Thursday, July 30, 2009

Feds Bust Medicare Fraud Ring In Houston Area


HOUSTON—Federal authorities arrested 27 people in Houston Wednesday in a major Medicare fraud bust that spanned across the country.

Medicare fraud raid

Investigators claim the suspects were scamming Medicare by falsely billing for medical items that were not needed or never used.

Arrests were also made in New York, Boston and Louisiana. In all, 32 people were taken into custody.

More than 200 agents worked on Wednesday’s $16 million bust, which included 12 search warrants at health care businesses and homes across the Houston area.

One of those businesses was Memorial Medical Supply on Dairy Ashford and I-10.

Shocked employees were met by federal agents when they arrived at work.

Federal agents raided several locations in Houston after a nationwide investigation into Medicare fraud.
The agents confiscated paperwork and a computer.

They were also seen removing boxes of evidence from the business.

Federal authorities say the businesses were giving patients “arthritis kits,” which were nothing more than expensive orthotics, including knee and shoulder braces. Patients told authorities they were unnecessary, and many never used them. But health care clinic owners billed $3,000 - $4,000 for each kit.

Houston’s other scam involved billing Medicare for thousands of dollars worth of liquid food for patients who can’t eat solids. Authorities said clinic owners never distributed the food to patients. In some cases, clinic owners billed patients who were dead when they allegedly received the items.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Monday, July 27, 2009

UPDATE: Wrong-way driver dies in Friday accident Kingwood Observer News Houston Community Newspapers Online - News Around Town

An elderly man is dead and a woman was hospitalized with severe injuries after a major accident at U.S. Highway 59 at Townsen around 1:30 p.m. July 24.

“We received a call about a red minivan driving southbound in the northbound lanes of Highway 59,” said Accident Investigator Bryan Waldroup of the Humble Police Department. “A minute later, we got another call that the minivan had hit an oncoming black sedan going the right way on Highway 59.”

Waldroup said the 79-year-old driver of the older model minivan was dead at the scene. The woman was transported via Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital downtown. Her injuries did not appear to be life threatening according to initial medical assessments at the scene.

Police have not released the names of the victims.

Waldroup said it is unknown for how long the elderly driver was traveling against traffic or what caused him to do so.

“We may never be able to find out,” Waldroup said, adding that underlying medical conditions, physically or mentally, could possibly have contributed to the accident. “Further information is pending a report by the medical examiner’s office.”

The accident and the resulting investigation caused a traffic gridlock on and around Highway 59 for several hours. All lanes of traffic were closed for more than four hours, forcing afternoon and evening commuters to find alternate routes into the Humble, Kingwood and East Montgomery County areas.

CFISD to cut bus services for some students Cypress Sun News Houston Community Newspapers Online - News Around Town

This can be added to the list of budget cuts the district has made in order to compensate for a $14 million budget shortfall.

The reduction in bus services means that students who live less than two miles of their schools will no longer be eligible to ride the bus.

The exceptions to this would be students who must cross or walk along a hazardous roadway or those students who receive special education services and transportation is required.

The reasons for these cuts in bus services, CFISD spokesperson Kelli Durham explained, is because the state does not reimburse school districts for transporting students within two miles of campus.

“The district used to be able to absorb these transportation costs, but we are no longer able to do that,” she said.

Durham said Cy-Fair ISD spent about $32 million in 2008-2009 transporting students and was only reimbursed $6.4 million by the state.

The district will no longer provide late bus services for secondary students either, and shuttle bus service that was provided during the school day has been changed for many of the programs in the district.

CFISD is not the only school district that does not bus students who live within two miles of their assigned campuses. Klein ISD exercises the same practice.

“The district regrets the need for this reduction in service as well as other service reductions and budget cuts that are being made, but financial conditions require that these actions be taken,” Superintendent David Anthony stated in a release.

Letters have been mailed to parents of students who will be ineligible to ride the bus and additional information can be found on the district’s website at www.cfisd.net.

Alvin Community College Board of Regents provided direction to administrators

The Alvin Community College Board of Regents provided direction to administrators to complete the 2009-2010 Maintenance and Operations Budget at a regular meeting immediately following a budget workshop on July 23.

The proposed 2009-2010 budget of $23,930,941 represents a 3.45 percent increase over last year and will include funds for two new instructors, to address the growth in dual credit courses at local high schools, a salary step adjustment for eligible employees and a two percent salary adjustment only for approximately 76 full-time employees who have no more step increase options due to their long length of employment and qualifications.

The balance of the increase “has a lot to do with fixed costs…that we don’t have any control over (such as utilities, fees, insurance, etc.),” ACC President Dr. Rodney Allbright said.

Due to the approval of Texas House Bill 4586 in June, ACC recently received $2,358,771 in natural disaster relief funds from the state to address damage caused by Hurricane Ike, Allbright reported.

“This is really good news,” he stated. “We didn’t receive enough insurance to cover the reconstruction.”

In an effort to save money, the college has been acting as general contractor for the campus reconstruction project and recently completed Building A.

Prior to finalizing and approving the budget and college district tax rate, regents are waiting for the Brazoria County Appraisal District to issue a certified effective tax rate.

Allbright recommended that the board call for a special meeting as soon as the effective tax rate is established in order to meet numerous legal requirements prior to anticipated budget approval near the end of August.

The budget is funded by three main sources, including state appropriations, tuition and fees and local tax revenues.

In other matters, ACC Broadcast Communications Department Chair Bill Lewis made a presentation to the board in preparation for the upcoming Southern Association of Colleges and Schools reaffirmation of accreditation, which is required every 10 years. Lewis provided information regarding the training, certificates and degree options currently offered in radio and television broadcasting at the college.

“As someone who does a lot of listening on the outside,” ACC Board Chairman L. H. “Pete” Nash said to Lewis, “you guys have a really excellent reputation.”

For the next approximately 15 months, presentations will be made to board members that will cover the programs and services available at ACC. Information from these presentations will be included in the application for reaffirmation.

During the meeting, regents also approved: acceptance of retirement letter from ACC Texas Department of Criminal Justice program instructor Lew Garrett; renewal of the Victory insurance policy in the amount of $86,238 (for 19 months); renewal of deposit bank contract with First National Bank; renewal of Internet Blackboard/WebCT contract in the amount of $33,100 (for three years); budget revisions in preparation for the closure of the 2008-2009 fiscal year; 2009-2010 Carl Perkins Basic Grant in the amount of $244,939; authorization for proposed budget expenditures necessary for the start of the fall semester; personnel appointment of Saul Olivares as a new foreign languages instructor; replacement of desktop computers damaged by Hurricane Ike; financial report ending June 30; and the check register.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Bikers find highway to God in Manvel



By John Tompkins
The Facts
Published July 6, 2009

MANVEL — Wearing a leather vest adorned with biker patches, Frank Scott stepped up to the podium to start his music service.

After a biker in the congregation joked about his appearance, Scott looked out at the audience with a smile.

“Amen, I’m going to have to cut you,” he said, laughing. “This group is talking ugly about me.”

Scott and his wife, Judy, have traveled all over the world and sang church music for many different congregations for more than 40 years. But the group he plays for now at Biker Church in Manvel look more like an audience waiting to hear blaring electric guitars at a rock concert than those about to start singing Christian hymns.

Instead of shirts, ties and Sunday dresses, Biker Church members wear vests, leather pants and sport tattoos. And instead of coming to church in the family car, most participants roll into the Jordan Center, where the church services are performed, on motorcycles and line them up in front of the door.

“If you walked into our church with a suit and tie, people would look at you funny,” said the church’s pastor, David Wright.

Robert “Tree” Perot said he started attending Biker Church after a member saw him on the side of a highway praying by his motorcycle. The man handed him a necklace with a cross fashioned from nails and asked him to come to Biker Church.

Though the church is different from traditional churches, it has the same goal of bringing people close to God, Perot said.

“We use motorcycles as a tool,” he said. “I don’t know why, but God led me to this.”

Most people see the name “Biker Church” and assume it is tailored to bikers, Wright said. While most who attend fit that category, visitors are surprised to learn its services are the same as those of most churches, he said.

“We’re a whole lot more like anyone else’s church than everyone thinks,” Wright said.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Man Charged With 7th DWI



Douglas Villanueva Arrested On Sunday


HOUSTON - An Alvin man is facing his seventh driving while intoxicated charge, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.

Douglas Ted Villanueva, 55, has been convicted six times for drunken driving.

On Sunday, officers said they caught Villanueva swerving out of his lane while driving in the 2000 block of West Parkwood shortly after 4 a.m. in Friendswood.

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