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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Five injured in Waco wreck
A wreck this afternoon sent five people to the hospital in Waco.
The collision happened shortly after 3 p.m. at Reuter Avenue and North 25th Street.
A red Buick LeSabre traveling west on Reuter Avenue failed to yield to a white Chevy truck traveling north on North 25th Street, police said. The truck went into the front yard of the house at 2424 Reuter Ave., damaging a chain link fence.
The three passengers in the truck and the two passengers in the car went to a local hospital, but a police officer at the scene said he didn’t think anyone was seriously injured.
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Minnesota Supreme Court declares Franken winner in Senate contest
The Minnesota Supreme Court has ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state’s long-running Senate race.
Here are more details.
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Man gets 26 years for hitting uncle with tire tool, stealing $700
A three-time convicted felon was sentenced to 26 years in prison Tuesday for hitting his uncle in the head with a tire tool and stealing $700 from him.
Don Dwayne Sneed, 43, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery as a habitual criminal and 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother sentenced him to prison in a plea bargain with prosecutors J.R. Vicha and Hilary Laborde.
Sneed, who has prior felony convictions for impersonating a public servant, forgery and cocaine possession, will have to serve at least 13 years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole.
He pleaded guilty to striking his uncle, Raymond Sneed, who is disabled and wheelchair-bound, in the head with a tire tool and demanding money from a Social Security disability check that Sneed’s mother, the victim’s sister, cashed for him the day before.
The elder Sneed was asleep in bed at the Lee Street home he shared with his nephew and sister when the January assault and robbery occurred, according to court records.
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West man wins trip to see PGA tournament
A West man has won a trip for four to watch the AT&T National Golf Tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., this weekend. He won through a text-message, according to this release from AT&T Corporate Communications.
With one quick text message, die-hard golf fan Don Landrum of Texas was today named the winner of the AT&T* “Favorite Foursome” AT&T National Sweepstakes, granting him and three friends front-row access to watch golf’s finest tee off over July 4 weekend.
“I enjoy watching PGA tournaments on TV and I’ve always wanted to see the players live in action,” said Landrum of West, Texas. “Thanks to this opportunity from AT&T, my wife, two friends and I are making my dream a reality. And what’s cooler is that I was able to enter using text messaging — which I use several times a day.”
Between June 8 and June 22, AT&T invited golf-lovers to enter for the chance to win four VIP tickets to the final two days of the 2009 AT&T National Tournament. Landrum, who entered the sweepstakes via text message, along with three friends will receive VIP tickets to the AT&T National, round-trip travel to and from the event, hotel accommodations, $400 spending cash to purchase merchandise on-site, and exclusive access to tournament events between June 30 and July 5 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.
Connecting fans with the technology they love most, AT&T offered a variety of ways to enter to win the “Fan Favorite Foursome” sweepstakes, including entry through AT&T’s page on Facebook and via text message, in which all wireless users across carriers could enter to win by texting TRIP** to 21234 from their wireless phone. Alternative free methods not requiring texting were also available through mail-in participation.
“We’re pleased to give Don and his friends VIP access to a premier golf tournament this year - the AT&T National,” said Tim McGhee, executive director, AT&T Corporate Sponsorships. “We opened the contest to text message entries and notified Don about the exciting news via e-mail. Using these channels, we have been able to engage and excite more golf fans than ever before, and we’re excited to continue to use them to bring our fans closer to the action in the future, too.”
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Accused woman claims dog ate her checks
A woman in Washington state accused of dipping into her ex-husband’s bank account without permission blames her dog.
Arlington, Wash., police spokeswoman Kristin Banfield says detectives filed court orders to follow the money trail. They learned the money disappearing from the 42-year-old Arlington man’s account was being used to pay for utility bills and other items at his ex-wife’s home.
Banfield told The Herald newspaper that the woman’s first response was, “Her dog got into her purse and ate all her personal checks.” The 50-year-old woman reportedly told police she had no choice but to take money from her former husband’s account.
The women is under investigation for identity theft and forgery.
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South Carolina governor admits to more liaisons
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is admitting more encounters with his Argentine mistress than he previously has disclosed.
In a lengthy, emotional interview with The Associated Press, the governor described seven meetings with the woman, including their first in 2001. Sanford says there have been five over a 12-month period, including two multi-night stays with her in New York.
It was the first disclosure of any get-togethers with her in the United States and contradicted a public confession last week during which he admitted to a total of four encounters in the past year.
He previously announced he would reimburse the state for money spent during a government trip to Brazil and Argentina in June 2008. But he insists no public money was used for any other meetings with her.
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Death toll 12 in Italy train explosion
The death toll climbed to at least 12 in a Italy train explosion, officials said Tuesday.
A child was among those killed, said Antonio Garufi, a local government official. The number of injured had risen to 36, with 16 in critical condition.
Most of the injuries were burns. Two children were among the severely burned, said Guido Bertolaso, head of the Italian civil protection agency.
The train was carrying gas tanks when it derailed and exploded while passing through a station in the coastal town of Viareggio. The explosion happened about 11:45 p.m. Monday. The cargo train had nine tank-wagons full of gas, four of which turned over.
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Motorcyclist injured on slick interstate access road near Bruceville
A 74-year-old Belton man, who was riding his motorcycle with a group of riders to Michigan for a fundraising benefit, was injured this morning when officials say it was raining so hard on Interstate 35, that he couldn’t see the roadway.
Texas Department of Public Safety Cpl. Gary Durham said that just after 8:30 a.m. today, Gilbert Johnson and another rider were north on Interstate 35, when they decided to pull to the rest area at Exit 318 near Bruceville. The rain was so blinding, Johnson told the corporal, that he jumped the curb and flipped his motorcycle.
Durham said Johnson was taken to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center to be treated for what appeared at the scene to be a compound fracture to his right leg.
Traffic was not affected, Durham said, because the wreck occurred on the access road.
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White House accepts convicted judge’s resignation
The White House has accepted the resignation of an imprisoned federal judge whom the House impeached on allegations of sexually assaulting two women and lying about the assaults.
President Barack Obama’s acceptance of U.S. Judge Samuel Kent’s resignation, effective Tuesday, ends Kent’s $174,000 annual judicial salary, as many members of Congress wanted. Kent will have to wait at least a week for the Senate to decide whether to end his impeachment trial. Congress is adjourned this week for the July 4 holiday.
White House counsel Gregory Craig sent a letter to Kent on Monday saying Obama accepted the resignation.
Kent, 60, entered a U.S. prison in Massachusetts on June 15 to serve a 33-month sentence. He pleaded guilty in May to lying to a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals investigative panel about sexually abusing two female employees.
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Groundbreakings set for new Waco fire stations Wednesday
The city of Waco will hold two groundbreaking ceremonies on Wednesday to celebrate the construction of two new fire stations, both bond election projects.
The fire ceremony will be at 11 a.m. for Fire Station #1, which is being relocated from 504 S. University-Parks Drive to 111 Peach St., and will serve portions of East Waco and downtown Waco.
The fire station will include six bays and will be equipped with a ladder truck, fire engine, confined space rescue trailer, rescue unit, command unit and the rescue boat and truck. The facility plans include individual bedrooms for 11 firefighters, office space, a fitness room, a training/community room, a room for training and servicing the self-contained breathing apparatus equipment, and a kitchen. The target completion date is summer of 2010.
The second ceremony will be at 2 p.m. for Fire Station #3, which is being relocated from 1400 Elm Ave. to 111 Ninth St. on the Texas State Technical College campus.
The station will include three bays with space for air rescue firefighting equipment, if needed in the future. Waco currently has a mutual aid agreement with L-3 for the TSTC airport. The fire station will be equipped with a fire engine, the hazardous material response truck and trailer, and one brush truck. The facility plans include individual bedrooms for eight firefighters, a kitchen and office space. The target completion date is spring of 2010.
The total combined cost for both projects is $6.8 million, which are being funded by the bond package approved by voters in May of 2007.
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Search continues at collapsed Atlanta parking deck
Emergency workers were using dogs, listening devices and thermal cameras to search through rubble of a collapsed parking garage Tuesday, a day after the deck collapsed from the fourth floor to the first level.
Remarkably, no injuries were reported and there were no missing people. But rescuers said they still had not finished searching through the wreckage.
“At this point, we still haven’t found any signs of any victims,” Atlanta Fire and Rescue spokesman Bobby Stewart said. “We are going to search every corner, every confined space, every vehicle to make sure no victim is left behind.”
The search stalled during the night when the building shifted. It took fire crews several hours to shore up the building. At least 38 cars were caught in the collapse.
“Overnight, I would say we have made very good progress,” said Atlanta Fire Battalion Chief Steven Woodworth said.
The deck collapsed about lunchtime Monday in the busy commercial district of Midtown. More than 50 firefighters rushed to the scene and the bottom level was a “huge mess of vehicles and concrete,” Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution is covering this extensively.
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Program to help part-time MCC students pay for books
McLennan Community College has announced a new program that will let part-time students seek scholarships to help cover the cost of their books.
Read the release from MCC below.
Part-time students at McLennan Community College may now apply for scholarships to help pay for books each semester. The new program is the first and only source of scholarship funds for part-time students at the college. Students will be awarded up to $500 per semester to purchase books.
Students must meet the following criteria for the scholarship: be a part-time student enrolled in 6-11 credit hours at MCC; be enrolled in a degree or certificate program; have a grade point average of at least 2.5; and demonstrate financial need. Scholarship recipients will be required to attend a financial literacy class before the funds are credited to their account at the MCC Bookstore.
Applications for the book scholarships for the fall semester are being accepted through Aug. 1, and awards will be announced before the start of classes on Aug. 24. Applications are available at www.mclennan.edu/departments/foundation/schol.html; hard-copy applications must be received in the Office of Financial Aid by 6 p.m., July 31.
The book scholarship program is funded through a $100,000 grant from Round Rock-based TG Public Benefit Program and will be in place through summer 2010. For more information, contact the MCC Foundation at 254-299-8604.
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Trail system ceremony for Cameron Park moved indoors
Due to this morning’s rain, the location has changed for today’s National Trail System ceremony at Cameron Park.
The press conference will now take place at 11 a.m. today in the DeCordova Room at the Waco Convention Center.
The U.S. Department of the Interior recently selected the Cameron Park Trails as one of 22 trails in 13 states to be inducted into the National Trails System in 2009.
At the ceremony, the National Park Service will present Mayor Virginia DuPuy and the City of Waco with a certificate of designation plaque.
The Cameron Park Trails join a network of more that 1,050 nationally designated trails that total more than 12,500 miles. National Recreation Trails have been a touchstone of the National Trails System since the first designations in 1971. The trails recognize existing trails and trail systems that connect people to local resources and improve their quality of life.
Cameron Park includes 20 miles of multi-use trails that feature handcrafted bridges, varying terrain, views of the Brazos and Bosque Rivers from 100-foot cliffs, bamboo forests, and cedar groves.
For information, contact the City of Waco Parks and Recreation Department at 254-750-5980 or visit the National Recreation Trail Web site at www.americantrails.org/nationalrecreationtrails.
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California lawmakers face deadline to avoid IOUs
A midnight deadline loomed Tuesday as California lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dueled over ways to cut into a $24.3 billion budget deficit or face having to issue IOUs to cover the state’s bills.
Democrats lawmakers, the majority in both houses, tried two approaches Monday but both failed to draw Republican support.
Voting almost totally along party lines, the state Senate approved a package of bills featuring spending cuts and fee and tax increases to close the deficit.
But the Republican governor quickly promised to veto the legislation, saying he wouldn’t sign anything that raised taxes or fees more than he has proposed.
“They should forget about that,” he said, accusing Democrats of going through a “song and dance. Let’s get to work, fix it.”
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Oregon man’s wallet resurfaces after 63 years
Here’s a fun story for the day. A 78-year-old Oregon man is reunited with his wallet after he lost it more than 60 years ago behind the balcony bleachers of his middle school gym.
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4 U.S. soldiers killed before Iraq cities pullout
Four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat shortly before the American military completed a withdrawal from Iraq’s cities, and the prime minister assured Iraqis that government forces taking control of urban areas on Tuesday were more than capable of protecting the country.
Nouri al-Maliki said in a nationally televised address that “those who think that Iraqis are not able to protect their country and that the withdrawal of foreign forces will create a security vacuum are committing a big mistake.”
The withdrawal that was completed on Monday was part of a U.S.-Iraqi security pact and marks the first major step toward withdrawing all American forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011. President Barack Obama has said all combat troops will be gone by the end of August 2010.
In the attack Monday against U.S. forces, the military said the four soldiers who were killed served with the Multi-National Division-Baghdad but did not provide further details pending notification of their families. It said they died as a “result of combat-related injuries.”
It was the deadliest attack against U.S. forces since May 21, when three soldiers were killed and nine others wounded in a roadside bombing in southern Baghdad.
There was a significant spike in violence before the June 30 withdrawal. More than 250 people were killed in a series of bombings, including one on June 20 that left 81 dead outside a mosque in northern Iraq and another in a Baghdad market on June 24 that killed 78. Al-Maliki has blamed the attacks on al-Qaida in Iraq and the remnants of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party.
“I congratulate the Iraqi people on this day, June 30, when the U.S. forces have withdrawn from Iraq cities in accordance to the forces withdrawal agreement,” al-Maliki said. “We consider this day as a national holiday and it is a joint achievement by all Iraqis.”
The Iraqi government has named June 30 National Sovereignty Day and declared a public holiday.
In separate news, the Pentagon reported the deaths of two soldiers with ties to Texas.
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Child found alive in Indian Ocean after Yemeni jet crash
A child has been found alive in the Indian Ocean today following the crash of a Yemeni jet that carried 153 people from Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and was headed to the island nation of Comoros.
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Rain, keep on falling!
It seems like it’s been too long since we’ve awakened to thunder, lighting, and most importantly, rain. But I’m enjoying it this morning as like many of you it was coming down pretty strong on the way to work.
The radar is showing plenty more rain to our west headed this way. The only concern might be some localized flooding as heavy as it’s falling in spots.
With that rain and mostly cloudy skies forecast for the day, our predicted high is only 91 degrees. That would break a string of 10 straight days of 100-degree or more highs. We hit 102 yesterday.
My home in Woodway got 1.1 inches in the gauge Monday, while the official rain gauge at Waco Regional Airport recorded just a trace. How much did you get?
Enjoy this while you can. We even have a 20 percent rain chance into tomorrow.
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