Eileen Pace

Each year SAMMinistries honors the homeless who have passed away with a special memorial service: this year there were 66. The annual candlelight vigil to honor the homeless will be held tonight -- the longest night of the year.

This year, there were 11 fewer homeless deaths than last year. SAMMinistries CEO Navarra Williams said community concern and good shelters are part of the reason, but there’s also greater outreach to find people when they need to get inside.

A current and former San Antonio Police Department sergeant have been indicted by a Bexar County grand jury on charges involving misappropriation of funds and tampering with evidence.

The charges stem from a call last February for an individual causing a disturbance -- the individual turned out to be Sgt. Joseph Myers. He is alleged to have crashed a city-owned truck into the barrier of Hwy 281 between Josephine and Mulberry Streets and leaving the scene.

Bexar County Commissioners have postponed a decision on whether a local developer can build hundreds of small-lot homes in far north Bexar County. Commissioners are asking developer Gordon Hartman to meet with attorneys and area homeowners who oppose the subdivision.

Residents of Hidden Oaks near Cibolo Creek fear the development of Century Oaks will cause harm to the environment; specifically, the Golden-Cheeked Warbler, the large oaks trees that are already being cut down, and the water. The land is over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.

People who are saddled with big student-loan debts can soon take advantage of the government’s loan repayment and forgiveness plan that officially begins this Friday.

The Department of Education program will allow students and families who are paying off high student loan debt to reduce their payments to 10 percent of their discretionary income.

Derrick Smith, a certified credit counselor with Consumer Credit Counseling of San Antonio, said students must have received two separate loans.

Bexar County Sheriff-elect Susan Pamerleau is using the final days of December to gather her executive team so they can hit the ground running on new year's day.

On Monday, at her second press conference since the election, Pamerleau announced she would retain Chief Deputy Manuel Longoria.

"He provides great continuity," she said. "Besides that, he’s a man of integrity, he cares about the officers, he cares about this community. He’s got the right sight picture and I know that already he and I are working great together."

SAMMinistries says a million dollars donated by a local philanthropist this week will help the center provide financial planning classes to more people who are on the "cliff" of homelessness.

Harvey Najim, who wrote the personal check, said people come in need of assistance, but are not looking for a hand-out.

Latinos may have unique hurdles in getting affordable health care without the Obamacare plan in their future.

Dr. Rogelio Saenz, UTSA’s Dean of Public Policy, said Latinos have the highest levels of non-insurance in the country, and in Texas; they also have the biggest hurdles to climb.