clips
Stories by John Tedesco
Elders unprotected
Feb. 14, 2010
By the time Emilio Gonzalez left Retama Manor Nursing Center in August 2007, the 76-year-old retired construction worker had wasted away from 132 to 109 pounds. He was dehydrated, feverish with pneumonia and suffering from two gaping bedsores on his buttocks that had blackened his flesh and rotted his tissue to the bone.
Staff members at Southwest General Hospital who admitted him were so alarmed by his condition that they immediately reported his case to state investigators at the Department of Aging and Disability Services, or DADS.
“He must have been in so much pain,” said Gonzalez’s daughter, Mary Koenig, who filed a complaint against the nursing home in September 2007. “He was still entitled to a little dignity, a little respect.”
But like many complaints against nursing homes, state investigators arrived late — weeks after the deadline imposed under state rules — and found the nursing home was not at fault …
No one is watching the walls
Jan. 31, 2010
Despite the growing popularity of towering retaining walls like the one that buckled last week, San Antonio officials have paid scant attention to the structures in residential subdivisions and can’t vouch for their safety.
No one at City Hall tracked how many walls were built over the years as thousands of residents flocked to the Texas Hill Country and developers reshaped steep terrain for new homes.
City inspectors never checked the walls.
And, according to members of the real estate industry, it wasn’t widely known that a permitting process existed for tall retaining walls.
“No one can find where the city has ever asked for or insisted on a permit,” subdivision developer Norman Dugas said. “I can’t find anyone who has ever gotten one …”
Theme park injuries go unreported
June 28, 2009
If you’re visiting one of San Antonio’s theme parks this year, you’d probably want to know why 14-year-old Hailey Kuhn fell off a rollercoaster platform and was paralyzed at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
Or how Chelsea McKay, 11, broke her ankles going down a water slide at Splashtown.
Or that Sarah Perry, 34, claimed the brakes went out in her go-kart at Malibu Grand Prix, causing her to ram a metal pole.
But these cases of broken bones and trauma went unreported to state officials — despite a Texas law requiring ride owners to disclose serious injuries that are associated in any way with a ride. …
Inside Jenny’s room
March 11, 2009
This is Jenny’s room.
It has a hospital bed and a wheelchair.
There’s a blue-eyed doll that Jenny can’t see.
And in a corner is a machine that pumps pasty, liquefied food through a tube attached to Jenny’s stomach.
Jenny’s room is a place where time is stuck, like the broken clock hanging on the wall.
Jenny Sawyer, who’s 32, still has the mind of an infant …
Sweet Deals for insiders
Oct. 6, 2008
… the web of business interests, campaign contributions and government contracts surrounding T.J. Connolly has raised questions about the extent of his influence at the utility, and captured the attention of the Bexar County district attorney’s office, which last year launched a corruption probe into BexarMet’s dealings …
A big hole in the tree ordinance
August 3, 2008
When the City Council approved San Antonio’s first tree-preservation ordinance in 1997, there was no question the rules applied to real estate developers.
But what happens when a property owner claims he’s not a developer, and hundreds of acres of trees are bulldozed on his land as part of a ranching operation?
In the case of Hugo Gutierrez Jr., the answer is: nothing. The tree ordinance didn’t apply to him — and it might not apply to developers who try the same thing …
Stuck in low gear
July 20, 2008
In the face of soaring gas prices, millions of Americans suddenly are facing hard choices about a comfortable, air-conditioned symbol of independence — the car.
Local policymakers often tout the benefits of bicycling as a pollution-free way to travel that saves gas and promotes exercise. But the rhetoric fails to reflect what bike advocates say is the reality — many parts of San Antonio aren’t safe and appealing to bicycle commuters …
The Barrios slaying: Portrait of a suspect
May 18, 2008
As many of his friends prepared for their high school exams, a shy, skinny teenager named Joey Estrada Jr. sat in cell No. 1 at Bexar County Jail’s intensive supervision unit — a place reserved for inmates who might be killed by other prisoners.
It is a small cell, with a narrow bed and a washstand in the corner. On the wall near his bed, Estrada has pasted a photograph of a former girlfriend smiling as she poses in her high school dance team uniform, her dark hair in a high ponytail.
There is a photograph of Estrada and his father, with three mounted deer heads behind them on a wall. In another, he poses with his sister, mother and father near a picnic table in a park. He’s smiling, and the family looks happy.
Yet this 18-year-old is accused of a crime so shocking he must be segregated from other prisoners …
Cause for alarm
March 11, 2007
City records show the Fire Department’s mission of protecting lives and property is clashing with San Antonio’s appetite for new land.
In the past six years, firefighters rushed to inner-city blazes far more quickly than to fires in popular outlying areas that attract thousands of new homeowners.
Delays on the city’s edges plague rich and poor alike, from the exclusive enclave of the Dominion to low-income neighborhoods like Sunrise, a struggling community on the far East Side.
San Antonio annexed many of these neighborhoods despite protests by residents, who complained the city would fail to provide swift fire protection.
The city’s own records reveal that most of the time, those fears came true …
Fleet but fatally fragile
May 21, 2006
Miss Pretty Promises collapsed near the finish line and struggled to rise on her shattered forelegs.
A pickup rushed to the crippled racehorse. Two men sprang out and shielded the filly from the crowd with a crinkled tarp as the vet went to work.
It was April 28 — opening night for live racing at Retama Park. In the stands, many people had gasped when horse No. 4 with the crisp yellow silks tumbled in front of them on the dirt track.
A covered trailer soon whisked the concealed horse away and onlookers clapped and cheered, as if they were rooting for a football player who was limping bravely off the field.
But Miss Pretty Promises never would run again …
Losing Ground
Oct. 16, 2005
An obscure Texas law written for developers has cost San Antonio millions of dollars, stripped parts of the scenic Hill Country of trees and blocked attempts to protect the region’s water supply …
Good idea gone bad?
May 11, 2003
Imagine a government subsidy that cures San Antonio’s poorest neighborhoods.
Thanks to this multimillion-dollar pill, new homes breathe life into dying parts of town. Families move in, proud of their investment.
You might say good things about such a program.
Now imagine how the same subsidy puts buildings on valuable land that would have been developed anyway, and stops local government from collecting $658 million in tax revenue – enough money to build three SBC Centers, and then some.
And imagine one of the city’s top lobbyists taking a cut of the tax pie for himself.
Welcome to San Antonio’s complicated world of tax increment financing — TIF, for short — where each ambitious project comes with a price …
Online videos by John Tedesco
Man finds missile launcher on property
Inside the South Texas Project nuclear plant
From retail to tourism: Houston Street evolves
Here comes the bride … and bride … and bride …
Is San Antonio ready for light rail?
Story map
A 12-year career as a reporter for the San Antonio Express-News has swept me across Texas. The points in this map call up articles that include coverage of the space shuttle Columbia disaster, and the hunting mishap involving Vice President Dick Cheney.
I got to meet Paco, the quirky owner of Frank’s Cafe who served big steaks to celebrity hunters and has since passed away. I met Deborah and Gary Swenchonis Sr., who were mourning their son who died in the bombing of the USS Cole, but were unfailingly gracious because they wanted to tell their son’s story.
I’m not going to try to count all the people I’ve interviewed over the years. But to everyone who let me share their unique stories … thank you.
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