Blogs: Newsmonger

Last year a dozen or so same-sex couples who showed up on the Bexar County Courthouse steps for the annual Valentine’s midnight marriage ceremony got good ol’ religious rebuke local pastor Joe Sullivan. “He said we were there solely to be repulsive and disgusting,” GetEqual Texas activist Julie Pousson told us back then. “And...
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The Texas Civil Rights Project yesterday filed a lawsuit against SAPD Chief William McManus, San Antonio City Attorney Michael Bernard, and the City of San Antonio for the rare practice of banning troublemakers from City Hall and Municipal Plaza. The group sued on behalf of former SA Fire Department contract coordinator Michael Cuellar, one...
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Judge: bogus reality TV producer/modeling agent has an "evil heart fatally bent on mischief"
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Police say Glen L. Dukes lured in at least two East Side women with food, clothing, shelter, and crack cocaine and in exchange pimped them out, took all their earnings, and beat them if they didn’t obey his commands. Authorities arrested Dukes, 43, this week on two counts of continuous trafficking of persons. If...
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  Well, here’s a heartbreaking way to start your weekend… Police are looking for the dirtbag(s) that burned a puppy alive this week. Early this week, a woman found a badly-burned, barely-alive puppy (pictured above) stuffed in a garbage bag and dumped on her front lawn on the 2400 block of Hicks Avenue. According...
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With recent ethical lapses casting a pall over City Hall, Mayor Julian Castro this month announced the creation of an ethics auditor. The new watchdog position would be responsible “for helping to achieve a high-caliber ethical culture and maintain that culture here.” The move came after Castro and City Manager Sheryl Sculley for months downplayed complaints...
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There’s big news this week that a bipartisan group in the U.S. Senate have drafted a framework plan on how to overhaul the nation’s broken immigration system. There are many questions not answered by the five-page blueprint drafted by the senators that went public Monday. But the proposal would do two major things: further...
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An Express-News analysis of jail records shows just how out of hand staffing problems got at the local jail under former Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz. Reviewing records from October 2009 thru September 2012, the daily found Ortiz failed to fill spots temporarily vacated by several jailers that got called for reserve or National...
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When Beaumont attorney John Morgan first heard from Hollie Toups, he had a deeply emotional reaction. “After I interviewed her, I felt like a dad and this was my daughter. … I felt protective,” he told me. “Then I got very, very angry – those people were trying to ruin this young gal’s life.”...
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A local prostitution sting earlier this month caught 46 suspects, mostly men trying to buy sex, including a local teacher, a Bexar County Sheriff’s Office employee and an on-duty EMT who sought out sex with a 15 year old. Authorities have dubbed the multi-agency operation “Blue Ice,” saying local federal, sheriff’s, and police officials...
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The Castro twins continue to play their role as national Democratic darlings, appearing Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” with Bob Schieffer. After a couple minutes of light banter with Schieffer about being twins (like, did they try to deceive the 2005 River Parade crowd when Joaquin quietly filled in for Julian?), the Castros...
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UPDATE (Thursday, 3:05 pm):  We just spoke to Jim Harrington with the Texas Civil Rights Project, who last year challenged the City of Austin’s practice of banning Occupy protesters from City Hall (and won). Harrington now says the TCRP plans to file a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio in federal court on...
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