A story I wrote about a fifth grade student who was arrested on facing felony charges after a neighborhood friend dared him to touch a fire alarm at school appears in today’s Tomball Potpourri.

I wrote a story about Casey Harmeier, 10, who was arrested on the orders of a Tomball principal.

Before my story ran, we shared it with ABC Channel 13, who covered the story. Houston Community Newspapers has a partnership with the local television news station. After my story ran, local Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey also began writing about the case.

Here is the first four paragraphs of the story.

A Tomball student was arrested Oct. 25 for allegedly setting off a fire alarm at his intermediate school.

“I need you to teach these boys a lesson,” is what 10-year-old Beckendorf Intermediate School student Casey Harmeier said he heard his principal tell a Tomball Police Department officer after the boy admitted to pulling a fire alarm at the school. The boy said he did it after being dared to remove the plastic cover of the
alarm by a neighborhood friend.

Tomball Independent School District spokesperson Staci Stanfield confirmed the boy was arrested, but speaking on behalf of Beckendorf Intermediate School Principal Delores Guidry, she said Guidry told her she did not make the remarks Harmeier alleges.

After questioning the fifth grade student and others who were present when the incident happened Oct. 25, TPD Officer Paul Overcast arrested Harmeier and took him to the Tomball jail where his parents later picked him up.

Download a PDF of the story.

Today, the Tomball Potpourri published an article I wrote about my former high school principal, Michael McWhirter, who was arrested during an undercover sting operation at a local park for trying to pay for sex.

My photo of the bird-watching enclosure where McWhirter was arrested accompanies the story.

This article ran in the March 29, 2006 issue of The Tomball Potpourri.

Here is the first three paragraphs of the story:

An administrative employee and former high school principal in the Tomball Independent School District has resigned after being arrested for soliciting prostitution on March 15. The arrest was part of an undercover sex sting conducted during Spring Break by the Tomball Police Department at a city park in an effort to reduce reported public sex acts.

Spring resident Michael McWhirter, 57, was arrested at Theis Attaway Park in Tomball after striking up a conversation with a male undercover officer. McWhirter allegedly solicited sexual favors in exchange for a “small amount of money,” according to TPD Sgt. Gary Hammond. The undercover officer was wearing a wire and the conversation was captured on audio tape, but Hammond would not reveal the amount of money McWhirter offered the undercover officer.

McWhirter was arrested at 3:12 p.m. March 15 and shortly after being booked at the department, a $500 bail was posted on his behalf. According to a TPD press release, McWhirter was charged with solicitation of prostitution, a Class B misdemeanor, and charges were accepted by the office of Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. If convicted, McWhirter faces a maximum of six months in the county jail.

A story I wrote about Congressman Kevin Brady reading to a first grade class two weeks after being arrested on drunken driving charges appears in today’s Magnolia Potpourri newspaper.

It was first published in the Oct. 27, 2005 issue of the Conroe Courier, a daily paper that is part of the Houston Community Newspapers group of suburban Houston papers.

This story details how first graders told a local Congressman, who two weeks earlier was arrested on drunken driving charges, that they'd like to see a law that prevents their parents from consuming too much alcohol.

Here are the first five paragraphs of the story:

Last week when Magnolia’s Congressman Kevin Brady asked Stephanie Orlando’s Magnolia Elementary School class what law they would like to see passed if they were president, one student said he’d like to see a law that would prevent people from doing “dumb things.”

“Well, that’s a big job,” Brady, a Republican, responded. “I’m sure I fall in that category myself sometimes.”

Brady, who was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol after a South Dakota alumni party Oct. 7, was visiting the class Oct. 24 to read a 1996 book called “House Mouse, Senate Mouse,” by Peter and Cheryl Shaw Barnes. The book informs young readers of the legislative process and shows how a bill becomes a law.

Though Brady didn’t mention his DUI arrest to the first graders, many students said they would like to see laws that prevent people from drinking alcohol.

One young student said her parents drink too much beer, too often.

“That’s a good idea, it would probably help,” Brady said.

Download a PDF of the story.

The story “War hero comes home,” published in the Nov. 2, 2005 issue of The Tomball Potpourri, won an ASP Westward Excellence in Journalism Award: Third Place, for Best Enterprise Story 2005.

It is about a Tomball soldier who returns home after fighting in Iraq and the story chronicles his readjustment to civilian life.

An award-winning story I wrote for the Tomball Potpourri.

Here is the first four graphs of the story:

Decorated Iraq war veteran Ben Brown has rejoined his family in the Pinehurst area and is spending as much time as he can with his 18-month-old daughter, Alison Leean Brown. Brown, who was injured in the war when a crudely-made bomb was detonated with a cell phone a few yards from where he was standing, received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with a V Device.

Brown, a 1996 graduate of Tomball High School, enlisted in the army for the second time soon after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. At that time, he was serving in the reserves after completing a three-year enlistment in the army soon after graduating high school.

But all of that is behind him now. He arrived home earlier this month after spending about six months at Fort Hood. He’s landed a new job in Ocean City, Texas — a two-hour drive — with a company that compresses natural gas and transports it to customers. He said the biggest adjustment to civilian life for him was the monotony of it all.

“It takes a little while to get used to,” Brown said. “In Iraq, everyday was an adventure. Here, you kind of get bored. But I didn’t have too much of a problem adjusting like other people I know.”

Today, a story I wrote about radio personality Dan Patrick entering the Texas Senate District 7 race appears in the Tomball Potpourri.

The story also features a photo of Patrick that I took as he announced his candidacy from a Tomball coffee shop during a live radio broadcast.

This story tells how State Senator Dan Patrick announced his candidacy for the office in Tomball.

Here is the first four paragraphs from the story:

With a little help from his friends, radio personality Dan Patrick officially announced his candidacy in the Republican primary for the Texas Senate District 7 seat with a live broadcast from Tomball’s Main Street Crossing last week. Patrick, who owns KSEV 700 AM “The Voice” that has its radio transmitting tower located in Tomball, said he chose Tomball as his location for his announcement because of its personal meaning to him.

“This is where KSEV began,” Patrick said. “This is where Rush Limbaugh called me at a little station down the street and I took a big chance and introduced Houston — and the world — to conservative talk radio. Now, I want to change the mindset in Austin.”

Patrick — a born-again Christian, former KHOU Channel 11 Sports Director and restauranteur — bought KSEV
in 1988 and then later KPRC 950 AM.

“There was a transition in my life in the early ‘90s,” Patrick said. “In my early 40s, things began to mean more to me than the score of a ball game — but we do want this week’s (Astros) scores to be good.”

Download a PDF of the story.

A story I wrote about local youth petitioning their local government for a skate park appears in this week’s Raymondville Chronicle.

This was the largest crowd I ever experienced at the Raymondville City Council meetings.

Here are the first three paragraphs of the story:

More than 25 young skateboarders snaked through the City Tuesday during the beginning of rush hour traffic with the Raymondville City Hall as their final destination. The young skaters came to complain about the new skateboarding ordinance that prohibits riding in certain areas and to request the City move forward on its previously planned skate park for the area’s youth.

“We’ve been getting in trouble for skating around town – we’d like for the City to build us a skate park,” the group’s representative Daniel Solis said, while wearing a T-shirt memorializing 1980s punk rock band The Clash. “Some of us have gotten tickets – and we can’t afford to pay it.”

Police Chief Uvaldo Zamora said that since the skateboarding ordinance has been passed, his officers have written a few tickets for offenses. One audience member with a skateboard spoke up and said they didn’t know where they could skate and where they couldn’t – and Zamora said he provided copies of the ordinance to some who complained. Zamora and City commissioners discussed the feasibility of building a skate park – Zamora said previous estimates put the cost at $32,000 to $35,000.

Download a PDF of this story.

A story I wrote about the City of Raymondville entering into a lease agreement with the non-profit Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation.

This story details Raymondville's plan to lease out space to the Texas Boll Weevil Eardication Foundation in its industrial park.

Here are the first three paragraphs of the story.

In an effort to battle king cotton’s arch nemesis in the Rio Grande Valley, the City of Raymondville looks to benefit from the location of a district office for the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc. in the City’s industrial park across the Expressway next to the prisons. This week, City Commissioners approved the
recommendations of the City’s Development Corporation and agreed to enter into a lease agreement with the non-profit foundation for a few lots in the industrial park for a $600 monthly rental price tag.

The City will also “invest” in the project by constructing a caliche parking lot for 80-plus vehicles at no cost to the non-profit foundation.

“That’s our investment to get our jobs,” Raymondville City Manager Eleazar “Yogi” Garcia said.

Download a PDF of the story.

A story I wrote about two Willacy County commissioners appearing before a federal judge appears in this week’s Raymondville Chronicle and Willacy County News.

Two county commissioners plead guilty to federal charges of accepting bribes from companies who wanted to secure contracts with the county.

Here is the first three paragraphs of the story.

Visibly shaken, 58-year-old Israel Tamez and 67-year-old Jose “Isac” Jimenez stood before Judge Andrew Hanen’s federal courtroom Tuesday afternoon. The tension could be heard in their voices when they answered Judge Hanen’s probing string of questions to ascertain they know their rights and responsibilities before the Court.

Hanen asked each felony defendant, “Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” Tamez and Jimenez both replied, “yes” to accepting more than $10,000 in bribes each from companies wanting to secure contracts with the County.

The two former Willacy County Commissioners had voluntarily reported to the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Brownsville to plead guilty to felony charges of accepting bribes for votes in favor of a contract between the county and businesses behind the new Willacy County Adult Correction Center.

Download a PDF of the story.

Today, live on the radio for KPFT News, broadcast on 90.1 FM in Houston, I interviewed Brent Flynn, a 31-year-old Texas journalist who was told he could no longer write a column after executives at his newspaper chain discovered he had attended a political rally.

This is a transcript of the interview.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Moeller: Why do you believe your editor didn’t fire you?

Flynn: “Well, I’d like to believe that it’s because I’m a darn fine reporter. But it could have also been other considerations; you know, being short-staffed, controversies that could be caused, I don’t know.”

Moeller: You have a Web site at www.brentflynn.com, which you have maintained for the past three years, three times as long as you’ve been reporting for the Lewisville Leader. On the Web site, you have been posting new columns which I assume would have been printed in the Lewisville Leader. In the age of the Internet when any person can become the media, do you think it’s possible for you to reach as broad of an audience online instead of in print?

Flynn: “Oh definitely. I’m reaching a much wider audience now. I’ve got an e-mail list set up, and I’m reaching people on various Web sites, international and national. So, it really has been really good for my career and getting my message out.”

Read the story on the old KPFT News website that I created and maintained.

A story I wrote about a new trial program that provides resources and training to young fathers was broadcast on KPFT News today.

This story was broadcast on KPFT News 90.1 FM in Houston.

Here are the first five paragraphs of the story:

LEAD-IN BY HOST: In Houston, at least one in five children under the age of 17 are poor. In Texas, about 17 percent of the population are living in poverty as categorized by the federal government. Brandon Moeller looks at one Texas program that is trying to improve the quality of life for children by encouraging fathers to play an active role.

STORY: A three-year test project called Texas Fragile Families Initiative helps never-married fathers and their families. The program does this by providing the new and often young fathers with job skills and information about their rights and responsibilities to their children. The project focuses on fathers in an attempt to ensure that they are more involved with their children.

“I think it is a no-brainer to say that children need their fathers as much as they do their mothers. So fathers are there to be connected. Children need to know that their fathers love them as much as their mothers love them, that their fathers care. One of the things that a case manager told me once in dealing with these young teen boy fathers, is that he has never yet interviewed a father that doesn’t want to be connected to his kids. … And the kids need that connection.”

Director of Advocacy at Christ the Good Shepherd Catholic Church, Barbara Lashley, facilitates a network of other faith-based organizations in the greater Houston area.

The network is called Making Welfare Work and its purpose is to provide information and services to lower-income residents.

Read the rest of the story on the archived KPFT News website which I designed and maintained.