Good morning, Houston. So, did you hear about the calf that ran loose along the Gulf Freeway feeder road near Clear Lake City Boulevard yesterday? As if there aren't enough things causing traffic on our freeways, you know? The calf apparently got loose through a hole in a fence, and it wandered along the feeder for nearly an hour and a half, eluding its would-be captors until it slipped back through the hole where it came from in the first place. Fortunately, this all happened around 1:30 a.m., so there weren't many drivers out — we hope this calf doesn't get the urge to go hitchhiking during rush hour someday.
>> Testimony continues in Benton trial: An MS-13 gang member named Pajaro testified Thursday that Ashley Benton chased him around Chew Park with a knife before she stabbed Gabriel Granillo, a fellow member of MS-13, during a gang fight last summer. Pajaro said Benton, who is on trial for murder, tried to stab him as she ran after him, but she wasn't able to catch him; though he didn't see Benton stab Granillo, Pajaro said he did see Granillo fall to the ground. His testimony came after continued testimony from another MS-13 member, Cucaracha, who said Wednesday that Benton reached around a bat Granillo was holding and stabbed him in the heart. When defense attorney Kent Schaffer asked Cucaracha yesterday to point out exactly where Granillo had been stabbed, he had trouble doing so; he also couldn't say whether Benton was holding the knife in her left or right hand. Cucaracha also reportedly did little to clear up conflicting stories he had given police, testifying that he didn't remember details of the stories.
>> Charges increased for mom: Claudia Cortes, the 23-year-old Houston woman in whose closet a dead newborn was found earlier this month, was charged with capital murder Thursday in connection with the baby's death. Cortes was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital on June 10 after her live-in boyfriend found her unconscious in their apartment; at the hospital, Cortes told doctors she had been two months pregnant but had a miscarriage. However, doctors realized she'd given birth to a full-term baby, and investigators found the baby's body in a closet at Cortes' apartment. Police found that the infant had been strangled and stuffed into a bag. Cortes is being held at the Harris County Jail without bail.
>> This weekend's weather: The good news is that it looks like it might be clearer this weekend than it's been in a while, with just a slight chance of afternoon showers and some passing clouds. The bad news is that it won't be any cooler: Afternoon highs could climb toward the mid-90s, with overnight lows hovering around 74. Enjoy it while you can: The rain chance will increase significantly early next week.
Think cool with this morning's headlines ...
- Metro has dismissed the operator of a light rail train who crossed over to another track May 9, creating the potential for a head-on collision
- A couple of hours after HPD Chief Harold Hurtt announced a new law enforcement partnership meant to track down hard-to-find sex offenders, the first such suspect was arrested at a Baptist church
- Dental records have confirmed that the body found buried at a San Antonio-area ranch is that of Kenneth Cummings Jr., the Pearland flight attendant who's been missing since June 4
- Some northwest Houston residents and City Council members are expressing concern over a halfway house proposed for the area
- The city has cut off funding to am East End day-labor site that critics allege encourages illegal immigration
- Dexter Johnson, the man convicted of killing Maria Aparece in 2005, refused to attend the punishment phase of his trial Thursday morning
- HISD needs about $1 billion in repairs to aging buildings, consultants told the district's trustees Thursday
- Equipping or retrofitting a house to be more hurricane resistant doesn't have to cost a lot, an expert tells KHOU
- Texas A&M University will increase tuition and fees 5.3 percent in the fall
- The Rice Owls baseball team was eliminated from the College World Series with a loss to North Carolina yesterday
- Neighbors rescued a man and woman from their burning garage apartment in east Houston yesterday morning
- Jeff McMahon, who replaced Andy Fastow as Enron's finance chief as the company continued in its downward spiral in 2001, has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle civil allegations against him
- Houston-based Continental Airlines has apologized to passengers on a two-day transatlantic flight during which a blocked lavatory overflowed sewage into the plane's aisles
- State Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) wants mobile homes to come equipped with weather radios in the wake of deadly floods in North Texas
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Photo: flickr user Westernlady
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