Man throws puppies off of Port Arthur sea wall.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) - Three rescued puppies are recovering after being thrown over a seawall and on to some rocks in Port Arthur.

Firefighters rescued the crying pups and placed the creatures with animal control.

KFDM-TV reports the man who tossed the animals on Sunday was heard saying he was "turning them into soldiers." A bystander noticed the abandoned puppies and summoned help.

Pat Lavergne with Port Arthur Animal Control says the puppies, with health problems such as mange, were at the shelter Tuesday and available for adoption. She described them as a retriever mix.

The owner of the dogs, who was not immediately located, could face animal cruelty charges.

Houston Fire Dept Rescues 400 pound woman with pulley

HOUSTON (AP) - Houston firefighters had to cut the window and wall from a second-floor apartment to get a 400-pound woman out for medical treatment.

KPRC-TV reports the 38-year-old woman was attempting to get to the bathroom when she broke her leg Sunday.

Dennis Spellman from the Houston Housing Authority says the agency had urged the woman, who uses a wheelchair, to move to a lower level due to health concerns.

Spellman says the woman told the housing authority that her wheelchair use was temporary.

The videotaped rescue shows firefighters used a ladder truck and a pulley system to get the woman out the opening, after failing to remove her through a hallway.

KPRC reports doctors later had to amputate her leg. Further details on her treatment were not immediately available.

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Information from: KPRC-TV, http://www.click2houston.com

Houston police arrested five robbery suspects after a short chase early this morning.

Three people complaining of being robbed in the parking lot of the El Chaparral nightclub near Northwest Mall, near the intersection of the 610 Loop and U.S. 290, around 2 a.m. alerted a Houston officer working security there, police said. Another Houston officer began chasing the five suspects' SUV in north Houston.

The suspects ditched the SUV at Waltway and Corbin and ran away. Three were captured quickly and the other two were found later with the help of police dogs, authorities said.

Police said they recovered weapons as well as belongings of the victims.

Chronicle news partner KHOU-TV provided this report.

Teen charged with shooting Houston cop

HOUSTON—A 19-year-old Houston man has been charged with aggravated assault of a public servant and burglary of a habitation in connection with the shooting of a Houston police officer.
Police said Patrick Carnell Freeman shot the officer after he was caught stealing from an apartment.
Prosecutors have also charged a 14-year-old suspect with burglary in connection with the incident.

Police said Officer Frank L. Pierce was doing laundry at his apartment complex in the 9700 block of Pine Lake Drive when he noticed the suspects walking out of a nearby apartment with a flat-screen TV and a number of other items.
Police said Pierce went over and confronted the juvenile suspect, directing him to lie on the ground.
That’s when Freeman allegedly walked out of the apartment, pulled out a stolen pistol and shot Officer Pierce.
Police said Pierce returned fire, but he didn’t hit either suspect.

The suspects fled the scene in a stolen vehicle and were later caught in a furniture store by Jersey Village police, investigators said.

Pierce suffered two gunshot wounds to the abdomen and was rushed to Memorial Hermann hospital.
Police said he was in good condition Tuesday, and he’s expected to recover.
Pierce, 39, was sworn in as an officer in June 2006.

Atascocita growing by leaps and bounds!

Business Week:

Tired of reading about how rotten the real estate market is? Here's some good news that shows that even during the worst of the recession plenty of American cities, towns, and suburbs continue to grow.

One such place is Atascocita, Tex. A mostly residential community 20 miles from Houston, it gained more than 1,800 households in 2009, an 8% year-over-year increase, according to new data from Little Rock-based data firm Gadberry Group. Over the decade, amenities that have helped attract residents to this wooded locale include Lake Houston, just east of the city; the school district; and proximity to the city of Houston. With new roads in the area under construction, "we're starting to see major industry start to take a look at the area," says Mike Byers, president of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.

Migration levels nationwide stayed low last year as homeowners saddled with pricey mortgages stayed put—but there are some positive trends. Research by the Gadberry Group shows that some areas, resisting the effects of the recession, continue to attract both domestic and foreign migrants and, as an effect, bring in new businesses to provide services. While other cities across the U.S. have contracted, these have continued to grow.

Some states are better off than others, though. As thousands of people left places such as New Orleans and Flint, Mich. (the country's two fastest-shrinking cities), in the last decade, communities with the best mix of economic activity, proximity to job centers, and a good environment for families continued to grow. While not entirely spared by the economic downturn (some homes in these areas are now in foreclosure), people continued to move in during 2009.
Texas Grew the Most

Texas came out on top of Gadberry's survey, with four high-growth cities: Atascocita, Katy, Mansfield, and Wylie. The report only included areas larger than 10,000 occupied households that met requirements for growth rate, household income, length of residence, and other factors.

Larry Martin, principal of the Gadberry Group, says many of the places with the biggest housing growth at the beginning of the last decade, such as Nevada, Florida, and Arizona, also saw the biggest drop-off since the economy sank. Texas, however, enjoyed relatively strong housing and job markets over the last 10 years, thanks in large part to the presence of major employers in the robust energy business. As of December, the state unemployment rate was 8.3% (lower than the national rate of 10%), according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It also had the largest state population growth between July 2008 and July 2009, according to a December release by the Census Bureau. "New homes are still being built and people are still moving into these homes" in Texas, says Martin.

Part of the state's strength, says Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C., is its diversified economy. Main industries include petroleum refining, chemical production, aerospace, and information technology.

Meanwhile, areas that depended on the housing boom are now dealing with high foreclosure rates. Places such as Summerlin South, Nev., which appear in Bloomberg BusinessWeek's slide show of fast-growing cities, gained population but, like the rest of the state, may be dealing with high mortgage default rates.

"If you live by migration, you also die by migration," says Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. "It doesn't guarantee continued growth."
New Business Opportunities

Migration is typically highest among people in their 20s seeking jobs near large urban cores, but employment opportunities are not the only draw. "Amenities are also important in migrational decisions," says Johnson. Many families consider factors such as schools and recreational amenities like scenic areas and parks.

This is a consideration now in Spring Hill, Tenn., which gained 7,645 households since 2000 as many young families moved to the town for affordable housing and work at the General Motors plant, which is now idle. Dustin Dunbar, chairman of the Spring Hill Economic Development Commission, says this has created demand and opportunity for businesses that provide youth activities and entertainment. "We hope to recruit some businesses to cater to our largest demographics," he says.

While migration in 2010 may remain sluggish, "we'll see a continuation of urban sprawl once the economy bounces back," says Mather.

Dr. Conrad Murray to surrender today.

Dr. Conrad Murray is expected to surrender to authorities in Los Angeles this week on charges related to Michael Jackson's death, according to The Associated Press and CNN. Murray arrived in Los Angeles recently from Houston in anticipation of a decision from the district attorney's office, spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik told the AP..

"Dr. Murray is in Los Angeles for a dual purpose — on family business and to be available for law enforcement," Sevcik told the AP. "We're trying to be as cooperative as we can."

"Dr. Murray is more than ready to surrender and answer to any charges," Ed Chernoff, one of Murray's lawers, told CNN, adding that prosecutors have not announced any charges, and Murray has not been told how or where he should surrender.

No official comment has been made about when charges might, come; David Walgren, the deputy district attorney handling the case, declined to comment to the AP on Tuesday (February 2).

Law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the AP that Murray is likely to be charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's June 25 death from an anesthetic overdose. Murray has denied criminal wrongdoing.

"We continue to maintain that Dr. Murray neither prescribed nor administered anything that should have killed Michael Jackson," Sevcik said.

Earlier this year, TMZ reported that the Los Angeles Police Department had completed its investigation into Jackson's death and was preparing to send the case to the DA's office within weeks.

Murray has told investigators that he administered the surgical anesthetic propofol, as well as other tranquilizers, to Jackson several times in the hours leading up to his death, and the coroner has ruled the singer died of lethal levels of the drug. Involuntary manslaughter charges would require prosecutors to show that Murray engaged in gross negligence in his actions but did not intend to cause harm or death to Jackson.

NW Houston Wreck Claims 1

A man died early this morning after his car plowed into a ditch and hit a telephone pole in northwest Houston.

The single-car wreck occurred in the 1300 block of Judiway near Oak Forest about 5:30 a.m., police said.

The victim has not been identified.

Investigators said that the man as driving a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo eastbound on Judiway when apparently lost control and the car plowed through a ditch, went airborne and slammed into a telephone pole.