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Accountant
pleads innocent to killing of daughters
DALLAS
(AP) — An accountant accused of killing his two young daughters
while his ex-wife listened on the phone pleaded innocent to two
counts of capital murder on Monday.
John
Battaglia, 46, faces the death penalty or life in prison for the
fatal shootings of 9-year-old Faith Battaglia and 6-year-old Liberty
Battaglia in May.
The
plea came after a morning of legal wrangling which ended with Judge
Janice L. Warder rejecting a defense motion to suppress evidence
they said was illegally collected without a search warrant.
Jurors,
who were not present for the proceedings Monday morning, began hearing
evidence after a brief lunch break.
Some
legal analysts said even the best defense for Battaglia, who has
been convicted of assaulting two ex-wives, might not be strong enough
to free him or save his life.
Woman
dies in fall from Fort Worth parking garage
FORT
WORTH, Texas (AP) — A 24-year-old Houston area woman fell to
her death from the third floor of a parking garage in downtown Fort
Worth.
The
death was probably accidental, and police say they do not suspect
foul play in the death of Tasha N. Moore of Missouri City, homicide
detective John McCaskill told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Monday’s
editions.
The
woman’s fiancé told police he and Moore had attended
a wedding reception at the City Club of Fort Worth, then had gone
to the 8.0 Club for a while early Sunday before heading to the garage.
He told officers his fiancee had been drinking and become “very
argumentative.”
He
says they were walking toward their car shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday
when she turned and went back to the door to the lobby. When the
door did not open, she ran to the side of the garage, climbed over
the wall and fell.
She
was pronounced dead at John Peter Smith Hospital at 4:15 a.m. Sunday.
10
detained by police in connection to gunfire at party
GALVESTON
— Gunfire shattered what had been a fairly uneventful Beach
Party weekend and police detained at least 10 people, including
several who ran from the disturbance along Seawall Boulevard.
Before
Sunday night’s gunfire, police had arrested 75 people over
the weekend — most on misdemeanor charges. No injuries were
reported. Officers said the rest of the weekend had gone smoothly.
At
least four gunshots were fired as the crowd of about 150,000 people
along the seawall had begun to thin.
Police
were looking for a Ford Expedition’s occupants who may have
also been involved in the confrontation. Officers were taking statements
from the 10 detainees.
Galveston
police records showed fewer than half the number of arrests from
this year’s first Mardi Gras weekend were made at Beach Party.
In
earlier years, Beach Party weekend has drawn upwards of 200,000
people to Galveston Island. But officials said that this year’s
crowd was not as large as in previous years.
Flagship
of Texas museum damaged in collision
HOUSTON
(AP) — The flagship of the Texas Seaport Museum suffered minor
damage in a weekend collision with a tanker in the Houston Ship
Channel.
Neither
the Elissa, a 19th Century sailing ship, or the tanker was severely
damaged in the collision on Saturday, Coast Guard officials said.
“In just a couple of minutes, everything was fine,” Coast
Guard officials said.
A witness
said the Elissa got caught by the current of the tanker and struck
its stern. The accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. in the channel
near Morgan’s Point.
There
were no injuries on the Elissa or the tanker, the Eagle Augusta.
The Elissa, usually docked at Pier 21 in Galveston, is maintained
by the Galveston Historical Foundation and hundreds of volunteers.
Study
finds warm weather may affect dating
PROVO,
Utah (U-WIRE) - Spring isn’t the only thing heating up; the
mercury in the love thermometer is also on the rise on Brigham Young
University’s campus.
Besides
tulips, new couples are popping up like daisies.
“The
warm weather, sunny skies and new life are some aspects of spring
that make many people crave a spring relationship,” said Jennifer
Starling, a graduate student at Northwestern University.
Starling
recently completed a study in the field of biopsychology on how
weather affects relationships.
The
study states sunshine and warmer temperatures positively affect
the human psyche resulting in a more open and outgoing personality.
“A
lot of people forget humans are animals, and we have an animalistic
instinct to look for a mate in the spring,” Starling said.
Robert
E. Thayer, a professor of psychology at California State University,
Long Beach, has also conducted biopsychological studies that have
parallel findings.
Students
have mixed emotions about Web cameras
WASHINGTON
(U-WIRE) — Two semesters after the launch of (www.my.american.edu)
and (webcam.american.edu), students have mixed reactions about the
access to Web camera shots of the main quad and Glover Gate.
There
are two Web cameras installed on campus that create streaming video
available for viewing by current and prospective American University
students. One camera is located in an office inside Bender Library
and another in a Student Services office in Butler Pavilion, Rick
Hink, Web developer for e-Operations, said. With a click of the
mouse, activity on the quad is available to anyone.
“In
theory, it is a cute idea for me to be able to sit in my room and
see the quad, but why do I want to see the quad? I live 15 seconds
from it,” sophomore Courtney Williams said.
Other
students argue that the quad cams are an interesting way to see
activity on the quad or to check the weather. It can also serve
as a public relations tool for activities taking place on the quad.
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