Farenthold recalls leading 'Dirty Thirty'

.....Texas Democrats have a history of standing up to the House Speaker... former state gubernatorial candidate Frances "Sissy" Farenthhold became famous when she led the Dirty Thirty in the 62nd legislature against then Speaker Gus Mutscher.
.....Farenthold notes it took a while for Democrats in this session to come around to taking similarly outspoken action this time:
....."You have all kinds of Democrats. But even the so-called moderate Democrats are frequently preferable to the kinds of Republicans we breed in this state." More.

Bell: No reason to redistrict now

.....Earlier today, I spoke with U.S. Congressman Chris Bell about Republican efforts to redistrict and the subsequent walkout by Texas House democrats. Congressman Bell represents the 25th district here in Houston.
.....SNIDER: With the redistricting, essentially the 25th district was carved out, how would changing that district affect Houston's interests, specifically.
.....BELL: "You can't really just focus on the 25th district, you have to focus on the overall map. Because, what would happen, is that we would go from having seven congressional districts with Harris County or part of Harris County being an integral part of those districts, to only having three. And the Republicans would argue, 'Well, no, now you have nine districts that touch Harris County.' Well, the operative world there is 'touch,' because that's about all they do. ... More.

At Conroe ISD, two asked to step down

.....In Montgomery County, the Conroe Independent School District has announced the administration's second high level "resignation" in as many months. On April 15, the district's long time Superintendent David Lusk unexpectedly announced his retirement and abruptly stepped down amid allegations of sexual harassment.
.....Then just last week the district confirmed that another of its high level offices was vacated under unusual circumstances. This time it is Chief Financial Officer Brian Miller. More.

Rainforest leaders to Burlington: halt oil plans

.....Representatives from indigenous communities in Ecuador and Peru are in town this week to protest Houston-based Burlington Resources' plans to explore and extract oil from their land in the Amazon rainforest. Erika McDonald has the report.
.....Leaders of communities representing more than 100,000 people living on millions of pristine acres in the Amazon rain forest turned up at the doorstep of Houston-based Burlington Resources this afternoon. The presidents of the Shuar, Achuar, Kichwa and Zapara nations were in town to demand the company halt plans for oil exploration and extraction on ancestral lands. More.

Power grab or Texas-style showdown?

.....Over 50 Texas Democrats from the State House of Representatives are in their third day as fugitives protesting what they call an unprecedented power grab by the Republican Party. At issue is an effort by Texas Republicans to redraw Congressional maps to reflect what Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tom Delay calls a Republican state. But Democrats are adamant they will not return until the House redistricting plan dies. Jackson Allers reports on local and national responses to the Republican push for redistricting.
.....The Texas Republican leadership is not too happy with the more than 50 Democrats holed up in Ardmore, Oklahoma, so says Texas Republican Chairperson Susan Weddington:
....."On May 12, 1903 - right here in Austin - the song "The Eyes of Texas" was birthed at the opera house. On May 12, 2003, the eyes of Texas were blackened by 50 democrats who chose to take the low road and run out on the people of Texas."
.....But one Democrat, U.S. Representative Gene Green from Houston, found the walkout to be analogous to another point in Texas history:
....."This is a Texas kind of courage like General Sam Houston who marshaled his resources to win the battle of San Jacinto. ..." More.

3 INS officers face 'excessive force' charges

.....Opening arguments were heard today in the criminal civil rights trial of three INS agents accused of using excessive force in the detention of Mexican national Serafin Olvera. Shannon Young has more.
.....On the morning of March 25, 2001, INS agents raided a house in Bryan, Texas where several Mexican construction workers were living. One of these immigrant workers - Serafin Olvera - was allegedly handcuffed and beaten. Hours later, when he was taken to a hospital, doctors discovered that Olvera had in fact suffered a broken neck and was effectively paralyzed from the neck down. Eyewitnesses say that when Olvera was lifted to his feet to be put into the INS vehicle, he dropped to the floor. After repeated attempts to make him stand up and allowing him to fall, the agents put him into their vehicle. At this time, witnesses say that deportation officer Richard Gonzalez, proceeded to pepper spray the newly-quadriplegic Sarafin Olvera directly in the face as he was handcuffed and screaming.
.....Several hours passed before he was taken to the first hospital, located 100 miles away from the scene of raid. The INS agents however, did have time to process and deport all of the other Mexican nationals detained in the Bryan house who had witnessed what happened to Olvera. The fact that the witnesses were deported before Olvera received proper medical attention is one of the central arguments of the prosecution's case. However, the prosecution will not be permitted to link Olvera's subsequent death with the injuries that he sustained during his arrest, even though the Harris County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide resulting from spinal trauma.
.....Longtime Immigrant right's activist Maria Jimenez explains:
....."We need to understand the arguments on both sides and how they're being phrased. The only thing that I have seen in the complaint of the government is that they're accusing these officers of unreasonable use of force. The question is, at what point is this unreasonable force used. ..." More.

National organization assesses HPD crime lab

.....It's been six months since the Houston Police crime lab was shut down for gross negligence. And this morning at Houston City Council, members of the National Forensics Science Technology Center presented their preliminary assessment of HPD'S DNA crime lab.
.....Spokesperson for the assessment group, Kevin Lotheridge, explains his organization's short-term recommendations: More.