A tradition that began thanks to the mis-print of a phone number in 1955, was setting records Saturday as volunteers at NORAD tracked the progress of Santa.



From the Associated Press:

Volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado were fielding 4,000 calls an hour Saturday morning, on pace to break a record. Also, Santa's NORAD Facebook page exceeded 840,000 "likes" by midmorning. Last year, Santa had 716,000 "likes." Volunteers at NORAD Tracks Santa said kids started calling at 4 a.m. Saturday to find out where Santa was.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts ever year since 1955. That was the year a Colorado Springs newspaper ad invited kids to call Santa on a hotline, but the number had a typo, and dozens of kids wound up talking to the Continental Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.

The officers on duty played along and began sharing reports on Santa's progress. It's now a deep-rooted tradition at NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canada command that monitors the North American skies and seas from a control center at Peterson.

And now you can monitor Santa online, your mobile phone, via Facebook, Twitter and GooglePlus: and by phone (877) 446-6723.

A substitute teacher in Santa Fe won't be working on campus anymore after she failed to assist a junior high student who had broken his leg on Thursday, according to a report from KTRK-TV in Houston.

This is what reporter Sonia Azad reported during KTRK's 5 p.m. newscast on Friday:

The student says he was injured on school grounds, but had to use his own cell phone to get any medical help at all because a teacher didn't believe he was hurt. Dakota Hall, 12, was playing games outside Santa Fe Junior High after lunch Thursday when another boy tackled him and he went down.

See and read the full story here: KTRK report.

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 local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League says that Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, sent an apology for using the term "Jew them down," during a Texas windstorm hearing on Thursday.

After noting that he was wrong to use that term and later apologizing publicly for its use, Taylor sent a letter to the ADL.

“Anti-Semitism and intolerance have no place in our society and in our government," the letter read in part, according to a press release from the Anti-Defamation League. "I understand the impact of my comments and am deeply sorry for the message that was sent. I have a deep respect for the Jewish people and their history, and hope to work to strengthen that relationship in the future.”

Dena Marks, the Southwest region associate director for the Anti-Defamation League, said Taylor's apology was accepted.

“Representative Taylor called us this morning and told us he made a mistake yesterday and did not mean to offend anyone," Marks said in a statement. "He also sent us a letter so that we would have his apology in writing. After our conversation with Representative Taylor, we believe he understands that the phrase 'Jew them down' comes from an age-old anti-Semitic stereotype, that he realizes it offends people, that he won’t use it again. We recognize and appreciate he took quick action to correct himself and apologize.”

According to the online political newsletter Harvey Kronberg's Quorum Report, State Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, used an ethnic slur while making comments during a Texas windstorm oversight hearing Thursday afternoon.

Taylor, the chairman of the committee, was talking about improving payments to storm victims and was trying to make a point about making quick and fair payments. That's when he said, "Don't nitpick, don't try to Jew them down," according to the Quorum Report online posting that pulled the statement from the recording to the session.

Taylor quickly followed the statement, "That's probably a bad term," and resumed his comments.

Taylor, who is leaving the state house and running for the District 11 State Senate seat, said in a statement to The Daily News that he regretted the use of the phrase.

"At a legislative oversight committee hearing today, I inadvertently used a phrase that many people find offensive," Taylor said. "I corrected myself immediately when I realized what I had said. I regret my poor choice of words and sincerely apologize for any harm they may have caused."

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.