10-month-old boy fatally shot in father’s arms; 3 suspects sought

Anderson campus would be home to a small high school of 850 Eastside Memorial students.

Old Anderson High becomes a newly built school, with designated space for a conference center for community and educational use, such as afterschool centers.

LASA moves to a minimally renovated Eastside Memorial, becoming a standalone high school with the ability to expand to up to 2,000 students.

The district would create a new medical magnet school at LBJ that complements a health sciences workforce training program that launches this fall.

The LASA and Eastside Memorial moves were among various projects trustees hammered out during a fourhour discussion Wednesday night in formulating the bond package.

During the discussion Wednesday night, trustees jockeyed for specific projects, coming up with indi- vidual proposals ranging between $946.1 million and $1.02 billion. They haven’t yet voted on the bond projects or the amount of bond funding to request from voters in November. The board is slated to vote to call for the bond Monday.

The changes among the three schools would require more than $26 million in annual operating costs, an additional $10 million over current outlays, a district analysis shows.

Several parents in recent days emailed the board to support the LASA relocation to Eastside, and Eastside’s shift to old Anderson. Representatives from the old Anderson alumni in a let- ter to the board Wednesday also agreed to the changes, with the stipulations that the building be given historical designation and have dedi- cated space for community and educational use, among other things.

“It is absolutely the best proposal I have heard so far, and it reflects and responds to all the hard work and sup- port that was put into the community and (facilities committee) meetings,” LASA parent Gina Vance told the board in an email Wednesday.

LASA parent Rachel Drga gave trustees similar feedback: “This option is a winwin-win for all three schools involved. Even though it is unlikely my daughter (a rising LASA junior) will see the benefits of this move, it is important for the long-term health of both LASA and LBJ, which is why I strongly support this plan.”

Eastside — which begins its early college program in the fall, offering students a chance to earn an associate degree in high school — will be located across the street from an Austin Community College campus, giving students better access to classes there.

“This idea of building a new high school for our stu- dents at Eastside Memorial is an idea that is sparking excitement and interest in East Austin,” said Trustee Jayme Mathias, who represents the east and south- east area of the district that includes Eastside. “When I talk to people about build- ing a new high school in East Austin, they say to do this. Let’s build a school these kids deserve.”

‘I’m pretty bitter’

But Trustee Ted Gordon, who represents the northeast and east area of the district that includes LBJ and LASA, opposed the moves. Seeing that the majority of trustees supported the moves, he ultimately relented in hopes of gaining support to fund the career launch program and medical high school program at LBJ. Gordon also pushed for funding for a middle school in the Mueller area, another project that didn’t make Monday’s list of recommended bond projects.

“I’m pretty bitter about the whole thing,” said Gordon, who points out that the removal of LASA from LBJ will make the district’s segregation problem worse, and leave LBJ vulnerable, possibly to closure, in the future because it is underenrolled.

“I feel like I betrayed the sentiment in the community, but I couldn’t just let LASA move and leave LBJ with nothing. It’s unfortu- nate that it played out in this way,” he said. “I think it’s a missed opportunity for these communities to come together on a campus and do something positive. It’s tragic.”

While the school district is composed of mostly low-in- come, ethnic minorities, the nationally recognized LASA, which has a student body of mostly white, middle-to-upper-class students, has long been criticized for its lack of diversity. Some community members have said the division is a blemish on the campus.

In an attempt to diversify its student body, LASA this year adjusted its admission criteria. Preliminary data show the school this fall will have an increase in incoming Latino and black students, two groups that have been underrepresented since the magnet school’s inception.

Taking a stroll across the University of Texas campus? Beware the grackles.

No, not in the “they’ll steal your sandwich” orthe “what’s that on your shoul

sense, but as in they will straight up try to take you down.

Nesting grackles on the UT campus have become aggres- sive enough that UT’s Envi- ronmental Health & Safety office has warned pedestri- ans to not approach baby birds and to even consider taking alternate routes.

They’ve drawn one crazy-eyed grackle on the warn- ing, but do you really need to walk around a few birds? Maybe so.

Every Austin resident knows grackles are fearless.

Houston police were seeking three men Thursday after one of them started shooting at a man taking his 10-month-old son for a walk at an apartment complex and struck the infant, killing the child in his father’s arms.

A furious Police Chief Art Acevedo called the slaying of Messiah Marshall “callous and cowardly” and promised his department “will not rest until we bring three cowards into custody.”

“You don’t shoot at a man carrying his 10-month-old son; you don’t shoot multi- ple rounds at a man that’s running trying to protect his son; you don’t take the life They’ll walk or fly in front of your car while you’re driving and they’ll try to steal your food if you’re eating outdoors. Earlier this year, an Austin resident filmed one bravely fending off a snake at a playground. of a 10-month-old child,” Acevedo said at a news conference. “You know, there’s lines you cannot cross and a line was crossed.

“I don’t know about the rest of this community, but I can tell you we are angry here, and we are angry because there is no excuse in this day and age to cross this line.”

Authorities said the 22-year-old father, whose name hasn’t been disclosed, was approached by the three Wednesday afternoon at an apartment complex on the city’s southwest side as he was helping his young son walk while taking out the trash. An argument ensued and one of trio pulled a pistol and began shooting. As the father ran carrying the boy, the child was hit.

Austinite Victor Trac shared a YouTube video of a grackle confronting a snake at Northwest District Park on April 2. Trac said he kept kids off the playground until the snake “eventually slithered into the woods, unharmed.”

A 2005 Houston Chronicle story describes a series of grackle attacks downtown that left several pedestrians shaken and one lawyer bloodied.

“They were just going crazy,” said one deputy constable quoted in the story. “They were attacking everybody that walked by.”

Grackles are boisterous, omnivorous and opportunistic and are often considered pests that are difficult to control.

Police said the dad ran up to the driver of a car in the parking lot and yelled for help. The driver spotted a deputy constable at a convenience store nearby who summoned paramedics, but the little boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

The chief declined to speculate on a motive. Authorities have said the father told them he didn’t know the three men.

“Bottom line is ... it doesn’t matter what motivated them,” Acevedo said. “To me, I don’t care what was going through their minds.”

The three suspects are described only as black men in their early 20s. One was wearing a red hat and shorts and another wore a white T-shirt, police said.