crime

The shadowy, tough-as-nails characters of Boston author Dennis Lahane are transferred to Brooklyn (for no apparent reason) in “The Drop,” a new film by the Academy Award-nominated director Michaël R. Roskam. Tom Hardy stars as Bob Saginowski, a bartender who may or may not have a wicked past. He’s so detached and unemotional, he keeps you guessing throughout the film. It’s actually a wonder that any of the supporting characters can manage to have a conversation with him. 

  Two people this week entered guilty pleas in a Waco federal court on charges of stealing mail and identities from thousands of victims in over 90 Texas cities and towns.

From North Texas to the Gulf Coast, Austin through San Antonio and west to San Angelo and Midland, the thieves made their way through the state, breaking into 96 post offices.

Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas in Waco Mark Frazier said more than a dozen of the post offices hit were in the Austin area but the thieves also hit Rockport and Corpus Christi, Killeen and San Marcos.

Hilda Valadez was known around the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center as Bexar County’s highest-paid court-appointed attorney, reportedly receiving more than $400,000 dollars over three years before 2010. She defended indigent clients, often in high-profile murder cases. Now she's on the other side of the law, entering a plea agreement that she hopes will keep her out of prison.