A U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of smuggling marijuana earlier this month while on duty in southwestern Arizona will remain in jail while he awaits trial.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Burns ruled Thursday that 25-year-old Aaron Anaya was at serious risk to flee from authorities and granted prosecutors’ request to keep him in jail.
Authorities say agents conducting aerial surveillance saw Anaya loading marijuana bundles that had been dropped over the border fence from Mexico into his patrol vehicle on Dec. 2 in between Yuma and Wellton, about 185 miles southwest of Phoenix.
Investigators say agents tracked Anaya for several hours as he appeared to return to normal duties and found nearly 147 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle.
Anaya pleaded not guilty to marijuana importation and other charges
Human skulls deliberately warped into strange, alien-like shapes have been unearthed in a 1,000-year-old cemetery in Mexico, researchers say.
The practice of deforming skulls of children as they grew was common in Central America, and these findings suggest the tradition spread farther north than had been thought, scientists added.
The cemetery was discovered by residents of the small Mexican village of Onavas in 1999 as they were building an irrigation canal. It is the first pre-Hispanic cemetery found in the northern Mexican state of Sonora.
The site, referred to as El Cementerio, contained the remains of 25 human burials. Thirteen of them had deformed skulls, which were elongate and pointy at the back, and five had mutilated teeth. [ See Photos of the 'Alien' Skulls ]
Dental mutilation involves filing or grinding teeth into odd shapes, while cranial deformation involves distorting the normal growth of a child's skull by applying force — for example, by using cloths to bind wooden boards against their heads.
"Cranial deformation has been used by different societies in the world as a ritual practice, or for distinction of status within a group or to distinguish between social groups," said researcher Cristina García Moreno, an archaeologist at Arizona State University. "The reason why these individuals at El Cementerio deformed their skulls is still unknown."
"The most common comment I've read from people that see the pictures of cranial deformation has been that they think that those people were 'aliens,'" García added. "I could say that some say that as a joke, but the interesting thing is that some do think so. Obviously we are talking about human beings, not of aliens."
Of the 25 burials, 17 were children between 5 months and 16 years of age. The high number of children seen at the site could suggest inept cranial deformation killed them due to excessive force against the skull. The children had no signs of disease that caused their deaths.
Although cranial deformation and dental mutilation were common features among the pre-Hispanic populations of Mesoamerica and western Mexico, scientists had not seen either practice in Sonora or the American Southwest, which share a common pre-Hispanic culture. The researchers suggest the peo
"The most important implication would be to extend the northern boundary of the Mesoamerican influence," García told LiveScience.
A number of skeletons also were found with earrings, nose rings, bracelets, pendants and necklaces made from seashells and snails from the Gulf of California. One person was buried with a turtle shell on the chest. It remains uncertain why some of these people were buried with ornaments while others were not, or — another mystery — why only one of the 25 skeletons was female.
During the next field season, the researchers aim to determine the cemetery's total size and hope to find more burials to get a clearer idea of the society's burial customs. "With new information, we also hope to determine whether there was any interaction between these and Mesoamerican societies — how it was and when it happened," they said.
García and her colleagues completed their analysis of the skeletal remains in November. They plan to submit their research to either the journal American Antiquity or the journal Latin American Antiquity. ple at El Cementerio had been influenced by recent migrants from the south.
(12-21) 09:02 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A suspected hit-and-run driver crashed her car into a group of pedestrians at Twin Peaks Vista Point Thursday night, killing one woman and injuring two others, San Francisco police said.
Investigators said three of the pedestrians were knocked down a hillside and rescue crews had to use ropes and backboards to pull them up. All three were rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where one, Yuee Yao, later died.
Yao, 56, and her colleagues were walking along Christmas Tree Point Road around 8:50 p.m. when a sedan hit three of them, sending them tumbling down a hill. A fourth pedestrian was able to jump out of the way and was not hit, said police spokesman Sgt. Michael Andraychak.
A 23-year-old San Francisco woman, whose name was not released, was found in her car a short distance away and arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run driving and felony drunken driving, said police spokesman Officer Gordon Shyy. Her car had three passengers, including a 17-year-old female who was taken to San Francisco General with minor injuries from the collision.
The other two passengers, two San Francisco men ages 22 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public, Shyy said.
The two injured pedestrians, whose names were not released, are expected to recover.
Some parents are raising religious objections to yoga classes being taught at a grade school in a San Diego suburb.
The parents fear the yoga program at the Paul Ecke Central Elementary School in Encinitas will promote Hindu religious beliefs, the New York Times reports. They claim a First Amendment violation.
Among those raising objections is Mary Eady, the parent of a first grader. “They’re teaching children how to meditate and how to look within for peace and for comfort,” she told the Times. “They’re using this as a tool for many things beyond just stretching.”
The yoga program is supported with funds from the nonprofit Jois Foundation, founded in memory of the so-called father of Ashtanga yoga. Some foundation leaders have equated the physical act of yoga to part of a broader spiritual question, according to Dean Broyles, president and chief counsel of the National Center for Law and Policy. And he sees that as the problem. “There is a transparent promotion of Hindu religious beliefs and practices in the public schools through this Ashtanga yoga program,” he said.
A foundation representative, however, disagreed with Broyles’ assessment. “We’re good Christians that just like to do yoga because it helps us to be better people,” Russell Case told the Times.
Schools superintendent Tim Baird told the Times that children don’t have to attend the classes. “If your faith is such that you believe that simply by doing the gorilla pose, you’re invoking the Hindu gods, then by all means your child can be doing something else,” he said.
Police in the Indian capital Delhi
have used water cannon to disperse protesters angry at Sunday night's gang rape
of a 23-year-old student.
The protesters were hosed as they tried to bring down metal barricades
outside Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's home.
Meanwhile, the government has announced a series of measures to make the
capital safer for women.
There has been outrage in India after the student and her male friend were
attacked on a bus.
The woman remains in a critical condition, doctors say.
Four people, including the bus driver, have been arrested. Police say they
are looking for two more people.
Three of the arrested appeared in court on Wednesday and were remanded in
custody. The driver was produced in court on Tuesday and also remanded in
custody.
Some reports said a fifth man detained in the eastern state of Bihar was
being brought to Delhi.
Mrs Gandhi later said that the "strictest possible measures" should be taken
to prevent such incidents.
Dozens of protesters, mostly college students, gathered outside the chief
minister's home on Wednesday morning, demanding that the government ensure
safety of women in the capital city.
Many of the protesters were carrying banners and chanting: "We want equal
rights for women."
The government has come under tremendous pressure from opposition MPs,
students and women's rights activists, with many accusing the authorities of not
doing enough to stop crimes against women.
On Wednesday, women MPs from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held
a demonstration outside parliament while hundreds of activists and students
shouted slogans outside the Delhi police headquarters.
The warrants were requested by San Diego County Sheriff Department homicide investigators. One was served on the Coronado mansion July 13, the day Rebecca Zahau was found hanging. Two more were served to obtain cell phone records from AT&T and Verizon.
The list of 45 items taken from the mansion consisted of the following: ( THIS IS A RAPE KIT) Duh? 1. Knife ~>No.1
2. Pair black gloves~~~~~~~~~~~> What the hell? ( Rebecca does not want to leave her prints) 3. Paper towel w/red stains~~~~>What ? 4. Box w/paint supplies 5. Dr. Pepper bottle ~~~> DNA TEST ? 6. Clothing 7. Flip camera ? 8. Basket w/cameras ? 9. Stain kit ???? 10. Clump of hair ~~~~~~~~~~> ( Come on ) 11. Document addressed to Jonah ( Well ) ? 12. Tissue w/red stain ? 13. Clothing 14. Hair 15. Receipt for paint supplies 16. Candle 17. Water bottle ~~~> DNA ? 18. Bedding 19. 2 red plastic cups 20. Underwear 21. Black latex glove ~~~~> OH COME ON (your killing me) ? 22. Table 23. Greeting card
24. Paper w/writing ? 25. Bedding 26. Butcher Knife No.2 ( for threatening) 27. Steak knife No. 3 ( knife dull cutting rope) 28. White plastic bag 29. Rope ~~~> for hanging 30. Samsung cell phone 31. Paint brush ~~~> found in guest room ? 32. Stain kit ? 33. Small paint brush ? 34. Green & white striped towel 35. Bedroom door 36. Tube of black paint ~~~~message on wall 37. Laptop computer 38. Mac computer 39. Olympus camera (whats up with all the camera's) ? 40. Lumix camera 41. Swab kit 42. Swab kit 43. Swab kit 44. DNA swab 45. Print card
Construction workers discover body of young man near I-10 and Drexel
Posted: Dec 19, 2012 10:02 AM Updated: Dec 19, 2012 10:21 AM
TUCSON - A second body in two days has been found off Interstate 10, according to Pima County Sheriff's Officials.
Officials confirmed this body was found by construction workers near I-10 and Drexel at about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday
According to deputies at the scene, the body was found lying in some dirt, and appears to be a young man that is fully clothed. The body has obvious signs of trauma, officials tells News 4 Tucson.
On Tuesday, an inmate work crew discovered a shallow grave under a tree off I-10 near Craycroft Road, officials confirmed with News 4 Tucson.
"There was a DOC crew doing trash pickup when they discovered at the base of the tree a shallow grave within that grave there appeared to be human remains," said Bureau Chief Rick Kastigar.
A forensic pathologist with the Medical Examiner's Office responded to the scene and says the remains belong to an adult. He didn't elaborate on the gender or a possible cause of death.
News 4 Tucson has a crew at the scene of the second found body found - stay tuned for more information.
