San Angelo Standard-Times from San Angelo, Texas • 8

fe I A ft- 'V 8A San Angelo Standard-Times Friday July 9 2004 00 'y i MARINE: Defense Department to decide fate DIAZ: Two-year odyssey brought Diaz to the states The Marines said Hassoun disappeared June 20 on "unauthorized but changed his status to after the videotape of him blindfolded surfaced a week later Continued from Pago 1A A statement on an Islamic militant Web site Saturday claimed that Hassoun had been beheaded as were an American businessman and a Korean translator in Iraq and an American contractor in Saudi Arabia The next day a statement on another Islamic Web site denied he had been killed In the latest twists to story there was speculation he might have deserted his base and headed to Lebanon when he was abducted The Navy was investigating whether the entire kidnapping might have been part of a hoax "I think ruling that out It would be fair to say not ruling that a Marine spokesman Mr Nat Fahy told The Associated Press A spokesman for the Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet said the "matter is under Investigation by Naval nal Investigative Service" and referred further questions to Washington It was unclear how Hassoun who had been working as a translator in Iraq readied Lebanon and how he Islam The Marines said Hassoun disappeared June 20 on "unauthorized but changed his status to after the videotape of him blindfolded surfaced a week later On Monday after the conflicting reports of his killing the group Islamic Response issued a statement broadcast on the satellite network Al-Jazeera saying it had Hassoun and that he was safe Earlier the captors claimed Hassoun was romantically Involved with an Arab woman and that they lured him away from his Marine base and captured him There also were earlier reports from US military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity that Hassoun might have been trying to get to Lebanon when he was captured Some officials reportedly said the Marine fled his camp after seeing a comrade three days there before being shuttled to Costa Rica where he stayed about a year and a half awaiting the paperwork that would allow him to come to the United States He would spend another two-plus months in the Dominican Republic before arriving in Miami in March 2000 He signed a contract with the Texas Rangers baseball team and received a $90000 signing bonus of which he paid $25000 to his immigration hdpen He played for the Triple-A affiliate the highest level of minor-league baseball in Oklahoma City in 2000 He said he left the Rangers organization because of a knee injury which kept him sidelined during the 2001 season Diaz played with the Allentown Pa team in the independent Northeast League the past two seasons before Joining the Colts this year He leads the team and the Central Baseball West Division in stolen bases He has a 4-year-old daughter in Miami living with his second wife whom he met in Costa Rica Diaz works in Miami as a deliveryman in the offseason He said he would like to stay in San Angelo and find off-season work here like San Angelo" Diaz said "The people are good" In the meantime he maintains hope that one day he will play in the major leagues He believes he will God is willing" noting that with good luck and good health anything can happen Continued from Page 1A was sinking in stormy waters Diaz said the boat went under as the last person abandoned it The group was Jailed in the Bahamas for three months before being returned to Cuba Diaz concedes the decision to defect was rash He had never weighed it until the moment he received a plume call inviting him to join the defectors Even so he recalled being happy with the move as the group drifted across the Gulf of Mexico until the vessel began to take on water When Diaz phoned his family from the Bahamas his father was ftirlous with him teUing him he never should have left Back on the island Diaz was shunned unable to get a job much less return to the prestigious national baseball team The people who had treated him so well would no longer associate with him His firmer teammates would walk past and snub him refusing to acknowledge him An outcast he traveled only between his apartment and his house Three months later a man offered to help him immigrate legally to the United States for $50000 Unable to support himself in Cuba Diaz agreed to pay the sum after his arrival in America The fee included his room and board during the nearly two-year odyssey from Cuba to America In late 1998 Diaz again climbed in a boat thiaC time with six other people this time bound for Nicaragua He spent KLST: Abilene will handle traffic was moving in but that was it we were carrying on business as usual so the doors dose And then bam they started Stovall agreed that many issues were unclear immediately after the sale "We sure coming in how (the sale) would affect employees We have to get into the television station and evaluate how to run it in conjunction with another sta- he said This is a Diaz's 2004 statistics Position: 2BL Height 5-10 Weight 1 AB 54 219 41 61 leads Central Baseball League DOG: Girl suffered serious injuries to her face and throat BoeggiigtE 4a-sflomaopi mmaffe "OMflwn ukoiips killed by a mortar shell others indicated he was indeed lured away and kidnapped For Hassoun to reach Lebanon from Iraq about 500 miles away he would have to travel through Syria which borders western Anbar province His unit the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is based at the border brother Sami refused to comment when contacted Thursday by the AP On Tuesday he told AP someone had visited the family in northern Lebanon and told them his brother was free and well A Lebanese government official said Wednesday the kidnappers released Hassoun after he promised not to return to the US military Two FBI agents had met with the Hassoun family in Utah for about 20 minutes Wednesday The agents were not there to deliver any news to the family but instead were sent to determine where the family was getting its information about whereabouts' agent Kelly Kleinvachtersald 1 Earlier Thursday no overt signs of Joy or preparations to welcome Hassoun could be seen at the family residence department part of a long-term plan to run two big stations efficiently and Nexstar owns and operates 43 television stations in Texas and 10 other states throughout the country Kiest said he will be interested in watching the KLST and KSAN evolution "I anticipate other changes for better or Kiest said I would advise people to stay tuned more coming down the BettmBank -S: 7 75 Bats: Right throws: Right Ril SB Atffl 11 36 279 sobs could be heard do feel for the (girl's) family" he said have no remorse toward them but we wanted to keep Brandy" Animal Services Director Leslie Hart said dog owners can learn from case "There is something I have a real good understanding for now that I have before court and that Brandy was never socialized with children" Hart said "I tell people to socialize socialize socialize Respite Cue kzGi ftizp SSsrl made contact with American officials An embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Wharton said the Marine arrived at the fortified embassy located in a hilly Beirut suburb accompanied by relatives Boucher said he had no information on immediate plans and that his military status would be up to the Defense Department A neighbor in Tripoli who refused to give his name said Hassoun left Lebanon for Utah in 1999 Joining his parents and brother Educated in Lebanon at American schools he joined the Marines in 2001 and had not been back to Lebanon since He married an American woman two years ago but they divorced The neighbor and a distant cousin Abdullah Hassoun said the Marine wed a cousin in Lebanon by proxy several months ago His father signed the marriage contract for him which is permitted by Teresa G1U who worked as a traffic manager at KLST for 10 years said the sale means the once-local station is no more "There Is nothing local she said the sad thing for local businesses is right now who is looking out for them? Someone in Gill said the layoffs were especially shocking because they were in contrast to what employees were told after Nexstar took over operations "We were told that KSAN which it cannot awake Hart In her last hours Brandy Bat in the animal services rabies quarantine section her hot-pink collar hanging on agate I Continued from Page 1A A television traffic department organizes commercials positions them in order and places them on a log that tells the master control operator how to run them San traffic department will be handled by Abilene's KRBC-TV another Nexstar property That office Stovall said will provide traffic information for two Abilene television stations KRBC and KTAB as well as KLST and KSAN because that will make all the difference in a situation like this" Thursday afternoon Brandy was injected with sodium pentobarbital The drug puts an animal into a deep sleep from II f'Vj Continued from Page 1A incident is real unfortunate Gentry told the court "But my dog she's not like this She deserve to be put to Witnesses told police they saw Brandy while chained "chi top of the child mauling hen" The girl according to a police report suffered life-threatening injuries including a torn trachea and numerous puncture wounds on her neck and free The mother Barbara Stubbs testified she did not see the attack but urged that Brandy be put to death protect other children" 1 The girl's family who also lives in Midland but did not know the Gentrys showed little emotion after the verdict After hearing fate Gentry and her daughter rushed into the restroom just outside the courtroom David Gentry waited in the hall where the gt'y v' i i 'if It vW "1 'Vi fi 1 I 4 4 Af I v-' The San Angelo Standard-Times cordially invites the community Vyy to a reception for -jn Publisher Jack Pate 'f 4-5 pm Friday July 9 2004 Standard-Times lobby 34 Harris Ave Please Join iis in wishing Jack well as he departs for his new position in Evansville Indiana an 949-6051 Alterations extra l-goMSMQSl We specialize in quality service f'i i.