Cy-fair tragedy spurs anti-bullying legislation ..

Eight months after Cy-Fair middle school student Asher Brown's suicide, the Texas Senate unanimously approved "anti-bullying" legislation aimed at giving school administrators authority to prevent ongoing harassment of students.

The bill returns to the House, which is expected to concur with Senate amendments and send it to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature.

Amy and David Truong, Asher's mother and stepfather, watched from the Senate gallery as the legislation was adopted unanimously.

The Truongs say they complained to school officials for months before 13-year-old Asher's suicide that he was being bullied, but received no help from Hamilton Middle School administrators. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at home last September.

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said the legislation will allow school officials to reassign bullies or their victims to other campuses or classes.
Added Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, "The real goal is prevention. We've got to hold public school officials accountable when they know about these acts."
'More proactive stance'

Van de Putte, who tearfully hugged the Truongs after the bill's passage, thanked "the courage of many families" who advocated for the legislation.

"This bill … represents the consensus statement by the Legislature we will no longer tolerate doing nothing," about bullying in Texas public schools, she said.


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Shell plant back on line today ...

Royal Dutch Shell Plc planned to restart an olefins unit today at its Deer Park, Texas, facility.

Olefins Plant 2 was to resume operations at 5 a.m. local time today, The Hague-based company said in a filing to state regulators. The unit had been shut because of an equipment malfunction, Shell said. Olefins are used to make synthetic fibers.

Missing Cypress man's body found ...

The body of a Cypress, Texas man, missing since he disappeared while on an outing Sunday at Lake Somerville, has been found.

The body of Walter Castillo, 38, was discovered about 10:20 a.m. Wednesday by a searcher near Yegua Creek Park.

Castillo was missing since he fell from a jet ski near Rock Island Sunday. Rock Island is located between Yegua Creek Park and Overlook Park.

Both of those parks are on the Washington County side of Lake Somerville.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to the missing person call about 5:45 p.m. Sunday.

Searchers included personnel from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Washington County Emergency Medical Services, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens, a Texas Department of Public Safety aircraft from Houston and a DPS dive team from Austin.

This is the second lake drowning in just over two weeks.

Maria Guadalupe Hernandez, 49, of Tomball, drowned April 23 while on an outing at Welch Park.

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Texan heads Bin Laden raiders

The commander of the U.S. military unit responsible for killing elusive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — Vice Adm. William H. McRaven — is a San Antonio native and graduate of the University of Texas in Austin.

McRaven, 55, earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1977, although a campus dean said a computer listing didn't indicate whether the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps member had an interest in the print side of news coverage, broadcast or public relations.
A fellow ROTC member recalled McRaven as eager for military service.

"He was extremely focused on preparing for special forces details," said Curtis Raetz, of McKinney, who majored in engineering at UT, served in the Marine Corps and now works in private business.
'He had drive.'

Raetz, who graduated a year before McRaven, said the ROTC program included required courses such as naval science.

James Gruetzner, who served in the same Navy ROTC batallion as McRaven, told Cox Newspapers, "He had drive. He went on extraordinarily long runs to stay in shape. He was very dedicated."
McRaven's Navy biography states he attended the Naval Postgraduate School and was its first graduate in Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict. In 1995, he wrote a book called Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare Theory and Practice.

McRaven became commander of the U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command in 2008.
In that role, he reportedly led the planning and execution of bin Laden's death Sunday at the hand of Navy SEALs, an acronym that stands for Sea, Air and Land.