Home > Waco Breaking News > Archives > 2008 > October > 09
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Abysmal day on Wall Street as Dow falls more than 600, lowest since ‘03
The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 400 points in the last hour of trading today, closing down 678.91 at 8.579.19 — the first drop below 9,000 since August 2003.
The drop came in part on news that Standard & Poors was considering downgrading General Motors’ credit rating.
More here from the Associated Press.
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Police arrest three, search for fourth person in Bush’s Chicken break in
Police arrested three men today and are searching for a fourth suspect in the theft of a safe from a Bush’s Chicken restaurant.
Derrick Gilbert, 20, Dejarrin Brown, 19, and Jerry Johnson, 30, were arrested around 5:30 a.m. and have been charged with burglary of a building, according to a press release from Waco police spokesman Steve Anderson. The men are currently in the McLennan County Jail. Bail has not yet been set.
Police received an anonymous tip that the three men and a woman were spotted carrying a safe into a residence at 1301 S. 11th St., the release said. Officers went to the residence and found the safe, the four suspects and the homeowner inside. Police determined that the safe came from the Bush’s Chicken at 3632 N. 19th St.
The female suspect gave a false name to police and fled while police were questioning the suspects in the home, the release said.
The homeowner has not been charged with a crime at this time.
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North Korea plans to restart nuclear facility
North Korea announced today that it is preparing to restart the facility that produced its atomic bomb, clearly indicating that it plans to completely pull out of an international deal to end its nuclear program.
North Korea told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it was stopping the process of disabling its main nuclear site and barring international inspectors from the Yongbyon facility, the agency said.
Pyongyang “informed IAEA inspectors that effective immediately access to facilities at Yongbyon would no longer be permitted,” the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.
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Virginia cutting 570 state jobs due to budget woes
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is laying off 570 state workers as the state’s budget outlook worsens amid the global financial crisis.
The cuts are the deepest in at least five years in Virginia. Kaine also said this morning that college funding is being cut, state employee raises are being postponed and another 800 jobs will go unfilled.
The Democratic governor says the state is likely to be $973 million short this fiscal year and $1.5 billion short in the fiscal year that begins next summer.
Earlier this week, Kaine said budget woes are prompting cuts at the governor’s mansion, too. He’s said he will reduce the mansion’s grocery bill by one fourth, take fewer trips and dry clean his drapes less often.
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Police make arrest in Texas car salesman’s death
A Dallas-area car salesman was pushed or fell to his death along a highway as he went on a test-drive with a customer, authorities said. A 42-year-old man with a history of mental illness was charged with murder.
Witnesses told police that salesman John Phinney was pushed or fell from the passenger side of the pickup truck during the test drive Tuesday evening, and the vehicle slowed down but did not stop.
James Thorpe, 42, was arrested later Tuesday and was being held on $3 million bond at a Dallas County jail.
In jailhouse interviews with reporters, Thorpe denied pushing Phinney out of the vehicle. The Dallas Morning News said Thorpe referred to himself as the “anti-Christ” and claimed Phinney got angry and jumped out after Thorpe told him “to repent if he wanted to save his soul.”
The Manuel Dodge dealership in suburban Richardson had contacted police after Phinney, 53, didn’t return from the test drive.
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Stocks mixed at midday point
CNNMoney.com reports that the Dow Jones industrial average, Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Nasdaq composite all seesawed during a volatile morning.
As of this post, the Dow was down about 100 points.
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Hooters calendar girl no longer at Waco restaurant, but we do have a photo
Those of you hoping to get a glimpse of our Waco’s Hooters girl chosen for the 2009 calendar, about which I posted yesterday, are out of luck. She moved about two weeks ago to be closer to family in the San Antonio area.
But as a consolation prize, here’s her full photo that will be in the calendar. Thanks to Alexis Aleshire, public relations manager with Hooters, for sending it after seeing the post yesterday.
I called the restaurant today to ask about doing an interview and perhaps taking photos or a video (because, well, you the people requested it), but was told Janelle Carbrera moved away right before the calendars arrived at the Waco store.
And guys, she has a twin sister … in California.
You can, of course, still purchase the calendar, which is available at the restaurant.
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Brook Avenue Elementary gets rating upgraded
Brook Avenue Elementary School is now rated “academically acceptable” after winning its appeal to the Texas Education Agency.
During the summer, the school received an “unacceptable” rating but the campus has learned of its official upgrade from the TEA.
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Friend confirms identity of girls found in Maryland freezer
Police in southern Maryland say a family friend has confirmed that two girls found encased in ice in a basement freezer are the adopted daughters of a woman suspected of killing them.
Montgomery County police say they have tentatively identified the girls as Jasmine Nicole Bowman, who would be 9, and Minnet Cecila Bowman, who would be 11.
Police last month found the bodies in Renee Bowman’s freezer. They believe the children probably had been dead since at least last fall.
Bowman is a suspect but has not been charged in the girls’ deaths. She is charged with abusing a third adopted daughter who was found alive.
The identification was made by a family friend and is considered tentative. But police say they don’t expect autopsies to show anything different.
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Immigrants now must prove legal status to get driver’s license, ID cards
Immigrants must now prove they are in the United States legally to obtain new driver’s licenses and identification cards, which will indicate their status, under new Texas Department of Public Safety rules.
As of Oct. 1, applicants who are not citizens must present immigration documents before they are issued a card.
After documents are verified, an applicant will be issued a license with the cardholder’s photo positioned vertically instead of horizontally. “Temporary Visitor” will be written on the card, and the date that the holder’s temporary status expires will be printed on its face, according to the department.
In the past, people applying for a driver’s license or identification card were required to show documentation to establish identity, not legal status, Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said.
The new rules are “intended to enhance the security of the driver license and ID card, and to reduce the risk of identity theft and fraud,” Mange said.
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National Debt Clock running out of digits
It’s like an old Johnny Carson joke: “Our national debt is soooo big …” And the audience responds, “How big is it?” Then Carson would say, “It’s soooo big that the National Debt Clock has run out of digits.”
That’s exactly the case in New York City, where the billboard-style clock near Times Square has had to change its digital dollar sign to a figure — the “1” in $10 trillion to keep up.
Above is a photo taken at night showing the ever-growing number. Below is a daytime shot prior to the display hitting its current 14-digit amount.
The late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt.
The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year by adding two digits. That will make it capable of tracking debt up to a quadrillion dollars. Heavens, I hope not.
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Stocks start strong on anniversary of high-water mark
After six straight days of losses, U.S. stocks have opened higher today. According to marketwatch.com, International Business Machines Corp. topped profit estimates and reaffirmed its forecast, adding to optimism fueled by thinking the government might purchase stakes in U.S. banks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 135.01 points to 9,393.11 in early trading.
Interestingly, today is the one-year anniversary of the Dow hitting its all-time high of 14,164.53. What’s the old saying: “What a difference a year makes”?
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Cowboys’ Adam Jones in fight at hotel
Adam Jones, the Dallas Cowboys cornerback formerly known as “Pacman,” reportedly was in a fight early Wednesday morning at a Dallas hotel … with one of his bodyguards.
If true, that puts him in a serious jeopardy to continue his NFL career since he was already on thin ice for previous brushes with the law.
Here’s the latest from the Dallas Morning News.
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Roadside bomb kills senior Shiite lawmaker
An Iraqi lawmaker loyal to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was killed today when a bomb struck his convoy in Baghdad, officials said.
The explosion hit the convoy carrying Saleh al-Auqaeili and other Shiite lawmakers from al-Sadr’s parliament bloc as it passed about 200 yards from an Iraqi army checkpoint in a heavily secured area near Baghdad’s main Shiite district of Sadr City, according to one of his colleagues.
Al-Auqaeili was taken to a hospital in Baghdad, where he later died of his wounds, according to Sadrist spokesman Ahmed al-Massoudi and a fellow lawmaker, Hassan al-Rubaie. At least one bystander was also killed in the bombing.
The U.S. military blamed Shiite extremists for the blast. The attack raised concerns that internal rivalries within political groupings, whether Shiite or Sunni, could emerge ahead of upcoming provincial elections. Internal battles could be a major threat to Iraq’s stability, even as sectarian violence ebbs.
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Robinson police investigate man’s shooting death
Robinson police are investigating the death of a 68-year-old man whose body was found in his home in the 3100 block of U.S. Highway 77 South Wednesday afternoon.
Joe Sturdivant had apparent multiple gunshot wounds, Robinson Police Chief Rusty Smith said in a news release. Police were called to the home at 5:23 p.m. Wednesday.
It wasn’t until Justice of the Peace Kristi DeCluitt pronounced the victim dead at 10:15 p.m. that detectives were able to fully examine the body and discovered what appeared to be bullet wounds, the release said.
Sturdivant lived in the home with his wife. Early reports indicate that no one else was home when the shooting occurred, the release said. Police said that Sturdivant’s wounds do not appear to be self-inflicted.
There is no preliminary evidence to indicate who is responsible for the man’s death, Smith said.
Robinson police called in assistance from the Lacy-Lakeview, Woodway and Waco police departments as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety. The residence is surrounded by about 15 acres of mostly brushy growth, which required additional officers to help search the area, the release said.
Sturdivant’s body was sent to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office and Forensic Science Laboratories for an autopsy.
The victim was assaulted at his home Sept. 27, 2007, when someone entered his residence in the early morning, police said. No one was ever charged as a suspect in that case and there is no preliminary evidence to indicate that the incidents are related, the release said.
Anyone with information in this case is asked to contact the Criminal Investigations Division of the Robinson Police Department at 662-0525. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 753-4357.
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A slightly warmer day
Good morning, Waco. It’s another cool start, though a bit warmer than yesterday. We’re at 55 degrees currently, headed for a high of 86 degrees under sunny skies again. The wind today is out of the southeast at about 10 mph.
All in all, another really nice day. I hope you get to enjoy it.
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