But first, in case you missed it, Texas has entered full-on short bus status.
► Gun backscratching story of the week:
Man uses gun for backscratcher, shoots himself
01:43 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / The Dallas Morning News
kdurnan@dallasnews.com
A Fort Worth man trying to scratch an itch on his back used a revolver and accidentally shot himself.
Jorge Espinal, 44, was drinking beer and playing poker around 3 a.m. Sunday in his home in the 3500 block of Montague Street, when he got up from the table and walked into another room, said Fort Worth police Lt. Kenneth Dean.
“He told officers he had an itch on his back and grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of, which was a revolver,” Lt. Dean said. “The gun went off."
Mr. Espinal went back and told his buddies that he shot himself. “They didn’t believe him until they saw the blood coming down his back,” Lt. Dean said.
Mr. Espinal was taken to an area hospital, where he was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / The Dallas Morning News
kdurnan@dallasnews.com
A Fort Worth man trying to scratch an itch on his back used a revolver and accidentally shot himself.
Jorge Espinal, 44, was drinking beer and playing poker around 3 a.m. Sunday in his home in the 3500 block of Montague Street, when he got up from the table and walked into another room, said Fort Worth police Lt. Kenneth Dean.
“He told officers he had an itch on his back and grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of, which was a revolver,” Lt. Dean said. “The gun went off."
Mr. Espinal went back and told his buddies that he shot himself. “They didn’t believe him until they saw the blood coming down his back,” Lt. Dean said.
Mr. Espinal was taken to an area hospital, where he was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
► Pot-smoking story of the week that involves a human head for a bong:
3 accused of using corpse head to smoke pot
By PEGGY O'HARE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
The Kingwood teenager's story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it. Yet, Kevin Wade Jones Jr., 17, appeared almost indifferent as he relayed the bizarre description of his and two friends' activities at an Humble area graveyard, Adkins said.
"I just doubted it because it's very morbid, and I couldn't see anybody doing something like this," Adkins said Thursday.
Not until police went to the home of another Kingwood 17-year-old, Matthew Richard Gonzalez, did the officer believe the tale. "He regurgitated in his plate of food when I asked him about it," Adkins said. "So I knew there was some truth to the story." Now, Jones, Gonzalez and a juvenile whose name has not been released are each charged with abuse of a corpse, a misdemeanor. All three were arrested Wednesday night.
Police said a fourth suspect is wanted for questioning.
Houston police believe the teens disturbed the grave of an 11-year-old boy who died in 1921. The child was buried at an unmarked cemetery believed to be reserved for black veterans and their families, Adkins said. Under the law, a person can be charged with abuse of a corpse simply by vandalizing, damaging or treating a gravesite offensively — even if the human remains buried there are not touched, Adkins said.
The child's skull has not been found. If recovered later, however, such a discovery will not change the charges filed against the three suspects, Adkins said.
The teens first came to police's attention during a vehicle burglary investigation. While being questioned, Jones told of desecrating the gravesite a month or two ago. Adkins said he believes the tale was intended to distract police from the vehicle break-in.
Jones claimed he and his friends used shovels to dig up the body and removed the corpse's head with a garden tool, Adkins said. Jones also revealed he and the other two boys took the severed head to the juvenile's home, where they used the skull as a "bong" to smoke marijuana, the officer said.
Police made three trips to the heavily wooded, snake-infested graveyard near the Eastex Freeway feeder road and FM 1960 before finding the disturbed grave several days ago.
"The grave was uncovered, and the headstone had been thrown off the grave and broken," Adkins said. Because the grave is flooded with murky water from recent heavy rains, police have been unable to determine if the child's casket is still in the ground.
All three teens gave written and verbal confessions admitting they tried to dig up a body over a two-day period, Adkins said. But the boys told conflicting stories about whether they actually severed the head — so police aren't sure if that gruesome detail really happened.
Even so, HPD is working closely with Humble police to try and find any surviving relatives of the child whose grave was disturbed. According to court papers, the grave belonged to Willie Simms.
"The ultimate goal will be to put this body back to rest," Adkins said.
Little is known about the graveyard. The Humble Bicentennial Museum could not confirm that it was reserved for black veterans, but Adkins said he observed "many, many headstones" for black soldiers killed during World War I and World War II.
The three boys, all home-schooled, have also been charged in connection with the vehicle break-in. Jones and the juvenile are charged with credit card abuse, while Gonzalez pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor theft between $50 and $500.
Chronicle reporter Brian Rogers contributed.
peggy.ohare@chron.com
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
The Kingwood teenager's story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it. Yet, Kevin Wade Jones Jr., 17, appeared almost indifferent as he relayed the bizarre description of his and two friends' activities at an Humble area graveyard, Adkins said.
"I just doubted it because it's very morbid, and I couldn't see anybody doing something like this," Adkins said Thursday.
Not until police went to the home of another Kingwood 17-year-old, Matthew Richard Gonzalez, did the officer believe the tale. "He regurgitated in his plate of food when I asked him about it," Adkins said. "So I knew there was some truth to the story." Now, Jones, Gonzalez and a juvenile whose name has not been released are each charged with abuse of a corpse, a misdemeanor. All three were arrested Wednesday night.
Police said a fourth suspect is wanted for questioning.
Houston police believe the teens disturbed the grave of an 11-year-old boy who died in 1921. The child was buried at an unmarked cemetery believed to be reserved for black veterans and their families, Adkins said. Under the law, a person can be charged with abuse of a corpse simply by vandalizing, damaging or treating a gravesite offensively — even if the human remains buried there are not touched, Adkins said.
The child's skull has not been found. If recovered later, however, such a discovery will not change the charges filed against the three suspects, Adkins said.
The teens first came to police's attention during a vehicle burglary investigation. While being questioned, Jones told of desecrating the gravesite a month or two ago. Adkins said he believes the tale was intended to distract police from the vehicle break-in.
Jones claimed he and his friends used shovels to dig up the body and removed the corpse's head with a garden tool, Adkins said. Jones also revealed he and the other two boys took the severed head to the juvenile's home, where they used the skull as a "bong" to smoke marijuana, the officer said.
Police made three trips to the heavily wooded, snake-infested graveyard near the Eastex Freeway feeder road and FM 1960 before finding the disturbed grave several days ago.
"The grave was uncovered, and the headstone had been thrown off the grave and broken," Adkins said. Because the grave is flooded with murky water from recent heavy rains, police have been unable to determine if the child's casket is still in the ground.
All three teens gave written and verbal confessions admitting they tried to dig up a body over a two-day period, Adkins said. But the boys told conflicting stories about whether they actually severed the head — so police aren't sure if that gruesome detail really happened.
Even so, HPD is working closely with Humble police to try and find any surviving relatives of the child whose grave was disturbed. According to court papers, the grave belonged to Willie Simms.
"The ultimate goal will be to put this body back to rest," Adkins said.
Little is known about the graveyard. The Humble Bicentennial Museum could not confirm that it was reserved for black veterans, but Adkins said he observed "many, many headstones" for black soldiers killed during World War I and World War II.
The three boys, all home-schooled, have also been charged in connection with the vehicle break-in. Jones and the juvenile are charged with credit card abuse, while Gonzalez pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor theft between $50 and $500.
Chronicle reporter Brian Rogers contributed.
peggy.ohare@chron.com
► Headline of the week:
"Great tits cope well with warming"
Click above for the story.
► Best news story of the week involving a beer/child tradeoff:
Man fined for buckling in beer, leaving kid loose
DARWIN, Australia - An Australian man has been fined after buckling in a case of beer with a seat belt but leaving a 5-year-old child to sit on the car’s floor, police said Tuesday.
Constable Wayne Burnett said he was “shocked and appalled” when he pulled over the unregistered car Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs.
The 30-can beer case was strapped in between two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in back, but on the car’s floor.
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“The child was sitting in the lump in the center, unrestrained,” Burnett told reporters Tuesday.
“I haven’t ever seen something like this before,” he said. “This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child.”
The driver was fined 750 Australian dollars — about $710 — for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle and for failing to ensure a child was wearing a safety belt.
Constable Wayne Burnett said he was “shocked and appalled” when he pulled over the unregistered car Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs.
The 30-can beer case was strapped in between two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in back, but on the car’s floor.
Story continues below ↓advertisement
“The child was sitting in the lump in the center, unrestrained,” Burnett told reporters Tuesday.
“I haven’t ever seen something like this before,” he said. “This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child.”
The driver was fined 750 Australian dollars — about $710 — for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle and for failing to ensure a child was wearing a safety belt.
► Glad to be alive story of the week:
So on Friday after work, I left Denver with Nick to head towards Cameron Pass some 2.5 hours away in the north central part of Rocky Mountain National Park. We were meeting up with Zach and would be skiing several peaks in the area. Most notably, there atr Nokhu Crags, Mount Mahler, and No Name --- each with a distinctive couloir that we had hope to ski in great spring conditions.
The route:
Grand Central Couloir off Nokhu Crags (near 60-degrees at the top then it mellows to about 45-50 the rest of the way):
Mahler Couloirs off Mount Mahler off to the left on the right side of the saddle:
Looks pretty fucking sweet, right? Well, we never got there. But we also would not have been able to ski either since it snowed close to 10" that night. The avalanche danger was very high and the recently fallen snow showed no bonding. Zach and others in the hut stuck to skiing below treeline the entire weekend.
What we were driving through on the way:
Nick and I eventually got to the trailhead a little after 8 PM and were soon skinning up shortly after 830. The conditions were about as bad as they get. It was pouring rain ... or at the very least, VERY WET snow. It fucking sucked. There's just no other way to describe it. Winds were about 30 mph sustained with gusts to 40. Visibility was zero. I had eye glasses on (since I didn't perceive the winds and rain to be THAT bad before starting on the trailhead) ... I'm also blind as hell so I needed something to make me see.
The trail itself is not clearly defined and there are only 2 signs that show where you going along the 1.75 miles that it was. It was pitch black at night and we only had one headlamp to guide us. We had copies of the trail and a topo map, but there were too many forks along the way to convince us we were 100% heading in the right direction towards the hut.
Two hours into the trip, we stopped and talk about our options. At this point, you would think I just jumped into a pool and hung around for a while. I was beyond soaking wet. The jacket I was wearing is notoriously waterproof/resistant ... very bomber ... but it offered no aid in keeping me dry. Not when someone decides to turn a shower head on full blast directly over your head for one hundred twenty minutes.
The call was made. We decided to turn back. We knew the trail already, our tracks were already set in the snow, and it would be about 1.5 miles. Sure enough we get back in record time as it felt like maybe 20 minutes (later I hear this is the norm when hiking at night and going back home). We eventually figured out that we were only 1/4 mile from the hut but have no regrets about not making the trip. It was the right call and it's best to head back to the car than to potentially waste valuable time hiking somewhere that is not 100% known. And had we even made it, I guarantee my clothes would not have been dry by sunrise on Saturday. Further, all the couloirs we aimed to hit would not have been skiable. So effectively, the correct decision was made.
In bed at 3:30 AM and 4 hours later, I'm at A-Basin chugging a bottle of Maker's Mark ...
► Spring skiing at A-Basin (Sat/Sun May 10-11, 2008):
Since our hut trip failed miserably, Nick and I headed to A-Basin and met up with 4 others for some poweder skiing. Yes. May. Powder. Skiing.
I unfortunately ditched the camera on Saturday since I wasn't expecting much. And I could not have been any more wrong. Although it was dust on crust in the morning, we did numerous laps under the Pali chair while the East Wall gleamed with hope that the ropes would drop on Sunday.
We started just before 9 AM and finished shortly after 3 and celebrated the pow with twenty ounces of frosted freedom. Our time was spent well and spent hucking cornices, navigating through the steep and tight trees, and seeing how fast and far we can go before needing to turn. At one point, we drew a nice crowd as we launched off Cornice Run some 15 to 20 feet into what was inevitably a completely unharmed landing zone. The winds were strong and the next day should be better.
Sunday came with Nick and I at the parking lot around 730 AM. This is how you jumpstart things a bit:
About an hour later, we made our way to the lift. After one lap, we decided to head towards the East Wall as patrol looked to be investigating the conditions. On our second lift up, tears began to fall as a good 20 people were heading in that direction. A bootpack up Willie's was set and didn't know how long it would stay fresh and relatively untouched. We traversed not too far across before dropping and bypassing the Willie's option for a run through the lower east wall. Our third lift up netted the goods and we trekked across the traverse towards the bottom of Willie's and began the 10-minute bootpack up several hundred vertical feet. Along with Brett, we scored 5th, 6th, and 7th tracks down a 50-yard wide area in 6" deep snow that was a bit too dense to my liking but pseudo-face shots were had.
Rinse. Repeat. Drink.
My day was cut short around 1 PM and my alcoholism fulfilled its prophecy with the beach partying underway in grand fashion. Lots of people out, lots of dogs running rampart, grills all fired up, and booze-for-fried cheese barter expected AND encouraged.
The crew:
More of the same will happen this Saturday with more pictures to display.
► Manny being Manny video of the week:
Click here to watch!
► Song of the week:
Mint Royale feat. Pos from De La Soul
► Quote of the week:
"Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts."
- Charles Dickens
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