Man sought in Dallas museum fire
By REBECCA RODRIGUEZ / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas Fire-Rescue officials said Wednesday they are looking for a man who may be able to offer information about a six-alarm fire that destroyed irreplaceable treasures inside the Biblical Arts Center in North Dallas.
"We believe this person can provide us with additional information to help us find the cause of the fire," Capt. Jesse Garcia said. "We're not saying they are a suspect, but just someone who can help us with information at this time."
Capt. Garcia said the man was “familiar” to museum officials, but he would not elaborate.
The fire broke out just before noon in the 7500 block of Park Lane in North Dallas. It quickly escalated into a six-alarm fire and seriously damaged the Biblical Arts Center museum and theater. Curators sifted through ashes to recover what was left when the flames finally died.
As of Tuesday night, Scott Peck, the director of the museum, said 80 to 90 percent of the collection was destroyed. Virtually every piece of art in the museum had smoke damage and the loss was estimated to reach over $10 million. The museum's centerpiece painting, "The Miracle of the Pentecost," was destroyed. At 124 feet wide and 20 feet tall, it was one of the largest paintings in the world.
The fire spread quickly and there was no sprinkling system inside the building to help stop it. Over 100 firefighters battled the fire and they were rotated in and out of the heat zones to keep safe under the blistering sun. Firefighters fought to salvage what they could while the fire was still blazing.
The non-denominational, non-profit organization was created to bring the Bible to life through art.
"This museum is one of a kind," Peck said. "There is nothing like it in the world."
Wanda Anderson, a witness to the fire, agreed.
"It was just breathtaking," Anderson said. "I don't have words to explain to you what was inside that building because words cannot explain it."
Investigators said the fire was suspicious and that they are looking for a person of interest. They are searching for a man who witnesses said was at the center several times in recent days.
"We heard stories of a suspicious person," said Joel Lavender, Dallas Fire-Rescue. "We would like that person to turn themselves in, just as a person of interest."
While police search, Peck said he hopes to move on.
"I am sickened by the whole thing, and again, I know the city is going to grieve," he said. "We hope we can resurrect like a phoenix and rise up from the ashes."
The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.
News from the Lone Star State
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Ex-Fort Hood soldier sentenced for sex crimes
AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A former Fort Hood soldier is going to prison after being convicted of two counts related to Internet child sex crimes.
Lamar E. Smith, 28, was found guilty of attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child and attempted sexual performance by a child.
Attorney General Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that Smith was sentenced to eight years on the first count, and fined $10,000. Smith received a five-year prison term on the second count and was fined $5,000. The sentences will run concurrently.
Smith was arrested last June when he traveled to the Central Texas town of Buda to meet a person he thought was a girl. The person Smith communicated with via the Internet turned out to be an investigator.
At the time of his arrest, Smith was a noncommissioned officer at Fort Hood.
AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A former Fort Hood soldier is going to prison after being convicted of two counts related to Internet child sex crimes.
Lamar E. Smith, 28, was found guilty of attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child and attempted sexual performance by a child.
Attorney General Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that Smith was sentenced to eight years on the first count, and fined $10,000. Smith received a five-year prison term on the second count and was fined $5,000. The sentences will run concurrently.
Smith was arrested last June when he traveled to the Central Texas town of Buda to meet a person he thought was a girl. The person Smith communicated with via the Internet turned out to be an investigator.
At the time of his arrest, Smith was a noncommissioned officer at Fort Hood.
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Plano woman dies when car plunges into creek
PLANO, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A motorist died early Wednesday after driving her car into a Plano creek.
Police said the driver, Katherine Leigh Ferguson, was heading east on Pleasant Valley Drive when she failed to yield for a stop sign at Country Club Drive and plunged into a creek.
A friend who was following the 22-year-old Plano woman home called police at 2:15 a.m. after he saw the Volkswagen Beetle upside-down and partially submerged in the creek.
Investigators think alcohol may have been a factor in the accident, but they won't know for sure until an autopsy is completed.
PLANO, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A motorist died early Wednesday after driving her car into a Plano creek.
Police said the driver, Katherine Leigh Ferguson, was heading east on Pleasant Valley Drive when she failed to yield for a stop sign at Country Club Drive and plunged into a creek.
A friend who was following the 22-year-old Plano woman home called police at 2:15 a.m. after he saw the Volkswagen Beetle upside-down and partially submerged in the creek.
Investigators think alcohol may have been a factor in the accident, but they won't know for sure until an autopsy is completed.
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Arlington gives green light to new Wal-Mart
ARLINGTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A five-year battle over a proposed Wal-Mart in southwest Arlington ended late Tuesday night.
In a 7-2 vote, City Council members approved construction of a super center at Highway 287 and Little Road.
Angry residents voiced concerns about increased crime, traffic problems and lower property values.
Opponents of the development collected more than 4,000 signatures, but it wasn't enough to offset the greater need for tax revenue the giant retailer brings to Arlington.
ARLINGTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A five-year battle over a proposed Wal-Mart in southwest Arlington ended late Tuesday night.
In a 7-2 vote, City Council members approved construction of a super center at Highway 287 and Little Road.
Angry residents voiced concerns about increased crime, traffic problems and lower property values.
Opponents of the development collected more than 4,000 signatures, but it wasn't enough to offset the greater need for tax revenue the giant retailer brings to Arlington.
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Lack of sprinklers at museum criticized
N. Dallas: System could have limited damage to religious art, experts say
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / DallasNews.com
DALLAS, Texas - A sprinkler system, rather than a lone man wielding a fire extinguisher, might have gone a long way toward salvaging the Biblical Arts Center's precious works from Tuesday's massive fire, experts said.
Among the casualties was the Miracle at Pentecost, a painting considered the collection's crown jewel.
"Typically in the art community, there is a lot of knowledge of how to restore a water-damaged artifact, but for something that is ashes, well, all bets are off," said Nick Artim, who has designed fire protection systems for the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, among other cultural institutions.
"I would suspect that if this building would have [had a sprinkler system], it would have been isolated to the room or place, and you would not have had a six-alarm fire."
About 120 Dallas firefighters spent several hours Tuesday in the North Dallas museum battling the intense, smoky blaze that destroyed many pieces. Director Scott Peck said Tuesday that when he saw the gigantic Miracle at Pentecost beginning to burn, he tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher until he feared for his safety and fled the building.
Mr. Peck could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Dallas Fire-Rescue officials said the building did not have a sprinkler system because it was constructed before such a system was required.
Lt. Joel Lavender said some museums distrust sprinklers.
"Museums are worried about them going off and causing water damage or frozen pipes bursting during the wintertime," Lt. Lavender said. "When talking about a work of art, when it comes to damages, water damage can be as bad as fire damage."
But Mr. Artim, also a professional engineer, said water would be the best way to protect cultural collections from fire. Sprinklers discharge 60 to 80 gallons per minute for 15 to 20 minutes, while a typical fire hose dispenses 150 to 250 gallons per minute – and a six-alarm fire presumably required several hoses, he said.
"It would do some water damage to the art but it would be less than when firefighters show up and cascade large volumes of water," he said.
Cost to add
Retrofitting a museum with a sprinkler system probably would cost $250 to $350 per square foot, Mr. Artim said. But he noted that most donors prefer to see their names next to artwork and "rarely give money for a set of pipes" and that museums are reluctant to spend the money.
"It's not one of the more glamorous naming opportunities," said Ruth Ann Rugg, acting director of Dallas' Sixth Floor Museum.
The Dallas Museum of Art has a sprinkler system, which has never gone off inadvertently, according to chief financial officer Bob Robertson, who oversees security. He said some nonpublic areas also are protected by gas-based fire suppression systems.
At the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, a 2001 expansion and renovation included improvements to the fire protection system that releases water only after a temperature-sensing device reaches a certain threshold. The water is designed to shut off when the equipment determines the fire has been doused, said Jeff Guy, the director of finance and operation.
"Water on canvas is OK with some limited exposure," he said. "The minimum thing a museum could do is to install isolated sprinklers."
The museum also trains its employees on fire protocol and provides a refresher on extinguishers.
Loans in question
Although Mr. Guy was reluctant to criticize the Biblical Arts Center – which has hosted important works such as fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls and lithographs by Marc Chagall – he did say he would not allow the Amon Carter to loan its works to a museum in a concrete building without windows or a sprinkler system.
"When we are borrowing or lending artwork, we go through strict requirements of fire suppression," he said. "Most require a certain level of protection for insurance reasons."
John Hall, assistant vice president for fire analysis and research at the National Fire Protection Association, said that between 1999 and 2002, about 60 museum fires were reported annually at a combined loss of about $1 million a year. Faulty electrical equipment, such as wiring, outlets, switches, light fixtures, plugs and cords, was the main cause.
'Dry' systems
Ms. Rugg, at The Sixth Floor Museum, said she was relieved that a new "dry" sprinkler system was installed last week at the former Texas School Book Depository.
"For a short amount of time it dispenses air, so you can get people out of the way before water comes out. We have the sprinklers in place, strobe lights and audibles," she said.
Joe Brennan, director of facilities at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, said modern systems that eject air are also useful during malfunctions because water isn't inadvertently dispensed on the artwork.
"It doesn't let water out until the heat increases," Mr. Brennan said. "The head of a sprinkler is heat-sensitive to 160 degrees, then a tin solder melts and the water sprays out."
New technologies are being developed, such as fire suppression gases that are not harmful to humans and a sprayer that sends water out in a fog or micro-mist that is less damaging than a direct sprinkler blast, he said.
But protection and display of art are sometimes polar ideals.
"Display people want everything accessible by the public, while preservationists want everything in a lead vault," Mr. Brennan said. "In the real world, we come to a compromise."
N. Dallas: System could have limited damage to religious art, experts say
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / DallasNews.com
DALLAS, Texas - A sprinkler system, rather than a lone man wielding a fire extinguisher, might have gone a long way toward salvaging the Biblical Arts Center's precious works from Tuesday's massive fire, experts said.
Among the casualties was the Miracle at Pentecost, a painting considered the collection's crown jewel.
"Typically in the art community, there is a lot of knowledge of how to restore a water-damaged artifact, but for something that is ashes, well, all bets are off," said Nick Artim, who has designed fire protection systems for the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, among other cultural institutions.
"I would suspect that if this building would have [had a sprinkler system], it would have been isolated to the room or place, and you would not have had a six-alarm fire."
About 120 Dallas firefighters spent several hours Tuesday in the North Dallas museum battling the intense, smoky blaze that destroyed many pieces. Director Scott Peck said Tuesday that when he saw the gigantic Miracle at Pentecost beginning to burn, he tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher until he feared for his safety and fled the building.
Mr. Peck could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Dallas Fire-Rescue officials said the building did not have a sprinkler system because it was constructed before such a system was required.
Lt. Joel Lavender said some museums distrust sprinklers.
"Museums are worried about them going off and causing water damage or frozen pipes bursting during the wintertime," Lt. Lavender said. "When talking about a work of art, when it comes to damages, water damage can be as bad as fire damage."
But Mr. Artim, also a professional engineer, said water would be the best way to protect cultural collections from fire. Sprinklers discharge 60 to 80 gallons per minute for 15 to 20 minutes, while a typical fire hose dispenses 150 to 250 gallons per minute – and a six-alarm fire presumably required several hoses, he said.
"It would do some water damage to the art but it would be less than when firefighters show up and cascade large volumes of water," he said.
Cost to add
Retrofitting a museum with a sprinkler system probably would cost $250 to $350 per square foot, Mr. Artim said. But he noted that most donors prefer to see their names next to artwork and "rarely give money for a set of pipes" and that museums are reluctant to spend the money.
"It's not one of the more glamorous naming opportunities," said Ruth Ann Rugg, acting director of Dallas' Sixth Floor Museum.
The Dallas Museum of Art has a sprinkler system, which has never gone off inadvertently, according to chief financial officer Bob Robertson, who oversees security. He said some nonpublic areas also are protected by gas-based fire suppression systems.
At the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, a 2001 expansion and renovation included improvements to the fire protection system that releases water only after a temperature-sensing device reaches a certain threshold. The water is designed to shut off when the equipment determines the fire has been doused, said Jeff Guy, the director of finance and operation.
"Water on canvas is OK with some limited exposure," he said. "The minimum thing a museum could do is to install isolated sprinklers."
The museum also trains its employees on fire protocol and provides a refresher on extinguishers.
Loans in question
Although Mr. Guy was reluctant to criticize the Biblical Arts Center – which has hosted important works such as fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls and lithographs by Marc Chagall – he did say he would not allow the Amon Carter to loan its works to a museum in a concrete building without windows or a sprinkler system.
"When we are borrowing or lending artwork, we go through strict requirements of fire suppression," he said. "Most require a certain level of protection for insurance reasons."
John Hall, assistant vice president for fire analysis and research at the National Fire Protection Association, said that between 1999 and 2002, about 60 museum fires were reported annually at a combined loss of about $1 million a year. Faulty electrical equipment, such as wiring, outlets, switches, light fixtures, plugs and cords, was the main cause.
'Dry' systems
Ms. Rugg, at The Sixth Floor Museum, said she was relieved that a new "dry" sprinkler system was installed last week at the former Texas School Book Depository.
"For a short amount of time it dispenses air, so you can get people out of the way before water comes out. We have the sprinklers in place, strobe lights and audibles," she said.
Joe Brennan, director of facilities at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, said modern systems that eject air are also useful during malfunctions because water isn't inadvertently dispensed on the artwork.
"It doesn't let water out until the heat increases," Mr. Brennan said. "The head of a sprinkler is heat-sensitive to 160 degrees, then a tin solder melts and the water sprays out."
New technologies are being developed, such as fire suppression gases that are not harmful to humans and a sprayer that sends water out in a fog or micro-mist that is less damaging than a direct sprinkler blast, he said.
But protection and display of art are sometimes polar ideals.
"Display people want everything accessible by the public, while preservationists want everything in a lead vault," Mr. Brennan said. "In the real world, we come to a compromise."
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2 Hill aides called before grand jury
They turn over records in City Hall corruption inquiry
By GROMER JEFFERS JR. and BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Federal authorities have ordered two of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill's top aides to appear before a grand jury next month as part of the City Hall corruption investigation.
The aides, Steven Williams and Glenda Aguirre, said Wednesday that they have complied with demands for all records of Mr. Hill's dealings with a long list of people. Some of the people have not been identified previously as having a connection to the investigation, including:
• Grand Prairie businessman and former NFL player Kevin Dean, who recently registered the name KDAT Developers with state officials. His attorney, Larry Jarrett, said his client would have no comment.
• Comer Cottrell, former owner of the Pro-Line cosmetics company. He said Mr. Dean also recently registered a company called Metro Urban Development and listed him, without permission, as a manager.
Mr. Cottrell said he is angry at Mr. Dean, whom he knows socially and from the business world. "He should have talked to me," he said.
Mr. Cottrell said that he had explained the situation to the FBI and that its investigators seemed satisfied.
• Downtown Dallas lawyer John Jerome Lewis, who declined to comment. He represents a woman who is suing a man whose loft the FBI searched last week.
The FBI confirmed Wednesday that it had searched Mr. Lewis' office, too, but offered no explanation for this or any other investigative activity. Through a spokeswoman, U.S. Attorney Richard Roper declined to comment on the subpoenas of the Hill aides or any federal grand jury proceedings that may take place involving city officials and developers.
Mr. Hill could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Mr. Jarrett, a former federal prosecutor who is planning to run for Dallas County district attorney, also represents city Plan Commissioner D'Angelo Lee in the inquiry.
He said Mr. Lee, a Hill appointee, declined to comment.
"Anything that we say at this juncture could come back and harm us," Mr. Jarrett said. "We just have to wait till the dust settles so we can clearly understand what my clients are suspected of doing, and we can go from there.
"To put forward an excuse or a rationale when we don't even know what's being investigated or whether or not we're implicated, that just doesn't make sense to me."
Mr. Jarrett said that Mr. Lee and Mr. Dean have retained him independently and that there is no connection between them.
Asked why Mr. Lee and Mr. Hill are driving luxury cars owned by a woman named Sheila Farrington, he responded: "I guess you ought to ask Ms. Farrington."
He stressed that he does not represent Mr. Hill, who is a lawyer himself and has denied wrongdoing. Mr. Hill and federal authorities have refused to identify the owner of the BMW he has been driving.
A spokesman for Southwest Housing Development Co. said Wednesday that Ms. Farrington has worked as a consultant for the firm, which is one of the leading builders of low-income apartments in the region. The FBI has searched the firm's office and Ms. Farrington's University Park apartment as part of its investigation, which focuses on relations between developers and Dallas officials.
"We are aware of no impropriety in any of Ms. Farrington's work," a written statement from Southwest said.
Ms. Farrington has been paid about $13,000 since 2002 to work on Mr. Hill's political campaigns, records show. She has declined repeated interview requests and did not respond to messages Wednesday.
Mr. Lee's 2005 financial disclosure form listed one of her businesses, Farrington & Associates, as a source of his income. No details were provided.
Mr. Lee also has a connection to Southwest. He told The Dallas Morning News last week that he approached the Dallas Housing Authority about teaming up with the company on two projects, which would exempt Southwest from property taxes. The housing authority has verified his account.
Mr. Lee said he received no money for his efforts. Southwest executive Brian Potashnik has declined to discuss Mr. Lee.
The subpoena given to Hill aides also sought records on the council member's dealings with a business formed by Mr. Lee, called the 825 Company, and its relation to an Oak Cliff shopping center.
That center, at Lancaster Road and Kiest Boulevard, is owned by a San Antonio business whose owner did not respond to an interview request Wednesday.
A developer who is not named in the subpoena, speaking to The News on condition of anonymity, said Mr. Lee and an associate he remembers only as Ron had pressed him to invest in a deal involving the center. He said he declined after learning that Mr. Lee did not own the property or have a contract to buy it.
The subpoena further sought records on Mr. Hill's dealings with:
• Mr. Potashnik, who has hired several former federal prosecutors to represent him in the investigation, including the former U.S. attorney in Dallas, Paul Coggins, and Matt Yarbrough, Tom Melsheimer and Michael Uhl. They declined to comment on the subpoena.
• Rival developer James R. "Bill" Fisher of Odyssey Residential Holdings. He said he did not know why his name was listed.
Mr. Fisher was a high-ranking Southwest Housing executive who parted ways and formed his own company. His developments often compete with Mr. Potashnik's for coveted tax credits and other economic incentives in southern Dallas.
"The FBI has not come here to search our offices or homes," Mr. Fisher said. "That would include me or anyone in our company, to the best of my knowledge."
Mr. Fisher added that neither he nor his employees have been questioned by the FBI or asked to appear before the federal grand jury.
• The Black State Employees Association of Texas. The group's offices were raided last week, as was the home shared by two of its executives, Allen McGill and Gail Terrell.
D. Mark Elliston, the attorney for association leader Darren Reagan, said he didn't think his client had a business relationship with Mr. Hill.
"I don't think there's any connection," he said, suggesting that the FBI was simply trying to "explore everything and do a thorough job of it."
The association became known in the 1990s for political activism and aggressive tactics, such as picketing the homes of public officials' relatives. But in recent years, it has shifted into the world of real estate, redeveloping a mall that was hailed as an example of urban renewal but is now mired in financial and legal disputes.
• The Pecan Grove housing development, possibly referring to a 250-unit project near Paul Quinn College. In November, the Dallas City Council approved more than $22 million in tax-exempt bonds and tax credits for the project, whose owners could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
Staff writers Reese Dunklin, Ernesto Londoño, Tim Wyatt, Dave Levinthal and Emily Ramshaw contributed to this report.
They turn over records in City Hall corruption inquiry
By GROMER JEFFERS JR. and BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Federal authorities have ordered two of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill's top aides to appear before a grand jury next month as part of the City Hall corruption investigation.
The aides, Steven Williams and Glenda Aguirre, said Wednesday that they have complied with demands for all records of Mr. Hill's dealings with a long list of people. Some of the people have not been identified previously as having a connection to the investigation, including:
• Grand Prairie businessman and former NFL player Kevin Dean, who recently registered the name KDAT Developers with state officials. His attorney, Larry Jarrett, said his client would have no comment.
• Comer Cottrell, former owner of the Pro-Line cosmetics company. He said Mr. Dean also recently registered a company called Metro Urban Development and listed him, without permission, as a manager.
Mr. Cottrell said he is angry at Mr. Dean, whom he knows socially and from the business world. "He should have talked to me," he said.
Mr. Cottrell said that he had explained the situation to the FBI and that its investigators seemed satisfied.
• Downtown Dallas lawyer John Jerome Lewis, who declined to comment. He represents a woman who is suing a man whose loft the FBI searched last week.
The FBI confirmed Wednesday that it had searched Mr. Lewis' office, too, but offered no explanation for this or any other investigative activity. Through a spokeswoman, U.S. Attorney Richard Roper declined to comment on the subpoenas of the Hill aides or any federal grand jury proceedings that may take place involving city officials and developers.
Mr. Hill could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Mr. Jarrett, a former federal prosecutor who is planning to run for Dallas County district attorney, also represents city Plan Commissioner D'Angelo Lee in the inquiry.
He said Mr. Lee, a Hill appointee, declined to comment.
"Anything that we say at this juncture could come back and harm us," Mr. Jarrett said. "We just have to wait till the dust settles so we can clearly understand what my clients are suspected of doing, and we can go from there.
"To put forward an excuse or a rationale when we don't even know what's being investigated or whether or not we're implicated, that just doesn't make sense to me."
Mr. Jarrett said that Mr. Lee and Mr. Dean have retained him independently and that there is no connection between them.
Asked why Mr. Lee and Mr. Hill are driving luxury cars owned by a woman named Sheila Farrington, he responded: "I guess you ought to ask Ms. Farrington."
He stressed that he does not represent Mr. Hill, who is a lawyer himself and has denied wrongdoing. Mr. Hill and federal authorities have refused to identify the owner of the BMW he has been driving.
A spokesman for Southwest Housing Development Co. said Wednesday that Ms. Farrington has worked as a consultant for the firm, which is one of the leading builders of low-income apartments in the region. The FBI has searched the firm's office and Ms. Farrington's University Park apartment as part of its investigation, which focuses on relations between developers and Dallas officials.
"We are aware of no impropriety in any of Ms. Farrington's work," a written statement from Southwest said.
Ms. Farrington has been paid about $13,000 since 2002 to work on Mr. Hill's political campaigns, records show. She has declined repeated interview requests and did not respond to messages Wednesday.
Mr. Lee's 2005 financial disclosure form listed one of her businesses, Farrington & Associates, as a source of his income. No details were provided.
Mr. Lee also has a connection to Southwest. He told The Dallas Morning News last week that he approached the Dallas Housing Authority about teaming up with the company on two projects, which would exempt Southwest from property taxes. The housing authority has verified his account.
Mr. Lee said he received no money for his efforts. Southwest executive Brian Potashnik has declined to discuss Mr. Lee.
The subpoena given to Hill aides also sought records on the council member's dealings with a business formed by Mr. Lee, called the 825 Company, and its relation to an Oak Cliff shopping center.
That center, at Lancaster Road and Kiest Boulevard, is owned by a San Antonio business whose owner did not respond to an interview request Wednesday.
A developer who is not named in the subpoena, speaking to The News on condition of anonymity, said Mr. Lee and an associate he remembers only as Ron had pressed him to invest in a deal involving the center. He said he declined after learning that Mr. Lee did not own the property or have a contract to buy it.
The subpoena further sought records on Mr. Hill's dealings with:
• Mr. Potashnik, who has hired several former federal prosecutors to represent him in the investigation, including the former U.S. attorney in Dallas, Paul Coggins, and Matt Yarbrough, Tom Melsheimer and Michael Uhl. They declined to comment on the subpoena.
• Rival developer James R. "Bill" Fisher of Odyssey Residential Holdings. He said he did not know why his name was listed.
Mr. Fisher was a high-ranking Southwest Housing executive who parted ways and formed his own company. His developments often compete with Mr. Potashnik's for coveted tax credits and other economic incentives in southern Dallas.
"The FBI has not come here to search our offices or homes," Mr. Fisher said. "That would include me or anyone in our company, to the best of my knowledge."
Mr. Fisher added that neither he nor his employees have been questioned by the FBI or asked to appear before the federal grand jury.
• The Black State Employees Association of Texas. The group's offices were raided last week, as was the home shared by two of its executives, Allen McGill and Gail Terrell.
D. Mark Elliston, the attorney for association leader Darren Reagan, said he didn't think his client had a business relationship with Mr. Hill.
"I don't think there's any connection," he said, suggesting that the FBI was simply trying to "explore everything and do a thorough job of it."
The association became known in the 1990s for political activism and aggressive tactics, such as picketing the homes of public officials' relatives. But in recent years, it has shifted into the world of real estate, redeveloping a mall that was hailed as an example of urban renewal but is now mired in financial and legal disputes.
• The Pecan Grove housing development, possibly referring to a 250-unit project near Paul Quinn College. In November, the Dallas City Council approved more than $22 million in tax-exempt bonds and tax credits for the project, whose owners could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
Staff writers Reese Dunklin, Ernesto Londoño, Tim Wyatt, Dave Levinthal and Emily Ramshaw contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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Man sentenced to death in '04 slaying
McKinney: His family apologizes to mother of Farmersville woman
By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News
McKINNEY, Texas – Convicted murderer Moises Sandoval Mendoza was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing a Farmersville mother last year.
As he stood for the verdict, Mr. Mendoza looked to the last row of the audience. There, Mercedes Mendoza, the family matriarch, sat, eyes closed and mouth moving, as if in prayer. His brother, Paul Mendoza, sat stoically. Older sister Elizabeth Palos wiped tears even before hearing that Mr. Mendoza was sentenced to die.
After the hearing, the family of the murdered woman, Rachelle O'Neil Tolleson, wept in relief outside the courtroom.
But then Mrs. Palos apologized to Ms. Tolleson's mother, Pam O'Neil, for her brother's actions.
"I'm so sorry," she repeated as she embraced Ms. O'Neil. Her voice shook as she begged, "Please, forgive him. Please, forgive him."
As the two women held one another and sobbed, the crowd that had just left state District Judge Mark Rusch's courtroom stepped back, forming a loose circle.
"You are all right. We just need time. We will. We just need time," Ms. O'Neil said, patting Mrs. Palos' back.
Mr. Mendoza confessed to strangling the 20-year-old mother, stabbing her in the throat with a knife and burning her body to hide his fingerprints. Before killing her, Mr. Mendoza took Ms. Tolleson from her house, leaving her 6-month-old daughter alone. Ms. O'Neil discovered Avery on the bed the next morning.
The same Collin County jury of six women and six men that convicted Mr. Mendoza last week deliberated for about four hours Wednesday. The capital murder conviction left them with the choice of life in prison or the death penalty.
Mr. Mendoza's attorney, Juan C. Sanchez, had said his client should have received life in prison.
"There are many reasons that explain his conduct ... not excuses. But they explain the situation," Mr. Sanchez said.
He said that Mr. Mendoza had a girlfriend who was a "bad influence," and that his father, Jose Concepcion Mendoza, went through bouts of depression, even attempting suicide.
During the hearing, Mr. Mendoza's mother, father, four siblings and best friend testified on his behalf. They described him as a caring man who began to act differently in his late teenage years.
Mrs. Mendoza said she watched her son go into deep states of depression and begged him to seek medical help. She said he showed the same symptoms as his father.
The elder Mendoza said he tried to kill himself two or three times because he didn't feel like he could provide for his family. He had been injured doing construction work and was unable to work for long stretches of time.
The day Ms. Tolleson's body was found, Mr. Mendoza admitted to a friend what he had done. Stacy Garcia, Mr. Mendoza's best friend, described that day in court.
She said he was crying and shaking as he told her how he strangled Ms. Tolleson.
"He was scared. He was crying and he said, 'Stacy, I did it,' " Ms. Garcia said. "I didn't know what to do."
So she drove Mr. Mendoza to their church, St. William Catholic Church in Greenville, where Mr. Mendoza spoke to the Rev. Paul Weinberger and promised to turn himself in after spending time with his family.
Ms. Garcia called police that night, and officers raided Mr. Mendoza's home the next day, arresting him.
Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis said Mr. Mendoza had a good life with two loving parents and four caring siblings, who had become successful. The crime wasn't the family's fault, he said.
He pointed to the escalating violence that Mr. Mendoza exhibited as reasons for him to receive the death penalty – two Dallas aggravated robbery charges to which he confessed, raping an underage girl when he was an adult and videotaping it, and attacking his own mother and sister in family disputes.
Mr. Mendoza was wearing a leg-monitoring device and had two aggravated robbery cases from Dallas pending at the time of Ms. Tolleson's death.
McKinney: His family apologizes to mother of Farmersville woman
By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News
McKINNEY, Texas – Convicted murderer Moises Sandoval Mendoza was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing a Farmersville mother last year.
As he stood for the verdict, Mr. Mendoza looked to the last row of the audience. There, Mercedes Mendoza, the family matriarch, sat, eyes closed and mouth moving, as if in prayer. His brother, Paul Mendoza, sat stoically. Older sister Elizabeth Palos wiped tears even before hearing that Mr. Mendoza was sentenced to die.
After the hearing, the family of the murdered woman, Rachelle O'Neil Tolleson, wept in relief outside the courtroom.
But then Mrs. Palos apologized to Ms. Tolleson's mother, Pam O'Neil, for her brother's actions.
"I'm so sorry," she repeated as she embraced Ms. O'Neil. Her voice shook as she begged, "Please, forgive him. Please, forgive him."
As the two women held one another and sobbed, the crowd that had just left state District Judge Mark Rusch's courtroom stepped back, forming a loose circle.
"You are all right. We just need time. We will. We just need time," Ms. O'Neil said, patting Mrs. Palos' back.
Mr. Mendoza confessed to strangling the 20-year-old mother, stabbing her in the throat with a knife and burning her body to hide his fingerprints. Before killing her, Mr. Mendoza took Ms. Tolleson from her house, leaving her 6-month-old daughter alone. Ms. O'Neil discovered Avery on the bed the next morning.
The same Collin County jury of six women and six men that convicted Mr. Mendoza last week deliberated for about four hours Wednesday. The capital murder conviction left them with the choice of life in prison or the death penalty.
Mr. Mendoza's attorney, Juan C. Sanchez, had said his client should have received life in prison.
"There are many reasons that explain his conduct ... not excuses. But they explain the situation," Mr. Sanchez said.
He said that Mr. Mendoza had a girlfriend who was a "bad influence," and that his father, Jose Concepcion Mendoza, went through bouts of depression, even attempting suicide.
During the hearing, Mr. Mendoza's mother, father, four siblings and best friend testified on his behalf. They described him as a caring man who began to act differently in his late teenage years.
Mrs. Mendoza said she watched her son go into deep states of depression and begged him to seek medical help. She said he showed the same symptoms as his father.
The elder Mendoza said he tried to kill himself two or three times because he didn't feel like he could provide for his family. He had been injured doing construction work and was unable to work for long stretches of time.
The day Ms. Tolleson's body was found, Mr. Mendoza admitted to a friend what he had done. Stacy Garcia, Mr. Mendoza's best friend, described that day in court.
She said he was crying and shaking as he told her how he strangled Ms. Tolleson.
"He was scared. He was crying and he said, 'Stacy, I did it,' " Ms. Garcia said. "I didn't know what to do."
So she drove Mr. Mendoza to their church, St. William Catholic Church in Greenville, where Mr. Mendoza spoke to the Rev. Paul Weinberger and promised to turn himself in after spending time with his family.
Ms. Garcia called police that night, and officers raided Mr. Mendoza's home the next day, arresting him.
Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis said Mr. Mendoza had a good life with two loving parents and four caring siblings, who had become successful. The crime wasn't the family's fault, he said.
He pointed to the escalating violence that Mr. Mendoza exhibited as reasons for him to receive the death penalty – two Dallas aggravated robbery charges to which he confessed, raping an underage girl when he was an adult and videotaping it, and attacking his own mother and sister in family disputes.
Mr. Mendoza was wearing a leg-monitoring device and had two aggravated robbery cases from Dallas pending at the time of Ms. Tolleson's death.
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TexasStooge
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Couple showed baby's abuse on Net
CENTER, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - An East Texas couple have admitted molesting their 1-year-old son, broadcasting the sex acts on the Internet and allowing a stranger to sexually abuse the child, authorities said.
Billy Don Latham and Ethel Latham were charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and remained jailed Wednesday on $200,000 bond apiece.
A police officer and a Child Protective Services worker visited the Lathams' home after CPS received a tip about the suspected abuse, Shelby County District Attorney Lynda K. Russell told The (Nacogdoches) Daily Sentinel for a Wednesday story.
Ethel Latham let them search her home, and they found a computer full of pornography, Russell told the newspaper. Eventually, both parents confessed to the abuse, she said.
A police spokesman in Center, located about 165 miles southeast of Dallas and about 50 miles southwest of Shreveport, La., did not return telephone calls seeking comment, and details about the allegations were not immediately available.
Harmie Smith, Russell's chief investigator, declined to tell The Associated Press on Wednesday when the Lathams were arrested or when the search occurred. The boy, the couple's only child, has been removed from the home, he said.
CPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam said she did not have enough information about the case to comment on it.
Smith said the stranger, whom the couple apparently met on the Internet, was from New York. He declined to say how the suspect was identified, and it was not immediately clear whether he would face charges.
Aggravated sexual assault of a child is a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison.
CENTER, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - An East Texas couple have admitted molesting their 1-year-old son, broadcasting the sex acts on the Internet and allowing a stranger to sexually abuse the child, authorities said.
Billy Don Latham and Ethel Latham were charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and remained jailed Wednesday on $200,000 bond apiece.
A police officer and a Child Protective Services worker visited the Lathams' home after CPS received a tip about the suspected abuse, Shelby County District Attorney Lynda K. Russell told The (Nacogdoches) Daily Sentinel for a Wednesday story.
Ethel Latham let them search her home, and they found a computer full of pornography, Russell told the newspaper. Eventually, both parents confessed to the abuse, she said.
A police spokesman in Center, located about 165 miles southeast of Dallas and about 50 miles southwest of Shreveport, La., did not return telephone calls seeking comment, and details about the allegations were not immediately available.
Harmie Smith, Russell's chief investigator, declined to tell The Associated Press on Wednesday when the Lathams were arrested or when the search occurred. The boy, the couple's only child, has been removed from the home, he said.
CPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam said she did not have enough information about the case to comment on it.
Smith said the stranger, whom the couple apparently met on the Internet, was from New York. He declined to say how the suspect was identified, and it was not immediately clear whether he would face charges.
Aggravated sexual assault of a child is a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison.
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TexasStooge
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Councilman's staffers face grand jury appearance
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - The FBI has subpoenaed two staff members of Dallas City Council member Don Hill.
Steven Williams, Hill's executive assistant, and executive secretary Glenda Aguirre are ordered to appear before a federal grand jury next month. They will also have to produce documents related to several multi-family developments and figures cited in the investigation.
City Hall officials seemed a bit stunned in reaction to reports that the FBI conducted a sting and tapped phone calls as part of its probe.
"I don't know of another time we had wiretaps at City Hall," said mayor Laura Miller. "So if it occurred, it's very serious, and we need to take it seriously, and we need to let them continue to do their work and give them whatever they need."
Through a spokeswoman, U.S. Attorney Richard Roper declined to comment on the subpoenas of the Hill aides or any federal grand jury proceedings that may take place involving city officials and developers.
Mr. Hill could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Attorney Larry Jarrett, a former federal prosecutor who is planning to run for Dallas County district attorney, also represents city Plan Commissioner D'Angelo Lee in the inquiry. He said Mr. Lee, a Hill appointee, declined to comment.
"Anything that we say at this juncture could come back and harm us," Mr. Jarrett said. "We just have to wait till the dust settles so we can clearly understand what my clients are suspected of doing, and we can go from there ... to put forward an excuse or a rationale when we don't even know what's being investigated or whether or not we're implicated, that just doesn't make sense to me."
The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - The FBI has subpoenaed two staff members of Dallas City Council member Don Hill.
Steven Williams, Hill's executive assistant, and executive secretary Glenda Aguirre are ordered to appear before a federal grand jury next month. They will also have to produce documents related to several multi-family developments and figures cited in the investigation.
City Hall officials seemed a bit stunned in reaction to reports that the FBI conducted a sting and tapped phone calls as part of its probe.
"I don't know of another time we had wiretaps at City Hall," said mayor Laura Miller. "So if it occurred, it's very serious, and we need to take it seriously, and we need to let them continue to do their work and give them whatever they need."
Through a spokeswoman, U.S. Attorney Richard Roper declined to comment on the subpoenas of the Hill aides or any federal grand jury proceedings that may take place involving city officials and developers.
Mr. Hill could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Attorney Larry Jarrett, a former federal prosecutor who is planning to run for Dallas County district attorney, also represents city Plan Commissioner D'Angelo Lee in the inquiry. He said Mr. Lee, a Hill appointee, declined to comment.
"Anything that we say at this juncture could come back and harm us," Mr. Jarrett said. "We just have to wait till the dust settles so we can clearly understand what my clients are suspected of doing, and we can go from there ... to put forward an excuse or a rationale when we don't even know what's being investigated or whether or not we're implicated, that just doesn't make sense to me."
The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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Willie's July 4 picnic returns to Fort Worth
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - It made perfect sense, except that no one had done it before.
More than three decades after Willie Nelson first decided to merge musical genres at his Fourth of July picnic, the blowout has evolved into a well-established Texas tradition. The summer bash returns Monday to Fort Worth for the second straight year with Bob Dylan, the Doobie Brothers and Los Lonely Boys.
"Rock 'n' roll and country mixed pretty good, and it worked," Nelson told The Associated Press recently. "I kind of thought it would. I thought Texas would really go for it, and they did."
Younger Texans are going for it, too.
"Kids heard about these things from older brothers and dads and they want some of that experience, and going to Willie's picnic is one of those things," said country outlaw Jerry Jeff Walker, a staple of the event's early years.
The initial concept was to bring something new like Woodstock -- the famed New York rock festival of 1969 -- to the Lone Star State, Nelson said. The first festival was held at tiny Dripping Springs near Austin in 1973. Nelson had returned to Texas from Nashville a few years earlier and was breaking musical barriers with his unprecedented marriage of country and rock 'n' roll.
The festival, like its 72-year-old founder, has a colorful history. Most have been held in the Austin area, and other locations have included "downtown" Luckenbach and College Station, where a fire consumed Texas singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen's car and became the source of a funny story on his No. 2 Live Dinner album.
The 1980 gathering, on property Nelson owned near Austin, drew up to 100,000 people. In recent years, the event has been more sporadic.
It was canceled in 2001 to give Nelson a break and in 2002 over promoters' concern that a provision in state law might allow their permit to be revoked.
"We've missed a year or two; one year we had Fourth of July and Farm Aid together," Nelson said.
Walker, who said he didn't perform at the first gathering but played many others, remembers locating picnic sites by the distant cloud of dust. The bash could roll on for several beer-drenched days, with acts constantly being pushed back to later starts.
This year, Walker's son Django is among the 27 acts scheduled to appear.
"I think Willie has tried to get them in more civilized places, with people coming with umbrellas, sun screen and lawn chairs," the elder Walker said. "In the '70s, we'd just all pile in a car and come in there."
Nelson personally selects the performers, and last year divided up their pay in calculations written on the back of a brown paper sack, said Pam Minick, marketing director for Billy Bob's Texas, which is co-organizing the event.
"He doesn't negotiate the fee, he just invites them. When they get here, that's when he decides what they're going to be paid," she said.
The picnic celebrates a wealth of new performers but doesn't neglect old-timers such as Leon Redbone and the Geezinslaws. Nelson said he considers it a reunion of sorts.
"It's a chance to see a lot of people you don't see, like the old disc jockey conventions in Nashville," he said. "This way I can book the guys I want to see, Ray Price, Billy Joe Shaver, Johnny Bush, all them guys."
The party will be held at the 27-acre North Forty concert field, just east of Billy Bob's. Last year's concert at the same location -- a departure from the event's more rural surroundings -- drew 19,000 people.
"It's a great site; it worked out well last year," Nelson said. "One of the things about it is the town wants us there. It's always been an issue whether you want 20,000 or 30,000 people coming to town and partying for a day or so."
Nelson will warm up by playing at a sold-out promotion for his clean-burning biodiesel fuel a day earlier at Carl's Corner, an Interstate 35 truck stop about 60 miles south of Dallas known for its giant dancing frogs on the roof. XM Radio will broadcast live from the location.
"I'm having more fun than you can imagine trying to put all this together," Nelson said.
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - It made perfect sense, except that no one had done it before.
More than three decades after Willie Nelson first decided to merge musical genres at his Fourth of July picnic, the blowout has evolved into a well-established Texas tradition. The summer bash returns Monday to Fort Worth for the second straight year with Bob Dylan, the Doobie Brothers and Los Lonely Boys.
"Rock 'n' roll and country mixed pretty good, and it worked," Nelson told The Associated Press recently. "I kind of thought it would. I thought Texas would really go for it, and they did."
Younger Texans are going for it, too.
"Kids heard about these things from older brothers and dads and they want some of that experience, and going to Willie's picnic is one of those things," said country outlaw Jerry Jeff Walker, a staple of the event's early years.
The initial concept was to bring something new like Woodstock -- the famed New York rock festival of 1969 -- to the Lone Star State, Nelson said. The first festival was held at tiny Dripping Springs near Austin in 1973. Nelson had returned to Texas from Nashville a few years earlier and was breaking musical barriers with his unprecedented marriage of country and rock 'n' roll.
The festival, like its 72-year-old founder, has a colorful history. Most have been held in the Austin area, and other locations have included "downtown" Luckenbach and College Station, where a fire consumed Texas singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen's car and became the source of a funny story on his No. 2 Live Dinner album.
The 1980 gathering, on property Nelson owned near Austin, drew up to 100,000 people. In recent years, the event has been more sporadic.
It was canceled in 2001 to give Nelson a break and in 2002 over promoters' concern that a provision in state law might allow their permit to be revoked.
"We've missed a year or two; one year we had Fourth of July and Farm Aid together," Nelson said.
Walker, who said he didn't perform at the first gathering but played many others, remembers locating picnic sites by the distant cloud of dust. The bash could roll on for several beer-drenched days, with acts constantly being pushed back to later starts.
This year, Walker's son Django is among the 27 acts scheduled to appear.
"I think Willie has tried to get them in more civilized places, with people coming with umbrellas, sun screen and lawn chairs," the elder Walker said. "In the '70s, we'd just all pile in a car and come in there."
Nelson personally selects the performers, and last year divided up their pay in calculations written on the back of a brown paper sack, said Pam Minick, marketing director for Billy Bob's Texas, which is co-organizing the event.
"He doesn't negotiate the fee, he just invites them. When they get here, that's when he decides what they're going to be paid," she said.
The picnic celebrates a wealth of new performers but doesn't neglect old-timers such as Leon Redbone and the Geezinslaws. Nelson said he considers it a reunion of sorts.
"It's a chance to see a lot of people you don't see, like the old disc jockey conventions in Nashville," he said. "This way I can book the guys I want to see, Ray Price, Billy Joe Shaver, Johnny Bush, all them guys."
The party will be held at the 27-acre North Forty concert field, just east of Billy Bob's. Last year's concert at the same location -- a departure from the event's more rural surroundings -- drew 19,000 people.
"It's a great site; it worked out well last year," Nelson said. "One of the things about it is the town wants us there. It's always been an issue whether you want 20,000 or 30,000 people coming to town and partying for a day or so."
Nelson will warm up by playing at a sold-out promotion for his clean-burning biodiesel fuel a day earlier at Carl's Corner, an Interstate 35 truck stop about 60 miles south of Dallas known for its giant dancing frogs on the roof. XM Radio will broadcast live from the location.
"I'm having more fun than you can imagine trying to put all this together," Nelson said.
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TexasStooge
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Texas Senate approves education plan
AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - Property taxes would drop, teachers would get a pay raise and more money would be spent on bilingual students under an education funding bill approved Thursday in the Texas Senate.
The bill, approved in a 27-4 vote, is one part of lawmakers' efforts to pass education reform and revamp the state's school finance system. Lawmakers have not yet agreed on accompanying legislation to pay for reduced property taxes, which is part of the effort.
"This important issue must be our best work, and our best work product for this is for the children of Texas," said bill sponsor Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. "This bill offers real education reform."
Lawmakers have been struggling for years on a proposal to overhaul how the state pays for its public schools. The Senate and House failed to agree on a plan during the regular session that ended in May, so Republican Gov. Rick Perry called lawmakers back for a special 30-day legislative session.
Legislators are under pressure to overhaul school funding after state District Judge John Dietz last year ruled the Texas system unconstitutional. Attorneys for the state appealed Dietz's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in the case Wednesday.
The House this week approved its version of education reform. A group of lawmakers from each chamber likely will be appointed to draft a final bill.
The bill the Senate approved Thursday calls for lowering school property taxes from a maximum of $1.50 per $100 property value to $1.10 over the next two years.
The plan also would give teachers a $2,500 pay raise over the next two years and would institute a teacher incentive program that would average $500 a teacher.
The bill also requires more academic accountability at charter schools and increases spending on charter schools facilities.
AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - Property taxes would drop, teachers would get a pay raise and more money would be spent on bilingual students under an education funding bill approved Thursday in the Texas Senate.
The bill, approved in a 27-4 vote, is one part of lawmakers' efforts to pass education reform and revamp the state's school finance system. Lawmakers have not yet agreed on accompanying legislation to pay for reduced property taxes, which is part of the effort.
"This important issue must be our best work, and our best work product for this is for the children of Texas," said bill sponsor Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. "This bill offers real education reform."
Lawmakers have been struggling for years on a proposal to overhaul how the state pays for its public schools. The Senate and House failed to agree on a plan during the regular session that ended in May, so Republican Gov. Rick Perry called lawmakers back for a special 30-day legislative session.
Legislators are under pressure to overhaul school funding after state District Judge John Dietz last year ruled the Texas system unconstitutional. Attorneys for the state appealed Dietz's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in the case Wednesday.
The House this week approved its version of education reform. A group of lawmakers from each chamber likely will be appointed to draft a final bill.
The bill the Senate approved Thursday calls for lowering school property taxes from a maximum of $1.50 per $100 property value to $1.10 over the next two years.
The plan also would give teachers a $2,500 pay raise over the next two years and would institute a teacher incentive program that would average $500 a teacher.
The bill also requires more academic accountability at charter schools and increases spending on charter schools facilities.
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TexasStooge
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Safety, training problems within DPD's explosive unit
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - They are trained to diffuse bombs and handle explosives, but the Dallas Police Department's Bomb Squad is hobbled by lax training practices and a lack of proper staffing.
In most departments, bomb technicians spend many hours every month training. The Garland Bomb Squad trains more than 16 hours a month.
"If the men are not competent in the use of the equipment...they can go down and make a mistake, and make a mistake that could be life threatening," said Lt. C.T. Paine.
But records indicate problems with proper training of the Dallas squad. The department's own operational review cited serious safety problems with training and staffing.
Squad members have complained. Last January, Sr. Cpl. Mark Sittner wrote a letter to Sgt. Linda Patterson-Johnson, the squad's leader. He wrote the squad rarely practiced with shotgun-mounted tools used to disrupt possible bombs and has "never learned to use certain techniques" to remove bombs from a distance.
The squad's new lieutenant acknowledged that there are problems, but said they are working to fix them.
"We are trying to enhance what we are already going and trying to go to more training," said Lt. Craig Miller.
Records also indicated Sgt. Patterson-Johnson allowed her federal certification to handle explosives expire in October. However, she still responded to calls and handled explosive material.
"The people in this division are now aware that in the future we are going to have certified bomb techs respond to calls and that's the direction we are going to go," Lt. Miller said.
Staffing has also been a problem. Dallas currently has three certified bomb technicians compared to Garland, which has six. That means in many cases a lone technician would respond to a call violating industry standards that recommends at least two technicians handle explosive devices.
"We never rely on one guys thought process," Lt. Paine said. "The guy down range will make a decision and he will check with other bomb tech to make sure a mistake is not made."
The Dallas police said it recently changed its policy and now sends two technicians to calls and the department points out that they have never had an incident where anyone got hurt.
The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - They are trained to diffuse bombs and handle explosives, but the Dallas Police Department's Bomb Squad is hobbled by lax training practices and a lack of proper staffing.
In most departments, bomb technicians spend many hours every month training. The Garland Bomb Squad trains more than 16 hours a month.
"If the men are not competent in the use of the equipment...they can go down and make a mistake, and make a mistake that could be life threatening," said Lt. C.T. Paine.
But records indicate problems with proper training of the Dallas squad. The department's own operational review cited serious safety problems with training and staffing.
Squad members have complained. Last January, Sr. Cpl. Mark Sittner wrote a letter to Sgt. Linda Patterson-Johnson, the squad's leader. He wrote the squad rarely practiced with shotgun-mounted tools used to disrupt possible bombs and has "never learned to use certain techniques" to remove bombs from a distance.
The squad's new lieutenant acknowledged that there are problems, but said they are working to fix them.
"We are trying to enhance what we are already going and trying to go to more training," said Lt. Craig Miller.
Records also indicated Sgt. Patterson-Johnson allowed her federal certification to handle explosives expire in October. However, she still responded to calls and handled explosive material.
"The people in this division are now aware that in the future we are going to have certified bomb techs respond to calls and that's the direction we are going to go," Lt. Miller said.
Staffing has also been a problem. Dallas currently has three certified bomb technicians compared to Garland, which has six. That means in many cases a lone technician would respond to a call violating industry standards that recommends at least two technicians handle explosive devices.
"We never rely on one guys thought process," Lt. Paine said. "The guy down range will make a decision and he will check with other bomb tech to make sure a mistake is not made."
The Dallas police said it recently changed its policy and now sends two technicians to calls and the department points out that they have never had an incident where anyone got hurt.
The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report
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TexasStooge
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Ex-priest guilty of sexual assault
Irving: Already a convicted sex offender, man could get life
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas - A former Catholic priest with a history of molesting boys was convicted late Thursday of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man in an Irving hotel room.
Jurors deliberated nearly five hours before finding John Salazar guilty of sexual assault. As victims of Mr. Salazar hugged, he was led away to jail.
Mr. Salazar's punishment will be determined by Judge Gary Stephens after a hearing Wednesday. Because he is already a convicted sex offender, prosecutors will argue that the law requires that he be automatically sentenced to life in prison.
In the Irving case, Amarillo resident Beau Villegas testified that Mr. Salazar – his family's longtime friend and priest – sexually assaulted him after a wedding party the two had attended in September 2003.
Mr. Salazar was technically a priest at the time but had been stripped of all his duties and was no longer acting or dressing as a priest.
Mr. Villegas said the assault occurred after Mr. Salazar offered to take care of him after he had become ill from drinking 10 beers and at least three mixed drinks. He said he was too intoxicated to resist.
Jurors in the trial did not learn about Mr. Salazar's criminal past, which includes two convictions and a six-year prison sentence for molesting boys in California in the 1980s and other charges that were not prosecuted.
Unknown to congregation members at Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia, Texas, Mr. Salazar was still on parole when he began working there in 1991. He was one of at least eight priests brought in by the Amarillo diocese from Catholic treatment centers for sex offender priests.
"I'm just glad justice has been served," Mr. Villegas said. "People in the Catholic community have suffered ... after he slipped through the cracks so many times. He finally got what was coming to him."
Another accuser
Carlos Perez-Carrillo, 39, accused Mr. Salazar of molesting him as a teenager in California but was unable to see his case go to trial because of a 2003 Supreme Court decision regarding statutes of limitations. He said Thursday's verdict felt like a vindication for him.
"I've been waiting for this day for 25 years," he said. "Because Beau got justice, I feel like I got justice, and that's good. ... He'll never be able to hurt another child or another vulnerable adult for the rest of his life."
Mr. Perez-Carrillo was critical of Catholic leaders for allowing Mr. Salazar to continue to work as a priest after he was released from prison in California.
"It's unfortunate that there had to be another generation of abuse at the hands of John Salazar," he said.
Minutes after the two sides finished closing arguments in the trial on Thursday, Mr. Salazar was served with notice of a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from the assault by Mr. Villegas.
Because Mr. Villegas was 18 and legally an adult at the time of the incident, the trial's outcome hinged on whether the jury agreed that Mr. Salazar forced himself on Mr. Villegas.
Prosecutors Felicia Wasson and Carmen White argued that the incident was not consensual in two ways – that Mr. Salazar used his influence as a clergyman over Mr. Villegas and that Mr. Salazar knew that Mr. Villegas was too intoxicated to resist.
"This man was supposed to represent God to him, and he abused that," Ms. White said.
Mr. Salazar's attorneys, Leigh Demasi and James Vasilas, countered that Mr. Villegas could not have recalled so many details if he had been as drunk as he claimed.
Defense arguments
Attorneys also argued that Mr. Salazar was no longer a priest at the time of the incident. He had resigned more than a year before the assault, shortly before Catholic bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy on priests accused of sexual offenses.
But Catholic officials testified that although he had resigned and was prevented from performing most priestly duties, he was still a priest.
Attorneys also questioned why Mr. Villegas said in initial statements that he remembered little of what happened because he had been drunk but later recalled more and more details.
If Mr. Villegas was lucid enough to remember details of the incident, Ms. Demasi said, he would have had the mental capabilities to resist sexual advances.
In earlier interviews, Mr. Salazar had said that the sexual contact was a consensual act between two adults. His attorneys were constrained from raising that defense in his trial because it would have opened the door for prosecutors to introduce details about Mr. Salazar's prior convictions and accusations, which would have shown that he had molested boys in the past.
Juror Wendy Foster praised Mr. Villegas for filing charges and testifying in court, which she said was the most powerful testimony in the trial.
"The facts of the case told us he was guilty," she said. "I'm proud of Beau Villegas for standing up when he had every reason not to."
Irving: Already a convicted sex offender, man could get life
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas - A former Catholic priest with a history of molesting boys was convicted late Thursday of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man in an Irving hotel room.
Jurors deliberated nearly five hours before finding John Salazar guilty of sexual assault. As victims of Mr. Salazar hugged, he was led away to jail.
Mr. Salazar's punishment will be determined by Judge Gary Stephens after a hearing Wednesday. Because he is already a convicted sex offender, prosecutors will argue that the law requires that he be automatically sentenced to life in prison.
In the Irving case, Amarillo resident Beau Villegas testified that Mr. Salazar – his family's longtime friend and priest – sexually assaulted him after a wedding party the two had attended in September 2003.
Mr. Salazar was technically a priest at the time but had been stripped of all his duties and was no longer acting or dressing as a priest.
Mr. Villegas said the assault occurred after Mr. Salazar offered to take care of him after he had become ill from drinking 10 beers and at least three mixed drinks. He said he was too intoxicated to resist.
Jurors in the trial did not learn about Mr. Salazar's criminal past, which includes two convictions and a six-year prison sentence for molesting boys in California in the 1980s and other charges that were not prosecuted.
Unknown to congregation members at Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia, Texas, Mr. Salazar was still on parole when he began working there in 1991. He was one of at least eight priests brought in by the Amarillo diocese from Catholic treatment centers for sex offender priests.
"I'm just glad justice has been served," Mr. Villegas said. "People in the Catholic community have suffered ... after he slipped through the cracks so many times. He finally got what was coming to him."
Another accuser
Carlos Perez-Carrillo, 39, accused Mr. Salazar of molesting him as a teenager in California but was unable to see his case go to trial because of a 2003 Supreme Court decision regarding statutes of limitations. He said Thursday's verdict felt like a vindication for him.
"I've been waiting for this day for 25 years," he said. "Because Beau got justice, I feel like I got justice, and that's good. ... He'll never be able to hurt another child or another vulnerable adult for the rest of his life."
Mr. Perez-Carrillo was critical of Catholic leaders for allowing Mr. Salazar to continue to work as a priest after he was released from prison in California.
"It's unfortunate that there had to be another generation of abuse at the hands of John Salazar," he said.
Minutes after the two sides finished closing arguments in the trial on Thursday, Mr. Salazar was served with notice of a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from the assault by Mr. Villegas.
Because Mr. Villegas was 18 and legally an adult at the time of the incident, the trial's outcome hinged on whether the jury agreed that Mr. Salazar forced himself on Mr. Villegas.
Prosecutors Felicia Wasson and Carmen White argued that the incident was not consensual in two ways – that Mr. Salazar used his influence as a clergyman over Mr. Villegas and that Mr. Salazar knew that Mr. Villegas was too intoxicated to resist.
"This man was supposed to represent God to him, and he abused that," Ms. White said.
Mr. Salazar's attorneys, Leigh Demasi and James Vasilas, countered that Mr. Villegas could not have recalled so many details if he had been as drunk as he claimed.
Defense arguments
Attorneys also argued that Mr. Salazar was no longer a priest at the time of the incident. He had resigned more than a year before the assault, shortly before Catholic bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy on priests accused of sexual offenses.
But Catholic officials testified that although he had resigned and was prevented from performing most priestly duties, he was still a priest.
Attorneys also questioned why Mr. Villegas said in initial statements that he remembered little of what happened because he had been drunk but later recalled more and more details.
If Mr. Villegas was lucid enough to remember details of the incident, Ms. Demasi said, he would have had the mental capabilities to resist sexual advances.
In earlier interviews, Mr. Salazar had said that the sexual contact was a consensual act between two adults. His attorneys were constrained from raising that defense in his trial because it would have opened the door for prosecutors to introduce details about Mr. Salazar's prior convictions and accusations, which would have shown that he had molested boys in the past.
Juror Wendy Foster praised Mr. Villegas for filing charges and testifying in court, which she said was the most powerful testimony in the trial.
"The facts of the case told us he was guilty," she said. "I'm proud of Beau Villegas for standing up when he had every reason not to."
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TexasStooge
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Perry: Texas beef supply safe
By JANET ST. JAMES and KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8
WACO, Texas - It has been confirmed that a cow killed at a Waco rendering plant had bovine spongiform encephalopathy, otherwise known as mad cow disease.
The Texas herd has now been identified, but the government won't reveal the name just yet, saying only that the herd has been quarantined.
The disease first surfaced in 1996 when about a dozen people in the United Kingdom got sick from eating tainted beef.
Scientists believe BSE, which causes spongy holes in the brain, is spread when a cow eats feed made from the remains of another infected cow.
People get another fatal form of mad cow disease called Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or CJD, when they unknowningly eat the infected beef.
Since 1997, the FDA began enforcing safeguards to protect people and animals from the brain-wasting illness. Animal feed containing the brain and spinal tissue of cattle has been banned, and sick animals are not allowed into the food supply.
Thursday afternoon in Dallas, Gov. Rick Perry reassured Texans that the safeguards were followed in this case, and beef here and across the country is safe.
"My family and i will continue to eat beef, preferably Texas beef, and i look forward to a nice steak tonight when i get home," Perry said.
Cattlemen like Jim Link are disappointed but confident.
"The human consumption beef is absolutely safe," Link said.
The infected cow was first noticed last November at a Waco pet food plant. It took months to absolutely confirm the nation's first native case of mad cow disease.
should we worry about our pets eating pet food? No. Not at all. it's almost impossible to transmit from one animal to another ...
For people, Link said young cattle up to 2 and a half years old are slaughtered. BSE has only shown up in cows older than 6.
Mat Brockman, the head of the Fort Worth-based Cattle Raisers Association, said: "Consumers can be assured they can enjoy beef for July 4 cookouts."
Agriculture experts said the affected cow was 12 years old, born before safeguards were in place.
Experts are tracking down that cow's original herd to see if any others might have been sick; it's likely they could've been slaughtered before showing symptoms.
Doctors said the disease can also appear spontaneously. Right now, only so-called "downer cows" that are sick are tested, so no one knows how long it takes for the disease to incubate in cattle or people, or at what point it can be passed along.
By JANET ST. JAMES and KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8
WACO, Texas - It has been confirmed that a cow killed at a Waco rendering plant had bovine spongiform encephalopathy, otherwise known as mad cow disease.
The Texas herd has now been identified, but the government won't reveal the name just yet, saying only that the herd has been quarantined.
The disease first surfaced in 1996 when about a dozen people in the United Kingdom got sick from eating tainted beef.
Scientists believe BSE, which causes spongy holes in the brain, is spread when a cow eats feed made from the remains of another infected cow.
People get another fatal form of mad cow disease called Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or CJD, when they unknowningly eat the infected beef.
Since 1997, the FDA began enforcing safeguards to protect people and animals from the brain-wasting illness. Animal feed containing the brain and spinal tissue of cattle has been banned, and sick animals are not allowed into the food supply.
Thursday afternoon in Dallas, Gov. Rick Perry reassured Texans that the safeguards were followed in this case, and beef here and across the country is safe.
"My family and i will continue to eat beef, preferably Texas beef, and i look forward to a nice steak tonight when i get home," Perry said.
Cattlemen like Jim Link are disappointed but confident.
"The human consumption beef is absolutely safe," Link said.
The infected cow was first noticed last November at a Waco pet food plant. It took months to absolutely confirm the nation's first native case of mad cow disease.
should we worry about our pets eating pet food? No. Not at all. it's almost impossible to transmit from one animal to another ...
For people, Link said young cattle up to 2 and a half years old are slaughtered. BSE has only shown up in cows older than 6.
Mat Brockman, the head of the Fort Worth-based Cattle Raisers Association, said: "Consumers can be assured they can enjoy beef for July 4 cookouts."
Agriculture experts said the affected cow was 12 years old, born before safeguards were in place.
Experts are tracking down that cow's original herd to see if any others might have been sick; it's likely they could've been slaughtered before showing symptoms.
Doctors said the disease can also appear spontaneously. Right now, only so-called "downer cows" that are sick are tested, so no one knows how long it takes for the disease to incubate in cattle or people, or at what point it can be passed along.
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TexasStooge
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Woman shot in restaurant drive-through
By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - A woman was shot in the drive-through of a chinese fast-food restaurant in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas early Thursday afternoon. The shooting occurred just before 2 p.m. at the Wok Express in the 1200 block of South Buckner Boulevard near the intersection of Lake June Road.
Sara Linebaugh, 52, had just pulled into the drive-through when a bullet went through her windshield and hit her in the head. Police said the victim is in critical condition at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas.
Police said they believe the gunshot was fired from the parking lot of a CVS Pharmacy across the street where they found a shattered bullet.
"I saw the car pull up, and thought she was ordering some food," witness Brad McGregor said. "It looked like she had passed out or something."
Investigators said the cashier had just taken the woman's money for her order when they heard the shots.
"Evidently she's a customer that had been there several times in the past," said Dallas Police Det. Kenny Lecesne. "They recognized her from her order, and then they saw her slump over."
Police had to break the sad news to two co-workers who showed up at the restaurant when the victim didn't return to work.
Investigators are trying to determine whether it was a random shooting. Witnesses said they saw two groups of men fighting in the pharmacy's parking lot shortly before the incident.
"We have some people that saw a red four-door vehicle leave and then head northbound," Lecesne said.
WFAA ABC 8
The victim was shot in the head while picking up an order at a restaurant drive-through.
By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - A woman was shot in the drive-through of a chinese fast-food restaurant in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas early Thursday afternoon. The shooting occurred just before 2 p.m. at the Wok Express in the 1200 block of South Buckner Boulevard near the intersection of Lake June Road.
Sara Linebaugh, 52, had just pulled into the drive-through when a bullet went through her windshield and hit her in the head. Police said the victim is in critical condition at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas.
Police said they believe the gunshot was fired from the parking lot of a CVS Pharmacy across the street where they found a shattered bullet.
"I saw the car pull up, and thought she was ordering some food," witness Brad McGregor said. "It looked like she had passed out or something."
Investigators said the cashier had just taken the woman's money for her order when they heard the shots.
"Evidently she's a customer that had been there several times in the past," said Dallas Police Det. Kenny Lecesne. "They recognized her from her order, and then they saw her slump over."
Police had to break the sad news to two co-workers who showed up at the restaurant when the victim didn't return to work.
Investigators are trying to determine whether it was a random shooting. Witnesses said they saw two groups of men fighting in the pharmacy's parking lot shortly before the incident.
"We have some people that saw a red four-door vehicle leave and then head northbound," Lecesne said.
WFAA ABC 8
The victim was shot in the head while picking up an order at a restaurant drive-through.
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TexasStooge
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I think this case is dealing with former Dallas Mayor Al Lipscomb's payback on Fantroy.
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City official's nomination to board raises questions
CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Members of the City Plan Commission are among the most powerful officials at Dallas City Hall and their zoning decisions could boost or kill expensive projects. That is the reason, amidst the recent FBI investigation into City Hall, a recent nomination of City Plan Commissioner D'Angelo Lee to the Vickery Meadows TIF had many asking questions.
Special boards, such as the newly formed reinvestment district near Northpark Mall that Lee was nominated to join, help dole out valuable tax incentives to developers.
Board members overseeing that district help decide which builders get valuable tax incentives worth millions.
"It does seem odd," said City Plan Commissioner Neil Emmons. "My impression is we're only allowed to be on one board or commission and being on two would preclude that rule."
The rule is there because the person voting on a zoning issue for a developer's project would then vote on tax incentives for the same development. A situation some said is ripe for abuse.
"In my opinion, as important as the plan commission is and the TIF Board is...that's too much power in one person's hands," said Carol Brandon, a cit plan commissioner.
But Lee's nomination also raised questions because he is one of the subjects in the FBI investigation into financial corruption at Dallas City Hall. Agents searched Lee's car and his home. His nomination was withdrawn shortly after the raid was conducted.
But it's still not clear who nominated Lee in the first place. A city memo named council member Gary Griffith. However, he was not the one to nominate Lee and has never talked with him. As for Lee, he was a no show at Thursday's meeting of the City Plan Commission.
Lee did not answer the door at his home and did not return New 8 calls.
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City official's nomination to board raises questions
CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Members of the City Plan Commission are among the most powerful officials at Dallas City Hall and their zoning decisions could boost or kill expensive projects. That is the reason, amidst the recent FBI investigation into City Hall, a recent nomination of City Plan Commissioner D'Angelo Lee to the Vickery Meadows TIF had many asking questions.
Special boards, such as the newly formed reinvestment district near Northpark Mall that Lee was nominated to join, help dole out valuable tax incentives to developers.
Board members overseeing that district help decide which builders get valuable tax incentives worth millions.
"It does seem odd," said City Plan Commissioner Neil Emmons. "My impression is we're only allowed to be on one board or commission and being on two would preclude that rule."
The rule is there because the person voting on a zoning issue for a developer's project would then vote on tax incentives for the same development. A situation some said is ripe for abuse.
"In my opinion, as important as the plan commission is and the TIF Board is...that's too much power in one person's hands," said Carol Brandon, a cit plan commissioner.
But Lee's nomination also raised questions because he is one of the subjects in the FBI investigation into financial corruption at Dallas City Hall. Agents searched Lee's car and his home. His nomination was withdrawn shortly after the raid was conducted.
But it's still not clear who nominated Lee in the first place. A city memo named council member Gary Griffith. However, he was not the one to nominate Lee and has never talked with him. As for Lee, he was a no show at Thursday's meeting of the City Plan Commission.
Lee did not answer the door at his home and did not return New 8 calls.
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TexasStooge
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State sues over alleged Vioxx fraud
AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP)Texas on Thursday sued one of the nation's largest drug companies, alleging it misrepresented the safety of a painkiller.
Attorney General Greg Abbott said Merck and Company pushed to have Vioxx on the state's list of approved medicine covered under Medicaid.
The suit filed in Austin alleges Merck violated the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.
The lawsuit seeks $168 million.
Officials at Whitehouse Station, New Jersey,-based Merck didn't immediately comment.
Merck in 1999 began marketing Vioxx after brief clinical trials.
The company withdrew the drug last September when research showed some patients who took it for a year and a0half or more doubled their risk for heart attack and stroke.
Texas pharmacists filled more than 700,000 Vioxx prescriptions under Medicaid at a cost of $56 million.
AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP)Texas on Thursday sued one of the nation's largest drug companies, alleging it misrepresented the safety of a painkiller.
Attorney General Greg Abbott said Merck and Company pushed to have Vioxx on the state's list of approved medicine covered under Medicaid.
The suit filed in Austin alleges Merck violated the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.
The lawsuit seeks $168 million.
Officials at Whitehouse Station, New Jersey,-based Merck didn't immediately comment.
Merck in 1999 began marketing Vioxx after brief clinical trials.
The company withdrew the drug last September when research showed some patients who took it for a year and a0half or more doubled their risk for heart attack and stroke.
Texas pharmacists filled more than 700,000 Vioxx prescriptions under Medicaid at a cost of $56 million.
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TexasStooge
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Substitute teacher worries not shared
Plano, Richardson ISDs: Experts say case shows flaws in system
By KIM BREEN / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas - Jason Pearce's behavior with students concerned educators in two neighboring school districts a few times through the years, but it appears no one besides the popular substitute teacher himself knew his full history.
Mr. Pearce, who was banned from Richardson schools in 2001, landed well in Plano schools, where he continued to work until he was arrested this spring. He is accused of fondling and taking sexual photographs of a 15-year-old girl at her Plano high school.
His case exemplifies holes in the system for safeguarding schools from substitutes who haven't been charged criminally but have shown signs for potential abuse, experts said. While problem certified teachers are reported to state authorities, no similar system tracks substitutes.
"Substitute teachers many times fall through the cracks," said Robert J. Shoop, a Kansas State University professor and expert on sexual harassment and abuse in schools.
Mr. Pearce, 31, is accused of fondling and photographing the girl at Williams High School this spring after he summoned her to a classroom and asked her to take her top off, court records show. He is also accused of showing sexually explicit photos to two other girls at the school.
He was charged May 13 with sexual performance of a child and indecency with a child, both felonies, and two Class A misdemeanor charges of displaying harmful material to a minor. Mr. Pearce has been released from the Collin County Jail on $80,000 bail. A grand jury has not met to determine whether he will be indicted.
He could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Pearce substituted in the Richardson school district for about a year until the end of January 2001. According to district records obtained this week, he was notified he would no longer substitute in Richardson schools because he inappropriately communicated with students at Berkner High School and sent e-mails using school computers on school time.
Richardson spokeswoman Jeanne Guerra said that Mr. Pearce sent e-mails to students' homes and that a parent of one student complained.
Districts can report suspicious behavior involving certified teachers or paraprofessionals to the State Board for Educator Certification, and are required to do so in some cases. But the board has no jurisdiction over substitutes who are not certified, said Herman Smith, executive director.
"When we talk to district personnel [about certified employees], we always say if there's a doubt, report," Dr. Smith said.
"When the individual is clearly not certified, there is no statutory obligation to report the individual. We have no authority [to investigate] even if it is reported," he said.
Ms. Guerra said the district's hands are tied when it comes to inappropriate behavior among substitutes that is not criminal.
"The only process in place we have is to take him off our sub list," she said.
Ms. Guerra said Richardson officials would have told Plano personnel about Mr. Pearce's history if they had been called. "We would probably say he was no longer on our list because of inappropriate contact with a student."
But the call was never made.
Just three weeks after the conference that ended Mr. Pearce's chances to work in Richardson, where he lives, he applied for a substitute-teaching job in neighboring Plano.
He left the spot on his application about substitute experience blank, but it appears it would not have made a difference if he mentioned his work in Richardson.
Karla Oliver, executive director of government and community relations for the Plano school district, said in an e-mail that the district's background checks on substitutes do not include reference checks at former schools. Plano officials have declined multiple requests for interviews about Mr. Pearce, but they have answered questions through e-mail.
"Any incident of this nature affords Plano ISD the opportunity to reflect on current policies and practices," Ms. Oliver said in an e-mail. "Such a review is currently under way."
Mr. Pearce substituted for Plano 359 days at all grade levels between April 12, 2001, and May 9, 2005, when he was taken off the Plano substitute list.
He was placed on one Plano high school's do-not-call list two months after he started for classroom management issues. In May 2004, two Bowman Middle School teachers complained about inappropriate behavior with students, including taking pictures of students, letting them hug him and eating lunch with girls in a classroom. He was placed on that school's do-not-call list and was told by a district administrator that he would be fired if he posed any more problems. But substitutes banned from working at one school may continue to substitute at other campuses, so he continued to sub throughout the district.
Sexual abuse experts say that teachers who try to be friends with students cross the line of appropriate behavior. Sending e-mails home about nonacademic topics, eating lunch with students and hanging out with them are classic examples of actions sexual predators take to groom students for sexual abuse.
Good teachers have a rapport with students, but they don't try to be friends, said Charol Shakeshaft, who has studied sexual abuse and exploitation in schools for the U.S. Department of Education. She said not enough attention has been paid to the gap in safeguards against problem substitutes, or in creating a system for districts to communicate about them.
"They're the easiest to get rid of, but very hard to keep track of," she said.
Schools need to set specific boundaries about what is acceptable and professional behavior, and they need to train all employees about it, Dr. Shoop said. He said that full-time employees are more likely to be trained than substitutes, who pass fewer hurdles to get the job and can wander from one school to the next.
Both experts agreed that because substitutes are among the easiest employees to terminate, districts should get rid of them if any questions about their behavior arise.
The state can sanction certified teachers and keep them from finding full-time teaching positions by, for example, taking away certification. But which substitutes are hired and what qualifications they need is up to the local district, said Dr. Smith of the State Board for Educator Certification.
If the state required districts to only hire certified teachers as substitutes, there would not be enough to go around, he said.
"As long as substitutes are not required to hold a certification, there will be a gap."
Plano, Richardson ISDs: Experts say case shows flaws in system
By KIM BREEN / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas - Jason Pearce's behavior with students concerned educators in two neighboring school districts a few times through the years, but it appears no one besides the popular substitute teacher himself knew his full history.
Mr. Pearce, who was banned from Richardson schools in 2001, landed well in Plano schools, where he continued to work until he was arrested this spring. He is accused of fondling and taking sexual photographs of a 15-year-old girl at her Plano high school.
His case exemplifies holes in the system for safeguarding schools from substitutes who haven't been charged criminally but have shown signs for potential abuse, experts said. While problem certified teachers are reported to state authorities, no similar system tracks substitutes.
"Substitute teachers many times fall through the cracks," said Robert J. Shoop, a Kansas State University professor and expert on sexual harassment and abuse in schools.
Mr. Pearce, 31, is accused of fondling and photographing the girl at Williams High School this spring after he summoned her to a classroom and asked her to take her top off, court records show. He is also accused of showing sexually explicit photos to two other girls at the school.
He was charged May 13 with sexual performance of a child and indecency with a child, both felonies, and two Class A misdemeanor charges of displaying harmful material to a minor. Mr. Pearce has been released from the Collin County Jail on $80,000 bail. A grand jury has not met to determine whether he will be indicted.
He could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Pearce substituted in the Richardson school district for about a year until the end of January 2001. According to district records obtained this week, he was notified he would no longer substitute in Richardson schools because he inappropriately communicated with students at Berkner High School and sent e-mails using school computers on school time.
Richardson spokeswoman Jeanne Guerra said that Mr. Pearce sent e-mails to students' homes and that a parent of one student complained.
Districts can report suspicious behavior involving certified teachers or paraprofessionals to the State Board for Educator Certification, and are required to do so in some cases. But the board has no jurisdiction over substitutes who are not certified, said Herman Smith, executive director.
"When we talk to district personnel [about certified employees], we always say if there's a doubt, report," Dr. Smith said.
"When the individual is clearly not certified, there is no statutory obligation to report the individual. We have no authority [to investigate] even if it is reported," he said.
Ms. Guerra said the district's hands are tied when it comes to inappropriate behavior among substitutes that is not criminal.
"The only process in place we have is to take him off our sub list," she said.
Ms. Guerra said Richardson officials would have told Plano personnel about Mr. Pearce's history if they had been called. "We would probably say he was no longer on our list because of inappropriate contact with a student."
But the call was never made.
Just three weeks after the conference that ended Mr. Pearce's chances to work in Richardson, where he lives, he applied for a substitute-teaching job in neighboring Plano.
He left the spot on his application about substitute experience blank, but it appears it would not have made a difference if he mentioned his work in Richardson.
Karla Oliver, executive director of government and community relations for the Plano school district, said in an e-mail that the district's background checks on substitutes do not include reference checks at former schools. Plano officials have declined multiple requests for interviews about Mr. Pearce, but they have answered questions through e-mail.
"Any incident of this nature affords Plano ISD the opportunity to reflect on current policies and practices," Ms. Oliver said in an e-mail. "Such a review is currently under way."
Mr. Pearce substituted for Plano 359 days at all grade levels between April 12, 2001, and May 9, 2005, when he was taken off the Plano substitute list.
He was placed on one Plano high school's do-not-call list two months after he started for classroom management issues. In May 2004, two Bowman Middle School teachers complained about inappropriate behavior with students, including taking pictures of students, letting them hug him and eating lunch with girls in a classroom. He was placed on that school's do-not-call list and was told by a district administrator that he would be fired if he posed any more problems. But substitutes banned from working at one school may continue to substitute at other campuses, so he continued to sub throughout the district.
Sexual abuse experts say that teachers who try to be friends with students cross the line of appropriate behavior. Sending e-mails home about nonacademic topics, eating lunch with students and hanging out with them are classic examples of actions sexual predators take to groom students for sexual abuse.
Good teachers have a rapport with students, but they don't try to be friends, said Charol Shakeshaft, who has studied sexual abuse and exploitation in schools for the U.S. Department of Education. She said not enough attention has been paid to the gap in safeguards against problem substitutes, or in creating a system for districts to communicate about them.
"They're the easiest to get rid of, but very hard to keep track of," she said.
Schools need to set specific boundaries about what is acceptable and professional behavior, and they need to train all employees about it, Dr. Shoop said. He said that full-time employees are more likely to be trained than substitutes, who pass fewer hurdles to get the job and can wander from one school to the next.
Both experts agreed that because substitutes are among the easiest employees to terminate, districts should get rid of them if any questions about their behavior arise.
The state can sanction certified teachers and keep them from finding full-time teaching positions by, for example, taking away certification. But which substitutes are hired and what qualifications they need is up to the local district, said Dr. Smith of the State Board for Educator Certification.
If the state required districts to only hire certified teachers as substitutes, there would not be enough to go around, he said.
"As long as substitutes are not required to hold a certification, there will be a gap."
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TexasStooge
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Strong watermelon harvest expected
By APRIL KINSER / DallasNews.com
SNOOK, Texas – Paul Wiggins gently squeezes into his rows of watermelons and hunkers down among the vines, searching for the first sign that the fruit is ready for cutting.
“There’s one, two, three right there,” Wiggins says, excitedly pointing to several shiny green orbs, hiding under a thick canopy of leaves. “I take that back … Four, five, six!”
The 38-year-old farmer can’t waste time. Thousands upon thousands of watermelons must be harvested and shipped to grocery stores in time for the first days of summer and the Fourth of July. It’s a ritual that his family has depended upon for 37 years.
Paul’s father, James, started Wiggins Wholesale Inc. as a third-generation farmer in 1967 with just over 100 acres.
Today, the company works 1,600 acres across three farms – two 200-acre lots in Snook, about 15 miles southwest of College Station, and others in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas – and harvests more than 5 million watermelons a year.
Nationwide, more than 3.5 billion pounds of watermelons were harvested in 2004, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
In Texas, which ranked third in production behind California and Florida, 605 million pounds of watermelons were harvested on 27,500 acres last year for a $160 million economic impact. Still, watermelon yields accounted for only a fraction of 1 percent of total agricultural production in the state, according to Texas Department of Agriculture statistics.
Texas agriculture department officials said they expect an even bigger melon harvest this year as bad weather in Florida may put the Lone Star State ahead.
“It’s a great year for watermelons because of the dry spring,” said spokesman Allen Spelce. “Too much rain can cause green leaf rot and that’s what happened last year. Florida is having the same problem this year.”
Spelce said dry weather lets farmers irrigate their crops with the amount of water that is ideal for ripening.
James Wiggins said rain dampened last year’s sales.
“We had a tremendous loss,” he said. “This year, though, the market is probably better than I’ve ever seen it and it should produce enough profit to make up for last year.”
Ideal growing conditions call for dry, sandy river silt or loam soil and nighttime temperatures of 60 degrees or higher, Wiggins said.
Three types of seedless melons make up about 80 percent of the Wiggins crop. Two varieties are round, usually firmer in texture, and weighing an average 16 pounds. An oblong variety with darker skin usually clocks in at 20 pounds.
The watermelons begin life in a greenhouse for about a month before being moved to the fields. The small plants are left to grow for 60 days, sometimes at a rate of about 2 to 3 pounds per day toward the end of their growing cycle, Wiggins said.
Operating on a drip-irrigation system, hoses water the roots directly underground at a pace of about 12 gallons of water per minute per acre.
Beginning in June and continuing for the next six months, the family and dozens of contract farm hands will harvest the striped fruit for 16 to 18 hours per day, seven days a week, Paul Wiggins said.
“You go home, eat a bite of supper and then get up a couple of hours later and hit it again,” Wiggins said.
As the watermelons ripen, workers cut them at the stem and roll them in rows for other workers to come along and toss into farm trucks. About 28 to 30 trucks, holding a combined 30,000 watermelons, will be filled per day during peak harvest time, Wiggins said.
Wiggins said he ships to big distributors, who in turn send to grocery stores across the country and as far away as Canada.
“It’s bad to say, but when watermelon season comes around, we don’t have much time as far as family. Everything is pertaining to work,” Wiggins said. “Our watermelons are saying they need to be cut and get to the people who do go to the lake and do stuff like that.”
Beth Wiggins, Paul’s wife, said summers are hard for the family because there is no time for play.
“It’s totally consuming,” she said. “You don’t plan anything in the summer. You don’t even plan a meal hardly. I grab my chances when I get to have family time.”
But Paul Wiggins, who eats a watermelon per day during the harvest, said he couldn’t imagine a different existence.
“This is my life,” he said. “I’ll never get sick of watermelons. That’s like asking a banker if they ever get sick of money. Watermelons are sweet and hard to beat.”
By APRIL KINSER / DallasNews.com
SNOOK, Texas – Paul Wiggins gently squeezes into his rows of watermelons and hunkers down among the vines, searching for the first sign that the fruit is ready for cutting.
“There’s one, two, three right there,” Wiggins says, excitedly pointing to several shiny green orbs, hiding under a thick canopy of leaves. “I take that back … Four, five, six!”
The 38-year-old farmer can’t waste time. Thousands upon thousands of watermelons must be harvested and shipped to grocery stores in time for the first days of summer and the Fourth of July. It’s a ritual that his family has depended upon for 37 years.
Paul’s father, James, started Wiggins Wholesale Inc. as a third-generation farmer in 1967 with just over 100 acres.
Today, the company works 1,600 acres across three farms – two 200-acre lots in Snook, about 15 miles southwest of College Station, and others in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas – and harvests more than 5 million watermelons a year.
Nationwide, more than 3.5 billion pounds of watermelons were harvested in 2004, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
In Texas, which ranked third in production behind California and Florida, 605 million pounds of watermelons were harvested on 27,500 acres last year for a $160 million economic impact. Still, watermelon yields accounted for only a fraction of 1 percent of total agricultural production in the state, according to Texas Department of Agriculture statistics.
Texas agriculture department officials said they expect an even bigger melon harvest this year as bad weather in Florida may put the Lone Star State ahead.
“It’s a great year for watermelons because of the dry spring,” said spokesman Allen Spelce. “Too much rain can cause green leaf rot and that’s what happened last year. Florida is having the same problem this year.”
Spelce said dry weather lets farmers irrigate their crops with the amount of water that is ideal for ripening.
James Wiggins said rain dampened last year’s sales.
“We had a tremendous loss,” he said. “This year, though, the market is probably better than I’ve ever seen it and it should produce enough profit to make up for last year.”
Ideal growing conditions call for dry, sandy river silt or loam soil and nighttime temperatures of 60 degrees or higher, Wiggins said.
Three types of seedless melons make up about 80 percent of the Wiggins crop. Two varieties are round, usually firmer in texture, and weighing an average 16 pounds. An oblong variety with darker skin usually clocks in at 20 pounds.
The watermelons begin life in a greenhouse for about a month before being moved to the fields. The small plants are left to grow for 60 days, sometimes at a rate of about 2 to 3 pounds per day toward the end of their growing cycle, Wiggins said.
Operating on a drip-irrigation system, hoses water the roots directly underground at a pace of about 12 gallons of water per minute per acre.
Beginning in June and continuing for the next six months, the family and dozens of contract farm hands will harvest the striped fruit for 16 to 18 hours per day, seven days a week, Paul Wiggins said.
“You go home, eat a bite of supper and then get up a couple of hours later and hit it again,” Wiggins said.
As the watermelons ripen, workers cut them at the stem and roll them in rows for other workers to come along and toss into farm trucks. About 28 to 30 trucks, holding a combined 30,000 watermelons, will be filled per day during peak harvest time, Wiggins said.
Wiggins said he ships to big distributors, who in turn send to grocery stores across the country and as far away as Canada.
“It’s bad to say, but when watermelon season comes around, we don’t have much time as far as family. Everything is pertaining to work,” Wiggins said. “Our watermelons are saying they need to be cut and get to the people who do go to the lake and do stuff like that.”
Beth Wiggins, Paul’s wife, said summers are hard for the family because there is no time for play.
“It’s totally consuming,” she said. “You don’t plan anything in the summer. You don’t even plan a meal hardly. I grab my chances when I get to have family time.”
But Paul Wiggins, who eats a watermelon per day during the harvest, said he couldn’t imagine a different existence.
“This is my life,” he said. “I’ll never get sick of watermelons. That’s like asking a banker if they ever get sick of money. Watermelons are sweet and hard to beat.”
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TexasStooge
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Irving ISD hires chastened principal
Irving: District satisfied leader wasn't to blame for missing Dallas ISD funds
By ERIC AASEN / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas – The Irving school district has hired a former Dallas principal who was disciplined after tens of thousands of dollars in student-activity funds disappeared from her high school.
Former Molina High principal Linda Lujan-Kimm wasn't accused of wrongdoing but was demoted in 2003 after the money was reported missing. An office manager, who resigned before the Dallas school district investigated, was responsible for managing the funds.
The Irving school board last week hired Ms. Lujan-Kimm as Irving High School principal. Her contract starts today. She replaces Carolyn Dowler, who left the district.
Ms. Lujan-Kimm said that what happened at Molina won't affect her ability to lead a school.
"I'm not concerned," she said Thursday. "Those situations unfortunately happen. ... It can happen at any school. The best we can do is be real diligent and have checks and balances in place."
Irving Superintendent Jack Singley, who recommended that the school board hire Ms. Lujan-Kimm, was aware of the missing funds.
He said he consulted with Dallas school officials about the situation and determined that she wasn't culpable.
Mr. Singley said he received glowing reviews about Ms. Lujan-Kimm.
"I don't believe [Ms. Lujan-Kimm] is tainted in any way," he said. "[She's] a good educator. She's proven that.
"We've hired a very talented principal. A high school principalship is an awesome responsibility. I take a lot of time to make those decisions. It's important that I do my very best to hire the best person possible."
Irving school board secretary Michael Hill said he thinks Ms. Lujan-Kimm will be able to effectively serve Irving High's increasingly diverse population.
About 60 percent of Irving High students are Hispanic, while 25 percent are white.
Some say the diversity has helped fuel racial tension at the school as black and Hispanic students were involved in a fight earlier this year.
"I support Mr. Singley's decision," Mr. Hill said. "He told us he's done his research. I'm confident."
Karen Rosenthal, incoming president of Irving High's PTA, wasn't familiar with Ms. Lujan-Kimm's situation at Molina.
"It concerns me," she said. "I would think if those were true facts, nobody would be happy about it."
But she added: "I would hope [Mr. Singley] was satisfied that she didn't have anything to do with [the missing money]."
At least $45,000 may have been taken from Molina High. Under Dallas district policy, principals are ultimately responsible for overseeing the management of activity funds.
Ms. Lujan-Kimm said she informed Dallas district officials about the missing money.
Following a DISD investigation, she was reassigned to a position of lesser responsibility. Her most recent Dallas job was secondary ESL program coordinator.
In her application to Mr. Singley, Ms. Lujan-Kimm cited her accomplishments at Molina High, including improvements on standardized test scores and increases in the number of students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses and taking AP exams. She was a finalist for the district's principal of the year award.
She said she's excited to be in charge of a school. She wants to focus on student achievement by making sure children graduate and don't drop out.
"I miss the kids," she said. "I'm looking forward to it."
In Irving, Ms. Lujan-Kimm will probably earn $100,000 to $106,000 annually, district officials said.
Irving: District satisfied leader wasn't to blame for missing Dallas ISD funds
By ERIC AASEN / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas – The Irving school district has hired a former Dallas principal who was disciplined after tens of thousands of dollars in student-activity funds disappeared from her high school.
Former Molina High principal Linda Lujan-Kimm wasn't accused of wrongdoing but was demoted in 2003 after the money was reported missing. An office manager, who resigned before the Dallas school district investigated, was responsible for managing the funds.
The Irving school board last week hired Ms. Lujan-Kimm as Irving High School principal. Her contract starts today. She replaces Carolyn Dowler, who left the district.
Ms. Lujan-Kimm said that what happened at Molina won't affect her ability to lead a school.
"I'm not concerned," she said Thursday. "Those situations unfortunately happen. ... It can happen at any school. The best we can do is be real diligent and have checks and balances in place."
Irving Superintendent Jack Singley, who recommended that the school board hire Ms. Lujan-Kimm, was aware of the missing funds.
He said he consulted with Dallas school officials about the situation and determined that she wasn't culpable.
Mr. Singley said he received glowing reviews about Ms. Lujan-Kimm.
"I don't believe [Ms. Lujan-Kimm] is tainted in any way," he said. "[She's] a good educator. She's proven that.
"We've hired a very talented principal. A high school principalship is an awesome responsibility. I take a lot of time to make those decisions. It's important that I do my very best to hire the best person possible."
Irving school board secretary Michael Hill said he thinks Ms. Lujan-Kimm will be able to effectively serve Irving High's increasingly diverse population.
About 60 percent of Irving High students are Hispanic, while 25 percent are white.
Some say the diversity has helped fuel racial tension at the school as black and Hispanic students were involved in a fight earlier this year.
"I support Mr. Singley's decision," Mr. Hill said. "He told us he's done his research. I'm confident."
Karen Rosenthal, incoming president of Irving High's PTA, wasn't familiar with Ms. Lujan-Kimm's situation at Molina.
"It concerns me," she said. "I would think if those were true facts, nobody would be happy about it."
But she added: "I would hope [Mr. Singley] was satisfied that she didn't have anything to do with [the missing money]."
At least $45,000 may have been taken from Molina High. Under Dallas district policy, principals are ultimately responsible for overseeing the management of activity funds.
Ms. Lujan-Kimm said she informed Dallas district officials about the missing money.
Following a DISD investigation, she was reassigned to a position of lesser responsibility. Her most recent Dallas job was secondary ESL program coordinator.
In her application to Mr. Singley, Ms. Lujan-Kimm cited her accomplishments at Molina High, including improvements on standardized test scores and increases in the number of students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses and taking AP exams. She was a finalist for the district's principal of the year award.
She said she's excited to be in charge of a school. She wants to focus on student achievement by making sure children graduate and don't drop out.
"I miss the kids," she said. "I'm looking forward to it."
In Irving, Ms. Lujan-Kimm will probably earn $100,000 to $106,000 annually, district officials said.
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