No waiting: Houston ship channel back in business

UPDATE 1-Coast Guard says no wait to exit Houston Channel

HOUSTON Oct 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard said no ships were waiting Thursday morning to leave the Houston Ship Channel, and 33 ships were lined up to enter the waterway to the busiest U.S petrochemical port after a three-day outage, which ended on Wednesday.

As many as 67 ships were waiting to enter or exit the waterway by the time early on Wednesday that workers had removed a leaning electrical highline tower that threatened to tumble into the waterway after being struck by a barge on Sunday morning.

Four Houston refineries were unable to receive crude oil by ship during the closure, but none said prodcution was cut during the wait that ended Wednesday when the first ships up the channel were crude tankers.

About 44 ships were waiting to enter the channel when it reopened on Wednesday morning and it might appear only 11 have moved up the channel, but the Coast Guard said several ships were added to the line waiting in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.

"It's a consant flow," said a Coast Guard spokesman.

There are about 12 ships more than on a average day waiting to move into the channel, the spokesman said. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by John Picinich)


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Drug deal goes bad - two shot - one dead.

khou.com
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:26 AM
Updated today at 8:45 AM

HOUSTON—A 24-year-old man was killed and his brother injured after the two were shot in what appears to be a drug deal gone bad Wednesday evening, according to HPD Homicide detectives.
Police officers responded to a home on Winter Briar at Winter Seasons in southwest Houston for reports of a drive-by shooting.

They arrived around 9 p.m. to find two brothers had been shot. They said the actual shooting took place at another location about a half-mile away, but the brothers somehow made it back home.
Police believe the brothers drove their Cadillac a few blocks from their home to meet a group of men and purchase drugs. Some sort of altercation occurred and one of the men opened fire on the brothers.

"The exact circumstances are unclear as to what transpired a t the two locations, but we have one dead," said Sgt. Thomas Biggs, HPD Homicide Division. "We believe we have all of the players in custody.

The bullet traveled completely through one of the brothers. Police said he was shot in the chest or the back, but it is unclear which point is the entry and exit.
The other brother was shot in the foot. He was taken to Southwest Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he was treated and released. He returned to the scene to talk to police.
Several suspects were taken in for questioning and police said they definitely know one of them is the shooter.


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Pearland ISD receives grant for health, safety education

Updated: 10.04.10
Pearland Independent School District is helping Texas children avoid a lifetime of health problems thanks to a $6,000 tobacco compliance grant.

The grant from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts helps the district not only educate minors on state tobacco laws but also enforce the law concerning minors’ possession of tobacco.

The state comptroller offers these grants to school districts that have school-based police programs to enforce a health and safety code concerning the sale and distribution of tobacco products to students younger than 18.

Pearland ISD junior high and high school students learn about tobacco laws through periodic announcements and information available in campus libraries and some classrooms.

Thanks to the grant, students also receive educational bookmarks, rulers and T-shirts about tobacco laws and health at district athletic events

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Hospital seeks family ...

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Officials at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center are trying to find the family of a man who was critically injured after an incident in Alvin Wednesday evening.


The man was picked up by Life Flight near the intersection of Highway 35 and Mustang Road, according to a statement from Memorial Hermann. The statement did not provide details about how the man was injured.

The man is described as a Caucasian who is believed to be in his late 30's. He has dark hair, hazel eyes and a mustache. His height is approximately 5 feet 5 inches, and he weighs about 147 pounds. He was wearing denim jeans, a Texans cap, a pair of Brazos boots, a T-shirt and a titanium wedding band.

The patient has a tattoo on each upper arm -- one tattoo reads "Kaleb", the other reads "Jacob."
Anyone who believes they have knowledge of this patient is encouraged to contact Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center at 713-704-4000.

9/11 contrail explained.

No - it wasn't aliens - or "chemtrails" or fighters on patrol on the anniversary of 9/11 - but rather a NASA high altitude research aircraft that caused the "mysterious" contrails over the Houston area Saturday.

Houston Airport Systems spokeswoman Marlene McClinton told Local 2 that NASA's WB-57 is a high-altitude aircraft, operating out of Ellington Field.
"It is taking air samples between 45,000 and 51,000 feet," said McClinton.

According to McClinton, it was a normal operation, but due to atmospheric conditions, the contrails were extremely visible.

Many callers said the plane looked like a big commercial passenger plane with the NASA oogo on it.
"It was just circling," said Cindy Hamilton who lives in Friendswood.
She saw the plane around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

"It would go north and just circle back to the south. I was just concerned because of what day it is. Seeing the plane brought back memories," Hamilton said.
Karon Wisdom saw the plane in Channelview circling for hours.

"Because its 9/11, everyone's keeping their eye on the sky," she said. "I thought either someone was watching out for us on the Gulf Coast, or something weird was happening."

NASA officials said the aircraft was testing out a new instrument and that "they have made several flights this week. It's unfortunate for the atmospheric conditions that made it very visible on 9/11."
Officials said it was nothing to be alarmed about.


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Breaking: Fire destroys Houston complex

by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on September 15, 2010 at 11:20 AM

HOUSTON—Eight units were completely destroyed and several families were displaced after a two-alarm fire damaged part of a southwest Houston apartment complex Wednesday morning.
Fire officials rushed to the burning apartments on Wilcrest at South Drive around 6:45 a.m.
HFD said they had a slight water pressure issue in the beginning, but managed to quickly get the fire under control. No firefighters were injured and all of the families got out safely.
One child standing outside was checked for smoke inhalation at the scene. He was determined to be OK.

Arson investigators do not know how the fire started at this time.


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Pearland Man 1st be be fitted with new heart device

HOUSTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A new method to treat heart failure is being tried with a device implanted to electrically stimulate parts of a patient's spinal cord, Texas doctors say.

A Pearland, Texas, man had the device and wire implanted Monday by surgeons at Houston's Methodist Hospital, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Doctors hope the procedure, commonly used to treat pain, will activate nerves they think will improve the heart's ability to pump effectively, lower blood pressure, reduce the amount of irregular heartbeats, and stop stress hormones from overreacting and causing cardiac damage.

"Despite the development of drugs that treat heart failure, patients continue to deteriorate," Dr. Guillermo Torre-Amione, a Methodist heart failure specialist, said. "This is a new concept that could increase therapeutic efficacy without adding new medications."

Hollis Bardwell, 61, had the pacemaker-like device implanted in the side of his lower back and an attached 35-inch wire threaded up his spine.

He said he hopes the therapy will give him greater mobility while he waits for a heart transplant.

Bardwell hasn't worked since November because an inherited heart condition makes breathing difficult.

He went on a heart transplant waiting list two months ago.

On Monday, doctors adjusted the electrical impulse level to Bardwell's satisfaction.

"It's really mild," Bardwell said. "The most I feel is a tingle like when your hand is going to sleep on you. When it's set low, I don't feel anything at all."

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