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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1990)
The Battalion 2 STATE & LOCAL 3 845.33-' Monday, September 3,1990 Prison pop. exceeds limit; rse jail inmates may be freed Hen obbs in ion Page Editor y “T hen why | asy stuff?” fers a lot of lasses. If you | can take [ swimming or you want to | social dance or I tuff. t, if I want to I , or bowl, or play tennis, I’d prefer to doitl without beingl orced to by the school, or thej te, or anybodyj Without a I KINE 199 requirement, re will still be a rge number of I sses because [ dedicated to What there niors waiting to owling class so e. e quit making ication classes t( ule making ernent for f power insist 0 lly fit make ita tion. Test the physical health ;re are colleges inited States re of test, e, drop the If our true portant enougl try for aking us waste silly classes thai tercise. journalism ms thought that e other ■ ability to bth nuclear h the help of take up ner for through a nev i treaty which ic sanctions or onsight ilities by an dentists, and a ed by the viet Union protection of ger aggressors oof, and man] ing to sacrifice ange for But at the s to be no othe ict is now, and ation of the re world d aggressors. biomedical ison Jr, HOUSTON (AP) — Some prison ers awaiting trial on minor offenses could be released from the Harris County Jail as early as next week be cause officials failed to meet a dead line to reduce the inmate popula tion. The jail held 6,354 inmates Friday even though two federal judges in March had given that day as the deadline to reduce the population to 6,100. Failing to meet the population cap means that federal court-appointed monitorJ. Michael Keatingjr. could begin freeing prisoners according to a schedule set by U.S. District Judges James DeAnda and William Wayne Justice. Keating, a Providence, R.I., attor ney, said he would not order anyone released this weekend. He said he would be in Houston on Tuesday and would consult with the judges before releasing any prisoners. The judges’ order calls for “mis demeanor pre-trial detainees,” such as those charged with speeding, run ning a red light, or writing a bad check, to be the first discharged when the prisoner count exceeds 6,100. Jail officials said there were 155 eligible inmates in Friday’s count. They would be freed on personal re cognizance bonds, which do not re quire money. The next to be discharged would “What we have here is a situation finally where law has taken over logic.” — Steve Radack, Harris County commissioner 1 gree felonies, such as official miscon duct, auto theft or carrying a fire arm in a business licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. Only those deemed not a risk to the community and unlikely to flee, would be released. All still would be required to face their pending charges. “What we have here is a situation finally where law has taken over logic,” Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack said. “This whole sce nario of imminent releases is very frustrating for law enforcement offi cers and everyone involved in the criminal justice system.” State and county officials continue to blame each other for the per sistent crowding problems. Jail offi cials say the county is housing 1,200 to 1,400 inmates awaiting transfer to state prisons. “Everyone views this as pointing fingers,” Assistant Harris County Attorney Harold Streicher said. “We point fingers at the state, the state points fingers at us. But the truth of the matter is perfectly clear: They must remove their prisoners from our jail.” If the state had removed all its transfer-ready felons from the county on Friday, he estimated, the jail’s total population would have been only about 4,809 inmates. “If those people were all gone, we would be well within our capacity,” Streicher said. High winds rip through Houston area during sudden weekend thunderstorm GRESDV 6... ©mo HOUSTON (AP) — A 17-year-old was struck by lightning and dozens of others narrowly escaped injury Friday when sudden thunderstorms packing winds up to 70 mph raked the area. An unidentified 17-year-old student at Yates High School was in good condition at Ben Taub Hospital late Friday after he was struck by lightning when he stepped out of his car in southeast Houston, paramedics said. The late afternoon cloudbursts ended the driest Au gust on record with a bang. Half an inch of rain was re ported downtown. Forecasters called for a 40 percent chance of thun derstorms through Sunday. Storms peppered a broad area of southeast Texas, knocking over 12-foot sailboats on blocks at Seabrook and turning Galveston Bay “white with whitecaps,” in the words of Houston boat owner Ian Lisseter. About 18,000 Houston Lighting & Power Co tomers were without electricity aft cus- ter winds and tree limbs knocked down power lines, primarily in the Greenspoint area, HL&P spokeswoman Geri Konigs- berg said. An apartment complex in the storm’s path caught fire, damaging one unit, but no injuries were reported, authorities said. Storms were reported in a swath from Houston and Trinity counties in the north to Chambers and Jeffer son counties in the south. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Service in Seabrook clocked winds up to 70 mph as they hit Galveston Bay, while the National Weather Service earlier reported winds of 60 mph at Intercontinental Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said no air traf fic was disrupted. Planes trying to land at Hobby Field during the storm were forced into a holding pattern for about 30 minutes, spokesman Ralph Wales said. THE WORD IS OUT CREF is pleased to announce the following new options for ORP Members: Nezv Investment Accounts You may now use both the CREF Bond Market Ac count and the CREF Social Choice Account to accumu late retirement benefits. Both are backed by the same reliability and know-how that you've come to expect from TIAA, and the CREF Stock and Money Market Accounts. [ Cash Settlements You can now receive up to 100% of your CREF pension accumulation at retirement or termination of employment. □ Accumulation Transfers You can now move accumulations to TIAA and CREF from other carriers in your institution's retirement plan. Accumulations may also be transferred among the four CREF Accounts, from CREF to TIAA, or from CREF to other approved carriers. NOTE: The new options must be adopted by your institution to be made available under your retirement plan. A great plan just got better To find out more about CREF's new flexibilities, or about the TIAA-CREF Plan in general, send in the coupon shown below or call an ORP Specialist in our Dallas Office—1 800-842-2006. We look forward to hearing from you. For more information, including charges and expenses, please call 1 800-842-2733 for a prospectus. Read it carefully before you invest or send money. in Please send me the latest information about the TIAA-CREF Retirement Plan available through the Texas ORP. Address City State Zip Current ORP or TSA Providing Company (if applicable) Send to: TIAA-CREF, 5215 N. O'Connor Rd„ #350 Las Colinas, TX 75039 Carswell troops leave for Gulf FORT WORTH (AP) — A midair refueling plane took off early Friday from Carswell Ait- Force Base to join other troops the base has deployed to Saudi Arabia. A Carswell spokeswoman origi nally said two tankers took off. Later, the base said the second flight was cancelled, but did not say why. Carswell spokeswoman Staff Sgt. Becky Robison would not dis close the number of troops de ployed or their exact destination. “What they’re going to do is be refueling aircraft that’s over there in Saudi Arabia,” Robinson said. “They’ll probably also be re fueling British aircraft.” Another Carswell spokeswo man, Sgt. Jackie Marsh, said it was doubtful the second plane would leave Friday. The troops being deployed are attached to the 7th Bombard ment Wing at the base. There are about 5,000 active duty personnel on base, officials said. As expected, the 4005th Army Medical Reserve unit from Hous ton was deployed on Friday to Fort Hood, said a military spokeswoman in Houston who declined to be identified. The unit, which includes physi cians, nurses and other medical personnel, will fill positions at the Texas post that have been va cated as troops were moved to Saudi Arabia, the spokeswoman said. She would not reveal how many reserve troops were moved to Fort Hood. The unit was notified Aug. 25 that they would be activated, according to a military spokes man in San Antonio. The 4005th reserve unit is at tached to the 807th Medical Bri gade in Dallas, the San Antonio spokesman said. The Air Force also called up about 228 reservists attached to the 68th Military Airlift Squadron at Kelly Air Force Base in Texas. LUNCH BUFFET l PtjgSSwrtcs/ ALL YOU CAN EAT Great Pizza, & Salad Bar % 11 AM - 2 PM DAILY 326 Geo. Bush Dr. • 211 University Carter Creek *919 Harvey Rd. ALTfjfST ‘KftTTA fPSI 9{ationaC Professional ‘Business fraternity Announces red‘Rush 1990 Open Rush Dates September 3rd Informational Meeting MSC 226 7:30 p.m. Casual Attire 0 Open to all Business and Economics majors J| :: TAKE THE FIRST STEP! MSC LITERARY ARTS THE COMMITTEE WITH ^ THE WRITE STUFF INFORMATIONAL MEETING SEPT 4, 1990 404 RUDDER 7:00 RM. RE-ELECT W.T. (TOM) MCDONALD, JR. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE • District Judge, 85th Judicial District, 1978- present. • District Attorney of Brazos County, 1973- 1977. • County Attorney of Brazos County, 1968- 1972. EDUCATION • Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History, Randolph-Macon Men’s College, 1962. • Doctor of Jurisprudence, University of Texas Law School, 1966. ‘ T '^ onal d, Jr HST71 Hr mur* ° f Bra203 County.. To Peopi " y r ca " pai 9"> for * L '*.s-TK,cr C °Uj-t. wi n C pp °r t *7i "an* Vou. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND RECOGNITION • Judicial Advisory Council, Texas Department of Criminal Justice appointed by Chief Justice Thomas R. Phillips, 1990. • Chairman, Criminal Justice Section, State Bar of Texas, 1990. • Chairman, Crime Victims and Witness Committee, State Bar of Texas, 1990. • Faculty, Texas College for New Judges. • Silver Good Citizenship Award, Sons of the Ameri can Revolution, 1989. • National Organization for Victim Assistance. • Advisory/Editorial Com mittee, Texans' War on Drugs Judge's Benchbook: A Resource for Drug Abuse Prevention, published by Governor's Criminal Justice Division and the Texas Commission on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, 1988. • Outstanding Jurist of the Year, Criminal Justice Section, State Bar of Texas, 1987. • State Judicial Budget Board, appointed by Chief Justice Jack Pope, 1985-1987. • Chairman, Legislative Committee, Judicial Section, State Bar of Texas, 1984-1985. • Special Interim Committee on the Criminal Justice System of Texas, appointed by Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby, 1981. • President, Brazos County Bar Association, 1975. —-raigH' T - » Pledged to ^‘oetinr, *»» Z’ aTlegVd ft , t c °£ee% n ;^tV a ^ th si r ' ovn * caapai9n . a '>d nZZK „ car *er as Vour Dl.trler " nd *»ear i * new ideZ V aa Vour Dl, *trict Judge —.re t .. as have worked out as well ' " ax - a H of ... , I We into posl to pror .i t fr. u^ CaB iona' J l]a ^Z S ‘P Ve learning experYe'ncTZ* " y act ions^bfl*'’ily* responsibilities and made fc * y ^t?eT aS */° n ^ ul7erstsn7i^Tpro n v % h T an " a We a »jd respo„s iWi iti es and a P ad e ‘ ded a olcar, District Judge. a ° » stronger eubn it to you that the tnvaluahi and Strict Judf™ 1 "* 3 as your County Attorney le D f* perl ence i h hanwlTy *ei fdge, coupled with my judicial rP °. Bt rlct Att„.-. a '' Person hand y 7 ge ' cou P^d with my judl c i al Uls trict c *hdTd Conmon “ense. straight-fofZZ°J d of Portor^^' c oZ?P*t e P Z“ c °ti°n of the law. makes me ?™' r °ir. and^T®' merits my re-election as Judge * O0t " r t/ie esth rw * . deep VapprecIa£d " y re - eJection as yo Ur District •Judge Very truly yo Urs i m< T. McDonald, jI AN INDEPENDENT JUDGE WITH A •PROVEN RECORD •COMMITMENT TO SERVICE •VISION FOR THE FUTURE Tom and his wife. Caroline, were married in 1965; they have two sons. Scott, age 15. and Don, age 12. The McDonalds are members of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The McDonald family has resided in Brazos County for over 70 years. Tom’s father (class of ’33) was a lawyer, legislator and judge. The Reed McDonald Building on theTAMU campus is named in memory of Tom's uncle. Paid for by Committee to Re-Elect Judge W.T. (Tom) McDonald, Caroline McDonald, Treasurer, Box 1085 Bryan, TX 77805.