Pearland man helps passengers on Continental flight 128

By Kevin Reece and Jeremy Desel / 11 News
HOUSTON – Passengers aboard Continental flight 128 arrived in Houston Monday with a terrifying tale to share.

As emergency vehicles rushed to the plane on the Miami tarmac, catering truck elevators were used to rescue injured passengers.

Diego Saavedra was on the plane. He said passengers and flight attendants were flying inside the cabin.

“All of a sudden, the plane like takes a dip and rises up and you see people going off their seats, people screaming,” said Saavedra. “One lady, she just came out of her seat and flew over the middle row, hit her head on the wall and landed on her back.”

Passengers took pictures inside the plane that show items falling out of the ceiling and cracked plastic.

The damage was caused by flight attendants and passengers hitting the ceiling, said John Norwood who was also on the flight.

“People who weren’t belted in flew up and hit the ceiling, so their faces and heads hit the plastics and broke the plastics all at the top,” said Norwood.

Celi Defaria hit the roof too. She has a scar that runs the length of the right side of her face.

“All of a sudden it came down. Everybody bumped heads twice because it came down again," she said. "It was terrifying. It happened in one faction of a second."

The incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. while most passengers were sleeping.

“I’ve never seen turbulence like that. I really thought we wouldn’t make it,” said Giovani Loss.


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Feds Bust Medicare Fraud Ring In Houston Area

HOUSTON—Federal authorities arrested 27 people in Houston Wednesday in a major Medicare fraud bust that spanned across the country.

Medicare fraud raid

Investigators claim the suspects were scamming Medicare by falsely billing for medical items that were not needed or never used.

Arrests were also made in New York, Boston and Louisiana. In all, 32 people were taken into custody.

More than 200 agents worked on Wednesday’s $16 million bust, which included 12 search warrants at health care businesses and homes across the Houston area.

One of those businesses was Memorial Medical Supply on Dairy Ashford and I-10.

Shocked employees were met by federal agents when they arrived at work.

Federal agents raided several locations in Houston after a nationwide investigation into Medicare fraud.
The agents confiscated paperwork and a computer.

They were also seen removing boxes of evidence from the business.

Federal authorities say the businesses were giving patients “arthritis kits,” which were nothing more than expensive orthotics, including knee and shoulder braces. Patients told authorities they were unnecessary, and many never used them. But health care clinic owners billed $3,000 - $4,000 for each kit.

Houston’s other scam involved billing Medicare for thousands of dollars worth of liquid food for patients who can’t eat solids. Authorities said clinic owners never distributed the food to patients. In some cases, clinic owners billed patients who were dead when they allegedly received the items.

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Regents point the way on college budget

The Alvin Community College Board of Regents provided direction to administrators to complete the 2009-2010 Maintenance and Operations Budget at a regular meeting immediately following a budget workshop on July 23.

The proposed 2009-2010 budget of $23,930,941 represents a 3.45 percent increase over last year and will include funds for two new instructors, to address the growth in dual credit courses at local high schools, a salary step adjustment for eligible employees and a two percent salary adjustment only for approximately 76 full-time employees who have no more step increase options due to their long length of employment and qualifications.

The balance of the increase “has a lot to do with fixed costs…that we don’t have any control over (such as utilities, fees, insurance, etc.),” ACC President Dr. Rodney Allbright said.

Due to the approval of Texas House Bill 4586 in June, ACC recently received $2,358,771 in natural disaster relief funds from the state to address damage caused by Hurricane Ike, Allbright reported.

“This is really good news,” he stated. “We didn’t receive enough insurance to cover the reconstruction.”

In an effort to save money, the college has been acting as general contractor for the campus reconstruction project and recently completed Building A.

Prior to finalizing and approving the budget and college district tax rate, regents are waiting for the Brazoria County Appraisal District to issue a certified effective tax rate.

Allbright recommended that the board call for a special meeting as soon as the effective tax rate is established in order to meet numerous legal requirements prior to anticipated budget approval near the end of August.

The budget is funded by three main sources, including state appropriations, tuition and fees and local tax revenues.

In other matters, ACC Broadcast Communications Department Chair Bill Lewis made a presentation to the board in preparation for the upcoming Southern Association of Colleges and Schools reaffirmation of accreditation, which is required every 10 years. Lewis provided information regarding the training, certificates and degree options currently offered in radio and television broadcasting at the college.

“As someone who does a lot of listening on the outside,” ACC Board Chairman L. H. “Pete” Nash said to Lewis, “you guys have a really excellent reputation.”

For the next approximately 15 months, presentations will be made to board members that will cover the programs and services available at ACC. Information from these presentations will be included in the application for reaffirmation.

During the meeting, regents also approved: acceptance of retirement letter from ACC Texas Department of Criminal Justice program instructor Lew Garrett; renewal of the Victory insurance policy in the amount of $86,238 (for 19 months); renewal of deposit bank contract with First National Bank; renewal of Internet Blackboard/WebCT contract in the amount of $33,100 (for three years); budget revisions in preparation for the closure of the 2008-2009 fiscal year; 2009-2010 Carl Perkins Basic Grant in the amount of $244,939; authorization for proposed budget expenditures necessary for the start of the fall semester; personnel appointment of Saul Olivares as a new foreign languages instructor; replacement of desktop computers damaged by Hurricane Ike; financial report ending June 30; and the check register.

Pearland man Charged With Rape While In Iraq

A former civilian defense contractor from Pearland was charged Friday with sexually assaulting a woman at an Iraqi air base.
David Charles Breda Jr., 34, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in October at Camp Al Asad, Iraq, where he was employed by a subsidiary of Houston-based military contractor KBR Inc.

Breda, who lived in Pearland before he left for Iraq, was arrested Thursday at a Houston-area barber college by agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

A call to his attorney was not immediately returned.

The federal indictment returned Friday in Houston marks the latest allegation of sexual assault involving civilians working for contractors in Iraq.
Jamie Leigh Jones, formerly of Conroe, drew national attention in 2007 when she went public with allegations she was raped by co-workers while working for KBR/Halliburton in 2005.

The Associated Press usually does not identify people alleging sexual assault, but Jones' face and name have been broadcast in media reports and on her own Web site.
After Jones testified about the assault at a Congressional committee hearing, other women also said they were sexually assaulted while in Iraq and testified before Congress. It was unclear whether prosecutors had filed any criminal charges based on those allegations.

KBR and Halliburton, which split in 2007, have disputed Jones' account of how the companies responded to her allegations. KBR did not immediately return a message left Friday for comment.

The indictment did not identify the woman in Breda's case, and it is not known whether she also worked for the contractor.
A detention hearing for Breda is set for Wednesday in Houston. If convicted, Breda faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to a life term of supervised release. He also would be required to register as a sex offender.

Brazoria County Man Struck By Lightning/Saved By Cop

Cop Saves Man Struck By Lightning
Updated: Saturday, 11 Jul 2009, 10:53 AM CDT
Published : Friday, 10 Jul 2009, 9:39 PM CDT

CHRIS STIPES
HOUSTON - A Brazoria County man is struck by lighting on his drive home from work--and survives.

Last month Chris Camacho, 35, left work in Houston headed to his home in Brazoria when he saw a flash of light.

"It was the brightest light you've ever seen," he said. "I thought I was hit by something massive."

As it turns out, Camacho's car was struck by a bolt of lightning. Quickly filling with smoke and intense heat, the car stopped in the middle of Highway 288 in Pearland. Camacho says he tried to get out, but the electrical current pushed him back in.

"It happened so fast, it was like a dream. I never thought something like this could happen to me."

The lightning entered through the car's antenna and blew out the back window, popped the trunk, deployed the air bags and melted much of the interior.

"It was the hottest heat, I felt it on my back," said Camacho.



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Pearland Man Arrested for Indecent Exposure

Pearland man charged with indecent exposure at Friendswood Public Library
10:44 AM CDT on Friday, July 10, 2009
KHOU.com staff report
FRIENDSWOOD, Texas—A Pearland man was in custody Friday after police said he was caught masturbating at the Friendswood Public Library.


Friendswood PD

Thomas Whitmarsh
Police were called to the library, located at 416 S. Friendswood, around 7:20 p.m. Thursday.

A library employee reported seeing Thomas Whitmarsh, 68, exposing himself and masturbating in an open area of the library.

Whitmarsh told police he’d recently been caught doing the same thing by officers in Pearland.

He said he was not cited in that incident.

Friendswood police have not yet confirmed that with Pearland authorities.

Friendswood library personnel had consulted with police twice before in June, expressing conern about Whitmarsh’s suspicious behavior.

Whitmarsh was charged with indecent exposure and issued a criminal trespass warming.

He’s currently being held in the Friendswood Municipal Jail on $1,000 bond.

New Pearland High Principal named

Larry Berger has been named the new principal of Pearland High School.
Berger, who served as assistant principal at the school for the last two years, has worked in education for more than a decade.
Before coming to Pearland ISD, he served as an assistant principal at a middle school and a high school in Victoria.
Berger holds a master’s degree in administration and supervision from the University of Houston-Victoria. He replaces Michele Staley, who accepted a position in the Clear Creek school district.