10 lives paid for trucker's mistakes
Before deadly crash, he sought a better life but violated safety rules
By GREGG JONES and DOUG J. SWANSON / The Dallas Morning News
No one can say that he did not work hard.
Coast to coast, night and day, Miroslaw Jozwiak drove an 18-wheeler. He hauled refrigerators, roof shingles, plastic bottles and whatever load needed moving.
He didn't stop until he killed 10 people with his truck. Mr. Jozwiak came to the U.S. in 1993, speaking fractured English and seeking a better life. In good times he averaged as much as $600 a week. Much of that he sent back to his family in Poland.
In this way he became the classic immigrant striver, sacrificing for the future, trusting that his own ceaseless labor ultimately would pay off for him and his family.
Maybe, in fact, he worked too hard.
Sometimes he drove too fast. His truck didn't always get the repairs it needed. Evidence shows that he fabricated some of his federally required driving records.
Seventeen months ago, on a cloudy September afternoon, Mr. Jozwiak headed north out of Dallas on another run, this one to Kansas City to pick up a load of mail. He never made it to the Red River.
On Sherman's southern edge, Mr. Jozwiak's Freightliner left the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 75, bounced across the median and plowed into southbound traffic.
Three of the people who died that day were children, none of them older than 4, trapped in their melting car seats as fire consumed their mother's SUV. Other victims – a crew of roofers returning from a job – were ripped apart by the force of the collision.
Mr. Jozwiak, 46, is scheduled to go to court next month on manslaughter charges. A civil trial probably will follow.
Friends describe him as a decent man who, through no fault of his own, had a tragic accident. "He's not a serial killer," said Ewa Smolarek of Chicago. "He did not do this on purpose."
In court, Mr. Jozwiak's defense team is expected to say that he, like so many other truckers, simply tried his best to make a living on the road.
And that could be the problem.
More than 5,000 Americans die each year in accidents involving commercial trucks.
The industry defends itself as safe. In nearly all instances, trucking associations say, the job is performed by honest drivers engaged in honorable labor. Without trucking, the nation's commerce would grind quickly to a halt.
However, since interstate shipping was deregulated in the 1980s, the number of trucking and bus companies has soared from 230,000 in 1990 to more than 677,000 in 2004. The opening of the market gave rise to thousands of small operators: 76 percent of the companies operate six or fewer vehicles, according to the most recent federal data.
Competition among these companies has transformed the trucking industry into a magnet for immigrants, felons and others with poor employment prospects. It has also produced punishing conditions for truckers, many of whom are paid by the mile. Drivers say it is nearly impossible to make a living wage while complying with laws and the demands of employers and their customers.
At the same time, shrinking federal and state funding has weakened the enforcement of safety regulations.
The political clout of the trucking lobby and of big retailers has helped block tougher laws to police the business. As a result, industry experts and watchdog groups say, untold legions of truckers work unsafe hours, or operate faulty equipment that inspectors fail to curb, or continue driving despite numerous traffic violations, or wipe out innocent people who try to share the road.
"Mirek" Jozwiak was one of those truckers.
His friends say he loved America. Mr. Jozwiak and his companions enjoyed picnics in Chicago parks. He talked longingly of bringing his family to the U.S. and staying here.
"He was just about to become a citizen," said Ms. Smolarek. "He had passed the exam and was awaiting the ceremony."
Mr. Jozwiak was born April 22, 1959, in Jelenia Gora, a town in southern Poland. Little is known about his childhood there under communist rule. On a job application form, he stated that he had completed high school. He also listed a mechanic's vocational school.
He married in 1982, and the couple had a daughter later that year. A son was born next. Friends say Mr. Jozwiak drove a truck to support his family.
In 1987, he and his wife divorced. Six years later, Mr. Jozwiak immigrated to the U.S. His passport photograph shows a man with a lean face and a slight smile.
How Mr. Jozwiak made a living in those first years in this country is unclear. Around 1996 or 1997, he worked for a Sarasota, Fla., carpenter named Bruno Dziedzic. Mr. Jozwiak was "a very good worker," Mr. Dziedzic said, "a very nice person, always on time ... a very good man."
Mr. Jozwiak left the job after six months. "He wanted to be a truck driver," Mr. Dziedzic said, "so he quit me."
He moved to the Chicago area and rented a 638-square-foot house in a tidy Berwyn neighborhood.
Mr. Jozwiak made Polish-speaking friends, read Polish-language newspapers and listened to Polish-language radio. From his Polish neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, he regularly sent money to family and friends in Poland.
"In this neighborhood we have probably 200 or 300 guys named Miroslaw," said Marta Downarowacz, a clerk at Doma Travel Inc., where Polish patrons wire money, ship packages and buy airline tickets. "Almost every guy drives trucks, and every second guy works construction."
On Feb. 13, 1996, Mr. Jozwiak walked into a state licensing facility in the Chicago suburb of McCook.
The McCook branch had a reputation: For a price, anyone could get a commercial trucker's license.
Four years earlier, a man named Richard Guzman, newly hired by a Chicago trucking company, had come there. A company official had paid someone to make sure Mr. Guzman passed the test.
In 1994, Mr. Guzman was driving a tractor-trailer rig near Milwaukee. Motorists saw a taillight assembly hanging precariously from the rear of his trailer. They tried to signal him to pull over. He didn't respond, and the metal assembly fell off his truck.
It struck a van behind the truck and punctured the gas tank. The van burst into flames, and six children died.
By the time that happened, Tammy Raynor was already convinced that commercial driver's licenses were being sold at McCook.
"It was Sodom and Gomorrah around here," said Ms. Raynor, a former McCook licensing examiner.
Applicants would come in and ask for a certain manager or employee to administer their tests. They would finish the tests in a fraction of the time it took most applicants, then leave with their commercial license. Other applicants took tests using interpreters, who Ms. Raynor suspected were giving answers. Some applicants used coded cheat-sheets.
Ms. Raynor reported her suspicions to supervisors. She was told to keep her mouth shut.
"I was standing on a rooftop and screaming, 'These people can't speak English and can't read road signs,' " Ms. Raynor said.
Her observations, and those of a co-worker, triggered Operation Safe Road, a federal investigation. Since 1998, the investigation has resulted in 74 convictions, including two former managers of the McCook licensing facility and the owners and instructors of several Chicago-area truck driving schools.
Charges are pending against five defendants, including former Illinois governor and secretary of state George Ryan, who faces fraud and racketeering charges for acts that were uncovered during the commercial driver's license investigation.
No evidence has been presented that Mr. Jozwiak's license, despite coming from McCook, was obtained fraudulently. But lawyers for the Sherman crash victims and their families are pursuing that question.
Mr. Jozwiak's lawyer, Cornel Walker, refused to make the trucker available for an interview.
"From everything he told me, from what I've learned, it appears to be a perfectly legitimate, proper license," Mr. Walker said.
In January 1998, Mr. Jozwiak began driving for Statewide Freight System Inc. of Elmhurst, Ill., a small company run by a husband-and-wife team. "He was very good, every time on time," said Boguslawa Ptaszek, president of Statewide. "He would never be a troublemaker."
But Statewide rarely made trips to Florida, where Mr. Jozwiak's sister lived. So in 2001 he went to work for K V Trucking of Crown Point, Ind. This was another small company – so small, in fact, that it was run out of the owners' house in a subdivision.
His driving record for K V shows numerous violations in multiple states.
In 2002, he got a ticket in Montana for driving his truck 77 mph in a 65 mph zone.
In November 2003, Mr. Jozwiak and other K V drivers were hauling loads of mail to the West Coast. A full inspection of his truck along Interstate 80 in California's Sierra Nevada found four violations: a dangerously worn front tire on his tractor unit, an over-length trailer, misadjusted brakes and brake hose chafing. Authorities issued two tickets.
The next month, Mr. Jozwiak flew to Poland. There, he posed for a photograph with Maria Barbara Dziurzynska in forested hills. On Jan. 10, 2004, he put on a black tuxedo and a maroon bow tie and married her.
Mr. Jozwiak also went to see a doctor at some point in the same trip. He later told another physician he had sought treatment for depression, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.
Back in the U.S., Mr. Jozwiak took to the road again for K V Trucking. His plan, friends said, was to make enough money to bring his new wife and children to America.
But he quickly ran into trouble again with inspectors, this time in New Mexico. Around 1 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2004, Mr. Jozwiak was driving west on Interstate 10, hauling industrial coolers from North Texas to Phoenix. He pulled into a commercial inspection station near Anthony, N.M., and when the inspection ended 55 minutes later, Mr. Jozwiak had been put out of service.
His tires were so worn and an air hose was so damaged that authorities said he could not keep driving until they were replaced. In all, inspectors noted 10 violations. Among them: His logbook, in which drivers are required by federal law to record hours and distance driven, had no mileage listed for three days. Also, an axle differential was leaking oil, steering components were worn and a trailer brake hose was chafing.
On top of that, he was ticketed for speeding in the weigh station.
His next spot of inspection trouble came five months later, on May 9, 2004, when he was hauling commercial refrigerators from Addison, Ill., to The Woodlands, near Houston. At a Missouri weigh station on Interstate 57, a highway patrolman ticketed Mr. Jozwiak for operating a commercial motor vehicle equipped with a radar detector, a federal misdemeanor.
He was ordered out of service because his trailer lights weren't working, and he was cited for having six worn trailer tires. Truckers are supposed to conduct pre-trip inspections of their tractor and trailer, looking for such problems.
A former roommate and fellow driver, Jaroslaw Poplawski of Chicago, said Mr. Jozwiak always told him to observe the federal hours-of-service rules that are supposed to keep tired truckers off the road. The rules limit interstate truckers to 11 hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
"He said, 'Never hurry.' He said, 'Don't rush too much, because the delivery will always happen,' " Mr. Poplawski recalled recently. "He cared about safety."
But an examination of some of Mr. Jozwiak's logs from 2004 shows discrepancies.
A May 9, 2004, log entry, for example, shows Mr. Jozwiak driving from Marion, Ill., to West Memphis, Ark., arriving at 3:30 p.m. But the trucker was detained at the Missouri weigh station from 1 to 1:43 p.m. and ordered to make repairs, according to the patrolman's inspection report.
Mr. Jozwiak's log also states that he continued on from West Memphis to Texarkana from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Yet a receipt shows that his truck was being repaired at 6:30 p.m. that day at a garage in Matthews, Mo. At 7:36 p.m., when he paid the garage bill with an American Express card, his logbook placed him 300 miles away in southern Arkansas.
On Aug. 6, 2004, Mr. Jozwiak was back in Texas. At a state inspection station in Cass County, he was ticketed for failure to secure cargo and for a badly worn tire. The inspection report also noted many other safety violations: an oil leak, a power-steering fluid leak, brake hose chafing, two defective side lamps and a damaged windshield. His logbook also wasn't updated to show him driving at the time.
Despite the long list of problems, the state trooper who performed the inspection did not order Mr. Jozwiak off the road. "Apparently they were not bad enough to put him out of service," said Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Eight days after the Texas trouble, Mr. Jozwiak was arrested by police in the Chicago suburb of North Riverside.
His logbook entries show him leaving Chicago at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 10, 2004, and arriving at 6:30 p.m. in Williamsville, Ill., about 180 miles to the south. He was resting in his truck's sleeper berth from 6:30 p.m. until 6:30 the following morning, according to his logbook entries.
Police documents, however, show that Mr. Jozwiak was stopped and arrested in North Riverside at 3:03 p.m. Aug. 10, for hauling an overweight load. At 6:30 p.m. – the time Mr. Jozwiak's logbook shows him arriving in Williamsville – Mr. Jozwiak was being released from jail after his employer posted a $1,165 bond, police documents show.
More safety problems followed.
On Sept. 9, 2004, Mr. Jozwiak was put out of service near Des Moines, Iowa, for 11 violations with his tractor-trailer. His tractor had maladjusted brakes, a cracked brake pad and a badly worn air-brake hose. His trailer had a tire tread worn below the legal limit of 2/32 inch, maladjusted brakes and worn brake pads.
Two hours later, after paying $584 for repairs, Mr. Jozwiak was on the road again.
The following week, he drove from Chicago to Portales, N.M., to Laredo and back to Chicago. On that trip he falsified his logbook at least four times, according to a transportation safety board analysis of his log, fuel slips, shipping papers and toll receipts.
In one log entry, for example, Mr. Jozwiak reported that he was resting in his truck's sleeper berth east of St. Louis at 6:15 p.m. Sept. 16.
A fuel receipt for 6:39 p.m. that day places him 434 miles away in Chouteau, Okla.
For Mr. Jozwiak, Sept. 20, 2004, started with frustration and ended with catastrophe.
That morning, his employer directed him to DFW Logistics, west of downtown Dallas, to pick up a load. But when he arrived, the dispatcher told him that he was too late and that his load had been assigned to another driver.
Mr. Jozwiak "became angry and belligerent before leaving," the dispatcher later told investigators.
After two hours of waiting at a truck stop, Mr. Jozwiak got a call about another job. Eagle Express had an empty trailer in Dallas that he could haul to Kansas City, where a load of mail would be waiting.
He picked up the trailer and headed north on U.S. Highway 75, out of Dallas and through the suburbs. He passed Plano, McKinney and the Collin County farmlands that are slowly giving way to subdivisions and shopping centers.
He was going about 65 mph as he approached Sherman. Traffic was heavy but free-flowing.
As Mr. Jozwiak traveled north, a crew of seven roofers – five from the same family – rolled south. They had spent the day working at Midway Mall. By 4:15 p.m., they were returning to Dallas in a 1990 Ford pickup.
Most of the men, exhausted from the long day's work, dozed. Javier Esparza sat in the right rear seat, asleep, his head against the window. That's where he always sat, he said later. "It was the best place to sleep."
In the lane next to the roofers was the Martin family, who had been to Sherman, too. They had purchased two children's bicycles from Toys 'R' Us.
Then the family headed south to their home outside McKinney. Lisa Martin drove her 2000 blue Ford Expedition. Her mother, Betsy Wood, sat beside her. In the back seats, Mrs. Martin's children: Chance, 4, Brock, 2, and 2-month-old Reid.
From the cab of his truck, Mr. Jozwiak made phone calls, 20 in all between 3:16 and 4:24 p.m., the last one 60 seconds long.
Just before 4:29 p.m., south of downtown Sherman, Mr. Jozwiak steered his truck from the right lane to the passing lane. Then, without slowing, the truck began to veer to the left and off the road.
"This truck went full speed into the median, bouncing significantly with a large dust plume visible," witness Tim Weidner told police.
Mr. Jozwiak's Freightliner crossed the grassy median and roared into the oncoming traffic of the southbound lanes.
He never touched his brakes.
News from the Lone Star State
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Test results unclear in poison scare at UT dorm
AUSTIN, Texas (DallasNews.com/AP) – The FBI said Saturday it was conducting further tests to verify if a powdery substance found in a University of Texas at Austin dormitory was the potentially deadly poison ricin.
A screening test conducted Friday by the Texas Department of State Health Services came back positive for ricin or a substance very close to it, department spokesman Doug McBride said. The state lab doesn't have the capability to positively confirm or refute those findings, he said.
Mike Elliott, senior district commander for the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services department, said additional tests came back negative or inconclusive, but Mr. McBride could not confirm that.
The Moore-Hill dormitory's roughly 400 residents were evacuated Friday night while hazardous materials crews cleaned and sanitized the dorm room and laundry room where the substance was found. They were back in their rooms by Saturday morning, and school officials said no students have shown symptoms of exposure such as dizziness or respiratory problems.
Kelly Heinbaugh, the 19-year-old freshman who found the substance on Thursday, said she was checked at a hospital on Friday night but hasn't shown any symptoms. Her roommate, whom she declined to name, also was evaluated and cleared.
Because people with ricin poisoning develop symptoms within a few hours, university officials are confident all the students will be fine, said Dr. Theresa Spalding with UT student health services.
The university said preliminary tests showed the substance to be ricin, but the FBI was conducting further tests, FBI spokesman Rene Salinas said. He said there was no indication of terrorism.
"There is nothing to lead us to believe that it is in fact a terrorist act," Mr. Salinas said. "There's no link to any terrorism."
Ms. Heinbaugh said the powder spilled onto her hands as she unwrapped a roll of quarters to do her laundry. She said she'd used five other rolls of quarters her mother had gotten from the same bank and found no powder.
"I guess you can say I was just weirded out," said Ms. Heinbaugh, a kinesiology major. "It seemed out of place ... I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry."
She called her mother, who told her to wash her hands and tell the dormitory manager. The manager called the university police, and environmental health and safety crews cleaned and sanitized the areas.
The student's dorm room and the laundry room where she'd used some of the quarters were cleaned and sanitized twice, university spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said.
Residents of the coed dormitory a block from UT's football stadium seemed mostly unconcerned about the poison Saturday.
Kendal Martel, a freshman, said rumors were rampant about what was going on as police and hazardous materials crews arrived Friday to evacuate the building.
"I was freaking out," she said. "There were rumors of weapons of mass destruction and things like that."
But resident Daniel Gentener said he was "never really worried."
"I thought they did things appropriately," he said. "I don't feel nervous about anything."
Deadly and easy to produce, ricin is extracted from castor beans.
AUSTIN, Texas (DallasNews.com/AP) – The FBI said Saturday it was conducting further tests to verify if a powdery substance found in a University of Texas at Austin dormitory was the potentially deadly poison ricin.
A screening test conducted Friday by the Texas Department of State Health Services came back positive for ricin or a substance very close to it, department spokesman Doug McBride said. The state lab doesn't have the capability to positively confirm or refute those findings, he said.
Mike Elliott, senior district commander for the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services department, said additional tests came back negative or inconclusive, but Mr. McBride could not confirm that.
The Moore-Hill dormitory's roughly 400 residents were evacuated Friday night while hazardous materials crews cleaned and sanitized the dorm room and laundry room where the substance was found. They were back in their rooms by Saturday morning, and school officials said no students have shown symptoms of exposure such as dizziness or respiratory problems.
Kelly Heinbaugh, the 19-year-old freshman who found the substance on Thursday, said she was checked at a hospital on Friday night but hasn't shown any symptoms. Her roommate, whom she declined to name, also was evaluated and cleared.
Because people with ricin poisoning develop symptoms within a few hours, university officials are confident all the students will be fine, said Dr. Theresa Spalding with UT student health services.
The university said preliminary tests showed the substance to be ricin, but the FBI was conducting further tests, FBI spokesman Rene Salinas said. He said there was no indication of terrorism.
"There is nothing to lead us to believe that it is in fact a terrorist act," Mr. Salinas said. "There's no link to any terrorism."
Ms. Heinbaugh said the powder spilled onto her hands as she unwrapped a roll of quarters to do her laundry. She said she'd used five other rolls of quarters her mother had gotten from the same bank and found no powder.
"I guess you can say I was just weirded out," said Ms. Heinbaugh, a kinesiology major. "It seemed out of place ... I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry."
She called her mother, who told her to wash her hands and tell the dormitory manager. The manager called the university police, and environmental health and safety crews cleaned and sanitized the areas.
The student's dorm room and the laundry room where she'd used some of the quarters were cleaned and sanitized twice, university spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said.
Residents of the coed dormitory a block from UT's football stadium seemed mostly unconcerned about the poison Saturday.
Kendal Martel, a freshman, said rumors were rampant about what was going on as police and hazardous materials crews arrived Friday to evacuate the building.
"I was freaking out," she said. "There were rumors of weapons of mass destruction and things like that."
But resident Daniel Gentener said he was "never really worried."
"I thought they did things appropriately," he said. "I don't feel nervous about anything."
Deadly and easy to produce, ricin is extracted from castor beans.
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Over 100 remember Fort Worth youth pastor
By CAROL CAVAZOS / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth Youth Pastor who lost his life in an icy car wreck on his way to church last weekend was remembered by more than 100 people Sunday.
Friends said David Phillips had already fulfilled his purpose at the age of 39-years-old, and called his service to young people at the Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth a perfect fit for him.
"[He was a] super smart and super just deep guy, but it was more than that because he was just fun and goofy and just liked to joke around and stuff," said Jamey Ice, a youth group member.
Many others also remembered Phillips for his humor.
"David has done a lot of practical jokes in his life," said Dixon Jowers, a staff member at the church.
While remembering the youth pastor, Jowers told a story of Phillips' humor still present after his death.
"My friend Jimmy was going through his desk, kind of tearfully looking at things, and found a lighter," "It was a shock lighter. He clicked it and got shocked and went, 'Oh Dave, you got me again.'"
While many talked of Phillips sense of humor, they said he took his faith seriously.
"His whole life was about drawing other people into worship," Jowers said.
Phillips lost his life on an icy road on Interstate 20 just past Aledo on his way to church.
"We say that, 'Oh it's a bad thing. God caused Dave's death," Jowers said. "But for a Christian death is freedom. God caused Dave's freedom."
Other mourners also managed to find hope at the service.
"Dave would have loved this," Ice said. "This is like a blessing for him and Christ Chapel even though it's sad that I lost a friend."
By CAROL CAVAZOS / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth Youth Pastor who lost his life in an icy car wreck on his way to church last weekend was remembered by more than 100 people Sunday.
Friends said David Phillips had already fulfilled his purpose at the age of 39-years-old, and called his service to young people at the Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth a perfect fit for him.
"[He was a] super smart and super just deep guy, but it was more than that because he was just fun and goofy and just liked to joke around and stuff," said Jamey Ice, a youth group member.
Many others also remembered Phillips for his humor.
"David has done a lot of practical jokes in his life," said Dixon Jowers, a staff member at the church.
While remembering the youth pastor, Jowers told a story of Phillips' humor still present after his death.
"My friend Jimmy was going through his desk, kind of tearfully looking at things, and found a lighter," "It was a shock lighter. He clicked it and got shocked and went, 'Oh Dave, you got me again.'"
While many talked of Phillips sense of humor, they said he took his faith seriously.
"His whole life was about drawing other people into worship," Jowers said.
Phillips lost his life on an icy road on Interstate 20 just past Aledo on his way to church.
"We say that, 'Oh it's a bad thing. God caused Dave's death," Jowers said. "But for a Christian death is freedom. God caused Dave's freedom."
Other mourners also managed to find hope at the service.
"Dave would have loved this," Ice said. "This is like a blessing for him and Christ Chapel even though it's sad that I lost a friend."
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FBI: Substance in UT dorm not ricin
AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) – A powdery substance found in a roll of quarters at a University of Texas dormitory was not the potentially deadly poison ricin FBI, the FBI said Sunday.
San Antonio FBI spokesman Rene Salinas, who is with the agency's joint terrorism task force, said it still isn't clear what the substance is. He said FBI testing conducted Sunday in Maryland came back negative for ricin, a deadly and easy to produce poison extracted from castor beans, and it is unlikely further testing will be done.
"There were no proteins in there to indicate it was in fact ricin," Salinas said.
A field test conducted by state authorities on the substance had come back earlier this week positive for ricin or a substance very close to it, Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Doug McBride said.
Salinas, however, said the state's field test was "just a quick test and they don't check for the proteins in ricin."
The FBI spokesman said it isn't clear whether the FBI will continue with its investigation into how the mystery substance ended up in the roll of quarters. If it was put there as a joke, Salinas said "it was an extremely bad joke."
FBI agents from Maryland arrived in Texas on Saturday and retrieved the sample, which was then returned to Fort Detrick, a military base where the testing took place.
Roughly 400 residents of the Moore-Hill dormitory at the college were evacuated Friday night while hazardous materials crews cleaned and sanitized the dorm room and laundry room where the substance was found.
Students were back in their rooms by Saturday morning, and school officials said no students had shown symptoms of exposure, such as dizziness or respiratory problems.
Kelly Heinbaugh, a 19-year-old freshman, said the powder spilled onto her hands as she unwrapped a roll of quarters to do her laundry on Thursday. She said she'd used five other rolls of quarters her mother had gotten from the same bank and none had powder in them.
Heinbaugh and her roommate were both evaluated and cleared at a hospital.
People with ricin poisoning develop symptoms within a few hours of exposure.
University officials said this weekend they were confident all the students would be fine.
AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) – A powdery substance found in a roll of quarters at a University of Texas dormitory was not the potentially deadly poison ricin FBI, the FBI said Sunday.
San Antonio FBI spokesman Rene Salinas, who is with the agency's joint terrorism task force, said it still isn't clear what the substance is. He said FBI testing conducted Sunday in Maryland came back negative for ricin, a deadly and easy to produce poison extracted from castor beans, and it is unlikely further testing will be done.
"There were no proteins in there to indicate it was in fact ricin," Salinas said.
A field test conducted by state authorities on the substance had come back earlier this week positive for ricin or a substance very close to it, Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Doug McBride said.
Salinas, however, said the state's field test was "just a quick test and they don't check for the proteins in ricin."
The FBI spokesman said it isn't clear whether the FBI will continue with its investigation into how the mystery substance ended up in the roll of quarters. If it was put there as a joke, Salinas said "it was an extremely bad joke."
FBI agents from Maryland arrived in Texas on Saturday and retrieved the sample, which was then returned to Fort Detrick, a military base where the testing took place.
Roughly 400 residents of the Moore-Hill dormitory at the college were evacuated Friday night while hazardous materials crews cleaned and sanitized the dorm room and laundry room where the substance was found.
Students were back in their rooms by Saturday morning, and school officials said no students had shown symptoms of exposure, such as dizziness or respiratory problems.
Kelly Heinbaugh, a 19-year-old freshman, said the powder spilled onto her hands as she unwrapped a roll of quarters to do her laundry on Thursday. She said she'd used five other rolls of quarters her mother had gotten from the same bank and none had powder in them.
Heinbaugh and her roommate were both evaluated and cleared at a hospital.
People with ricin poisoning develop symptoms within a few hours of exposure.
University officials said this weekend they were confident all the students would be fine.
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City has promises to keep in Joppa
Trinity River Project dredges up neglect, distrust in historic area
By SCOTT FARWELL / The Dallas Morning News
One in an occasional series.
Free men named this place Joppa after a biblical seaport, which in Hebrew means "beautiful" and "the beginning."
This is where former slaves gathered, under the canopy of a great forest, to celebrate their first scraps of freedom. Emancipated men bought land here, near a spring that ran clear and cold, planting dreams in wheat fields, beginning a long, slow harvest of human dignity.
Joppa is sacred, neglected, defiled.
It is one of the last freedman's towns in Texas, where a few descendants of those early settlers still live in ragged shacks. By day, scrawny dogs wander quiet streets. At night, rats skitter through piles of open trash.
Soon, Dallas officials say, Joppa may be delivered from decay.
Money from the $246 million Trinity River Project will pay for hike and bike trails into a community with few sidewalks. An equestrian center will be linked to a place where some people do not own cars. City leaders envision a vibrant town square filled with shops in a neighborhood now frequented by prostitutes and drug addicts.
Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan, who oversees the Trinity River Project, described the Joppa of tomorrow as "a historic place and a fun place to live."
Why the new interest in a community residents say has long been ignored?
"I can't do anything about the past," Ms. Jordan said. "I can only do something about the present and the future."
Longtime residents of Joppa, a community of about 600 people six miles south of downtown Dallas, say politicians never paid them much attention until the Trinity took shape.
Many homes did not have indoor plumbing until the 1980s. Some streets were dirt in the early 1990s, and many streetlights are still inoperable today. Joppa has always been easy to overlook. Hemmed in on one side by the Trinity River bottom and the other by a railroad-switching yard, it is a black community burdened by generational poverty.
Myron Miles, 64, stood last week on 11 acres purchased by his great-grandparents in 1892. On one side, heavy equipment clawed the earth. On the other, ducks swam in a small lake where his family's hogs have wallowed for more than 100 years.
"Here I am sitting here with a hog farm on a million-dollar project," he said. "So if I ain't got a million dollars worth of hog farm, that's going to make this whole Dallas area look bad, and that's what this whole thing is about."
'Change is scary'
Mr. Miles said the city of Dallas is not a benevolent force in Joppa. It is a bully.
Last September, a courier handed him a letter from Assistant City Attorney Amy Rickers that listed 54 code violations on his property. The infractions included grass longer than 12 inches, untrimmed tree limbs and illegal runoff from his hog pens.
The letter threatened a lawsuit and daily penalties as high as $5,000.
"Nobody is telling Mr. Miles he can't run a hog farm out there," Ms. Rickers said last week. "He just needs to run it in compliance with the Clean Water Act and Dallas city code."
Mr. Miles knows he needs to tighten up.
Even so, Mr. Miles believes his homestead and Joppa are seen as a blemish along the verdant fringe of the Trinity River Corridor.
"This is a poor neighborhood, and they're going to get us out of here," he said. "That's point blank."
Dallas officials say Joppa is a historic treasure and have pledged to lift its fortunes.
During one week in May, Habitat for Humanity volunteers will descend on the community and build 22 homes. Cindy Lutz, director of real estate for the nonprofit group, said 50 houses will go up this year.
Habitat homes in Joppa will cost between $65,000 and $75,000, for a three-bedroom, two-bath place with a breezeway and a porch.
"This type of area would be largely forgotten if somebody like Habitat didn't step in," she said. "There were over 300 vacant lots in Joppa; it was pretty staggering."
Those empty spaces worry 45-year-old community matriarch Denise Fowler, who is known as "Queen Joppa."
She said amenities along the Trinity River Corridor, and the community's location at the intersection of two arteries, Loop 12 and Highway 45, have already attracted developers.
"My worst nightmare is that we'll wake up one morning and there'll be condos coming up and mini-malls," she said, sitting in a pew at Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church, one of the neighborhood's 18 houses of worship. "Our heritage will be lost, and there will never be a Joppa again."
Ms. Jordan described the dilemma as a crossroad.
The community is "poised for major business development," she said. "The question is, 'Do the people of Joppa want to stay?' If they want to stay, the city is committed to helping them do so."
Ms. Lutz predicted that old homes, ancient deed records and overdue taxes would discourage most homebuilders from devouring Joppa.
"It's not easy to buy land when the property has been long abandoned," she said. "Finding the heirs, a clear title and paying taxes, all that stuff is not easy."
'Rooftops and retail'
For better or worse, Joppa's immediate future is fused with the Trinity River Project.
"Now that we're going to be surrounded by eco-tourism, and yachts, and an equestrian center," Ms. Fowler said, they "want to give us the attention we've always wanted."
A Morning News reporter questioned Dallas public information officer Celso Martinez on Thursday about the city's commitment to Joppa. Mr. Martinez called a news conference on the topic less than an hour later.
"We recognize this is an important neighborhood from a heritage standpoint, a livability standpoint," he said in an interview. "Have we done right by them throughout the years? Probably not. But we are doing something about it now, most assuredly."
One of the two roads into Joppa floods during heavy rain, forcing emergency vehicles to wait at a busy railroad crossing to get into the community. City Council members Don Hill and Dr. Maxine Thornton-Reese, who share representation of the community, said the city has invested $9.1 million in Joppa during the last decade.
Most of the money, more than $5 million, paid for a bridge over the railroad tracks expected to open in April or May when Joppa residents march across a steel and concrete expanse singing "We've Come This Far by Faith." City officials asked several longtime Joppa residents to come to Dallas City Hall for Friday's news conference.
Ms. Fowler said a representative from Mr. Hill's office called before the meeting.
"He told me, 'Be positive; it's a positive thing,' " she said.
Mr. Hill said Joppa residents were not coached before the news conference.
He and Dr. Thornton-Reese pledged more than $4 million for sidewalks, curbs, gutters, historic streetlights, and for the construction of a gateway from Joppa into the Trinity River Corridor.
"We want to revitalize Joppa with rooftops and retail," Dr. Thornton-Reese said. "This marks the beginning of this revitalization. The Joppa community plan will maintain its historic value."
At the conclusion of the news conference, Ms. Fowler praised and thanked her elected officials in front of the assembled television cameras.
Afterward, when asked about the speech, she ducked her head, and smiled.
"Yeah," Ms. Fowler said, "I did it. But for 4 million dollars, it was worth it."
Trinity River Project dredges up neglect, distrust in historic area
By SCOTT FARWELL / The Dallas Morning News
One in an occasional series.
Free men named this place Joppa after a biblical seaport, which in Hebrew means "beautiful" and "the beginning."
This is where former slaves gathered, under the canopy of a great forest, to celebrate their first scraps of freedom. Emancipated men bought land here, near a spring that ran clear and cold, planting dreams in wheat fields, beginning a long, slow harvest of human dignity.
Joppa is sacred, neglected, defiled.
It is one of the last freedman's towns in Texas, where a few descendants of those early settlers still live in ragged shacks. By day, scrawny dogs wander quiet streets. At night, rats skitter through piles of open trash.
Soon, Dallas officials say, Joppa may be delivered from decay.
Money from the $246 million Trinity River Project will pay for hike and bike trails into a community with few sidewalks. An equestrian center will be linked to a place where some people do not own cars. City leaders envision a vibrant town square filled with shops in a neighborhood now frequented by prostitutes and drug addicts.
Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan, who oversees the Trinity River Project, described the Joppa of tomorrow as "a historic place and a fun place to live."
Why the new interest in a community residents say has long been ignored?
"I can't do anything about the past," Ms. Jordan said. "I can only do something about the present and the future."
Longtime residents of Joppa, a community of about 600 people six miles south of downtown Dallas, say politicians never paid them much attention until the Trinity took shape.
Many homes did not have indoor plumbing until the 1980s. Some streets were dirt in the early 1990s, and many streetlights are still inoperable today. Joppa has always been easy to overlook. Hemmed in on one side by the Trinity River bottom and the other by a railroad-switching yard, it is a black community burdened by generational poverty.
Myron Miles, 64, stood last week on 11 acres purchased by his great-grandparents in 1892. On one side, heavy equipment clawed the earth. On the other, ducks swam in a small lake where his family's hogs have wallowed for more than 100 years.
"Here I am sitting here with a hog farm on a million-dollar project," he said. "So if I ain't got a million dollars worth of hog farm, that's going to make this whole Dallas area look bad, and that's what this whole thing is about."
'Change is scary'
Mr. Miles said the city of Dallas is not a benevolent force in Joppa. It is a bully.
Last September, a courier handed him a letter from Assistant City Attorney Amy Rickers that listed 54 code violations on his property. The infractions included grass longer than 12 inches, untrimmed tree limbs and illegal runoff from his hog pens.
The letter threatened a lawsuit and daily penalties as high as $5,000.
"Nobody is telling Mr. Miles he can't run a hog farm out there," Ms. Rickers said last week. "He just needs to run it in compliance with the Clean Water Act and Dallas city code."
Mr. Miles knows he needs to tighten up.
Even so, Mr. Miles believes his homestead and Joppa are seen as a blemish along the verdant fringe of the Trinity River Corridor.
"This is a poor neighborhood, and they're going to get us out of here," he said. "That's point blank."
Dallas officials say Joppa is a historic treasure and have pledged to lift its fortunes.
During one week in May, Habitat for Humanity volunteers will descend on the community and build 22 homes. Cindy Lutz, director of real estate for the nonprofit group, said 50 houses will go up this year.
Habitat homes in Joppa will cost between $65,000 and $75,000, for a three-bedroom, two-bath place with a breezeway and a porch.
"This type of area would be largely forgotten if somebody like Habitat didn't step in," she said. "There were over 300 vacant lots in Joppa; it was pretty staggering."
Those empty spaces worry 45-year-old community matriarch Denise Fowler, who is known as "Queen Joppa."
She said amenities along the Trinity River Corridor, and the community's location at the intersection of two arteries, Loop 12 and Highway 45, have already attracted developers.
"My worst nightmare is that we'll wake up one morning and there'll be condos coming up and mini-malls," she said, sitting in a pew at Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church, one of the neighborhood's 18 houses of worship. "Our heritage will be lost, and there will never be a Joppa again."
Ms. Jordan described the dilemma as a crossroad.
The community is "poised for major business development," she said. "The question is, 'Do the people of Joppa want to stay?' If they want to stay, the city is committed to helping them do so."
Ms. Lutz predicted that old homes, ancient deed records and overdue taxes would discourage most homebuilders from devouring Joppa.
"It's not easy to buy land when the property has been long abandoned," she said. "Finding the heirs, a clear title and paying taxes, all that stuff is not easy."
'Rooftops and retail'
For better or worse, Joppa's immediate future is fused with the Trinity River Project.
"Now that we're going to be surrounded by eco-tourism, and yachts, and an equestrian center," Ms. Fowler said, they "want to give us the attention we've always wanted."
A Morning News reporter questioned Dallas public information officer Celso Martinez on Thursday about the city's commitment to Joppa. Mr. Martinez called a news conference on the topic less than an hour later.
"We recognize this is an important neighborhood from a heritage standpoint, a livability standpoint," he said in an interview. "Have we done right by them throughout the years? Probably not. But we are doing something about it now, most assuredly."
One of the two roads into Joppa floods during heavy rain, forcing emergency vehicles to wait at a busy railroad crossing to get into the community. City Council members Don Hill and Dr. Maxine Thornton-Reese, who share representation of the community, said the city has invested $9.1 million in Joppa during the last decade.
Most of the money, more than $5 million, paid for a bridge over the railroad tracks expected to open in April or May when Joppa residents march across a steel and concrete expanse singing "We've Come This Far by Faith." City officials asked several longtime Joppa residents to come to Dallas City Hall for Friday's news conference.
Ms. Fowler said a representative from Mr. Hill's office called before the meeting.
"He told me, 'Be positive; it's a positive thing,' " she said.
Mr. Hill said Joppa residents were not coached before the news conference.
He and Dr. Thornton-Reese pledged more than $4 million for sidewalks, curbs, gutters, historic streetlights, and for the construction of a gateway from Joppa into the Trinity River Corridor.
"We want to revitalize Joppa with rooftops and retail," Dr. Thornton-Reese said. "This marks the beginning of this revitalization. The Joppa community plan will maintain its historic value."
At the conclusion of the news conference, Ms. Fowler praised and thanked her elected officials in front of the assembled television cameras.
Afterward, when asked about the speech, she ducked her head, and smiled.
"Yeah," Ms. Fowler said, "I did it. But for 4 million dollars, it was worth it."
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TexasStooge
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Police make arrests at kids treatment center
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
DENTON, Texas - Denton police arrested children at a residential treatment center Saturday night for rioting.
Police said an altercation involving several children happened at the Kenneth W. and Billie Jo Nelson Children’s Center in the 4600 block of Interstate 35E. Police said several of the children were arrested and are being detained at the Denton County Juvenile Detention Center.
The names and number of children detained were not released Sunday, and neither were details of the altercation.
The residential facility is a treatment center for emotionally disturbed children ages 6 to 15.
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
DENTON, Texas - Denton police arrested children at a residential treatment center Saturday night for rioting.
Police said an altercation involving several children happened at the Kenneth W. and Billie Jo Nelson Children’s Center in the 4600 block of Interstate 35E. Police said several of the children were arrested and are being detained at the Denton County Juvenile Detention Center.
The names and number of children detained were not released Sunday, and neither were details of the altercation.
The residential facility is a treatment center for emotionally disturbed children ages 6 to 15.
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TexasStooge
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Plano shooting suspect surrenders
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas - A 23-year-old man sought for questioning in connection with a fatal shooting turned himself into Plano police early Sunday.
Caster Chatman Jr. is being held by Plano police in connection with the shooting death Saturday night of 27-year-old Robert Lee Parker.
Police responded to the 3000 block of Monarch Drive at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday and found Mr. Parker. He was transported to the Medical Center of Plano where he died.
Police said Mr. Chatman was arrested on their homicide warrant and for unrelated warrants issued by the FBI.
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas - A 23-year-old man sought for questioning in connection with a fatal shooting turned himself into Plano police early Sunday.
Caster Chatman Jr. is being held by Plano police in connection with the shooting death Saturday night of 27-year-old Robert Lee Parker.
Police responded to the 3000 block of Monarch Drive at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday and found Mr. Parker. He was transported to the Medical Center of Plano where he died.
Police said Mr. Chatman was arrested on their homicide warrant and for unrelated warrants issued by the FBI.
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TexasStooge
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One killed, one arrested in Dallas wreck
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police are investigating a Sunday car accident that killed one person and seriously injured another.
A van heading southbound on Harry Hines Boulevard at about 4:45 a.m. Sunday struck a car heading westbound on Northwest Highway. The passenger in the car died as a result of the accident. The driver of the car was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, and was listed in serious condition Sunday.
The driver of the van was charged with one count of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault, police said.
The names of those involved were not released Sunday.
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police are investigating a Sunday car accident that killed one person and seriously injured another.
A van heading southbound on Harry Hines Boulevard at about 4:45 a.m. Sunday struck a car heading westbound on Northwest Highway. The passenger in the car died as a result of the accident. The driver of the car was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, and was listed in serious condition Sunday.
The driver of the van was charged with one count of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault, police said.
The names of those involved were not released Sunday.
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TexasStooge
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3 die across N. Texas in babysitters' care
By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8
The parents of 18-month-old Rowyn Clark were one of three parents since Friday who lost their children after they placed their child's safety in the hands of a sitter.
In three seperate cases across North Texas, children being cared for by someone other than their parents died. Two people face capital murder charges and two others were charged with injury to a child.
Clark's parents said their trust was fatally broken after their child died in the hands of the babysitter.
Police said that was also the case in Irving where police charged Isaiah Nunez with capital murder in the case of a 7-month-old boy's death. His girlfriend was babysitting the infant.
In Dallas, police responded to a call at an apartment where a couple was charged with injury to a child in the death of their 19-month-old nephew in their care. Police have not released information on injuries.
Such deaths and injuries are something many working parents fear while searching for someone to look after their child, and such was the case with Rowyn Clark's parent.
Scott and Autumn Clark said it was a difficult decision searching for someone they trusted.
"She loved her family and we really loved her," Scott Clark said.
The Clarks decided to trust their daughter with Tiffany Harper, who was a family friend and neighbor. The 25-year-old babysitter is now charged with capital murder in the child's death and shaken baby syndrome is being looked into as the cause of death.
"It's been seen that children that are in an unlicensed child care setting are at a greater risk for being injured or hurt," said Marissa Gonzales, Child Protective Services.
Shaken baby syndrome is something CPS authorities said can happen when parents or sitters let their stress and anger take over.
"Shaking a baby can result in death or permanent damage," said Margaret Patterson, Child Abuse Prevention Center.
Patterson said crying often triggers shaking.
"The number one thing we tell parents is to make sure the baby is safe and walk away," Patterson said.
CPS also advises parents to leave their children at a licensed facility whether that's in a home or daycare.
"It really is much safer for your child to look for someone who has that background and is going to be regulated by the state," Patterson said.
A fund is set up in Rowyn Clark's name and donations can be taken at The Texas Star Bank in McKinney.
By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8
The parents of 18-month-old Rowyn Clark were one of three parents since Friday who lost their children after they placed their child's safety in the hands of a sitter.
In three seperate cases across North Texas, children being cared for by someone other than their parents died. Two people face capital murder charges and two others were charged with injury to a child.
Clark's parents said their trust was fatally broken after their child died in the hands of the babysitter.
Police said that was also the case in Irving where police charged Isaiah Nunez with capital murder in the case of a 7-month-old boy's death. His girlfriend was babysitting the infant.
In Dallas, police responded to a call at an apartment where a couple was charged with injury to a child in the death of their 19-month-old nephew in their care. Police have not released information on injuries.
Such deaths and injuries are something many working parents fear while searching for someone to look after their child, and such was the case with Rowyn Clark's parent.
Scott and Autumn Clark said it was a difficult decision searching for someone they trusted.
"She loved her family and we really loved her," Scott Clark said.
The Clarks decided to trust their daughter with Tiffany Harper, who was a family friend and neighbor. The 25-year-old babysitter is now charged with capital murder in the child's death and shaken baby syndrome is being looked into as the cause of death.
"It's been seen that children that are in an unlicensed child care setting are at a greater risk for being injured or hurt," said Marissa Gonzales, Child Protective Services.
Shaken baby syndrome is something CPS authorities said can happen when parents or sitters let their stress and anger take over.
"Shaking a baby can result in death or permanent damage," said Margaret Patterson, Child Abuse Prevention Center.
Patterson said crying often triggers shaking.
"The number one thing we tell parents is to make sure the baby is safe and walk away," Patterson said.
CPS also advises parents to leave their children at a licensed facility whether that's in a home or daycare.
"It really is much safer for your child to look for someone who has that background and is going to be regulated by the state," Patterson said.
A fund is set up in Rowyn Clark's name and donations can be taken at The Texas Star Bank in McKinney.
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TexasStooge
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- Contact:
Questions raised on JP's residence
Homestead in another county is 'weekend' home, judge says
By JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News
Where, exactly, does Dallas County Justice of the Peace Ken "Blackie" Blackington live?
As the elected justice of the peace for the southeastern part of Dallas County, the JP is required by the Texas constitution to live in his precinct.
Yet for over two years, Judge Blackington has claimed a property tax homestead exemption on a house he owns in Forney, which is in Kaufman County. State tax law says homestead exemptions can be applied only to one's principal residence.
Judge Blackington said he does live in Dallas County, in Mesquite, the heart of his precinct. He said that after he sold his Mesquite home about a year ago, he moved into the home of his daughter and son-in-law, and even pays them rent. He described his home in Forney as a "weekend" home.
He says he meets the criteria to keep his job, which pays him a salary of just under $100,000. JPs can also earn $50,000 to $150,000 more each year performing marriages.
"You can't just look at the tax roll" to determine where someone's primary residence is, the judge said. "Your residence is your dwelling and where you do your everyday life activities. I work here [in Mesquite], shop here, and I maintain a residence here."
He said he has receipts of his rent payments but would not share them.
But if he does live with his daughter, he faces a different dilemma. When filling out the Kaufman County application for a homestead exemption, he declared Forney his primary residence. And beneath the line on the form for his signature, in bold letters, is this: "If you make a false statement on this application, you could be found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor or a state jail felony."
Judge Blackington denied it, but records show that he claimed a homestead exemption in 2004 and 2005 on his Forney house and the one he had owned in Mesquite.
"He shouldn't have the exemption in both places. You can't have more than one," said Cheryl Jordan with the Dallas Central Appraisal District.
The Forney exemption saved the Blackingtons about $250 in 2004, and the Mesquite exemption saved them about $400.
There are other questions.
Judge Blackington has listed his daughter's Mesquite address on his campaign documents, on his voter registration card and on his and his wife's driver's licenses. But he registered his 2005 Toyota Prius under his Kaufman County address. The Texas transportation code says a registration application must be made through the "county in which the owner resides."
About the car, he explained, "We use it to get back and forth to that house on the weekend."
Elected officials must fill out a personal financial statement each year, listing assets, including real property, and any gain or loss from the sale of such property. On his statements for the past three years – including one he filed this month – Judge Blackington listed neither his Forney house, which he purchased in 2003, nor his Mesquite house, which he sold in 2005.
"I'll just have to go back and review that," he said.
Tim Sorrells with the Texas Ethics Commission said that if a citizen files a complaint, such omissions could carry a civil penalty of up to $5,000. It also carries possible criminal penalties as a class B misdemeanor.
Rodney Sanford, a retired Mesquite resident who said he is a former hunting partner of the judge, said Sunday that the Forney house is filled with the Blackingtons' clothes and furniture. It's clearly their primary residence, he said.
"Why would you buy a 4,100-square-foot home and then move in with your daughter and her family in a 1,300-square-foot home? No way – it doesn't happen," Mr. Sanford said.
"He's just that type of person," Mr. Sanford said. "He thinks he's beyond the law."
Jeff Foster, who was also part of the hunting group, said Sunday that he has been to the judge's Forney house numerous times, and saw closets full of clothes and the judge's Jack Russell terrier.
Several neighbors who live on the same block as Judge Blackington's daughter in Mesquite said they rarely see the gray-haired judge. A few others said they see the judge often, but could not say whether he actually lived there. Calls to the Mesquite home were not returned Sunday.
Judge Blackington's next-door neighbor in Forney would say nothing about the frequency of the judge's stays.
The judge's daughter, Christy Humphreys, did not return phone messages left over several days.
Michael Windham, 34, a private practice lawyer running in the Republican primary against Judge Blackington, said a judge "takes an oath to support and defend the law. But you can't honor the law when you're breaking it, especially for personal gain. The people deserve better than this. The office deserves better."
The judge's Forney home sits atop a small bluff just a half-mile east of the Dallas-Kaufman county line, and about 10 miles from Judge Blackington's daughter's house. It has a sweeping view to the south of open grassland. A horse farm sprawls across the street.
The residence and property are appraised at $371,000. The pale brick and stone-fronted house sits on over 2 acres, and a black metal gate, decorated with a medallion in the shape of Texas, bars entry to the front drive.
Judge Blackington, 59, first ran for justice of the peace as a Democrat in 1990. During that campaign, both sides raised eyebrows because of the campaign contributions they took from local Teamsters. A justice of the peace presides over hearings involving traffic tickets, and the Mesquite precinct includes long stretches of highway. Truckers often receive traffic tickets.
"Those fellows down at the Teamsters Hall there, I've already talked to them, and I've got good support down there," he told The Dallas Morning News during that campaign. "One of the head men down there told me, 'If there's any problems when you get through with this, and there's any debts incurred, why we'll retire them for you.' "
Judge Blackington won, but four years later, he lost his re-election bid.
In 1996, Mr. Blackington, running as a Republican, regained the seat, and has held it since.
He made headlines in 2002 after ordering a 79-year-old grandmother to jail for three days after the woman failed to pay fines when her granddaughter skipped high school classes.
He had given the grandmother a chance to wipe out the $500 fine by attending a counseling session. When she didn't attend, he ordered her to pay the fine or go to jail. She went to jail. "I was complying with what I was obligated to do under law," he said at the time.
Homestead in another county is 'weekend' home, judge says
By JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News
Where, exactly, does Dallas County Justice of the Peace Ken "Blackie" Blackington live?
As the elected justice of the peace for the southeastern part of Dallas County, the JP is required by the Texas constitution to live in his precinct.
Yet for over two years, Judge Blackington has claimed a property tax homestead exemption on a house he owns in Forney, which is in Kaufman County. State tax law says homestead exemptions can be applied only to one's principal residence.
Judge Blackington said he does live in Dallas County, in Mesquite, the heart of his precinct. He said that after he sold his Mesquite home about a year ago, he moved into the home of his daughter and son-in-law, and even pays them rent. He described his home in Forney as a "weekend" home.
He says he meets the criteria to keep his job, which pays him a salary of just under $100,000. JPs can also earn $50,000 to $150,000 more each year performing marriages.
"You can't just look at the tax roll" to determine where someone's primary residence is, the judge said. "Your residence is your dwelling and where you do your everyday life activities. I work here [in Mesquite], shop here, and I maintain a residence here."
He said he has receipts of his rent payments but would not share them.
But if he does live with his daughter, he faces a different dilemma. When filling out the Kaufman County application for a homestead exemption, he declared Forney his primary residence. And beneath the line on the form for his signature, in bold letters, is this: "If you make a false statement on this application, you could be found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor or a state jail felony."
Judge Blackington denied it, but records show that he claimed a homestead exemption in 2004 and 2005 on his Forney house and the one he had owned in Mesquite.
"He shouldn't have the exemption in both places. You can't have more than one," said Cheryl Jordan with the Dallas Central Appraisal District.
The Forney exemption saved the Blackingtons about $250 in 2004, and the Mesquite exemption saved them about $400.
There are other questions.
Judge Blackington has listed his daughter's Mesquite address on his campaign documents, on his voter registration card and on his and his wife's driver's licenses. But he registered his 2005 Toyota Prius under his Kaufman County address. The Texas transportation code says a registration application must be made through the "county in which the owner resides."
About the car, he explained, "We use it to get back and forth to that house on the weekend."
Elected officials must fill out a personal financial statement each year, listing assets, including real property, and any gain or loss from the sale of such property. On his statements for the past three years – including one he filed this month – Judge Blackington listed neither his Forney house, which he purchased in 2003, nor his Mesquite house, which he sold in 2005.
"I'll just have to go back and review that," he said.
Tim Sorrells with the Texas Ethics Commission said that if a citizen files a complaint, such omissions could carry a civil penalty of up to $5,000. It also carries possible criminal penalties as a class B misdemeanor.
Rodney Sanford, a retired Mesquite resident who said he is a former hunting partner of the judge, said Sunday that the Forney house is filled with the Blackingtons' clothes and furniture. It's clearly their primary residence, he said.
"Why would you buy a 4,100-square-foot home and then move in with your daughter and her family in a 1,300-square-foot home? No way – it doesn't happen," Mr. Sanford said.
"He's just that type of person," Mr. Sanford said. "He thinks he's beyond the law."
Jeff Foster, who was also part of the hunting group, said Sunday that he has been to the judge's Forney house numerous times, and saw closets full of clothes and the judge's Jack Russell terrier.
Several neighbors who live on the same block as Judge Blackington's daughter in Mesquite said they rarely see the gray-haired judge. A few others said they see the judge often, but could not say whether he actually lived there. Calls to the Mesquite home were not returned Sunday.
Judge Blackington's next-door neighbor in Forney would say nothing about the frequency of the judge's stays.
The judge's daughter, Christy Humphreys, did not return phone messages left over several days.
Michael Windham, 34, a private practice lawyer running in the Republican primary against Judge Blackington, said a judge "takes an oath to support and defend the law. But you can't honor the law when you're breaking it, especially for personal gain. The people deserve better than this. The office deserves better."
The judge's Forney home sits atop a small bluff just a half-mile east of the Dallas-Kaufman county line, and about 10 miles from Judge Blackington's daughter's house. It has a sweeping view to the south of open grassland. A horse farm sprawls across the street.
The residence and property are appraised at $371,000. The pale brick and stone-fronted house sits on over 2 acres, and a black metal gate, decorated with a medallion in the shape of Texas, bars entry to the front drive.
Judge Blackington, 59, first ran for justice of the peace as a Democrat in 1990. During that campaign, both sides raised eyebrows because of the campaign contributions they took from local Teamsters. A justice of the peace presides over hearings involving traffic tickets, and the Mesquite precinct includes long stretches of highway. Truckers often receive traffic tickets.
"Those fellows down at the Teamsters Hall there, I've already talked to them, and I've got good support down there," he told The Dallas Morning News during that campaign. "One of the head men down there told me, 'If there's any problems when you get through with this, and there's any debts incurred, why we'll retire them for you.' "
Judge Blackington won, but four years later, he lost his re-election bid.
In 1996, Mr. Blackington, running as a Republican, regained the seat, and has held it since.
He made headlines in 2002 after ordering a 79-year-old grandmother to jail for three days after the woman failed to pay fines when her granddaughter skipped high school classes.
He had given the grandmother a chance to wipe out the $500 fine by attending a counseling session. When she didn't attend, he ordered her to pay the fine or go to jail. She went to jail. "I was complying with what I was obligated to do under law," he said at the time.
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TexasStooge
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Plano ponders flu pandemic response
Like most suburbs, city would be severely tested in worst-case scenario
By JAKE BATSELL / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas - With bird flu cases continuing to crop up around the world, Plano health officials are drawing up plans for a worst-case pandemic scenario.
But as suburban governments like Plano begin planning how to respond to a flu pandemic, their efforts highlight how strapped the suburbs would be in the event of a major public health crisis.
Recent events have also brought a heightened sense of urgency.
Six months after Hurricane Katrina brought a stream of evacuees to North Texas, suburban cities and counties say the chance of catastrophe doesn't seem so remote anymore.
"Before, when we had these mandates and you've got to make these plans, we thought, 'Well, oh, yeah, we'll make them. We'll put them on a shelf somewhere,' " Plano Mayor Pat Evans said. "Now, we're paying real close attention."
A severe flu pandemic would hospitalize thousands of Plano residents and kill hundreds, according to city projections.
But Plano's three hospitals have only 754 beds and a combined morgue capacity of 11.
"People who live in suburbs often get their medical care in the city – that's certainly where the more specialized health centers tend to be," said Jeffrey Levi, senior policy adviser for the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, a health advocacy group.
"In a suburban or rural community that tends to have much smaller hospitals to begin with, the impact of a surge, I think, would be quite significant."
Plano's pandemic flu response plan will be presented tonight to the City Council. It requires each city department to map out how it would keep functioning if a wave of staffers suddenly fell ill.
"This may or may not happen," said Brian Collins, Plano's environmental health director. "But the potential is there, and you're better off if you plan and prepare for it."
There's no need to panic, Mr. Collins said, emphasizing that the city's plan is based on a worst-case scenario and that no human-to-human bird flu cases have been reported anywhere in the world.
Last week, Mr. Collins asked Plano department heads to develop continuity plans by mid-April assuming that a flu pandemic sickened 30 percent to 50 percent of their staff.
No drills planned
No flu-response drills are planned in Plano. Health officials are busy organizing other emergency drills for hurricanes, terrorist attacks and cyber-attacks on computer systems. But Mr. Collins said a flu drill is "on the burner."
In Collin and Tarrant counties, health officials presented pandemic flu-response plans last year to county commissioners. In Dallas County, city and county officials are in the early planning stages.
In the suburbs, Irving and Garland are among other North Texas cities with plans in the works. Such plans, organizers say, are meant to get the ball rolling and often raise more questions than they resolve.
"We've written this plan with not a lot of answers," said Karen Kaighan, bioterrorism coordinator for Collin County, whose draft plan focuses on working in tandem with local cities as well as providing for rural residents who don't have city health departments.
Garland schedules drill
Garland officials will take part this spring in an all-day "tabletop drill" with a story line that envisions a human-to-human flu strain in Texas with no available vaccine or effective antiviral drugs.
"It's a grim scenario, but local governments really can come up with functional plans that will be the difference ... when and if a pandemic occurs," said John Teel, Garland's director of health.
Under a severe flu pandemic – a modern version of the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed 40 million people worldwide – Plano would have less than 10 percent of the 8,290 hospital beds it would need to care for those sickened by the virus.
Dallas County wouldn't have enough beds, either, but its hospitals have enough capacity to accommodate more than half the 70,000 victims who would be in need of hospitalization, according to Dallas County projections. Collin County has no equivalent to Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas County's massive medical center.
Those projections, based on the 1918 pandemic, don't take into account the medical advances of the past century. But the scenario underscores how far suburbs trail their urban counterparts when it comes to medical facilities.
"Urban areas tend to have a deeper public health infrastructure on which to rely," Mr. Levi said.
While suburbs are seeing more cases of HIV and tuberculosis, they generally lack the infectious-disease experience of larger cities' health departments, he said.
Ms. Evans said she found Mr. Collins' straightforward summary of Plano's medical capacity in a crisis to be sobering.
"I was shocked when he gave us the number of hospital beds in Plano," said Ms. Evans, who heard an earlier version of Mr. Collins' report.
Unlike a targeted event such as a hurricane, a flu pandemic would equally affect neighboring cities and counties. So sending sick residents elsewhere would probably not be possible.
Improvisation needed
That means suburbs would need to create makeshift hospital wards at school gymnasiums, community centers, religious buildings and vacant big-box stores – not unlike what many North Texas cities did to accommodate evacuees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"If it happens the way people are talking about it happening, it's going to be of such a magnitude that there isn't a community in the country that's going to have the kind of capacity that's needed," Mr. Levi said. "So every community needs to start determining how they're going to deal with it."
So far, the bird flu virus has been mostly limited to cases in Asia and Europe, infecting only those people who came in close contact with infected poultry. But city officials say media coverage of those cases has aroused concern among local residents.
"I'm sensing a little bit of a feverish pitch from some citizens," said Mr. Teel of Garland. "I've had people call me and ask me, should they go buy and stockpile masks, should they go get them now."
Mr. Collins said the best thing people can do now, in addition to routine precautions such as flu shots and washing your hands, is what he's asking of his city department heads – use government checklists to come up with a response plan.
'Nobody to help'
"In this scenario, you have the potential for 30 percent to 50 percent of the entire population to be sick and not able to respond, the government essentially crashing, and nobody to help you," he said.
"That's why I'm saying it's important for individuals and families and businesses and faith-based groups ... to start developing their plan to take care of their needs, and not depend on other people to do that for them."
Like most suburbs, city would be severely tested in worst-case scenario
By JAKE BATSELL / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas - With bird flu cases continuing to crop up around the world, Plano health officials are drawing up plans for a worst-case pandemic scenario.
But as suburban governments like Plano begin planning how to respond to a flu pandemic, their efforts highlight how strapped the suburbs would be in the event of a major public health crisis.
Recent events have also brought a heightened sense of urgency.
Six months after Hurricane Katrina brought a stream of evacuees to North Texas, suburban cities and counties say the chance of catastrophe doesn't seem so remote anymore.
"Before, when we had these mandates and you've got to make these plans, we thought, 'Well, oh, yeah, we'll make them. We'll put them on a shelf somewhere,' " Plano Mayor Pat Evans said. "Now, we're paying real close attention."
A severe flu pandemic would hospitalize thousands of Plano residents and kill hundreds, according to city projections.
But Plano's three hospitals have only 754 beds and a combined morgue capacity of 11.
"People who live in suburbs often get their medical care in the city – that's certainly where the more specialized health centers tend to be," said Jeffrey Levi, senior policy adviser for the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, a health advocacy group.
"In a suburban or rural community that tends to have much smaller hospitals to begin with, the impact of a surge, I think, would be quite significant."
Plano's pandemic flu response plan will be presented tonight to the City Council. It requires each city department to map out how it would keep functioning if a wave of staffers suddenly fell ill.
"This may or may not happen," said Brian Collins, Plano's environmental health director. "But the potential is there, and you're better off if you plan and prepare for it."
There's no need to panic, Mr. Collins said, emphasizing that the city's plan is based on a worst-case scenario and that no human-to-human bird flu cases have been reported anywhere in the world.
Last week, Mr. Collins asked Plano department heads to develop continuity plans by mid-April assuming that a flu pandemic sickened 30 percent to 50 percent of their staff.
No drills planned
No flu-response drills are planned in Plano. Health officials are busy organizing other emergency drills for hurricanes, terrorist attacks and cyber-attacks on computer systems. But Mr. Collins said a flu drill is "on the burner."
In Collin and Tarrant counties, health officials presented pandemic flu-response plans last year to county commissioners. In Dallas County, city and county officials are in the early planning stages.
In the suburbs, Irving and Garland are among other North Texas cities with plans in the works. Such plans, organizers say, are meant to get the ball rolling and often raise more questions than they resolve.
"We've written this plan with not a lot of answers," said Karen Kaighan, bioterrorism coordinator for Collin County, whose draft plan focuses on working in tandem with local cities as well as providing for rural residents who don't have city health departments.
Garland schedules drill
Garland officials will take part this spring in an all-day "tabletop drill" with a story line that envisions a human-to-human flu strain in Texas with no available vaccine or effective antiviral drugs.
"It's a grim scenario, but local governments really can come up with functional plans that will be the difference ... when and if a pandemic occurs," said John Teel, Garland's director of health.
Under a severe flu pandemic – a modern version of the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed 40 million people worldwide – Plano would have less than 10 percent of the 8,290 hospital beds it would need to care for those sickened by the virus.
Dallas County wouldn't have enough beds, either, but its hospitals have enough capacity to accommodate more than half the 70,000 victims who would be in need of hospitalization, according to Dallas County projections. Collin County has no equivalent to Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas County's massive medical center.
Those projections, based on the 1918 pandemic, don't take into account the medical advances of the past century. But the scenario underscores how far suburbs trail their urban counterparts when it comes to medical facilities.
"Urban areas tend to have a deeper public health infrastructure on which to rely," Mr. Levi said.
While suburbs are seeing more cases of HIV and tuberculosis, they generally lack the infectious-disease experience of larger cities' health departments, he said.
Ms. Evans said she found Mr. Collins' straightforward summary of Plano's medical capacity in a crisis to be sobering.
"I was shocked when he gave us the number of hospital beds in Plano," said Ms. Evans, who heard an earlier version of Mr. Collins' report.
Unlike a targeted event such as a hurricane, a flu pandemic would equally affect neighboring cities and counties. So sending sick residents elsewhere would probably not be possible.
Improvisation needed
That means suburbs would need to create makeshift hospital wards at school gymnasiums, community centers, religious buildings and vacant big-box stores – not unlike what many North Texas cities did to accommodate evacuees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"If it happens the way people are talking about it happening, it's going to be of such a magnitude that there isn't a community in the country that's going to have the kind of capacity that's needed," Mr. Levi said. "So every community needs to start determining how they're going to deal with it."
So far, the bird flu virus has been mostly limited to cases in Asia and Europe, infecting only those people who came in close contact with infected poultry. But city officials say media coverage of those cases has aroused concern among local residents.
"I'm sensing a little bit of a feverish pitch from some citizens," said Mr. Teel of Garland. "I've had people call me and ask me, should they go buy and stockpile masks, should they go get them now."
Mr. Collins said the best thing people can do now, in addition to routine precautions such as flu shots and washing your hands, is what he's asking of his city department heads – use government checklists to come up with a response plan.
'Nobody to help'
"In this scenario, you have the potential for 30 percent to 50 percent of the entire population to be sick and not able to respond, the government essentially crashing, and nobody to help you," he said.
"That's why I'm saying it's important for individuals and families and businesses and faith-based groups ... to start developing their plan to take care of their needs, and not depend on other people to do that for them."
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TexasStooge
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Sitter's boyfriend charged in death
Irving: 7-month-old's mother doesn't know why man was in charge
By JAY PARSONS / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas - The mother of a 7-month-old boy who died Friday after the mother left him in the care of a baby sitter, said she has no idea why that woman left the child with her boyfriend, Isaiah Nunez.
"Why she left him, I don't know," said Amanda Silva, who identified herself as the boy's mother. "I knew Isaiah, but I didn't know him very well. I trusted my son's care in his girlfriend's hands. I trusted her."
Police charged Mr. Nunez, 24, with capital murder. He was being held Saturday in the Irving City Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned today .
Authorities haven't released the boy's name, and Ms. Silva refused to divulge it on Saturday, citing privacy concerns. Officials also have not released a cause of death or the nature of the child's injuries. The body remained at Children's Medical Center Dallas on Saturday afternoon, more than 24 hours after he died.
Spokesmen for Irving police and the hospital said they did not know why the body had not arrived at the medical examiner's office. A spokeswoman at that office said one possibility for the delay is that the child's organs will be donated.
Mr. Nunez told investigators the baby fell, but a police spokesman said the boy's injuries did not match Mr. Nunez's description of the circumstances.
"Any mother who reads this knows kids fall down and hurt themselves all the time," Ms. Silva said Saturday in a telephone interview. "But they don't hurt themselves like this. All I know is something happened to my son and it wasn't an accident."
"Those injuries, I'm not going to talk about them, they were very severe and I no longer have my son and that's not fair," she said.
Police would not confirm that Ms. Silva, 21, is the mother. Stephanie Nataren, the baby sitter, gave Ms. Silva's name to a reporter. A woman at Ms. Silva's address in Irving called Ms. Silva on the telephone so that Ms. Silva could speak to a reporter.
Ms. Silva said she had told Ms. Nataren to let her know if she needed to leave her son to look for a job.
Police said Ms. Nataren left the baby and the couple's 2-year-old son with Mr. Nunez on Wednesday to look for a job.
Ms. Nataren said Friday night that she was shocked Mr. Nunez was arrested.
"All the times I've known him, you can ask all my friends, he was very careful with children," Ms. Nataren said. "Sometimes he takes care of my friends' children."
Mr. Nunez's father, David Nunez, said his son cared about the boy.
"When my son called 911, that proves he was trying to help," David Nunez said. "He didn't want to hurt the baby."
Patricia Estrada of Al Día and staff writer Holly Yan contributed to this report.
Irving: 7-month-old's mother doesn't know why man was in charge
By JAY PARSONS / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas - The mother of a 7-month-old boy who died Friday after the mother left him in the care of a baby sitter, said she has no idea why that woman left the child with her boyfriend, Isaiah Nunez.
"Why she left him, I don't know," said Amanda Silva, who identified herself as the boy's mother. "I knew Isaiah, but I didn't know him very well. I trusted my son's care in his girlfriend's hands. I trusted her."
Police charged Mr. Nunez, 24, with capital murder. He was being held Saturday in the Irving City Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned today .
Authorities haven't released the boy's name, and Ms. Silva refused to divulge it on Saturday, citing privacy concerns. Officials also have not released a cause of death or the nature of the child's injuries. The body remained at Children's Medical Center Dallas on Saturday afternoon, more than 24 hours after he died.
Spokesmen for Irving police and the hospital said they did not know why the body had not arrived at the medical examiner's office. A spokeswoman at that office said one possibility for the delay is that the child's organs will be donated.
Mr. Nunez told investigators the baby fell, but a police spokesman said the boy's injuries did not match Mr. Nunez's description of the circumstances.
"Any mother who reads this knows kids fall down and hurt themselves all the time," Ms. Silva said Saturday in a telephone interview. "But they don't hurt themselves like this. All I know is something happened to my son and it wasn't an accident."
"Those injuries, I'm not going to talk about them, they were very severe and I no longer have my son and that's not fair," she said.
Police would not confirm that Ms. Silva, 21, is the mother. Stephanie Nataren, the baby sitter, gave Ms. Silva's name to a reporter. A woman at Ms. Silva's address in Irving called Ms. Silva on the telephone so that Ms. Silva could speak to a reporter.
Ms. Silva said she had told Ms. Nataren to let her know if she needed to leave her son to look for a job.
Police said Ms. Nataren left the baby and the couple's 2-year-old son with Mr. Nunez on Wednesday to look for a job.
Ms. Nataren said Friday night that she was shocked Mr. Nunez was arrested.
"All the times I've known him, you can ask all my friends, he was very careful with children," Ms. Nataren said. "Sometimes he takes care of my friends' children."
Mr. Nunez's father, David Nunez, said his son cared about the boy.
"When my son called 911, that proves he was trying to help," David Nunez said. "He didn't want to hurt the baby."
Patricia Estrada of Al Día and staff writer Holly Yan contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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Duo acted on love of theater
Irving: Moms with acting kids have big roles at ICT MainStage
By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas - If ICT MainStage ever has a walk of fame, its first stars should go to Mary Bongfeldt and Binnie Tomaro.
The Irving residents are two of the all-volunteer theater company's most dedicated supporters. Mrs. Bongfeldt got involved in 1972, when she took her oldest son to an audition for the company's second production, Oliver.
He made the cast along with Mrs. Bongfeldt's second son and a daughter, who played the part of a boy and is now a professional actress. Two more Bongfeldt children followed their siblings into theater.
"It was very family-oriented back then," the mother of five said. "We'd have parties after the performances, and everyone would come, including our children."
Then in 1978, desperate for help with costumes for Brigadoon, Mrs. Bongfeldt asked Mrs. Tomaro if she could make a pink dress.
"I said yes and have made costumes ever since," said Mrs. Tomaro, whose two children also acted. A friendship blossomed from the women's love of theater. Over the years, they have produced shows, served on the committee to select plays and sat on the board.
Their husbands and grandchildren have also joined in. Don Bongfeldt and Tom Tomaro have helped on the technical side and with sets.
One grandchild played the title role in Babe; another was the youngest actor in The King and I.
The women recall the early days, when the company had no home theater.
"We were gypsies and performed all over town, in churches, schools and even storefronts," Mrs. Bongfeldt said.
Then the Irving Arts Center opened in the late 1980s. Being able to provide input into planning the center gave the women a sense of ownership, they said.
In 1985, the company faltered because of a lack of money and patrons.
But thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Tomaro, Mrs. Bongfeldt and others, the company reorganized.
To help with its finances, a guild was formed in the early 1990s. Both women look forward to the guild's Mardi Gras Gala, which is Tuesday at Las Colinas Country Club.
Mrs. Tomaro and Mrs. Bongfeldt don't have to worry about costumes or sets at the gala. They can just relish the support of others who love the theater as much as they do.
Jill Stephens, the company's part-time administrator, is grateful for the company's two longtime supporters.
"Mary and Binnie are there to help whenever they possibly can and give not only time, but money," she said. "They truly care about theater and keeping it alive in Irving."
Irving: Moms with acting kids have big roles at ICT MainStage
By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas - If ICT MainStage ever has a walk of fame, its first stars should go to Mary Bongfeldt and Binnie Tomaro.
The Irving residents are two of the all-volunteer theater company's most dedicated supporters. Mrs. Bongfeldt got involved in 1972, when she took her oldest son to an audition for the company's second production, Oliver.
He made the cast along with Mrs. Bongfeldt's second son and a daughter, who played the part of a boy and is now a professional actress. Two more Bongfeldt children followed their siblings into theater.
"It was very family-oriented back then," the mother of five said. "We'd have parties after the performances, and everyone would come, including our children."
Then in 1978, desperate for help with costumes for Brigadoon, Mrs. Bongfeldt asked Mrs. Tomaro if she could make a pink dress.
"I said yes and have made costumes ever since," said Mrs. Tomaro, whose two children also acted. A friendship blossomed from the women's love of theater. Over the years, they have produced shows, served on the committee to select plays and sat on the board.
Their husbands and grandchildren have also joined in. Don Bongfeldt and Tom Tomaro have helped on the technical side and with sets.
One grandchild played the title role in Babe; another was the youngest actor in The King and I.
The women recall the early days, when the company had no home theater.
"We were gypsies and performed all over town, in churches, schools and even storefronts," Mrs. Bongfeldt said.
Then the Irving Arts Center opened in the late 1980s. Being able to provide input into planning the center gave the women a sense of ownership, they said.
In 1985, the company faltered because of a lack of money and patrons.
But thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Tomaro, Mrs. Bongfeldt and others, the company reorganized.
To help with its finances, a guild was formed in the early 1990s. Both women look forward to the guild's Mardi Gras Gala, which is Tuesday at Las Colinas Country Club.
Mrs. Tomaro and Mrs. Bongfeldt don't have to worry about costumes or sets at the gala. They can just relish the support of others who love the theater as much as they do.
Jill Stephens, the company's part-time administrator, is grateful for the company's two longtime supporters.
"Mary and Binnie are there to help whenever they possibly can and give not only time, but money," she said. "They truly care about theater and keeping it alive in Irving."
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TexasStooge
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Officer fires at fleeing suspect
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - One man was in Dallas police custody early Monday after an off-duty officer exchanged gunfire with a fleeing suspect.
It all started with a four-vehicle traffic accident at Northwest Highway and Loop 12 about 3 a.m. No one was hurt in the wreck, but the off-duty officer saw what happened and witnessed at least two people shooting at one another.
When two of the suspects started to run away, the officer began a foot pursuit.
Police said one of the suspects fired at the officer, who returned fire. No one was hurt.
At least one person was taken into custody.
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - One man was in Dallas police custody early Monday after an off-duty officer exchanged gunfire with a fleeing suspect.
It all started with a four-vehicle traffic accident at Northwest Highway and Loop 12 about 3 a.m. No one was hurt in the wreck, but the off-duty officer saw what happened and witnessed at least two people shooting at one another.
When two of the suspects started to run away, the officer began a foot pursuit.
Police said one of the suspects fired at the officer, who returned fire. No one was hurt.
At least one person was taken into custody.
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TexasStooge
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Frisco man dies in motorcycle wreck
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / The Dallas Morning News
FRISCO, Texas - A 41-year-old Frisco man died Sunday when his motorcycle collided with an SUV near Preston Road and Meadow Hill Drive.
Richard McKennon was driving a motorcycle southbound on Preston Road around 7 p.m. Sunday when a SUV traveling in the opposite direction turned in front of him, Frisco police Sgt. Gina McFarlin said.
McKennon was taken to Centennial Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The driver of the car, Barbara Rippa, 39, of Frisco was taken to Centennial Medical Center and later released. Three children in the car were uninjured, McFarlin said.
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / The Dallas Morning News
FRISCO, Texas - A 41-year-old Frisco man died Sunday when his motorcycle collided with an SUV near Preston Road and Meadow Hill Drive.
Richard McKennon was driving a motorcycle southbound on Preston Road around 7 p.m. Sunday when a SUV traveling in the opposite direction turned in front of him, Frisco police Sgt. Gina McFarlin said.
McKennon was taken to Centennial Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The driver of the car, Barbara Rippa, 39, of Frisco was taken to Centennial Medical Center and later released. Three children in the car were uninjured, McFarlin said.
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TexasStooge
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Jury convicts man who shot coach
CANTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) — A jury in Canton Monday found a parent guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of a high school football coach.
Jeff Doyle Robertson faces a sentence ranging from two to 20 years in prison.
He was found guilty of shooting then-Canton High School football coach Gary Joe Kinne in April 2005.
Robertson had pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault on a public servant. Jurors chose to instead find him guilty of the lesser felony of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Robertson earlier pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm on school grounds.
Kinne, who was critically hurt, recovered. He is now on the coaching staff at Baylor University.
CANTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) — A jury in Canton Monday found a parent guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of a high school football coach.
Jeff Doyle Robertson faces a sentence ranging from two to 20 years in prison.
He was found guilty of shooting then-Canton High School football coach Gary Joe Kinne in April 2005.
Robertson had pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault on a public servant. Jurors chose to instead find him guilty of the lesser felony of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Robertson earlier pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm on school grounds.
Kinne, who was critically hurt, recovered. He is now on the coaching staff at Baylor University.
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TexasStooge
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Jury decides death for Barbee
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Tarrant County jury took less than three hours Monday to hand down a death sentence to Stephen Barbee.
The same jury took just one hour and 40 minutes to convict him of capital murder last week for killing his pregnant girlfriend and her seven-year-old son.
Jurors were limited to two choices in deciding Barbee's fate: life in prison or death by injection.
Prosecutors said Barbee should be put to death because he is an ongoing threat to society. In closing arguments, the state said the convicted killer preyed on the powerless—murdering 34-year-old Lisa Underwood at her most vulnerable—seven months pregnant, at her home and in the middle of the night.
Prosecutors also said Barbee—who thought Underwood was carrying his child—feared that she might reveal the pregnancy to his wife. They said he also had considered the possibility that he might also have to kill Underwood's son, Jayden.
"I dare you to say there's a reason to spare his life," prosecutor Kevin Rousseau said, holding a photo of Underwood and her son lying in a shallow grave in southern Denton County.
Defense laywers characterized Barbee as a church-goer whose family, friends, ex-girlfriend and pastor's wife all stand by him and still love him.
"For three hours, he was not a very nice person," said Tim Moore, one of Mr. Barbee's defense attorneys. "For thirty-six years before, he was not violent."
Moore also urged jurors not to let their emotions carried away and make a judgment based on the fact.
"You have to be careful not to let revenge creep in," he said.
The jury began deliberations at 10 a.m. Monday.
Dallas Morning News writer Jeff Mosier contributed to this report.
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Tarrant County jury took less than three hours Monday to hand down a death sentence to Stephen Barbee.
The same jury took just one hour and 40 minutes to convict him of capital murder last week for killing his pregnant girlfriend and her seven-year-old son.
Jurors were limited to two choices in deciding Barbee's fate: life in prison or death by injection.
Prosecutors said Barbee should be put to death because he is an ongoing threat to society. In closing arguments, the state said the convicted killer preyed on the powerless—murdering 34-year-old Lisa Underwood at her most vulnerable—seven months pregnant, at her home and in the middle of the night.
Prosecutors also said Barbee—who thought Underwood was carrying his child—feared that she might reveal the pregnancy to his wife. They said he also had considered the possibility that he might also have to kill Underwood's son, Jayden.
"I dare you to say there's a reason to spare his life," prosecutor Kevin Rousseau said, holding a photo of Underwood and her son lying in a shallow grave in southern Denton County.
Defense laywers characterized Barbee as a church-goer whose family, friends, ex-girlfriend and pastor's wife all stand by him and still love him.
"For three hours, he was not a very nice person," said Tim Moore, one of Mr. Barbee's defense attorneys. "For thirty-six years before, he was not violent."
Moore also urged jurors not to let their emotions carried away and make a judgment based on the fact.
"You have to be careful not to let revenge creep in," he said.
The jury began deliberations at 10 a.m. Monday.
Dallas Morning News writer Jeff Mosier contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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Trial starts of Fort Worth man accused of killing parents
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - The North Texas man accused of plotting his parents' murders went on trial in Fort Worth today.
Attorneys have wrapped their opening statements and testimony is underway.
Rick and Suzanna Wamsley were found shot and stabbed in their Mansfield home in December 2003.
Investigators say Andrew Wamsley planned their murders with friends so he could inherit their million dollar estate.
Last year, Wamsley's former girlfriend was convicted of capital murder for her role in the crimes and sentenced to death.
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - The North Texas man accused of plotting his parents' murders went on trial in Fort Worth today.
Attorneys have wrapped their opening statements and testimony is underway.
Rick and Suzanna Wamsley were found shot and stabbed in their Mansfield home in December 2003.
Investigators say Andrew Wamsley planned their murders with friends so he could inherit their million dollar estate.
Last year, Wamsley's former girlfriend was convicted of capital murder for her role in the crimes and sentenced to death.
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TexasStooge
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- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Child deaths highlight care issues
DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Three young children died at Children's Medical Center Dallas over a two-day span last week.
None of the children were related, or even lived in the same city. Yet in all three deaths, their baby sitters stand accused of causing the fatal injuries – and betraying the trust of parents.
Dr. Matthew Cox, a UT Southwestern Medical Center pediatrician and child abuse expert at Children's Medical Center Dallas, said Monday that the effects of shaking a child, which often occurs as a response to stress or anger, can vary from mild and non-specific to severe and identifiable as head trauma, as with the three North Texas deaths.
Experts advise parents to seek medical attention quickly if they suspect their child has been injured by a child care provider.
"Parents normally have a gut feeling that something's different about their child, and that's something I give a lot of credit to," Dr. Cox said.
In infants, bruises are a telltale sign. "Kids who aren’t walking around or learning to walk shouldn't have bruises," he said.
Mesquite resident Tiffany Harper, 25, was arrested Thursday after she called 911 to report that 18-month-old Rowyn Clark was not breathing. After doctors determined the girl’s injuries were "inconsistent with what the baby sitter said happened," Mrs. Harper was arrested on a charge of injury to a child, Mesquite police Lt. Bill Artesi said.
The charge was upgraded to capital murder after Rowyn died Friday night at the hospital. Mrs. Harper remained in custody Monday at Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas.
A Mesquite police spokesman said Mrs. Harper told police a piece of furniture had fallen on the girl at her home, but Rowyn’s father, Scott Clark, said doctors at Children's suspected she suffered from shaken-baby syndrome because she had "severe brain trauma."
Mrs. Harper and her family lived a few houses away from the Clarks in an east Mesquite neighborhood, and she had watched the Clarks’ children several times in recent months. Danielle Harper, a relative and attorney for husband Glen Harper, said he filed for divorce Friday and now has custody of their three sons after Child Protective Services officials took them from Mrs. Harper.
Mr. Harper has also sought a restraining order to bar Mrs. Harper from having contact with the children, the attorney said. Scott and Autumn Clark said it was a difficult decision searching for someone they trusted.
"She loved her family and we really loved her," Scott Clark said of Mrs. Harper.
In Irving, police charged Isaiah Nunez with capital murder after a 7-month-old boy died Friday while in his care. Mr. Nunez’s girlfriend, Stephanie Nataren, was the child’s baby sitter but left the children with Mr. Nunez on Wednesday so she could look for a job.
Ms. Nataren said Friday night that she was shocked Mr. Nunez was arrested.
"All the times I've known him, you can ask all my friends, he was very careful with children," Ms. Nataren said. "Sometimes he takes care of my friends' children."
Mr. Nunez was being held Monday at the Irving city jail. No bond had been set.
Roberto Murillo Avila, 32, and his wife, Norma Hernandez, 28, of Dallas were charged with injury to a child Friday in the death of their 19-month-old nephew after a severe beating that authorities believe he received at the couple's apartment.
Brian Alberto Tovar-Hernandez died about 11 a.m. Thursday at Children's Medical Center Dallas, and the Dallas County medical examiner later listed the cause as blunt force head injuries.
When Mr. Avila and Ms. Hernandez brought Brian to the hospital Feb. 18, "the child was not breathing … (and) had a broken left arm and rib fractures that had been in the process of healing," Dallas police Senior Cpl. Max Geron said.
Brian's parents apparently left the boy with the couple in mid-January so they could travel to Mexico, he said. The parents were being questioned. Mr. Avila and Ms. Hernandez were arrested late Thursday on unrelated misdemeanor warrants at a Fiesta Mart on West Jefferson Boulevard after Dallas police responded to a disturbance call involving them.
Investigators believe that Mr. Avila caused the boy's injuries and allege that Ms. Hernandez "was aware of it and did nothing to prevent it," Cpl. Geron said.
Mr. Avila and Ms. Hernandez were being held in Lew Sterrett Justice Center in lieu of $500,000 bail each.
An adult’s intolerance for crying can be a trigger for an injury, so parents or others caring for an infant or toddler should learn to let the crying continue as long as the child is OK, said Margaret Patterson of the Child Abuse Prevention Center.
"The No. 1 thing we tell parents is to make sure the baby is safe, and walk away," Ms. Patterson said.
CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said she advises parents that licensed child care professionals generally provide a safer environment.
"It's been seen that children that are in an unlicensed child care setting are at a greater risk for being injured or hurt," Ms. Gonzales said.
Children’s Medical Center has a close relationship with CPS and handles nearly all child abuse-related injuries in the Dallas area. Dr. Cox said many children’s hospitals have a similar network, including doctors who provide clinical care as well as social workers, to help abuse victims.
Still, he said, anyone who acts quickly once they suspect abuse has taken place provides the best chance to ensure a child’s safety.
"We want to identify injuries early enough that we can help them," he said.
Dallas Morning News reporters Marissa Alanis, Alan Melson, Jay Parsons and Jason Trahan, and WFAA-TV reporter Bert Lozano contributed to this report.
DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Three young children died at Children's Medical Center Dallas over a two-day span last week.
None of the children were related, or even lived in the same city. Yet in all three deaths, their baby sitters stand accused of causing the fatal injuries – and betraying the trust of parents.
Dr. Matthew Cox, a UT Southwestern Medical Center pediatrician and child abuse expert at Children's Medical Center Dallas, said Monday that the effects of shaking a child, which often occurs as a response to stress or anger, can vary from mild and non-specific to severe and identifiable as head trauma, as with the three North Texas deaths.
Experts advise parents to seek medical attention quickly if they suspect their child has been injured by a child care provider.
"Parents normally have a gut feeling that something's different about their child, and that's something I give a lot of credit to," Dr. Cox said.
In infants, bruises are a telltale sign. "Kids who aren’t walking around or learning to walk shouldn't have bruises," he said.
Mesquite resident Tiffany Harper, 25, was arrested Thursday after she called 911 to report that 18-month-old Rowyn Clark was not breathing. After doctors determined the girl’s injuries were "inconsistent with what the baby sitter said happened," Mrs. Harper was arrested on a charge of injury to a child, Mesquite police Lt. Bill Artesi said.
The charge was upgraded to capital murder after Rowyn died Friday night at the hospital. Mrs. Harper remained in custody Monday at Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas.
A Mesquite police spokesman said Mrs. Harper told police a piece of furniture had fallen on the girl at her home, but Rowyn’s father, Scott Clark, said doctors at Children's suspected she suffered from shaken-baby syndrome because she had "severe brain trauma."
Mrs. Harper and her family lived a few houses away from the Clarks in an east Mesquite neighborhood, and she had watched the Clarks’ children several times in recent months. Danielle Harper, a relative and attorney for husband Glen Harper, said he filed for divorce Friday and now has custody of their three sons after Child Protective Services officials took them from Mrs. Harper.
Mr. Harper has also sought a restraining order to bar Mrs. Harper from having contact with the children, the attorney said. Scott and Autumn Clark said it was a difficult decision searching for someone they trusted.
"She loved her family and we really loved her," Scott Clark said of Mrs. Harper.
In Irving, police charged Isaiah Nunez with capital murder after a 7-month-old boy died Friday while in his care. Mr. Nunez’s girlfriend, Stephanie Nataren, was the child’s baby sitter but left the children with Mr. Nunez on Wednesday so she could look for a job.
Ms. Nataren said Friday night that she was shocked Mr. Nunez was arrested.
"All the times I've known him, you can ask all my friends, he was very careful with children," Ms. Nataren said. "Sometimes he takes care of my friends' children."
Mr. Nunez was being held Monday at the Irving city jail. No bond had been set.
Roberto Murillo Avila, 32, and his wife, Norma Hernandez, 28, of Dallas were charged with injury to a child Friday in the death of their 19-month-old nephew after a severe beating that authorities believe he received at the couple's apartment.
Brian Alberto Tovar-Hernandez died about 11 a.m. Thursday at Children's Medical Center Dallas, and the Dallas County medical examiner later listed the cause as blunt force head injuries.
When Mr. Avila and Ms. Hernandez brought Brian to the hospital Feb. 18, "the child was not breathing … (and) had a broken left arm and rib fractures that had been in the process of healing," Dallas police Senior Cpl. Max Geron said.
Brian's parents apparently left the boy with the couple in mid-January so they could travel to Mexico, he said. The parents were being questioned. Mr. Avila and Ms. Hernandez were arrested late Thursday on unrelated misdemeanor warrants at a Fiesta Mart on West Jefferson Boulevard after Dallas police responded to a disturbance call involving them.
Investigators believe that Mr. Avila caused the boy's injuries and allege that Ms. Hernandez "was aware of it and did nothing to prevent it," Cpl. Geron said.
Mr. Avila and Ms. Hernandez were being held in Lew Sterrett Justice Center in lieu of $500,000 bail each.
An adult’s intolerance for crying can be a trigger for an injury, so parents or others caring for an infant or toddler should learn to let the crying continue as long as the child is OK, said Margaret Patterson of the Child Abuse Prevention Center.
"The No. 1 thing we tell parents is to make sure the baby is safe, and walk away," Ms. Patterson said.
CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said she advises parents that licensed child care professionals generally provide a safer environment.
"It's been seen that children that are in an unlicensed child care setting are at a greater risk for being injured or hurt," Ms. Gonzales said.
Children’s Medical Center has a close relationship with CPS and handles nearly all child abuse-related injuries in the Dallas area. Dr. Cox said many children’s hospitals have a similar network, including doctors who provide clinical care as well as social workers, to help abuse victims.
Still, he said, anyone who acts quickly once they suspect abuse has taken place provides the best chance to ensure a child’s safety.
"We want to identify injuries early enough that we can help them," he said.
Dallas Morning News reporters Marissa Alanis, Alan Melson, Jay Parsons and Jason Trahan, and WFAA-TV reporter Bert Lozano contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
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Barbee sentenced to death
By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH, Texas - A jury sentenced Stephen Barbee to death Monday afternoon for the murders of a pregnant Fort Worth woman and her 7-year-old son.
The jury reached their decision on a punishment for Mr. Barbee, 38, around 1:40 p.m. after deliberating for around three hours. Last week, it took them less than 90 minutes to decide Mr. Barbee was guilty of the crime.
34-year-old Lisa Underwood and son Jayden disappeared in February 2005. Prosecutors introduced evidence during the trial that Barbee, 38, confessed to police and his wife and led detectives to the bodies of the mother and son who were buried in a shallow grave in southern Denton County.
During his closing arguments, prosecutor Kevin Rousseau held up a photo of the bodies of Ms. Underwood and Jayden where they were found.
"I dare you to say there's a reason to spare his life," Mr. Rousseau said.
Mr. Rousseau also showed a video clip of Mr. Barbee talking to police about the "buffet line" of women he had been dating. Ms. Underwood believed that Mr. Barbee was the father of her unborn child, though DNA tests later proved he wasn't, and Mr. Barbee confessed to police that he killed the Underwoods because he didn't want his new wife to find about the pregnancy and leave him.
Defense attorneys said that the murders were an aberration and that Mr. Barbee did not have a serious history of violence.
"For three hours, he was not a very nice person," said Tim Moore, one of Mr. Barbee's defense attorneys. "For thirty-six years before, he was not violent."
Mr. Moore also urged jurors not to let their emotions carried away and make a judgment based on the fact.
"You have to be careful not to let revenge creep in," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALSO ONLINE:
Listen to Barbee's confession
By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH, Texas - A jury sentenced Stephen Barbee to death Monday afternoon for the murders of a pregnant Fort Worth woman and her 7-year-old son.
The jury reached their decision on a punishment for Mr. Barbee, 38, around 1:40 p.m. after deliberating for around three hours. Last week, it took them less than 90 minutes to decide Mr. Barbee was guilty of the crime.
34-year-old Lisa Underwood and son Jayden disappeared in February 2005. Prosecutors introduced evidence during the trial that Barbee, 38, confessed to police and his wife and led detectives to the bodies of the mother and son who were buried in a shallow grave in southern Denton County.
During his closing arguments, prosecutor Kevin Rousseau held up a photo of the bodies of Ms. Underwood and Jayden where they were found.
"I dare you to say there's a reason to spare his life," Mr. Rousseau said.
Mr. Rousseau also showed a video clip of Mr. Barbee talking to police about the "buffet line" of women he had been dating. Ms. Underwood believed that Mr. Barbee was the father of her unborn child, though DNA tests later proved he wasn't, and Mr. Barbee confessed to police that he killed the Underwoods because he didn't want his new wife to find about the pregnancy and leave him.
Defense attorneys said that the murders were an aberration and that Mr. Barbee did not have a serious history of violence.
"For three hours, he was not a very nice person," said Tim Moore, one of Mr. Barbee's defense attorneys. "For thirty-six years before, he was not violent."
Mr. Moore also urged jurors not to let their emotions carried away and make a judgment based on the fact.
"You have to be careful not to let revenge creep in," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALSO ONLINE:
Listen to Barbee's confession
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