Naked City

The San Antonio Scandal grew exponentially last week, with the indictment by a Bexar Co. grand jury of nine people, including six current and former local electeds, on corruption and bribery charges. The alleged ringleader, former SA City Council Member Raul Prado, is the Democratic nominee for state rep. in Dist. 117 -- disconcerting news for Dems trying to hold on to power in the Texas House. The seat, being vacated by retiring Rep. John Longoria, is heavily Latino and Democratic, but GOP nominee Ken Mercer feels, understandably, that the race is now in play. Meanwhile, Alamo City observers smell a turf war between Bexar Co. DA Susan Reed (a Republican) and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton; the feds have already indicted two SA council members on similar charges, and one, Enrique Martin, has now been charged in both probes. Reed used to be a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office. -- M.C.M.

While West Nile fears have largely subsided among the biped population, vets estimate that thousands of horses throughout Central Texas are infected with the virus. Horses are much more likely to die after West Nile infection than are people, but an equine vaccine is available. Though no equine cases have been reported in Travis Co., both Williamson and Hays counties have reported outbreaks. There's no evidence that the disease can be spread from horses to humans. -- M.C.M.

Monday's New York Times featured an op-ed ("A Voting Bloc Without a Party,") by Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute. Jacoby attempts to analyze trends among Hispanic voters -- including those in Texas -- to argue that Hispanics are more likely than African-Americans to split their votes among Democrats and Republicans. Undeniable -- although Jacoby's presumption that this factor would be to blame for the defeat of statewide Democrats, especially Senate candidate Ron Kirk, is a bit of a stretch. What about the white Texans who will decline to vote for a black candidate? In California, Jacoby notes a strong Hispanic backlash against Gov. Gray Davis after he vetoed a bill last month that would have allowed undocumented workers to apply for drivers' licenses. But while analyzing Texas, it somehow slipped Jacoby's mind that only a year ago, Gov. Perry had vetoed the same legislation. Is she suggesting Hispanic voters' memories are as short as her own? -- M.K.

The Texas Freedom Network's school textbook reviewers report that several publishers have once again capitulated to right-wing censors and altered books under consideration by the State Board of Education. The "corrections" dictated to publishers by groups such as Citizens for a Sound Economy and the Eagle Forum included removing "un-Biblical" references to prehistoric events; adding remarks promoting Christianity and deleting references favorable to Islam; deleting or softening references to acid rain and global warming; and deleting references considered "too critical" of slavery. "In Texas, the radical right can credibly threaten to ban a textbook if a publisher won't agree to make the changes they demand," said Samantha Smoot, executive director of the TFN, a watchdog group that monitors public education issues. -- M.K.

Weed Watch: NORML released a report this week noting that, despite their alleged focus on terrorism, total FBI arrests for marijuana charges reached an all-time high of 723,627 in 2001. According to NORML, 88.6% of those arrests were for simple possession -- and the total number of marijuana arrests far exceeds the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, and aggravated assault. Since 1992 approximately 6 million Americans have been arrested on pot charges. -- J.S.