Morning Roundup: Gotta get away edition

Good morning, Houston. Where do you go when you want to get away? The Chronicle asked some of its readers that and published their answers Friday — and it's not such a bad list, with day trips, museums and natural attractions. (Also on the list: the mausoleum at Forest Park Westheimer cemetery, which definitely takes a certain kind of person to enjoy.) The suggestion we're most interested in checking out is ex-state Rep. Debra Danburg's back yard, which she said guests have called "inviting" and "relaxing." Sounds pretty good to us — now if we could just score an invitation.

>> Life sentence for man who faked own death: Stephen Douglas James, a man who faked his death in Galveston County in August 2004, was sentenced to two life sentences Thursday for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl at least twice. James, on the run from police three years ago, checked into a Bolivar Peninsula motel and left clues to his "suicide" — a note, a photo of a stone he said would drag him to the bottom of the Gulf, his wedding ring and the severed finger the ring was on. His empty kayak was later found floating in the Ship Channel, and police believed James dead until he was spotted in New Orleans in December 2005. No word on whether James will ever be reunited with his severed finger, which remains in a refrigerated unit at the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office.

>> Silver lining in bacteria case?: Doctors said this weekend that they expect to be able to save the leg of a man infected with flesh-eating bacteria during a swim off the Galveston County coast earlier this month. Steve Gilpatrick of Nacogdoches was infected with Vibrio vulnificus on July 8; he's diabetic and had an ulcer on his leg that allowed the bacteria to enter his bloodstream. Gilpatrick has undergone three surgeries at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, and doctors said last week they were afraid he'd end up losing his leg, but now it looks like that might not be the case — though that doesn't mean Gilpatrick's out of the woods yet. He remains in critical but stable condition and is still unable to communicate. "I'm just hoping that, within the next day or two, I'll be able to get him to talk to me at least for a minute," Gilpatrick's wife, Linda, told the AP on Saturday. "That's something I've missed."

>> Maldonado gets 10 years for terror training: Former Houston resident Daniel Joseph Maldonado was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison and was fined $1,000 for training with al-Qaeda in East Africa. Maldonado, 28, admitted that he associated with terrorists as part of a deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston; in exchange for the admission, he will face no further prosecution from the government. Maldonado said he had "no problem" with killing Americans or with the 9/11 attacks, a confession his mother said was bunk: "Danny agreeing with 9/11 is completely absurd and a complete lie," Rena Maldonado wrote in a five-page letter to U.S. District Judge Gray Miller. Rena Maldonado claims that the government coerced Daniel into a confession and says he's being made an example of. She sent the letter, and dozens of childhood photos of Daniel, in hopes of persuading Miller to give Daniel a lesser sentence.

>> This week's weather: Looks like the next few days might be drier than the last few: According to the forecasts, we shouldn't see a significant chance of showers until Thursday. Throughout the week, look for highs around 90 and lows in the low 70s; today, we should see quite a bit of sunshine. And if there's one thing we've learned this summer, it's that we have to enjoy the sunshine whenever we can — so get on with it!

But first, check out these headlines ...