Man throws puppies off of Port Arthur sea wall.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) - Three rescued puppies are recovering after being thrown over a seawall and on to some rocks in Port Arthur.

Firefighters rescued the crying pups and placed the creatures with animal control.

KFDM-TV reports the man who tossed the animals on Sunday was heard saying he was "turning them into soldiers." A bystander noticed the abandoned puppies and summoned help.

Pat Lavergne with Port Arthur Animal Control says the puppies, with health problems such as mange, were at the shelter Tuesday and available for adoption. She described them as a retriever mix.

The owner of the dogs, who was not immediately located, could face animal cruelty charges.

Three losers netted in Friendswood arrests.

Police viewed security video from a local child care center on S. Friendswood Drive, along with video from an ATM at Texas First Bank, 111 W. Parkwood, to develop a suspect in the case. The videos revealed the thieves in a newer model silver Ford Edge parked across the street from the child care center, approach a vehicle within minutes, enter the vehicle and take a purse. The credit cards were then used at Texas First Bank and an area Wal-Mart.

An officer patrolling the 300 block of S. Friendswood at 8:06 a.m. Wednesday observed the vehicle and stopped them. Charles and Richardson were initially taken into custody for traffic violations. Billotto was taken into custody later in the day when she arrived at the police department to visit the pair in jail. She later admitted to her involvement in the credit card abuse.

Police officials also noted that Billotto is on probation for Grand Theft in Florida. Florida officials said they will apply to revoke her probation. She was transferred to the Harris County jail early this morning. Richardson is out on bond in Florida for Delivery of a Controlled Substance charge. He has been released to Pearland investigators. Charles is out on bond in North Carolina for Burglary of a Motor Vehicle and Credit Card Abuse. He is awaiting transfer to the Galveston County jail.

During a search of the group's hotel room in Webster, a laptop reported stolen in Florida and an I-phone related to a vehicle burglary in Pearland were recovered.


Police believe the trio may be responsible for multiple vehicle burglaries in the area and are working with agencies in Brazoria and Harris counties to determine if additional charges should be filed.

Since February 7, seventeen vehicle burglaries have been reported to Friendswood Police. Some vehicles were left unlocked, others had windows smashed to gain entry or a door lock popped to gain entry. In each case, the victim left a purse, wallet or other valuable item in clear view inside the vehicle. Police urge residents to remove valuables from vehicles and make sure vehicles are locked.

Job fair draws more than 1,000 job seekers

By Laura Elder
The Daily News
Published February 18, 2010

GALVESTON — In April, when Tony Salas lost his job in Pasadena as a pipe designer for the petrochemical industry, he wasn’t too worried.

Salas, who was earning about $93,000 a year, had built up some savings and decided to use the time off for a long vacation. He figured he’d find a job within a week when he began looking in October.

But weeks have turned into months, and the Texas City resident found himself Wednesday among nearly 1,500 people — some who’d lined up hours before the doors opened at 9 a.m. — to meet prospective employers at the Oceans of Opportunities Job Fair.

“I socked some money away, but it’s going away quick,” Salas, 34, said.

Attendance was nearly double that of last year’s job fair, organized by the city and several island organizations and employers, including the Galveston Chamber of Commerce and the University of Texas Medical Branch and held in the city’s seawall convention center.

As job seekers lined up, some as early as 6:45 a.m., to drop off résumés and shake hands with prospective employers, the Federal Reserve announced it expected the pace of the nation’s economic recovery to be restrained by uncertainty and only gradual improvement in labor market conditions and a slow easing of credit restrictions.

The national unemployment rate this year could hover between 9.5 percent and 9.7 percent, the Fed said.

Still, not all is bleak locally. The unemployment rate in Galveston, which surged after Hurricane Ike in September 2008 knocked hundreds of small businesses out of commission, is stabilizing, according to data from Texas Workforce Solutions, which manages employment services and training in the region.

In Galveston, unemployment was at 8.1 percent at the end of December 2009 — the latest data available — compared with 9.6 percent for the same period the year before.

The improvement on the island can be attributed to the reopening of small businesses, Joel Wagher, labor market analyst for Workforce Solutions, said.

Countywide, unemployment was at 8.9 percent in December 2009, compared with 7.6 percent for the same period the year before.

But while the large crowd was a symptom of the lingering recession, it also showed some promise to Gina Spagnola, president of the Galveston Chamber of Commerce.

Many participants Wednesday were seeking to return to the island, which lost 20 percent of its population after Hurricane Ike destroyed hundreds of homes.

Also promising was that the fair featured 75 employers, most of which were filling well-paying positions.

“If you want to work, the jobs are out there,” Spagnola said.

Banks, retailers and hotels had plenty of openings, as did government agencies and large corporations.

Among the participants were American National Insurance Co., the city of Galveston, College of the Mainland, the FBI, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, IBC Bank, the medical branch, ISP Technologies, Randalls and Remington College, to name a few.

Saralyn Harris was among former Galvestonians seeking to return to the island.

Harris, 59, is applying for federal funding through the city to help repair her house in the 3900 block of Sealy, which was badly damaged in the storm.

She has been earning a living as a substitute teacher for the Galveston Independent School District, but most of her pay is getting burned up in fuel costs as she commutes from Webster, where she lives with her daughter as she awaits repairs to her house.

Harris was hoping to get an office job with the city, she said.

Most prospective employers interviewed said they were pleased with the turnout and the quality of candidates.

Bambi Teaff, educational director for The Goddard School for Early Childhood Development, had a thick stack of résumés at her booth.

She was seeking lead teachers and assistants for the Friendswood private school that takes in children ages 6 weeks to 6 years.

An assistant position pays from $8 to $10 an hour, while a lead teacher position pays from $10 to $15 an hour but requires a college degree.

Malin International Ship Repair & Drydock Inc., which operates on the island, was seeking welders and fitters. Before 11 a.m., the company already had lined up several candidates.

Island resident Jim Brennan, 52, recently was laid off by a small island firm that he declined to name. A victim of the recession, the firm was losing revenue.

Brennan works in safety and Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance.

He was hoping Wednesday to get a job with a larger firm with various departments that allowed lateral transfers.

Brennan had been earning about $40,000 a year when he was laid off. Single and without children, he’s getting by, he said.

“But the days are getting longer,” he said.

Still, the job fair was encouraging, he said.

“Seeing what opportunities are available, I’m excited by the possibilities,” he said.

Author publishes first children’s book

By Jim Higgins
Special to The Daily News
Published February 10, 2010

LEAGUE CITY — Hurricane Rita uprooted trees and lives in East Texas in 2005, but one young woman who evacuated from the storm put down new roots in League City and began writing new chapters of her life.

The path she followed and the career she chose would at first glance seem incongruous to everyone except Christina Smith, who is as comfortable around pumps and compressors as she is reading Dr. Seuss or reciting Leonard Cohen poems.

But it is writing children’s stories and poetry that Christina Smith enjoys the most after a day of studying pumps and compressors in College of the Mainland’s process technology associate degree program.

“My dad has an English degree and reads more than anyone I have ever known but decided to work in the plants back in Orange where I grew up,” the full-time COM students and single mother of a 2-year old, said.

“My dad and mom read to me as a child. My mom wrote poetry. I guess I got my love of words from them.”

Her love for her young daughter, Samantha, coupled with a love of words led her to pen her first children’s book last year, “Skeeter Sneeter Doodlebop.”

“I came up with the name Skeeter Sneeter Doodlebop one day just talking nonsense to Sam, my little girl, when she was barely born.

“I wrote the name down and just built the story around it. Amy, a friend and illustrator who lost everything in Hurricane Ike, went with her own imagination to draw the characters.

“They are very unique-looking characters, unlike any I have seen before.”

After several rejection letters from publishers, Skeeter was picked up by Nimblebooks and became the publisher’s first children’s book.

Smith said the book, which can be purchased online, is doing quite well for an unknown author.

“Children’s books are the best. They are the happiest books on earth. They are filled with imagination and hope and offer a peacefully simplistic outlook on life in comparison to other genres.”

She already is working on her second children’s book, “Skeeter Uses Manners.” It will be available this spring. A book of her poetry, Orange Smiles and Simple Truths also was published this year.

Smith also works 25 to 30 hours a week for a local diving company.

So how will this single mom with a toddler in tow and a passion to write balance all that plus shift work once she graduates in December 2010?

“My mom and sister moved up here to help me out when I had Sam. It is because of them that I can actually do homework or go to Phi Theta Kappa events. It works out great, and Sam never has to be anywhere but at home even if I have a night class. I honestly couldn’t do it without them.

“Lone Star Diving Inc. is my adopted family. They have helped me with everything from actually getting into school, truck repairs, feeding me and even helping me study for tests. I am blessed to be surrounded by people who care about me and my future.

“I know there will be times that are hard because of shift work, but I also know that it is the quality of time you spend with a child that outranks the quantity. I am doing this all for her and I know that one day she will understand. We are going to be just fine.”

Atascocita growing by leaps and bounds!

Business Week:

Tired of reading about how rotten the real estate market is? Here's some good news that shows that even during the worst of the recession plenty of American cities, towns, and suburbs continue to grow.

One such place is Atascocita, Tex. A mostly residential community 20 miles from Houston, it gained more than 1,800 households in 2009, an 8% year-over-year increase, according to new data from Little Rock-based data firm Gadberry Group. Over the decade, amenities that have helped attract residents to this wooded locale include Lake Houston, just east of the city; the school district; and proximity to the city of Houston. With new roads in the area under construction, "we're starting to see major industry start to take a look at the area," says Mike Byers, president of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.

Migration levels nationwide stayed low last year as homeowners saddled with pricey mortgages stayed put—but there are some positive trends. Research by the Gadberry Group shows that some areas, resisting the effects of the recession, continue to attract both domestic and foreign migrants and, as an effect, bring in new businesses to provide services. While other cities across the U.S. have contracted, these have continued to grow.

Some states are better off than others, though. As thousands of people left places such as New Orleans and Flint, Mich. (the country's two fastest-shrinking cities), in the last decade, communities with the best mix of economic activity, proximity to job centers, and a good environment for families continued to grow. While not entirely spared by the economic downturn (some homes in these areas are now in foreclosure), people continued to move in during 2009.
Texas Grew the Most

Texas came out on top of Gadberry's survey, with four high-growth cities: Atascocita, Katy, Mansfield, and Wylie. The report only included areas larger than 10,000 occupied households that met requirements for growth rate, household income, length of residence, and other factors.

Larry Martin, principal of the Gadberry Group, says many of the places with the biggest housing growth at the beginning of the last decade, such as Nevada, Florida, and Arizona, also saw the biggest drop-off since the economy sank. Texas, however, enjoyed relatively strong housing and job markets over the last 10 years, thanks in large part to the presence of major employers in the robust energy business. As of December, the state unemployment rate was 8.3% (lower than the national rate of 10%), according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It also had the largest state population growth between July 2008 and July 2009, according to a December release by the Census Bureau. "New homes are still being built and people are still moving into these homes" in Texas, says Martin.

Part of the state's strength, says Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C., is its diversified economy. Main industries include petroleum refining, chemical production, aerospace, and information technology.

Meanwhile, areas that depended on the housing boom are now dealing with high foreclosure rates. Places such as Summerlin South, Nev., which appear in Bloomberg BusinessWeek's slide show of fast-growing cities, gained population but, like the rest of the state, may be dealing with high mortgage default rates.

"If you live by migration, you also die by migration," says Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. "It doesn't guarantee continued growth."
New Business Opportunities

Migration is typically highest among people in their 20s seeking jobs near large urban cores, but employment opportunities are not the only draw. "Amenities are also important in migrational decisions," says Johnson. Many families consider factors such as schools and recreational amenities like scenic areas and parks.

This is a consideration now in Spring Hill, Tenn., which gained 7,645 households since 2000 as many young families moved to the town for affordable housing and work at the General Motors plant, which is now idle. Dustin Dunbar, chairman of the Spring Hill Economic Development Commission, says this has created demand and opportunity for businesses that provide youth activities and entertainment. "We hope to recruit some businesses to cater to our largest demographics," he says.

While migration in 2010 may remain sluggish, "we'll see a continuation of urban sprawl once the economy bounces back," says Mather.

Dr. Conrad Murray to surrender today.

Dr. Conrad Murray is expected to surrender to authorities in Los Angeles this week on charges related to Michael Jackson's death, according to The Associated Press and CNN. Murray arrived in Los Angeles recently from Houston in anticipation of a decision from the district attorney's office, spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik told the AP..

"Dr. Murray is in Los Angeles for a dual purpose — on family business and to be available for law enforcement," Sevcik told the AP. "We're trying to be as cooperative as we can."

"Dr. Murray is more than ready to surrender and answer to any charges," Ed Chernoff, one of Murray's lawers, told CNN, adding that prosecutors have not announced any charges, and Murray has not been told how or where he should surrender.

No official comment has been made about when charges might, come; David Walgren, the deputy district attorney handling the case, declined to comment to the AP on Tuesday (February 2).

Law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the AP that Murray is likely to be charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's June 25 death from an anesthetic overdose. Murray has denied criminal wrongdoing.

"We continue to maintain that Dr. Murray neither prescribed nor administered anything that should have killed Michael Jackson," Sevcik said.

Earlier this year, TMZ reported that the Los Angeles Police Department had completed its investigation into Jackson's death and was preparing to send the case to the DA's office within weeks.

Murray has told investigators that he administered the surgical anesthetic propofol, as well as other tranquilizers, to Jackson several times in the hours leading up to his death, and the coroner has ruled the singer died of lethal levels of the drug. Involuntary manslaughter charges would require prosecutors to show that Murray engaged in gross negligence in his actions but did not intend to cause harm or death to Jackson.