Texas and Southwest news briefs

Samaritan hit by car beats ticket

A Texas A&M University student was ticketed this week after he stopped to help a woman whose car was on fire, stepped into traffic and was hit by an oncoming vehicle.

J.D. Swiger was in the College Station Medical Center wearing a neck brace when a College Station Police Department officer wrote him a $300 ticket for failure to yield the right of way to the vehicle.

Kate Shafer, the woman whose car was on fire, was surprised. "I just couldn't believe it," she said. "Here was this good Samaritan, trying to help me."

Prosecutors, upon hearing the story, dropped the citation against the junior finance major from San Antonio.

Deaths prompt CPS case review

HOUSTON –The deaths of three Houston-area children are prompting a state review team to probe Texas Child Protective Services' abuse investigations.

Katy infant Amber Maccurdy, 3-year-old David Tijerina of Conroe and 4-year-old Emma Thompson of Spring died of abuse since April despite the fact that all three had been reported to CPS as possible child abuse victims.

The Austin team will review a random sample of nearly 200 open cases being handled in the Houston CPS district, which includes Harris and 12 surrounding counties.

Robbed gem broker uninsured

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The bad news for Peter Kaplan is even worse than first reported. The North Carolina diamond broker, whose $1.5 million inventory was stolen in Albuquerque this week, didn't have insurance.

"My business is finished. I have no capital to restart it," said Kaplan, a diamond broker for 40 years who lives in New Port, N.C. "This was a three-minute lapse of time that destroyed my life."

Santa Fe is festive for its 400th

SANTA FE, N.M. – The colorful banners and tents are up as Santa Fe celebrates its 400th anniversary this weekend. Two daylong family fairs and two evening concerts are the first in a series of commemorative events planned spread over the next 16 months as part of the festivities.FROM WIRE REPORTS