TILDEN — Every weekday morning, the rumble of buses dropping off students at McMullen County’s only public school gets drowned out by the heavy trucks whizzing by on Texas 16. Tilden is a small town, and with 235 students in pre-K through 12th grades, the school is small, too — even after enrollment jumped 42 percent in a year and a half. Outside, students can see the reason: drilling rigs in the distance. At recess,…
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On a recent weekday morning, 11 state prison inmates swarmed the San Antonio Food Bank’s kitchen, picking out some of the better groceries and ingredients in stock. Leonardo De La Rosa, 25, imprisoned for an aggravated robbery when he was 16 and possession of drugs when he was 19, had a tray full of whole tilapias. “Originally, I wanted to make asparagus-filled fish with peppercorn sauce, but they didn’t have green peppercorns, chives,” he said,…
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Occupy San Antonio has marched to the beat of its own drum thus far, complying with city and police requests unlike some of their counterparts elsewhere. But Monday that cordiality ended with the arrest of at least five members. Charged with interference with the duties of a public servant, the five, along with other occupiers, were near an open-air adobe structure close to the Tower of the Americas in HemisFair Park. San Antonio Park Police…
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Three Occupy San Antonio members got tickets early Sunday, two days after relocating from the entrance of HemisFair Park to a spot near the Tower of the Americas. San Antonio Park Police officers approached eight occupiers around 8 a.m. where they had their protest material set up at an adobe building. They issued camping without permit tickets to Jovanie Ortiz, 19, Robert Wilson, 21, and Steve Haskell, 43, with court dates in February. “I was…
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For 2 1/2 months, the Occupy San Antonio protesters at HemisFair Park discussed the news — from the comfort of their sleeping bags and bedrolls — of police forcefully evicting and arresting occupiers in other major cities. They prided themselves on being an exception. A sort of unwritten memo of understanding existed between them and police officials. They complied with traffic, noise and parade ordinances while demonstrating against inequality and corporate power. Officers, for their…
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The city’s tolerance of Occupy San Antonio members who have slept at HemisFair Park for more than two months appears to be running low. Monday afternoon, San Antonio park police – who have been permissive and in some instances supportive of occupiers’ activities – approached with notices foreshadowing what could be a different chapter for them. Each occupier got a copy of the municipal code’s camping in public section. Printed at the very top, in…
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Occupy San Antonio’s zero-arrest scorecard is history, but protesters said they were the ones who called police on a man who was charged with assault this week and cited under a city ordinance prohibiting public alcohol consumption. Around 8:30 p.m. Monday, two San Antonio Park Police officers “responded to an assault in progress that involved members of the Occupy San Antonio” at 600 HemisFair Plaza Way, a police report states. The incident was on…
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Around midnight, a San Antonio Park Police officer walked by some Occupy San Antonio regulars at HemisFair Park, and one of the protesters asked him, “How’s it been?” “You’ve got two Coca-Colas,” the protester, Shamus McWright, added casually. “Anyone want one?” the officer said. “Whoever can get it first …” A few occupiers got up and teasingly ran for the soda, but let McWright, 24, limping a bit from an all-day march, claim it. It…
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After a month of complying with law enforcement requests in the name of keeping their protest peaceful, Occupy San Antonio members came close to joining other movements nationwide that have a record of arrests. In the end, most of the several dozen protestors decided to comply with an order by two San Antonio Park Police officers delivered around noon Monday to move their stuff from the gazebo area at HemisFair Park by 5 a.m. the…
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Several generous globs of rice, Creole seafood gumbo, dipping biscuits, fresh salad and oh, don’t forget dessert — caramel-coated popcorn balls, a Louisiana delicacy. Never mind that they’re served on disposables and utensils are scarce. Sitting cross-legged on the ground in HemisFair Park at Occupy San Antonio’s encampment, Marty “Mac” McMillan pronounced it “delicious!” “It’s warm, home-cooked food made with love,” the 41-year-old disabled U.S. Navy veteran said, putting his lips to the foam bowl…
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Last winter, Kelly Breitenbach and her three kids, homeless for
Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas has announced his resignation,