Former Kingwood man accused of sexual assault

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former church vicar in Topeka pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting two young brothers.

Thirty-two-year-old Hugh Denton Cranford, a former vicar at Faith Lutheran Church, will be tried starting May 6 on three charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child younger than 14.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/Un5i92 ) Cranford, a native of Kingwood, Texas, pleaded not guilty on Thursday.

The mother of the two boys, who are now 7 and 9, testified that her husband and Cranford were friends and the family attended Faith Lutheran. She said her sons played with Cranford and he stayed overnight in their home.

Cranford, a student at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, began his vicarage at Faith Lutheran in July 2011. He was suspended by the seminary in June 2012.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/texas/article/Ex-church-vicar-pleads-innocent-to-sex-charges-4167083.php#ixzz2H9Rmm8vK

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Houston Area Flu Cases Spike!

THE CHRON: If you've been putting off your annual flu shot, don't delay any longer: Texas is already being hit hard this flu season.

Houston-area hospitals have seen a spike in the number of emergency room visits for flu-like symptoms, said Porfirio Villarreal, spokesman for the Houston Department of Health and Human Services. During the week of Nov. 18, about 1,580 visits to emergency rooms were attributed to flu-like illnesses, compared with just 249 visits during the same week last year, Villarreal said.

Influenza is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization or even death, the CDC says.

Every flu season is different, and even healthy people can get very sick from the disease and spread it to others. From 1976 to 2007, estimates of U.S. deaths each year due to flu ranged from 3,000 to 49,000.

"Flu is predictably unpredictable," said Dr. Gail Demmler-Harrison, pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Texas Children's Hospital and pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine. "There's no cause for alarm but cause for action. People should get themselves vaccinated so it doesn't get any worse."

National Influenza Vaccination Week, a campaign established in 2005 to counter the notion that December is too late to get a vaccination, ends Saturday. Once a vaccine is administered, it takes about two weeks to develop immunity.

Although the influenza season usually peaks in February, 48 states and Puerto Rico have reported cases, with rates rising quickly nationwide, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week.

Along with Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are also reporting high levels of activity.

In Houston, Texas Children's Hospital has seen an early start to the season with 123 confirmed cases of Type A influenza and 32 cases of Type B, compared with just two Type A cases in the same span last year, Demmler-Harrison said.

Everyone who is at least 6 months old should get a flu vaccination, but the CDC says it's especially important for these groups:

» People at high risk of developing serious complications like pneumonia if they get the flu, including those with medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes and chronic lung disease.

» Pregnant women.

» People 65 years and older.

» People who live with or care for others who are at high risk of developing serious complications.

Kingwood school warns parents of suspicious photographer

KINGWOOD, TX (KTRK) -- A Kingwood elementary school is warning parents of a man reportedly snapping photos of a student near campus.

It happened  last Tuesday on Wilderness Point near Woodlands Hills Elementary School. The student told his parents that a man was taking pictures of him as he rode his bike home from school. The man is described as a young white male with glasses.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Kingwood student accused of hacking

KHOU AUSTIN, Texas -- A 19-year-old University of Texas student has been charged with a felony after he was accused of hacking into the UT computer system and shutting it down temporarily during student registration.

Garret Ross Phillips turned himself in to campus police Monday, was charged with breaching computer security and released after posting a $20,000 bond. Conviction would result in a punishment of up to two years in state jail.

A police affidavit says Phillips downloaded software used by hackers to crash websites and used it to crash the UT registrar’s office’s computer system in April. The affidavit says UT campus information technology experts traced the commands to Phillips’ computer address.

Phillips is from Kingwood.