By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
Gov. Rick Perry's income surpassed $1 million for the first time in 2007.
That's the year he sold a piece of lakefront property for more than triple the purchase price. That's according to documents provided Monday to The Associated Press.
Perry earns a yearly government salary of $111,000. But the longtime Texas governor has made a relative fortune in real estate. His deals include land sold to Dell founder Michael Dell in 1995 and the lot he acquired on the shores of Lake LBJ.
The property sale was detailed in the governor's 2007 tax return, which the Perry re-election campaign provided to the AP.
Perry's opponent in the March gubernatorial primary, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, had not provided any recent tax returns as of Monday afternoon. Spokesman Jeff Sadkosy says she plans to release them but declined to elaborate.
Both Perry and Hutchison have previously released tax returns, although Texas politicians face no legal requirement to do so.
Mom, Boyfriend Face New Charges In Starvation Case
A Dallas couple accused of keeping the woman's three starving children in a Dallas hotel bathroom for at least nine months face additional charges.
A judge also increased the bond settings for the mother, Abneris Santiago, and boyfriend Alfred Santiago. Dallas County jail records on Monday indicate Abneris Santiago now faces three charges of injury to a child. The mother of four had initially faced just one injury to a child charge after police rescued three of her children last month. Her bond increased from $50,000 to $150,000.
Police also added three counts of injury to a child to the case against her boyfriend. He also faces one count of aggravated sexual assault and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child. His bond increased from $125,000 to $275,000. Officials said the charges were filed Saturday
Continental offers refunds to stranded fliers
Continental Airlines is apologizing to passengers who were stuck on the tarmac for six hours when a Houston-to-Minneapolis flight was diverted because of bad weather.
Continental says the incident was "completely unacceptable." The airline is also offering refunds and vouchers. Continental Express 2816 was operated by ExpressJet Airlines, which handles regional flights for Continental. It was diverted to Rochester, Minn., and landed about midnight.
Passengers weren't allowed to leave the plane until 6 a.m. Saturday.
ExpressJet says passengers couldn't get off because security screeners had gone off duty. But officials at the Rochester airport say the passengers could have stayed on the secure side of the terminal, and it was Continental's decision to keep them on the plane.
6 months in jail over 2007 Arlington hate crime
A white Arlington woman convicted of a hate crime against her black neighbor must serve six months in state jail.
Jurors on Monday ordered jail for 67-year-old Grace Head, who was convicted Friday on two counts over the December 2007 incidents.
Assault with bodily injury and criminal mischief are misdemeanors. The counts were elevated to state jail felonies after jurors decided that Head targeted Etha Kay "Silk" Littlejohn due to race.
Prosecutors say Head hit Littlejohn with a board and jumped on the victim's car after yelling racial slurs and threats. Mental health experts testified that Head has bipolar disorder. Jurors rejected her insanity defense.
Head received two 180-day jail terms, to be served concurrently, with credit for time served. Head also was fined $4,000 per count.
Jury picked in Texas for first 'fight club' trial
Prosecutors plan to show jurors graphic videos of forced late-night fights among developmentally disabled residents at the Corpus Christi State School.
That's as the first trial of a former school employee charged in the "fight club" case gets under way in Corpus Christi tomorrow.
Jesse Salazar sat silently today with his family looking on as lawyers whittled a pool of more than 100 prospective jurors down to a 12-member jury.
The 25-year-old former Corpus Christi State School employee is charged with injury to a disabled person. That's after he was seen with other staff members in some of the almost 20 videos of forced bouts that police called a "fight club."
Jurors will decide if he's guilty of the third-degree felony, which could carry a prison sentence of two to 10 years. Or they could find that he simply didn't intervene to stop the fights, which could carry a jail sentence of six months to two years.