Good morning, Houston. Remember when our fair city was trying to land the summer Olympics? Well, maybe we should be happy we didn't get them, given London's problems with its 2012 Olympics logo. The logo — a brightly colored, highly abstracted version of the numerals "2012" that cost $796,000 to design — drew fire at first for its look, and now there's word that the animated version of the logo is apparently causing epileptic seizures in some Brits. We can only imagine what the world might have made of a dancing, multicolored cowboy hat.
>> Talk about your crappy first dates!: Twenty-three-year-old Dan Miladinovic is facing two counts of sexual assault for allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old girl who he met on a website called vampirefreaks.com. (For the record, no, it's not a site for people who love vampires — it's a site for people into the industrial scene.) The victim said she talked with Miladinovic online before chatting on the phone and arranging to meet at First Colony Mall; after the mall closed, they drove around in Miladinovic's car, and then he allegedly sexually assaulted her in the parking lot of a Sugar Land doctor's office. Miladinovic doesn't have a criminal record and hasn't admitted to anything, but still, the whole thing is kind of weird, Sugar Land Police Sgt. James Hines said: "I guess it's really kind of disturbing to think that a 23-year-old can meet somebody online, arrange for a meeting with a 16-year-old, and think they're going to engage in some kind of sexual activity." Welcome to the Internet.
>> Talk about your crappy first jobs!: KHOU found something interesting when it filmed the scene of an 18-wheeler accident near New Caney recently: teenagers working hazmat duty, cleaning up diesel fuel that spilled from the truck. Teens, we might add, who weren't wearing protective gear and might not have even been certified to clean up hazardous materials. The hazmat company that responded to the accident is owned by Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable Travis Bishop, who assured Channel 11 that the teens handling the hazardous material were his own kids — we're not sure if that's a good thing or not. KHOU also reported that it's not clear the clean-up job was ever completed: A news crew found some debris left near a bridge at the site two weeks after the wreck occurred.
>> Talk about your crappy first known cases of West Nile!: Obviously, we're reaching for a theme here. But seriously, health officials say they have found the first known case of West Nile virus in Harris County this year: A dead blue jay found May 25 near Del Monte and Briarpark was infected, which means mosquito spraying has begun around that location. Mosquitoes get West Nile from birds and pass it to other birds, animals and humans; in humans, the virus can cause fatal encephalitis, an acute inflammation of the brain. Symptoms usually show up between five and 15 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito; if you think you have any West Nile symptoms (listed here), contact your doctor immediately.
>> Talk about your crappy weekend weather!: Not so crappy, really — but, on the other hand, not all that great either. Look for highs around 92 through the weekend, with overnight lows near 75, and a persistent 20 percent chance of rain. As has been the trend lately, the best chance of showers comes in the afternoons, but here's something new: heat indexes (heat indices?) nearing 103 today and 101 on Saturday. June, eh? We can't wait until August.
And now for the rest of this morning's news ...
- Marcia Heaton, the woman arrested in a Brazoria County murder-for-hire plot, tried to kill herself in jail Wednesday night
- A southeast Houston man held his common-law wife at knifepoint yesterday afternoon, prompting a SWAT standoff that lasted more than two hours
- The rate of tuberculosis infection in Harris County is twice the national rate, KHOU reports
- A northwest Houston neighborhood association is under fire for claiming certain residents are turning the neighborhood into a "ghetto"
- The 16-year-old suspect in the Needville High School arson will remain in jail for at least a few more days
- A couple of construction workers had to be rushed to the hospital Thursday morning after a Heights house fell on them while being jacked up
- A Dallas funeral home worker is trying to sell the original death certificate for JFK, which contained two typos; its worth is estimated at between $80,000 and $120,000
- A woman was killed Wednesday when a van veered onto the shoulder of the Eastex Freeway and hit her car, which had a flat tire
- A southeast Houston couple found about 30 headstones buried in their back yard; they believe they're the remnants of a family cemetery
- Mike Strech, the former head of Harris County's toll road system, says he overstepped his authority by asking county vendors to donate money for his department's summer picnic
- HISD could approve payraises of up to 12 percent for teachers — without a tax hike
- Pride Houston will kick off its two-week celebration with a party at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on Sunday evening
- A bicyclist was killed Wednesday night when he was hit by a suspected drunk driver
- Police are hoping to track down the identity of a woman whose skeleton was found dumped off Highway 288 in Brazoria County 17 years ago
- Alton Payne, the teen who set Bellaire High student Jonathan Finkelman up to be robbed in a drug deal last year — only to see Finkelman get shot to death — has been sentenced to 18 years in prison
- The train at Hermann Park will be replaced with a new train this fall
- A couple of weeks ago, a poodle saved its owner from a pit bull attack
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