SPORTS
NO BUZZ FOR HOUSTON
chron.com: Where Houston lives
DISASTER
IN THE GULF
Experts
say BP
may be
nearing
success
› Relief well
could be ready
weeks before the
company’s target
date in August
By MONICA HATCHER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
BP’s progress drilling a
relief well may put it within
striking range of the blown-
out Macondo well in as little
as two weeks, independent
analysts said Tuesday, stok-
ing hopes that the devastating
Gulf oil spill could be stopped
nearly a month earlier than
anticipated.
While BP has not adjusted
its early August timetable for
completing the first of two
relief wells boring toward
the Macondo more than two
miles beneath the Gulf of
Mexico seabed, independent
drilling engineers and some
energy analysts said the com-
pany could be in a position to
intercept the damaged well
and begin the critical kill op-
eration within 14 days.
“Two weeks might be rea-
sonable,” said Darryl Bour-
goyne, director of the pe-
troleum engineering research
and technology transfer labo-
ratory at Louisiana State Uni-
versity, though he added the
company still has many steps
to complete first.
Equity analysts with
Pritchard Capital Partners
were even more optimistic,
saying in a note to investors
Tuesday the relief well could
reach its target in eight to
Please see SPILL, Page A7
BP PARTNERS PERSEVERE
Some companies choose to stick
with BP on projects. PAGE D1
Criminal history BARBECUE: A LOVE STORY TWILIGHT &
isn’t barrier for job ventures
A barbecue neophyte from up North
into the heart of Texas and
at children’s center comes back the truest of believers. fame that came
› State approved
dozens who had
records to work
among foster kids
By TERRI LANGFORD
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
and EMILY RAMSHAW
TEXAS TRIBUNE
Job applicants with some
criminal history on their ré-
sumés have no problem get-
ting approved to work among
the state’s most vulnerable
foster care children, accord-
INSIDE
Business . . D1 Lottery . . .
Comics . . . .E6 Markets . . .
Crossword . .E5 Movies. . . .
Directory . . A2 Obituaries .
Editorials. . B8 TV . . . . . . .
Richard Justice on why the MLS All-Star game won’t sound like the World Cup.
BREEZY, THUNDERSTORMS, HIGH 88, LOW 77 / PAGE B10 ASTROS BOW TO BREWERS / PAGE C1
ROUNDUP: DEA agents transport suspects Tuesday after raids in
Harris County that netted 28 people. Thirty-two others also were
arrested, accused of dealing in methamphetamine and cocaine.
WAVE FOR THE CAMERA: Dan and Grace Eaton drove from Austin to renew their vows on South
Padre Island. Even moving their plans to Tuesday didn’t keep away an uninvited guest named Alex.
A TEEN IDOL
The searing
with the vampire
ing to a Houston Chronicle/
Texas Tribune investigation.
A review of background
check letters the Department
of Family and Protective Ser-
vices sent Daystar Residential
Inc. — a Houston-area facil-
ity that made headlines for
forcing disabled girls to fight
each other — shows dozens
of potential workers were ap-
proved for hire by the state
despite arrests ranging from
prostitution to assault with a
deadly weapon.
It’s unclear whether Day-
star hired these workers; the
state redacted all employee
names. But their approval for
employment raises questions
about DFPS’ background
A2 check process as lawmakers
D4 meet in Austin today to dis-
.E3 cuss abuse and neglect within
B6 Texas’ 80 residential treat-
.E4 ment centers for troubled
kids.
“Our goal is to strike a bal-
ance between protecting the
children in these facilities and
Please see DFPS, Page A7
COLUMN ON PAGE C1
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LOCAL RAIDS BUST UP
‘UNUSUAL’ DRUG RING
› The ethnic diversity of the alleged It culminated Tuesday with
traffickers is unique, authorities say
Thirty-two others were
the arrests of mostly Houston
residents for alleged roles in
a cocaine and methamphet-
amine-smuggling operation
By DANE SCHILLER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Dozens of federal agents,
captured in Galveston, Fort
Bend, Brazoria and other
neighboring counties.
that used this city as a hub for
infiltrating the United States.
The ring was unique in the
J U LIO C OR T EZ : C H R O N I C L E
police and sheriff’s deputies
Tuesday swept through Har-
ris County and arrested 28 al-
leged members of a drug-traf-
The operation was code-
named Agent Orange for the
East Texas county where the
investigation began two years
world of drug trafficking as it
stretched across ethnic lines,
according to authorities.
People with first names
ficking conspiracy with ties ago with a tip from low-level such as Jesus and Omar are
to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. dealers who wanted leniency. Please see ARRESTS, Page A8
SEASON’S FIRST HURRICANE
Alex
bears
down
on the
Valley
› Padre Island
tourists, residents
head out as the
storm moves in
By LYNN BREZOSKY
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS -NEWS
S O U T H PA D R E I S L A N D
— Ominous skies and rain
squalls Tuesday helped some
vacationers make up their
minds about the storm that
would become Hurricane
Alex.
It was time to go.
“We’re leaving right now,”
E R I C G AY : A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S Frank Haikam of Houston
said from the Que Padre
beach shop, where he and his
children were picking up last-
minute souvenirs. “We just
heard there was a hurricane
FLAVOR STAR moving in. I think that’s a
pretty good reason.”
KOA campground employ-
ees Gail Del Bianco and Cia
Rochford were among the last
to pack up their recreational
vehicles before the causeway
from the island was closed to
STORY ON PAGE F1
high-profile rigs.
“We were full,” Rochford
said, surveying the empty
films made Robert gravel lots with their view of
the Laguna Madre, now emp-
Pattinson feel raw ty of fishing boats and begin-
ning to froth with whitecaps.
emotionally. PAGE E1 “I mean, it’s Fourth of July
weekend — Alex wasn’t very
timely.”
Tuesday night, Alex be-
came the first hurricane of the
2010 season. As of 10 p.m., re-
ports had the storm 255 miles
southeast of Brownsville,
NEWSMAKERS SPORTS with winds measured at up to
REIGN OVER A BIG BOON
75 mph and veering west, put-
ting it about 30 miles south of
earlier projections.
TO ROCKETS
Please see ALEX, Page A7
FOR KING
Center
After 25 years, Yao Ming ONLINE: SciGuy Eric
won’t opt Berger provides
the CNN staple his unique
says he’ll leave his out of his insight and the
prime-time perch deal and latest on Alex
and hang up his might lure at chron.com/
hurricane
suspenders in the free-agent help. central
fall. STORY ON PAGE A2 STORY ON PAGE C1