Free Republic

Note: The following text is a quote: http://dallas.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/dl020309.htm Man Arrested in New Mexico for Sending Threatening White-Powder Laced Hoax Letters to Banks Across the U.S. DALLAS— At a press conference held today in Dallas, acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas, Robert E. Casey, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas FBI, and Randall C. Till, Postal Inspector in Charge of the Fort Worth Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, announced that special agents and postal inspectors arrested Richard Leon Goyette, a/k/a Michael Jurek, 47, yesterday at the airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico,...

The FBI has posted a $100,000 reward for help in finding who sent identical letters containing what turned out to be a harmless white powder to banking offices across the country. All 50 letters, which were sent between Oct. 17 and 18, were postmarked Amarillo, Texas. FBI today released the text of the letters on its Web site: "STEAL TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE'S MONEY AND NOT EXPECT REPERCUSSIONS. IT'S PAYBACK TIME. WHAT YOU JUST BREATHED IN WILL KILL YOU WITHIN 10 DAYS. THANK (Redacted) AND THE FDIC FOR YOUR DEMISE."

AUSTIN – Joe Francis of Amarillo – a.k.a. the other Joe the Plumber – is king of his domain name. At least through Thursday. "Joe the Plumber" was relentlessly discussed in Wednesday's presidential debate – but that was an Ohio plumber who met Barack Obama while Mr. Obama campaigned recently in the state. The Web site joetheplumber.com belongs to Mr. Francis, and his office was flooded with calls, as if every Tom, Dick and Joe in town had sprung a leak.

AUSTIN - When it comes to road improvement and maintenance, by most accounts, the South Plains and Panhandle are fortunate. Despite a $1.1 billion accounting error, the Texas Department of Transportation recently reported no projects in the region have been canceled or delayed while cities like Dallas, Houston and Laredo had at least a half dozen highway projects delayed. But the $1.1 billion-error, which occurred because TxDOT inadvertently counted some bond money twice and consequently allocated more funding than it had, is just the latest problem plaguing the beleaguered agency. For months, TxDOT executive director Amadeo Saenz and other transportation...

The Texas Department of Transportation says it can't afford to build new roads without more funds, but a Panhandle lawmaker called the move an attempt to hold projects for ransom. TxDOT argues costs have skyrocketed and federal and state lawmakers have diverted millions to other priorities, Amarillo District Engineer Mark Tomlinson said. State legislators moved more than $1.5 billion from the 2008-09 state highway fund for other missions, he said. So TxDOT must cut $1.1 billion from its 2008-09 construction budget and focus on maintenance of the state's 79,000 miles of existing roadways, Tomlinson said. Next week, Tomlinson will list...

AMARILLO - Three Pantex employees remain on paid administrative leave for violating nuclear safety procedures after workers failed to keep a close lookout on a nuclear warhead for a few minutes last week, a top Pantex official said Wednesday. The incident violated long-standing "buddy system" rules aimed at preventing unauthorized access to nuclear weapons. B&W Pantex President and General Manager Dan Swaim said workers failed to keep proper visual surveillance of the warhead for less than eight minutes on Jan. 10. A fourth employee entered the area and discovered the violation, which was promptly corrected. The warhead remained under protective...

Austin, Tex. – The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced it will form a working group to develop a financial master plan a Ports-to-Plains Corridor, which would create new jobs and economic opportunity for West Texas. Ports-to-Plains is a proposed divided highway corridor stretching from Laredo on the Mexican border, through Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, and Amarillo in West Texas north to Denver, Colorado. Designated as a High Priority Corridor by Congress in 1998, the Ports-to-Plains corridor is intended to expand economic opportunity and serve international trade from Mexico to Canada. Despite the congressional designation, adequate federal funding has not been provided...

THERE'S GOOD NEWS in the latest Ports-to-Plains progress report for Lubbock and West Texas residents who recognize the evolving trade route's potential economic benefit to our area. Extending from the most active U.S.-Mexico border port, Laredo, through Lubbock and West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor links the nation's plains states to the border centers of commerce. The Texas Department of Transportation is analyzing funding alternatives including opportunities for private investment and partnerships to pay for moving freight and utilities along the trade route. Using Ports-to-Plains as a case study, TxDOT will research the best potential applications...

First it was the chaos. Then it was the confusion as to who was arrested and where they would be taken. Now, the Spanish-speaking residents of Cactus, Dumas and other neighboring communities who escaped Tuesday's raid because they either are here legally or do not work at the Swift meat plant, face an even bigger problem: what is going to happen to the more than 100 children whose parents were rounded up and arrested? "Right now the children are being taken care of by relatives or friends of those who were deported," said Orlando Gajardo, spokesman for the St. Peter...

AMARILLO, July 12, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop John Yanta of the Catholic diocese of Amarillo, Texas, has published a pastoral letter on modesty in dress, especially at Sunday Mass, a subject that inevitably arouses strong reactions even in conservative circles. Titled, “Modesty starts with purification of the heart,” Bishop Yanta’s letter calls choosing what to wear a “moral act.” Bishop Yanta writes, “we can help the devil in many ways including the way we dress.” Referring to the “battle for purity,” required of the Christian life, Bishop Yanta writes, “When the community of believers comes together for the Eucharist (Mass)...

05/17/2006 AMARILLO -- Daycare worker 22-year-old Amber Dawn Hawkins was arrested 2 a.m. Wednesday. She is accused of putting a child in a freezer at the First Christian Church Garden School day care. A warrant for Hawkins` arrest was issued earlier this week after she was accused of punishing a 3-year-old girl improperly. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services closed the daycare Tuesday afternoon. They tell us that from March 27 to April 7, eight children were put in the freezer as a punishment. A church attorney says three caregivers were fired for the incident, including Hawkins. Family...

<p>OK, just getting back from the rally in Amarillo. One word !</p> <p>AWESOME !</p> <p>The Easter bunny errr Jim Robinson was lost between NM and TX. They really did take a wrong turn in Albuquerque (bugs bunny voice). All the evidence points at the road signs being screwed up in Tijeras there Slim.....</p>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 25, 2005 CONTACT: Shawn Callahan (916) 768-2686 [cell] – press inquiries Robert Dixon (916) 761-6987 [cell] – caravan & rally coordinator DAY 4 - Thursday: Stops in:* Albuquerque* Amarillo Several Hundred Supporters Send Caravan Off from Phoenix on Wednesday (Dateline: On the road in San Diego, California) – The “You Don’t Speak for Me, Cindy” Tour has arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico where it will make a morning stop at KKOB radio. From there the caravan heads to Amarillo, Texas for a stop at the Flying J Truck Stop. Move America Forward (website: www.MoveAmericaForward.org) has...

(02-09) 14:58 PST Amarillo, Texas (AP) -- Authorities doubt Cupid had any part in the 9 pounds of heart-shaped candies discovered during a traffic stop. The candies, found Monday by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, tested positive for psilocybin, a psychedelic drug extracted from a mushroom of the same name. The estimated value of the faux Valentine's Day chocolate was more than $408,000, DPS officials said in a news release. The troopers found the candy in a plastic bag after stopping a San Francisco man's 2005 Toyota Corolla on Interstate 40 about three miles west of Amarillo. Craig Allen...

Preserving the buffalos Fate of Texas herd rests with donated bulls By BETSY BLANEY Associated Press CAPROCK CANYONS STATE PARK, Texas The rumble from stampeding bison used to shake the earth as thousands of the majestic animals thundered across these parts centuries ago. That sound has faded almost entirely now, and the fate of one of the last pure herds in North America begun by famed cattleman Charles Goodnight rests with a trio of bulls donated by media tycoon Ted Turner. The herd, once 250 strong, has dwindled to 53, and more than a century of inbreeding threatens it survival....

Strong storms bring death, destruction to Panhandle MORRIS NEWS SERVICE One fatality was attributed to the storms Monday night that battered the Texas Panhandle, bringing winds of more than 70 mph and hail the size of baseballs as residents scrambled to recover Tuesday. Bobbie Kidd, general manager at Greenbelt Lake near Clarendon, said Tuesday that an unidentified Amarillo man was killed when the wind flipped a boat onto him while he was trying to tie it up to shore. Official word on whether the man died of injuries from the boat or was drowned was not immediately available. The Monday...

New state senator will be back up at bat again soon Thursday, February 19, 2004 Democrat Paul Sadler made up a lot of distance in Tuesday's runoff election in Senate District 1 in Northeast Texas, but he couldn't overcome former Tyler Mayor Kevin Eltife's huge lead in Tyler and Longview. With about 51.9 percent of the votes, Eltife won the remaining three years of the four-year term of former Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant. He quit in January. In the West Texas runoff, former Amarillo Mayor Kel Seliger's lead in the northern end of Senate District 31 more than offset...

Runoffs to replace state Senate icons Associated Press Accusations have been flying and the money has been flowing in East and West Texas as state Senate candidates engage in runoff elections today to replace Republicans Bill Ratliff and Teel Bivins. The two longtime senators resigned, and an election in January to replace them did not produce a winner. The top two candidates in each race advanced to a runoff. In West Texas, Kel Seliger, who served four terms as mayor of Amarillo, faces fellow Republican and Odessa businessman Kirk Edwards in District 31 to replace Bivins. District 31 includes Dallam,...

Seliger, Edwards face runoff to fill Bivins' District 31 seat AUSTIN (AP) — Former Amarillo Mayor Kel Seliger and Odessa businessman Kirk Edwards, both Republicans, are headed for a runoff election for the state Senate District 31 seat. The special election was called to re place Sen. Teel Bivins, who resigned after he was nominated by President Bush to serve as ambassador to Sweden. Seliger received 36 percent of the vote with 100 percent of the precincts re porting. Ed wards, 44, pulled in 21 percent of the vote. "I'm just very excited and energized by it and ready to...

Tourists may blow in along windy trail BY P. CHRISTINE SMITH AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Coy Harris hopes travelers taking in the sights along the newly planned 600-mile Power of the Wind Trail will end up in Lubbock. Harris is executive director of the American Wind Power Center, 1701 Canyon Lakes Drive, one destination on the trail that stretches from Lubbock into Oklahoma. John Armour of the Lubbock Convention and Visitors Bureau took the suggestion of a colleague and ran with it. He has spearheaded the development of the trail along with representatives of at least seven cities across the region. "This is...

Perry sets election to fill Bivins' seat AUSTIN (AP) — A special election to fill the seat of resigning state Sen. Teel Bivins will be Jan. 20, Gov. Rick Perry announced Monday. Bivins, an Amarillo Republican nominated by President Bush to be ambassador to Sweden, is leaving the office Jan. 12. His Senate district covers 26 counties in West Texas. The person elected to fill the post will serve the rest of Bivins' term, which runs until January 2005. Perry also has set Jan. 20 as the date for a special election to fill the seat of Sen. Bill Ratliff,...

Teacher admits guilt in deal for probated molestation sentence BY ELIZABETH LANGTON AVALANCHE-JOURNAL An Amarillo teacher who molested a 16-year-old student pleaded guilty Thursday in exchange for a sentence that could keep a conviction off his record but requires him to register for life as a sex offender. David A. Brown, 45, of Amarillo admitted to fondling a student on five occasions between Dec. 15, 2002, and Jan. 8 during rendezvous away from school property. Until Thursday, Brown had adamantly denied his guilt. He did not testify during the five-day trial. The proceedings were moved to Lubbock because of excessive...

Defense accuses Amarillo teen of obsessing over, stalking teacher BY DEREK MAY AVALANCHE-JOURNAL An Amarillo girl was so obsessed with a teacher that she stalked him and created stories of secret meetings with sexual contact, a defense attorney said Friday. David A. Brown, 45, of Amarillo is being tried in Lubbock on five charges of indecency with a child from Randall County. The trial was moved because of pretrial publicity in Amarillo. Prosecutors say Brown fondled a 16-year-old Tascosa High School student on six occasions between Dec. 15, 2002, and Jan. 8 during rendezvous away from school property. Two of...

Bivins' possible ambassador nomination sparks talk of replacements BY JIM McBRIDE MORRIS NEWS SERVICE AMARILLO — Talk of state Sen. Teel Bivins' possible nomination as ambassador to Sweden has stirred up the political pot in the Panhandle. A few names, including former Amarillo Mayor Kel Seliger, are being discussed as potential candidates to succeed Bivins if he is nominated and accepts the ambassadorship. The Bush administration is expected to nominate Bivins, R-Amarillo, as ambassador to Sweden, the Houston Chron icle's Washington bureau reported in a copyrighted story Thursday. Seliger said any talk of a Senate race is purely speculative at...

'Lightning bolt' map gets dim reception Perry's plan draws little local support By SEBASTIAN KITCHEN AVALANCHE-JOURNAL AUSTIN — A congressional redistricting map created by the Governor's Office was released Monday as a compromise, but it was quickly rejected by some of the West Texas lawmakers it was drawn to appease. The map drastically alters all three West Texas districts and adds the potential for a fourth. The map addresses only the western portion of the state, which has been a bone of contention between House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and state Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock. The new map does not...

Lubbock man gets 12 years for holdup Associated Press AUSTIN (AP) — To his family, 41-year-old Timothy Dale Gould was a hardworking father of three. But federal prosecutors say that from 2000 to 2002, he committed three armed bank robberies in his hometown of Lubbock, another in Amarillo and a final one in Austin. In Austin he was pursued by police and eventually arrested at a hotel off Interstate 35. The bank heists netted Gould more than $750,000, prosecutors said. "This is a pretty big surprise to everyone," Gould told a federal judge Friday at his sentencing for the Austin...

8 Bodies Found in Raid Were U.S. Soldiers .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Eight of the bodies found during the rescue of an American POW in Iraq this week were members of her ambushed Army maintenance unit, the Pentagon announced Saturday. The eight soldiers were with Pfc. Jessica Lynch when their unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, was ambushed near Nasiriyah on March 23. The U.S. commandos who freed Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah this week also found 11 bodies, nine of which were believed to be those of Americans. The nine bodies had been returned to a...

Amarillo honors Columbia commander 1,000 attend hometown tribute to man who reached for the stars 02/22/2003 Associated Press AMARILLO - Almost 21 years ago, Rick and Evelyn Husband were married here at First Presbyterian Church. Friday, at that same place of worship, a thousand people turned out in a tribute to Col. Husband, commander of the shuttle Columbia. Mrs. Husband, who has rarely made public remarks since the shuttle broke apart Feb. 1 over Texas, killing her husband and six other astronauts, spoke about the love he gave their two children and how much he will be missed. "I...

Amarillo prison supervisor dies in attack 01/29/2003 Associated Press AMARILLO, Texas - A supervisor at an Amarillo prison shoe factory died Wednesday about four hours after he was attacked by an inmate who slashed his throat, apparently with a knife. Stanley A. Wiley, 38, first was taken to the infirmary at the Clements Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, then was transferred by ambulance to a hospital in Amarillo, prison spokesman Larry Todd said from Austin. "We have several eyewitnesses to the assault and we plan to file murder charges as quickly as the evidence is documented,"...