Texas News: May 16-31, 1996

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• 5/31 - Legislator Wants 'Scarlet Letter' for Drunk Drivers
• 5/31 - Governor Says All Texans Must Conserve Water
• 5/31 - Festival in Lubbock Drops Fat Birds out of Planes
• 5/31 - Spills to Be Investigated: The recent rash of oil spills along the Gulf Coast has sparked formation of a special task force to investigate such accidents and ways of preventing them.
  
  ...."There have been six incidents of significance in Texas waters since March 9. It is abundantly clear there's something wrong with the way business on the waterways is being conducted," Land Commissioner Garry Mauro said Thursday in announcing the inquiry.
  ....The state's General Land Office oversees oil spills in state waters.
• 5/31 (early) - Oil to Remain Stable: Oil prices should remain stable in the $18- to $19-per-barrel range over the rest of this decade, according to a survey of executives at the nation's 35 top oil exploration and production companies.
  
  ...."Although oil prices have improved in early 1996, primarily as a result of relatively strong demand and low inventories, oil prices are expected to remain relatively flat," the survey released Thursday by the worldwide consulting firm Arthur Andersen said.
  ....The price expectation - down slightly from the current oil prices of nearly $21 per barrel - bodes well for consumers, although the firm notes oil prices are subject to political instability in the Middle East.
• 5/31 (early) - Houston ISD Bond Issue Nixed: Houston public school chief Rod Paige says he'll consider an array of money-saving options, including year-round calendars and a salary freeze, after voters this week rejected a $390 million bond proposal.
  
  ....The Houston Independent School District says it needed the money to ease classroom crowding and renovate crumbling buildings.
  ....But a 9 percent turnout of voters Tuesday vetoed the bond issue which would have added 6.6 cents to a district tax rate already at $1.38 per $100 valuation.
• 5/31 (early) - Rains Don't Help Falcon: The skies opened and poured a few inches of relief on parts of drought-stricken South Texas Thursday, but experts said the rain would have little long-term effect on the dryness.
  
  ...."It was a significant rain but not a drought-breaker by any means. It's a start, though," said meteorologist Richard Hagan of the National Weather Service in Brownsville.
  ....Hagan said anywhere from .75 inch to 3 inches of rain fell in Zapata County along the Texas border. Much of the rain was centered on Falcon Dam, one of two international reservoirs that supply water to the lower Rio Grande Valley and Mexico.
  ....The reservoirs are at all-time lows, with Falcon 45.44 feet below its normal conservation level. The U.S. share of both reservoirs stands at a dismal 34 percent, said Julian Perales, river operations manager for the Rio Grande Valley water master's office.
• 5/30 - Bush Unveils New Responsibility Pact for Welfare Recipients
• 5/30 - Transit Gun Ban Unenforceable: Transit authorities can't use the state criminal-trespass law to keep people from carrying handguns on buses, according to a state attorney general's opinion issued Wednesday.
  
  ...."The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest authority on the criminal law of Texas, and it has made clear that criminal trespass may not be committed on a motor vehicle," said the opinion signed by Rick Gilpin, deputy chief of Attorney General Dan Morales' opinion committee.
  ....Morales spokesman Ward Tisdale said the opinion does not change a 1995 attorney general's ruling that transit authorities may prohibit those who have concealed weapons from boarding their buses.
• 5/30 (early) - Aquifer Being Sampled for Bad Water: Scientists are sampling water across the Edwards Aquifer to determine whether "bad" saline water is moving within the underground formation as the drought persists.
  
  ....Amid the hot, dry weather aquifer levels are plunging toward what may become historic lows.
  ....As that happens, some water experts worry that saline water could move into freshwater portions of the aquifer and threaten the drinkability of water pumped from a few wells serving cities near the "bad-water line."
• 5/30 (early) - TI's CEO Dies in Europe: Jerry R. Junkins, who became chief executive officer of Texas Instruments Inc. 11 years ago and reshaped it in the face of global competition and military cutbacks, died Wednesday of a heart attack during a business trip in Europe. He was 58.
  
  ....Junkins spent his entire career at the huge electronics and defense firm, rising from parts clerk to CEO in 1985 and chairman in 1988.
• 5/29 - Horned Toad Vanishing in Much of State
• 5/29 - Storms Were Mixed Blessing For Cotton Farmers
• 5/29 - DPS Says 44 Died on Texas Roads During Memorial Day Weekend: Memorial Day traffic accidents killed at least 44 people on Texas roads, the Department of Public Safety said.
  ....That exceeded DPS projections of 35 highway fatalities between 6 p.m. Friday and midnight Monday. The toll could could increase as local law enforcement agencies belatedly report accidents or as injured people die of their injuries, the DPS said.
  ....The DPS said that at least 19 of the people killed were not wearing seat belts. Of the others, seven were pedestrians and three were riding motorcycles.
  ....Speed apparently was a factor in at least four fatal accidents, the DPS said. It was not yet known if alcohol played a role in any of the accidents, although investigators suspect it was a factor in at least three.
• 5/29 - Brownwood Has New Chief: Brownwood officially has a new police chief.
  ....Virgil Cowin, 59, was sworn in at City Hall Tuesday morning by Brownwood City Attorney Bill Bell, said City Manager Gary Butts.
  ....Cowin replaces B.G. Watson, who served as acting police chief after Joe Robbins retired at the end of April.
  ....Cowin is now busy trying to get established in his new position and said his initial task as police chief will be to unify the department.
• 5/29 - Lock-Down Continues in Colorado City: More than 300 inmates remain confined to their cells at the Wallace Unit in Colorado City while officials determine who is causing unrest within the population.
  ....About 20 inmates got into a fight at the unit about 3 p.m. Friday, according to Assistant Warden Gary Moore.
  ....That fight spawned a series of skirmishes within the unit that led to a "lock-down" of the prison population.
  ....Moore said the prisoners remain locked down four days after the initial fight to let them cool down and prevent any further acts of violence.
• 5/29 (early) - More Kennedy Film Discovered: Long-lost television news film has emerged from the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, including the only known moving picture of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson from that day.
  ....The 45 minutes of silent 16mm footage - mostly unaired sequences or outtakes - also include a rare shot of Jack Ruby at Lee Harvey Oswald's appearance before reporters the night of the assassination.
  ....The film was secretly rescued from a Dallas-Fort Worth TV station's trash, hidden beneath a house for years and largely forgotten after efforts to sell it languished, according to The Dallas Morning News copyright story today.
  ....Parts of the film will be aired tonight and Wednesday on the "CBS Evening News," the network said.
• 5/29 (early) - Neighborhood Wants Cesar Chavez Street: Members of a Houston neighborhood group say they're gaining support for renaming the city's Wayside Drive in memory of labor leader Cesar Chavez.
  ....Blanca Hernandez-Blanco, a member of the Cesar E. Chavez Street Renaming Committee, says the group wants to honor the founder of the United Farm Workers of America who died in 1993 after dedicating a lifetime to pressing for equal rights for migrant laborers.
• 5/28 - Pace Puts Out the Jalapeno's Fire with New Pepper
• 5/28 - Texas Planning to Change Curriculums: For the first time in more than a decade, Texans are taking a hard look at what students are expected to know.
  ...Educators, parents, curriculum specialists and business representatives already have teamed up to compile a first draft of essential knowledge and skills for various subjects.
  ...Now they're working on a second draft that incorporates feedback from educators, business people and others. Beginning in August, more Texans will get a chance to comment on the revised draft.
  ...The key difference from current subject requirements is a subtle but important shift in focus: Rather than specifying what educators should teach, it will detail what skills students should have, said Geoffrey Fletcher, associate commissioner for curriculum and assessment at the Texas Education Agency.
  ..."The language you will see should focus on what students should know and be able to do, as opposed to what the teacher will do to the student," Fletcher said.
  ..."This is the first wholesale look at the entire curriculum that we've had since the early '80s," he added. "It's been 12 years, which happens to be about the lifetime of a student in school."
  ...The purpose of the effort is to ensure students can demonstrate "the knowledge and skills necessary to read, write, compute, problem solve, think critically, apply technology and communicate across all subject areas," Education Commissioner Mike Moses said in a letter to school superintendents.
• 5/27 - Texas Declares Independence From United States:It was a glorious day for John C. VanKirk, standing there on the steps of the state Capitol proclaiming Texas a nation unto itself.
  
  
  ...As it was 150 years ago, it is today, he bellowed ... the mighty Republic of Texas! Cheers and whoops rose from the crowd of more than 300, and VanKirk basked in them.
  ..."Ladies and gentleman, Texas is legally - legally - no longer part of the United States of despair," he shouted. "Texas is free. It's once again sovereign and its people will not be denied. God bless the Republic of Texas!"
  ...It was Jan. 16 and VanKirk had just ordered Gov. George W. Bush to vacate his office. As president of the Republic, VanKirk would be moving in. A SEPARATE COUNTRY
  ..."How wacky do you think I am?" VanKirk asks seriously, leaning forward on his sofa.
  Dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and tie, the 49-year-old former businessman is sitting in the living room of the new two-story house he leases near San Antonio.
  ...It looks more like a bachelor pad than the headquarters of a sovereign nation. Nearly two dozen hunting trophies and gun posters cover the freshly painted walls. The living room is furnished with just a ragged couch and chairs. The garage has been turned into a makeshift office where three "citizens of the Republic" are sitting at long, collapsible tables, working on computers. A Lone Star flag drapes from the rafters.
  ...Like most native Texans, VanKirk is enormously proud of the state's maverick heritage and its Alamo heroes.
  ...Texas is the only one of the contiguous 48 states to have been its own country, from 1836-1845. The allure of the Republic is so intense that eight attempts have been made over the years to return to nationhood.
  ...The state's tourism slogan even plays on its past: "Texas - it's like a whole other country." But for VanKirk and his supporters - Texas really IS a whole other country: They believe Texas was never legally annexed by the Union and therefore has been under martial law for the past 150 years.
  ..."If they weren't so serious about it, it could be viewed as a comedy," says Felix D. Almaraz, a history professor at the University of Texas-San Antonio. "Because of the seriousness, I think it's rather tragic."
• 5/27 - Latino Students Should Be Encouraged, Study Says
• 5/26 - Fighting the Drought on a Wing and a Prayer: Texans are turning to cloud seeding and prayer in an effort to end the state's long-running drought, which is costing billions of dollars and threatening land, livestock and wildlife.
  
  ...They're also taking a second look at the state's water plan - an idea first developed because of the 1950s drought. The plan is geared to identify state water needs and help find ways to meet them.
  ...More than 40 years ago, during a drought that cost the state $100 million, parched Texas land withered and scorched for years. As a result, rivers, creeks and wells ran dry, livestock died and entire communities ran out of water.
  ...That, lawmakers vowed, would be the last time Texans weren't prepared.
  ...The state's water plan, Water for Texas-Today and Tomorrow, makes long-range predictions for the future water needs. But officials say cities and counties must be ready to help find the real solutions.
  ..."The state pinpoints problem areas, but it's up to cities to solve the problems," said David Messey, assistant water plan manager. "Droughts are a hit-and-miss type thing. It's unusual not to have one going on somewhere in Texas. There has been at least one very significant drought every decade."
• 5/26 - Higher Gas Prices Not Affecting Holiday Travelers: It takes more than a few pennies a gallon to separate Texas travelers from their wandering ways according to people who make it their business to know these things.
  ..."While no one likes to pay more at the pump, Texans will not let gas prices stand in the way of their summer vacation," said Kim Cash, a spokeswoman for the American Automobile Association. "Whether you are going 100 miles or 1,000 miles this summer, the bottom-line difference adds just a few cents more to the overall travel experience."
  ...Darren Rudloff, Texas tourism director at the state Department of Commerce, agreed.
  "(Gas prices) may seem pretty high to the consumer right at the start of the vacation season, (but) we really don't think it will have that much of an impact on travel," Rudloff said as Memorial Day, the traditional kickoff to vacations, approached.
  ...For example, Rudloff said, gasoline cost for a round-trip between Dallas and San Antonio will cost about $28.64 this year, or $2.44 more than last year. El Paso to Houston and back is a $74.70 trip, an increase of $6.50. And a vacation from Houston to South Padre Island will cost $38.36, or $3.34 more.
  ...Retail prices have gone from a low of $1.08 per gallon on Feb. 12 to $1.28 per gallon on May 10 because of rising crude prices as well as seasonal price pressures, according to a Department of Energy report.
  ...It appears that prices have reached their peak and are stabilizing, the report said.
• 5/26 - Domestic Violence on the Rise in Texas
• 5/25 - Gramm Feels the Heat in Abilene: An Abilene business and a powder-dry creek bed both set the stage for U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm's tour of the drought-stricken Abilene area at dusk Friday.
  ...Abilene was one of five cities Gramm visited in a tiring day, but the story was the same at every stop - hot and dry.
  ...Texas Ag Commissioner Rick Perry accompanied Gramm as they arrived at Abilene Farm Supply (John Deere dealership) for the first stop.
  ...Gramm announced that he is co-sponsoring the "Temporary Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1996" which would extend the USDA Feed Program through 1996 to help ranchers who cannot afford to feed livestock.
  ...Ranchers who have suffered at least a 40 percent loss of feed production would be eligible to apply. The act would provide not more than $18 million to extend the emergency feed program through December.
  ...Gramm said Texas farmers and ranchers already have suffered $2.4 billion in losses because of the drought.
• 5/24 - Go Ahead and Wear White - Summer Has Arrived in Texas
• 5/24 - Group Convenes to Discuss Juvenile Justice
• 5/24 (early) - Governor Push for Water Conservation: With Texas in the grip of a severe drought, Gov. George W. Bush says water conservation efforts are must.
  ...."The solution is to be smart about how we use water. To conserve. And also pray for rain," Bush said Thursday.
  ....His comments came a day after Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry said the months-long drought has cost Texas farmers and ranchers $2.4 billion in direct losses and done another $4.1 billion in economic damage to related businesses.
  ....The governor said all state water agencies are working on conservation plans, and that local governments also need to make such efforts.
• 5/24 (early) - Lubbock Is Heat Champ: Lubbock is the heat champion among Texas cities this month with 10 high temperature records tied or broken.
  ....Here are some Texas cities that have reached record highs this month, including the number of record days and highest overall temperature since May 1:
  ...Lubbock - 10 days (105 degrees)
  ...Amarillo - 9 (103)
  ...El Paso - 4 (102)
  ...San Antonio - 3 (100)
  ...Austin - 4 (97)
  ...Houston - 5 (96)
  ...Dallas-Fort Worth - 2 (96)
• 5/24 (early) - Morales Says Yes to Bush Library Funding: Attorney General Dan Morales says the city of College Station can spend public money on the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M.
  ....But Morales added, in a legal opinion released Thursday, that the city must have some control over the library and must get some direct benefit for its money. He said the benefit and control are not clear in a pending agreement that calls on the city to give the library $50,000 a year.
  ....Barry Thompson, Chancellor of the Texas A&M University system, asked Morales about the legality of the agreement between the school and the city.
  ....He said part of the agreement requires the library to be open each year the city gives it money.
• 5/23 - Prairie Dogs Sucked Out of Holes to be Sold as Pets
• 5/23 - Gov. Bush Sets Up an Adoption Committee
• 5/23 - Some Welfare Recipients to Undergo Fingerprinting
• 5/23 (early) - Morales Accused of Stalling: A tobacco company lawyer on Wednesday accused Attorney General Dan Morales of stalling after the state revised its $4 billion lawsuit against the tobacco industry.
  
  ...."The attorney general's actions in the courtroom are inconsistent with his public posturing where he continues to insist that he seeks a speedy resolution of this matter," said Jack Maroney, attorney for Philip Morris.
  ....Not true, responded Morales spokesman Ron Dusek, predicting that the tobacco companies will use all available legal maneuvers to delay.
  ...."As this progresses, it will be obvious who wants to go to trial and who is stalling," he said.
  ....The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Texarkana, seeks recovery of an estimated $4 billion Texas and the federal government have paid in tobacco-related Medicaid claims.
• 5/23 (early) - DPS Sets Death Estimate: DPS estimates that 35 people will die in traffic crashes on Texas roads over the three-day holiday. The reporting period begins at 6 p.m. Friday and runs through midnight Monday.
  
  ....Twenty-five people died in 23 crashes during the same period last year, according to DPS. Ten of those crashes involved alcohol.
• 5/22 - Laredo Residents Wonder How Terror Could Come to Them
• 5/22 (early) - Deputy Dies During Torch Run: A Harris County sheriff's deputy running to Austin as part of a Special Olympics law enforcement torch run suffered a heart attack and died Tuesday.
  
  ....Harvey Mitchell Davis, 41, was one of 38 officers carrying a Special Olympics torch, similar to the Olympics torch, from Houston to Austin.
  ....Davis collapsed between Hockley and Waller in far northwest Harris County. A Lifeflight helicopter was summoned and he was taken to Hermann Hospital in Houston where he was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m.
  ....Davis, a detective in the criminal warrants section, had been with the department since 1982. He was married and the father of a 10-year-old son.
• 5/22 (early) - Area Code Discussions Begin: The 210 and 817 telephone area codes that together stretch from the Panhandle to the Mexican border will be split, but how and when are far from decided.
  
  ....Officials from the Public Utility Commission, representatives of major phone companies and consumer groups began a series of meetings Tuesday to come up with proposals for dividing the two area codes.
  ....The PUC hopes to have both divided and new area codes in place before available numbers in the two run out. That's expected to happen at the end of 1997.
  ....The informal group decided that a final decision needs to be made no later than November. They also agreed to meet next month to review maps of proposals.
• 5/22 (early) - McAllen Feeling Drought: McAllen may soon join other Texas cities in implementing mandatory water restrictions due to the ongoing drought plaguing the state.
  
  ....The city's Public Utilities Board voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend that the City Commission adopt a series of watering restrictions. The commission will consider the proposal next week at its May 28 meeting.
  ...."The Valley has reached a critical stage in its water supply, and it's important that the public be aware. The only way to do that is to exercise this measure," said Michael Blum, chairman of the utilities board.
  ....Under the board's recommendation, the city would move to the second stage of a five-stage water conservation plan. Stage-two restrictions include limiting lawn watering and car washing to every other day, between the hours of 6 p.m. and 10 a.m., as well as restrictions on watering golf greens, refilling swimming pools and fire hydrant use.
• 5/21 - Perot Party Not on Ballot: Ross Perot's Reform Party won't be on the November ballot in his home state.
  
  
  ....Supporters already have turned in signatures to put Perot on the Texas ballot as an independent but are abandoning efforts to get his new political party officially recognized there this year.
  ....Russ Verney, national coordinator for the Reform Party, played down the significance of the decision, saying getting a candidate on the presidential ballot was the goal in 1996.
  ...."We have accomplished getting our presidential and vice presidential candidates on the state ballot," Verney said Monday.
  ....Perot hasn't said whether he'll run for president again and that his spot on the independent ballot could be filled by another candidate selected by the Reform Party.
  ....But by ending its petition drive, the Reform Party has given up any hope of establishing long-term ballot access through this year's election. Perot's goal when he announced plans for the Reform Party last year was to create an alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties.
• 5/21 - Cows Shot from Airplane: An investigation to determine who shot three cows from an airplane near Cross Plains continues.
  
  ....Callahan County Sheriff Eddie Curtis said three cows were shot from a small airplane traveling over a ranch owned by Bill Black five miles west of Cross Plains about 8 p.m. Saturday.
  ....Curtis said the cows were shot with a high-powered weapon, possibly a .223 rifle.
  Though there are no leads in the case, Curtis said there could be some federal charges filed with the Federal Aviation ....Administration once a suspect or suspects are found.
  ...."They don't tolerate this kind of stuff," Curtis said.
  ....Curtis said area ranchers are checking their herds to see if any other cattle were killed.
  "We just hope these are the only ones that got shot," Curtis said.
• 5/21 (early) - Explosion in Laredo: An explosion blew out windows of an office building housing the FBI Monday, prompting the government to tighten security at federal buildings in Texas and four other states.
  
  ....The explosion at Walker Plaza caused no structural damage and no one was severely injured. Officials said they had no details about the type of device.
  ...."All we know is there was an explosive device that went off," said FBI spokesman Greg Rodriguez in San Antonio.
• 5/21 (early) - Schools Sharing Libraries Electronically: More than 150 Texas school districts are participating in a program allowing them to electronically share their library holdings.
  
  ....The Texas Library Connection is meant to ensure that information is available regardless of a school district's size or geographic location.
  ....It was established with a $1.3 million legislative appropriation in 1993 and began in the 1994-95 school year, when 30 school districts and one regional education service center participated.
• 5/21 (early) - Food Regulations to Tighten: The Texas Board of Human Services has voted to tighten regulation of a food program for Texas children to stem fraud.
  
  ....The federally funded Child and Adult Food Care Program provides more than 55 million meals annually to Texas children family day care homes and other facilities.
  ....There are few federal restrictions on participating organizations, but states can enforce "reasonable limits," according to the Department of Human Services.
• 5/20 - Sweetwater Fund-Raiser Helps Shelter: A prime rib dinner auction Saturday night in Sweetwater raised more than $11,000 toward Nolan County's share of a five-county effort to raise funds for a new shelter for victims of family violence.
  
  ....According to Sylvia Newman, advisory committee chairman for Noah Project West, there are about 60 shelters around the state for victims of abuse. The Snyder shelter serves family violence victims from Nolan, Scurry, Fisher, Kent and Mitchell counties and was the first outreach center to be established in this region in 1984. Since then centers have been established in Brownwood and Haskell.
  ....The Sndyer building formerly was a jail and is more than 100 years old. The center is dark and frightening, with jail cells visible, for children who are coming out of traumatic environments, Newman said.
  ....A total of $250,000 is needed to build the new facility. Each of the five counties will contibute a portion of the necessary funds. Nolan County's goal is $75,000.
  ....The next fund-raiser will be in Kent County, said Newman. Officials hope that groundbreaking ceremonies can take place Labor Day after a summer of fund-raising activities.
• 5/19 - Aquifer Levels Continue To Plummet; Watering Ban May Be Near
• 5/19 - Gingrich throws support behind Steve Stockman
• 5/19 - Champion Hog-Caller Says She Can be Heard for Miles
• 5/18 - TSTC to Continue with Academic Courses
• 5/18 - Shoplifter's Parents Find Petty Theft Expensive
• 5/18 (early) - More Than 60,000 Gun Permits Issued: The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued more than 60,000 concealed handgun permits, including 54,378 through May 1.
  
  ....The department on Friday released statistical information about those licenses mailed out as of the beginning of this month. Those statistics showed:
  ....- White males had received 42,852, or 78.8 percent of the 54,378 permits.
  ....- White females had 8,781, or 16.2 percent of those permits.
  ....- Blacks had received 1,325, or 2.44 percent, with black men getting 1,173.
• 5/18 (early) - ValuJet Flights Grounded at DFW: Several ValuJet flights were grounded Friday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for mechanical problems, with others under close scrutiny, according to broadcast reports.
  
  ....Two of the grounded flights were bound for Atlanta before federal inspectors boarded the planes and ordered them grounded, less than a week after another ValuJet plane's deadly plunge into the Everglades.
  ....Dallas television station WFAA said Federal Aviation Administration inspectors discovered problems on a 7:05 a.m. flight and then on a 9:05 a.m. flight.
  ....Fort Worth station KXAS-TV had an unconfirmed report that up to 18 flights had been grounded.
• 5/18 (early) - Hill Country Peach Grop a Goner: Roadside signs advertising Texas peaches could be fewer and farther apart this summer after abnormal weather in February and March laid waste to the one the state's Hill Country's claims to fame.
  
  ....Gillespie County agriculturalist Bill Botard said at least 90 percent of the state's $4 million peach crop was destroyed by record high temperatures in February and frost and cold temperatures in March.
  ....Gillespie county accounts for most of the state's peach crop.
  ....Frank Muller, a Gillespie County peach grower, called the 90 percent destroyed estimate generous.
  ...."I don't know anybody who's got a crop," he said.
• 5/18 (early) - Deaf Interpreters May Enter Deliberations: Interpreters for deaf jurors may accompany them during jury deliberations as long as the interpreters take an oath not to participate or disclose any of the discussions, the attorney general says.
  
  ....In a legal opinion released Friday, Attorney General Dan Morales said that allowing an interpreter in the jury room under such circumstances doesn't violate rights of defendants.
  ....In his opinion, Morales said the law requires that an interpreter appointed for a juror must swear not to "participate in any manner in the deliberations of the jury," communicate with any juror except to provide a literal translation of remarks, or disclose any of the deliberations after a verdict.
• 5/17 - Tobacco Lawyers Challenge Morales: Nothing in the Texas Constitution or state law gives Attorney General Dan Morales the authority to file much of the $4 billion lawsuit he brought against the nation's tobacco industry, tobacco lawyers argued Thursday.
  
  
  ....A lawyer for the state called the argument absurd.
  ....Attorneys for Philip Morris USA, several other tobacco companies and industry groups asked District Judge Joe Hart to rule that Morales could not file most of the federal lawsuit the way he did in March.
  ....They also asked Hart to rule that Morales could file those parts under a different law. ....Under that law, the companies said they would have a better defense.
  ....The companies, all defendants in Texas' lawsuit, sued Morales in Travis County district court in December trying to block the lawsuit he filed in March in a federal court in Texarkana.
• 5/17 - Teen Killer Had Check-List: A 15-year-old boy charged in a fatal holdup at a beauty shop allegedly wrote step-by-step instructions that included a reminder to himself to kill his victim.
  
  ....Travis Crabtree was indicted on murder charges Wednesday, accused of shooting beautician Seeta Haddadi during the March 14 robbery and stabbing to death a 76-year-old woman during a burglary at her home Jan. 30.
  ....According to police, Crabtree had the floor plan of the beauty shop and wrote a checklist to guide himself through the robbery.
  .....The list included instructions to check for security cameras, lock the front door and herd employees to the back, police said. The sixth and final item: "Kill."
  ....The boy's mother turned the list over to police.
  .....Ms. Haddadi was shot in the head, apparently as she lay face down on the floor. Police said they matched the bullet to a pistol from Crabtree's home.
• 5/17 - School Clerk Resigns After Girl's Rape: An elementary school attendance clerk has resigned after allowing a 9-year-old girl to be released to a man who later allegedly raped her.
  
  ....Brownsville school officials said the child's release violated district policy because the man, although related to the girl, was not listed by her parents as someone authorized to pick her up.
  ...."They just didn't follow procedure, because the clerk knew the family and thought it would be OK," said school board member Joey Lopez. "It turned around and bit us."
  School district officials would not release the name of the clerk at El Jardin Elementary School.
  ....The clerk authorized the girl's release after the man told her he had permission from the child's mother to take her to buy shoes. The man is the girl's step-uncle, the brother of her mother's common-law husband.
• 5/17 (early) - Moratorium on Paroles Suggested: With arrest warrants currently issued for more than 13,000 parolees in Texas, a state senator said Thursday it's time to slap a one-year moratorium on parole.
  
  ....Sen. Jerry Patterson, R-Pasadena, said the moratorium, revoking mandatory early releases and other changes are needed to modernize the parole system, tighten rules and protect Texans.
  ...."You continue to see and hear the horror stories of parolees," Patterson said. "Parolees, mandatory supervision releases are shooting, raping, maiming and doing a variety of other things they shouldn't be doing."
  ....Although Texas has expanded its prison system to 150,000 beds and toughened penalties for many crimes, Patterson said more reforms are needed to keep citizens safe.
• 5/17 (early) - Oil Regulations Overhaul Proposed: Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Carole Keeton Rylander unveiled plans Thursday to overhaul the state's oil production regulations for the first time in more than half a century.
  
  ...."Although the energy arena has changed a great deal, the regulations haven't," Rylander said, holding up a pocket-size book of commission rules published in 1934. "My proposal is to partially deregulate oil. It's been over 60 years since many of these regulations have been put into place, and I believe it's time to change."
  ....Rylander said her panel, which oversees oil and gas regulation in the state, would review the proposals in the next three months and hoped to have the new rules in place within a year.
  ....She estimated they would save the commission $300,000 a year in administrative costs and producers some $40 million annually.
• 5/16 - Money Main Factor in Schools Following Roscoe Lead vs. LULAC
• 5/16 - Date-rape Pill Available in Texas Despite Federal Ban
• 5/16 (early) - State Bill Would Extend Hospital Stay: Two state legislators said Wednesday they will introduce a bill next year designed to prevent early release of mothers and newborns from hospitals.
  ....With health insurance coverage increasingly focusing on containing costs, there is reason to be concerned about early discharges, said Rep. Patricia Gray, D-Galveston.
  ....The bill, which is being readied for the 1997 Legislature, says a mother, in consultation with an attending physician, must be offered a minimum 48-hour hospital stay following a normal vaginal delivery and 96 hours following a caesarean section.
• 5/16 (early) - Driver's Ed Student Kills 2: Two children were killed Wednesday when a student driver hit them during her licensing exam, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
  ....The 24-year-old woman was taking the driving portion of her Texas license exam when the instructor, a state trooper, told her to put the car's gear shift into park, said Mike Cox, a Department of Public Safety spokesman.
  ....As the trooper glanced at a tally sheet, the woman instead put the car into drive and instead of pressing the brake, stepped on the gas pedal. The car lurched forward and instantly pinned two children - a boy and a girl - against the wall of the Department of Public Safety license office in Houston.
  ....The incident remained under investigation and no charges have been filed, Cox said.
• 5/16 (early) - Molester Refuses Chemical Castration: Child molester Larry Don McQuay, who claims castration is the only assurance he won't attack again, has rejected a doctor's recommendation that he undergo months of chemical castration.
  
  ....Dr. Michael Sarosdy, head of urology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, recommended eight months of chemical castration with the drug Lupron Depot before McQuay would be evaluated for surgery.
  ....The drug blocks production of the male sex hormone testosterone.
  ....McQuay, who wants to be surgically castrated, turned down the chemical treatment plan, said Dianne Clements, president of the Houston-based group Justice for All.
  ....The victims rights organization has been working with McQuay toward his desire for surgical castration.

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