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.

Kingwood police on high alert after gun incident at Kingwood middle school

by KHOU.com staff & Tiffany Craig / KHOU 11 News

khou.com

Posted on September 19, 2012 at 1:59 PM

Updated Wednesday, Sep 19 at 5:13 PM

KINGWOOD, Texas—School officials and parents were on high alert after a man with a gun allegedly fired toward students walking near a middle school in Kingwood last Tuesday.

Three students were walking away from Creekwood Middle School around 4:40 p.m. when a man fired two shots in their direction, according to Houston police.

Police believe it was an air soft gun that shoots plastic pellets.

The students were about 50 feet away and managed to run away. No one was injured.

Police have a digital picture that was reportedly taken by someone on the Greenbelt of the alleged gunman. At this point, they are not releasing it to the public.

The man is said to be in his early 30s, about 6 feet tall and was wearing blue jeans and a black shirt.

Nicole Vincent got the email from her daughter’s school.

"I tell my kids stay off the Greenbelt trails and just come straight to the car when it’s time for pickup," said Vincent. "We’re not playing in the front yard."

Anyone with information is urged to contact HPD at             281-913-4500      or Humble ISD police at             281-641-7900      .

Humble ISD police officers will be on and near the campus at arrival and dismissal time.

Kingwood woman set for double arm transplant

Doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have approved Katy Hayes of Kingwood, Texas, for a double arm transplant. The 44-year-old mother of three would be the first person in the United States to receive a transplant of both arms above the elbow. A similar procedure was performed in Germany.

Hayes lost her arms and legs two years ago, when she was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria after giving birth.

“Two years ago, I walked on my own two feet into the emergency room and most of the doctors there said I would die,” Hayes said at a press conference at the hospital Wednesday morning.

Doctors were able to save enough nerve and muscle when her arms were removed at about mid-biceps to make the transplant possible. Brigham surgeons said a transplant could give Hayes the ability to bend her elbows, making it possible for her to lift herself out of a wheelchair. They said they were not sure, because so few of these transplants have been performed, how much hand sensitivity or fine motor skills she would gain.

“I have to be baby-sat, which is ridiculous. I’m 44 years old,” Hayes said. “I’m really looking forward to having my independence back.”

Hayes was a massage therapist and said the loss of her hands has been painful.

“I still feel like myself inside,” she said. “I don’t think of myself as different until I look in the mirror. It’s hard to look in the mirror. It’s hard.”

Hayes and her family moved to the area in anticipation of the transplant, which required her husband to leave his job as a middle school teacher. The Brigham is working with the New England Organ Bank to find a donor. Read more about Hayes’s story on their family blog.

Chelsea Conaboy can be reached at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter@cconaboy.

Kingwood woman bites attacker

KINGWOOD, TX (KTRK) -- Police in Kingwood are looking for a man who attacked a woman.

It happened yesterday at around 2:30pm. The woman told police she was walking through a tunnel near Northpark and Vale when a man grabbed her. He told her to take her clothes off, but she bit him on a hand then ran to her apartment.

Police have not found the attacker.

Authorities remind people to be cautious when entering dark areas and be aware of your surroundings.

Kingwood school steps up to stop bullying

KINGWOOD, Texas, July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Bullying Academy congratulates Shadow Forest Elementary School for attaining the highest score for the 4^th-5^th grade contest cycle which took place from May-June 2012.  Competing against 450 schools from around the United States, Shadow Forest outperformed the competition by demonstrating their high level of knowledge of bullying issues by achieving the highest scores on examinations integrated into the Bullying Academy online curriculum.  They will be awarded with a Bullying Academy trophy, and $250 to be spent on a party for the class.

The participating students effectively demonstrated their commitment to learning as much as possible about tactics to not only respond to incidents of bullying appropriately, but also to develop open lines of communication with adults in their lives in order to avoid tragic outcomes.

Texas education code now requires all schools to adopt programs that educate and address the prevention of unwanted physical or verbal aggression, and other forms of bullying in schools.  The Bullying Academy meets the standards of the Texas mandate. "Shadow Forest is setting an excellent example for school communities in Texas as well as throughout the United States in integrating the Bullying Academy program into their school curriculum.  All students should be exposed to anti-bullying, and specifically anti-cyberbullying education somewhere in the classroom," explains Tommy Walser, program founder of the Bullying Academy.

"Cyber cruelty is rapidly increasing in volume and complexity because teens are never taught how to act responsibly and appropriately while communicating online or via other electronic devices," explains Tommy. "The Bullying Academy is a simple and cost effective solution to a pressing dilemma: How to teach students that bullying should not be tolerated as merely part of growing up, and that all students have the right to a safe learning environment."

Students in the Know Foundation, a non-profit group, launched The Bullying Academy, a web-based interactive program designed to help 4th-8th grade students recognize the dangers associated with bullying and cyber-bullying.  The Bullying Academy requires no additional software or extensive training for teachers. Schools simply register with the program's website and students immediately have the curriculum available to them. It can be implemented during any class period or extracurricular activity.

Teachers and administrators can access details about pricing and implementation on our website, http://bullyingacademy.org or call our program coordinator at Haley Murray at             (305) 791-4478      .

SOURCE Bullying Academy

PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1j3u6)