District says list is unfair

Four Humble ISD schools were included on a list of the “worst schools in Texas” released by the Texas Education Agency Dec. 15.

North Belt, Park Lakes and Whispering Pines elementaries and Humble High School were listed on the report released by the state agency. All four are campuses where half or more of the student population failed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests. TAKS is the statewide test to measure competencies in a number of subject areas. The list, the 2010-2011 Public Education Grant List, shows all schools in Texas with 50 percent or less of the students passing any reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, or science TAKS test, were rated “academically unacceptable” in 2007, 2008 or 2009.

Humble ISD Superintendent Dr. Guy Sconzo defended the district’s placement on the list and explained contextual inaccuracies.

“I think it was the most ridiculous and totally unfair headline and article I’ve ever seen,” Sconzo said of a blog entry on Chron.com.

“Any campus that has been identified as ‘academically unacceptable’ in one of any of the past three years is on that TEA list. Hence, I see no reason for anyone to put any credence in the article. We actually have campuses on that list that were ‘academically recognized’ since Park Lakes’ rating for 2009 increased to ‘acceptable’ and Whispering Pines has progressed to ‘recognized,’” Sconzo explained. The 2009 ratings for North Belt Elementary and Humble High School were ‘unacceptable.’ Students at North Belt fell below the state standard in one of 25 scores, and therefore failed to meet state ratings. Humble High School failed to meet the standard due to a completion rate, rather than test scores. Results of the Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, which were released in August, indicate that the district as a whole has met the required federal criteria and was rated ‘acceptable.’

Established in 2001 under the No Child Left Behind Act, all public schools are evaluated for annual progress. Federal regulations are based on participation and passing rates on state math and English tests, high school graduation rates and attendance rates from elementary and middle schools.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Lufkin hit by tornado.

By Whitney Grunder -
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - Severe storms ripped through parts of East Texas Wednesday evening. Some Lufkin neighborhoods sustained extensive damage from a possible tornado.

Among them is the Lufkin VFW, which is now gone. The damage comes right after 10,000 dollars worth of recent tile work. A check for the construction was written Wednesday, before the storm hit.

One resident living near Gipson Funeral Home on Chestnut Street even reported seeing caskets in his backyard.
Jakoia Grimes and her children were happy to have made it safely out of their Lufkin apartment, before their entire roof collapsed. "I looked up and I just saw the light from outside and I had my girls come and sit by the door, and within minutes the entire roof caved in," said Grimes, who is now staying with family members.
Jennifer Mays watched the tornado touch down right outside Stephens Court Apartments. She described it as "massive." She said, "I couldn't believe it was so powerful to the point that it just opened up my door."
Next door, owners sifted through what remained of their welding business, part of Lufkin for 25 years. Max's Welding Shop on Denman Avenue was completely destroyed.
Owners said they can't blame God for the severe weather, and that fortunately another shop behind the building stands untouched by the storm.

"I think we're going to be able to salvage some of our equipment. I think we're going to be alright," said co-owner Betty Purgahn.
Cheddars employees also witnessed a tornado touch down in the middle of the Olive Garden parking lot. "I heard a bunch of commotion and they were talking about the patio chairs were nearly about to hit some cars so we ran to try to help," said Cheddars employee Brad Barrow.

According to witnesses, other than damaging a few of the vehicles parked in the Olive Garden parking lot, the tornado did not affect any of the buildings. The Department of Public Safety reported that the tornado lifted back up, and did not cause any injuries.
Utility crews were also working to remedy power outages caused by toppled power poles. Thursday morning, thousands of residents were without power. An Oncor spokesperson said approximately 2,500 customers were without power in the Lufkin area.

So far no severe injuries have been reported.

Captured escapee says prison staff helped him

by KHOU.com Staff

Posted on December 9, 2009 at 6:50 AM

CONROE, Texas—The escaped prisoner who was the focus of a week-long manhunt told a local activist that he had help from the inside. Convicted child rapist Arcade Comeaux said the weapon he used to hijack guards was in his cell for at least three weeks.

Questions still surround the prison system that allowed Comeaux to dupe authorities for years. The supposedly partially-paralyzed man managed to walk away from the guards and right into controversy.
Authorities are asking two questions; why didn’t prison officials realize Comeaux was faking his medical condition, and where did he get the gun?
Local activist Quanell X said Comeaux told him he had help from the inside.

“He named that guard and he also named someone who is involved in medical who had been giving him medical assistance,” Quanell X said.

But prison officials said Comeaux has not shared that information with investigators so there are no arrests at this time.
“This feels like the inmate is running the asylum,” said a former TDCJ staff member who remembers Comeaux clearly.
“He would sit in the food. Of course it would dry and start smelling. He refused to shower, refused to clean himself, basically saying ‘I’m immobile, I need someone to do this for me.’”

The former staff member said Comeaux orchestrated a deliberate campaign of extortion, despite medical reports that he was able to care for himself. He said Comeaux manipulated the system to get health assistance and better housing.
A grand jury on Thursday will hear the case against the convicted sex offender who was captured in northeast Houston Monday morning.
Comeaux is now facing aggravated kidnapping and felony escape charges. He was in custody in the Montgomery County Jail Tuesday, awaiting his hearing. Comeaux, who is currently serving three life sentences, was found when a salesman saw him trying to hitchhike in front of a business on East Little York.

The salesman called HPD, who came and took Comeaux into custody without incident.
Investigators said Comeaux escaped during transport from a prison unit in Huntsville to one in Beaumont.
As the prison van passed through Conroe, investigators said Comeaux pulled out a gun, held two transport guards hostage, handcuffed them in the back of the van, drove the van to Baytown, took the guards’ weapons, put on one of their uniforms and escaped.

Officials launched an extensive manhunt, but Comeaux managed to elude them for seven days before he was captured.
He had been confined to a wheelchair since 1997 when a stroke purportedly left him partially paralyzed, but when he was taken into custody, Comeaux was walking.

He has been in and out of the Texas prison system for 30 years.
Comeaux was first sent to prison in 1979 on three 10-year sentences for rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child and burglary of a building—all out of Harris County. He was paroled four years later.

His parole was revoked and he returned to prison in 1984 to serve a 20-year sentence on a new charge of indecency with a child out of Harris County. He was paroled in 1991 but was in and out of prison for parole violations until 1996.
In June 1998, he was given a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault in Brazos County.
Comeaux was given two extra life sentences after he was convicted of stabbing his wife and another person in 1999. That attack occurred in the Jester III Unit in Fort Bend County when his wife came to visit him. The other person stabbed was a man who tried to stop the attack.

Still, those at the top want to correct the miscommunication between the workers inside prison walls.

“If you are in charge of a prison, and you see there is a disputes between medical’s and correction’s, come to us and ask for laws that would eliminate the controversy, ”said John Whitmire, chairman of the senate criminal justice committee. He is calling for a full investigation of prison and medical staff.

WATCH KHOU VIDEO REPORT HERE

News Alert: Comeaux now on most wanted list

(CNN) -- A Texas inmate in a wheelchair, who escaped on foot from two armed guards as he was being transferred between prisons, is now on the U.S. Marshals' list of the 15 most-wanted fugitives.
Arcade Comeaux Jr., 49, "produced a weapon and fired upon two correctional officers, took them hostage and forced them to drive to Baytown, Texas," the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement.
He then put the officers in the back of the van and took their weapons and one of their uniforms, the statement said.

Comeaux was serving three life sentences for aggravated sexual assault and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He escaped Monday during transport from Huntsville, Texas, to Stiles, Texas.
The 6-foot, 200-pound man was shackled and in a wheelchair, "which he had claimed was needed for mobility," Michelle Lyons, director of public information for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, said in a statement.

About 45 minutes into the trip, as they were driving through Conroe, 40 minutes north of Houston, the prisoner pulled out a pistol and ordered the guards to drive south to Baytown, east of Houston.
He fired once, but hit no one during the escape about 9 a.m., officials said.
Law enforcement officers found the unharmed officers an hour later.

Comeaux was being transferred so he could be near John Sealy Hospital in Galveston for treatment of the supposed paralysis he had suffered during a reported stroke, officials said.

At least $16,000 in reward money has been offered for information leading to Comeaux's rearrest and a task force of more than 100 investigators is searching for him, focusing on the Houston area, where he grew up and has family.
His escape has led the man who oversees Texas' criminal justice system to call for a shakeup of the prison system.
"I just think enough's enough," said Sen. John Whitmire, the Texas Democrat from Houston who is chairman of the state Senate's Criminal Justice Committee.

"We need a complete shakeup of the leadership of our prison system and/or an outside review by third parties," he told CNN by phone Wednesday. "We just can't have security breaches of this nature."
Whitmire said the guards had failed to pat down Comeaux while he was in his wheelchair and before they began the trip.
"Sure enough, he has a firearm," he said. "The question is, are there others (in the prison system)? I think you have to assume that there are until you find out differently."

So far this year, more than 900 cell phones have been confiscated from the 112 locations that house the state's 158,000 prisoners. "It's pretty rampant," he said.

"I want the director to come forward and tell us what it's going to take" to solve the problem, he said.
John Moriarty, inspector general of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said such lapses are highly unusual in the state's penal system. "We have no open gun investigations other than this one," he said. "The last one was several years ago."
Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Brad Livingston, who has been in the job since 2005, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

Snow forecast in Houston area !

On average, once every four years even Houston gets visited by the Snow Gods. Although, this could be the second year-in-a-row for Houston snow. And if snow does indeed fall this Friday as forecasted, it would be the earliest snowfall on record.

Fred Schmud of ImpactWeather said to the Houston Chronicle, “Most of our forecasting data is caught right in the middle, meaning any subtle change in the position of the upper level disturbance will have huge consequences on how much, if any, snow falls across the Greater Houston area."

Right now NOAA is predicting a 70% chance of snow on Friday.

Man assaults sister with hot pie/ faces charges

GALVESTON — A man who smacked his sister in the face with a piece of hot pecan pie on Thanksgiving Day may end up in jail on an aggravated assault charge, a Galveston County sheriff's spokesman said Tuesday.

The hot pie caused first- and second-degree burns and required medical treatment, sheriff's spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said. A warrant for the brother's arrest was expected to be issued today, he said.
Tuttoilmondo said he could not release the names of the siblings until the arrest warrant was issued but gave this account: The

26-year old brother from Texas City and 23-year-old sister from Alvin began arguing at their parents' home in Algoa about 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

Tuttoilmondo said he could not release the names of the siblings until the arrest warrant was issued but gave this account: The 26-year old brother from Texas City and 23-year-old sister from Alvin began arguing at their parents' home in Algoa about 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

As the dispute grew, the brother threatened to heave a piece of pecan pie that he was warming in a microwave oven, Tuttoilmondo said. An attempt by the mother to calm the argument failed and the brother carried out his threat, shoving the pie in his sister's face.

Sheriff's deputies were called and the sister sought medical treatment for burns to the left side of her face and neck, Tuttoilmondo said. She later tried to have the case dropped, but under Texas law, family violence cases must be prosecuted.

“One thing that gets lost in a story like this, beyond the humor of someone getting hit in the face with a pie, is that this is an issue of family violence,” Tuttoilmondo said.

“This is the type of thing that law enforcement takes seriously.”

Police seek suspect in driveway robbery

By STEFANIE THOMAS
Updated: 12.01.09
Police say an armed suspect who robbed a man in the driveway of his residence may have followed his victim home from a gas station.

According to Humble Police Detective Duke Caruthers, the 31-year-old resident of the Meadowbrook Mobile Home Park in the 2700 block of Wilson Road, accompanied by another male, had just turned into his driveway around 10:30 p.m. Nov. 30 when he was confronted with a “long, black shotgun” pointed at his face.

“The suspect demanded money and, fearing for his life, the [victim] complied by giving him his wallet,” Caruthers said. “The suspect then told the two men not to look at him as he left the scene.”

Caruthers said both men told police the suspect fired a warning shot as he fled the scene on foot, running east on Wilson.

“The [victim] said just prior to the robbery he saw a man who looked like the suspect at the Valero gas station at Will Clayton at Wilson,” Caruthers said.

The suspect is only described as a black male who was wearing a black hoodie. His face was covered by a black bandana.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Humble Police Department at 281-446-7127.

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