Trooper shot; suspect killed in shootout
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
DENTON COUNTY, Texas — A gunman suspected of shooting a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper was shot and killed early Wednesday after a standoff at his mobile home in Denton County.
Officials said it all started when Trooper Stephen Oliver attempted to pull over a white truck for a routine traffic violation about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"He led them on a chase at speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour from Lowe's at Loop 288 in Denton out here to northeast Denton County," said Tom Reedy, a spokesman for the Denton County Sheriff's Department.
The pursuit ended at Savage's home near FM 428 and Smiley Road, where he allegedly opened fire and hit Trooper Oliver.
Oliver was was shot in the thigh. He was taken by helicopter ambulance to Methodist Central Medical Center in Dallas, where he was reported in good condition early Wednesday.
Savage's house was surrounded by dozens of officers from several agencies.
After a two-and-a-half hour standoff, more shots were fired and Savage, 37, was struck in the head. He was pronounced dead at Methodist Medical Center.
Savage had been wanted for theft warrants in Tarrant and Denton counties.
Trooper Oliver was expected to undergo surgery to deal with his wounds later on Wednesday.
Watch News 8 Daybreak for more details.
News from the Lone Star State
Moderator: S2k Moderators
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
MADD questions judge's DWI punishment
By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - Questions are being raised about the punishment given to Federal Magistrate Paul Stickney following his drunken driving arrest in Fort Worth. Some have called it a case of special treatment.
Tarrant County prosecutors are regarded as one of the toughest in the state when it comes to drunk drivers, which is why Mothers Against Drunk Driving said they have a hard time swallowing Stickney's punishment.
"My apologies go out to all of whom I caused any embarrassment, but we'll get through this and never let it happen again," Stickney said.
He conveyed his remorse outside a courtroom in Fort Worth after he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor crime, not of drunk driving, but of obstructing a roadway. Stickney's punishment for obstruction of a roadway was a $700 fine, 18 months with deferred adjudication and no community service.
He entered the guilty plea despite actually being stopped by Fort Worth Police last September for speeding and drifting from lane to lane.
The officer noted he "observed a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage" coming from the judge who was appointed a Dallas magistrate for the Northern District of Texas in 1998. The officer also documented that Stickney had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
Police said he admitted to having several drinks that evening and that he failed his field sobriety test showing eighteen signs of intoxication. About thirty minutes later, Stickney was booked into jail where he again took another sobriety test on video.
Citing a conflict of interest, Tarrant County District Attorney Tim Curry dismissed himself from the case. He appointed Fort Worth defense attorney Bill Ray as Special Prosecutor. Ray said he was not swayed by the officer's version of the arrest.
"First of all, police reports on DWI's, they almost always read the same," he said.
In fact, the special prosecutor said the officer probably erred in waiting too long to initiate the stop.
"Somebody, eventually is gonna have a problem or a question about if this guy is so intoxicated, why do you let this guy drive for a mile before you ever turn on your red and blue lights," he said.
Moreover, Ray said he also had to consider new claims made by Stickney's attorney.
"He had very little alcohol but was taking this new medication and the new medication had an affect on him," Ray said.
But according to the official Entocort EC web site, the drug Stickney said he was under and used to treat Crohn's disease and intestinal disorder, is a non-narcotic. The only warning connected with drinking while using the drug is not to consume grapefruit juice.
The special prosecutor said he relied on the word of Stickney's doctor and attorney.
"I don't know what it does to your body physiologically anymore than I know what Tylenol does," Ray said.
But, Ray did admit that it was probably his job to find out what the drug's interaction with alcohol was.
Pat Ortiz, with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said it's also Ray's job to protect the citizens of Tarrant County.
After reading the report, talking to police and now seeing the video tape, she said she feels the prosecutor made exceptions for the judge.
"Because of his position he's gotten special treatment," she said. "...It appears that it's a DWI."
Ray, however, respectfully disagreed and calls the case closed.
"I Bill Ray, the special prosecutor, believe that when I'm acting with the public's money and I'm authorized to handle this case, that I should dispose of it the way I see fit and I've done that," he said.
While Stickney was not forced to any community service, he did take it upon himself to speak to two driver's education classes in Arlington this summer.
According to the Tarrant County District Attorney's office DWI cases are rarely knocked down to an obstruction charge - it happens about three percent of the time.
By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - Questions are being raised about the punishment given to Federal Magistrate Paul Stickney following his drunken driving arrest in Fort Worth. Some have called it a case of special treatment.
Tarrant County prosecutors are regarded as one of the toughest in the state when it comes to drunk drivers, which is why Mothers Against Drunk Driving said they have a hard time swallowing Stickney's punishment.
"My apologies go out to all of whom I caused any embarrassment, but we'll get through this and never let it happen again," Stickney said.
He conveyed his remorse outside a courtroom in Fort Worth after he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor crime, not of drunk driving, but of obstructing a roadway. Stickney's punishment for obstruction of a roadway was a $700 fine, 18 months with deferred adjudication and no community service.
He entered the guilty plea despite actually being stopped by Fort Worth Police last September for speeding and drifting from lane to lane.
The officer noted he "observed a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage" coming from the judge who was appointed a Dallas magistrate for the Northern District of Texas in 1998. The officer also documented that Stickney had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
Police said he admitted to having several drinks that evening and that he failed his field sobriety test showing eighteen signs of intoxication. About thirty minutes later, Stickney was booked into jail where he again took another sobriety test on video.
Citing a conflict of interest, Tarrant County District Attorney Tim Curry dismissed himself from the case. He appointed Fort Worth defense attorney Bill Ray as Special Prosecutor. Ray said he was not swayed by the officer's version of the arrest.
"First of all, police reports on DWI's, they almost always read the same," he said.
In fact, the special prosecutor said the officer probably erred in waiting too long to initiate the stop.
"Somebody, eventually is gonna have a problem or a question about if this guy is so intoxicated, why do you let this guy drive for a mile before you ever turn on your red and blue lights," he said.
Moreover, Ray said he also had to consider new claims made by Stickney's attorney.
"He had very little alcohol but was taking this new medication and the new medication had an affect on him," Ray said.
But according to the official Entocort EC web site, the drug Stickney said he was under and used to treat Crohn's disease and intestinal disorder, is a non-narcotic. The only warning connected with drinking while using the drug is not to consume grapefruit juice.
The special prosecutor said he relied on the word of Stickney's doctor and attorney.
"I don't know what it does to your body physiologically anymore than I know what Tylenol does," Ray said.
But, Ray did admit that it was probably his job to find out what the drug's interaction with alcohol was.
Pat Ortiz, with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said it's also Ray's job to protect the citizens of Tarrant County.
After reading the report, talking to police and now seeing the video tape, she said she feels the prosecutor made exceptions for the judge.
"Because of his position he's gotten special treatment," she said. "...It appears that it's a DWI."
Ray, however, respectfully disagreed and calls the case closed.
"I Bill Ray, the special prosecutor, believe that when I'm acting with the public's money and I'm authorized to handle this case, that I should dispose of it the way I see fit and I've done that," he said.
While Stickney was not forced to any community service, he did take it upon himself to speak to two driver's education classes in Arlington this summer.
According to the Tarrant County District Attorney's office DWI cases are rarely knocked down to an obstruction charge - it happens about three percent of the time.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Police standoff ends in empty apartment
By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - A standoff in Lake Highlands ended inside an empty apartment Tuesday night. An army of police officers swarmed the Regal Brook Apartments in the 8300 block of Skillman in Northeast Dallas.
Authorities said the apartment was secured around 7:30 p.m. and they found no one inside after they suspected an armed man was within.
Police said they responded to a report of a man threatening a woman with a handgun. Once police arrived, police said the suspect fled to an apartment where he remains.
However, police said because of the suspect's placement near Skillman, there were risks to tenants and those traveling on Skillman, which resulted in the swarm of officers in the complex.
It appeared police made some type of move around 6 p.m. when a teargas cloud appeared at the far end of the apartment building the suspect was believed to be inside.
They also said in addition to them being worried he might shoot at traffic, they said they also did not want him using Skillman as an escape route.
Parts of Skillman had been blocked off and the standoff created a traffic jam. People were re-routed off of Skillman to Fair Oaks Crossing all the way up to Royal Lane.
By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - A standoff in Lake Highlands ended inside an empty apartment Tuesday night. An army of police officers swarmed the Regal Brook Apartments in the 8300 block of Skillman in Northeast Dallas.
Authorities said the apartment was secured around 7:30 p.m. and they found no one inside after they suspected an armed man was within.
Police said they responded to a report of a man threatening a woman with a handgun. Once police arrived, police said the suspect fled to an apartment where he remains.
However, police said because of the suspect's placement near Skillman, there were risks to tenants and those traveling on Skillman, which resulted in the swarm of officers in the complex.
It appeared police made some type of move around 6 p.m. when a teargas cloud appeared at the far end of the apartment building the suspect was believed to be inside.
They also said in addition to them being worried he might shoot at traffic, they said they also did not want him using Skillman as an escape route.
Parts of Skillman had been blocked off and the standoff created a traffic jam. People were re-routed off of Skillman to Fair Oaks Crossing all the way up to Royal Lane.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Missing man's parents abandoning Everest search
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Family members of a 25-year-old Texan missing near Mount Everest said Tuesday that they expect to leave Nepal and return to Dallas soon without him.
Trevor Stokol has not been seen since July 22, when he set out on what was to be a short trip to photograph the mountain. Dozens of searchers have spent more than two weeks combing the area while his father, Richardson optometrist Arnold Stokol; his mother, Barbara; and sister Jodi helped coordinate.
“Trevor died on top of the world in his mountains with his camera. We are grieving, no doubt, but there is peace that comes from knowing that he was in his element living one of the greatest times of his life,” the Stokols wrote on a Web site detailing the search.
In their Tuesday posting, the family said a psychic investigator who works with law enforcement in the United States indicated that Stokol had fallen into a crevasse and was not visible from above by either foot or by air. A separate expert, Australian mountaineer Andrew Lock, told them that Stokol “could not have lived more than a few hours after his fall, which is comforting to us.”
“The three of us have gained tremendous strength from each other through the past 2½ weeks,” they wrote.
The family members said they would plan a remembrance service upon their return.
Stokol was days away from returning to North Texas to enter the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Family members of a 25-year-old Texan missing near Mount Everest said Tuesday that they expect to leave Nepal and return to Dallas soon without him.
Trevor Stokol has not been seen since July 22, when he set out on what was to be a short trip to photograph the mountain. Dozens of searchers have spent more than two weeks combing the area while his father, Richardson optometrist Arnold Stokol; his mother, Barbara; and sister Jodi helped coordinate.
“Trevor died on top of the world in his mountains with his camera. We are grieving, no doubt, but there is peace that comes from knowing that he was in his element living one of the greatest times of his life,” the Stokols wrote on a Web site detailing the search.
In their Tuesday posting, the family said a psychic investigator who works with law enforcement in the United States indicated that Stokol had fallen into a crevasse and was not visible from above by either foot or by air. A separate expert, Australian mountaineer Andrew Lock, told them that Stokol “could not have lived more than a few hours after his fall, which is comforting to us.”
“The three of us have gained tremendous strength from each other through the past 2½ weeks,” they wrote.
The family members said they would plan a remembrance service upon their return.
Stokol was days away from returning to North Texas to enter the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Arrest may not keep H.S. star off field
By DAVE LANCE / The Dallas Morning News
LANCASTER, Texas – Brandon Jackson was easy to spot Monday at Lancaster High School's first football practice. He was the one running routes and throwing passes while wearing an ankle monitor so law enforcement officials could keep track of his whereabouts.
Jackson, who has drawn interest from major college football programs, awaits an Oct. 17 trial on six counts of aggravated robbery, each a first-degree felony punishable by a prison term of five to 99 years or life. According to a police report, Jackson admitted taking part in the robberies of six people at gunpoint during two incidents Jan. 18 in Garland and Mesquite.
Whether he should be allowed to play football while awaiting his trial is the subject of debate.
Lancaster school officials said he can play if the University Interscholastic League grants his request for a transfer waiver from North Mesquite High School, where he played for three seasons.
But the Texas High School Coaches Association says it is unethical for a school to play an athlete who is facing a felony charge.
"The situation I'm in, I put myself in," Jackson said in a July interview. "If I'm not able to play football, it would be hard on me. But I've still got a life to live."
'There are rules'
Scottie D. Allen, Jackson's attorney, said his client would plead not guilty at the trial.
Allen said he is optimistic Jackson will be eligible to play in Lancaster's season opener Sept. 3 at South Oak Cliff.
Standing in the way is a document signed by North Mesquite coach Steve Bragg, who said on a UIL form that Jackson's transfer was for athletic purposes. If the UIL agreed, Jackson would be ineligible.
"I'm not trying to keep the kid from playing," Bragg said. "But there are rules."
Though the Mesquite Independent School District does not have a rule about the eligibility of athletes accused of felonies, Bragg said he would not have allowed Jackson to play. MISD Athletic Director Mickey Delamar agreed. Both cited the Texas High School Coaches Association code of ethics.
Association executive director D.W. Rutledge said he was not aware of Jackson's case. He said the organization does not enforce its code.
"There is nothing we could or would do to penalize the coach," Rutledge said. "It either is or isn't ethical. Your consequences are, you are not ethical."
The UIL requires transfers not living with either a parent or a legal guardian to explain why the move was involuntary and unavoidable. After living with his sister last year in Mesquite while his mother lived in West Dallas, Jackson moved in with an uncle, Charles Lawrence, on March 16 after getting out of jail.
Lawrence has a letter from the Dallas County Community Supervision and Corrections Department that says Jackson must live at his Lancaster home as part of a court order.
Welcomed to team
Jackson is under house arrest. Now that school has started, he doesn't have to be in until 7:15 p.m. on weekdays. Jackson is not prohibited from participating in extracurricular activities.
Lancaster coach Andrew Jackson (no relation to Brandon) has welcomed Brandon to his team.
"Kids are kids," Jackson said. "Sometimes they make bad decisions. But you can't throw away a kid's life."
Principal Phill Randle and Lancaster ISD Superintendent Dr. Larry D. Lewis said they support coach Jackson's stance. Lewis said that to enroll at Lancaster, Jackson completed the district's alternative education program.
Lewis said he's talked to Jackson's uncle and mother and has reviewed the court documents. He said Jackson should be allowed to play football.
"My question is, why shouldn't he play?" Lewis said. "You're innocent until proven guilty. Our job is to educate students and give them another chance."
Lewis said he respects the THSCA but doesn't agree with its stance.
"This may be his only route to a college education. Who are we to take that away, by making him sit out?" Lewis asked.
"We're doing what's best for the kid, not what's best for the coaches association or best for society."
Go-to receiver
Last season as North Mesquite's go-to receiver, Jackson caught 37 passes for 705 yards and seven touchdowns and was named all-district. Oklahoma, Kansas State and Texas A&M sent letters to Jackson, indicating their interest in the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder.
But three months after North Mesquite's final game, Jackson was charged with aggravated robbery.
According to a police report, Jackson, former North Mesquite teammate Travon Wilson and an unidentified male robbed three men at gunpoint Jan. 18 at the Pecan Knoll Apartments parking lot in Garland. Police said that a victim was shot at while running away and that Jackson admitted in writing to firing the gun.
Manuel Escobar, a victim in the incident, said that a gun was pointed at his head as he handed over his cellphone and a wallet containing $15.
"I thought they were going to kill me," Escobar said. "He wouldn't take the gun away from my head."
Talking about the gunman, Escobar said, "He is going around doing bad things. One way or another, he needs to be punished. It would be justice if they put him in jail. It is not right."
Escobar did not identify Jackson as the gunman.
Hours after that robbery, two males robbed three men in the parking lot of Tradewind Apartments in Mesquite, a police report said. Police said that the three victims were robbed of a total of $255 and that one of them was struck in the head with a handgun.
The report said that Jackson admitted being the gunman and hitting the victim with the weapon. While leaving the scene in a Chevy Caprice, the suspects nearly hit another vehicle, police said. The vehicle's driver followed the suspects and reported the license plate number, police said.
The next day, Wilson and Jackson were arrested.
Jackson remained at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center from Jan. 19 to March 16. He was released after posting $45,000 bond.
Wilson pleaded guilty to six counts of aggravated robbery, received deferred adjudication and was given 10 years' probation, court records show. As part of probation, Wilson is serving 120 days in Dallas County Jail on work release, the district attorney's office said.
Wilson, 17, did not respond to an interview request.
No prior arrests
Allen disputes that Jackson fired the gun in the direction of one of the victims.
"Obviously, the statement and some of what was written by the police is what's in dispute," Allen said. "The DA office wants him in the penitentiary. I don't think Brandon Jackson deserves to go to the pen.
"I'm not going to plead a kid of his character to the penitentiary."
Assistant district attorney Fred Burns declined to comment.
Jackson had no prior arrests and had a 3.53 grade-point average when he left North Mesquite.
Lawrence said his nephew has received fewer recruiting letters since his arrest, although one came from Kansas State in July. He said his problems stem from his being influenced by an older crowd. Jackson said his mother has raised him as a single parent since he was 7 but that he's never wanted for money, clothes or food.
Asked about the accusations, Jackson said, "I just say at the time I was lost, real confused on a lot of stuff. I couldn't really tell you what I was thinking. I can't tell you if I was thinking."
Jackson offered apologies to the victims.
"I know it might be hard for them to forgive me, but the best thing I can do is pray for them," Jackson said. "I pray for them every night. That's one thing I want to do. I feel bad for the family I hurt by doing this.
"My intent was never to hurt nobody in the first place."
Al Dia staff writer Ignacio Laguarda contributed to this story.
By DAVE LANCE / The Dallas Morning News
LANCASTER, Texas – Brandon Jackson was easy to spot Monday at Lancaster High School's first football practice. He was the one running routes and throwing passes while wearing an ankle monitor so law enforcement officials could keep track of his whereabouts.
Jackson, who has drawn interest from major college football programs, awaits an Oct. 17 trial on six counts of aggravated robbery, each a first-degree felony punishable by a prison term of five to 99 years or life. According to a police report, Jackson admitted taking part in the robberies of six people at gunpoint during two incidents Jan. 18 in Garland and Mesquite.
Whether he should be allowed to play football while awaiting his trial is the subject of debate.
Lancaster school officials said he can play if the University Interscholastic League grants his request for a transfer waiver from North Mesquite High School, where he played for three seasons.
But the Texas High School Coaches Association says it is unethical for a school to play an athlete who is facing a felony charge.
"The situation I'm in, I put myself in," Jackson said in a July interview. "If I'm not able to play football, it would be hard on me. But I've still got a life to live."
'There are rules'
Scottie D. Allen, Jackson's attorney, said his client would plead not guilty at the trial.
Allen said he is optimistic Jackson will be eligible to play in Lancaster's season opener Sept. 3 at South Oak Cliff.
Standing in the way is a document signed by North Mesquite coach Steve Bragg, who said on a UIL form that Jackson's transfer was for athletic purposes. If the UIL agreed, Jackson would be ineligible.
"I'm not trying to keep the kid from playing," Bragg said. "But there are rules."
Though the Mesquite Independent School District does not have a rule about the eligibility of athletes accused of felonies, Bragg said he would not have allowed Jackson to play. MISD Athletic Director Mickey Delamar agreed. Both cited the Texas High School Coaches Association code of ethics.
Association executive director D.W. Rutledge said he was not aware of Jackson's case. He said the organization does not enforce its code.
"There is nothing we could or would do to penalize the coach," Rutledge said. "It either is or isn't ethical. Your consequences are, you are not ethical."
The UIL requires transfers not living with either a parent or a legal guardian to explain why the move was involuntary and unavoidable. After living with his sister last year in Mesquite while his mother lived in West Dallas, Jackson moved in with an uncle, Charles Lawrence, on March 16 after getting out of jail.
Lawrence has a letter from the Dallas County Community Supervision and Corrections Department that says Jackson must live at his Lancaster home as part of a court order.
Welcomed to team
Jackson is under house arrest. Now that school has started, he doesn't have to be in until 7:15 p.m. on weekdays. Jackson is not prohibited from participating in extracurricular activities.
Lancaster coach Andrew Jackson (no relation to Brandon) has welcomed Brandon to his team.
"Kids are kids," Jackson said. "Sometimes they make bad decisions. But you can't throw away a kid's life."
Principal Phill Randle and Lancaster ISD Superintendent Dr. Larry D. Lewis said they support coach Jackson's stance. Lewis said that to enroll at Lancaster, Jackson completed the district's alternative education program.
Lewis said he's talked to Jackson's uncle and mother and has reviewed the court documents. He said Jackson should be allowed to play football.
"My question is, why shouldn't he play?" Lewis said. "You're innocent until proven guilty. Our job is to educate students and give them another chance."
Lewis said he respects the THSCA but doesn't agree with its stance.
"This may be his only route to a college education. Who are we to take that away, by making him sit out?" Lewis asked.
"We're doing what's best for the kid, not what's best for the coaches association or best for society."
Go-to receiver
Last season as North Mesquite's go-to receiver, Jackson caught 37 passes for 705 yards and seven touchdowns and was named all-district. Oklahoma, Kansas State and Texas A&M sent letters to Jackson, indicating their interest in the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder.
But three months after North Mesquite's final game, Jackson was charged with aggravated robbery.
According to a police report, Jackson, former North Mesquite teammate Travon Wilson and an unidentified male robbed three men at gunpoint Jan. 18 at the Pecan Knoll Apartments parking lot in Garland. Police said that a victim was shot at while running away and that Jackson admitted in writing to firing the gun.
Manuel Escobar, a victim in the incident, said that a gun was pointed at his head as he handed over his cellphone and a wallet containing $15.
"I thought they were going to kill me," Escobar said. "He wouldn't take the gun away from my head."
Talking about the gunman, Escobar said, "He is going around doing bad things. One way or another, he needs to be punished. It would be justice if they put him in jail. It is not right."
Escobar did not identify Jackson as the gunman.
Hours after that robbery, two males robbed three men in the parking lot of Tradewind Apartments in Mesquite, a police report said. Police said that the three victims were robbed of a total of $255 and that one of them was struck in the head with a handgun.
The report said that Jackson admitted being the gunman and hitting the victim with the weapon. While leaving the scene in a Chevy Caprice, the suspects nearly hit another vehicle, police said. The vehicle's driver followed the suspects and reported the license plate number, police said.
The next day, Wilson and Jackson were arrested.
Jackson remained at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center from Jan. 19 to March 16. He was released after posting $45,000 bond.
Wilson pleaded guilty to six counts of aggravated robbery, received deferred adjudication and was given 10 years' probation, court records show. As part of probation, Wilson is serving 120 days in Dallas County Jail on work release, the district attorney's office said.
Wilson, 17, did not respond to an interview request.
No prior arrests
Allen disputes that Jackson fired the gun in the direction of one of the victims.
"Obviously, the statement and some of what was written by the police is what's in dispute," Allen said. "The DA office wants him in the penitentiary. I don't think Brandon Jackson deserves to go to the pen.
"I'm not going to plead a kid of his character to the penitentiary."
Assistant district attorney Fred Burns declined to comment.
Jackson had no prior arrests and had a 3.53 grade-point average when he left North Mesquite.
Lawrence said his nephew has received fewer recruiting letters since his arrest, although one came from Kansas State in July. He said his problems stem from his being influenced by an older crowd. Jackson said his mother has raised him as a single parent since he was 7 but that he's never wanted for money, clothes or food.
Asked about the accusations, Jackson said, "I just say at the time I was lost, real confused on a lot of stuff. I couldn't really tell you what I was thinking. I can't tell you if I was thinking."
Jackson offered apologies to the victims.
"I know it might be hard for them to forgive me, but the best thing I can do is pray for them," Jackson said. "I pray for them every night. That's one thing I want to do. I feel bad for the family I hurt by doing this.
"My intent was never to hurt nobody in the first place."
Al Dia staff writer Ignacio Laguarda contributed to this story.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
BREAKING NEWS: Man fires gun at FW City Hall
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A gunshot rang out at Fort Worth City Hall on Wednesday morning when a man walked into the building around 8 a.m. and fired.
Fort Worth police said the suspect went to the lower level of the building at 1000 Throckmorton Street, produced a weapon and fired.
The unidentified suspect was subdued and taken into custody.
No injuries were reported.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A gunshot rang out at Fort Worth City Hall on Wednesday morning when a man walked into the building around 8 a.m. and fired.
Fort Worth police said the suspect went to the lower level of the building at 1000 Throckmorton Street, produced a weapon and fired.
The unidentified suspect was subdued and taken into custody.
No injuries were reported.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Noisy Oak Cliff club to get new digs
Dallas: Brooklyn jazz cafe leaving area for South Lamar locale
By KATIE MENZER / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - The fat lady has sung at the Brooklyn jazz cafe.
After months of wrestling with noise complaints, Lorna Tate has decide to call it quits at her popular, year-old jazz bar and restaurant in the Bishop Arts District.
She's signed a lease on another building in the blossoming South Lamar Street area and plans to vacate her old digs in north Oak Cliff by Oct. 27.
Brooklyn will join Gilley's and Poor David's Pub in an area touted by some as Dallas' hot, up-and-coming entertainment district.
"Of course, we'll stay open until then," Ms. Tate said. "We don't have any money. We can't afford to close."
Eight months ago, landlord Jim Lake Cos. told Ms. Tate to turn down the music blasting in her Seventh Street club or risk eviction.
The parties, through their lawyers, struggled to find an equitable solution – from hiring a sound engineer to building a soundproofing wall to protect complaining neighbors – but they found no harmony.
Jim Lake officials said they would withhold comment until receiving notice of Ms. Tate's departure. By late Tuesday, they had not returned phone calls.
Ms. Tate said the move will force her into the red – she hasn't recouped the $200,000 she put into the first building and will need another $90,000 to revamp the new one – but she isn't singing the blues.
She's excited about her new pad in the growing area. The South Side on Lamar apartments in the historic Sears, Roebuck & Co. building opened in 2000. Gilley's and the new police headquarters set up shop there in 2003.
And it's been almost a year since Poor David's Pub left its longtime home on Greenville Avenue to live on Lamar.
"Obviously, I wouldn't have moved over there if I hadn't thought it had a great potential," said pub owner David Card. "There's a lot of activity, a lot of talk, a lot of rumors."
There are a couple of small eateries in the area, but Brooklyn will be the only fine-dining restaurant. The new space is more than three times larger than her existing one, so Ms. Tate plans to expand her kitchen and let her new menu's siren song attract the diners.
That shouldn't be a problem, said former Dallas City Council member Veletta Forsythe Lill, who has dined at Brooklyn and is a fan of the South Side area.
"Having Brooklyn there to provide fine dining as well as another musical venue is a perfect relationship with the village that's emerging there," she said.
The new building will also feature abundant parking, substantial brick walls and no night-owl neighbors, said Ms. Tate, who's steadfastly remained unapologetic for the volume of music in her Bishop Arts club.
"I'm so excited," she said. "We've got really nice landlords who are real people, not a corporate conglomeration that doesn't care about anyone."
Hal Dantzler of Hattie's, one of a few businesses the landlord said complained of Brooklyn's noise, is sorry to see Ms. Tate leave the neighborhood, but he said his popular restaurant should not be blamed for her departure.
"The landlords are the ones that need to pony up and take the heat for this," Mr. Dantzler said. "We never asked them to leave. We merely complained about the noise."
The restaurant co-owner said he wished both sides had worked harder to find a solution – such as building a wall to protect his restaurant from the noise.
"If they had worked out a split for a $6,000 sound wall, I don't think that's a huge deal," he said. "There are things that you have to do that are part of owning a business."
David Spence, a historic-building preservation contractor and landlord in the Bishop Arts District, said he was sad to hear the jazz club and landlord were unable to work out their differences.
Still, Brooklyn's departure won't have much negative impact on the area, he said. The Bishop Arts District has long been an "incubator" – a place for new businesses to start and leave when they grow larger and more successful.
"This is not like Nordstrom leaving the Galleria. This is what we do," he said. "Lorna will do well where she's going, and we'll keep on going."
Ms. Tate's new landlord, Wilson Roe of Company One, said he's heard that Ms. Tate's venue is loud, and he's not afraid of a little noise.
Her only adjacent neighbor is a plumbing-supply company, and he doesn't think anyone will complain.
"It's beautiful music," Mr. Roe said. "What a beautiful thing to be loud."
Former tenants of the red brick warehouse included a refrigerator-repair shop, movie-set shop and photography studio. The carpentry shop that now lets half the building will move into another space nearby.
Carpenter Harvey Phillips said he's looking forward to a cold drink and some good tunes at Brooklyn after work.
"I'm planning on being a regular," he said.
Ms. Tate said she eventually plans to build a rooftop patio atop the building that customers can access by the vintage, spiral staircase at the back. They'll begin the building's rebirth this week.
Ms. Tate is ready for the future, but she is still a bit miffed about the past.
"I don't think they have been very nice to us," she said of Jim Lake. "Well, you live and you learn."
Dallas: Brooklyn jazz cafe leaving area for South Lamar locale
By KATIE MENZER / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - The fat lady has sung at the Brooklyn jazz cafe.
After months of wrestling with noise complaints, Lorna Tate has decide to call it quits at her popular, year-old jazz bar and restaurant in the Bishop Arts District.
She's signed a lease on another building in the blossoming South Lamar Street area and plans to vacate her old digs in north Oak Cliff by Oct. 27.
Brooklyn will join Gilley's and Poor David's Pub in an area touted by some as Dallas' hot, up-and-coming entertainment district.
"Of course, we'll stay open until then," Ms. Tate said. "We don't have any money. We can't afford to close."
Eight months ago, landlord Jim Lake Cos. told Ms. Tate to turn down the music blasting in her Seventh Street club or risk eviction.
The parties, through their lawyers, struggled to find an equitable solution – from hiring a sound engineer to building a soundproofing wall to protect complaining neighbors – but they found no harmony.
Jim Lake officials said they would withhold comment until receiving notice of Ms. Tate's departure. By late Tuesday, they had not returned phone calls.
Ms. Tate said the move will force her into the red – she hasn't recouped the $200,000 she put into the first building and will need another $90,000 to revamp the new one – but she isn't singing the blues.
She's excited about her new pad in the growing area. The South Side on Lamar apartments in the historic Sears, Roebuck & Co. building opened in 2000. Gilley's and the new police headquarters set up shop there in 2003.
And it's been almost a year since Poor David's Pub left its longtime home on Greenville Avenue to live on Lamar.
"Obviously, I wouldn't have moved over there if I hadn't thought it had a great potential," said pub owner David Card. "There's a lot of activity, a lot of talk, a lot of rumors."
There are a couple of small eateries in the area, but Brooklyn will be the only fine-dining restaurant. The new space is more than three times larger than her existing one, so Ms. Tate plans to expand her kitchen and let her new menu's siren song attract the diners.
That shouldn't be a problem, said former Dallas City Council member Veletta Forsythe Lill, who has dined at Brooklyn and is a fan of the South Side area.
"Having Brooklyn there to provide fine dining as well as another musical venue is a perfect relationship with the village that's emerging there," she said.
The new building will also feature abundant parking, substantial brick walls and no night-owl neighbors, said Ms. Tate, who's steadfastly remained unapologetic for the volume of music in her Bishop Arts club.
"I'm so excited," she said. "We've got really nice landlords who are real people, not a corporate conglomeration that doesn't care about anyone."
Hal Dantzler of Hattie's, one of a few businesses the landlord said complained of Brooklyn's noise, is sorry to see Ms. Tate leave the neighborhood, but he said his popular restaurant should not be blamed for her departure.
"The landlords are the ones that need to pony up and take the heat for this," Mr. Dantzler said. "We never asked them to leave. We merely complained about the noise."
The restaurant co-owner said he wished both sides had worked harder to find a solution – such as building a wall to protect his restaurant from the noise.
"If they had worked out a split for a $6,000 sound wall, I don't think that's a huge deal," he said. "There are things that you have to do that are part of owning a business."
David Spence, a historic-building preservation contractor and landlord in the Bishop Arts District, said he was sad to hear the jazz club and landlord were unable to work out their differences.
Still, Brooklyn's departure won't have much negative impact on the area, he said. The Bishop Arts District has long been an "incubator" – a place for new businesses to start and leave when they grow larger and more successful.
"This is not like Nordstrom leaving the Galleria. This is what we do," he said. "Lorna will do well where she's going, and we'll keep on going."
Ms. Tate's new landlord, Wilson Roe of Company One, said he's heard that Ms. Tate's venue is loud, and he's not afraid of a little noise.
Her only adjacent neighbor is a plumbing-supply company, and he doesn't think anyone will complain.
"It's beautiful music," Mr. Roe said. "What a beautiful thing to be loud."
Former tenants of the red brick warehouse included a refrigerator-repair shop, movie-set shop and photography studio. The carpentry shop that now lets half the building will move into another space nearby.
Carpenter Harvey Phillips said he's looking forward to a cold drink and some good tunes at Brooklyn after work.
"I'm planning on being a regular," he said.
Ms. Tate said she eventually plans to build a rooftop patio atop the building that customers can access by the vintage, spiral staircase at the back. They'll begin the building's rebirth this week.
Ms. Tate is ready for the future, but she is still a bit miffed about the past.
"I don't think they have been very nice to us," she said of Jim Lake. "Well, you live and you learn."
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Support grows for Highway 121 tolls
PLANO, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Highway 121 is one step closer to becoming a toll road through Collin County.
The Allen City Council approved a measure Tuesday night to convert the free but increasingly congested east-west highway into a pay-as-you-go premium thoroughfare.
Collin County Commissioners also okayed the new arrangement.
A similar measure has already passed in Plano and McKinney. The Frisco City Council votes next week.
There has been some resistance to the Highway 121 toll road plan in Frisco, where north-south motorists already pay to travel to and from the city on the Dallas North Tollway.
PLANO, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Highway 121 is one step closer to becoming a toll road through Collin County.
The Allen City Council approved a measure Tuesday night to convert the free but increasingly congested east-west highway into a pay-as-you-go premium thoroughfare.
Collin County Commissioners also okayed the new arrangement.
A similar measure has already passed in Plano and McKinney. The Frisco City Council votes next week.
There has been some resistance to the Highway 121 toll road plan in Frisco, where north-south motorists already pay to travel to and from the city on the Dallas North Tollway.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Man fires gun at City Hall in Fort Worth
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Gunfire rang out at Fort Worth City Hall Wednesday morning when a man walked into the building and fired a shot, police said.
The man, said to be in his early 40s, entered City Hall around 8 a.m. and had a conversation with an employee of the city's development department in the lower level of the building. Police Chief Ralph Mendoza said the man had an issue with the development department.
After the gun was fired, a Fort Worth police officer in the building subdued the man, who has not yet been charged with a crime. City marshals who have offices next door rushed to the scene and took the man into custody.
City Development Director Bob Riley reportedly avoided injury when he dove behind a desk on the ground floor of City Hall, officials and observers said.
"All I saw after I heard the gunshot was a man pointing a gun at the desk. After I saw that, I backed away," said Cary Everett, a city inspector. "At the time I didn't know that Bob Riley was under the desk."
The man also dropped a small box at the bottom of a stairway. The Fort Worth Fire Department was called in to deal with the device, which was determined to contain only papers and other non-volatile items.
No injuries were reported; it was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.
The man was apparently inside the building before it opens to the public at 8 a.m. Employees can enter beginning at 7:30, but authorities are investigating how the suspect gained entry.
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said the City Council has money available in its budget to look at beefing up security at city buildings, but he did not know exactly what changes might be made.
"It makes you have concerns," said City Council member Donavan Wheatfall. "We need to look at metal detectors at the doors."
WFAA-TV's Yolanda Walker, The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Gunfire rang out at Fort Worth City Hall Wednesday morning when a man walked into the building and fired a shot, police said.
The man, said to be in his early 40s, entered City Hall around 8 a.m. and had a conversation with an employee of the city's development department in the lower level of the building. Police Chief Ralph Mendoza said the man had an issue with the development department.
After the gun was fired, a Fort Worth police officer in the building subdued the man, who has not yet been charged with a crime. City marshals who have offices next door rushed to the scene and took the man into custody.
City Development Director Bob Riley reportedly avoided injury when he dove behind a desk on the ground floor of City Hall, officials and observers said.
"All I saw after I heard the gunshot was a man pointing a gun at the desk. After I saw that, I backed away," said Cary Everett, a city inspector. "At the time I didn't know that Bob Riley was under the desk."
The man also dropped a small box at the bottom of a stairway. The Fort Worth Fire Department was called in to deal with the device, which was determined to contain only papers and other non-volatile items.
No injuries were reported; it was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.
The man was apparently inside the building before it opens to the public at 8 a.m. Employees can enter beginning at 7:30, but authorities are investigating how the suspect gained entry.
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said the City Council has money available in its budget to look at beefing up security at city buildings, but he did not know exactly what changes might be made.
"It makes you have concerns," said City Council member Donavan Wheatfall. "We need to look at metal detectors at the doors."
WFAA-TV's Yolanda Walker, The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Baby's body found in McDonald's restroom
From KHOU CBS 11 in Houston
HOUSTON, Texas - Police want to know who gave birth inside a north Houston McDonald's early Wednesday, then dumped the dead baby in a trash can.
A worker found the body while cleaning the women's restroom.
Police say it's not clear if the baby was alive at birth or already dead. An autopsy will answer that question. If the baby was alive, the mother would likely face charges.
Homicide detectives questioned employees, but none remembered seeing a pregnant woman or anyone who appeared to be in distress enter the restaurant.
They are also questioning customers who may have been at the McDonald's when the baby was born.
From KHOU CBS 11 in Houston
HOUSTON, Texas - Police want to know who gave birth inside a north Houston McDonald's early Wednesday, then dumped the dead baby in a trash can.
A worker found the body while cleaning the women's restroom.
Police say it's not clear if the baby was alive at birth or already dead. An autopsy will answer that question. If the baby was alive, the mother would likely face charges.
Homicide detectives questioned employees, but none remembered seeing a pregnant woman or anyone who appeared to be in distress enter the restaurant.
They are also questioning customers who may have been at the McDonald's when the baby was born.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Man dies after accidental shooting
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A 24-year-old Dallas man died Wednesday morning from a gunshot to the head in what police say appears to be an accident.
Richard Ryan Stout was shot around 1:30 a.m. at an apartment in the 9300 block of Skillman Avenue and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas police Sr. Cpl. Jamie Kimbrough said.
Other people were inside the apartment when Stout was shot, Kimbrough said.
Police said they would not discuss how the shooting could be considered accidental because the case was under investigation.
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A 24-year-old Dallas man died Wednesday morning from a gunshot to the head in what police say appears to be an accident.
Richard Ryan Stout was shot around 1:30 a.m. at an apartment in the 9300 block of Skillman Avenue and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas police Sr. Cpl. Jamie Kimbrough said.
Other people were inside the apartment when Stout was shot, Kimbrough said.
Police said they would not discuss how the shooting could be considered accidental because the case was under investigation.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Murderer's execution set for tonight
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - A former farm worker from central Texas headed to the death chamber Wednesday evening for using a car bumper jack to fatally beat and rob a man during a violent spree 17 years ago that authorities said left three other people dead.
Gary Sterling, 38, would be the 11th condemned prisoner executed this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state.
Sterling was condemned for the beating death of John Carty, 72, killed in May 1988 at his home in Navarro County near Corsicana. Prosecutors also had evidence tying him to the slaying of Delores Smith, 52, a friend of Carty's whose purse and glasses were found at Sterling's home, although he was not tried for the woman's death.
Sterling led police to their bodies after he was arrested for the slayings of William Porter, 72, and Porter's brother, Leroy, 71, at their home in Hill County, about 35 miles northeast of Waco. He pleaded guilty to their slayings and received two life prison terms.
Authorities said Sterling knew the four victims, who all were fatally beaten.
Evidence showed Sterling, who was 20 at the time, took Carty's car, a TV, shotgun and a lantern. Police said he sold the car for cash he needed to buy crack cocaine.
"He was looking for enough to just buy some rocks," Hill County Sheriff Brent Button said this week.
Sterling's lawyers were in the courts Wednesday in the hours before his scheduled execution trying to block the punishment, arguing in appeals that Navarro County jurors were given flawed instructions when they decided in 1989 Sterling should be put to death.
Sterling had managed to elude police the night the Porter brothers were killed when they spotted him stripping Leroy Porter's car. Acting on a tip, he was arrested the following day as he hid in the attic of his home in Blooming Grove, a town of about 800 some 15 miles west of Corsicana.
While in jail in Hillsboro, Button said Sterling gained notoriety for trashing his cell, tearing up steel jail fixtures officials had been told were indestructible. Sterling, who declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his scheduled lethal injection, also was remembered for a physical training regimen where he would do push-ups for hours.
"I've prosecuted a number of capital cases, but this guy really scared me," Pat Batchelor, the former Navarro County district attorney who prosecuted Sterling's capital murder case, said.
In earlier appeals, he argued unsuccessfully his intent to kill Carty wasn't clear because he didn't bring a deadly weapon with him and that he only struck Carty once. State lawyers responded that if Sterling only wanted to rob Carty, there wasn't any need to bash in the man's head with the jack.
Another previous appeal focused on comments from a juror at his trial who was portrayed as racist for using an epithet to describe black people. The juror was white. Sterling is black. At a later hearing, the juror said use of the racially insensitive term didn't make him a racist and he didn't consider himself a racist. Federal appeals courts agreed and denied the appeal.
At least seven other Texas inmates have executions scheduled. Next is Robert Shields, set to die Aug. 23 for the 1994 slaying of a suburban Houston woman during a burglary of her home in Friendswood in Galveston County.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also Online:
Texas execution schedule (TDCJ official site)
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - A former farm worker from central Texas headed to the death chamber Wednesday evening for using a car bumper jack to fatally beat and rob a man during a violent spree 17 years ago that authorities said left three other people dead.
Gary Sterling, 38, would be the 11th condemned prisoner executed this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state.
Sterling was condemned for the beating death of John Carty, 72, killed in May 1988 at his home in Navarro County near Corsicana. Prosecutors also had evidence tying him to the slaying of Delores Smith, 52, a friend of Carty's whose purse and glasses were found at Sterling's home, although he was not tried for the woman's death.
Sterling led police to their bodies after he was arrested for the slayings of William Porter, 72, and Porter's brother, Leroy, 71, at their home in Hill County, about 35 miles northeast of Waco. He pleaded guilty to their slayings and received two life prison terms.
Authorities said Sterling knew the four victims, who all were fatally beaten.
Evidence showed Sterling, who was 20 at the time, took Carty's car, a TV, shotgun and a lantern. Police said he sold the car for cash he needed to buy crack cocaine.
"He was looking for enough to just buy some rocks," Hill County Sheriff Brent Button said this week.
Sterling's lawyers were in the courts Wednesday in the hours before his scheduled execution trying to block the punishment, arguing in appeals that Navarro County jurors were given flawed instructions when they decided in 1989 Sterling should be put to death.
Sterling had managed to elude police the night the Porter brothers were killed when they spotted him stripping Leroy Porter's car. Acting on a tip, he was arrested the following day as he hid in the attic of his home in Blooming Grove, a town of about 800 some 15 miles west of Corsicana.
While in jail in Hillsboro, Button said Sterling gained notoriety for trashing his cell, tearing up steel jail fixtures officials had been told were indestructible. Sterling, who declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his scheduled lethal injection, also was remembered for a physical training regimen where he would do push-ups for hours.
"I've prosecuted a number of capital cases, but this guy really scared me," Pat Batchelor, the former Navarro County district attorney who prosecuted Sterling's capital murder case, said.
In earlier appeals, he argued unsuccessfully his intent to kill Carty wasn't clear because he didn't bring a deadly weapon with him and that he only struck Carty once. State lawyers responded that if Sterling only wanted to rob Carty, there wasn't any need to bash in the man's head with the jack.
Another previous appeal focused on comments from a juror at his trial who was portrayed as racist for using an epithet to describe black people. The juror was white. Sterling is black. At a later hearing, the juror said use of the racially insensitive term didn't make him a racist and he didn't consider himself a racist. Federal appeals courts agreed and denied the appeal.
At least seven other Texas inmates have executions scheduled. Next is Robert Shields, set to die Aug. 23 for the 1994 slaying of a suburban Houston woman during a burglary of her home in Friendswood in Galveston County.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also Online:
Texas execution schedule (TDCJ official site)
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Police: Fort Worth shooting suspect known around City Hall
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Gunfire rang out at Fort Worth City Hall Wednesday morning when a man walked into the building and fired a shot, police said.
Fort Worth resident Ray Redding, 42, entered City Hall around 8 a.m. and had a conversation with an employee of the city's development department in the lower level of the building.
After the gun was fired, a Fort Worth police officer in the building subdued Redding. City marshals who have offices next door rushed to the scene after hearing a panic alarm, and took the man into custody.
Redding was in the process of being arraigned on a charge of aggravated assault on a public servant. Police said Redding is well known around City Hall, and has an extensive criminal record.
Fort Worth director of development services Bob Riley said he had left his office to to go vending machines in the City Hall atrium and noticed a man standing by the elevators, about 10-15 feet from him.
Riley said the man mumbled something like, "I'm tired of this, someone needs to help."
"He had a weapon and he pointed it at me," Riley said at a news conference this morning. "I was surprised. I didn't believe it was happening."
Riley said the man called him by name, but said he believes he was chosen at random. The bullet missed Riley and landed in the elevator next to the one Riley had just stepped out of.
The man also dropped a small box at the bottom of a stairway. The Fort Worth Fire Department was called in to deal with the device, which was determined to contain only papers and other non-volatile items.
No injuries were reported; it was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.
The man was apparently inside the building before it opens to the public at 8 a.m. Employees can enter beginning at 7:30, but authorities are investigating how the suspect gained entry.
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said the City Council has money available in its budget to look at beefing up security at city buildings, but he did not know exactly what changes might be made.
"It makes you have concerns," said City Council member Donavan Wheatfall. "We need to look at metal detectors at the doors."
WFAA-TV's Yolanda Walker, The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Gunfire rang out at Fort Worth City Hall Wednesday morning when a man walked into the building and fired a shot, police said.
Fort Worth resident Ray Redding, 42, entered City Hall around 8 a.m. and had a conversation with an employee of the city's development department in the lower level of the building.
After the gun was fired, a Fort Worth police officer in the building subdued Redding. City marshals who have offices next door rushed to the scene after hearing a panic alarm, and took the man into custody.
Redding was in the process of being arraigned on a charge of aggravated assault on a public servant. Police said Redding is well known around City Hall, and has an extensive criminal record.
Fort Worth director of development services Bob Riley said he had left his office to to go vending machines in the City Hall atrium and noticed a man standing by the elevators, about 10-15 feet from him.
Riley said the man mumbled something like, "I'm tired of this, someone needs to help."
"He had a weapon and he pointed it at me," Riley said at a news conference this morning. "I was surprised. I didn't believe it was happening."
Riley said the man called him by name, but said he believes he was chosen at random. The bullet missed Riley and landed in the elevator next to the one Riley had just stepped out of.
The man also dropped a small box at the bottom of a stairway. The Fort Worth Fire Department was called in to deal with the device, which was determined to contain only papers and other non-volatile items.
No injuries were reported; it was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.
The man was apparently inside the building before it opens to the public at 8 a.m. Employees can enter beginning at 7:30, but authorities are investigating how the suspect gained entry.
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said the City Council has money available in its budget to look at beefing up security at city buildings, but he did not know exactly what changes might be made.
"It makes you have concerns," said City Council member Donavan Wheatfall. "We need to look at metal detectors at the doors."
WFAA-TV's Yolanda Walker, The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Latino growth pushes whites out of majority
Analysts say demographic shift will reshape Texas
By DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Texas is officially a majority-minority state with a distinctly cafe-con-leche hue, thanks largely to Latino population growth.
Non-Hispanic whites dipped under the majority mark in Texas, around July 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. And minorities now make up about 50.2 percent of the state's population, heralding further wide-ranging changes in commerce and culture, education and politics.
The transformation was predicted three years ago by demographer Steve Murdock, who sees the shift as a "mixed blessing" and one that indicates where the rest of the nation is heading.
The diversity brings a new energy and ideas, Dr. Murdock said, but it also brings challenges. It's now more pressing that Texas improve services to its 22.5 million residents, as its future lies with the minority population, he said.
Texas joins California, Hawaii and New Mexico as a majority-minority state. Five others – Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona – are next in line, with minority populations at about 40 percent, said the Census Bureau in a release Thursday.
The Lone Star State's new status is actually a re-transformation, said Roberto Calderon, a historian at the University of North Texas. He referred to Texas' tumultuous entry into the United States following the U.S.-Mexico War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
"It's a long time coming, despite the early history," Dr. Calderon said.
"Sometime before 2030, every single major city in Texas va a tener una mayoria Latina" or is going to have a Latino majority, Dr. Calderon said, switching into Spanish.
Thus, the Texas of postwar national memory, of light-skinned oil barons and blonde beauty queens, is likely to blur in a state where minorities dominate.
Some fifty years ago, the movie Giant etched its tale of money and prejudice through two generations of a Texas ranching family. Many remember Rock Hudson's character getting beaten up in a diner for defending his Mexican-American grandson and his Mexican-American daughter-in-law.
Today, some see a contemporary echo in that story line in the family of President Bush, whose Mexican-American nephew is a Dallas lawyer.
And there are other signs of sweeping change in the state. At Parkland Memorial Hospital, eight out of ten newborns are Latino, and the No. 1 radio station in Dallas now has Spanish lyrics. The bustling wholesale zone along Dallas' Harry Hines Boulevard was recently rechristened the Asian Trade District, thanks to the influx of Asian immigrant entrepreneurs.
Two of the state's largest cities, Dallas and Houston, have both recently had black mayors. In San Antonio, a Hispanic mayor recently completed his term.
Commerce and culture
So what does this mean for commerce and culture in Texas?
It means that entire business plans are made around the R&B and hip-hop culture. Examples: Dallas radio host Tom Joyner and Houston's Destiny's Child.
And Asians, lacking in numbers, capture commercial limelight because of their high incomes and entrepreneurial might.
In commerce and culture, great strides have been taken to integrate minorities. Some simply see it as the power of the green, of disposable cash among black and Hispanic households with attractively lower median ages and larger families. The median age for Hispanics is about 26, compared with 30 for blacks and 39 for whites, according to the Census Bureau.
In the case of Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans, the households simply earn more income than that of white households.
"All this was projected," said Ron Patterson, a vice president at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank.
"Most big banks like mine, and our competitors, are devoting a tremendous amount of time and money and resources to the emerging markets," said Mr. Patterson, referring to underserved minority communities.
Banks began this process because of the "overriding need of access to capital" for minority and lower-income entrepreneurs, said Mr. Patterson, who is black. In fact, J.P. Morgan Chase's efforts date to 1997, he added.
Florentino Ramirez, a Dallas lawyer, said his law practice is built around immigration and, particularly, the changing demands of school districts and their need to scramble for bilingual teachers.
In Dallas and Irving, for example, nearly one-third of the student bodies are now classified as using English as a second language.
"My business, though, would not be where it is if I didn't speak Spanish," he said. "There are huge market opportunities, and it is only beginning to be noticed."
But there are still struggles ahead in politics, as the balance of power shifts, and education, where more resources are needed for minority students, many Texans noted.
Politics
Like California, Latinos have pushed hard to take the governor's seat – and stumbled in the process.
And political analysts say it will take time for the increased minority population in Texas to shift the state's political dynamic.
"In the short run, you won't see much of a change," said Jerry Polinard, a political scientist from the University of Texas Pan-American. "But demography is destiny. It's like a big ship beginning to turn. It may take a while, but it's inevitable."
Mr. Polinard said the population trend suggests Hispanics will play a greater role in the electoral process and eventually hold more public offices. But the process could take several election cycles, since the Hispanic voting population is relatively young, he said.
"The Mexican-American vote becomes the key vote in the state," he said. "It will drive statewide elections."
And blacks and Latinos in Texas are forging important political coalitions.
From Houston, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who is black, has become an important voice on immigrant rights. This month, she spoke out on a bill that would have authorized civilian volunteers, such as the controversial Minutemen, to assist the U.S. Border Patrol.
At the statehouse in Austin, Hector Flores, a veteran activist, says black and Hispanic politicians have worked together successfully on such issues as preserving eligibility into state colleges and universities for the top 10 percent of minority students. Mr. Flores, the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said there have been many disappointments, as well.
When told that minorities are now officially the majority, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said through a spokesman that he has worked to make sure that minorities have made up a third of all his appointments.
Education
For many digesting the news about the state's demographics, education became a key point.
Mr. Perry has proposed increasing funding to teach students who speak English as a second language, spokesman Robert Black said. Mr. Black called the governor a "passionate advocate" of salary incentives for teachers who succeed in schools with large numbers of economically disadvantaged students.
Dr. Murdock, the state's official demographer, who's based in San Antonio, took the news somberly.
His report – The Texas Challenge in the Twenty-First Century –was widely read around the state when it was released in 2002.
"The real significance of this information is that it further demonstrates that the future of Texas is tied to its non-Anglo population," Dr. Murdock said. "For the state to be competitive in the international economy, we need a well-educated workforce."
Blacks have made huge strides and nearly equal whites in high school graduation rates but lag behind in higher education. Latinos are behind whites in both high school graduation and higher education.
Among adults in Texas ages 25 and older, 79.5 percent of Anglos and 75.8 percent of African-Americans were high school graduates, compared with 49.3 percent for Hispanics, according to the Census Bureau. And Texas lags the nation in all education numbers.
In Texas, about 30 percent of Anglos ages 25 and older are college graduates, compared with 15 percent for African-Americans and 8.9 percent for Hispanics.
"If we don't create the means by which all Texans are provided better opportunities for education, it could lead to a Texas that is poorer and less educated," Dr. Murdock said.
San Antonio, the state's second-largest city, at 1.2 million, on the banks of a river with the same name, has long been a minority-majority city. About 58 percent of its residents are Hispanic.
"San Antonio, an old city with a long-standing Hispanic heritage, is a good indicator of what Texas is today," Dr. Murdock said. "And what Texas is now is what the U.S. will be in the future. By the year 2040, the United States is projected to have a minority population majority that mirrors very much like what Texas has today."
Staff writers David McLemore in San Antonio, Gromer Jeffers in Dallas and Christy Hoppe in Austin contributed to this report.
Analysts say demographic shift will reshape Texas
By DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Texas is officially a majority-minority state with a distinctly cafe-con-leche hue, thanks largely to Latino population growth.
Non-Hispanic whites dipped under the majority mark in Texas, around July 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. And minorities now make up about 50.2 percent of the state's population, heralding further wide-ranging changes in commerce and culture, education and politics.
The transformation was predicted three years ago by demographer Steve Murdock, who sees the shift as a "mixed blessing" and one that indicates where the rest of the nation is heading.
The diversity brings a new energy and ideas, Dr. Murdock said, but it also brings challenges. It's now more pressing that Texas improve services to its 22.5 million residents, as its future lies with the minority population, he said.
Texas joins California, Hawaii and New Mexico as a majority-minority state. Five others – Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona – are next in line, with minority populations at about 40 percent, said the Census Bureau in a release Thursday.
The Lone Star State's new status is actually a re-transformation, said Roberto Calderon, a historian at the University of North Texas. He referred to Texas' tumultuous entry into the United States following the U.S.-Mexico War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
"It's a long time coming, despite the early history," Dr. Calderon said.
"Sometime before 2030, every single major city in Texas va a tener una mayoria Latina" or is going to have a Latino majority, Dr. Calderon said, switching into Spanish.
Thus, the Texas of postwar national memory, of light-skinned oil barons and blonde beauty queens, is likely to blur in a state where minorities dominate.
Some fifty years ago, the movie Giant etched its tale of money and prejudice through two generations of a Texas ranching family. Many remember Rock Hudson's character getting beaten up in a diner for defending his Mexican-American grandson and his Mexican-American daughter-in-law.
Today, some see a contemporary echo in that story line in the family of President Bush, whose Mexican-American nephew is a Dallas lawyer.
And there are other signs of sweeping change in the state. At Parkland Memorial Hospital, eight out of ten newborns are Latino, and the No. 1 radio station in Dallas now has Spanish lyrics. The bustling wholesale zone along Dallas' Harry Hines Boulevard was recently rechristened the Asian Trade District, thanks to the influx of Asian immigrant entrepreneurs.
Two of the state's largest cities, Dallas and Houston, have both recently had black mayors. In San Antonio, a Hispanic mayor recently completed his term.
Commerce and culture
So what does this mean for commerce and culture in Texas?
It means that entire business plans are made around the R&B and hip-hop culture. Examples: Dallas radio host Tom Joyner and Houston's Destiny's Child.
And Asians, lacking in numbers, capture commercial limelight because of their high incomes and entrepreneurial might.
In commerce and culture, great strides have been taken to integrate minorities. Some simply see it as the power of the green, of disposable cash among black and Hispanic households with attractively lower median ages and larger families. The median age for Hispanics is about 26, compared with 30 for blacks and 39 for whites, according to the Census Bureau.
In the case of Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans, the households simply earn more income than that of white households.
"All this was projected," said Ron Patterson, a vice president at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank.
"Most big banks like mine, and our competitors, are devoting a tremendous amount of time and money and resources to the emerging markets," said Mr. Patterson, referring to underserved minority communities.
Banks began this process because of the "overriding need of access to capital" for minority and lower-income entrepreneurs, said Mr. Patterson, who is black. In fact, J.P. Morgan Chase's efforts date to 1997, he added.
Florentino Ramirez, a Dallas lawyer, said his law practice is built around immigration and, particularly, the changing demands of school districts and their need to scramble for bilingual teachers.
In Dallas and Irving, for example, nearly one-third of the student bodies are now classified as using English as a second language.
"My business, though, would not be where it is if I didn't speak Spanish," he said. "There are huge market opportunities, and it is only beginning to be noticed."
But there are still struggles ahead in politics, as the balance of power shifts, and education, where more resources are needed for minority students, many Texans noted.
Politics
Like California, Latinos have pushed hard to take the governor's seat – and stumbled in the process.
And political analysts say it will take time for the increased minority population in Texas to shift the state's political dynamic.
"In the short run, you won't see much of a change," said Jerry Polinard, a political scientist from the University of Texas Pan-American. "But demography is destiny. It's like a big ship beginning to turn. It may take a while, but it's inevitable."
Mr. Polinard said the population trend suggests Hispanics will play a greater role in the electoral process and eventually hold more public offices. But the process could take several election cycles, since the Hispanic voting population is relatively young, he said.
"The Mexican-American vote becomes the key vote in the state," he said. "It will drive statewide elections."
And blacks and Latinos in Texas are forging important political coalitions.
From Houston, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who is black, has become an important voice on immigrant rights. This month, she spoke out on a bill that would have authorized civilian volunteers, such as the controversial Minutemen, to assist the U.S. Border Patrol.
At the statehouse in Austin, Hector Flores, a veteran activist, says black and Hispanic politicians have worked together successfully on such issues as preserving eligibility into state colleges and universities for the top 10 percent of minority students. Mr. Flores, the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said there have been many disappointments, as well.
When told that minorities are now officially the majority, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said through a spokesman that he has worked to make sure that minorities have made up a third of all his appointments.
Education
For many digesting the news about the state's demographics, education became a key point.
Mr. Perry has proposed increasing funding to teach students who speak English as a second language, spokesman Robert Black said. Mr. Black called the governor a "passionate advocate" of salary incentives for teachers who succeed in schools with large numbers of economically disadvantaged students.
Dr. Murdock, the state's official demographer, who's based in San Antonio, took the news somberly.
His report – The Texas Challenge in the Twenty-First Century –was widely read around the state when it was released in 2002.
"The real significance of this information is that it further demonstrates that the future of Texas is tied to its non-Anglo population," Dr. Murdock said. "For the state to be competitive in the international economy, we need a well-educated workforce."
Blacks have made huge strides and nearly equal whites in high school graduation rates but lag behind in higher education. Latinos are behind whites in both high school graduation and higher education.
Among adults in Texas ages 25 and older, 79.5 percent of Anglos and 75.8 percent of African-Americans were high school graduates, compared with 49.3 percent for Hispanics, according to the Census Bureau. And Texas lags the nation in all education numbers.
In Texas, about 30 percent of Anglos ages 25 and older are college graduates, compared with 15 percent for African-Americans and 8.9 percent for Hispanics.
"If we don't create the means by which all Texans are provided better opportunities for education, it could lead to a Texas that is poorer and less educated," Dr. Murdock said.
San Antonio, the state's second-largest city, at 1.2 million, on the banks of a river with the same name, has long been a minority-majority city. About 58 percent of its residents are Hispanic.
"San Antonio, an old city with a long-standing Hispanic heritage, is a good indicator of what Texas is today," Dr. Murdock said. "And what Texas is now is what the U.S. will be in the future. By the year 2040, the United States is projected to have a minority population majority that mirrors very much like what Texas has today."
Staff writers David McLemore in San Antonio, Gromer Jeffers in Dallas and Christy Hoppe in Austin contributed to this report.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Little League dreams possibly stolen with trailer
ARLINGTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Someone stole the equipment trailer of an Arkansas Little League team Friday night while it was chained in the parking lot of the Sleep Inn across from Six Flags.
The thief won't get much for the baseball gear, but it means the world to the team they said, including possibly the world series. If the boys from Bryant Arkansas win this week's tournament in Waco, they go to the Little League World Series.
Arlington police have scoured pawnshops. They also asked other departments to be on the lookout for the small trailer and making a plea to whoever stole it.
"If the person who took this trailer is listening to this, park the trailer in a public parking lot and walk away from it," said Sgt. Jerry Hataway. "Let's see if we can get this equipment back to this team."
The team's hometown scrambled to provide new equipment, but any player knows that's not the same.
"They got uniforms to play in now, but the kids are complaining about their gloves," Hataway said.
Hataway said he understands because long before he wore a badge and gun, he wore a baseball glove.
"We slept with them," he said. "That's the pride and joy. If we can do anything to get their balls, bats [and] their uniforms back to them before they play their game tomorrow that would be great."
The missing trailer is a single axle box white trailer with Larry Vassar Leasing written on it and Arkansas license plates AA318040.
Sergeant Hataway said he'd like nothing better than a page in the middle of the night and he'll haul the trailer to Waco himself if necessary.
The team from Bryant plays at noon tomorrow and they haven't lost yet.
WFAA ABC 8
The trailer is a single axle box white trailer with Arkansas license plates AA318040.
ARLINGTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Someone stole the equipment trailer of an Arkansas Little League team Friday night while it was chained in the parking lot of the Sleep Inn across from Six Flags.
The thief won't get much for the baseball gear, but it means the world to the team they said, including possibly the world series. If the boys from Bryant Arkansas win this week's tournament in Waco, they go to the Little League World Series.
Arlington police have scoured pawnshops. They also asked other departments to be on the lookout for the small trailer and making a plea to whoever stole it.
"If the person who took this trailer is listening to this, park the trailer in a public parking lot and walk away from it," said Sgt. Jerry Hataway. "Let's see if we can get this equipment back to this team."
The team's hometown scrambled to provide new equipment, but any player knows that's not the same.
"They got uniforms to play in now, but the kids are complaining about their gloves," Hataway said.
Hataway said he understands because long before he wore a badge and gun, he wore a baseball glove.
"We slept with them," he said. "That's the pride and joy. If we can do anything to get their balls, bats [and] their uniforms back to them before they play their game tomorrow that would be great."
The missing trailer is a single axle box white trailer with Larry Vassar Leasing written on it and Arkansas license plates AA318040.
Sergeant Hataway said he'd like nothing better than a page in the middle of the night and he'll haul the trailer to Waco himself if necessary.
The team from Bryant plays at noon tomorrow and they haven't lost yet.
WFAA ABC 8
The trailer is a single axle box white trailer with Arkansas license plates AA318040.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Mother: Wrong apartment, officers
By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Sandi Shoemaker, 34, describes herself as a single mother of two children who is trying to finish her college education while living a quiet life.
That quiet was broken on Wednesday morning when Dallas County Sheriff's Department deputies showed up at her apartment door in the 9500 block of Ferguson Road believing she knew the whereabouts of a suspected killer.
"All I heard was, 'Hurry up and open up your door, or I'm going to bang open your door down!' We're gonna push it down!' I hurried up and came down and got the door," Shoemaker recalled.
Deputies ordered Shoemaker to sit down on a chair with her frightened children nearby.
"I've [been] crying all day," she said. "Yes, I am tore up."
Deputies believed they would find Patrick Lamond Mitchell in the apartment. Mitchell is wanted for a killing at a drag strip in Grand Prairie. Shoemaker lives at Mitchell's last known address.
"Apartment addresses are transient," said sheriff's department spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz. "People will live there for several months or live out the terms of their lease—six months, a year—and they will move somewhere else. We have no way of knowing."
The Sheriff's Department said its officers acted professionally as they tried to capture a murder suspect.
"He's still wanted by us for a murder case that is yet to go to court from the year 2000," Peritz said. "And the deputies will continue to look for him."
Shoemaker said from time to time she has received mail addressed to Mitchell, but she has always given it to the building manager without a second thought.
"They said the witness—a reliable witness—[said] that I knew this guy," Shoemaker said. "I do not know this guy. I don't know him. I never met him."
Deputies said they had received tips that Mitchell has been seen recently in northeast Dallas near the apartment complex. Shoemaker said she hopes they capture him soon.
By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Sandi Shoemaker, 34, describes herself as a single mother of two children who is trying to finish her college education while living a quiet life.
That quiet was broken on Wednesday morning when Dallas County Sheriff's Department deputies showed up at her apartment door in the 9500 block of Ferguson Road believing she knew the whereabouts of a suspected killer.
"All I heard was, 'Hurry up and open up your door, or I'm going to bang open your door down!' We're gonna push it down!' I hurried up and came down and got the door," Shoemaker recalled.
Deputies ordered Shoemaker to sit down on a chair with her frightened children nearby.
"I've [been] crying all day," she said. "Yes, I am tore up."
Deputies believed they would find Patrick Lamond Mitchell in the apartment. Mitchell is wanted for a killing at a drag strip in Grand Prairie. Shoemaker lives at Mitchell's last known address.
"Apartment addresses are transient," said sheriff's department spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz. "People will live there for several months or live out the terms of their lease—six months, a year—and they will move somewhere else. We have no way of knowing."
The Sheriff's Department said its officers acted professionally as they tried to capture a murder suspect.
"He's still wanted by us for a murder case that is yet to go to court from the year 2000," Peritz said. "And the deputies will continue to look for him."
Shoemaker said from time to time she has received mail addressed to Mitchell, but she has always given it to the building manager without a second thought.
"They said the witness—a reliable witness—[said] that I knew this guy," Shoemaker said. "I do not know this guy. I don't know him. I never met him."
Deputies said they had received tips that Mitchell has been seen recently in northeast Dallas near the apartment complex. Shoemaker said she hopes they capture him soon.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Neighbors block bulldozer to save home
By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - A neighborhood fight to preserve a historic home in Dallas is going back before city planners Thursday.
In January of 2004, the home on Bryan Parkway was scheduled to be demolished. However, neighbors stopped the bulldozers with their bodies and a restraining order.
The house stands in the Swiss Avenue Historical District in the 6000 block of Bryan Parkway. Because the home sits in an historic district, anyone wanting to tear it down has to go through a complicated process to get special permission.
The owners of this house got that green light in January of 2004 but then hit a legal roadblock when a restraining order stopped the bulldozers in mid-track. However, they are hoping tomorrow the green light will be back on.
Eighty years after Craftsman home went up in East Dallas, its roof has began to sag, its foundation is buckling and its owners, Vic and Sharon Wyly, said the cost of fixing it far outweighs any profit they would make after its repair.
But neighbors said the house and its character are worth saving.
"It's gone forever if it's knocked down," said Chip Orr. "This block is unique and once it's gone, it's gone."
That is why when the date came up for it to be destroyed, neighbors stood in the way of bulldozers while preservationists got a temporary restraining order to keep the house standing. They claimed the owners inflated the cost of repairs to justify demolition.
Neighbors, like Orr, said most of their homes were in just as bad of shape. He said money, sweat and care turned them around and their value soared.
"That's part of what you are buying into when you buy into a home like this," he said.
The Swiss Avenue Historic District was the city's first conservation district. A preserved piece of early 20th century Dallas history. Preservationist fear if the city allows the house to come down it could set a dangerous precedent. "This would be really the first time a major contributing building was demolished in a historic district," said Dwayne Jones, a Dallas preservationist.
The attorney for the couple did not comment. But they are scheduled to present their case before the Dallas Plan Commission tomorrow.
By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - A neighborhood fight to preserve a historic home in Dallas is going back before city planners Thursday.
In January of 2004, the home on Bryan Parkway was scheduled to be demolished. However, neighbors stopped the bulldozers with their bodies and a restraining order.
The house stands in the Swiss Avenue Historical District in the 6000 block of Bryan Parkway. Because the home sits in an historic district, anyone wanting to tear it down has to go through a complicated process to get special permission.
The owners of this house got that green light in January of 2004 but then hit a legal roadblock when a restraining order stopped the bulldozers in mid-track. However, they are hoping tomorrow the green light will be back on.
Eighty years after Craftsman home went up in East Dallas, its roof has began to sag, its foundation is buckling and its owners, Vic and Sharon Wyly, said the cost of fixing it far outweighs any profit they would make after its repair.
But neighbors said the house and its character are worth saving.
"It's gone forever if it's knocked down," said Chip Orr. "This block is unique and once it's gone, it's gone."
That is why when the date came up for it to be destroyed, neighbors stood in the way of bulldozers while preservationists got a temporary restraining order to keep the house standing. They claimed the owners inflated the cost of repairs to justify demolition.
Neighbors, like Orr, said most of their homes were in just as bad of shape. He said money, sweat and care turned them around and their value soared.
"That's part of what you are buying into when you buy into a home like this," he said.
The Swiss Avenue Historic District was the city's first conservation district. A preserved piece of early 20th century Dallas history. Preservationist fear if the city allows the house to come down it could set a dangerous precedent. "This would be really the first time a major contributing building was demolished in a historic district," said Dwayne Jones, a Dallas preservationist.
The attorney for the couple did not comment. But they are scheduled to present their case before the Dallas Plan Commission tomorrow.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Death row inmate executed
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - Texas death row inmate Gary Sterling has been executed tonight over a 1988 beating death in Navarro County.
The former farm worker from central Texas headed to the death chamber Wednesday evening for using a car bumper jack to fatally beat and rob a man during a violent spree 17 years ago that authorities said left three other people dead.
Sterling, 38, would be the 11th condemned prisoner executed this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state.
Sterling was condemned for the beating death of John Carty, 72, killed in May 1988 at his home in Navarro County near Corsicana. Prosecutors also had evidence tying him to the slaying of Delores Smith, 52, a friend of Carty's whose purse and glasses were found at Sterling's home, although he was not tried for the woman's death.
Sterling led police to their bodies after he was arrested for the slayings of William Porter, 72, and Porter's brother, Leroy, 71, at their home in Hill County, about 35 miles northeast of Waco. He pleaded guilty to their slayings and received two life prison terms.
Authorities said Sterling knew the four victims, who all were fatally beaten.
Evidence showed Sterling, who was 20 at the time, took Carty's car, a TV, shotgun and a lantern. Police said he sold the car for cash he needed to buy crack cocaine.
"He was looking for enough to just buy some rocks," Hill County Sheriff Brent Button said this week.
Sterling's lawyers were in the courts Wednesday in the hours before his scheduled execution trying to block the punishment, arguing in appeals that Navarro County jurors were given flawed instructions when they decided in 1989 Sterling should be put to death.
Sterling had managed to elude police the night the Porter brothers were killed when they spotted him stripping Leroy Porter's car. Acting on a tip, he was arrested the following day as he hid in the attic of his home in Blooming Grove, a town of about 800 some 15 miles west of Corsicana.
While in jail in Hillsboro, Button said Sterling gained notoriety for trashing his cell, tearing up steel jail fixtures officials had been told were indestructible. Sterling, who declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his scheduled lethal injection, also was remembered for a physical training regimen where he would do push-ups for hours.
"I've prosecuted a number of capital cases, but this guy really scared me," Pat Batchelor, the former Navarro County district attorney who prosecuted Sterling's capital murder case, said.
In earlier appeals, he argued unsuccessfully his intent to kill Carty wasn't clear because he didn't bring a deadly weapon with him and that he only struck Carty once. State lawyers responded that if Sterling only wanted to rob Carty, there wasn't any need to bash in the man's head with the jack.
Another previous appeal focused on comments from a juror at his trial who was portrayed as racist for using an epithet to describe black people. The juror was white. Sterling is black. At a later hearing, the juror said use of the racially insensitive term didn't make him a racist and he didn't consider himself a racist. Federal appeals courts agreed and denied the appeal.
At least seven other Texas inmates have executions scheduled. Next is Robert Shields, set to die Aug. 23 for the 1994 slaying of a suburban Houston woman during a burglary of her home in Friendswood in Galveston County.
As the prison chaplain finished his brief prayer, Sterling smiled and said as the drugs began flowing, "I'll put in a good word for everybody."
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - Texas death row inmate Gary Sterling has been executed tonight over a 1988 beating death in Navarro County.
The former farm worker from central Texas headed to the death chamber Wednesday evening for using a car bumper jack to fatally beat and rob a man during a violent spree 17 years ago that authorities said left three other people dead.
Sterling, 38, would be the 11th condemned prisoner executed this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state.
Sterling was condemned for the beating death of John Carty, 72, killed in May 1988 at his home in Navarro County near Corsicana. Prosecutors also had evidence tying him to the slaying of Delores Smith, 52, a friend of Carty's whose purse and glasses were found at Sterling's home, although he was not tried for the woman's death.
Sterling led police to their bodies after he was arrested for the slayings of William Porter, 72, and Porter's brother, Leroy, 71, at their home in Hill County, about 35 miles northeast of Waco. He pleaded guilty to their slayings and received two life prison terms.
Authorities said Sterling knew the four victims, who all were fatally beaten.
Evidence showed Sterling, who was 20 at the time, took Carty's car, a TV, shotgun and a lantern. Police said he sold the car for cash he needed to buy crack cocaine.
"He was looking for enough to just buy some rocks," Hill County Sheriff Brent Button said this week.
Sterling's lawyers were in the courts Wednesday in the hours before his scheduled execution trying to block the punishment, arguing in appeals that Navarro County jurors were given flawed instructions when they decided in 1989 Sterling should be put to death.
Sterling had managed to elude police the night the Porter brothers were killed when they spotted him stripping Leroy Porter's car. Acting on a tip, he was arrested the following day as he hid in the attic of his home in Blooming Grove, a town of about 800 some 15 miles west of Corsicana.
While in jail in Hillsboro, Button said Sterling gained notoriety for trashing his cell, tearing up steel jail fixtures officials had been told were indestructible. Sterling, who declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his scheduled lethal injection, also was remembered for a physical training regimen where he would do push-ups for hours.
"I've prosecuted a number of capital cases, but this guy really scared me," Pat Batchelor, the former Navarro County district attorney who prosecuted Sterling's capital murder case, said.
In earlier appeals, he argued unsuccessfully his intent to kill Carty wasn't clear because he didn't bring a deadly weapon with him and that he only struck Carty once. State lawyers responded that if Sterling only wanted to rob Carty, there wasn't any need to bash in the man's head with the jack.
Another previous appeal focused on comments from a juror at his trial who was portrayed as racist for using an epithet to describe black people. The juror was white. Sterling is black. At a later hearing, the juror said use of the racially insensitive term didn't make him a racist and he didn't consider himself a racist. Federal appeals courts agreed and denied the appeal.
At least seven other Texas inmates have executions scheduled. Next is Robert Shields, set to die Aug. 23 for the 1994 slaying of a suburban Houston woman during a burglary of her home in Friendswood in Galveston County.
As the prison chaplain finished his brief prayer, Sterling smiled and said as the drugs began flowing, "I'll put in a good word for everybody."
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Bill would clear way for TV by phone line
Cable carriers ask Perry to veto plan, which also frees firms to raise rates
By TERRY MAXON and SUDEEP REDDY / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas - Texans may soon have more choice in how they get television service, thanks to legislation passed Wednesday and sent to the governor.
The far-reaching bill gives telecommunications companies the ability to obtain a statewide franchise to offer video service. That provision came over the loud objections of cable TV companies, which historically have had to fight for their franchises city by city.
Some consumers could also face higher rates for basic phone service under provisions of the bill that give telephone companies greater power to set their own prices.
SBC Communications and Verizon Communications, which pushed hardest for the legislation, praised the Legislature and urged the governor to sign the bill.
The Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association said Gov. Rick Perry should veto it and warned of legal challenges on the horizon.
"The next step in this process will almost certainly be the courts," said association chairman Tom Kinney, "where the substantial legal issues contained in this legislation hopefully will be resolved in a more thoughtful way, without the undue influence of hordes of SBC lobbyists trying to sway the outcome in their favor."
Both SBC and Verizon are testing systems to offer video to consumers in the near future, competing directly with cable companies. The industry calls it the "triple play" of telecom services – voice, data and video.
Cable companies have gotten a jump on the competition, adding data and then voice services to their traditional television.
But SBC is investing $4 billion through 2008 to build a fiber-optics system to provide voice, data and video, and Verizon is about to begin selling video service on its fiber-optic network, with the first customers expected in September or October in Keller.
SBC Texas president Jan Newton said more competition means "better prices and better products for consumers."
Steve Banta, Verizon's Southwest region president, said, "All Texans should be proud that our state is the first in the nation to open up the video market so that consumers can have a choice of video providers."
Cable companies had first criticized the legislation as being unfair to cities, saying it permitted "redlining" by letting telephone companies focus on customers in wealthier areas.
Because the Legislature was called into two special sessions to deal with school funding and property tax reform, the TCTA said, lawmakers should have focused their attention on education issues rather than telecommunications.
The industry organization repeated that criticism Wednesday after the House approved the bill 144-1, a day after the Senate approved the same bill. The governor is expected to sign the legislation.
"Even if the Legislature is able to pass some limited reforms on these important issues, SB5 is bad for consumers, bad for competition and bad for Texas – and should not become law," said Mr. Kinney, president of Time Warner Cable's Austin division.
Cable companies with municipal franchise agreements will be at a decided disadvantage to telephone companies, said Dick Kirby, Comcast's executive director for government affairs in Dallas.
"The Texas legislation has the impact of picking winners and losers in the marketplace by giving the big phone companies an unfair competitive advantage," he said. The legislation is "essentially stripping away most of the franchise requirements that all cable operators are required to live with today when they provide service."
Cities had fought earlier versions of the legislation. However, revised bills grandfathered existing franchise agreements and forced new competitors to meet some of the same requirements as franchise holders.
"I think that's why I think you saw the Texas Municipal League and the cities go neutral on this," said Mr. Banta of Verizon.
The bill also would allow telephone companies to raise their basic local rates, which have been frozen for years at about $11 a month before taxes and fees. On Jan. 1, an incumbent telephone company such as SBC or Verizon could raise rates in markets with at least 100,000 population.
Markets with 30,000 to 100,000 people also would be deregulated Jan. 1 if the state Public Utility Commission determines that the incumbent telephone company has at least three competitors, including one providing residential telephone service and another offering mobile telephone service not connected to the incumbent.
Smaller markets of fewer than 30,000 people would be deregulated in 2007 unless the PUC decides they need to remain regulated.
The immediate impact on consumers is unclear, but public-interest groups are wary. The bill was opposed by AARP, Consumers Union, Common Cause, Texas ISP Association, Save Muni Wireless and Technology for All.
"We know you're outnumbered; there are more registered telephone industry lobbyists than members of the House of Representatives," the groups said in a letter Tuesday to state leaders. "But this session was called to reform school finance and lower property taxes, not to appease lobbyists demanding special-interest legislation simply to increase their profits."
Companies and some lawmakers argued that those customers could receive similar service from competitors.
Consumer groups said other options, such as wireless or Internet-based phone service, were priced far higher.
"I expect higher phone bills for millions of Texans who want little- or no-frills phone service," said Tim Morstad, policy analyst for Consumers Union.
The bill also opens the door for electric utilities to carry Internet signals over power lines, a technology that could improve efficiency of the transmission grid and allow consumers to receive broadband Internet service in a new way.
Among the potential services: automatically notifying utilities of power outages, quicker disconnects and reconnects of customers, and automated meter reading. Ultimately, the technology would allow pricing plans from power providers that offer different rates throughout a day.
"These are all things utility companies have talked about and wanted for decades," said Jay Birnbaum, vice president of Current Communications, a provider of broadband-over-power-lines, or BPL, service.
Amateur radio operators have objected to BPL technology, saying it interferes with communications equipment that could be used in emergencies. The companies say that newer technology will not disrupt the radio signals.
Cable carriers ask Perry to veto plan, which also frees firms to raise rates
By TERRY MAXON and SUDEEP REDDY / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas - Texans may soon have more choice in how they get television service, thanks to legislation passed Wednesday and sent to the governor.
The far-reaching bill gives telecommunications companies the ability to obtain a statewide franchise to offer video service. That provision came over the loud objections of cable TV companies, which historically have had to fight for their franchises city by city.
Some consumers could also face higher rates for basic phone service under provisions of the bill that give telephone companies greater power to set their own prices.
SBC Communications and Verizon Communications, which pushed hardest for the legislation, praised the Legislature and urged the governor to sign the bill.
The Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association said Gov. Rick Perry should veto it and warned of legal challenges on the horizon.
"The next step in this process will almost certainly be the courts," said association chairman Tom Kinney, "where the substantial legal issues contained in this legislation hopefully will be resolved in a more thoughtful way, without the undue influence of hordes of SBC lobbyists trying to sway the outcome in their favor."
Both SBC and Verizon are testing systems to offer video to consumers in the near future, competing directly with cable companies. The industry calls it the "triple play" of telecom services – voice, data and video.
Cable companies have gotten a jump on the competition, adding data and then voice services to their traditional television.
But SBC is investing $4 billion through 2008 to build a fiber-optics system to provide voice, data and video, and Verizon is about to begin selling video service on its fiber-optic network, with the first customers expected in September or October in Keller.
SBC Texas president Jan Newton said more competition means "better prices and better products for consumers."
Steve Banta, Verizon's Southwest region president, said, "All Texans should be proud that our state is the first in the nation to open up the video market so that consumers can have a choice of video providers."
Cable companies had first criticized the legislation as being unfair to cities, saying it permitted "redlining" by letting telephone companies focus on customers in wealthier areas.
Because the Legislature was called into two special sessions to deal with school funding and property tax reform, the TCTA said, lawmakers should have focused their attention on education issues rather than telecommunications.
The industry organization repeated that criticism Wednesday after the House approved the bill 144-1, a day after the Senate approved the same bill. The governor is expected to sign the legislation.
"Even if the Legislature is able to pass some limited reforms on these important issues, SB5 is bad for consumers, bad for competition and bad for Texas – and should not become law," said Mr. Kinney, president of Time Warner Cable's Austin division.
Cable companies with municipal franchise agreements will be at a decided disadvantage to telephone companies, said Dick Kirby, Comcast's executive director for government affairs in Dallas.
"The Texas legislation has the impact of picking winners and losers in the marketplace by giving the big phone companies an unfair competitive advantage," he said. The legislation is "essentially stripping away most of the franchise requirements that all cable operators are required to live with today when they provide service."
Cities had fought earlier versions of the legislation. However, revised bills grandfathered existing franchise agreements and forced new competitors to meet some of the same requirements as franchise holders.
"I think that's why I think you saw the Texas Municipal League and the cities go neutral on this," said Mr. Banta of Verizon.
The bill also would allow telephone companies to raise their basic local rates, which have been frozen for years at about $11 a month before taxes and fees. On Jan. 1, an incumbent telephone company such as SBC or Verizon could raise rates in markets with at least 100,000 population.
Markets with 30,000 to 100,000 people also would be deregulated Jan. 1 if the state Public Utility Commission determines that the incumbent telephone company has at least three competitors, including one providing residential telephone service and another offering mobile telephone service not connected to the incumbent.
Smaller markets of fewer than 30,000 people would be deregulated in 2007 unless the PUC decides they need to remain regulated.
The immediate impact on consumers is unclear, but public-interest groups are wary. The bill was opposed by AARP, Consumers Union, Common Cause, Texas ISP Association, Save Muni Wireless and Technology for All.
"We know you're outnumbered; there are more registered telephone industry lobbyists than members of the House of Representatives," the groups said in a letter Tuesday to state leaders. "But this session was called to reform school finance and lower property taxes, not to appease lobbyists demanding special-interest legislation simply to increase their profits."
Companies and some lawmakers argued that those customers could receive similar service from competitors.
Consumer groups said other options, such as wireless or Internet-based phone service, were priced far higher.
"I expect higher phone bills for millions of Texans who want little- or no-frills phone service," said Tim Morstad, policy analyst for Consumers Union.
The bill also opens the door for electric utilities to carry Internet signals over power lines, a technology that could improve efficiency of the transmission grid and allow consumers to receive broadband Internet service in a new way.
Among the potential services: automatically notifying utilities of power outages, quicker disconnects and reconnects of customers, and automated meter reading. Ultimately, the technology would allow pricing plans from power providers that offer different rates throughout a day.
"These are all things utility companies have talked about and wanted for decades," said Jay Birnbaum, vice president of Current Communications, a provider of broadband-over-power-lines, or BPL, service.
Amateur radio operators have objected to BPL technology, saying it interferes with communications equipment that could be used in emergencies. The companies say that newer technology will not disrupt the radio signals.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Tempers flare in debate on S. Dallas aid
Dallas: Council move to strip money from development group fails
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - A debate over funding a business development organization with tax dollars boiled into a racially tinged City Council argument Wednesday evening at Dallas City Hall.
Ultimately, the council voted to preserve most of the South Dallas Development Corp.'s federally funded 2005-06 community development block grants that Mayor Laura Miller and several council members had sought to strip – but not before council member Maxine Thornton-Reese accused the mayor of practicing racial politics.
"She didn't ask nobody from the south," said Dr. Thornton-Reese, accusing northern-sector council colleagues Mitchell Rasansky, Bill Blaydes and Ron Natinsky of carrying out the mayor's will by sponsoring measures that would have transferred more than $1.1 million from the development corporation to repair city buildings. "When it comes to southern-sector people, she gets northern-sector people to split you."
Mr. Blaydes shot back.
"My integrity has been questioned. This has nothing to do with race, and it has everything to do with spending public dollars," Mr. Blaydes told Dr. Thornton-Reese. "My wife told me not to get baited, but damn it, this is the time to get baited. I thought you knew me better than that. Nobody tells me how to vote."
Ms. Miller panned the development corporation for dropping city-appointed representatives from its board and defaulting on a loan. The development corporation therefore shouldn't receive city-controlled federal funds if it can't even manage its books properly, the mayor argued.
"I am really sad that once again, instead of talking about how we spend money, we start talking about division ..."
"That you are making," Dr. Thornton-Reese, who is black, interjected.
"... and personalities ..." Ms. Miller, who is white, continued.
"Division that you are making!" Dr. Thornton-Reese said.
"... and we go way off track," Ms. Miller said. "It's an interesting diversion, and it's very unfortunate."
Mr. Rasansky called the development corporation's finances "a disaster," adding, "this thing means nothing to me. Nothing."
But Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia praised the development corporation as the only such organization to foster job growth in Dallas' poorest neighborhoods by offering loans to entrepreneurs who can't get money from a traditional bank.
"It means a lot, a lot, a lot for other people," Dr. Garcia said of the development corporation. "It has a permanent record of being successful in the city."
The 6-6 vote meant that a measure to transfer the $1.16 million elsewhere failed.
Dr. Thornton-Reese, Dr. Garcia, Mr. Hill and council members Angela Hunt, Ed Oakley and Gary Griffith voted against the transfer. Ms. Miller, Mr. Blaydes, Mr. Rasansky, Mr. Natinsky and council members Steve Salazar and Linda Koop voted for it.
Council members Leo Chaney, Pauline Medrano and James Fantroy were absent. Federal guidelines mandate that the council vote Wednesday on its community development block grants, making a vote delay impossible without risking the funds.
Dallas: Council move to strip money from development group fails
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - A debate over funding a business development organization with tax dollars boiled into a racially tinged City Council argument Wednesday evening at Dallas City Hall.
Ultimately, the council voted to preserve most of the South Dallas Development Corp.'s federally funded 2005-06 community development block grants that Mayor Laura Miller and several council members had sought to strip – but not before council member Maxine Thornton-Reese accused the mayor of practicing racial politics.
"She didn't ask nobody from the south," said Dr. Thornton-Reese, accusing northern-sector council colleagues Mitchell Rasansky, Bill Blaydes and Ron Natinsky of carrying out the mayor's will by sponsoring measures that would have transferred more than $1.1 million from the development corporation to repair city buildings. "When it comes to southern-sector people, she gets northern-sector people to split you."
Mr. Blaydes shot back.
"My integrity has been questioned. This has nothing to do with race, and it has everything to do with spending public dollars," Mr. Blaydes told Dr. Thornton-Reese. "My wife told me not to get baited, but damn it, this is the time to get baited. I thought you knew me better than that. Nobody tells me how to vote."
Ms. Miller panned the development corporation for dropping city-appointed representatives from its board and defaulting on a loan. The development corporation therefore shouldn't receive city-controlled federal funds if it can't even manage its books properly, the mayor argued.
"I am really sad that once again, instead of talking about how we spend money, we start talking about division ..."
"That you are making," Dr. Thornton-Reese, who is black, interjected.
"... and personalities ..." Ms. Miller, who is white, continued.
"Division that you are making!" Dr. Thornton-Reese said.
"... and we go way off track," Ms. Miller said. "It's an interesting diversion, and it's very unfortunate."
Mr. Rasansky called the development corporation's finances "a disaster," adding, "this thing means nothing to me. Nothing."
But Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia praised the development corporation as the only such organization to foster job growth in Dallas' poorest neighborhoods by offering loans to entrepreneurs who can't get money from a traditional bank.
"It means a lot, a lot, a lot for other people," Dr. Garcia said of the development corporation. "It has a permanent record of being successful in the city."
The 6-6 vote meant that a measure to transfer the $1.16 million elsewhere failed.
Dr. Thornton-Reese, Dr. Garcia, Mr. Hill and council members Angela Hunt, Ed Oakley and Gary Griffith voted against the transfer. Ms. Miller, Mr. Blaydes, Mr. Rasansky, Mr. Natinsky and council members Steve Salazar and Linda Koop voted for it.
Council members Leo Chaney, Pauline Medrano and James Fantroy were absent. Federal guidelines mandate that the council vote Wednesday on its community development block grants, making a vote delay impossible without risking the funds.
0 likes
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests