Driver gets out after wreck, is killed by oncoming truck

A man died in a traffic crash after another vehicle slammed into his truck following an earlier wreck in Montgomery County on Wednesday night.  The wreck occurred on FM 105 near McCaleb Road along Lake Conroe about 8:30 p.m., according to the Department of Public Safety.Troopers said the man was in his truck after being involved in a minor wreck when second vehicle smashed into his truck. The pickup driver, who has not been identified, died.  According to television stations KPRC and KTRK, the driver involved in the second wreck was suspected of being drunk at the time.  No other information was immediately available.

Teen dies after crashing into flatbed truck near Kingwood

HOUSTON – A teenage driver was killed Tuesday (February 14, 2012) night after crashing into the back of a disabled flatbed truck in northeast Harris County.  Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said a flatbed truck was traveling north on the Eastex Freeway at North Park Plaza when the truck got a flat tire around 11 p.m.  The truck driver was trying to move the truck from the center lane to the shoulder when an 18-year-old speeding in a Toyota 4Runner slammed into the back of the flatbed, according to deputies.  The teen was pinned inside the Toyota until he was pried out by heavy rescue. He was transported to LBJ Hospital, where he later died.   The driver of the flatbed was not hut.

Train, rig collide in southeast Houston

A freight train collided with an 18-wheeler truck this afternoon in southeast Houston, authorities said.  The train struck the rig about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday (February 14, 2012) along the 2500 block of Galveston near the 610 South Loop, Houston police said.  The force of the impact apparently split the truck cab from the trailer, officials said.  Houston police were continuing to investigate later in the day.

Proposed Interim Redistricting Maps Released

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today issued the following statement on the proposed interim redistricting maps for Texas’ 2012 elections:

“The proposed maps minimize changes to the redistricting plan passed by the Legislature and, as the U. S. Supreme Court required, makes changes only where necessary. The Texas Attorney General’s Office has worked with a wide range of interest groups to incorporate reasonable requests from all parties to the extent possible without compromising the will of the Texas Legislature. Even though these proposed interim maps aren’t fully supported by all interest groups, modifications have been incorporated based on requests made by all parties. Today’s maps should allow the court to finalize the interim redistricting maps in time to have elections in April,” Attorney General Abbott said.

The proposed House and Congressional interim redistricting maps are the result of an agreement between the State of Texas and the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force – which includes Texas LULAC, MALDEF, GI Forum, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, Domingo Garcia, The Mexican American Bar Association of Texas, and La Fe Policy Research and Education Center. The proposed Congressional interim redistricting map is also supported by Congressman Henry Cuellar.

Although the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC), the Black Legislative Caucus and the NAACP have not agreed to support the proposed maps, those maps include modifications that address some of the primary concerns those plaintiffs raised during negotiations with the State.

 

1 million birth control pill packets recalled, may not prevent pregnancy

Pfizer said on Tuesday it was recalling about a million packets of birth control pills in the United States because they may not contain enough contraceptive to prevent pregnancy.

 

            "As a result of this packaging error, the daily regimen for these oral contraceptives may be incorrect and could leave women without adequate contraception, and at risk for unintended pregnancy," according to a Pfizer statement on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website.

Pfizer found that some packets of the drugs had too many active tablets, while others had too few.

 

            Oral birth control products use a series of 21 drug tablets and 7 inactive sugar tablets to regulate the menstrual period while providing contraception. The birth control pills posed no health threat to women, Pfizer said, but it urged consumers affected by the recall to "begin using a non-hormonal form of contraception immediately." The drugmaker said the issue involved 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets.

 

            A company spokeswoman said the problem was caused by both mechanical and visual inspection failures on the packaging line, The Associated Press reported. She said the problem has been corrected.  The pills were manufactured by Pfizer and marketed by Akrimax Pharmaceuticals and shipped to warehouses, clinics and retail pharmacies nationwide, the company said.