Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • B2

LOCAL BRIEFING statesman.com austin360.com ST WC FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011 B2 CENTRAL TEXAS DIGEST AUSTIN Man shot, found dead in car Police found a man dead in a car Thursday afternoon with a suspected gunshot wound in the parking lot of the Mountain Ranch Apartments in Southeast Austin. Authorities were searching for a person of interest known as Free who was believed to be driving a green Dodge Intrepid with tinted windows. The man was last seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt with a red shirt, a baseball cap and blue jean shorts, police said. The man is black, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and is in his mid-20s. The victim, who was not identi ed and was in his 20s, was found in the passenger seat of a white vehicle, Cpl.

Anthony Hipolito said. Pizza employee shot Austin police were searching Thursday for a man who shot an employee at a South Austin pizza restaurant during a robbery Wednesday night and has been linked to two other recent robberies nearby. Police said that in all three occasions, the man walked in, red a gun and demanded cash. He is considered armed and dangerous, police said. On Wednesday, the man shot an employee at a Pizza on West Gate Boulevard near West William Cannon Drive about 9:45 p.m., police said.

The injuries were not considered life-threatening, officials said. The man is also suspected of robbing a Shell gas station at 5401 Manchaca Road about 11:30 p.m. Feb. 22 and an Pizza on South Lamar Boulevard on March 3, police said. 91 trucks stolen to date this year Car thieves have stolen 91 trucks in Austin since the beginning of the year, and police are warning truck owners to be aware of the trend.

Police said thieves are targeting large pickups such as Ford F-250s and F-350s as well as Chevrolet and Dodge trucks. The trucks have become among smugglers, who remove the back seat to hide people. Police suggest that owners hide or lock valuables inside their trucks and invest in theft prevention devices such as a steering wheel lock, alarms or an ignition kill switch. Officer suspended for 90 days Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo has suspended an officer for 90 days after he said the officer was rude to a citizen and initially gave misleading statements to investigators. According to a disciplinary memo, officer Brian Laggos was patrolling on his motorcycle when he stopped a driver for speeding on Interstate 35 near Rundberg Lane.

the encounter, Of cer Laggos failed to act professionally and was discourteous to a the memo said. The document does not elaborate. Laggos provided misleading statements to investigators during a February interview, the memo said. BUDA Man dies after motorcycle crash A Kyle man died Thursday morning when the motorcycle he was driving struck a parked Travis County office vehicle on Interstate 35, police said. Ernest Timothy Marshall, 45, died as he was being taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge after the crash, Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd said.

The crash forced the shutdown of southbound Interstate 35 near FM 1327 in Buda for more than three hours and snarled traf in the area. motorcycle hit the parked vehicle, which had its lights on, Travis County of ce spokesman Roger Wade said. The deputy had parked the vehicle to assist another wreck that had occurred moments earlier, Wade said. The deputy was not injured, he said. HAYS COUNTY Death penalty sought in killing Prosecutors have led notice that they will seek the death penalty in a capital murder case involving the 1975 killing of a San Marcos woman.

Willie Roy Jenkins, 57, has been charged with capital murder and is in custody at the Hays County Jail. Prosecutors said last week that they will seek execution if Jenkins is convicted. His trial date has not yet been set. Jenkins was indicted in November in the 1975 killing of 20-year-old Sheryl Ann Norris, who at the time was a secretary at the Texas Crime Prevention Institute at what is now Texas State University. Police said Norris was sexually assaulted, strangled and drowned in her apartment.

The case went cold for 35 years. Last April, new DNA evidence led police to Jenkins, who was in custody at a state hospital in California under a civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. He has been convicted of four sexual assaults in California and Texas. FORT HOOD Dead soldier identi ed Fort Hood of cials have released the name of a soldier who died at Darnall Army Medical Center after collapsing while standing in formation on Tuesday. The cause of death is unknown, and the incident is under investigation.

Sgt. 1st Class Randy Richard, 40, of Mamou, joined the military in February 1991 and had been assigned to Fort Hood since November. Richard was deployed to Iraq from April 2003 to July 2004 and from August 2008 to October 2008. ROUND ROC Assistant city manager hired Laurie Hadley, acting city manager in Prescott, has been selected as Round assistant city manager. She will begin work May 3.

She replaces Assistant City Manager Cindy Demers, who announced last week she was resigning to take a position with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. Hadley is the second city manager from Prescott to accept a job in Round Rock. She was appointed by Round Rock City Manager Steve Norwood, whom she worked under for ve years in Prescott before replacing him a few months ago. UTILITIES Authority seeks Gonzales water Of cials with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority announced Thursday they had signed a letter of intent with Texas Water Alliance Limited for the use of groundwater from Gonzales County. GBRA serves Buda, Kyle, San Marcos, Lockhart and Luling.

Virtually all the water in the river main reservoir, Canyon Lake, is reserved, so to meet expanding demand, the river authority needs to buy water from other sources. The letter of intent, effective through Aug. 1, is a prelude to a possible water supply agreement that could send 13 million gallons of water a day. Texas Water Alliance, a subsidiary of California-based SJW is still seeking permission to pump the water from the Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District. Gonzales County is about 60 miles south of Austin.

Previous letters of intent involving the GBRA over the past couple of years with other water providers have expired without any water deals. Compiled from staff reports HIGHER EDUCATION A USTIN mm UNITY OLLEGE Finalists or president to participate in orums The public can quiz the two finalists for next leader Monday and Wednesday. But the finalists Katherine B. Persson, president of the Lone Star Kingwood campus, and Richard M. Rhodes, president of El Paso Community College share the stage.

Rather, Persson will make comments and field questions on Monday, and Rhodes will appear on Wednesday. The forums on both days will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Eastview Campus, 3401 Webberville Road, Room 8500, and from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Highland Business Center, 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Room 201.

A third finalist, Donald S. Doucette, senior vice president and provost of Ivy Tech Community College, based in Indianapolis, is out of the running. Doucette has decided to take a job as chancellor of the Eastern Iowa Community College District, said Alexis Patterson, a spokeswoman for ACC. Barbara Mink, chairwoman of Board of Trustees, has described the finalists for president and CEO as proven leaders who would further the efforts to meet the educational and workforce training needs. The forums are an opportunity to to the nature of why the person wants the job, what really she said.

The college began its search for a new leader last year, when Stephen B. Kinslow announced plans to retire in 2011 after 34 years of service, including six as president. ACC trustees are expected to select his successor in May. Kinslow has said he will work until the new president starts. The finalists will also take part in internal forums for faculty and staff members and students, an ACC news release said.

OUTH ESTERN NI ERSITY Writing program gets boost Southwestern is revamping its writing program. The Georgetown university eliminated the freshman writing course in 2009 and adopted an initiative called Writing in the Disciplines, which focuses on the progressive development of skills needed for particular fields. Now, thanks to a $720,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Southwestern is poised to ramp up the program. Beginning in the fall and continuing for four years, two postdoctoral fellows in rhetoric and writing at the University of Texas will be hired to work at Southwestern.

The school will also hire two library interns from the graduate program at School of Information. in additional expertise from the University of Texas to work alongside our faculty members will greatly speed the implementation of this new Southwestern Provost Jim Hunt said. USTON -T ILLOTSON NI ERSITY adio host to address grads Nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner will speak at commencement convocation at 8:30 a.m. May 7 on the campus. Dallas-based show has an audience of millions.

His foundation has raised more than $55 million for scholarships for students at historically black colleges and universities such as Huston-Tillotson, a university news release said. A separate convocation for students who have earned high academic honors will take place at 10 a.m. May 6. Additional information on the convocations and related activities is available at 505-3073 or at www.htu.edu. Compiled from staff reports Katherine Persson Richard Rhodes statesman.com/go/lowdown Get more news at the Lowdown on Higher Education blog.

Ernest Marshall AUSTIN TRAFFIC Willie Roy Jenkins waited for her with a rifle. When she arrived, accompanied by a Department of Public Safety trooper, Davis shot Rigsby in the back as she ran for help. After police arrived, Davis red again and struck Round Rock police officer Jack Johnson in the back of his neck. The bullet was stopped by his rifle sling, however, and Johnson was not seriously injured. Rigsby spent six days at St.

Round Rock Medical Center, where she was treated for a punctured lung and the bullet was removed from her body. She has since recovered from her injuries. Rigsby testi ed Tuesday that the shooting followed multiple instances of harassment after the breakup. Davis was arrested twice and charged with criminal trespass after breaking into her home or showing up and not leaving, according to testimony. On the day before the shooting, Lakeway police issued Davis a criminal trespass warning, but did not arrest him, when he showed up where Rigsby worked.

Davis declined to testify in his own defense on Thursday morning. After the shooting, Davis ed, and police found him a day later, lying on his back under trees in a wooded area of Lake Creek Park with self-in icted gunshot wounds under his chin and in his chest. A doctor who cared for Davis at St. Round Rock Medical Center said he spent about a month there and for a time could not move his right leg or right arm. Davis used a wheelchair in the courtroom.

246-1150 SENTENCE: Testimony highlighted incidences of harassment Continued from 1 Rigsby testi ed that the shooting followed multiple instances of harassment after the breakup..