Last week, this column analyzed a strategy to maximize the funds which can be set aside under current law, when one spouse may need Medicaid in the future. A reader with initials T.R. stated that his wife’s worsening dementia caused her to need nursing home care. I suggested that he be in contact with Medicaid immediately, so that he could maximize the spousal protected resource allowance granted by law.

That strategy would legally allow him to keep more money for his own security. It would allow him to be sure his home was in good repair and that he had a reliable car. It would allow him to prepay for funerals for both himself and his wife. It would allow Medicaid benefits to begin at an earlier date.

But T.R. said in his letter that he and his wife have Wills in which they leave all assets to each other. If T.R. were to die in a car accident (or however) while his wife is still in the nursing home, his Will says she inherits all the assets. Since he would have died, she would have no more spousal protected resource allowance. She would own the house, car, personal effects and – from our example last week – the $100,000 bank deposits they still possess.

Because she would then own those assets, and have no spousal protected resource allowance, she would lose Medicaid. The rest of the money would be used to pay for the nursing home, and when it is gone she would have to reapply for Medicaid (and because she has dementia, someone else would have to oversee her funds, handle the application for Medicaid, and watch over her needs).

Paul Premack: Estate planning should be an integral part of Medicaid planning - San Antonio Express

A trial date is expected to be set today for a U.S. Forest Service firefighter who faces arson charges in connection with a fire last year east of the San Antonio Dam in San Antonio Heights.

The firefighter, Daniel Mariano Madrigal, is scheduled to appear today before Judge Michael A. Sachs at West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga.

Madrigal, 26, is charged with one count of arson alleging he started a fire on July 25, 2010, east of the dam in the foothills, according to prosecutors.

Madrigal was arrested Nov. 19 at his home in Hesperia. Prosecutors allege he "willfully, unlawfully and maliciously" set fire to forest land or caused it to burn, as stated in a criminal complaint filed Nov. 16.

Trial date may be set today for firefighter in San Antonio Heights blaze - Redlands Daily Facts

Missouri State women's basketball player Jasmine Malone has been charged with driving while intoxicated and has been suspended indefinitely from the Lady Bears.

Malone suspended indefinitely from Lady Bears - Springfield News-Leader

Monday, August 15th, 2011 (New Braunfels, TX) -- A relatively uneventful weekend in New Braunfels wasn’t without some minor incidents across town, including a pair of traffic accidents that had New Braunfels Fire and EMS crews responding to the same block of Loop 337 twice over the weekend.

The first of those wrecks happened around 12:30 Saturday afternoon when 2 passenger vehicles crashed in the 200 block of Loop 337, which is just before you get to Business 35, in the area of TJ’s Burgers and Taco Bell. That crash caused the airbags in one vehicle to deploy, and the 2 passengers inside suffered minor injuries. They were both transported by ground EMS to Christus New Braunfels Hospital for treatment. That crash tied up traffic in that area until just after 1pm.

The second wreck happened on Sunday, also during the noon hour, and also in the 200 block of Loop 337, in that same area. That wreck was called in as a vehicle vs. bicycle crash, but when Police and EMS arrived on the scene, the male cyclist was examined and he eventually refused transport to the hospital. And although damages to the car were minimal and there were no real injuries, that wreck also tied up traffic in that area until about 1:30pm Sunday.

Airlife was called to New Braunfels over the weekend, but for a medical emergency, not because of a traffic accident. Just past 10am Sunday you may have seen the helicopter landing inside the River Chase subdivision, just off FM 306. They were simply transporting a patient from their home to Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio for treatment.

Weekend Police and EMS Report Includes Two Wrecks on Loop 337 - KGNB 1420 AM

On Aug 9, 1809, William Barret Travis, Texas commander at the battle of the Alamo, was born in South Carolina. Travis arrived in Texas early in 1831. He became embroiled in the Texas Revolution in July 1835.

When Gen. Martín Perfecto de Cos, Mexican military commander in the north, demanded the surrender of the Gonzales "come and take it" cannon in October 1835, Travis joined the hundreds of Texans who hastened there, but arrived too late to take part in the action. He remained with the militia and accompanied it to besiege Bexar.

He served as a scout in a cavalry unit commanded by Randal Jones and later commanded a unit himself. He did not remain at San Antonio through the final assault in early December, but returned to San Felipe.

He advised the Consultation on the organization of cavalry for the army but turned down a commission as a major of artillery. He later accepted a commission as a lieutenant colonel of cavalry and became the chief recruiting officer for the army.

Alamo hero, William Barret Travis, born in South Carolina - Houston Chronicle

Dallas, TX (Dallas Injury Lawyer News) The Governor of the state of Texas, Rick Perry, vetoed a total of 23 bills on June 17th, 2011 report the Dallas Accident Lawyers of Eberstein & Witherite. One of the bills that were vetoed included a ban on the reading or sending of text messages while driving. Many people are relieved that the bill did not pass but many are also disappointed explain Dallas injury lawyers at Eberstein and Witherite.

Many places in Texas, such as San Antonio and El Paso currently have laws that prohibit text messaging when operating a motor vehicle share the Dallas Accident Lawyers. Also, at least thirty other states have created statewide bans of texting while driving. Unfortunately, as our nation becomes more and more technology dependent, more car accidents will inadvertently occur as a result feel Dallas Injury Lawyers . The use of a cell phone to read and type text messages while driving creates a distracted driver who is unable to focus on the dangers of the road warns the Dallas Accident Lawyers at Eberstein and Witherite.

For up today information on Texas driving laws and injury news, connect with the Dallas Injury Lawyers on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/1800CarWreck or follow them on Twitter @800CarWreck.

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Dallas Accident Lawyers Saddened to See Text Messaging Ban Vetoed by Rick Perry - Einnews Portugal

Last October, the Chilean miners known simply as "Los 33" became an icon of Chilean national unity and a global media obsession as they emerged after 69 days trapped 2,300 ft. below the Atacama Desert floor, heads held high. But with the euphoria of their tale of resilience, courage and solidarity long faded, 31 of the world's most famous miners have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the government, blaming their ordeal on careless mine inspection. The remaining two miners hold the company rather than the government responsible and are represented by a different attorney.

Luis Urzúa, the group's shift leader underground and their spokesman since resurfacing, says the suit is not about the money, as some believe. Nor is it an attack on the administration of conservative President Sebastián Piñera, who, despite sharply declining approval ratings, can still count Los 33 among his biggest supporters.

Urzúa insists the misfortune that befell Los 33 was the consequence of years of official negligence. If the celebrity created by their miracle rescue can serve a greater purpose, he says, they hope it will be to help transform safety enforcement in Chile's vast mining industry.

Despite promises to tighten mine-safety measures, the government has yet to enact legislation on the issue. Shortly after the accident was first reported, when the location of the miners was still in question and even less was known of their condition, Piñera fired the national director of the National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin), Chile's mine safety monitoring agency; set up a national commission to investigate the accident; and assembled a team of experts tasked with revamping the mining industry's regulatory framework.

Why Chile's Once-Trapped Miners are Suing Their Government - TIME

Lawyers for San Antonio-based refiner Tesoro Corp. held a telephone conference Thursday with officials from Washington state's Department of Labor & Industries and an industrial appeals judge at the Washington state Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals .

The call was part of the appeals process related to the April 2, 2010 accident at Tesoro's Anacortes plant north of Seattle that killed seven workers. Washington Labor & Industries fined Tesoro almost $2.4 million in October following an investigation into the accident.

The board of industrial appeals' hearings are like trials in which the rules of evidence and Washington's superior court civil rules apply. Witnesses would testify under oath and evidence would be presented, according to the appeals board's website.

Lawyers for San Antonio-based refiner Tesoro Corp. held a telephone conference Thursday with officials from Washington state's Department of Labor & Industries and an industrial appeals judge at the Washington state Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals. The board of industrial appeals' hearings...

Tesoro, labor officials confer about fine - San Antonio Express

A 22-year-old Canyon Country man was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison Tuesday for a fatal DUI that left one bicyclist dead and three injured, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Marco Antonio Valencia was sentenced in San Fernando Superior Court for a second-degree murder conviction in connection with the July 2009 crash on a remote stretch of Bouquet Canyon Road.

A jury also found Valencia guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and causing great bodily injury, the county District Attorney’s office reported.

Valencia’s attorney argued during the trial that his client may have been clinically unconscious at the time of the crash. Thus he could be guilty only of involuntary manslaughter, the attorney said.

Valencia gets 26 years for DUI death - Signal

A San Francisco cyclist who broke 24 bones and suffered brain damage after being hit by a truck three years ago recently died from the injuries.

Renata Gonzalez, 30, whose name means “rebirth,” died at her parents’ home in San Antonio on Feb. 5 after “staying with us as long as she could,” her mother said. She had become immobile, but her family said her magnetism still shone through.

Renata Gonzalez, 30, whose name means “rebirth,” died at her parents’ home in San Antonio on Feb. 5 after “staying with us as long as she could,” her mother said. She had become immobile, but her family said her magnetism still shone through. “Just by her blinking, we could see clearly what she was thinking and feeling,” said her mother, Barbara Gonzalez.

Renata was riding up Market Street to the California College of the Arts when a pickup struck her at Octavia Boulevard. “That Friday, she had a performance titled ‘Rebirth,’ but then she was injured,” Barbara said.

San Francisco cyclist who died after accident is focus of benefit - San Francisco Examiner