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SEE OPINIONS, PAGE 6
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www.UniversityStar.com
AUGUST 29, 2006
TUESDAY
VOLUME 96, ISSUE 2
Assault at apartment complex shakes residents Zandria Avila and David Saleh Rauf The University Star A 22-year-old San Marcos woman suffered severe injuries outside her apartment after she was attacked by a man with a knife Aug. 14 at Village on the River apartments on Aquarena Springs Drive. The woman, who police will not identify, was walking from the parking lot to her apartment around 6:10 a.m. when she was assailed outside her complex,
San Marcos Police Sgt. Penny Dunn said. The attacker wrestled the woman to the ground, hit her in the face multiple times and began dragging her to the back of the building, leaving a trail of blood, before he fled. She was treated for serious injuries at Central Texas Medical Center. SMPD is currently searching for the suspect. “We certainly don’t have a lot to go on at this point, but we have leads that have been followed up on and some of those have eliminated potential suspects,” Dunn said. “There were
people who heard the women screaming. We’ve interviewed all of them, but nothing that has led to the development of a suspect.” Rudy Lopez, mass communication junior, lives below the woman who was attacked. Lopez was out of town during the incident but said the woman shared her account with him a few days later. She was getting ready to go to work that morning, Lopez said, and she saw a man walking around the complex. “She said whenever she stepped right here on the first
steps … that’s when her dog, she had a little dog and I guess it turned around and jumped,” Lopez said. “When she looked back, she saw a guy rushing her and I think he tried to take her down right here, or something and punched her repeatedly and tried to knock her out. “He punched her in the face. It was really bad. I think it broke whatever bone that is right there. It was so swollen that she couldn’t see out of it and they had to wait for the swelling to come down before they were able to know what they were go-
ing to do with it. I think she had to have surgery on it.” Lopez said the attacker then began dragging the woman and held a knife to her throat but did not stab her. “He tried to drag her, I think, around to the other side, around the corner of this building. She said that all of the sudden, you know, after all that, he was trying to get her to take her pants off,” Lopez said. “I don’t think he physically tried because he had a knife on him. I think he just See ASSAULT page 3
Wreck causes gridlock on I-35 David Saleh Rauf The University Star
Southbound traffic on Interstate 35 in San Marcos came to a standstill Thursday when three semi trucks were involved in a collision, blocking all lanes for about six hours. The wreck occurred just south of Yarrington Road at approximately 10 a.m. as the trucks entered the southbound weigh station, San Marcos Police Commander Warren Zerr said. “There were three trucks involved in the wreck,” Zerr said. “The first truck was stopped on the interstate, waiting its turn to go on to the weigh station. The second truck was slowing down, to stop behind truck number one and truck number three slammed into the rear of number two, pushing number two into number one.” One person was seriously injured in the crash. The driver of the third truck, Jorge Hidrogo, was airlifted to Austin’s Brackenridge Hospital for internal injuries and broken bones, Zerr said. San Marcos Fire Rescue used “extrication tools” to free Hidrogo from the cab of his truck. “We had two stations respond to it. They extricated one individual from the cab of his truck and helped load him and send him to the hospital,” San Marcos Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Len Nored said. “We make usually at least one wreck a day on the interstate. As far as needing the Jaws of Life, probably a couple of times a month.” Zerr said it is common practice to request assistance from San Marcos Fire Rescue in an accident on I-35. “We use them a lot. Those guys save our lives,” Zerr said. “We use them quite a bit on the interstate, even if we’re working a minor wreck, because they’ll bring their big fire truck up there and block the lanes so
Artist rendering
ASG meets for first time this semester By A.N. Hernández The University Star
Mark Decker/Star photo 18 WHEELERS COLLIDE: San Marcos Police Department along with the San Marcos Fire Department look over the wreckage from the accident. Interstate 35 was closed for almost a mile from Yarrington Rd. southbound on Thursday afternoon. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
we don’t get run over.” While clearing the semis off the road, one of the trucks sparked a small grass fire, Zerr said. “It was truck number two, but it wasn’t anything major,” he said. “When the wreckers were pulling it off into the median it had some metal rubbing and it sparked or got hot
and set the grass on fire and the guy stomped it out real quick.” Although southbound lanes were closed for about six hours, Zerr said the desolate location of the crash helped facilitate the redirecting of traffic. “We took the traffic off the 210 exit ramp southbound, took them around the accident
and put them right back on again. The beauty of that area out is that there is nothing there yet, so there’s no traffic lights or intersection for them to go through,” he said. “What that means is that people went off the road, went down the access road and got back on again. It was backed up a little bit, but not bad.”
The only thing that slowed down the process, Zerr said, was a consistent stream of “rubberneckers.” “We all do it. People will drive by and they have to look,” he said. “When they’re looking at the wreck they’re not looking at their driving, so there’s a fifty-yard gap between them and the car in front of them.”
Textbook prices, tuition increases and more financial aid opportunities were the main issues discussed at the inaugural Associated Student Government session for the 2006-2007 school year Monday. The official session was shortened to allow for a Senate Workshop afterward. Frank Bartley, student regent for the Texas State University System, was the first to address the ASG executives and 21 student body senators present. Bartley, public administration senior, reiterated ASG’s “primary job to serve as a voice for all students.” Bartley said the chancellor’s office is looking closely into textbook prices and urged a dialogue among the senators to make financial aid easier to obtain for current and incoming students. ASG President Kyle Morris spoke about creating a stronger ASG collaboration with the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District, which would encompass mentoring programs provided by the College of Education. All efforts he said would be “certain to tear down the wall” between the university and the SMCISD, “This would show that students of the university are devoted to students in area high schools,” he said, “and that we want them to be on this hill when they graduate from high school.” Morris said there is a new scholarship in the works that would potentially be offered by the University Bookstore. MorSee ASG, page 3
Businesses interrupted by water main breakage By Jacqueline Davis The University Star
Danny Rodriguez/Star photo PUNCTURE PROBLEMS: Water flows over the road at the corner of University Drive and North LBJ after a water main was punctured by a state contractor. Police diverted traffic as city of San Marcos workers labored to fix what was called a routine break.
Today’s Weather
Scattered T-Storms 96˚/70˚
Precipitation: 40% Humidity: 54% UV: 8 Very High Wind: N 7 mph
A state contractor punctured a 12-inch water main Aug. 18 on the corner of North LBJ Drive and University Drive, causing ankledeep flooding and halting traffic one block in each direction. The water main broke at 1 p.m. when a contractor drilled a four-inch hole while boring under the street to install new traffic lights to be synchronized by the city. At least 18 businesses did not have water until 7 p.m.
Two-day Forecast Wednesday Isolated T-Storms Temp: 97°/ 70° Precipitation: 30%
Thursday Partly Cloudy Temp: 97°/ 71° Precipitation: 20%
when crews had fully corrected the break. “Because of the thickness of the asphalt and that (the break) was on the side of the main, it surfaced at the curb line and popped the pavement up like a cork,” said Tom Taggart, director of water/wastewater utilities. Crews located the problem area, isolating it by 2 p.m., but it was five hours later when the piping was fixed to normal working order. The nearby streets were reopened shortly afterward. Taggart said contractor activity that damages piping is
fairly common, adding that repairs went smoothly and were routine. “It’s not uncommon in the life of a city,” said Dan O’Leary, city manager. “There are typically a couple of these every year.” The surrounding businesses found ways of getting around the brief lack of water. “There weren’t any (fountain) sodas, so we bought canned sodas and sold them for cheaper,” said Marissa McCottry, curriculum and instruction senior and Subway employee. Subway em-
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ployees used hand sanitizer and took dishes to another store location to wash. “This whole block was shut down,” McCottry said, referring to the road closures. The city will receive further repairs to the pavement from the state, Taggart said, but O’Leary does not think the state will be involved. “The person who punctured it will be responsible,” O’Leary said. A boil water advisory was in effect for nearby businesses until Aug. 21 to ensure water quality.
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