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Friday, August 29, 2008
Boy hit by vehicle in Moody airlifted to Temple hospital
A 4-year-old boy was taken by medical helicopter to Scott & White Hospital in Temple late this evening after authorities said he was struck by a Ford Mustang near Moody.
The child was apparently crossing the street or standing along the street at about 7:30 p.m. on Floyd Road near Raby Road in Moody when he was hit by the vehicle, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman said Friday.
No other details were immediately available this evening.
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POLICE: Night race down 18th Street sends trio to local hospital
Three people were injured tonight, at least one of them seriously, and another person was in custody after Waco police say a pickup truck racing another vehicle south on 18th Street collided with a white Mazda Protege eastbound on Franklin Avenue.
The crash occurred just after 8 p.m., and at least three people were taken to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, Waco Police Sgt. Gary Harrison said. The driver of the Mazda, he said, was in “extremely serious, critical condition” tonight.
Victims’ names and conditions weren’t available at 9:45 p.m.
Police were questioning the driver of a blue Dodge Ram pickup truck that Harrison said fled the scene after the crash. However, no arrests had yet been made.
Sgt. Harrison said he had no information on the vehicle that the pickup truck driver was allegedly racing at the time of the crash.
As police investigators took pictures of the scene, the driver’s side door of the Mazda lay dislodged in the grass along 18th Street.
The intersection of 18th Street and Franklin Avenue was closed off to traffic for more than an hour.
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Gustav regains hurricane strength
Gustav, having left Jamaica and now aimed at the Cayman Islands, is a hurricane again, with winds near 75 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Here’s the latest from the Associated Press.
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Public meeting set for mammoth site study report
The city of Waco sent out a release announcing that the National Park Service will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Baylor University’s Mayborn Museum Complex, 1300 S. University-Parks Drive, to discuss the Waco Mammoth Site Special Resource Study Report.
The two-hour meeting in the complex’s SBC Theater will include public discussion and comments on the report that outlines the findings of a special resource study of the Waco mammoth site. Congress specifically requested for the study to be conducted to evaluate the site’s potential for inclusion as a new unit of the National Park System, the release said.
The study will be available for public review until Sept. 20.
For information, visit www.wacomammoth.org or call the Parks and Recreation office at 254-750-5980.
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$30 million Lotto ticket sold in Waco
Business at the Waco store that sold Wednesday night’s $30 million winning Lotto ticket has been brisk this morning, said a clerk at the EZ Stop.
Other lottery players are apparently hoping the store can bring them luck, too, said the clerk, who said he could not give out his name. EZ Stop is at 3730 N. 19th St.
The clerk said no one there knows who the winning ticket was sold to. No one has called the store about it, he said.
Bobby Heith, director of media relations for the Texas Lottery Commisson, said no one has claimed the winning ticket yet. Winners have 180 days from the drawing to claim prizes, he said.
This is not the first time the store has sold tickets that have won big, the clerk said. A couple of years ago it sold a ticket worth $1 million and a few months ago another ticket sold there was good for $70,000, he said.
“We’ve been blessed,” the clerk said.
The winning numbers were 5-8-15-25-40-53.
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Mother of I-35 accident victim says daughter lived for her kids
Brandee Thorpe’s whole life was her children, her mother said today, the morning after the Hillsboro woman, her two children and a friend were killed while walking on the Interstate 35 access road near West.
Thorpe, a 20-year-old single mother, worked at a Sonic restaurant in Hillsboro to provide for her young son and daughter, Austyn Fontenot, 2, and Kinzee Fontenot, 1, said Robin Thorpe of Houston. A 2006 Midway High School graduate, Brandee Thorpe had moved to Hillsboro about four months ago, she said.
“She was a wonderful mom,” said her mother, adding that what made her daughter happiest in life was hearing her children call her “mama.”
Brandee Thorpe was visiting her sister Thursday evening in the Waco area, her mother said. Because she did not own a vehicle, a friend had driven her, she said.
That friend, identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as Gregory Howell, 25, of Robinson, was driving Brandee Thorpe and the children back to Hillsboro when his vehicle broke down, Robin Thorpe said. DPS Senior Cpl. Charlie Morgan said it was a white pickup truck, which was found parked near the accident scene.
The accident happened shortly before 10 p.m on the northbound access road near Wiggins Road, a few miles south of West, Morgan said. After the truck broke down, the group apparently walked through the ditch beside the interstate and up onto the access road, Morgan said.
They were walking south on the two-way road when a 2003 Chevrolet SUV came over a rise and hit them from behind, he said.
“They hadn’t gotten far when they were hit,” Morgan said.
Robin Thorpe said her daughter was holding Kinzee at the time of the accident, while Howell was holding Austyn. Thorpe and Kinzee were hit first, she said. Howell and the little boy were then hit, causing them to be thrown about 100 feet. They were found in the ditch, she said.
Because the accident happened late at night, the road was very dark, Morgan said. The interstate was slightly more illuminated, he said, but there are no lights in that portion of either roadway, he said.
The speed limit on the access road is 55 mph. Morgan said officers have no information to indicate that the driver of the SUV, a West woman, was speeding. Morgan said he was not certain whether the driver or someone else alerted authorities to the accident. But the driver did stop at the scene, he said, adding that her vehicle was pretty much totaled.
No charges against the driver are being considered at this time, Morgan said.
Thursday night’s accident is not the first time the Thorpe family has experienced tragedy on Interstate 35, Robin Thorpe said. In March 2003, another of her daughters died in a vehicle crash near Waxahachie, she said.
Funeral arrangements for Thorpe and her children are pending at Pecan Grove Funeral Home in Robinson. The Tribune-Herald has not yet gotten information about arrangements for Howell.
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Fellow death-row inmate speaks of Coble’s likability
A 44-year-old man who served time on death row with Billie Wayne Coble this morning told jurors that Coble was well-liked by others in prison.
Today is the 19-year anniversary that Coble killed Robert and Zelda Vicha and their son, Waco police Sgt. Bobby Vicha.
Coble, 59, is being retried in 54th State District Court to determine whether he should return to death row for those murders.
Martin Draughon served on death row with Coble since 1991 until Coble’s sentence was overturned by a federal appeals court this year. They were on death row first at the Ellis Unit in Huntsville, then were transferred to the Polunsky Unit in Livingston where death-row inmates are now housed.
Draughon testified that he is serving 39 years for sexual assault and 40 years for murder.
He described Coble as even-keeled and someone who doesn’t lose his cool. Coble worked on the prison newspaper, he said. He added that Coble was always peaceful, helpful and upbeat.
The prosecution rested its case Thursday.
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WISD: Wiley pupils should go to new schools next week
DOCUMENT
- link: Read the ruling (PDF)
Judge Jim Meyer, of the 170th District Court, denied a temporary injunction that would have kept G.L. Wiley Middle School open through the duration of a formal lawsuit. Meyer’s ruling also dissolves the temporary restraining order, which had been keeping the school open since Monday.
Waco Independent School District plans to move forward with the closing of G.L. Wiley Middle School.
Wiley parents are being asked to enroll their students Tuesday at the school they would have attended under the closure of Wiley, before the temporary restraining order went into effect. For more information, parents should call the Office of Accountability and Instruction until 6 p.m. today at 755-9425.
In a decision issued this morning, Meyer ruled that unless a school board is breaking the law or or violating students’ legal rights, it’s not within a District Court’s authority to to second guess the school board’s decision.
Meyer found that, the school board was not in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act for the Aug. 7 meeting, at which the vote to close Wiley was taken, because the board held another meeting Monday, and repeated the vote. Though Meyer granted a temporary restraining order based on open meetig violations, The school district corrected those violations at Monday’s special meeting by making the agenda item for the closure vote more clear to the public.
Meyer’s ruling states he did not find a probable right of recovery or a probable injury with regard to any of the plaintiff’s other claims, which included racial discrimination and violation of the Texas Public Education Code, as well as allegations irreparable harm that had been done to Wiley students.
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Outdoor Adventures offered for fall
If you like to be outdoors, you might consider signing up for one of the Outdoor Adventures classes offered for the fall by the city of Waco’s parks and recreation department. Registration is under way.
According to this release from the city, the following choices are available:
*Intro to Mountain Biking (ages 8 and up) will take place at 6 p.m. Sept. 10 and 24, and Oct. 8 and 22. The cost is $10 per person and a helmet and mountain bike will be provided. Adult supervision is required. Space is limited, so registration is required.
*Intro to Kayaking (ages 8 and up) will be at 6 p.m. every Wednesday from Sept. 3-Oct. 29. The cost per event is $10 per participant; kayaks, canoes and life vests are provided. Adult supervision is required. Space is limited, so registration is required.
*Evening hikes in Cameron Park (all ages) will be at 6 p.m. every Monday from Sept. 8- Oct. 27. The guided walks are free and will begin at Rock Shelter.
*Lunchtime exercise hikes in Cameron Park (all ages) will take place at noon on Tuesday and Thursdays from Sept. 16-Dec. 18. The guided walks are free and will begin at the Rock Shelter.
To register or for information, call 750-8071.
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Georgia to sever diplomatic ties with Russia
Georgia said today it will recall all diplomatic staff from its embassy in Moscow to protest the presence of Russian troops on its territory. Russia criticized the move, saying it will not benefit relations between the countries.
Georgia’s parliament had urged the government to sever diplomatic ties, calling Russia an “aggressor country.” Georgian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nato Chikovani said Georgia will withdraw its staff on Saturday.
Russian news agencies have cited Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko as criticizing the move, saying it will not benefit bilateral relations.
— Associated Press
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McCain picks little-known Alaska governor for VP
John McCain tapped Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a conservative who shares his maverick streak, to be the Republican vice presidential running mate today in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
In an announcement, McCain’s campaign said that Palin, who has been governor less than two years, “has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of.
“Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today,” the announcement said.
Palin, 44, is a self-styled hockey mom and political reformer who has been governor of her state less than two years.
Palin’s selection was a stunning surprise, as McCain passed over many other better known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months.
At 44, she is a generation younger that Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama’s running mate on the Democratic ticket.
She is three years Obama’s junior, as well — and McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama’s relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters.
The February 2008 issue of Alaska magazine (shown at right) had her on its cover, touting her as “America’s Hottest Governor.” For whatever that’s worth.
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Gas prices in Texas keep falling
Good news when you head to the pump these days. The weekly AAA Texas gas price survey released today finds regular unleaded averaging $3.47 per gallon across Texas, down 7 cents from last week.
Of course, it would be better news if the amount was closer to last year’s prices.
Auto club spokesman Dan Ronan says the price was falling even as Labor Day approaches and Tropical Storm Gustav threatens to reach hurricane levels in the Gulf of Mexico, the Associated Press said.
The cheapest gas in this week’s survey is in Houston, where it fell 9 cents to $3.39 per gallon. El Paso has the most expensive gas at $3.60 per gallon, still down a nickel from last week.
I’ve been seeing a fair share of $3.45 prices around town. Check our GasBuddy link for prices around the area.
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Chance of rain today; more prep football tonight
We don’t have a high likelihood of rainfall today, about 20 percent, and any thunderstorms would likely be isolated. But with temperatures expected to hit the mid-90s and heat indices (or indexes, if you prefer) around 100, those pop-up showers are possible as high school football begins in earnest tonight.
Here’s a look at today’s games, courtesy our Chad Conine.
If you plan to look back at last night’s tough 41-13 Baylor season-opening loss to Wake Forest, go here.
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