There was a lot of chatter over Easter weekend on Facebook and other social media websites about strange red glowing objects flying or floating in the sky over Moses Lake in Texas City Saturday night.

Were the objects alien space ships here for an invasion?

We're not sure, and even the Texas City Homeland Security Office is checking on it.



Several readers posted video like the one above and some sent us photos.

Which brings me to a discussion our staff had today. Have you ever noticed that whenever someone has a UFO sighting their video is always shaky and out of focus. The same goes for photos.

You would think in this day and age with such good technology someone, just once, would get photo or video that clearly shows a UFO (of Big Foot for that matter).

For 36 years, Bob Renfroe was the band director at Texas City High School. His era set the standard by which all bands at the high school are measured. On Saturday he was honored by having the band hall named for him. He also got together several of his former students one last time for a tribute performance.

This is a video of the first rehearsal with the Texas City High School Alumni Band.

Related story: High school's band hall dedicated to director

For one day a year for the past 55 years, Texas City High School students are given control of city government. The Youth in Government Day, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Texas City, provides access for students to get an up close look at how city government works.

Some students act as city commissioners, others as heads of key departments such as police chief, fire chief, city attorney, city secretary and head of the municipal golf course.

On Wednesday students returned to city hall and would you know it a Doyle was mayor. Shannon Doyle, daughter of County Commissioner Patrick Doyle, the niece of Texas Mayor Matt Doyle and granddaughter of former mayor Chuck Doyle, had the gavel for the session.

She had a couple of rough spots following the agenda, but all in all she managed the meeting even better than her uncle. In fact the student's commission session was over is less time than most city commission meetings.

The younger Mayor Doyle called the day "stressful."

"There's a lot of work behind the scenes that I don't think people realize (Mayor Matt Doyle) does not get credit for," Shannon Doyle said.

An interesting part of this year's Youth in Government was that girls who participated way outnumbered the number of guys. Of the city commission, six members were female and only one male.

Of the department heads, 15 girls and six guys. That's a far cry from the actual balance where men, even in the more diverse city employment of Texas City, still outnumber the women.

"That's because women are going to rule the world," Shannon Doyle said.

On the agenda, the youth government reviewed plans for the $3 million family aquatic center that the city plans on building on site of the Nessler Center pool next year. I'll have a story on that in the coming weeks.

The students did take formal action on planning to bury a time capsule marking the city's 100th anniversary. The capsule which will contain the city's official centennial book, will be buried at Centennial Park and not opened until Sept. 16, 2116, Youth in Government Housing Director Destiny Whitley said.

So, did spending a day walking in the shoes of her grandfather and uncle, plus having her dad as a county commissioner, convince Shannon Doyle of entering politics?

"I've thought about it," she said. "I haven't given it a lot of thought, but I have given it consideration."

Incidentally, I too was a Youth in Government participant when I was a senior at Texas City High School. I was elected dogcatcher.

The movie "Texas Killing Fields," which was inspired by the two dozen unsolved murders and missing women cases in Galveston County, was released to the public on Friday. But finding it in your local theater will be tough.

For now, you have to drive to a cinema near the Greenway Plaza area of Houston if you want to see the movie in which the main characters were based on Texas City Capt. Brian Goetschius, former Narcotics Task Force Commander Mike Land of the Texas City Police Department and former La Marque detective Pam Mitchell.

"It's in limited release and as we go we will determine if the movie should be shown in other theaters," Sumyi Khong, a spokeswoman for Anchor Bay Films, which made the movie, said.

That will be a disappointment to the dozens of local residents who called today wanting to know where to see the film. A large contingent of Texas City residents, including Police Chief Robert Burby, and dozens of members of the Texas City Police Department attended a special screening Thursday night. Tim Miller, founder of Texas Equusearch and the father of Laura Miller – one of the victims found in the real Killing Field near Calder Drive in League City, was there.

So too was Jeanie Baker-Escamilla, mother of Krystal Baker, who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996. Just last year DNA led police to arrest a suspect in that 16-year-old cold case.

There were also about three-dozen people who were given tickets through local radio stations who attended and participated in a question and answer session with Goetschius, Land, the movie's director Ami Mann and screenwriter Don Ferrarone.

But if you want to see the movie while it's in theaters, the best bet is to drive into Houston.

TV special focuses on 'Killing Fields'

On Saturday CBS' "48 Hours Mystery" will feature the movie and the real cases in an hour-long special that airs at 9 p.m. A preview of the special is below.



Related story: Killing Fields movie haunts family

"Texas Killing Fields" is a movie inspired by the I-45 corridor missing girls and murder cases, many of which are in Galveston County dating back to the early 1970s. The two main characters in the movie are based on Texas City Police Capt. Brian Goetschius and former Texas City Police task force commander Mike Land, who is now the city's mayor pro tem.

Former La Marque Detective Pam Mitchell also inspired one of the movie's characters.

The movie will be released in New York and Los Angeles on Friday and is expected to go nationwide by the end of the month. I have a story in Sunday's paper about the movie, plus a look at the real cases that served as the inspiration for the film including interviews with the detectives working those cases and family members who lost loved ones.

Below is a video featuring interviews with the movie's director Ami Canaan Mann, daughter of famed movie producer Michael Mann, who produced the movie. Also in the video is actor Sam Worthington, who portrays a cop based on Land in the movie.

Below that video is the trailer for the movie.

As crews and equipment from six Galveston County fire departments battle wildfires in Central Texas, some have asked, where’s Texas City?

The Galveston, La Marque, League City, Friendswood, Santa Fe and Bayou Vista Fire Departments are part of a statewide call up battling fires in Magnolia and Montgomery County and in Bastrop.

Even some Texas City firefighters asked why they weren’t packing up and headed to fight the worst fires this state has seen in decades, Fire Chief Brud Gorman said.

The answer was simple, Texas City wasn’t asked.


A series of large wildfires as seen heading east approaching Bastrop on Highway 71 earlier this week. A roaring wildfire raced unchecked through rain-starved farm and ranchland, destroying hundreds of homes during a rapid advance. AP Photo/Erich Schlegel

The Texas Forest Service manages the state’s response to wildfires including the coordination of mutual aid from outside fire departments through the Texas Intra-state Fire Mutual Aid System.

“The forest service keeps track of what each department has available and then makes calls for deployment based on needs,” Gorman said.

The Forest Service also calls on departments that have received state grant money to purchase fire-fighting equipment, including brush trucks and water haulers. Those grants are awarded with the caveat that should there be a state mutual aid situation the fire department getting the grant must provide the equipment and manpower needed to help.

While registered as a mutual aid fire department, Texas City hasn’t received a forest service grant, Gorman said.

So, why can’t Texas City firefighters volunteer to go up on their own time?

Gorman explained it’s a liability issue. When crews are deployed at the request of the state, it’s the state that picks up the tab for salary, benefits and takes on the liability risk.

“The mayor (Matt Doyle) and I have discussed this issue and individuals may choose to go,” Gorman wrote in a memo to his crews. “However, they will be viewed as making an individual choice, i.e. self deployment: that of ‘volunteering’ and therefore will not be covered by Texas City’s workers compensation insurance or receive reimbursement for expenses or wages and individuals will be required to report to their regular Texas City Fire Department duty shifts.”

Gorman said as well that any firefighters that went on their own, would likely be turned away because the deployments are done by departments, not individuals.

“(The state) are the ones who make the decision who deploys, not the departments,” Gorman said. “They know what their needs are and if we are needed the call will come.”

Texas City firefighters aren’t the only ones who want to go and help battle the blazes, but haven’t been ask to deploy. The San Leon Fire Department notified the state it had a truck and three-man crew ready to go at a moment’s notice, Assistant Fire Chief Scott Lyons said.

“We called…we gave our crew count and equipment. (The state) said stand by for a call back, but we never got that call,” Lyons said.

Related story: Collections started to aid Texans in wildfire

From the fire front

Speaking of the crews that are in the midst of battling the wildfires, we have this tidbit of good news from Galveston Fire Chief Jeff Smith from a post on his Facebook page Thursday night.

"Simple pleasures, Galveston crews were searching the rubble for human remains this morning when they found a dog in a pen behind a burned out house. Everything in the pen was burned and melted except the dog. Mike is providing it some first aid and is taking it to the vet. The owners were contacted and are excited beyond belief. They were cut off from fire and could not get home to rescue the dog. Some days you reach out for any good news you can find."

It was about a month ago, while chatting with people at the Texas City Museum that Benny Busbee, a longtime Texas City resident and to many a legend, got to talking about cruising up and down Ninth Avenue/Palmer Highway in the city.

He recalled fondly the nights of grabbing a bite to eat at the Terrace Drive In or showing off his car’s speed to anyone who dared challenge him.

He also rekindled a rivalry with Tom Linton, who battled Busbee from time to time for car supremacy on the streets of Texas City.

That’s where the idea for The Daily News story about cruising in Texas City got its start. Where it took off was after posting in one of Facebook’s popular "You know you’re from...” pages.

And in this case it was the page set aside for residents of Texas City past and present.

With the help of one of my old Texas City High School classmates Susan Jo Hendren Flores, we got dozens of responses asking people to tell their stories of cruising in Texas City.

There just wasn’t enough room in the story to tell them all. So, below are some of the better responses we got.

If you have a memory to add, post it below. And if you have a photo from your days on the roads of Texas City send them to my email address.

Related story: For generations, cruising was the pastime

John Brasher: It was great driver training

Arnold Kevin Maxiey: I remember cruising on my bike and going to Fatima and drinking a cold one with the fellows and cops come over and make us poor it out. Alcohol abuse, I tell ya.

Lori Pendley Knowles: I have a few. Met the father of my children... Almost ran over Dawn Reynolds... saw the legendary fight between TC and La Marque.

Judy Belsome: Heck cruising palmer was a Saturday night date and didn’t cost much.

Scott Hargrove: We used to stop at the red lights in front of Jack in the Box, and have "Chinese fire drills" and whoever ended up in front of the driver's side door jumped in and drove till we got to the next red light. We also used to act like our car wouldn't start until the light turned yellow, and right before it went red, made it through the intersection so the car behind us would have to wait till the next green.

Jose Galvan: In high school I remember hanging out at the bowling alley and cruising the Dike. I still remember a friend of mine had a Volkswagen and he tried to get back on the road. Somehow he missed the on ramp and we bounced around pretty good. My favorite times were late nights at The Busy Bee One night me and some friends ordered crab balls. With a straight face the waitress says, I didn't know crabs had balls. We still laugh about that when it comes up in conversation.

Anita Robinson Crisp: When I was 16 and first driving, my parents allowed me to take the car one night to go to the Tradewinds II movie theater. I had to be home right after the movie was over. I picked up my best friend, we saw the movie, but I wanted to cruise just once before taking Cindy home and getting home myself. As I pulled out on Palmer and was driving down the road, a carload of kids next to us was honking and waving and I thought, "Wow, people who cruise Palmer are so nice! ╙ As they pulled up next to us at the light, we rolled down the window and the girl driving said, "Turn your lights on!!!"...Boy was my face red!

Roland Martinez: Can't forget a lot of us were detailing our rides on Friday afternoon before we hit Palmer. Also smart devices to hide the booze. Like hiding liquor in fake washer fluid tanks that pumped it into the vehicle for drinks.

Evelyn Chapman Aucoin: My mother checked the car mileage and to this day swears I was sneaking off to Houston because there was "no way you drove 88 miles last night and never left Texas City", uh apparently it was not only possible, that may not have been my top intra-city mileage record...

Joni Howeth Delgado: I've been cruising palmer since I was 7 and no I didn't steal the car. I had an older teenage sister. Suddenly, when my dad brought home a new baby blue T-bird with white leather and sunroof (this was HOT in the 70s) my sister HAD to go to the store EVERY night for something. When she asked and my mom said, "yes" I would want to go. My mom would make her take me with her and she would get UPSET. "Why can't you take your sister if you are just going to the store?" She and her friend would fold down the arm rests and make me sit on them so it would not be so obvious they were cruising palmer with a little kid! How embarrassing for them.

Miles Q. Montegut: I need to confirm if the statute of limitations has expired,
We used to cruise in my Dad's wrecker. What were we thinking!

Lisa Toups Tilton: My friends always knew it was me coming to pull in to Firestone (or anywhere on Palmer for that matter!) because one of my front blinker lights was brighter than the other!

One of two pregnant women charged with breaking into a Texas City man’s apartment in an attempt to take money to settle a debt, claims she had permission to be there. In a jailhouse interview with KHOU-TV, Aricka Nicole Issac, 22, said she showed “bad judgment,” when she broke a window to gain access to the apartment.

Issac, who is four months pregnant, and Shadaysha Pauline Little, 18, are charged with burglary of a habitation after police said the two women broke into an apartment in the 200 block of North Texas Street in West Texas City Tuesday morning.

Little, who is eight months pregnant, bonded out of jail Thursday, but Issac remained in the Galveston County Jail Thursday. That’s where Ch. 11 reporter Leigh Frillici caught up with her for the interview.


Video from KHOU-TV

“It’s about my kids,” Isaac said during the interview. “At the end of the day, yeah, I did make a bad judgment breaking the window, or even entering the house, even when I thought he was there. When I realized he wasn’t there, maybe I should have left…. Maybe I did make a bad decision, but my intention was not burglary in the middle of the morning. I’ve never been in this kind of trouble before.”

Issac claimed the reason she was at the apartment was because the man who lived there agreed to meet her to pay her money she was owed.

When asked why he owed her money, Issac wouldn’t say. Issac also denied being involved romantically with the man, whose name has not been disclosed.

Parts of this story provided by KHOU-TV through a content partnership with The Daily News.

BP announced early Tuesday morning that its Texas City refinery is for sale. The sale of the nation’s third largest refinery, as well as the company’s refinery in Carson, Cali., are part of a restructuring of BP’s downstream operations.

In addition to comments we included in our coverage of the announcement, BP sent the following statement:

The employees at the Texas City Refinery have made major progress in the areas of safety, operations and financial performance and the refinery has significant further potential, however BP does not have the necessary tankage, logistics or local retail network to allow it to reach that full potential.

We believe, therefore, that another owner, with a different strategy and portfolio will be able to take Texas City to the next level. We have already had expressions of interest from qualified operators and will continue to operate and invest in Texas City until a sale is completed.

This decision was made after a review of BP's global refining strategy that began years ago and has nothing to do with last year's incident in the Gulf of Mexico.
— BP spokesman Scott Dean

The Daily News also acquired an e-mail sent from Iain Conn, BP's refining and marketing chief executive office. He goes into more detail about the process of deciding to sell the refineries.

Click here to read the text of the memo.

For more, click here to go to BP's website.

Twelve years later family and friends are hoping the killer or killers of Laaron Morris and Kevin Tryals will finally come forward. Click here to read more.

On a weekend that saw three people drown at the Texas City Dike, three firefighters prevented a possible fourth victim — a U.S. Coast Guard diver. On Wednesday the Coast Guard paid tribute to the three Texas City heroes.

Texas City Fire Department Capt. Stephen Strickhausen, engineer Greg Garrett and firefighter James Gaus responded to a call on Oct. 3 of five people in the water. Twin 9-year-old sisters Samantha and Alexandra Suarez and their father hector drowned after the girls were caught in a strong undertow and their father tried to rescue the girls.

Also caught in the water was a U.S. Coast Guard swimmer who had jumped into the water from a helicopter. He was able to lift Hector Suarez into a rescue basket, but the Coast Guardsman then was stuck in the water.

About that time Strickhasuen, Garrett and Gaust arrived in the fire department’s water rescue boat. The pulled the Coast Guard swimmer into the boat, not knowing he was with the Coast Guard, Strickhausen said.

After pulling him from the water the Texas City firefighters joined the six-hour search for the girls. It was an unknown story of heroism from that day of tragedy.


Texas City Firefighter James Gaus, Capt. Stephen Strickhausen and Engineer Greg Garrett with the commendations from the U.S. Coast Guard.

On Wednesday the U.S. Coast Guard presented Strickhausen, a 26 year veteran of the fire department; Garrett, who has been with the fire department for two years and Gaus, who has been with the department for only six months, commendations for their efforts in rescuing the Coast Guard swimmer.

Texas City Commissioners on Wednesday gave initial approval that will increase water rates by about 36 percent. The new ordinance would also increase the deposit required by new water service and the costs to have the city shut off your water while on vacation.

The increase is not as much as the percentage of increase would indicate. The baseline rate residents pay would be unchanged should the ordinance pass.

A house with a 3/4-inch water metered line pays a base rate of $7.25 a month, which includes the first 2,000 gallons of water. Each additional 1,000 gallons would be $3.83 should the ordinance pass. The current rate is $2.80 per 1,000 gallons above the initial 2,000 gallons.

The average home in Texas City uses about 5,300 gallons of water a month, Texas City Utilities Director Todd Hoover said. So, the average homeowner will pay about $5 more a month or $60 a year for water service.

There are more than 14,000 water hook ups in the city, of which 10,500 are residential customers, Hoover said.

The extra fees will bring in about $1.8 million a year. The city had been using sewer fee funds to subsidize a $500,000 annual deficit at the water department, Mayor Matt Doyle said.

The commission has to approve the new rates two more times before they take effect.

Still, not everyone likes the increase. More on that in Friday's print editions of The Daily News.