Film Award for Animation Given to TAMUK Alum

Willie Williams, TAMUK Alumnus, Wins Major Film Award

KINGSVILLE–A Texas A & M Kingsville alumnus has won a prestigious national award for animation and was honored in New York City earlier this month.

William Williams, a native of Corpus Christi, won the Princess Grace Kelly Film Award Scholarship in recognition of his animated work, Sold, which recounts a slave’s life journey. The Princess Grace Awards are presented to artists who show excellence and promise in their artistic fields.

Williams accepted the award with Hollywood stars at the gala event, including Denzel Washington, David Schwimmer and Lorraince Bracco.

“I want to win another,” Williams said. “It was the like Oscars—so nice and enriching.”

Williams plans to use the film scholarship award for his graduate work he is currently doing at the University of Southern California where is focusing in on animation and digital arts.

–Manuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com

South Texas Court/Crime Briefs

Five Arrested for Marijuana Smuggling Attempt on So. Padre Island

 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND–Five people were arrested near the town of South Padre Island fort trying to smuggle about 1,500 pounds of marijuana into the United States.

The agents caught the five, which included three from the Rio Grande Valley and two from Mexico, when they picked up the drugs on the beach near Beach Access No. 6.

According to officials, they were going to pick up the marijuna and transport it to a stash house in Brownsville.

A federal judge is holding the five men in a Rio Grande Valley federal facility without bail until a detention hearing on Monday. 

Hernandez Sentenced to 60 Years in Prison

AUSTIN–An Austin woman was sentenced to 60 years for kidnapping and murdering a woman last year when she got jealous her husband was flirting with her in their own car and they burned her body.

Martha Hernandez, 27, was convicted of murder and tampering with evidence late on Monday night by a Travis County Jury. She was sentenced to 60 years for the murder and 20 years for the tampering with evidence, which will run concurrently.

This case has grabbed headlines in Travis County for the last week. Hernandez was accused of murdering 21-year-old Christy Espinosa, an Austin woman, after a Fat Tuesday celebration along with her husband, who will go to trial in early December.

 According to testimony, Hernandez and Kenneth Hernandez met her on Sixth Street and wanted to have a threesome sex act. While traveling in the car, authorities said Espinosa was flirting with Kenneth Hernandez in the front seat with Martha Hernandez in the back seat.

 Authorities said Martha Hernandez got upset and tried to suffocated her to death before killing the woman . The couple then took her body to a location in South Austin and severely burned her body.

20101123 Maximo Barraza Indecency 10113637

BROWNSVILLE–An 81 year old has been arrested in Brownsville for indecency with a child after he touched a 9-year-old child inappropiately.

A complaint was filed against Martin Barraza when a victim claimed he fondled her from the chest area and kissed her, while visiting a relative’s home earlier this week.

Prosecutors filed a charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact and a judge set his bond at $15,000.

20101123 Eric Ramirez PCS 10113602[1]

Also in Brownsville, a man gets busted for shoplifting and police found a large number of date rape pills on him.

22-year-old Eric Ramirez was busted Monday for theft when workers said he walked out of the JC Penney with a bottle of perfume. When he was arreted, officers discovered 62 roche pills, which are commonly used as a date rape drug.

–Manuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com

South Texas Briefs

Two Indicted for Murder of Rousseau

KINGSVILLE–The Kleberg County District Attorney announced two people have been indicted for the 2005 murder of Susan Ann Rousseau, who was beaten to death in her home.

George Garza III, 26,  of Alice and Corina Lopez, 48, of Austin were indicted by a grand jury earlier this month. Records shw Rousseau had filed four harassment charges against Lopez

Prosecutors said Rousseau was bludgeoned to death with a bat in her mobile home back in December of 2005. Investigators described it as a robbery gone bad.

Garza confessed during an interrogation last August. It’s believed Lopez told Garza to robbed Rousseau’s and he agreed to do it. The relationship between Lopez and Garza is unknown.

Photo of Alexis Espinoza

 The DA also announced the mother of a 11 month old daughter who was left inside of hot car and died was indicted by the Kleberg County Grand Jury on Thursday.

Angelica Ortiz of Kingsville will face a charge of criminal negligence resulting in death. Police said she came home and forget she left Alexis Espinoza in the car last June 16. A coroner’s report showed Espinoza died from heat exhaustion.

 

First Confirmation Wood is Winner in Cameron Co. Judge's Race

BROWNSVILLE–The first Cameron County official has come out to say Democrat John Wood beat Republican and current Judge Carlos Cascos by five votes, but there is a recount left to do and the election hasn’t been canvassed.

District Attorney Armando Villalobos was told by Elections Administrator Roger Ortiz during his investigation of any wrongdoing that Wood won by five votes.

Cascos was named the winner of the race by 50 votes last Saturday night, but it was later determined one precincted was accidentally not incuded in the recount. If you included Precinct 54 from Burns Elementary in Brownsville, Democrats claimed victory in the race for county judge.

Ortiz sought advice from the Texas Secretary’s State of Office and announced on Thursday they would recount Precinct 54 and only that precinct, but they don’t know when that recount will happen.

Whatever the case or result, the county DA said you can expect the courts will decide this election one way or another. Canvassing of the election is set for Monday at 8 a.m. in Cameron County.

U.S. State Dept. Issues Travel Warning into Mexico

RIO GRANDE VALLEY–If you are thinking about travelling into Mexico for the Thanksgiving Holidays, you better think again, according to the U.S. State Department.

The agency has issued a travel warning for Americans, citing the high level of drug, gang violence and other crimes.

Across in the state of Tamulipias, Mexico near the Rio Grande Valley, there are reports of armed gunmen committing carjackings and robberies. Authorities confirm these reports in San Fernando, Ciudad Victoria and the small towns near Matamoros.

Last month, authorities said a UT-Brownsville student was murdered during a hijacking of a bus in southern Tamulipias.

The travel warning was issued on Thursday. It’s believed the violence may get worse as there is a power struggle going on between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas.

File Photo of Victoria Veterans at Ceremony

VICTORIA–The Victoria ISD Board of Trustees honored five veterans (not shown in photo) who couldn’t get their high school diploma to go fight in the warzone at their meeting on Thursday night.

The five veterans were given honorary diplomas and considered graduates of either Stroman or Victoria High School where they were attending before the call of the duty came. They neve came back to earn their diploma officially.

The five were honored to have the chance to get their diplomas and went through this ceremony to be role models to their grandchildren and others.

Under Texas education code, veterans from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War are eligible for their honorary diplomas if they were in school and set to graduate, but were drafted into those wars.

King HS plays in state semi tonight in San Marcos

CORPUS CHRISTI–The King High School girls volleyball team plays tonight at 7 pm vs. The Woodlands at Texas State in San Marcos. They are trying to become the first CCISD girls volleyball team to bring home a state championship.

The team received a big sendoff from the community on Thursday afternoon. If you can’t make the game tonight, it will be shown on Time Warner Cable Channel 100. If King wins tonight, they’ll play in the final on Saturday at 7 pm.

(South Texas Briefs compiled from media and wire reports)

–Manuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com

Pajama Party For Willingham Set To Go Again

CORPUS CHRISTI–The Pajama and Lingerie Party that created a big stir during the recent congressional campaign between Solomon Ortiz and Blake Farenthold is set to happen in a few weeks.

The party is a fundraiser for a local man named Tellie Willingham Jr., but it made national headlines during the campaign between the congressional candidates.

Ortiz ran a campaign ad last month aimed at smearing Farenthold after he was seen taking a picture at last year’s party with two Crush Girls dressed in lingerie. Crush Girls are young women who attend charity events around Corpus Christi and act as cheerleaders for the city.

The Congressman also questioned Farenthold for taking a picture with duck pajamas with the Crush Girls and said it was a S & M sexual liaison party.

The campaign commercial made national headlines and was covered in the Huffington Post and other conservative internet websites.

Willingham and the Crush Girls were offended by it, saying the commerical was way off base and this wasn’t a sex party yet a birthday party for the local man. Critics also doubted if the proceeds were actually donated to four non-profit groups.

While the party made national headlines, it brought a lot of publicity to the annual party. It’s set to happen again on December 3 at the Havana Club in Corpus Chrsiti.

Willingham said he expects the birthday bash will be bigger than ever with a little help from the recent campaign notoriety.

“Regardless of what happened with the campaign, I look forward to this year’s party,” Willingham told the South Texas Tribune. “I’m just glad to be able to do my part to help local organizations and have a good time doing it.”

He said there are some changes this year after some wondered if the non-profit groups actually received the donations.

“Some changes were made, such as the omission of some words from the title, ensuring notification and approval of the benefactors, public disclosure of the funds raised,” said Willingham. “Oh, and a softer paddle for my birthday spanking.”

The Crush Girls will be back again for the party, but there is no word if Farenthold will make an appearance.

“I’m not sure if Congressman-elect Blake will make it, but being a friend of mine, he’s always invited,” Willingham said.

The Crush Girls founder Tony Martinez had threatened to sue the Ortiz campaign team for the ad for libel, but attorneys advised him it would be a tough case to win, so he dropped the idea of a lawsuit.

Martinez told us last week he thought the negative publicity from the campaign led to Ortiz losing by nearly 800 votes to Farenthold. Because of that, he felt vindicated the public had taken out their anger against Ortiz at the polls.

Already, most of the booths at the Havana Club have been sold for this birthday party for Willingham and many locals from Corpus Christi are planning to be there, so they don’t miss out on what happened, especially after last year’s party.

–Manuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com

Coastal Bend 4A High School Football Media Notebook

Calallen (10-1) vs. Gregory Portand (9-2) @ Cabaniss on Saturday 7 pm

Local media reports are calling this the game of the year. It will be played on the turf at Cabaniss Field and is expected to be a sellout. The two teams played on September 3 during the second week of the season and GP won 13-9. Since then, Calallen has won 9 in a row, while GP struggled a bit in the middle of the season with two losses. That’s how they ended up in an Area Matchup with Calallen. Both teams have said on KRIS-TV they understand the rivarly and are ready for the rematch. While these Wildcats are long-time rivals, KRIS-TV is reporting this is the first time the two teams have met in the playoffs.

Other Games:

Edcouch Elsa vs. Calhoun @Calallen High School at 7:30 pm Friday

Victoria West vs. Weslaco East @ SA Comlander Stadium at 5 pm Saturday

Victoria East vs. Mission Veterans @ SA Alamodome at 8 pm Saturday

Some predictions from RGV Sports on the 4A matchups

EDCOUCH-ELSA VS. PORT LAVACA CALHOUN: The Sandcrabs and ’Jackets come into this one with identical 8-3 records along with a little history. No doubt the E-E defense will be ready for those outside runs this time. CALHOUN 23-20

WESLACO EAST VS. VICTORIA WEST: I think the Wildcats will run roughshod over West. Maybe. WESLACO EAST 38-20

MISSION VETERANS VS. VICTORIA EAST: Wow. These Titans are the real deal (of course, I’ve said that about a few teams before). VICTORIA EAST 31-17

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South Texas Briefs

Victoria Fire Chief Vance Riley Will Retire

VICTORIA–After 14 years at the helm of the Victoria Fire Department, Fire Chief Vance Riley will retire in January.

According to media reports, Riley has confirmed he will leave his post on January 31, 2011.

Fellow firefighters said he will be remembered for merging the city fire and EMS departments when he came on back in 1995. He also is known for providing state of the art training for his staff in case of emergencies. 

Cameron County DA Says No Criminal Wrongdoing in Recount

BROWNSVILLE-The Cameron County District Attorney claims there was no criminal wrongdoing in the recount of the County Judge’s race in which two people claim to be winners.

Armando Villalobos interviewed Roger Ortiz, the Cameron County Elections Administrator, about the clerical error that has turned this race into a big controversy in this border county. He determined it was an error made by staff during the recount that caused them to miss one precinct.

On Saturday night, a recount showed Republican CountyJudge Carlos Cascos won the race by 50 votes over his opponent, Democrat John Wood.

Hours later, the staff discovered they missed a precinct in Brownsville during the recount. Democrats claim with that precinct, Wood has won by five votes.

Both, Cascos and Wood are claiming victory, but Ortiz hasn’t said who is the official winner. Cameron County plans to canvass the election on Monday morning at 8 am. Until then, residents in Cameron County don’t know who will be the County Judge starting in January.

Farenthold Continues to Lead During Recount

 CORPUS CHRISTI–Nueces County is continuing its manual recount in the District 27 U.S. Congressional race, but Congressman-Elect Blake Farenthold is still leading after three counties finished their recounts by nearly 800 votes.

After Kleberg, Willacy and Kenedy County finished its recounts, Congressman Solomon Ortiz picked up three votes.

Today, San Patricio County will conducts its recount of the District 27 race and it shouldn’t take too long to finish the recount in that county.

On Friday, Cameron County will start its recount under the direction of Rusty Faulk Jr. He was appointed by Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos to handle the recount as mandated by the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.

Ortiz gave the state elections office a $23,000 deposit to pay for all of these manual recounts and staffing of it.

His staff has told the South Texas Tribune they are hoping to see some gains in the two biggest counties Nueces and Cameron County and weren’t surprised the smaller counties didn’t see substantial numbers in favor of Ortiz.

$425,000 Raised from Coastal Bend Day of Giving

CORPUS CHRISTI–The 2nd annual Coastal Bend Day of Giving was a huge success and the 33 charities in the area were the beneficiaries of the resident’s donations.

Organizers said $425,000 were donated on Tuesday, November 16, during a one-day 24 hour fundraising campaign. Ten foundations matched $205,000 of the money donated. So about $630,000 was raised from this effort.

The Annual Day of Giving started last year for a number of non-profit groups in the Coastal Bend. The groups were struggling due to the tough economic times and donations were down. Foundations agreed to match on a 1:1 basis for each dollar raised up to $200,000  and they raised $400,000.

This year, ten foundations agreed to match up to $200,000 on a 1:1 basis again. The public donated more than double that amount. So the 33 charities will have money to put on programs for those in need.

Kingsville Symphony Orchestra To Play Saturday

KINGSVILLE–The Kingsville Symphony Orchestra will perform its Fall Concert called King Ranch at the Movies  on Saturday at Jones Auditorium on the campus of Texas A & M Kingsville.

The program will highlight musical movie favorites from Star Wars, The Magnificent Seven, The Wizard of Oz, Jaws and more. In addition, the concert will feature an audience Sound of Music sing-along and a fantastic piece by Don Gillis Variations on a Kitchen Sink, featuring several local townspeople making their musical debuts.

Musicians for the orchestra are music majors at Texas A & M Kingsville and local musicians. The guest conductor will be Maestro Lee Gwozdz. The concert begins at 7 pm.

(South Texas Briefs compiled from media and wire reports)

–Maniuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com

Recount Begins for South Texas Congress Race

Photo of Congressman Solomon Ortiz

CORPUS CHRISTI–The recount in the 27th District U.S. Congress race started this afternoon in Nueces County as Solomon Ortiz will try to overcome a nearly 800 vote lead to his Republican opponent, Blake Farenthold.

Nueces County will be counting more than 100,000 votes manually to see if any votes will be thrown out or reversed due to ballot errors. It’s expected to take a couple of days to conduct the recount.

The county will be paying the people to help with the recount, but the money will be coming from the deposit Congressman Solomon Ortiz gave to the Texas Secretary’s of State’s Office to pay for this process. The Ortiz campaign gave $23,000 to the state office for the recount.

Five other counties, including San Patricio, Kleberg, Kenedy, Willacy and Cameron County, will be doing the same manual recounts.

In Kleberg County, both Ortiz and Farenthold gained two votes each, while in Kenedy County, there were no gains or losses on either side.

In Willacy County, Ortiz gained four votes and Farenthold one vote after the recount.

San Patricio and Cameron County will begin its recount on Friday at 9 am.

In Cameron County, there is confusion over a recount in the County Judge’s race. After the recount last Friday and Saturday, it showed Judge Carlos Cascos had won by 50 votes, down from the 77 votes on Election Day, over Democrat John Wood.

Democrat leaders claim they later discovered a precinct wasn’t counted in the recount. They are now claiming Wood has has won by five votes, but that’s hasn’t been confirmed by the Cameron County Elections Office.

Nearly a week after the Nueces County vote was finished, election workers found seven votes for Ortiz in a bag that was uncounted in the Robstown office.

In all of these recounts and discovery of new votes, the numbers were small, so the 794 votes may be too much to turn this race in favor of Ortiz.

Farenthold is already in Washington DC and attending the freshman orientation. He is picking a place to live and learning about his new job as congressman.  

–Manuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com

Live Oak County Shooting

LIVE OAK COUNTY–Authorities report gunfire was exchanged today from two vehicles in Live Oak County on Farm to Market Road 799, but nobody was hit or injured by the bullets.

Surrounding areas, including Bee and Jim Wells County, were put on alert this afternoon to watch out for the cars coming into their counties.

The occupants never entered Jim Wells County, but Bee County deputies pulled over a car with two people inside and detained them for questioning for Live Oak County officials.

Live Oak County weren’t available for comment.

–Manuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com

Eva Longoria Files for Divorce

Longoria Will File for Divorce from Parker

After denying media reports Eva Longoria was leaving Tony Parker, today it was confirmed in the latest edition of Magazine.

The headline from the magazine said Eva Longoria Betrayed by Tony. In the article, it claims Parker, a star guard for the San Antonio Spurs, was exchanging text messages with a mutual friend for nearly a year.

Longoria, 35, confirmed she has split up with Parker, 29 and plans to file for divorce.

In the article, it said Longoria, a native of Corpus Christi, is heartbroken and confronted Parker about the text messages. Parker admitted to it. A friend said in the article once the trust was lost, the marriage was over.

–Manuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com

South Texas Briefs

Nidal Hasan Photo

FORT HOOD–The Army psychiatrist who is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 30 in a rampage at Fort Hood knows what his fate from a military hearing, but the Army won’t release it to the public.

A weeklong Article 32 hearing took place with several survivors testifying and identifying Major Nidal Hasan as the sole suspect in the shootings last year. It was our nation’s deadliest shooting rampage at a military installation.

Army officials know the results of the hearing, but it’s not public record. Hasan’s attorneys expected the military will court-martial Hasan and seek the death penalty.

Hasan is facing 13 counts of pre-meditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. He is currently being held in jail.

Lack's closing stores, but not in Rio Grande Valley

RIO GRANDE VALLEY–Lack’s has filed for bankruptcy and plans to close 36 stores in Texas over the next three months, but that won’t include the stores in the Rio Grande Valley.

Lack’s officials made the announcement earlier this week after banks demanded the payment from money owed by customers. They refused to stop lending money to them and wanted the company to pay the money owed from what has been financed.

So Lack’s will close all of its stores in Texas, but the ones in the Rio Grande Valley are owned by another family member and won’t be closed.

Democrats claim John Wood is the Winner

BROWNSVILLE–Still no declaration of a winner in the race between Republican and incumbent Carlos Cascos and his opponent, County Commissioner John Wood.

Cameron County leaders wil canvas the election on Friday at 5 pm, but election leaders won’t stand up and say who is the winner. They are trying to get the Texas Secretary of State’s Office to make the declaration, but a spokeperson said it’s a local decision.

Cascos was named the winner unofficially by 50 votes after a recount Saturday night, but Democrats discovered a voter precinct from Brownsville wasn’t included in the final tally. After that was included, Cameron County Democrats said Wood won by 5 votes.

Chief Troy Riggs Fired Officer Luis Rodriguez

CORPUS CHRISTI–Corpus Christi Police Chief Troy Riggs fired an officer who has been suspended since last August after a bar fight.

Luis Rodriguez, 40, was arrested when witnesses said a gun was fired during a fight on August 3. One person suffered serious head injuries and filed a lawsuit against Rodriguez.

Chief Riggs explained it took awhile to conduct an internal investigation, but Rodriguez was called in and officially terminated on Tuesday.

Rodriguez is facing one felony count and three misdemeanors related from this crime. He will go to trial next January.

Ben Bolt ISD Election Update

BEN BOLT, TX–A man who was elected to the Ben Bolt ISD School Board in Jim Wells County was disqualified on Tuesday, but no successor was named.

Jesus Barrientes was elected two weeks ago to the Ben Bolt School Board. After his election, it was determined he had been convicted of a felony in the past.

The board sought advice from its attorney to figure how to deal with the situation. The attorney said Barrientes couldn’t take office because he didn’t meet the qualifications.

Now, the board will have to decide how to name his successor either by appointment or by having a special election.

Rally for King HS Volleyball Team

CORPUS CHRISTI–There will be a pep rally Wednesday night for the King High School girl’s volleyball team who are headed to the state tournament.

No CCISD team has ever won a state title in girl’s volleyball and King High School volleyball team will get their chance in the semifinals at Texas State in San Marcos at 7 pm on Friday night.

Today, there will be a send-off rally at 6 pm at the Old Gym for the volleyball team and locals plan to be there in full force for the King High School girl’s volleyball team.

–Manuel De La Rosa, South Texas Tribune, southtexastribune@gmail.com