review of the property led police to believe that the property did not belong to McMinn,” Peterson said. “The subsequent investigation led to the location of property owners in Sugar Land, College Station and League City.”

The owners suspected their property had been stolen or was lost, Peterson said.

Police obtained an arrest warrant for McMinn on Dec. 13, Peterson said.

Police arrested McMinn on Wednesday when he came to the Friendswood Police Department to retrieve his property, Peterson said.

“He called, asking to pickup the property,” Peterson said. “We knew we had the warrant, so we told him ‘yes.’”

McMinn remained jailed Thursday in Friendswood, awaiting transfer to the Galveston County Jail.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com’s partnership with the Galveston County Daily News.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Michael Jackson's Doctor Clueless


Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- The pretrial hearing for Dr. Conrad Murray continues Wednesday as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge decides whether there is "probable cause" to try him on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the death of pop star Michael Jackson.

The hearing, which began Tuesday, is expected to last two or three weeks, with 20 to 30 witnesses testifying.
On Tuesday, Jackson's former security chief testified that Murray seemed not to know how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation as he waited for paramedics to arrive at the singer's house.
Faheem Muhammed said he and and guard Alberto Alvarez saw Murray crouched next to Jackson's bed "in a panicked state asking, 'Does anyone know CPR?' "

"I looked at Alberto because we knew Dr. Murray was a heart surgeon, so we were shocked," Muhammed said.

Jackson's doctor heads to court Murray faces court hearing Events surrounding Jackson's death

When defense attorney Ed Chernoff asked if perhaps Murray was asking for help because he was tired, Muhammed said, "The way that he asked it is as if he didn't know CPR."

Jackson appeared to be dead at that time, with his "eyes open and his mouth open, just laying there," Muhammed said.

Prosecutor David Walgren earlier said that Murray used "ineffectual CPR with one hand while the patient was prone on a soft bed." Two hands with the patient prone on a hard surface is the proper method, he said.
Muhammed, the third witness on the opening day of the hearing, said he never saw

Murray performing CPR on Jackson before paramedics arrived and carried him to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Jackson's mother, Katherine, sister La Toya and brothers Randy and Jackie sat in the second row of the courtroom during Tuesday's opening session.
Jackson's two oldest children, Prince and Paris, were at their father's bedroom door as the drama unfolded just after noon on June 25, 2009, Muhammed said.

"Paris was on the floor on her hands and knees and she was just crying," he said.
The children would learn two hours later that their father had died when Murray and Jackson manager Frank Dileo talked to them in a hospital room.
"Frank blurted out and said, 'Your daddy had a heart attack and died,' " Jackson personal assistant Michael Williams testified.

At the start of the hearing Tuesday, the prosecutor said that Murray waited at least 21 minutes after he found Jackson unresponsive before calling for an ambulance.

"By all accounts, Michael Jackson was dead in the bedroom at 100 North Carolwood prior to the paramedics' arrival," Walgren said.
The coroner concluded Jackson died from "acute propofol intoxication" in combination with "the contributory effects of the benzodiazepines," Walgren said.
Propofol is a powerful anesthetic used to "put people under for surgery," and the benzodiazepines were sedatives Murray later acknowledged giving Jackson in the morning before his death, he said.

"Michael Jackson was preparing for one of the most important tours of his life" in the months before his death, Walgren said.
Murray's defense team has hinted it would argue that Jackson was under pressure from the concert promoter, which led him to demand treatments to help him sleep.
Kenny Ortega, who was directing what would have been Jackson's comeback concerts, was the first of about 30 witnesses the prosecution is calling.
Ortega described Jackson as "involved, active, participating" at his last rehearsal, which ended 12 or 14 hours before his death.
"He was in a delightful mood, and we had an absolutely fantastic day," Ortega testified.

But Ortega described a different, "scary" Jackson at the Staples Center rehearsal on June 19, six nights before his death.
"I just felt that he appeared, you know, really lost," Ortega said. "It was scary. I didn't know what was wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it."


READ THE FULL STORY AT CNN

Monday, January 3, 2011

Sick patient turned away by Kingwood doctor


KINGWOOD, TX (KTRK) -- No six-year-old wants to be sick on Christmas, but when Carson Seiber tried to see a doctor in Kingwood, the doctors office said no.

The situation is very frustrating for U.S. Army Lt. Col. Patrick Seiber, who's a soldier currently serving in Afghanistan and can only do so much because of his location.

Six-year-old Carson is visiting his grandparents in Kingwood from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and he needed to see a doctor.
His dad is in the Army and the Army insurance company sent them to a Kingwood doctor -- who wouldn't let them in. So on Thursday morning, we heard about it from a frustrated father spending Christmas fighting in a war zone.

"I am very proud of my daddy," Carson said. "He fights for our freedom."
When Carson got to his grandparents in Kingwood a few days ago, he didn't feel well.
"He started running a fever and not feeling well on Saturday," said his mother, Heather Seiber.

So the Army's insurance company sent them to Pediatric Associates of Kingwood. But when Heather called first thing Monday, the doctors there said no, we don't see one-time patients, even though they knew the situation.
"I did politely tell them he was in Afghanistan," Heather Seiber said. "Because sometimes I feel people look at that and want to help this military family."
"To find out something like this happens, it's darn irritating. It takes me away from my focus, what I have to do, day in and day out, to keep us on the ball as far as on the frontline of the War on Terror," Lt. Col. Seiber said in a phone interview.

The doctors who wouldn't see Carson wouldn't talk to Eyewitness News either. A public relations spokesperson for the clinic's owner, Texas Children's Hospital, sent us conflicting statements trying to explain why the door was shut to a soldier's sick child.

Their first statement said they were at maximum capacity Monday. But when we pointed out no one ever said that to Heather, the story from Texas Children's changed, and all of a sudden they remembered they don't see patients on a one-time only basis.

Carson got in to see another doctor in Porter later that afternoon, and hopefully by Christmas he'll be all better. His mother realizes this isn't the biggest thing in the world, but also wonders why this doctor's office couldn't bend the rules for a son whose father is in Afghanistan for Christmas.
"He puts his life on the line and a doctor here can't help my son," Heather Seiber said.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

Friendswood mulls plans for 40-acre lake




By Hayley Kappes
The Daily News
Published January 3, 2011
FRIENDSWOOD
— Longtime residents always tell Penelope Burke they had no idea a crystal clear lake sat less than a mile south of FM 518 on the southeastern edge of Friendswood.

Burke, a member of the city’s parks and recreation advisory board, has worked for more than 20 years to develop what locals have nicknamed Lake Friendswood.

The lake has a convoluted history, Burke said.

In the early 1970s, the landowner used the 47-acre property as a sand excavation pit where developers extracted materials to level land in preparation for subdivisions that boomed with the opening of the Johnson Space Center.

After digging down 100 feet, a natural spring began to gradually fill the pit, Burke said.

Once developers exhausted the sand pit, the landowner sold it.

The city in 1993 bought 42 acres at the site, most of which encompassed the lake and planned to make it a public park with a $500,000 grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Plans halted, however, when a Friendswood resident filed a lawsuit against the city claiming he owned a five-acre part of the property adjacent to the lake.

A jury ruled that the resident had the rights to the five-acre parcel, leaving the city with a divided interest in the lake.

Since it didn’t own the entire tract of land, the city had to return the grant to the state.

“This is a 30-year conversation that’s gone on without resolution about what to do with the lake,” Burke said. “The intent is what matters. When the city acquired the lake, it was to be open to the public.”

The spring-fed lake is not accessible to the public, city spokesman Nick Haby said.

Broken concrete and rebar leftover when the Texas Department of Transportation widened FM 518 was placed on one side of the lake to prevent erosion. The material makes it unsafe to swim.

“There is no good access to the lake right now,” Haby said. “There is a dirt road that leads back to it blocked by a gate. There are parking issues and amenities that we would want to put there and safety issues that have to be considered.”

Members of the parks and recreation advisory board want to build a paved road to the lake on Windemere Road off FM 518 and fence off the property.

The board has discussed installing bathrooms and a floating dock anchored over the concrete and rebar to prevent access to the potentially harmful material.

Swimming and motorized watercrafts would be prohibited.

Board members have also discussed the possibility of a hike and bike trail around lake that would connect to the West Ranch Subdivision.

The city hasn’t pinpointed an amount to spend on the lake’s development.


READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

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