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Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wariner finishes 2nd in final to make Olympic team; Witherspoon 4th
LaShawn Merritt defeated former Baylor standout Jeremy Wariner in the 400-meter finals tonight at the U.S. track trials in Eugene, Ore., but both advance to the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Merritt won in a time of 44.00, just ahead of Wariner’s 44.20. David Neville took the third Olympic spot with a time of 44.61.
Former Baylor runners Reggie Witherspoon (fourth, 45.01) and Darold Williamson (sixth, 45.58) will also travel to Beijing as part of the relay pool.
Sanya Richards, who trains in Waco with Baylor director of track and field Clyde Hart, won the women’s final in 49.89 to claim her spot on the Olympic team.
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Wildfire reignites near Elm Mott
An Elm Mott wildfire that burned about 12 acres and threatened at least 10 homes earlier today has rekindled this evening, Elm Mott Fire Chief Ann Reed said.
Elm Mott, Lacy-Lakeview and Leroy firefighters battled the blaze fire off Farm-to-Market Road 308 near Cherokee Street for about three hours earlier today, Reed said.
The fire was started by kids playing with fireworks, she said.
Firefighters are en route to the site.
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Father and son charged in robbery
A father and son have been arrested in the robbery of an acquaintance at gunpoint in June, Waco police said.
Police arrested John Marinez, 17, and Ray Marinez, 43, Wednesday, Waco police officials said today.
The two entered the apartment of Taylor Cale, 21, in the 1400 block of Park Avenue at about 11:45 p.m. on June 23, a police affidavit stated. One of the men, known to Cale as “DZ,” told Cale he was going to search his pockets, the affidavit said.
Cale told police his gun was on a table in the apartment and that the elder Marinez took the gun and pointed it at him and his 17-year-old girlfriend, police said. The two men took more than $1,000 and the revolver and left with another man, the affidavit said.
Cale and his girlfriend identified John Marinez as “DZ” and Ray Marinez as his father in photo line-ups, the affidavit said.
Police found Cale’s revolver in a search of the suspects’ vehicles and a hotel room rented by Ray Marinez, the affidavit said.
The other man who left with the father and son has not been arrested or charged in the incident, said Waco police Sgt. Melvin Roseborough.
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List of Central Texas salmonella cases grows
Two more Central Texas Counties have been added to the list of those where residents have contracted the Saintpaul strain of salmonella — possibly tied to raw tomatoes in several states, Texas health officials said today.
Seven cases of the illness reported in Bell County and one in Bosque County, join the list of counties with cases confirmed since Mid-April. Earlier this week, Waco-McLennan County Public Health District officials said one case had been confirmed in McLennan County.
The bacterial infection, which causes fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps can be fatal, although of the 356 cases reported in Texas, no deaths have been reported due to the outbreak.
Federal authorities continue to search for the outbreak’s cause, months after the first case surfaced in April.
The widening outbreak means whatever is making people sick could very well still be on the market, federal health officials have warned Friday.
Tomatoes remain the top suspect, and the advice on which ones consumers should avoid has not changed, stressed Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson.
However, he said it is possible that tomatoes being harvested in states considered safe could be picking up salmonella germs in packing sheds, warehouses or other facilities under investigation.
Roma and salad tomatoes recently have been found to carry the strain, and many stores and restaurants in Waco have pulled those items from their shelves and menus.
The U.S. Food and Drug administration has said grape and cherry tomatoes, as well as those still on the vine or grown at home, have not been found to be contaminated.
Salmonella can be killed by cooking tomatoes at 145 degrees, the state health officials have said.
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Two arrested in pizza store robbery now charged in Subway robbery
Robinson police confirmed today that the two people arrested in the armed robbery of a Bellmead pizza shop Wednesday have also been charged in the armed robbery of a Robinson Subway last month.
Juan Arango, 25, and Erica Lira Sanchez, 21, were arrested Wednesday after a brief pursuit by Lacy-Lakeview and Bellmead police responding to a call from the Little Caesar’s on Interstate 35 in Bellmead, police said.
Arango confessed to the June 21 Subway robbery after his capture, and Robinson police obtained warrants for Arango’s and Sanchez’ arrests early today, Robinson police said. Erica Lira Sanchez had earlier been identified by police as Erica Lira.
Both people are in McLennan County Jail on two charges of aggravated robbery and an immigration detainer, a jail spokeswoman said.
Bond for Wednesday’s robbery has been set for both at $100,000, but they have not been arraigned in the additional charges for the Subway robbery, the spokeswoman said. They are being held without bond on the immigration detainer the immigration detainer, she said.
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Judge: 12-year-old stabbing suspect to remain in jail
A 12-year-old boy suspected in the June 6 stabbing death of his 14-year-old friend will remain in the Bill Logue Juvenile Justice Center for at least another two weeks, a judge ruled today.
Judge Alan Mayfield decided at a detention hearing this afternoon that the boy is not a suitable candidate at this time to return home with his mother.
Detention hearings in juvenile cases must be held at least every 10 working days.
While prosecutors have not filed formal murder charges against the youth, he remains detained in the death of Keith Dancer, who was stabbed in the heart during a fight with the younger boy, officials have said.
While detained, the boy, the youngest murder suspect McLennan County officials can remember, is attending a summer school program and will be undergoing counseling, Mayfield said.
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Spam e-mail claims to come from attorney general
The Office of the Attorney General in Texas sent out this release warning about a new spam scam that makes it appear the e-mail came from the state AG’s office:
A brazen, new spam e-mail featuring Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s photograph and the Office of the Attorney General’s Web page banner has recently hit inboxes statewide.
The fraudulent e-mail message, which may include the subject line, “ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS,” is given the false appearance of legitimacy because it is adorned with the agency’s distinctive online logo and an image of Attorney General Abbott. In the e-mail text addressing the recipient by name, a vague security alert warns about a “transaction with the United Nations.” The entire e-mail reads:
Attn: [Recipient Name],
This is the office of the attorney general of Texas we are using this private email box to contact you for our security reasons because a lot is going on now and so many of our citizen wish to hear from this office daily but we have choose this medium to attend to our good citizen.
[Recipient Name], we wish to inform you that your transaction with the United Nations concerning your package that is on hold now is a legitimate transaction and you must try and see you provide all that is been requested for the security of this great country.
You are at a safe hand and we are giving you % 100 assurances to continue with them and make sure that your package is being released to you.
Thanks.
Savvy e-mail users have increasingly learned to identify and delete fraudulent e-mails that falsely appear to originate from legitimate banks, credit card companies and government agencies. Recipients should not respond to the sender or click on any Web links that may appear within the message. Activating Web links that appear in unexpected e-mails may direct users to fraudulent Web sites or allow identity thieves to capture users’ sensitive personal information.
Texans can protect their e-mail addresses from spammers by working with their Internet service providers to install free filters, blocks and other junk mail management services. All computer users should also familiarize themselves with a Web site’s privacy policy before providing their e-mail addresses. Most legitimate vendors allow users to prevent the company from sharing their information with unauthorized third parties.
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Waco men robbed, hit by thieves
Waco police are looking today for two men they say robbed two Waco men at gunpoint as they sat in a driveway in the 3500 block of North 22nd Street early today.
The two victims — aged 22 and 27 — were approached just after 1 a.m. by two men wearing all black clothes with bandannas covering their faces, said Sgt. Melvin Roseborough.
One of the suspects, he said, carried a shotgun and fired a shot into the pickup truck parked in the driveway, Roseborough said.
The men were robbed of their wallets, cell phones and watches, Roseborough said, before being struck in the heads with the shotgun. Neither man was injured badly enough to go to the hospital, he said.
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Softball pics are online, too
We’ve also got District 9 junior softball championship game photos as well from last night’s Robinson win over Lake Air. Check them out here.
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Waco man sent to state hospital
A Waco man who was shot six times by police during a domestic disturbance in September has been sent to a state hospital in Vernon, Texas, for further psychiatric evaluation.
Noy Moten Jr. will be at Vernon State Hospital for a period not to exceed 120 days by order of Judge Matt Johnson in the 54th State District Court.
Moten, who was a gunner aboard a helicopter in Vietnam, has been diagnosed with chronic paranoid schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder.
According to police reports, he shot at officers responding to a domestic disturbance between Moten and his 62-year-old girlfriend in the 1100 block of J.J. Flewellen Road at 1 a.m. Sept. 27.
One officer was hit in the buttocks, but was treated and released from the hospital that night. Officers returned fire, hitting Moten six times. The 61-year-old was hospitalized for several days and indicted in December on attempted capital murder and aggravated assault on a peace officer charges.
Moten served two tours of duty with the Marines in Vietnam from 1964 to 1969, his attorney has said, adding that he was not treated for his PTSD.
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Another month of cuts in U.S. labor market
For the sixth straight month employers cut jobs as the government’s closely watched report today showed continued weakness in the labor market, CNNMoney.com reported.
The Labor Department reported a net loss of 62,000 jobs in the month. That matched the job loss figure for May, which was revised higher from 49,000. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a loss of 60,000 jobs.
The June number brought to 438,000 the number of jobs lost by the U.S. economy so far this year.
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Dallas man freed by DNA test after 15 years in prison
Patrick Waller walked out of court a free man today after a district court judge recommended overturning the Dallas man’s conviction more than 15 years ago.
He has been behind bars since late 1992 on convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping stemming from the abduction of a Dallas couple.
But DNA testing conducted late last year proved Waller was innocent.
Prosecutors say the DNA profile matched another man, who is free on parole. He confessed to the crime and implicated an accomplice, who has also since confessed. But neither man will be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has expired.
Waller is the 19th man in Dallas County since 2001 shown by DNA evidence to be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. The Innocence Project in New York says that’s a national high.
— The Associated Press
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Hedge-fund scammer tells judge he did try to commit suicide
A hedge fund cheat who faked his death to try to dodge a 20-year prison sentence has told a judge that he did actually try to commit suicide this week, the Associated Press reports.
A massive manhunt ended Wednesday when Samuel Israel III surrendered in Massachusetts. He appeared in Manhattan federal court on today for a new charge that could get him an extra 10 years.
Israel disappeared on the day he was to report to prison. He abandoned his SUV on a bridge north of New York City with the words “Suicide is Painless” scrawled in dust on the hood.
He was sentenced in April for conspiracy and fraud for scamming half a billion dollars from investors.
Here’s the previous day’s story of his surrender.
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Ammunition explodes at Bulgaria weapons depots
A series of powerful explosions today at two army ammunition depots near Sofia blew out windows and scattered shrapnel across the region, forcing the closure of the country’s main airport, officials said.
Emergency Situations Minister Emel Etem said there were no immediate reports of injuries from the blasts, which shattered windows in hundreds of buildings and sent clouds of smoke and debris into the sky.
The explosions began going off at 6:30 a.m. at depots near Chelopechene, just outside Sofia, where obsolete ammunition had been stored. Smaller blasts continued for several hours. The cause was not immediately known.
A total of 1,494 tons of aging artillery shells, depth charges, grenades and other explosives were stored at the depots, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The communist-era ammunition had been due for disposal by army experts.
Officials urged residents in Chelopechene, population 2,500, to evacuate because of the danger of shrapnel. Traffic was jammed as people fled the danger zone.
— The Associated Press
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Bertha forms off Cape Verde Islands
The year’s second Atlantic tropical storm has appeared, as a disturbance off the Cape Verde Islands in the eastern Atlantic strengthens into Tropical Storm Bertha. It’s not forecast right now to reach hurricane strength, and it won’t be a threat to the American coast for a while, if ever.
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Little League baseball photos online
District 9 Little League championship games continue and we’ve got numerous shots like the one below from Wednesday evening’s 9/10 baseball game that Midway won over Robinson, 13-3.
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4,000-year prison sentence
Yes, you read that right. In Weatherford Wednesday jurors sentenced a man convicted of sexually assaulting three teenage girls over two years to a 4,060-year prison sentence, the Associated Press reports.
A day after finding James Kevin Pope guilty, jurors sentenced him to 40 life prison terms — one for each sex assault conviction — and 20 years for each of the three sexual performance of a child convictions.
At the request of prosecutors, state District Judge Graham Quisenberry ordered Pope to serve the sentences consecutively, adding up to 4,060 years. He will be eligible for parole in the year 3209, according to the Parker County District Attorney’s Office.
“We believe it was a just result,” prosecutor Robert DuBoise said, adding that he was “overwhelmed” with the judge’s decision to stack the sentences.
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Brinkley divorce trial has racy details
The divorce trial of former supermodel Christie Brinkley and her fourth husband Peter Cook has the kind of salacious testimony that will keep the gossip magazines happy and will no doubt lead to plenty of interest online, in print and on TV.
Why else would we present that here? And yesterday was only the first day of the trial.
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Edwards says he’d take VP spot if offered
U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards told the Bryan-College Station Eagle that if presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama offered him the vice presidential slot, he’d take it.
“Would I serve if asked? Yes,” he said in a brief interview on the Texas A&M University campus Wednesday morning, the Eagle reported today. “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.
Edwards continues to be mum on whether he’s had any discussions about that possibility with the Obama campaign.
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Barrel of oil moves past $145
Just what drivers want to hear before traveling this weekend: the price of a barrel of oil is now above $145.
Oil prices even briefly soared to a record near $146 a barrel today, then eased when the European Central Bank did not signal more rate hikes and a report showed unemployment in the United States has continued to climb.
Crude oil futures pushed up to $145.01 per barrel, from $143.57 per barrel, during early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Forbes.com reports.
So will we see the expected uptick in price at the pump?
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3 rescued U.S. hostages return to U.S.
Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio last night was the site of the return of three American hostages rescued from leftist guerillas in Colombia, more than five years after their plane went down in rebel-held jungle, the Associated Press reports.
The men didn’t wave to reporters or bend down to kiss the ground upon their return late Wednesday. They simply boarded waiting helicopters, which took them to a hospital where they were expected to reunite with their families.
The U.S. military contractors — Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell — had been held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since their drug-surveillance plane went down in the jungle in February 2003. Nowhere in the world have American hostages currently in captivity been held longer, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.
The three were rescued when Colombian spies tricked leftist rebels into handing them over along with kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. She was also freed Wednesday, as were 11 Colombian police and soldiers.
A plane carrying the Americans landed at Lackland Air Force Base shortly after 11 p.m. All appeared well as they exited the Air Force C-17. The men were then flown by choppers to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where they were expected to undergo tests.
They should have quite a story to tell about their captivity.
For more on the trickery used to free the captives, read this story.
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Any chance of rain today?
If you’ve seen the front page of our newspaper today you know that the main story is about our dry conditions. We had the fifth-driest June on record with just an official 0.18 inches of rain.
We have a 10 percent chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms this afternoon, so if you get anything consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, it’ll be partly cloudy, with a high near 97 degrees.
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