"It's a very dangerous, very poisonous mix," said Capt. David Cook of the Corpus Christi Police Department. "It's here. It's available. Parent need to be cognizant of the fact that it's here and available."

Molly, short for molecule, is the latest drug craze. It's a mix of several substances, including Ecstasy, methamphetamine, bath salts and cocaine.

Authorities said one of the reasons it's so popular among teenagers and young adults is its price, between $8 and $12 per pill.

Cook said he and his officers haven't seen a lot of the drug, but they have made at least one Molly bust, seizing a bag of powder, empty pill capsules and a scale.

"This past six months or so the popularity [of Molly] has become - is rising up more and more." said Bongo, an underground D.J. who said he's seen the drug at a lot of house parties he's deejayed.

Bongo said the music culture has fed the craze, influencing young people who use the drug. Rap artist Tyga, for example, has a song entitled "Molly," in which he sings about the drug. "They [artists] should be more careful about it [Molly] because they're on the radio, and who listens to the radio today is youth."

Another underground deejay, Mr. C, agreed. "It's really sad because the parents don't understand or I guess see the signs or hear the subliminal messages in the music."

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CORPUS CHRISTI - Mark Medina will be the next head baseball coach at John Paul II.

Medina started his coaching career in 1979, and was most recently the head man at Moriarty High School in New Mexico.

He is a Corpus Christi native, graduated from Ray High School where he earned All-State honors and then continued his baseball career at Blinn JC and UT-Arlington.

Medina first got into coaching at UT-Arlington where he was an assistant for four years, then he returned to the Coastal Bend for stints at Miller, Odem and Rockport.

Medina said he's coached over 50 kids that moved onto play Division 1 or professional baseball. He is also a scout for the Washington Nationals and will continue his duties, scouting South Texas.

 

 

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A 15-year-old central Iowa girl who was abducted after getting off her school bus was still missing Tuesday, and authorities said a massive search was underway. Meanwhile, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said the man who is suspected of taking her and another girl committed suicide.

Dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officials are searching by air, land and water for Kathlynn Shepard. She and a 12-year-old girl, who are friends, were taken Monday afternoon shortly after stepping off a school bus in Dayton, about 60 miles north of Des Moines. The younger girl, who was later able to escape, told authorities the girls had accepted a ride from a stranger.

DCI Special Agent Bill Kietzman said Tuesday that the body of 42-year-old suspect Michael Klunder was found Monday night with a red Toyota Tundra pickup at a rural property northeast of Dayton.

Kietzman said authorities have begun focusing their search for Kathlynn to locations within 20 miles of Dayton, including Klunder's residence. Previously, the search covered up to 100 square miles of mostly rural areas.

Authorities have also coordinated with the FBI to update electronic billboards around the state with information about the search.

Kietzman would not elaborate on the likelihood of finding Kathlynn alive, though he remained optimistic.

"Time obviously is not your friend in these kinds of situations," he said at a news conference. "Our plan is that we're going to find her alive. That's our hope."

The 12-year-old girl, who has not been identified, told investigators she and Kathlynn were taken to an agricultural facility. But she was able to escape a short time later and ran to a rural residence for help, Kietzman said. She was then taken to a Fort Dodge hospital and released.

The abduction spanned several hours, officials said, with Klunder's body being discovered nearly four hours after the girls were taken.

Kathlynn is described as being 5-feet-6-inches and 160 pounds. She has blond hair, blue eyes and braces. She was last seen wearing jeans, a gray hooded sweatshirt and a Minnesota Vikings baseball cap.

"The response by volunteers has been outstanding," said DCI Director Charis Paulson.

Jessica Lown with the Iowa Department of Public Safety said authorities have been in contact with Kathlynn's family and they have declined to comment.

"They're continuing to search for the girl under the assumption that she is still alive because right at this point in time we don't have information indicating otherwise," Lown said. "That's the way these things work for all missing children and missing person cases. We search until we find them."

Klunder is listed on the state's sex offender registry, prison records show. He spent several years in prison after being convicted on kidnapping and assault charges, including the 1991 abduction and assault of a Rudd woman and the kidnapping of two toddlers from an apartment complex in Charles City, according to the Mason City Globe Gazette. The girls, both 3, were found alive inside a dumpster.

He was released from a work release program in February 2011.

The abduction comes less than a year after the high-profile disappearance of two cousins in Evansdale, about 90 miles east of Dayton. Lyric Cook, 10, and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins disappeared while riding their bikes last July. Hunters found their bodies in a remote, wooded area in December.

Evansdale Police Chief Kent Smock said investigators were looking into whether Klunder was involved in Lyric and Elizabeth's kidnappings and deaths. DCI and FBI agents who have been involved in the search for the Evansdale girls have been dispatched to help search for Kathlynn.

Smock said investigators were trying to determine whether Klunder had any ties to the area.

"There's a multitude of things we're looking at to determine whether he may be a person of interest or not a person of interest," he said. "It's much too early in their investigation to be able to say with any degree of accuracy one way or another whether it's related to our case at all."

Authorities are asking the public for information about any interactions with Klunder, as well of any sighting of his pickup between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday.

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Associated Press Writer Ryan J. Foley contributed to this report from Iowa City, Iowa.

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Follow Barbara Rodriguez at http://twitter.com/bcrodriguez

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

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ARANSAS PASS - A woman in Aransas pass was frantic because she couldn't contact her son who lives in Oklahoma City. She finally reached him and is proud to hear that he spent some time rescuing survivors.

It's claimed 24 lives, nine of which are children. For Christie Donovan, it was one of the most frightening moments of her life, not knowing if her son 19 year-old Mondo Cardenas was one of the 24.

She spent Monday night calling her son trying to reach him. She even went to Facebook posting, "Son I hope ur ok call me plz I'm worried about u!!"

"He finally called me, I had been texting him and I just had tears of joy because I knew then he was okay. And he told me, he says ' mom I am okay' and I just lost it," says Christie Donovan.

It had been 17 and a half hours since they last spoke.

Mondo rode out the tornado under an overpass near Moore, Oklahoma. But once the twister passed he and a friend jumped in and started helping survivors.

"It was really erie to go there. There was no sound. You know no screaming saying they are in pain or something or trying to get out of where they were. It was dead silent you could hear the ringing in your ears," says Mondo Cardenas.

Helping 15 to 20 people in an hours time.

"I kind of made my way around Moore near the Warren Theater area. You know it was a really fact to see. I just looked for people that either looked like they were in distress and you know just try to find someone," says Cardenas.

"He says I went over there yesterday after the storm and he says 'you know and a little boy landed in front of me. And I said 'what do you mean?' and he said 'he was right at my feet and he had part of a telephone pole in my back and I rushed him to EMTs,' says Donovan.

But his rescue efforts aren't stopping there, Tuesday he purchased water,food, and clothing for the survivors. When highways re-open,he plans to return to help.

 

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KINGSVILLE - A year ago, former Premont ISD Superintendent Ernest Singleton, thought his school district was doomed to close; today, however, things have changed dramatically. Premont ISD teachers gasped as Michael Williams, Commissioner Texas Education Agency, announced that none of the Premont schools would close.

"Premont ISD is staying open," proclaimed Ernest Singleton.

After months of negotiations, the school district signed an agreement with Texas A&M University of Kingsville. The contract says the university will help the district beef up their curriculum, monitor and train Premont school district employees, make sure the schools meet state and federal standards and better prepare the students for school after graduation. The announcement was emotional for teachers who have fought so hard to keep Premont schools alive in the past few years.

Lissa Chilton, a science teacher at Premont ISD said, "This is just overwhelming. So many great things are going to happen and, I mean, sky's the limit."

Premont students will get the chance to take some classes on the Kingsville campus. The university will train Premont teachers and in doing so the teachers will receive college credit.

The partnership is not only going to help Premont ISD but it's also going to help the students in the School of Education at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. TAMUK faculty and student teachers will offer their services to Premont ISD and in doing that the university's president says these students will benefit from the deal too.

TAMUK President Steven Tallant said, "Our faculty will be learning from this experience and that will only make them better teachers in our classrooms on campus."

It's a win-win for both sides but especially a happy day for Premont ISD and the town as a whole.

"The school district and the schools are the center and focus of those small towns in South Texas," said Tallant. "If this school district had been closed many of us feared that the town would dry up and go away so this is so important, not just to the students but, the entire fabric of Premont."

Singleton said their athletic program will continue with limited sports (volleyball, basketball, baseball and tennis) until they are able to get their grounding secure with finance and academics.

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MOORE, Okla. (AP) - Helmeted rescue workers raced Tuesday to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives.

Scientists concluded the storm was a rare and extraordinarily powerful type of twister known as an EF5, which is capable of lifting reinforced buildings off the ground, hurling cars like missiles and stripping trees completely free of bark.

Meanwhile, residents of Moore began returning to their homes a day after the tornado smashed some neighborhoods into jagged wood scraps and gnarled pieces of metal. In place of their houses, many families found only empty lots.

The fire chief said he was confident there are no more bodies or survivors in the rubble.

"I'm 98 percent sure we're good," Gary Bird said Tuesday at a news conference with the governor, who had just completed an aerial tour of the disaster zone.

Authorities were so focused on the search effort that they had yet to establish the full scope of damage along the storm's long, ruinous path.

The death toll was revised downward from 51 after the state medical examiner said some victims may have been counted twice in the confusion.

By Tuesday afternoon, every damaged home had been searched at least once, Bird said. His goal was to conduct three searches of each building just to be certain there were no more bodies or survivors.

The fire chief was hopeful that could be completed before nightfall but efforts were being hampered by heavy rain. Crews also continued a brick-by-brick search of the rubble of a school that was blown apart with many children inside.

No additional survivors or bodies have been found since Monday night, Bird said.

Survivors emerged with harrowing accounts of the storm's wrath, which many endured as they shielded loved ones.

Chelsie McCumber grabbed her 2-year-old son, Ethan, wrapped him in jackets and covered him with a mattress before they squeezed into a coat closet of their house. McCumber sang to her child when he complained it was getting hot inside the small space.

"I told him we're going to play tent in the closet," she said, beginning to cry.

"I just felt air so I knew the roof was gone," she said Tuesday, standing under the sky where her roof should have been. The home was littered with wet gray insulation and all of their belongings.

"Time just kind of stood still" in the closet, she recalled. "I was kind of holding my breath thinking this isn't the worst of it. I didn't think that was it. I kept waiting for it to get worse."

"When I got out, it was worse than I thought," she said.

Gov. Mary Fallin lamented the loss of life, especially of the nine children killed, but she celebrated the town's resilience.

"We will rebuild, and we will regain our strength," Fallin said.

In describing the bird's-eye view of the damage, the governor said many houses were "taken away," leaving "just sticks and bricks, basically. It's hard to tell if there was a structure there or not."

From the air, large stretches of town could been seen where every home had been cut to pieces. Some homes were sucked off their concrete slabs. A pond was filled with piles of wood and an overturned trailer.

Also visible were large patches of red earth where the tornado scoured the land down to the soil. Some tree trunks were still standing, but the winds ripped away their leaves, limbs and bark.

In revising its estimate of the storm's power, the National Weather Service said the tornado, which was on the ground for 40 minutes, was a top-of-the-scale EF5 twister with winds of at least 200 mph.

The agency upgraded the tornado from an EF4 on the enhanced Fujita scale based on reports from a damage-assessment team, said spokeswoman Keli Pirtle. Monday's twister was at least a half-mile wide, and it was the first EF5 tornado of 2013.

Other search-and-rescue teams focused their efforts at Plaza Towers Elementary, where the storm ripped off the roof, knocked down walls and destroyed the playground as students and teachers huddled in hallways and bathrooms.

Seven of the nine dead children were killed at the school, but several students were pulled alive from under a collapsed wall and other heaps of mangled debris. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain of parents and neighborhood volunteers. Parents carried children in their arms to a triage center in the parking lot. Some students looked dazed, others terrified.

Plaza Towers and another school in Oklahoma City that was not as severely damaged did not have reinforced storm shelters, or safe rooms, said Albert Ashwood is director of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

More than 100 schools across the state do have safe rooms, he said, adding that it's up to each jurisdiction to set priorities for which schools get limited funding for safe rooms.

Ashwood said a shelter would not necessarily have saved more lives at Plaza Towers.

"When you talk about any kind of safety measures ... it's a mitigating measure, it's not an absolute," he told reporters. "There's not a guarantee that everyone will be totally safe."

Officials were still trying to account for a handful of children not found at the school who may have gone home early with their parents, Bird said Tuesday.

Evidence of the storm's fury stretched in every direction: Roofs were torn off houses, exposing metal rods left twisted like pretzels. Cars sat in heaps, crumpled and sprayed with caked-on mud. Insulation and siding was piled up against any walls still standing. Yards were littered with pieces of wood, nails and pieces of electric poles.

President Barack Obama pledged to provide federal help and mourned the death of young children who were killed while "trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew - their school."

The town of Moore "needs to get everything it needs right away," he said Tuesday.

Moore has been one of the fastest-growing suburbs of Oklahoma City, attracting middle-income families and young couples looking for stable schools and affordable housing. The town's population has grown over the last decade as developers built subdivisions for people who wanted to avoid the urban problems and schools of Oklahoma City but couldn't afford pricier college-town Norman next door.

Many residents commute to jobs in Oklahoma City or to Tinker Air Force Base, which is about 20 minutes away.

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Associated Press writers Tim Talley, Ramit Plushnick-Masti and Nomaan Merchant and Associated Press photographer Sue Ogrocki contributed to this report.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

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PHOENIX (AP) - Jodi Arias begged jurors Tuesday to give her life in prison, saying she "lacked perspective" when she told a local reporter in an interview that she preferred execution to spending the rest of her days in jail.

Standing confidently but at times her voice breaking, Arias told the same eight men and four women who found her guilty of first-degree murder that she planned to use her time in prison to bring about positive changes, including donating her hair to be made into wigs for cancer victims, helping establish prison recycling programs and designing T-shirts that would raise money for victims of domestic abuse.

She also said she could run book clubs and teach classes to prisoners to "stimulate conversations of a higher nature."

Arias became emotional as she played a slideshow of pictures from her photo album for the jury. The images included family portraits, pictures of her and friends and boyfriends and young relatives she has met only from behind bars.

Arias concluded her statement by pleading that jurors not give her the death penalty for the sake of her family.

"I'm asking you to please, please don't do that to them. I've already hurt them so badly, along with so many other people," she said. "I want everyone's healing to begin, and I want everyone's pain to stop."

Arias admitted killing boyfriend Travis Alexander and said it was the "worst thing" she had ever done. But she stuck to her story that the brutal attack - which included stabbing and slashing Alexander nearly 30 times, shooting him in the head and nearly decapitating him - was her defense against abuse.

"To this day, I can hardly believe I was capable of such violence. But I know that I was," she said. "And for that, I'm going to be sorry for the rest of my life."

Her testimony came a day after her attorneys asked to be removed from the case, saying the five-month trial had become a witch hunt that prompted death threats against a key witness in the penalty phase. They also argued for a mistrial. The judge denied both requests.

Arias acknowledged the pain and suffering she caused Alexander's family, and said she hoped her conviction brought them peace.

"I loved Travis, and I looked up to him," Arias said. "At one point, he was the world to me. This is the worst mistake of my life. It's the worst thing I've ever done."

She said she considered suicide after Alexander's death but didn't kill herself because of her love for her own family.

Arias said she regretted that details of her sex life with Alexander came out during the trial, and described a recorded phone sex call played in open court as "that awful tape."

"It's never been my intention to throw mud on Travis' name," she said, adding she had hoped to reach a deal with prosecutors before the case ever went to trial.

"I was willing to go quietly into the night," Arias said.

The jury paid close attention to Arias as she spoke, their gaze turning to the large screen behind her as she ticked through family photos and explained the stories behind each image. Arias retained her composure throughout much of her statement, pausing occasionally as she apparently cried, but no tears were visible.

Alexander's family showed little emotion as Arias' mother, father and sister looked on from the other side of the gallery and cried.

After Arias finished speaking, the judge told jurors they can consider a handful of factors when deciding her sentence, including assertions from the defense that Arias is a good friend and a talented artist. Arias displayed her drawings and paintings for the jury during her slideshow.

Judge Sherry Stephens also explained to jurors that their finding would be final, emphasizing the fact that Arias' life is literally in their hands.

"You will determine whether the defendant will be sentenced to life in prison or death," Stephens told the panel. "Your decision is not a recommendation."

The jury heard closing arguments Tuesday afternoon, with defense attorney Jennifer Willmott citing Arias' mental health problems and lack of a criminal record among the reasons to spare her life.

"Having borderline personality disorder is not an excuse for what she did to Travis Alexander," Willmott told the jury. It is a reason "that you have to be merciful."

Prosecutor Juan Martinez told jurors that despite Arias' claims, there were no factors in the case that would warrant a sentence other than death.

He implored them to look at the "whole panorama" of the case, not just Arias' statement Tuesday. And he asked them to "do the right thing, even though it may be difficult."

After closing arguments, the jury was sent to begin deliberating Arias' fate.

Arias initially claimed she knew nothing about Alexander's June 2008 killing at his suburban Phoenix home. She then blamed masked intruders before eventually arguing self-defense. Prosecutors contend she killed Alexander in a jealous rage because he wanted to end their relationship and go to Mexico with another woman.

Arias' attorneys also tried without success to withdraw from the case after Arias gave her post-conviction TV interview.

"Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place," a visibly shaken Arias told Fox affiliate KSAZ from a holding cell inside the courthouse. "I believe death is the ultimate freedom, and I'd rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it."

Arias directly addressed those comments Tuesday, telling jurors she wanted to live.

"Though I meant it, I lacked perspective. To me life in prison was the most unappealing outcome. ... But as I stand here now, I cannot in good conscience ask you to sentence me to death because of them," she said, pointing to her family members.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

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CORPUS CHRISTI -- A 6 News investigation into bingo charity events leads to big changes at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

At mass this weekend, Father James Farfaglia addressed the congregation about our investigation and his review of charity bingo events. He made strong statements about what he calls "a shady and dishonest" situation and that's why two groups associated with the church are now starting over.

Our investigation uncovered the Knights of Columbus 6174 and the Guadalupanas were providing very little of the proceeds from events at CC Bingo on Ayers to the church.

It seems the owners of the bingo hall, Adalberto and Minnie Pena are connected to those charities. The Penas are also the owners of the bingo hall and the shopping center where its located.

Under order from the Texas State Council of the Knights of Columbus, this particular chapter may no longer hold bingo sessions at the hall.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church cut ties with the Knights of Columbus 6174 and the father turned down a recent donation.

Father James told parishioners he asked Council 6174 and the Columbian Ladies of South Texas to turn over their financial documents after our story aired. Only the Knights of Columbus complied.

His investigation of those documents revealed what he called "a serious conflict of interest" that led the church to "distance itself from Knights of Columbus 6174" and start a new chapter that will meet at the church.

Betty Constante with the Columbian Ladies of South Texas, under a separate investigation by the Texas Lottery Commission, served as president of the Guadalupanas at the church. That's a group of women who do charity work.

She resigned after our initial story aired and the father is calling for a "spiritual renewal of the group."

"It's a sad state of affairs, when these people, apparently, all these people that were mentioned were supposedly the elite of our church," said longtime church member Nicole Segovia.

The father said "no former members of the Columbian Ladies of South Texas or Knights of Columbus 6174 can be a member" of these groups.

As for the new Knights chapter, the father will personally interview each man who wants to join.

Both the Knights of Columbus 6174 and the Columbian Ladies of South Texas advertised in last week's church bulletin, but it seems this could be their last.

Although our investigation into these two charities show such a small payout to the charity, that's not always the case with bingo events linked to churches.

For example, Holy Family Catholic Church brought in nearly $220,000 for their church with bingo. Its private school brought in more than $84,000 in charitable distributions with similar events.

Here's some legislation worth watching, Texas House Bill 2197 is in the Senate now and could bring big changes to bingo. Amendments made and distributed by the Senate Saturday include a required charitable donation of 5% of the gross revenue.

The Columbian Ladies of South Texas made less than 1% percent last year. The Knights of Columbus fell short, too.

But, the Holy Family Church donated more than three times that.

 

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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama believes journalists shouldn't be prosecuted for doing their jobs, the White House said Tuesday, showing solidarity with First Amendment advocates alarmed by a pair of high-profile federal probes into national security leaks.

Although Obama believes leaking classified information violates the law, he also believes that a free press is critical - and that questions being raised about the proper balance between those two concerns are entirely appropriate, said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"I can't comment on the specifics of any ongoing criminal matter," Carney said. "But if you're asking me whether the president believes that journalists should be prosecuted for doing their jobs, the answer is no."

That was a departure from the day before, when Carney declined to answer a question about whether it's appropriate for a reporter who published classified information to be treated as a potential criminal. "I understand the question and I appreciate it, but I cannot comment," Carney said.

Concerns about the Justice Department's efforts to unearth reporters' confidential sources in leak investigations have put the White House in a difficult position, unable to defend itself against claims that the administration is encroaching on press freedoms without commenting on pending investigations - a move the White House says would be wholly inappropriate. Making it tougher for Obama to weigh in is the fact that the Justice Department probes essentially amount to criminal investigations of officials within his own administration.

Shortly after The Associated Press reported last week that prosecutors had secretly subpoenaed phone records for its reporters, the White House endorsed the idea of reviving media shield legislation in the Senate, a gesture designed to show it takes protections for journalists seriously even if it can't say whether its own Justice Department acted appropriately. But tensions over the issue were ratcheted up Monday after developments in another case revealed that an investigator had declared that a journalist who discloses leaked information is committing a crime.

In that case, prosecutors got a search warrant for the private emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen and used State Department building security records to track his movements as they sought to identify his source in a story about North Korea. That case led to the indictment of an official for revealing classified information, but prosecutors declined to arrest or seek an indictment of Rosen.

Fox News would not comment Tuesday on Carney's remarks, pointing instead to comments a day earlier from its executive vice president of news, Michael Clemente. He called the Rosen case "downright chilling" and vowed to "unequivocally defend his right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press."

The White House Correspondents' Association said Tuesday that taken together, the two cases raise serious questions about whether the government has gotten too aggressive in tracking and monitoring reporters.

"We stand in strong solidarity with our colleagues who have been scrutinized. And in terms of the administration, ultimately what will matter more in all of these cases is action not words," the association said in a statement released by its board members and its president, Fox News Channel correspondent Ed Henry.

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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

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MOORE, Okla. (AP) - The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Moore, Okla., was a top-of-the-scale EF-5 twister with winds of at least 200 mph.

Spokeswoman Keli Pirtle said Tuesday the agency upgraded the tornado from an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale to an EF-5 based on what a damage assessment team saw on the ground. The weather service uses the word "incredible" to describe the power of EF-5 storms.

The weather service says the tornado's path was 17 miles long and 1.3 miles wide.

Pirtle says Monday's twister is the first EF-5 tornado of 2013.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

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