Lock and Load Mentality

Sean Hannity continues to be a total idiot. This "Rush Limbaugh wannabe" has now characterized President's Obama message of condolences as a message of hatred. His comment adds to that of Robert Zimmerman, George Zimmerman's father, and Limbaugh that are doing everything to tie the President's only message about the killing of Trayvon Martin as an endorsement of statements made by the Black Panthers and extrapolating to place Obama shoulder to shoulder with Louis Farrakhan as well. The two conservative radio racist's comments are consequential in that they help raise the lock and load mentality of many who are being told to fear minorities.

Johnny Ruiz's theft case to be reset

EPalumni.Com
Feb 8, 2012
11:43am


EAGLE PASS - The theft trial for Johnny Ruiz accused of taking merchandise from a local Walmart store without paying will not take place tomorrow as previously scheduled.

The only proceeding that will take place tomorrow will be the filing of a motion for continuance by Ruiz's defense attorney. City prosecutor Heriberto Morales is not expected to object thus setting the case for a future date subject to the municipal judge's approval. It is likely that the case will be set for the month of March.

However, the court may hear pre-trial motions entered by the defense, one of which asked that prosecutor Morales be disqualified for possible conflict since he handles all the tickets issued by the law enforcement officials working for the local school district. Ruiz was the school districts Chief of Police at the time of the alleged theft.

Efforts to reach the defense attorney were not successful.

Pereda...its in the Judge's Court

The likelihood that Pereda will be fired has increased due to the most recent oversight. A recent incident adds to the county's dissatisfaction with Pereda. As reported, Pereda is being blamed for not informing the County that the TCEQ was requesting an insurance payment. The insurance payment was being requested by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the continued operation of the County's landfill.

Its good business sense that if Pereda knew that the insurance was due that he should have alerted Commissioner's Court that they had a bill that needed to be paid.

On the other hand, the county also has a landfill Board of Directors that have some responsibility over compliance and operations, and yet they too apparently failed to notify the county. Should they too share some fault in not bringing this to the County's attention?

Its an understanding that our District Judges will have to concur with any final decision to fire Pereda.

Overall, if there is one thing that young people starting their careers should learn from this situation, its that if they ever get a job like Pereda's, they should embrace it enthusiastically and never take the position that I will do only what is required and nothing more.

Johnny Ruiz pleads not guilty

EAGLE PASS -- Johnny Ruiz, Eagle Pass Independent School District Chief of Police entered a plea of not guilty to a theft charge he faces in Eagle Pass Municipal Court on Friday.

The charge stems from Ruiz arrest after he allegedly took merchandise without paying from a local Wal-Mart store in Eagle Pass. Ruiz has stated that it was a misunderstanding and that he was not arrested. However, on the day of the incident, Ruiz was taken to the Eagle Pass Police Department and processed and given a citation for theft.

There was speculation that Ruiz would plea no contest but with his plea of not guilty, its now up to Wal-Mart and its security staff to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ruiz in fact took mechanize without paying. The court appearance has been set for February 9 before Municipal Judge Francisco Martinez.

In the meantime, Ruiz remains suspended from his position as EPISD Chief of Police pending the court's outcome.

What happens in Texas stays in Texas

Almost three years ago I was pleased to hear presidential candidate Barack Obama talk about making government transparent and ending undue profiteering by people who do business with government. He also told us that he would hold all agencies taking federal funds responsible for maintaining transparency and launched the stimulus bill funds.

In short order we found out that what he wished failed to materialized. Obama was someone that appreciated the developing technology and expounded on the idea that all governmental entities would make use of automation to disclose fund dispersal and expenditures.

Three years later, his expectations remain unfulfilled as the majority of governmental entities refuse to disclose such information as Obama envisioned. Matter of fact, our State underutilizes equipment that it has at their disposal and instead sets up informational website that display mostly hierarchical data with virtually no vital information.

Its truly unfortunate that our State places so little importance in maximizing the use of the technology and is allow to continue without any improvement.

Have double dippers cause the county to create another program

One has to be careful when they form an opinion based on local news stories but if the latest news about the county is true, taxpayers should take notice of the latest development in county government.

In a previous story, we were informed that some residents were going to different locations and accepting free food that are made available from Laredo's Food Bank distribution center. Some were then allegedly selling the produce to the public, something that is not condone by the Food Bank.

In order to address the problem, the county has decided to designate another "department" which will contract a Director, an Assistant and two workers. It will be their job to distribute the food and prevent residents from re-selling what is given to them for free.

What has caught the ire of two of the commissioners is that $125,000 will be taken from their precinct's budget to help set up this new department. It seems that the justification for such action is that these two commissioners have not done enough for their precincts in the past. The question remains whether these two commissioners have underserved their constituents or have managed their budgets wisely.

Nonetheless, we should see whether the combined $250,000 taken from the two commissioners will be enough to finance this new department and cover the salaries of these four new employees.

What Happens to the Landfill Board

The County Commissioners will be meeting this Tuesday to determine whether the landfill board consisting of Enrique Montalvo, Roberto Mireles, Rafael Santana , Héctor Mijares and Rolando Jasso continue for another year.

By all indications, they have served well. In previous publications, it was reported that Commissioner Heredia want to be allowed to name any replacement because the landfill was his project. That suggestion seemed to go away.

The question that begs for an answer is why were their NO provisions written as to how and when landfill board member would be replaced when the board first created its bylaws. You would think that board governance would be one of the most important aspect of its creation.

I think that the community looks to Mr. Hector Mijares to correct this problem simply because he uses common sense.

Violators, a viable resource

Here is a suggestion for the City of Eagle Pass. In light of the fact that they are both short on staff and funds as a result of cutbacks, an option can be provided to the the hundreds of people that go before the municipal court for different violations. Allow them to volunteer to complete community service as payment for their outstanding fines. It can also be an option for the presiding municipal judges to consider when they sentence violators. Or this could be assessed by the municipal judge as part of a sentence or fine. No?

Will Limbaugh Blame Obama for the Earthquake

Well our country is feeling the wrath of not only unemployment, a depressed economy and now earthquakes in Washington and along the east coast. Tonight should be exciting when we see how Hannity and Limbaugh are going to blame Obama for the earthquake.

Two Hundred Fifty Loyal visitors

I am faced with the realization that the Alumni Website may soon become obsolete. There is no doubt that Facebook has offered everyone the opportunity to establish their place on the internet by giving everyone full control of its content. On good days EPalumni.Com would register as many as 6,000 visit a day but as Facebook grew, current hit are as low as 250. Being 154 miles from Eagle Pass also created some difficulty in continuing to provide some local news. I also acknowledge the success of both Eagle Pass Daily and Eagle Pass Chronicles in becoming the preferred online source of information. I will continue the site for these loyal 250 visitors as long as I can. I also want to thank the 1072 Friends on Facebook.

Is Hector Chavez vacating his position as Director of Public Works

In an exclusive news report published in El Latino, a foreign press outlet, it was reported that a rumor had surfaced indicating that Public Works Director Hector Chavez had "evacuated" his office following a meeting with City Manager, Daniel Valenzuela. According to the story, the rumor seemed to gain credibility since Chavez chose to take a week long vacation following that meeting.

The story further states that Chavez may have to leave his position upon his return, something that was not verified by either Chavez or Valenzuela but by other unnamed city officials.

According to the Latino, many had speculated that Chavez would be leaving his position possibly due to his dealings associated with the county landfill and his role of consultant to the County as it related to the landfill.

So the question is whether this information should be taken as news or a simple rumor that should be treated as an editorial from that publication.

Regarless, come Monday the public will know if El Latino had an exclusive that no one else did and that no one else cared to pursue.

Getting Fed Up

I don't know why but recently too many things have been bothering me to the point that I feel I have to vent otherwise my pressure will go sky high. The most recent annoyance has to do with removing my old version of Kapersky Virus Protection program from one of my computer. I have never had this much trouble removing a program and I have removed many programs. It is clear that Kapersky does not want to leave my computer and those that built this program had that in mind. All through the process, Kapersky keeps asking if I really want to remove. Of course I want to remove it but it asks the question at least three times. At the end, after he/she gets the message that I really want out the program freezes. Stops. It makes me reboot the computer and again I go through the same process with the same result. Should we punish the software developers that purposely design it be difficult. I say yes..but where do I find them?

The 24%

Today has not been a good news day despite the fact that President Obama's birth certificate was released. The hope was that this could finally settle the issue. News reports during the day pointed out that 24% of the conservative voter will not change their mind and will continue to believe that President Obama is an illegitimate President. While that is troubling, what is more troubling are allegations that a majority of this 24% will never accept him because he is black. In other words, these are those that will hate you because of your race or ethnicity. This is the core of white America that will never accept you no matter what. During my life I have met them but have never asked them why they hated us. One of them called in to the Sean Hannity radio program today and was noticeably upset and discounted the validity of the President's birth certificate. He was drawn into the spirit of this show to the point that he angrily stated that they were left with only three ways to rid themselves of Obama. Hannity ask for the three ways and he stated that first was to not re-elect him, second was to impeach him and then there was a third way but paused in explaining. Listeners understood what the third method meant. This exchange was broadcasted all over the country as daily fodder for the 24%.

A real deal at Jack’s

Well call me a service critic and I will not argue because that is basically what I have become. Few of you may know that I have no kids and am supposed to be enjoying the golden years after retiring. This may explain why I prefer to eat out rather than try to cook at home and eat by myself.

Today I tried Jack in the Box’s $3.99 Jumbo Deal, which gives you two tacos, a hamburger, fries and all you can drink..drink. To tell you the truth, I expected some catch, like paying more if you wanted lettuce or tomatoes but no. The offer is legit and a terrific deal.

The tacos taste the same way they tasted during my college years. Back then I could handle as many as five tacos from the same place on San Pedro and Hwy 35 in San Antonio. A single taco was about sixty-nine cents back then in 1969.

I would say that if anything needs any improvement in the Jack in the Box Jumbo Deal its their hamburger. Most hamburgers seem to have a distinct taste and you can tell them apart. My favorite is the #2 Sonic, followed by Burger King, then Whataburger and then Wendy’s.

So I must say that Jack’s Jumbo Deal is a real deal especially for a total of $4.31 including tax.

I'm mad as hell and I won't take it anymore..maybe

I am sure that you are much like me and so you understand that as daily consumers of goods and services that things are changing. I call it the revival of our economy. What am I talking about you ask? Well I have stated this over and over about eating out on a daily basis simply because it is convenient at my stage in life. Because of that, I get to see the subtle price increases in what we pay for tacos, toothpaste and meds. By now you probably heard that our economy is slowly improving because profits are up even though hiring is still not happening. But I also notice that some businesses are also gouging the public because they are going to extremes in making money.

Take today for instance. I took my vehicle to the Peppy Boys this morning after they gave me an estimate on the phone of $130.99 to repair a water hose. But once there, they said they had made a mistake on the labor, which would increase my cost to $210. Left with little choice, I said ok but told my wife that I expected them to call me to say that they found something else that needed fixing. Sure enough, in about two hours I get the call. They said that after fixing the hose, they found out that it was not the hose but a "Y" that was leaking and were willing to give me a discount and charge me only $200 more. So my total would be $410.

So you see our economy is improving and capitalism is alive and thriving in SA. Makes me want to come out of retirement and go work for the Boys.

Walmart - Out of Order

Unlike many people, I seldom print the more than thousand photos that I take each month at events. But sometimes I do it as a request. Such was the case about a week ago. It was then that I found out that at least in San Antonio, it could be a flourishing business. I see people lining up for a chance at the print computers. But what I also saw was that most seem to be out of order. I spoke to a frustrated store manager from a chain drugstore and was told that their corporate office does not place much interest in that particular area.

I drove to several outlets including CVS, Walgreen and Walmart and found machines out of order.

One such stop was an eye opener when I ended up at a Walmart Store in the far Southside of San Antonio but found out-of-order signs taped over the screens on two machines. There was no one around. I hated the thought of having to drive more than 18 miles to Ritz Camera on the north side of San Antonio. Just then a Walmart saleslady arrived and I asked when they planned to fix the two machines.

"Oh no, both machines are working. Just take the sign off the screen." she replied. She added that the signs are placed on the screen when they have no one available to work at the photo section.

I placed my Sandisk card in the machine and printed my photos.

I'll Have a Granule Fajita Taco

I know I have said it before. I eat out most of the time and seldom cook at home. So this has taken me into many restaurants which I have enjoyed because of the convenience and adventure. I have no qualms about where I go and often try a new place if I see their parking lot full. This week I have tried fajita tacos on flour tortilla and have found a developing change. At both places I asked for the same thing and although they are on opposite sides of San Antonio, I found that the restaurants are now serving their fajita meat in granules; sort of slightly oversized BBs. Both add lettuce and tomatoes at no extra cost. The result is over-cocked meat, often dry and crumbly (crumbly ?). I hope this is not happening everywhere. I can't imagine the reason for this change but somehow I feel that they will blame the economy. The taco in this picture is not the one I ate.

Family and Friends are very important

Web Posted: Sept 21, 2010 12:10 AM
By Robert Castillo

About three years ago, I experienced a health scare that for a short time affected my vision. I was seen by numerous specialist and all but one was willing to give me a prognosis. I became aware that this condition also had an effect in the way I was living. Without any effort, I became more thoughtful and considerate of friends and family, realizing how significant they all were. This serenity was a welcome feeling. It was better than the fast pace and busy schedule that kept me going day in and day out. I also noticed that I was less likely to get upset over insignificant things and more willing to walk away from any argument or confrontation with others. However, as my vision improved my serenity seemed to diminish and now I find myself getting justifiably upset with rude or discourteous people. So when people ask me if I am better I am not trying to be flippant when I say yes and no.

Stadium, Will it be ready or not?

EPalumni.Com
Web Posted: July 18, 2010 3:PM
By Robert Castillo

The question as to whether the Student Athletic Center stadium will be ready for play on August 27, 2010 has been answered.

Fans were expecting to see the first official football game to be played on the $30 million dollar facility on August 27, 2010 at 7:30 pm when the CC Winn Mavericks football team plays Devine High School. In an official statement, a district official has assured that the facility will be ready for the game. It was also explained that the project had been delayed due to persistent rains in the local area.

Because of the amount of construction that still needs to be completed, some speculated that the new field would not be ready and as a result the game would have to be held at the old Eagle Pass Field.

The parking area and some access construction to the stadium is a major piece of work that is still pending but is expected to be completed before the scheduled date for CC Winn's first game.

It was also mentioned that the Fine Arts building will be delayed for another year. Already funded, the building's cost is estimated to be $6.5 million.

----- Above photo courtesy of Eagle Pass Sports Central.Com

One week vacation - Hawaii

Well its 7:24am and I am hooked up to the airports Wifi waiting for my flight to take off. Let me just say that I have neglected my blog for many months but hope to use it in the coming days.

I will clean it up when I finish by vacation. First thing. Anticipating the long flight and not wanting to pig out before leaving, I decided to get a simple biscuit-sausage and egg from McD at the airport. Wow not the same price as in the neighborhood. But because of the high price it tasted much better.

I packed my Nikon and hope to do plenty of photography and I don't want to do the typical postcard shots. I know that its easy to say but we will see.

One more thing...I don't plan to spell check so be warned.