Mom of deported teen runaway files federal lawsuit

  HOUSTON -- The mother of a teenage Dallas runaway who immigration authorities shipped to South America after she provided a false name has filed a civil rights suit against top federal officials claiming her daughter was illegally detained and deported.

Johnisa Turner seeks unspecified damages in the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Houston.

In April last year, Turner's then-14-year-old daughter was arrested for shoplifting and identified herself to authorities as a 21-year-old Colombian national. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported the teen. She returned to the U.S. in January after her grandmother and Dallas police tracked her down.

Among defendants in the lawsuit are Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Federal officials have said they followed procedures and that the girl did nothing to indicate she is U.S. citizen.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Harris County files suit over nuisance properties

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- So-called nuisance businesses are being told to clean up their acts or shut down. It's all under a new program aimed at improving neighborhoods.

The first lawsuit over the plan has now been filed. The Harris County Attorney's Office looks to identify businesses that could be problems. Local management districts are now contacting those businesses.

The new suit involves a sports bar off Ranchester in the Sharpstown area. Businesses that don't follow the rules could be closed.

La Frontera is the first target in what the county attorney's office says is a new plan to clean up parts of town that need help.

"A lot of illegal activity has been going on in this location for quite a while," Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan said.

It's one of 20 or so properties in the Sharpstown, Spring Branch, or Braes Oaks parts of Houston under review through a contract agreement between three neighborhood management districts and the county attorney's office.

La Frontera is the first to go to court.

> "We want to close it down using civil injunctions so that the landowner and the lessee cannot use that location anymore for these kinds of activities," Ryan said.

Since January 2001, La Frontera has had its share of complaints -- 18 of them, including rape, robbery, theft, drugs and violations of liquor laws.

In scanning records for other area nightclubs, that number and those reported crimes aren't statistically high, but they're still enough for the management district to want them to stop.

We spoke to both the landlord of the strip center and the owner of the club. Both denied knowing about the lawsuit which names them and neither wanted to go on camera to talk about it.

The landlord, Howard Liao, says he'd like to evict the club for causing problems. The club owner says he doesn't know of any issues, but if there are any and he can't fix them, he'll voluntarily close.

"The management district works very hard to work with property owners that are trying to bring legitimate businesses into the area," said Alice Lee with the Greater Sharpstown District. "It operates within yards of apartment complexes where families and young children live. They won't do anything to comply or alleviate the problems."

La Frontera may be the first, but the county believes it won't be the last.

The suit was filed on Monday, and according to that filing, there is no court date in front of a judge yet.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Victim's family files lawsuit over fatal wreck

The family of a husband and father who was struck and killed by a van is suing the driver of that van for negligence

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The family of a husband and father who was struck and killed by a van is suing the driver of that van for negligence.

Adan Martinez was working in a construction zone on the North Freeway last month when the van swerved and hit him. According to the lawsuit filed in Houston Tuesday, the driver, Clarence Bryant, was speeding and missed an exit.

Bryant was driving the van for his employer, MP Instrument Company.

The lawsuit also blames the company for failing to properly train Bryant in vehicle safety.

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Group files lawsuit to stop Perry prayer day here

  AUSTIN, TX -- The Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit to stop the Texas governor's day of prayer and fasting.

The organization which is made up of atheists and agnostics argues that Gov. Rick Perry is violating the constitutional ban on the government establishing a religion. Perry has invited the Obama administration, the nation's governors and Texas lawmakers to attend the prayer meeting in Houston on Aug. 6. The event is being sponsored by evangelical Christian groups and is explicitly a Christian event. The foundation said Perry should not have organized the event as governor. The suit was filed Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Houston. A spokesman for the event, called The Response, said he needed to consult an attorney before commenting. The governor's office had no immediate comment. (Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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