A good day

And what was I doing in Artesia, NM, you might ask?

Our one and only Son graduated from the Border Patrol Academy yesterday.



We each only got one day off of work, so we had to make the 3-hour drive there and back again in one day. However, it was well worth it, seeing our son receive his badge and credentials.

Plus, most of the grandparents made it as well, and we all had a good time visiting over lunch before, and a light supper, afterwards.

All in all, a wonderful day!

The best bathroom graffiti ever!

(Seen on the wall of the ladies' bathroom at The Chaos Cafe, in Artesia, New Mexico. The food was pretty good, too!)

Whiskey. Tango. Hotel...?

Driver who killed teen sues for damage
By Harold Heckle
Associated Press Writer

MADRID, Spain -- A speeding motorist who killed a teenage cyclist is suing the boy's parents over damage to his luxury car, the government says.

Enaitz Iriondo, 17, died instantly in August 2004 when businessman Tomas Delgado's Audi A8 crashed into him at 100 mph near Haro in northern Spain, an Interior Ministry traffic report said. The speed limit was 55 mph.

Iriondo was not wearing reflective clothing or a helmet, the ministry report said. As the sun had set when he crossed the path of Delgado's car from a side road, a regional court found both parties at fault and closed the case, the report said.

Delgado, whose insurance company paid Iriondo's parents $48,500 in compensation for their son's life, filed a suit in late 2006 to recover $29,400 in damages to his car and car rental costs, the ministry traffic report said.

"It's the only way I have to claim my money back," Delgado was quoted as saying by the newspaper El Pais, which first reported the story on Friday. El Pais said a ruling was expected next week.

Iriondo's parents were shocked.

"It's the final straw, a stab in the back," Iriondo's mother, Rosa Trinidad said, according to El Pais. "Before the lawsuit we thought the poor guy would find it hard to live the rest of his life with the thought of having caused our son's death."

The European Union's statistics office says Spain recorded 113 traffic fatalities per million inhabitants in 2004. The average for the 25-nation bloc was 95. In 2006, 3,016 people died on Spain's roads.

UPDATE - Mexican officials arrest man in border agent death

By E. Eduardo Castillo / Associated Press

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities said Wednesday they had arrested a man in northern Mexico in the weekend killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Luis Aguilar.

Jesus Navarro Montes, 22, was arrested in the northern state of Sonora on Wednesday, said a spokesman for Mexico's federal Attorney General's office who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

Navarro was transported to the city of Mexicali in Baja California after he told Mexican authorities he ran over Aguilar on Saturday, the spokesman said.

Aguilar was trying to stop a suspected smuggler who had illegally entered the country from Mexico when he was hit by the vehicle, according to Agent Michael Bernacke, a spokesman for the agency's Yuma sector.

The incident happened in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area about 20 miles west of Yuma on Saturday.

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Now let's see whether he'll actually be tried....

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Edited to add:
Word is, Navarro probably turned himself in for extradition. US jails are safer in this situation than a Mexican jail would be. Seems the cartels don't like it when one of their runners "stirs up the hornet's nest" like this, & authorities wouldn't have been surprised to find just a burnt out Hummer with what was left of a body in it.

Agent, El Paso native killed

By Stephanie Sanchez / El Paso Times

A Border Patrol agent struck and killed by a vehicle being driven by a suspected drug smuggler Saturday near Yuma, Ariz., was identified Sunday as an El Pasoan who graduated from El Paso High School.

Senior Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar Jr., 32, was killed when he attempted to stop a suspected smuggler who had illegally entered the country from Mexico, said Michael Bernacke, a spokesman for the agency's Yuma sector.

Bernacke said Aguilar was trying to place spike strips in the path of a Hummer and a Ford pickup on Interstate 8 when the vehicle driven by the suspected smuggler hit and killed Aguilar. The death occurred about 9 a.m. Saturday near the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, which is in southeastern California about 20 miles west of Yuma.

Officials said both vehicles fled into Mexico.

The FBI is leading the investigation, along with other federal, state and local authorities.

Bernacke said Mexican authorities also have been contacted and that they are aiding the search for the suspects.

According to the Customs and Border Protection Web site, Aguilar is the first agent to be killed by smuggling suspects in several years. Most other agents killed in the line of duty died in crashes or drownings.

Luis "Louie" Aguilar Sr., a 41st District Court bailiff, who is a candidate for Precinct 4 constable, said his son, Luis Jr., played baseball and wrestled at El Paso High School.

He said his son graduated from the school but he said he would not comment further because he was ordered by Border Patrol agents to not speak to the media about his son's life.

Luis Aguilar Jr. lived in Yuma with his wife and two children.

Bernacke said Luis Aguilar Jr. began his career in the Yuma sector six years ago.

"Today we mourn the loss of one of our own," Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said in a statement. "This serves as a tragic reminder of the dangers our agents face every day while securing our nation's border and our way of life."

The Imperial Sand Dunes is popular with off-road vehicle enthusiasts but is also frequently used by smugglers trying to bring people or drugs into the country from Mexico.

Stephanie Sanchez may be reached at ssanchez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6137.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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One of our guys. Our prayers are with the Aguilar family.

Blindsided

I've met Chris and Melody Byrne. While I don't agree 100% with them (who does agree with anyone on anything 100% of the time?), I do respect them immensely. They're good-hearted, generous folks, constantly doing for and giving to others. Now, they're in a bind themselves.

Read.

And if you can spare even a couple bucks or so, please do. I dropped a few in the tip jar. I wish I could do more.

One Brief Observation

Yesterday, millions of law-abiding citizens did not commit a crime with a handgun. It’s not quite like reporting “no cats are stranded in trees tonight” but you get the picture. Once again, millions of law-abiding gun owners (legal ones) did nothing to warrant their being turned into criminals because some politician thinks passing firearms bans stops criminals.

Without turning this into a history lesson, Ronald Reagan addressed the idea of gun control as a method of controlling crime. In 1983 he said: “It's a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun control laws. I happen to know this from personal experience.”

He also had straightforward ideas about how to make dents in crime: “…we've heard the charges that supporting gun owners' rights encourages a violent, shoot-em-up society. Don't they understand that most violent crimes are not committed by decent, law abiding citizens, they're committed by career criminals? Hard-core criminals use guns, and locking them up and throwing away the key is the best gun control law we could ever have."

Six years after Michigan’s enhanced concealed carry regulations went into effect, the statistics seem to prove Reagan’s observation. In fact, the Detroit Free Press has reported that “the incidence of violent crime in Michigan in the six years since the law went into effect has been, on average, below the rate of the previous six years. The overall incidence of death from firearms, including suicide and accidents, also has declined.”

That’s a far cry from anti-gun groups’ predictions of shootouts at traffic stops, rampant violent crime and a total collapse of the general public welfare. Instead, we have a chief with the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police admitting, candidly, that police fears about passage of the enhanced conceal carry were misplaced.

Today, Michigan joins Texas, Ohio, Florida and other states where concealed carry hasn’t led to a “wild west mentality” or shootouts, or even increased instances of handguns being used in crimes.

But reporting a downturn in crime is viewed as reporting cats that aren’t stuck in trees – not exactly front-page news. Years ago, sensationalized reporting was summed up in five words: “if it bleeds, it leads”. That comment wasn’t intended as a compliment and was supposed to serve as a reminder to reporters, editors and TV producers that sometimes the important stories weren’t the most exciting, visual or riveting.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get it then, and we apparently aren’t getting it now.
--Jim Shepherd
The Shooting Wire
January 09, 2008

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Worth subscribing to.