Judge declines to lift
ban on water permitsCORPUS CHRISTI -- Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott was denied his request for an emergency stay of a federal court order temporarily barring water permits for a river system supplying Central Texas cities, power generators and petrochemical plants to ensure that enough water reaches the last migratory flock of endangered whooping cranes.On Monday, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack blocked state regulators from approving new permits for the Guadalupe, San Antonio and Blanco rivers "until the state of Texas provides reasonable assurances to the court that such permits will not take whooping cranes in violation of the Endangered Species Act."Abbott called the ruling flawed and asked Graham to stay her order while the state appeals "to prevent unnecessary economic hardship" for the communities and industrial water users in the river basin.Late Friday, Graham denied the request but agreed to a slight modification that lets regulators issue new permits deemed "necessary to protect the public's health and safety" during Texas' ongoing drought.Abbott's office said he will appeal to a higher court. -- Bloomberg NewsUrologist and wifeaccused of fraudMcALLEN -- A urologist and his wife have been indicted on federal charges of healthcare fraud and sending money to Iran.Dr. Hossein Lahiji and Najmeh Vahid Lahiji transferred $1.1 million to Iran by using a business called Espadana Exchange to get around banking regulations and to provide the appearance of not violating the trade embargo imposed on Iran by the United States on March 15, 1995, court records say.The couple is also accused of defrauding Medicare, Medicaid and several major insurance companies from January 2003 to Feb. 24, 2012.Prosecutors say the Lahijis wired money made from the healthcare scheme to relatives in Iran through Espadana Exchange. Najmeh Lahiji's father used the money to invest in property, with the Lahijis getting 60 percent of the proceeds of the real state venture. -- The MonitorPrisoner sentencedfor beating anotherDALLAS -- A member of the Aryan Brotherhood has been sentenced to an additional six years in prison for severely beating another inmate he believed to be gay, federal authorities said Friday.John Hall, 27, is serving a sentence in federal prison near Dallas. In December 2011, he yelled homophobic slurs at the other inmate and punched and stomped on his head, the FBI reported.He was scheduled for release in August. But he pleaded guilty in November to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.-- The Associated PressHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
