Category: San Antonio News

Championship season kicks off for high school sports in the San Antonio area with the District 28-6A Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday morning at the NISD Natatorium, as the O’Connor Panthers earn both boys and girls team titles.

GIRLS RESULTS

EventChampionTime200 yard Medley RelayO’Connor1:55.52200 yard FreestylePauline O’Brien (Brennan)2:03.79200 yard Individual MedleyAndrea Munoz (Brennan)2:18.4350 yard FreestyleTaylor Labella (O’Connor)25.061 meter DivingLeah Plewe (Taft)406.80100 yard ButterflyRhiannon Ramones (O’Connor)1:04.46100 yard FreestyleTaylor Labella (O’Connor)55.32500 yard FreestyleAndrea Munoz (Brennan)5:33.91200 yard Freestyle RelayO’Connor1:44.34100 yard BackstrokeGrace Clevenger (O’Connor)1:00.52100 yard BreaststrokePauline O’Brien (Brennan)1:13.68400 yard Freestyle RelayO’Connor3:59.52

BOYS RESULTS

EventChampionTime200 yard Medley RelayHarlan1:49.34200 yard FreestyleJoseph Gurr (Brennan)2:00.89200 yard Individual MedleyKekoa Velez (O’Connor)2:12.2750 yard FreestyleNoah Alcala (Warren)23.071 meter DivingRoldan Salas (Taft)420.90100 yard ButterflyCooper Littrell (Warren)55.91100 yard FreestyleKace Schermerhorn (O’Connor)51.94500 yard FreestyleDario Olmo (O’Connor)5:20.00200 yard Freestyle RelayWarren1:33.62100 yard BackstrokeCooper Littrell (Warren)56.88100 yard BreaststrokeJoseph Gurr (Brennan)1:04.57400 yard Freestyle RelayWarren3:28.69

MORE HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING COVERAGE

WATCH: Alamo Heights’ Walsh, Chan win 200 IM

Get more election news on KSAT’s Vote 2022 page.

The 2022 Texas midterm primary election is coming up on March 1 and if you want to cast your ballot, you’ll need to be sure you’re registered to vote.

This election year is an important one with all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and a third of the U.S. Senate seats up for grabs, as well as a chance to vote in the Texas governor’s race and elect Bexar County’s first new county judge in 20 years. See the full ballot for the GOP and Democrats.

Early voting begins Feb. 14 for the March 1 primary election in Texas.

Any U.S. citizen who is 18 by the primary Election Day AND registered to vote by the Jan. 31 voter registration deadline can vote, with few exceptions prohibited by law.

How to know if you’re registered to vote

You can click here to check (select “Name, County, Date” on the right-hand side and input your information).

How to register to vote if you’re not already registered

You can fill out a voter registration application online. You will need to print it out and mail it to the voter registrar in your county of residence.You can also register in person at your county voter registration office. The Bexar County Elections office is located at 1103 S. Frio, Suite 100. If you live in a county other than Bexar, you can find out where to register in person here.Or, you can request a postage-paid application from your voter registrar by filling out this form.

What to do if you lost your voter registration card

If you are registered, but you’ve lost your voter registration card, you can notify your county voter registrar in writing to get a new one.

What ID do you need to vote in Texas?

You won’t need your voter registration card when you vote, but you will need a valid form of identification to vote in Texas.

Here is a list of the acceptable forms of photo ID, bring one to the polling place when you cast your ballot:

Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPSTexas Personal Identification Card issued by DPSTexas Handgun License issued by DPSUnited States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photographUnited States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photographUnited States Passport (book or card)

Early voting starts on Feb. 14 and runs through Feb. 25, or you can vote on the day of the primary elections on March 1. Find more important dates on our Vote 2022 page.

If you plan to vote absentee, you have until Feb. 18 to request a ballot. Click here to find out how to vote by mail or how to deliver your absentee ballot in person.

San Antonio and Bexar County officials came together Friday afternoon to update the public about the current status of COVID-19 in our area amid a continuous surge of cases and a third consecutive week at the “severe” risk level.

Bexar County’s COVID-19 risk level

The county’s positivity rate this week is at 38.3%, while some Texas metros are reporting over 50%, according to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

If the cases keep increasing and warning indicators continue to worsen, the county’s risk level could be raised to “critical,” Nirenberg noted during the news conference. He said vaccinations and boosters have been a key strategy to slow the spread of the coronavirus and keep people protected from severe illness or death.

Testing backlog

Amid a rise in cases comes the COVID-19 testing increase throughout the county, which has led to “somewhat of a backlog,” according to Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

Metro Health Director Claude Jacob says testing has gone up to about 12,000 per day on average in the past few weeks. He said some people are waiting about two to three days to get their results back from the free public testing sites.

If you’re in need of a COVID-19 test, click here to find a location near you.

Fake testing sites

Officials warned the community about fake testing locations that are out to steal people’s personal information. Click here to learn more about what you can do to stay protected from scammers. Fraudulent sites can be reported through the Federal Trade Commission website.

COVID-19 hospitalizations

Judge Wolff said local hospitals are doing a great job handling patient inflow amid the surge.

Eric Epley, executive director and CEO of the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, said there are 1,257 COVID patients in the hospital, nearing the area’s highest number of hospitalized patients since the pandemic began — 1,520. He said 67% of those in the hospital are unvaccinated.

As the omicron variant makes its way through our area, more hospital staff have had to be out due to illness. Epley said the state provided 521 additional contract staff members to help with the surge.

Epley asks the community to only head to emergency rooms in the event of an actual emergency in an effort to not flood hospitals.

Officials are also asking people to donate blood amid an ongoing supply shortage.

Vaccination among the younger population

Dr. Junda Woo, medical director of Metro Health, said only 14% of children ages 5 to 11 have been fully vaccinated. She said 35 children are in the hospital with COVID-19, and more child hospitalizations could be prevented if parents get their eligible children inoculated.

Click here to get COVID-19 resources from the city and to view the latest daily statistics.

Also on KSAT.com

Where to get tested for COVID-19 in San Antonio, Bexar CountyWhere to get a COVID-19 vaccine, booster in San AntonioHere are the COVID-19 vaccine pop-up clinics taking place around San Antonio

Bexar County Courts saw another setback this week as omicron has caused in-person jury trials to be put on hold until March 1.

This is the third time the courts have had to stop jury trials because of COVID-19.

We are still awaiting several high-profile trials to take place in the first half of the year including that of Andre McDonald and Emond Johnson.

As we wait for trials to start back up there are some important hearings expected to take place to make sure cases are moving along.

We continue to follow them and bring you all the latest court news as it takes place. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we can get back into the courtroom in the spring.

The Docket

Here’s a look at trials and court proceedings we can expect in the coming weeks. These dates are subject to change and could be rescheduled.

Beatrice Sampayo: Charged with tampering with evidence in the death of 8-month-old King Jay. Sampayo is accused of helping stage a kidnapping and cover-up of the baby’s death. A hearing for her is scheduled for Jan. 24.

Damion Campbell: Charged with murder and two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Campbell is alleged to be behind a deadly barbershop attack in 2020. A hearing for Campbell is scheduled for Jan. 28.

Andres Martinez: Charged with the double murder of a 14-year-old boy and a 60-year-old man in 2018. Martinez is one of three who were charged in this case. He has taken a plea deal and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 31.

Get to Know

Judge Monique Diaz

Born and raised in San Antonio, Judge Monique Diaz presides over the 150th Civil Distict Court, Family Drug Court and Early Childhood Intervention specialty courts.

A graduate of Winston Churchill High School and St. Mary’s School of Law, Diaz previously had her own legal practice representing low-income families, victims of domestic violence, small businesses, nonprofits and governmental entities.

In the public sector, she served as City Attorney and City Prosecutor for 8 South Texas cities, where she was charged with the duties of drafting and enforcing laws, writing codes of ethics, and investigating ethics complaints against elected officials.

Since becoming the 150th Civil District Judge, she said she continues to try to help the community.

“Improving outcomes for the most vulnerable families and children in our community has been the most challenging and the most rewarding part of my job,” Diaz told KSAT 12.

Right now, as a Co-Chair of the Collaborative Commission on Domestic Violence, she is hoping they can help families dealing with domestic abuse.

“Together, with a focus on early intervention and prevention, we provide families wraparound services for holistic healing proven to break generational cycles of child and domestic abuse,” Diaz said.

When she’s not in the courtroom, Diaz enjoys spending time with her husband, family, her cat Pico De Gato and dog JaSpur.

Legal Glossary

There are often terms used in a courtroom that sound more like legal jargon than natural language. Even after years of covering court proceedings, I sometimes have to look up words to refresh my memory or make sure I fully understand them. In each newsletter, I include a different word or phrase so we can build our knowledge and understanding of the courtroom together.

Allen Charge: This is an instruction given by the court to the jury who is deadlocked. The instruction is to encourage the jury to continue to deliberate until they reach a verdict.

Closing Argument

A new year means new court content headed your way. We are bringing “The Back Story” series back with an in-depth look at upcoming high-profile cases.

As of right now, we hope to release two in the first half of this year. Also, stay on the lookout for some videos on KSAT’s social media pages that will give you a quick overview of upcoming cases as well.

The Open Court newsletter will also take a closer look at some judicial races and talk to the candidates for the midterm elections.

A lot to look forward to in 2022 and we hope you follow along.

Thanks for reading,

Erica Hernandez, KSAT 12 Court Reporter

Read other court articles:

10 high-profile trials expected in 2022Who’s running for district attorney, district judge and county court judge in 2022$150k bond set for woman accused of trapping, hogtying toddlers

Update:

Peddy Reynolds Jr. was found around 8:33 p.m. Friday, according to San Antonio police.

The Silver Alert issued in his disappearance has been discontinued and further details are limited at this time.

Original:

Authorities are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing 78-year-old man last seen on the city’s Northwest Side.

Peddy Reynolds Jr. disappeared around 1 p.m., Thursday, in the 2700 block of Westover Circle, according to San Antonio police. He’s described as having black hair, brown eyes, a black and white goatee and was last seen wearing a black bomber jacket and blue jeans.

He is also diagnosed with a cognitive impairment and police believe his disappearance “poses a credible threat to his own health and safety.”

Reynolds Jr. is traveling in a gray Ford Escape with Texas license plate LXT8938.

Anyone with more information on his whereabouts are urged to contact SAPD at 210-207-7660.

The Lone Star State’s famous annual “meat” up event hosted by barbecue authority Texas Monthly is firing up a smokin’ new location for its expanded BBQ Fest this fall. Texas Monthly’s 13th annual BBQ Fest, which has long been hosted in Austin and features a dizzying variety of pitmasters and barbecue brainiacs, is moving to a new locale just 70 miles northeast of San Antonio — Lockhart, aka the official barbecue capital of Texas –…

Two people are in custody Friday after the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office raided an East Side home and found four kilograms of heroin and two kilograms of cocaine, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar.

Deputies served the search warrant at the home in the 500 block of Porter Street, where they found the drugs, which are estimated to be worth roughly $400,000. Investigators also seized multiple firearms, thousands of dollars in cash and expensive apparel from the home.

Salazar said the value of the seizure may rise as deputies continue to search the home.

“According to one of the lieutenants that briefed me, she said it just seems like every we look, there’s more drugs to be found,” Salazar said.

Salazar did not identify the man and woman who were taken into custody in connection with the raid. It’s unclear what charges they will face.

Florida saw some of the biggest spikes in home-value appreciation in 2021, a year like none other for the housing market.

A proposed high-rise apartment project could be revived under a new developer.

San Antonio has been named one of the best cities in the country for millennial homebuyers.