Who Has More Delegates?

Barack Obama emerged with a majority of the state's at-large presidential nominating delegates and possibly a majority of all Texas delegates.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters vowed Sunday to continue the fight for Texas delegates all the way to this summer's state party convention, promising to cut his lead in delegates.

The actual number of delegates awarded to Obama and Clinton will not be official until the state party convention meets June 5-7 in Austin. The results of Saturday's regional conventions were still being tallied Sunday, but Obama was winning about 58 percent of the delegates to the state convention.

Chuck Rosenthal Found In Contempt Of Court

It seems that ole Chucky Boy got off lightly.

A federal judge on Friday ordered former Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal to pay $18,900 in sanctions after finding him in contempt of court for deleting more than 2,500 e-mails that had been subpoenaed for a federal civil rights lawsuit.

Additionally, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt determined Scott Durfee, general counsel for the district attorney's office, was jointly responsible for paying $5,000 of that, finding Durfee failed to appropriately advise Rosenthal on how to comply with the subpoena.

Both Rosenthal and Durfee have until April 30 to pay their respective fines.

Some people didn't get off so easily when he was DA.

Chuck Rosenthal's Ex-secretary Quits

Kerry Stevens decides to do IT HER WAY:


Chuck Rosenthal's former secretary has resigned rather than report to the new job to which she was assigned by his replacement.

Kerry Stevens, who became widely known as the object of Rosenthal's desire following the release of hundreds of his private e-mails, told the district attorney's office that she was retiring effective Monday. She has been on authorized leave since she was informed she would be reassigned to the grand jury division.

Why leave her fate in someone else's hands?????

Priscilla Slade Takes Plea Deal

Priscilla Slade will not be facing prison after all. She will avoid a prison sentence if she pays back $127,672.18.

In addition to repaying the money, Slade will also be given 10 years of deferred adjudication in exchange for the "no contest" plea. That means the finding of guilt will not be on her record if she completes probation. If she violates probation, the conviction would be put on her record and she could be sentenced to up to life in prison.

It seems that Priscilla was able to work out a very sweet deal for herself considering the amount of money she was accused of stealing.

Sickle Cell Association Theft

Some crimes are just sickening:

A former executive director for the Sickle Cell Association of the Texas Gulf Coast was formally sentenced Tuesday after being convicted of stealing thousands of dollars from the nonprofit agency.

Kenneth Garrett Beatty, 42, was placed on 10 years' probation and ordered to serve six months in the Harris County Jail. A jury in state District Judge Susan Brown's court convicted Beatty last week of a lesser offense of third-degree felony theft, rejecting the original charge — theft of more than $200,000 — which could have landed Beatty in prison for life.

A second defendant charged in the case, Willie Carlean Cruse, 49, of Crosby, who previously served as the agency's financial director, has already pleaded guilty to theft of more than $200,000 and will be sentenced by Brown next month.

How low can one stoop?

Was He Insane?

A jury will resume deliberations Tuesday on whether Joshua Royce Mauldin was insane when he placed his infant daughter in a microwave oven.

The eight-woman, four-man jury deliberated for 3½ hours Monday after hearing closing arguments. Mauldin is accused of placing his daughter in the oven in what the defense says was a fit of insanity.

The prosecution told jurors that Mauldin put his daughter in the microwave because the infant was the only thing connecting him to a wife he wanted to leave.

Hooray For Texas

WASHINGTON — Texas corralled $2.2 billion in special projects from the federal government this year, including $294,000 for a Houston zoo program and $22 million for an Army gymnasium near El Paso.

DA Fights Autopsy Release

Harris County prosecutors are trying to block the release of Diego Ortiz' autopsy.

Ortiz and Hernando Torres were shot and killed, after Joe Horn says he saw them break into a neighbor's house.

Pasadena police have said both men were shot in the back. Their autopsies were sent to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

But county officials don't want it made public, saying it's part of a pending criminal investigation. So far, no charges have been filed against Mr. Horn.

Nooses On The Loose

Another sick and twisted individual found the need to create a noose:

A Houston Fire Department cadet was dismissed from the academy after being accused of making and displaying a noose during a training class last month, authorities said.

The cadet, whose identity was not released, made the noose and then tied it around a Gatorade bottle during a class in February, said HFD Executive Assistant Chief Rick Flanagan.

It is too bad that people like this suffer from such low self esteem that they try to encourage hatred.

Houston Murder Conviction Tossed

The state Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday tossed out the sentence of a Houston man convicted of murder and drug dealing six years ago, saying he had ineffective legal assistance.

Aaron James Hall, 32, was convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to 65 years in prison for the fatal shooting of Eric Alvarez, 25, during what prosecutors said was a drug deal gone bad.

He also was convicted of conspiracy to deliver more than 400 grams of cocaine and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

But the appeals court agreed with the trial court that his attorney allowed information about his juvenile record to be used to enhance his possible sentences when it should not have been permitted. The appeals court said new sentences are needed for both convictions.

Boxer Indicted In Red Cross Theft Scheme

Harris County prosecutors on Tuesday issued an indictment in a second case involving money funneled from the Red Cross to youth enrichment camps in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The indictment charges Houstonian and former world champion boxer Reggie Johnson with theft, accusing him of receiving more than $120,000 in grant money for boxing camps that were scheduled for last summer but never materialized.

Deputy Constable Indicted And Fired After Child Sexual Assault

A Precinct 4 deputy constable has been fired after a Harris County grand jury indicted him on a sexual assault charge, authorities said.

Michael Serges, 38, was indicted on March 5 and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14. After the indictment, Serges was immediately terminated from the Precinct 4 Constable's Office, said Assistant Chief Deputy Larry Shiflet.

'Smart' Drugs Target Tumors

A smart drug is a drug developed in Houston that uses a turtle-shell-like shield to deliver the medication past the body's defenses. In the second stage, particles are released that allow the drug to bust inside the tumor.

Drugs capable of killing cancer cells are common. The trick lies in delivering the right drug to the cancer and keeping it intact. Typically, a cancer drug comes almost immediately under attack once it plunges into the bloodstream. Sensing invaders, tiny proteins descend upon particles of the drug to destroy them. Those that survive for long soon run into cells called macrophages — Greek for "big eaters" — that feast upon foreign intruders.

There are no traffic signs or magic beacons in the body's 60,000 miles of blood vessels to direct any particles that evade these defenders toward the nearest tumor.

Any drug that reaches a cancerous growth must swim against the blood flow to the edge of the tumor, where a lining of cells acts like bouncers to keep invaders out. If able to sneak past the lining, the drug must still identify the harmful cells within a tumor and somehow invade their nuclei before finally delivering a blow for good health.

Scientists have worked for decades to develop drugs for a host of diseases that can bypass these biological barriers through a variety of tricks.

Texas Delegates Still Looming

They called the Democratic primaries and caucuses the "Texas two-step," but it is more like a long waltz as Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton continue the fight for the state's presidential nominating delegates.

While Clinton won the March 4 primary, Obama gained a projected 37-30 lead in delegates allocated by the precinct caucuses held later that evening. Holding that lead will depend on whether Obama or Clinton can get supporters to turn out again March 29 for about 260 regional conventions around Texas.

Jeff Skilling Cries Foul

Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling says federal prosecutors should lose their biggest catch in the scandal that felled the company because they hid crucial evidence that would have helped him during his trial two years ago.

In an appeals court filing made public Friday, Skilling's lead lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, alleged that the government shored up its case by hiding statements from former finance chief Andrew Fastow that would have bolstered Skilling's defense.

Prosecutors are required by law to give defense lawyers evidence or information deemed favorable to the defendant.

Petrocelli alleges in the filing that more than 400 pages of notes taken by FBI agents during numerous interviews with Fastow show that some of his initial statements to authorities were not as damning as those in his testimony during Skilling's 2006 trial.

Fighting Crime In SW Houston

The Department of Justice has awarded the City of Houston a $1 million dollar grant to fight crime in Southwest Houston. The name of the program makes you think: Weed and Seed Program; sort of like a play on words.

The grant will be doled out over the next five years with half going toward police activities — primarily overtime pay for officers. The rest will fund programs to assist area residents, like job training and child care, officials said.

Southwest Grounds 38 Jets

Southwest Airlines grounded 38 jets Wednesday after finding what it called an "ambiguity" in their inspection maintenance records.

The Dallas-based carrier, which runs about 80 percent of the traffic out of Houston's Hobby Airport, also indicated more interruptions could be coming if the need arises during its own investigation into plane inspections.

The airline this week suspended three workers after getting hit with a record $10.2 million proposed fine by the Federal Aviation Administration because of inadequate inspections for fuselage cracks. It also hired an outside investigator.

Riot Breaks Out At Federal Detention Center

A riot broke out on the sixth floor of the federal detention center in downtown Houston Tuesday night. As many as 80 federal inmates were involved in a riot at the federal detention facility in downtown Houston.

The detention center, which houses both male and female federal inmates, is located at 1200 Texas, just blocks from Minute Maid Park. It is an administrative facility housing pretrial and holdover inmates.

Should Wiggins Have To Testify In Priscilla Slade's Trial?

A judge Monday postponed ruling on whether ousted TSU President Priscilla Slade's former CFO Quintin Wiggins will have to testify in her upcoming retrial for allegedly spending more than $500,000 to finance her lifestyle.

State District Judge Brock Thomas granted prosecutors' request to compel Bruce Wilson, TSU's former vice president of purchasing, to testify.

Attorneys for Wiggins argued he shouldn't have to testify while he appeals his May conviction for his role in the spending scandal that rocked the university.

Priest Loses Animal Slaughter Ban Lawsuit

A federal judge on Monday ruled against a Santeria priest who challenged an animal slaughter ban on the grounds it interfered with his right to perform religious sacrifices at his Euless home. Jose Merced said he may appeal the ruling.

At the end of the one-day trial, U.S. District Judge John McBryde said Euless was protecting the public's health by banning animal slaughtering in the city limits but that Merced could do the rituals elsewhere.

Plane Crashes In East Texas

The pilot of a single-engine plane is dead after crashing in a pasture behind an elementary school in East Texas.

Another passenger aboard the Cessna 172 was seriously injured Saturday after the crash that destroyed the plane, said Roland Herwig, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Benzene Levels Increases In Houston

Mayor Bill White challenged the area's chemical industry to reduce its emissions of toxic chemicals such as benzene four months ago and promised punitive measures if it failed to do so.

Since then, levels of the carcinogen benzene in the Houston region's air haven't fallen or even remained flat; they've gone up, the city says.

According to data collected by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and analyzed by the city of Houston, 13 air monitors that track benzene south and east of downtown, from Lake Jackson to Wallisville, saw increases in the amount of time that benzene concentrations exceeded healthy levels.

Justice Department Investigates Harris County Jail

The Harris County Jail is under investigation by the Department of Justice civil rights division. In a letter sent to Harris County Judge Ed Emmett on Friday, the department said the probe would determine whether the jail is operating under unlawful conditions.

If the Justice investigation finds violations, federal officials will suggest ways to improve jail conditions. If those recommendations are not met, federal law allows the attorney general to sue the county.

Large Fine Possible for Southwest Airlines

The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it will seek a record $10.2 million fine against Southwest Airlines for flying 46 jets without doing required fuselage inspections.

The Dallas-based airline, which carries more than 80 percent of the passengers who move through Houston's Hobby Airport, found cracks on six of those planes once the overdue inspections were conducted, the FAA said.

IRS Investigates Yolanda Adams

Houston gospel singer and radio host Yolanda Adams is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service.

The agency has asked a federal judge to force the entertainer to turn over documents after she failed to show up for an appointment last month to explain her financial affairs. The agency is trying to determine her tax liability and how to collect on the debt.

New Chief of Staff at Texas Youth Commission

Alphonso Royal, a senior policy adviser in Gov. Rick Perry's office has been named chief of staff of the troubled Texas Youth Commission, officials said.

A scandal involving the TYC erupted last year when two West Texas State School administrators were accused of sexually assaulting imprisoned male youth, and state-level commission officials were accused of weakly addressing the allegations.

Candidates Counting On Texas Turnout

Texans probably will vote in record numbers today in the state's first presidential primary election that matters since 1988.

Texas' March primary usually comes after the Democratic and Republican nominees have been sewn up. This year, Democrat Barack Obama is counting on a Texas victory to widen his lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton and perhaps force her out of the race. Clinton is betting that winning the second-largest U.S. state will spur a comeback.

Burglar Back In New Orleans

A burglar, who committed crimes in Houston, is back in New Orleans. After the burglar committed his crimes, he fled to Federal Way, Washington. After embarking on a reign of terror in Washington State, the burglar has now return to New Orleans.

Please be on the lookout for this burglar because he is also a sociopath.

Houston Exec Faces Drug Charges

A Houston oil industry executive, who achieved fleeting notoriety for his part in a paternity dispute involving one of President Bush's brothers, has been charged with drug possession after a young woman died from an overdose of cocaine she ingested at his Galleria-area townhome.

Robert Pace Andrews, 52, is charged with possession of a controlled substance, a state jail felony offense. He is in Beijing on business and has not yet been arrested, according to his lawyer. Andrews faces up to two years in jail if convicted.

Clara Harris Still Owes Defense Attorney

Jurors on Friday found that defense attorney George Parnham did not overcharge or abuse the attorney-client privilege during the well-publicized 2003 murder case of Clara Harris.

Harris, the Friendswood dentist who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for running over her husband, still owes Parnham $70,250 for expenses arising from the murder trial, the jury decided. She also must pay $389,443 for Parnham's legal representation during a civil trial.