Another rabid bat found ...

FRIENDSWOOD, TX (KTRK) -- A second rabid bat has been confirmed in the Forest of Friendswood subdivision, according to the Friendswood Police Department.

The bat was reported to Friendswood Animal Control on Thursday, October 7. The bat was submitted to the Texas Department of State Health Services the same day. The health department reported test results on October 8. The test results were positive for rabies.
The bat was found in a backyard in the 500 block of Twin Pines. The location is near the 800 block of Hackberry where a confirmed rabid bat was found on August 27.

A dog belonging to the homeowner on Twin Pines is being quarantined at home for 45 days as a precaution. The dog is current on its shots, but did receive a booster this week. It can not be confirmed if the bat bit the dog.

Another bat found the week of August 29 was also submitted to the state lab. That bat was too decomposed for testing.

The Texas Department of State Health Services website reports that laboratory-confirmed rabies cases often peak in September and October. According to the site, humans should not touch bats or any other unfamiliar animal. If a bat is found, contact authorities so that the bat may be taken to a lab and tested for rabies if needed. The dead bats are tested if there is known or suspected contact with animals or humans. Friendswood residents can call the animal control office via the police department at 281-996-3300.

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911 call - backfires because of open laptop.

by Courtney Zubowski / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 11:37 PM
Updated today at 9:54 AM

HOUSTON -- A woman who called 911 to anonymously report a crime says she’s in fear for her life after the man she turned in called her just minutes after she placed the call.

According to the woman, who does not want to be identified, on Oct. 1, she was driving near Beltway 8 and Veterans Memorial Drive when she witnessed a man in the car next to her beating his passenger. She did not know either one of them.

“I saw him hitting her and he was taking his fist and he was just hitting her, aside her, just hitting her and I’m like this is crazy,” said the woman.

She placed the 911 call at 1:28 p.m. and thought that would be the end of her involvement, but 30 minutes later she learned it was just the beginning.

“About 1:54 p.m. my phone rang back and it was the suspect,” she said. “He was asking me ‘Who was this, who is this’ and I am like, ‘Who is this, you called my number,’ and then he hung up."

After that call came another, and this time it was a woman’s voice, she said.

“She called me just as he hung up and it was like, ‘Ma’am, are you the concerned lady that called about my welfare,’ and I am like,

‘Excuse me,’ and she said, ‘Well I’m OK,’ and I said, ‘Excuse me,’” said the woman.

She received another call the next morning from the Harris County Jail where the suspect was in custody. He was arrested for outstanding warrants, but never charged with assault.

“My phone rings again and it says, ‘You have a call from Harris County processing jail,’ and I immediately hung up,” she said.
“I will never, ever get involved with anything else again, not when it comes to me being fearful of the surroundings in my life.”

A spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office says as far as she knows, this is the first time something like this has happened in their department.

HCSO spokesperson Christina Garza said the suspect was put in the back of a Harris County patrol car while the deputy talked to the woman he was accused of hitting. It was then he was able to read the woman’s phone number off of a laptop computer the deputy had left open in the front seat.

“It’s a very unique situation,” Garza said. “It’s never happened and we certainly don’t want this to discourage her, or anybody, from reporting crime to authorities.”

Garza said it’s common practice to keep laptops closed, but it’s not policy. In some situations, deputies are forced to rush out of cars quickly.

”If anyone is to blame in this situation, it’s the suspect who violated such important information and took it upon himself to do this,” said Garza.

Garza said the department is sending out e-mails to all deputies to remind them to keep their laptops closed.

The suspect is not facing charges for memorizing the information, or calling the woman. Garza said there is no proof that he ever threatened the woman.


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The 911 caller disagrees.

“I was threatened,” she said. “I was threatened when he received my information. My information should have been protected. I was threatened at that point, so what point of threat do they not understand?

Drug deal goes bad - two shot - one dead.

khou.com
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:26 AM
Updated today at 8:45 AM

HOUSTON—A 24-year-old man was killed and his brother injured after the two were shot in what appears to be a drug deal gone bad Wednesday evening, according to HPD Homicide detectives.
Police officers responded to a home on Winter Briar at Winter Seasons in southwest Houston for reports of a drive-by shooting.

They arrived around 9 p.m. to find two brothers had been shot. They said the actual shooting took place at another location about a half-mile away, but the brothers somehow made it back home.
Police believe the brothers drove their Cadillac a few blocks from their home to meet a group of men and purchase drugs. Some sort of altercation occurred and one of the men opened fire on the brothers.

"The exact circumstances are unclear as to what transpired a t the two locations, but we have one dead," said Sgt. Thomas Biggs, HPD Homicide Division. "We believe we have all of the players in custody.

The bullet traveled completely through one of the brothers. Police said he was shot in the chest or the back, but it is unclear which point is the entry and exit.
The other brother was shot in the foot. He was taken to Southwest Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he was treated and released. He returned to the scene to talk to police.
Several suspects were taken in for questioning and police said they definitely know one of them is the shooter.


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Breaking: Houston Ship Channel Closed!

HOUSTON, Texas

—A four-mile stretch of the Houston Ship Channel remained closed to marine traffic Monday after a barge slammed into a tower supporting a high-voltage electric transmission line, threatening to topple it into the channel.

Coast Guard officials said a towing vessel named Safety Quest was pushing three barges loaded with scrap metal about 6 a.m. Sunday when it smashed into a Baytown power line, which remained upright only with the support of one of the barges.
No injuries were reported, but the six-member boat crew moved to another vessel and to safety.
Officials said the section from Crystal Bay to the Blackwell Peninsula would remain closed until at least Tuesday night.

"The situation is a little bit unstable right now," said Capt. Marcus Woodring. "The lines are sagging and we cannot allow any vessels to pass underneath with the unstable situation and chance of those lines falling in the water."
Centerpoint Energy officials said the power had been shut off to the line because crews had previously been working on a nearby tower. They said no customers had lost electricity following the crash.
Eighteen inbound vessels attempted to get into the port early Tuesday afternoon, and many remained anchored off the coast of Galveston. Twelve outbound commercial ships were also stuck.
The 25-mile waterway is lined by the nation’s biggest complex of petrochemical plants. The Port of Houston ranks first in the nation in foreign waterborne tonnage and imports and second in U.S. export tonnage and total tonnage.

"Anytime you see something like this, you hate it, because it’s affecting people and how they make their money," said Richard Zeno, a tugboat captain who was not involved in the crash but watched the teetering tower as he was fishing with his family Sunday.

Coast Guard officials said the ship channel handles more than $320 million in cargo and crude daily, meaning the Port of Houston would lose about $1 billion if the waterway stayed closed until Tuesday night.

"Commerce, of course, is very, very important," said Chief Warrant Officer Lionel Bryant. "But we don’t want to put lives in jeopardy doing so."

"This is actually very difficult because the tower is actually sitting on the barge," Bryant said.
The Coast Guard said the boat’s owner is St. Louis-based AEP River Operations.

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Rep seeks Ike insurance information ..

State Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood , sent the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association a new request for information about cases related to Hurricane Ike after a judge expressed concern that an earlier request sought private information.

Last week, Taylor sent the association, the insurer of last resort for property owners in coastal areas, a letter asking for detailed information about each case in a $189 million settlement agreement that the association reached over the summer with more than 2,000 property owners hit by Hurricane Ike. His inquiry included several questions about attorney fees.

The lead lawyer for the plaintiffs in the settlement was Steve Mostyn, perhaps the most prolific donor in the Texas Democratic Party. Mostyn, arguing that Taylor was seeking private information about the property owners, asked a Galveston County judge to grant a temporary restraining order that would block the agency from responding to Taylor's request. The judge granted that order Monday.

Taylor has said he was trying to get information for a report that's in the works from a legislative committee overseeing windstorm insurance issues. Taylor is the co-chairman of that committee.

On Friday, Taylor sent a new letter. He expressly said in the new request that he was not seeking private information about property owners involved in the settlement.

"I am not seeking any confidential information relating to any individual or corporate policyholder, such as names, personal addresses, social security numbers, or other such personally identifiable information," Taylor says in his new request. He withdrew his earlier request.

Mostyn called Taylor's request bizarre. Because Taylor's latest letter is an open-records request that any citizen can file, privacy laws will prevent him from getting much of the information he's requesting. If Taylor wants the information for legislative purposes, Mostyn said, he should bring it before the windstorm oversight committee and ask the full committee to endorse his request.

House Insurance Committee Chairman John Smithee, R-Amarillo, said he thought Taylor's request was valid, although he said he had found much of the information Taylor is seeking through news accounts online.

"The dollars are designed to put roofs back on houses and fix windows," Smithee said. "We need to know why we had this many lawsuits and why they were settled."

Smithee noted that the windstorm insurance association's costs are subsidized by policyholders in other parts of the state