News from the Lone Star State

[TexasStooge]

Man charged in wreck with Weatherford officer

WEATHERFORD, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - A Weatherford police officer was in stable condition Friday after his patrol car was hit by a fleeing suspect's pickup truck.

Officer Greg Stewart, 33, was airlifted Thursday night to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. He was being treated for a broken pelvis and a major concussion, although his injuries were not considered life-threatening, Weatherford police Lt. Chris Crawford said.

The pickup driver, Jonathan Larsen, 25, of Weatherford suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from Campbell Hospital. He was charged with intoxication assault and failure to stop and render aid, both felonies, Crawford said.

Larsen was being held at the Parker County Jail on a combined $35,000 bond.

The accident occurred as Hudson Oaks officers were chasing Larsen, who was believed to have been involved in a disturbance at a local movie theater. As he entered Weatherford city limits, Stewart was dispatched to assist, Crawford said.

As Stewart was heading toward the pursuit, Larsen’s vehicle collided with his in the intersection of U.S. 180 and Bankhead Drive about 9 p.m.

"After he struck our officer’s car, he fled on foot," Crawford said. "We had witnesses help chase him down. He was located by officers approximately a block to two blocks from the scene."

[TexasStooge]

Three police cars wreck after chase

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Three police cars wrecked in Dallas on Friday afternoon, following a chase.

The driver being pursued by police intentionally rammed the squad cars and then crashed at Moody and Harwood.

The chase started outside a Target store.

Early reports indicate the suspect is an alleged serial shoplifter and that the pursuit began when store staff flagged down a patrol car.

[TexasStooge]

'Green' plant saves Texas Instruments jobs

By DON WALL / WFAA ABC 8

RICHARDSON, Texas - The people of Texas Instruments are glowing about the new chip manufacturing plant in Richardson.

It will save hundreds of jobs.

"If we had not built here in North Texas, then approximately 1000 to 1200 jobs would have gone to another country, on the other side of the world," said Terry Dalton, project manager.

The factory was supposed to be built in Asia, possibly China.

But to keep the plant in Texas, construction costs have been cut by $180 million.

They achieved this by using energy efficient green technology, which means TI will save $4 million a year in operating costs.

"These are called light shelves and they basically reflect sunlight back up onto the ceiling, so you get natural day lighting deeper in the space," said says Paul Westbrook, Sustainable Development Manager.

Special features include lights which dim during peak daylight hours and shut off as people leave the room, a reflective roof to keep heat out, a solar water heating system and waterless toilets.

Construction materials are made from heavy duty natural and recycled products, such as wheat straw.

A clean room will have an ultra-sterile space where the wafers and tiny chips which control our cell phones, home computers, and everything digital are made.

"This clean room holds twice as much air as the American Airlines center, and highly efficient air filters refresh every bit of that air, every 15 minutes," adds Westbrook.

The plant is saving jobs and saving energy, a model way to build an American factory for the future.

[TexasStooge]

Implosion set for Fort Worth skyscraper

FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - One of the tallest buildings ever marked for implosion in North Texas is scheduled to come tumbling down on Saturday morning.

Fort Worth's 30-story Landmark Tower was heavily damaged six years ago when a tornado hit the downtown area.

Plans to refurbish the building fell through. Now demolition crews are making sure there are no surprises.

"The whole sequence lasts 13 seconds. The first six-and-a-half seconds is just activating our detonators," explained Steve Pettigrew of Demolition Dynamics. "The building will be down in less than 14 seconds."

Landmark Tower was the tallest building in Fort Worth when it was finished in 1957 and served as the home of Continental National Bank.

The revolving clock at the top of the structure was listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest of its kind.

The clock was removed about a month after the tornado struck.

Those in North Texas, watch the implosion live on News 8 Daybreak Saturday. Coverage starts at 7 a.m.

[rainstorm]

[quote="TexasStooge"]Bono's speaking tour will bring him to Dallas

Rocker scheduled to discuss global AIDS, poverty at May 5 event

By COLLEEN McCAIN NELSON / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Bono is making a surprise return to Dallas. But the U2 frontman is bringing a message – not his music – to town.

The World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth today will unveil plans for "Bono Speaks Live." The Irish rocker is scheduled to appear May 5 at Dallas' Fair Park Music Hall to discuss the fight against global AIDS and poverty in Africa.

Bono, one of rock's most celebrated superstars, has increasingly turned his attention to humanitarian efforts. Now, the Grammy winner divides his time between meetings with world leaders and world tours with his band.

He co-founded DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) to raise awareness of the crises in Africa and to pressure wealthy governments to help. And while plenty of celebrities have taken on causes, Bono has proved to be an informed and effective lobbyist.

He has impressed politicians with his knowledge of arcane congressional procedures and has reached out to leaders across the political spectrum. He has won praise from President Bush and has traveled to Africa with then-Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

"He's obviously someone who is not just doing this on a whim. It's a deep, deep commitment," said Jim Falk, president of the World Affairs Council. "Leaders recognize that this is a man who has done his homework and truly is committed."

Bono, a Nobel Prize nominee and former Time magazine Person of the Year, has been credited with helping to persuade Mr. Bush to increase funding to fight AIDS in Africa.

Mr. Falk said he made it his goal to bring Bono to North Texas after reading his writing on poverty. But initially, the World Affairs Council's invitation was rejected.

"He gets thousands of requests," Mr. Falk said. "The first few tries, they said no. We kept persevering."

Several months later, Bono agreed to speak in Dallas.

"Texas is important politically," Mr. Falk said. "He wants to reach a diverse and strong audience."

On Sunday, tickets will be made available to members of the World Affairs Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that educates citizens on international affairs and foreign policy. Tickets will go on sale to the public March 26.

Mr. Falk said that while his organization has brought many compelling speakers to the area, Bono's speech would be special.

"He is a singular celebrity," Mr. Falk said. "There is nobody like him."[/quote

ill pass it up

[TexasStooge]

Moves to close adult club

By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - The Silver City Cabaret is perhaps most notoriously known for being the last bar visited by former Dallas Cowboy Dwayne Goodrich before he ran over and killed two people on I-35.

Two years ago, two drug agents were nearly run over while trying to make an arrest in Silver City's parking lot.

Just last Saturday morning, 63-year-old George Brown was stabbed to death in the parking lot.

But there's more, a lot more.

Some 143 reports by Dallas Police at the Silver City Cabaret over the past five years. Among the offenses, sexual assaults, aggravated assaults, simple assaults, car thefts and burglaries.

Stemmons Corridor Business Association President David Neumann waged an aggressive campaign last year to close a number of bath houses in the area.

He says he can't believe there is so much crime and violence is at this one club.

"It's disgusting, it's disappointing," he says.

"The City of Dallas and the State needs to address the issue of repetitive obnoxious crimes that are at this establishment and other ones."

State Lawmakers thought they addressed the issue three years ago by passing a law prohibiting topless clubs from selling alcohol in dry areas.

Silver City lost its liquor license as a result, but stayed open and is still serving alcohol, while it is testing the constitutionality of the law.

But News 8 has learned the state alcohol commission could shut them down at any time.

As for Dallas, city codes prohibit Silver City from making more than 35 percent of its total income from alcohol sales.

Documents obtained by News 8 indicate that Silver City earned about 75 percent of its income from alcohol sales.

Neumann believes the time has come to quit giving Silver City a free pass.

"The evidence is very clear, now we just need to do something about it."

[TexasStooge]

Baby may have been beaten to death

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Seven-month-old Anthony Green may have been beaten to death.

He had broken ribs and there were problems with his lung and heart.

The medical examiners report says the baby's injuries may have been intentional.

Anthony Green died on May of 2003. At the time the medical examiner said there wasn't enough evidence to rule the death a homicide but said future evidence might cause the manner of death to be amended.

Laquisha Harp says she found her baby dead and the only other person in the apartment at the time was her boyfriend and the baby's father, Nathan Green.

"When I came back my child is like not breathing. Just dead, eyes closed and not breathing."

The case remained in limbo until this week, when Nathan Green was arrested for aggravated kidnapping.

News 8 reported on the kidnapping case when Green was placed on the department's most wanted list.

Police say Green kidnapped, beat up and left Harp on the side of the road battered and bruised.

Because of what happened to Harp, police are now questioning Nathan Green about Anthony's death.

Laquisha Harp is cooperating with police.

"I think he should be there for good. He should be charged with that," she says.

[TexasStooge]

Perry calls special session for school finance

By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN, Texas – Legislators will return to the Capitol on April 17 to untangle school finances, which have been declared unconstitutional by the Texas Supreme Court.

Gov. Rick Perry on Friday announced the time of the anticipated session, which will be the fourth in a year where lawmakers have attempted to resolve the issue.

Last year, the Supreme Court determined that the state, by establishing a cap on property tax rates, has in effect created a statewide property tax, which the constitution specifically prohibits. The court gave the state until June 1 to figure out a new financing method.

The state used to provide more than 60 percent of the money for education, but over the past decade, the state’s portion has dropped to about 35 percent, forcing a greater reliance on property taxes to fund education.

In earlier sessions, lawmakers have examined lowering property taxes by as much as one-third, but have deadlocked on how to make up the estimated $6 billion in tax revenue that would be lost. A broad-based business tax, as well as sales and cigarette taxes are among the proposals expected to surface again during the special session.

A commission headed by former Comptroller John Sharp is expected to make formal recommendations on the tax issue next week.

In calling the session, Mr. Perry noted the court’s June 1 deadline, which means lawmakers will have six weeks to act. While special sessions can only last 30-days, it is not unusual for governor’s to call back-to-back sessions to continue work on problematic legislation.

“This special session provides legislators of both parties a rare opportunity to significantly reduce property taxes, make substantial reforms to the franchise tax so it is fairer and broader, and ensure our schools have a reliable and constitutional stream of revenue,” Mr. Perry said.

[TexasStooge]

Man charged in wreck with Weatherford officer

WEATHERFORD, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - A Weatherford police officer was in fair condition Friday after his patrol car was hit by a fleeing suspect's pickup truck.

Officer Greg Stewart, 33, was airlifted Thursday night to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. He was being treated for a broken pelvis and a major concussion, although his injuries were not considered life-threatening, Weatherford police Lt. Chris Crawford said.

The pickup driver, Jonathan Larsen, 25, of Weatherford suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from Campbell Hospital. He was charged with intoxication assault and failure to stop and render aid, both felonies, Crawford said.

Larsen was being held at the Parker County Jail on a combined $35,000 bond.

The accident occurred as Hudson Oaks officers were chasing Larsen, who was believed to have been involved in a disturbance at a local movie theater. As he entered Weatherford city limits, Stewart was dispatched to assist, Crawford said.

As Stewart was heading toward the pursuit, Larsen’s vehicle collided with his in the intersection of U.S. 180 and Bankhead Drive about 9 p.m. Stewart was trapped in his patrol car and had to be pulled out by fire department personnel.

"After (Larsen) struck our officer’s car, he fled on foot," Crawford said. "We had witnesses help chase him down. He was located by officers approximately a block to two blocks from the scene."

[TexasStooge]

Soccer coach faces new investigation

Plano: Latest allegation brings total number of inquiries to at least five

By JENNIFER EMILY and TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News

PLANO, Texas - Plano police said Friday that they are investigating another allegation against a Plano soccer coach arrested on charges of inappropriately touching two elementary-school-age girls on his teams. That brings the total number of investigations to at least five, said Officer Carl Duke, a department spokesman.

Police arrested Dennis Drummond of Plano this week on two charges of indecency with a child by contact in relation to two of those allegations. No other charges have been filed.

Police would not release any information about the newest allegation.

Mr. Drummond, 64, declined to comment before he bonded out of the Collin County Jail on Thursday. His attorney could not be reached for comment Friday.

The fifth allegation surfaced in a phone call to police Thursday, Officer Duke said. Two other allegations were made just prior to Mr. Drummond's arrest.

Plano police are urging parents whose children interacted with Mr. Drummond to talk with their children.

Officer Duke said dozens of parents have called the department with concerns about their children's interactions with the coach.

One indecency charge against Mr. Drummond stems from a girl saying that Mr. Drummond touched her improperly over her bathing suit, according to a court filing. The second charge relates to a second girl saying that Mr. Drummond made her touch him improperly, a court filing stated. The girls said the incidents happened at his home.

Indecency with a child is a second-degree felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison.

Mr. Drummond coached five teams over three years with the Plano Youth Soccer Association. He moved his teams to the Plano Sports Authority for this season but resigned before he coached a game. Police said he left PSA because of the investigation.

Sachse police said this week they investigated similar allegations in 2005 when Mr. Drummond was a substitute in the Garland school district. The department referred the case to a Dallas County grand jury, which did not indict Mr. Drummond. He was never arrested on those allegations.

PYSA officials said the organization conducted a criminal background check of Mr. Drummond each season, as it does every coach. PSA officials said they also did a background check. Because Mr. Drummond was not arrested during the Sachse investigation, it would not show up in a check for a criminal record.

Plano Youth Soccer Association is a member of the North Texas State Soccer Association, which manages background checks for its members' coaches and volunteers. The association uses Backgroundchecks.com, based in Las Colinas, which charges about $4 per search.

Every coach, assistant coach and manager undergoes background checks before working with the children, said NTSSA Executive Director Bob Black.

PYSA purchases the nationwide search, the broadest available from that company, which scans 200 million records from courts, counties and criminal justice systems from 50 states, according to the company's Web site.

Past background check results have included arrests, convictions and deferred adjudication reports, officials said.

If a check is clean with no red flags, then the soccer group is notified that the coach is cleared for hire. If there is a hit, then the applicant is notified. And he or she is given the opportunity to provide additional information and request a hearing before a risk management committee made up of NTSSA officials, Mr. Black said.

The risk management committee makes the final decision and presents that to the soccer group.

[TexasStooge]

Physician goes her own way in legal fights

She's winning no friends as she wages battle against authority

By LAURIE FOX and BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News

Elizabeth Rohr is a fighter.

But why she fights – and what she is trying to prove – is difficult even for her to fully explain.

Over the last three years, the mother of seven who first gained notoriety for animal cruelty convictions and for fleeing with her five youngest children over a custody battle has waged numerous campaigns in local legal venues.

Dr. Rohr awkwardly represents herself in some court appearances. She tussles with jailers and then sues them for mistreatment. She clogs cases with hundreds of pages of confusing filings.

Her unapologetic strategy has left a string of infuriated and aggravated judges, jailers and jurors across the Dallas-Fort Worth area and estranged her from family, including her five young children.

But if you ask the Roanoke physician, she'll say she's a maverick whose unrelenting fight against authority is part of a larger war: living life on her own terms.

Dr. Rohr knows her approach doesn't win many fans.

"I have harmed no one deliberately," she said. "And to those I have, I'm working to make amends.

"The goal is to get my life straight. My children will forgive me."

A petite woman with untamed dark hair, Dr. Rohr, 46, first made headlines in 2002 after authorities seized dozens of starving horses on two sprawling ranches and charged her with animal cruelty.

The popular family physician's infamy hit new heights in 2004 when she led police on a statewide manhunt after she defied a judge's order and headed for the Mexican border with the five children. Officials issued a statewide Amber Alert.

Next week, Dr. Rohr may have to alter her combative approach.

On Monday, she will again face state District Judge L. Dee Shipman in a Denton County courtroom. It was his order she defied when she fled with her children.

This is her most serious court challenge yet – felony charges accusing her of interfering with child custody.

If convicted, the woman who has already lost custody of her children, her home and her beloved horses could lose her medical license as well.

"She was a very good doctor, but somewhere along the line something happened, and I don't know what it was," said Lt. Tommy Williams, a Keller police spokesman.

Dr. Rohr was his family's physician in the early 1990s. Like many, he revered her for her gentle bedside manner and sharp intelligence.

But like several other law enforcement and court officials across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Lt. Williams also knows what it's like to be in Dr. Rohr's cross hairs.

Suits over arrest

In January, she filed a suit against two Keller police officers, the city of Keller and the town of Westlake, seeking $450,000 in damages for the arrest of her fiancé, Scott Wass, and the impounding of her vehicle.

On March 2, she sued Northlake police and Denton County for stopping her and Mr. Wass along Interstate 35W for an expired registration sticker. She maintains that the two were unlawfully arrested and detained because she invoked her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and was arrested for failure to identify herself.

A federal bankruptcy judge in Collin County this month forbid the Denton County clerk's office from accepting additional filings from or on behalf of Dr. Rohr unless the papers are accompanied by a court order.

Tom Keever, chief of the Denton County district attorney's civil division, said he's never seen anyone tie up a legal case by filing so much paperwork. He's also never seen a judge order a county office charged with record keeping to require court orders with filings.

That decision came after Dr. Rohr failed to withdraw some filings that have affected the court-ordered sale of her Southlake ranch. Not even 74 days in jail for contempt of court dissuaded her.

"You're only as free as you are in your head," Dr. Rohr said in a Denton County courtroom this week.

In a complaint, a bankruptcy trustee alleged Dr. Rohr was attempting to use the clerk's office as a conduit to punish those on her "enemies list."

"In other circumstances, the listed documents might be considered humorous and of little concern," the trustee wrote.

Little sense

Many of her court filings make little sense. One says that Dr. Rohr is entitled to $800 billion in "silver specie." She's even declared in court her intention to continue filing "bogus legal documents."

Within the last year, court records filed by Dr. Rohr refer to herself and to Mr. Wass as members of the Pembina Little Shell Band of Chippewa. The two also have listed "all rights reserved" after their names in print. It is unclear whether their names have actually been copyrighted.

Whenever Dr. Rohr makes an appearance in the Denton County courthouse, employees have no idea what to expect.

"I would say that some of her actions are not the norm for courtroom appearances," said Lee Ann Breading, Denton County assistant district attorney.

Last year, Dr. Rohr defended herself during her animal cruelty trial in Denton County. Her objections were repeatedly shot down by Judge David Garcia. He also instructed her on occasion to ask questions, not make speeches.

Jurors didn't appear to appreciate her behavior. Throughout the trial, they could be seen rolling their eyes while Dr. Rohr spoke. Some giggled at questions she asked.

At one point, a juror pretended to bang her head on the jury box out of frustration.

"She kind of has her idea of the way things are going to go, and that may not necessarily comply with how the court thinks it's going to go," Ms. Breading said.

Dr. Rohr isn't a fan of a legal system she considers to be biased against defendants. And she calls Texas a "good ol' boy" state where officials bully the public. Before her 2005 animal cruelty trial ended in a conviction, she said she knew she'd lose.

"I'm sure I will because the system is crooked," she had said. "They get too much money for putting people in jail. I'll never get a fair trial in Denton County."

That's part of the reason she aligned herself with the Republic of Texas separatist movement, whose members claim they are not subject to the country's legal and taxing systems. The connection is not necessarily because she agrees with the group's beliefs. She says she's learning the legal process through them.

"Usually the person will bow down and give in because they don't know the law, and the law sails them down the river," she said last summer.

Despite all her bravado, Dr. Rohr is clearly aware that the goal behind all her actions – a quiet life on her Paradise, Texas, ranch with her children – is a long way off.

Just talking about her five youngest children makes her eyes brim with tears. She clenches her jaw and shakes her head at the thought that they go through their daily routines without her.

She has not seen or talked to them since August 2004. She says a judge forbade her to contact them, and attorneys have advised her to get clarification on her visitation rights before she attempts contact.

A picture of the five younger children – who range in age from 5 to 13 – hung in her Roanoke clinic last year. Fliers on a coffee table asked patients to support her in her legal battles.

For the kids

This crusade to free herself from legal entanglements is for the kids, she says. The continual court proceedings over the sale of her Southlake home is for them as well, she said.

"I have nothing left to lose," she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

Her children live with their father and stepmother in Keller. Her two older children, Rachel, 21, and Brandon, 23, live in Trophy Club and Southlake.

Her former husband, Craig Saunders, said his younger children are surrounded by friends, church and sports and lead busy lives.

He says that when they ask about their mother, he doesn't have an easy answer.

"The kids love their mother," Dr. Saunders said. "It's not my place to condemn her. But you have to put energy into relationships.

"She is her own worst enemy in a lot of ways. She's turned this into winning at all costs."

Dr. Rohr's biggest legal hurdle so far brings her back to the painful reality of her fractured family.

Her attorney in the custody interference case, Stephen Wohr, said his client has an odd but defensible case. He questions why Dr. Rohr faced criminal charges for fleeing with the children rather than just being held in contempt of court.

Ms. Breading said most allegations of interference with custody stem from bitter divorces and involve parents upset because a former spouse was late in returning children. She agreed criminal charges aren't sought in most of those cases.

"Until they start taking the kids across state lines or looking like they're leaving to go to Mexico and disappear," Ms. Breading said. "That's when police get concerned. Those kids have rights, too."

As much as Dr. Rohr resents the legal system, her distaste for the media is almost as great.

"My life has been destroyed by the publicity," she said. "Don't kid yourself: Everybody holds a doctor to a higher standard."

She said the coverage surrounding her animal cruelty cases and flight with her children to South Texas forever altered the life she once led.

"I'm a well-educated, smart person," Dr. Rohr said last fall outside a Denton County courtroom. "How did I get here?"

[TexasStooge]

University of Dallas putting up a fight in Bush bid

Irving: School, city tries to snap up Bush library with locale, tax revenue

By ERIC AASEN / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING, Texas - As one of only three finalists to land the George W. Bush Presidential Library, the University of Dallas and Irving hope that curb appeal – and millions of dollars – will seal the deal.

While long viewed an underdog in the library fight, Irving officials say the city is prepared to offer up to $50 million in hotel and motel tax revenue for a University of Dallas library.

Irving also hopes it can tug on the first family's heartstrings. First lady Laura Bush is fond of the UD land, said David Miller, chairman of the West Texas library coalition, which on Thursday was eliminated as a finalist by the presidential library selection committee.

"Laura Bush likes the land," Mr. Miller said Friday in a phone interview. "Let's just say I know it."

Mr. Miller said he knows of Mrs. Bush's thoughts through personal family contacts.

The UD land was so attractive that the West Texas coalition offered to split the library between Lubbock and the Irving university, Mr. Miller said.

Bob Galecke, UD's senior vice president for finance and administration, seemed flattered by the news about Mrs. Bush. But he said he wasn't aware of the West Texas offer to share the library.

"We like our land as well," he said. "We would be pleased and honored if that is what she's saying."

The UD land, near the Trinity River and Texas Stadium, is high enough to offer views of the Dallas, Las Colinas and Fort Worth skylines, Irving Mayor Herbert Gears said.

Dallas Mayor Laura Miller also has written a letter supporting the University of Dallas' efforts, saying in a letter last year that the site had many advantages and "is majestic."

The city of Dallas also owns part of the land in UD's proposal.

The Irving university is competing for the library with Southern Methodist University and Baylor University in Waco. SMU is considered a front-runner, in part because Mrs. Bush is an SMU alum.

It's not known when a final decision will be made on the winning library site. And Mr. Galecke isn't aware of offers or plans to split the Bush library among the three finalists. But Mr. Gears said splitting up the library among more than one university could be a possibility.

"This could come down to the formation of various partnerships if everyone is committed to getting the best project," Mr. Gears said. "In the end, everyone wants a good product."

Irving's $50 million offer signals that a UD library would benefit Irving and the metropolitan area, Mr. Galecke said. The city has worked with the university as it has prepared its pitch to the Bush library committee.

Although the $50 million offer from Irving is part of the proposal, it has not been formally discussed in public.

Irving would benefit greatly from a Bush library, especially from the large number of visitors. The library could also be part of a bigger tourist attraction depending on what happens at the stadium site after the Dallas Cowboys move to a new home in Arlington in 2009.

Irving officials are studying what to do with the stadium land, which could be transformed into a destination that includes a convention center, a hotel, apartments, shops and waterfront and park space, according to a proposal released last year.

Mr. Miller wouldn't predict where the Bush library will be located but said SMU – with its urban setting – lacks enough land for a library. SMU president Gerald Turner has said space isn't an issue.

There's plenty of land in Irving for a Bush library, and there's enough space for parking and tour groups, said Maura Allen Gast, executive director of the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau.

She and other Irving officials have long bragged about the UD site at the corner of State Highway 114 and Loop 12 and on the northwest side of the stadium. State Highway 183 and Interstate 35E are nearby. In addition, a DART rail line is to run near the area.

"We have a killer location," Ms. Gast said.

[TexasStooge]

Fort Worth skyline losing its landmark

Skyscraper, once city's tallest to stand, now is state's tallest to fall

By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH, Texas - The 30-story, granite and aluminum Landmark Tower found its way into the record books time after time.

Since its completion in 1956, it has earned the titles of Cowtown’s tallest skyscraper and home of the world’s largest revolving clock, digital clock and four-sided sign. The last entry in the record books will be written Saturday when it’s scheduled to become the tallest Texas building to be demolished.

John Roberts, an architect and member of Historic Fort Worth, Inc., said he’s a little sad to see the landmark torn down, but structural and other problems made this inevitable.

“I’m a realist,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that taking this building down is the best thing.”

The winner of a charity “Blast Raffle,” members of a Boy Scout troop, will press the button that sets off the more than 1,200 explosive charges needed to fell the 380-foot tower. The proceeds will go to the Presbyterian Night Shelter and aÖ Wish with Wings.

Police will cordon off several blocks around the Landmark Tower early Saturday morning in preparation for the implosion. Thousands are expected to gather in downtown to watch the building collapse, an event that will last about 14 seconds.

John Angelina, president of Houston-based D.H. Griffin of Texas, one of three companies collaborating on the implosion, said the size of the building presents a few extra challenges.

The companies have dug a moat — 30- to 40-feet deep — around the building to contain the debris. They expect to have about 5,000 tons of steel and 8,000 yards of concrete remaining when the implosion is completed.

“This is kind of exciting,” Mr. Angelina said about participating in a project this size.

The Landmark Tower was bought by Fort Worth-based XTO Energy in 2004 and will be used in the short term as a parking lot. Joy Webster, a vice president at XTO, declined to speculate about long-term plans for the site.

When the building was constructed, it was likely greeted by Fort Worth residents as a modern marvel.

Mr. Roberts said it was not just the tallest building in town, but it towered 100 feet over the other big buildings in downtown. The 32-foot tall revolving clock added to its stature.

“It was a beacon and landmark for the city,” Mr. Roberts said.

Mr. Roberts said the building is also significant because it is Cowtown’s only major example of the International Style of architecture, recognizable by its simple geometric shapes and minimalist exteriors, often of glass or aluminum.

Philip Johnson, designer of the Fort Worth Water Gardens, helped coin the term “International Style” in the 1930s.

Despite its fame, the Landmark Tower, known originally as the Texas Building, has been on its last legs for decades, said Mr. Roberts, who operates a Web site devoted to Fort Worth architecture.

After Continental National Bank departed, the tower had few tenants during the 1980s and was vacant during most of the ‘90s.

“It is ugly now because of the neglect,” he said. “For 24 or 25 years, it’s pretty much been in a state of disrepair.”

For several years, the previous owner talked about trying to fill the tower with luxury, high-rise condos and apartments, but that plan never worked out.

The next blow came in 2000 when a tornado ripped through downtown and struck the Landmark Tower. A month after twister hit, the building’s famed clock, which had already stopped keeping time and revolving years earlier, had to be removed.

The owner sued its insurance carrier over damage payments, but the company was already in bankruptcy court when the lawsuit was settled. XTO Energy, which owns property next to the Landmark Tower, bought the building.

Although the Landmark Tower was unable to recover, its downtown neighbor, simply named The Tower, has thrived. Also damaged by the tornado, The Tower now houses luxury, high-rise condos — a dream of the former owners of the Landmark Tower.

Mr. Roberts said that the Landmark Tower probably never had a chance. It was in poor shape from sitting vacant for so long, filled with asbestos and also had structural damage that might have been unrelated to the twister.

He said that the building was initially designed for 28 instead of 30 stories, and the massive rotating clock was not included in the original plans. All of those factors could have led to a shortened life for the tower.

“I don’t think anyone could have saved it,” Mr. Roberts said.

[TexasStooge]

Letter announcing complex closure alarms tenants

Lake Highlands: Low-rent units closing; manager says it's not imminent

By KIM HORNER / The Dallas Morning News

LAKE HIGHLANDS, Texas - Many Northwest Terrace residents have been in a panic since receiving letters stating that the owners plan to close the 472-unit apartment complex in Lake Highlands.

The low-rent apartments near Northwest Highway and Ferndale Road are home to many who use rent vouchers, and 125 tenants already have made plans to move after getting the March 9 letter.

Jane Dugan, a 78-year-old resident of the complex for 17 years, said she never planned to leave the apartment, which she rents for $167 a month thanks to a federal rent voucher that covers the rest of the $590 monthly rent. But the letter – and rumors that air-conditioning and security won't be available next month – forced her to act, she said.

"I've been in a state of shock ever since trying to rearrange my life," said Ms. Dugan, who has put a deposit on another place.

The letter seemed to indicate that residents needed to visit the office and terminate their leases by May 15 or the owners "reserve the right to fully enforce all penalties agreed upon in your lease contract."

Property manager Bill Burk, with Greystar Management Co., said residents misinterpreted the letter as saying all residents must leave by May 15. He said residents who choose not to terminate their leases will be able to stay at Northwest Terrace for the duration of those leases.

Mr. Burk added that air-conditioning and security will continue at the utilities-included complex. Northwest Terrace, which is 78 percent full, is simply allowing residents out of their leases if they want to move now, he said. He added that residents now have until the end of May to terminate early.

Mr. Burk said he doesn't know when the owner, Northwest Terrace Partners, plans to close the property or what it plans to develop there. He said plenty of affordable apartments are available in the area.

Sandy Rollins, executive director of the Texas Tenants' Union, said apartment management worded the letter to frighten residents into leaving immediately. She pointed out that the letter never states that residents can stay until their leases end.

"They're backing off, but they've already created such turmoil," she said. The tenants group advised residents not to sign any early move-out agreements.

Union officials are considering action regarding the letter.

Resident John Hall, 56 and disabled, said management had him sign a paper promising to move out by April 30. His lease wasn't supposed to end until October.

"People wouldn't just move out if they knew they could stay until their lease was up," he said, adding that he found a new place in Lancaster.

The complex converted in 2000 from a U.S. Housing and Urban Development program that required a previous owner to keep rents affordable. Although the rents increased after that, the complex still was affordable to many seniors, disabled people and those who work for very low wages, Ms. Rollins said. Tenants in 150 units receive the rent vouchers.

Lasheba Tyler, a Hurricane Katrina evacuee from the New Orleans area, said she can't afford to pay her April rent and pay a deposit on a new place.

The Wal-Mart cashier with three children, ages 3, 5 and 11, worries about finding an apartment as affordable as Northwest Terrace.

"We are in a messed-up situation all around," she said.

[TexasStooge]

North Dallas home destroyed by fire

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Firefighters battled a three-alarm house fire in far North Dallas Friday night.

It started about 10 p.m. at a 3,300 square foot residence in the 6000 block of Shetland Drive.

Flames were shooting through the roof when firefighters arrived and fire tore through the two-story house despite a steady rain.

Neighbors told fire officials the homeowners were out of town.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. Investigators estimaed damage to the 26-year-old structure at $400,000.

[TexasStooge]

Implosion brings down FW skyscraper

FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) — The walls came tumbling down Saturday morning morning with the implosion of a 30-story building in downtown Fort Worth.

The demolition involved the Landmark Tower.

Thousands of spectators braved rainy, chilly weather to watch the 1950's era building be brought down in the controlled blast.

The site is being redeveloped to make room for a parking lot.
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ALSO ONLINE:

Watch The Implosion

[TexasStooge]

Series of failures doomed baby

It was no secret that Dena Schlosser suffered from postpartum psychosis. So why wasn't Maggie saved?

By JENNIFER EMILY and KIM HORNER / The Dallas Morning News

Editor's note: This story contains graphic details.

Plano police Officer Mike Letzelter was there at the beginning and the end of 10-month-old Maggie Schlosser's life.

Maggie was six days old the first time he entered her world. He was called to her home after her mother ran down the street screaming about demons, with Maggie's 5-year-old sister pedaling furiously after her on a bicycle. Maggie had been left alone in the bedroom of the family's West Plano apartment.

The next time Officer Letzelter saw the family, Maggie lay in a crib, blood-soaked and missing her arms. Her mother, Dena Schlosser, would later admit that she cut off Maggie's arms. But at the time, Ms. Schlosser sat in a chair, covered in blood, as Officer Letzelter and other responding officers ran frantically from room to room, searching for other injured children. Maggie's two older sisters were safe at school.

During Ms. Schlosser's capital murder trial, Officer Letzelter, a former Marine, squirmed and looked ill on the witness stand as he told jurors that Maggie's death nearly made him abandon his career. The baby haunts him, and he's troubled that doctors, caseworkers, police, the system – anyone – could not save her.

The trial was designed to determine guilt or innocence, sanity or insanity, prison or mental institution. But over and over during the two-week trial, prosecutors, defense attorneys, jurors and witnesses kept coming back to a different question: Why couldn't Maggie have been saved?

"The system failed Dena Schlosser. [Husband] John Schlosser failed Dena Schlosser," prosecutor Bill Dobiyanski said in front of the jury box. "CPS failed. LifePath failed. ... The treating doctors failed."

Ms. Schlosser did not plummet into a psychotic break the day she killed her daughter. She slipped and skidded in and out of reality for the 10 short months of Maggie's life.

Psychiatrists agreed that the support systems available to Ms. Schlosser did not do enough to treat her postpartum psychosis and depression. Her breakdown began after she gave birth – without pain medication – in the family's Plano apartment.

For several months, she experienced religious delusions and hallucinations, which continued as she grabbed the largest knife in the kitchen and severed Maggie's arms at the shoulders.

She said she believed it was the command of God.

Family role

The Schlossers lived in an apartment with their three children: baby Maggie and two other daughters, now ages 7 and 10.

The couple lost their home in Fort Worth when Mr. Schlosser lost his job as a computer specialist. He worked intermittently as a consultant during Maggie's life, but the family struggled financially.

After Maggie was born, Ms. Schlosser gave up her job at a local child-care center to stay home with the kids.

Mr. Schlosser isolated his wife, her family members said. He ruled his home in the manner prescribed by their minister, Doyle Davidson, a self-appointed prophet and apostle at Water of Life Church in Plano. Ms. Schlosser did not have many friends, and her mother, Connie Macaulay, lives in Canada and has advanced Parkinson's disease.

Mr. Schlosser kept family members in the dark once his wife's episodes began, according to testimony. He told no one that his wife had cut her wrist the day after Maggie was born. Once authorities were involved, he played down the severity of her illness and convinced doctors that she was better off at home.

He never told anyone that the family's minister preached that mental illness was caused by demons and that medicine wasn't needed if you had faith.

Ms. Schlosser's best friend, a fellow church member, often asked Mr. Schlosser whether his wife was taking her medication. He told her not to pressure him, according to testimony.

Restless just days before Maggie's death in November 2004, Ms. Schlosser took Maggie out for a walk in the middle of the night. She packed the baby into her stroller and walked the nearby streets.

Hearing the whir of a small engine, Ms. Schlosser concluded that the sound was a chain saw and that someone must be building an ark. She walked up and down the street in search of the woodcutter. God wanted him to have Maggie, she thought. She searched but never found what she was looking for.

She returned home downtrodden and told her husband what happened. God brought you home, he told her.

Forensic psychiatrist William H. Reid testified that Mr. Schlosser and the church prevented Ms. Schlosser from getting proper health care "when she needed it and when she wanted it."

Through his attorney, Mr. Schlosser denied keeping his wife from care but said that, in retrospect, he should have done things differently.

George Elwell, president of the Collin County chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said the Schlossers appeared to have been brainwashed by the church.

"I think he's the one who should be on trial – him [Mr. Schlosser] and the church. Not her," Mr. Elwell said.

John Dornheim, a community liaison for Green Oaks Hospital, said more awareness of mental illness is needed so friends and family members can understand the warning signs.

"She made cries for help, but nobody interpreted them correctly," he said. "Most people in a severe case like that are giving out signs. It's a matter of can you interpret them or not. It sounds like her circle of friends would not."

Child Protective Services

A doctor first diagnosed postpartum psychosis in Ms. Schlosser after she ran away from her home just after Maggie's birth. She was taken to Medical Center of Plano, and Child Protective Services was called because she left Maggie alone.

CPS said they considered the case high risk. Ms. Schlosser was to have no unsupervised contact with her children. Her mother-in-law came to stay with the family for a month. Then CPS decided that Ms. Schlosser could again be alone with her children, but caseworkers continued to check in every weekday.

By the time Maggie was 2 months old, the agency was visiting twice a week.

Neither Ms. Schlosser nor her husband told CPS about another psychotic break when Maggie was 4 months old. This time, Ms. Schlosser wandered into the nearby Medical Center in the middle of the night and was found on a bathroom floor. Yet CPS closed its case three months later after a psychiatrist deemed that Ms. Schlosser's mental health had improved. There was no further interaction with the agency until the day Maggie died.

Throughout the time CPS was involved, caseworkers wanted Ms. Schlosser to attend individual counseling, but she and her husband refused. The agency could have asked a court to order counseling, but it did not. The agency offers counseling to most clients, said spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales. She declined to discuss the Schlosser case because of privacy laws.

The clinical program director for Dallas' Child Abuse Prevention Center said CPS has a difficult job in determining whether children are at risk, especially given high turnover and understaffing at the agency.

"When you're looking at risk, you're always doing an educated guess," said Carol Duncan, who worked for CPS for 25 years.

LifePath Systems

At the same time that CPS was brought in, Ms. Schlosser was referred to LifePath Systems, the area's public mental-health system for low-income residents. The family did not have medical insurance.

Doctors sent Ms. Schlosser to Green Oaks Hospital, a private psychiatric facililty, after her initial diagnosis at Medical Center of Plano just days after Maggie's birth. There, she stayed in the psychiatric hospital's 23-hour crisis stabilization unit, where patients are monitored to determine whether they can be released for outpatient treatment.

After her discharge, Ms. Schlosser was sent for follow-up treatment through LifePath, a public mental-health provider funded by state, county and federal money.

From February to June 2004, Ms. Schlosser met with LifePath psychiatrist Nasir Zaki for 15 minutes a month after an initial 45-minute meeting. Dr. Zaki testified that LifePath's financial limitations prohibit longer or more frequent sessions.

"I think all of our doctors would like to have time to see clients on a more regular basis," said Randy Routon, LifePath's chief executive officer. "We cannot do nearly as much following up as we'd like to." He also said few patients in the system receive psychotherapy because of tight funding.

There is no standard length for appointments, and the treating psychiatrist determines the time, said Tom Warburton, spokesman for ValueOptions, the managed-care company that the state contracts with to run its mental-health program.

Dr. Zaki stopped prescribing the antipsychotic drug Haldol each time Ms. Schlosser told him she did not want to take it. He said he did not pressure her to continue the medication because he could not force her to take it.

In May, the psychiatrist wrote a letter to CPS saying Ms. Schlosser was doing better. Later that month, she was found on the bathroom floor at the Plano hospital.

Doctors again concluded she was psychotic. But instead of going to Green Oaks, Mr. Schlosser talked doctors into releasing her into Dr. Zaki's care. After that incident, Dr. Zaki started Ms. Schlosser on Haldol again. He said he did not know the full details of the bathroom episode, but he did not contact CPS.

Ms. Schlosser stopped going to LifePath after a July appointment in which she was incorrectly told that she would have to start paying $50 per appointment. Ms. Schlosser was never called to correct the error, a LifePath Systems employee testified.

Dr. Routon said he could not speak about Ms. Schlosser's case, citing privacy reasons. But he said some patients might be required to pay $50 for appointments if they have been deemed ineligible for treatment. Other patients may owe smaller co-payments on a sliding scale, depending on their income.

Mr. Elwell, president of the Collin County chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said more funding for mental health treatment might have saved Maggie's life.

He said patients in the public mental health system are released from hospitals too soon and without adequate follow-up care.

LifePath's Dr. Routon said the funds must be spread among too many patients.

"Obviously, this is one of the saddest cases we've ever seen in our community," Dr. Routon said. "I think the public is not always aware that Texas is almost last in funding for mental health services in the nation. That affects our court system, how many people are in jails, how many people are having disturbances in the street and how many lives are unproductive. It shows up in a lot of ways."

Water of Life Church

The day Pastor Davidson testified in Ms. Schlosser's trial, he thanked the court in his gravelly voice for the opportunity to spread God's word.

Throughout his testimony, he answered attorneys' questions by quoting Scripture and giving his interpretation of the Bible, which other clergy members have described as out of the mainstream.

In addition to believing that demons cause mental illness, he preaches that women are possessed by a Jezebel spirit and must submit to their husbands.

"All mental problems, I'm convinced, is caused by demons," he testified. "I do not believe that any mental illness exists that is not manifestation of demonic activity."

Mr. Davidson was the only person Ms. Schlosser immediately put on her jail visitation list besides her husband. The minister was also the first person Mr. Schlosser called after his wife told him she had cut off Maggie's arms.

Ms. Schlosser was obsessed with Mr. Davidson. She constantly spoke of him to her family and sent them tapes of his sermons. She told a psychiatrist that she began to believe that God told her that Maggie was to marry Mr. Davidson.

The day before Maggie died, the Schlossers argued in the church parking lot because Ms. Schlosser wanted to give Maggie "to God" or "to Doyle." They continued arguing at home where, according to a psychiatric report on Mr. Schlosser, he spanked his wife with a wooden spoon.

The role that Mr. Davidson played in Ms. Schlosser's life concerns some in the mental health field.

"Somebody has to start saying something about evangelical religion's role in these tragedies we've had in Texas," said Dallas psychologist Ann Dunnewold. She refers to Ms. Schlosser and another Texas mother, Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in 2001 because, she said, she thought Satan threatened them.

"I don't think we know how to begin to address it, but I think it's complicating things," the psychologist said.

Like the Schlossers, the Yates family was deeply religious and corresponded with a minister whom Ms. Yates' husband, Randy Yates, met while in college at Auburn University.

The preacher, who disparaged Ms. Yates' Catholicism, taught that since Adam and Eve, women are a source of evil and inferior to men. Ms. Yates felt that she was a bad mother and that drowning her children would save them. And like Dena Schlosser, Ms. Yates, who home-schooled her children, was relatively isolated. Ms. Yates' capital murder retrial is scheduled to begin Monday. A jury in 2002 rejected her claim of insanity but an appeals court later overturned the conviction.

Plano mother

Ms. Schlosser at times was well enough to care for herself. Medication helped, and she was judged by many around her as capable of making sound decisions.

But she and her husband repeatedly asked her psychiatrist to stop the antipsychotic drug Haldol. By all accounts, the drug was helping her.

She also refused counseling and was not forthcoming about her delusions and hallucinations when she was medicated.

She believed that a little boy who asked her for a glass of water in summer 2004 was Jesus. She believed that bloody streets turned into apostles heralding the Apocalypse. She believed that God told her to cut off Maggie's arms, as well as her own arms, head and legs.

Dr. Routon of LifePath said that because there is no physical test for mental illness, doctors determine how someone is doing partly based on how they – and their families – say they're doing.

"There's not a litmus test you can give: 'Are they doing great or not?' " Dr. Routon said. "A lot of the practice of psychiatry involves self-report."

Many patients quit taking medications because they have started to feel better or because of what can be severe side effects.

Additionally, many women become adept at keeping quiet about postpartum depression, Dr. Dunnewold said.

"We have such taboos about mental health issues, but we have even bigger taboos about mothers being unhappy with motherhood," she said. "Women are able to keep it sort of under wraps, and then it can flare up. You want to believe it's coming together. Families want to believe it's all coming together."

[TexasStooge]

West Dallas poised for a rebound

But some residents could miss out on benefits of a $1.25 bilion development plan

By DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Pedro Ceniceros, a 31-year-old factory worker, views the new fame of his old West Dallas neighborhood like a proud parent.

"Before, you lived in shotgun houses or the projects," says Mr. Ceniceros, whose first home is under construction here. "People used to turn away from West Dallas. Now I feel like it's a good investment."

Others do, too.

Mr. Ceniceros and his home on Clymer Street are among the triumphs of Vecinos Unidos, or United Neighbors, a low-key, nonprofit builder that's been revitalizing the blighted area for years. Commercial builder KB Home Corp. followed three years ago with its own housing development.

Now a massive, $1.25 billion Trinity River redevelopment project promises to bring more development and eclipse the area's old reputation for belching smokestacks and lead contamination and infamy as a haunt of bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde.

But Vecinos officials and others are concerned that the residents of West Dallas may not share in the area's commercial rise for long.

"We want the people here to have the same opportunities as the big guns that come in from out of the area," says Rosa Lopez, Vecinos Unidos' executive director. "We don't want them to just be the dishwashers and the servers. We want them to own their own businesses."

The community is considered by some to be one of the poorest in the nation.

Its per capita income in 2005 was $9,025, according to one measure. That's less than the adjusted per capita income in poverty-stricken Mexico.

In the 75212 ZIP code – which takes in nearly all of West Dallas – about two-thirds of the population is Latino, and just under a third is black. A sliver of the population is non-Hispanic white.

Vecinos' first project was a development of 57 brick homes known as Casa Rio, which is just off Winnetka Avenue near the sloping banks of the Trinity River and the Benito Juárez Parque de los Heroes, named after Mexico's first indigenous president.

When Casa Río was finished in 2001, it was billed as the largest development in the neighborhood in 50 years that wasn't a public housing project.

Paving the way

The Ceniceros' four-bedroom home is part of Vecinos' second development, which will be at scattered sites around West Dallas. Its homes are priced from $105,000 to $111,000, and some buyers qualify for aid that can drop the price. Vecinos' third project will stretch beyond homeownership – as important as it is in jump-starting wealth.

"The impact we are trying to get the people ready for is from the bridge and the Trinity River project," Ms. Lopez says.

The Trinity River public works project features three bridges designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, including one that will pour traffic into West Dallas' main artery. The project will ultimately include lakes, a roadway and a giant waterfront park.

Already, city crews are working at the location of the first bridge's center pier. And Singleton Boulevard is being widened from three to five lanes as part of a road improvement project.

All of that is likely to spur further development from the private sector. And Ms. Lopez, the daughter of a unionized steelworker from the Chicago area, isn't sure the people she serves are ready – or likely to be the commercial beneficiaries.

Vecinos' third development includes not just homes, but a plan to revitalize the business district along Singleton Boulevard. The drag is known for its honky-tonks, metal shops and freight-line firms.

Ms. Lopez notes that there are plenty of other family-run businesses there, too, such as a Wimpy's hamburger joint and scores of eateries with hand-painted signs that look like folk art – Los Tios Taquería, Me and Mom Diner and La Estrella Family Bakery among them.

Ms. Lopez envisions this jumble of businesses being energized by a capital infusion. Vecinos' plans include a shopping center on Singleton Boulevard.

Moving up

But some business owners might sell instead.

Rebeca Cordova of the Cordova Super Mercado has had offers from a few private interests, but she's declined them. Eventually, though, if she is forced to leave, Ms. Cordova says it will be for a buen arreglo , a good settlement. Her property is valued by the city at $9,030.

West Dallas Chamber of Commerce president John Cappello would also like to see a business renaissance and more housing.

"We can't get a bank here, a McDonald's or a Wendy's," he says.

The neighborhood is beginning to see more commercial activity.

Mr. Cappello notes that Union Pacific Corp. recently sold 126 acres in the middle of West Dallas and that the Dallas County Community College District will break ground on a new campus this summer.

"This area is getting ready to explode," says Mr. CappelloAlready, there are townhomes going up in the adjacent Oak Cliff neighborhood. Called the Trinity Townhomes, the development is near the Trinity River, over the Houston Street viaduct. Prices start at $300,000.

"We don't want to see just affordable housing, but middle and upper-end housing," Mr. Cappello says.

Irving-based developer JPI, which is planning projects north of the Trinity River project, says it hasn't built in West Dallas yet. "I think there is good potential there, and we are looking," said the company's president, Bobby Page.

New neighbors and old

Los Angeles-based KB Home offered mixed-income housing in its 310-unit Greenleaf Village project, built in partnership with American CityVista Ltd. and nonprofit Habitat for Humanity on the site of a former public housing project in West Dallas. The homes sold from about $80,000 to $170,000.

Ms. Lopez says she hopes her agency doesn't get priced out of the very neighborhood she's tried to patch up for more than a dozen years.

Earlier this year, Countrywide Financial Corp. pledged $777,000 to Vecinos as part of the bank's federal Community Reinvestment Act responsibilities. The money is being used for mortgages and homeowner education programs.

Ms. Lopez fears that KB may have its sights on a new West Dallas development.

"KB Home has a big line of credit," she says. "Now that we have opened up the doors to this area, we can't compete."

KB Home spokeswoman Bridgette Cush says, "Obviously, we find it an ideal location, but we don't have a land deal there now."

The narrative of West Dallas, under development and gentrification, has played itself out in scores of communities around the United States.

Don Williams, a local real estate executive who heads the nonprofit Foundation for Community Empowerment, says West Dallas can progress without displacing its poor.

"To turn around neighborhoods, you need mixed income," he says. "The idea is to bring in middle-income people without displacing working-class families."

In a corner of West Dallas near Fort Worth and Sylvan avenues, Monte Anderson opened the doors in December to a newly refurbished motel and bar perched gloriously on a chalk rock hill. The Belmont hotel offers rooms priced from $125 to $450, and Mr. Anderson plans to build garden homes, lofts and townhomes on adjacent property.

"Obviously, I have most of everything I own invested in that area on Fort Worth and Sylvan," he says. "I think very highly of the area, and it is just a matter of time.

Dallas Justice of the Peace Luis Sepulveda grew up in West Dallas and still lives there. Years ago, he crusaded against lead contamination after seeing so many of his schoolmates classified as slow learners in West Dallas schools. Eventually, in 1993, the U.S. government gave Superfund cleanup status to the now-closed RSR Corp. smelter site there.

To this day, remediation concerns remain and can make property siting complicated, Ms. Lopez of Vecinos says.

Stock in America

Vecinos Unidos stepped in to help rebuild the area for the working class.

"My hat goes off to them," Mr. Sepulveda says. "The development that's gone on there and allowed residents to have stock in America – your own house and back yard – is the American dream."

Mr. Ceniceros and his wife, Carmen, are eager to take on the mortgage on their 1,457-square-foot dream home, the 58th built by Vecinos. The house's foundation has been poured. And the Ceniceros children – Valerie, Pedro, Amanda and Daniel – have staked out patches of the home for their belongings.

The payments will be higher than the Ceniceros' $650-a-month rent in nearby Oak Cliff.

"It doesn't matter because it's going to be ours," Mr. Ceniceros says. "It doesn't make your feel bad about paying it if you will own it."
_____________________________________________________________

WEST DALLAS BY THE NUMBERS:

ZIP code 75212 is synonymous with West Dallas. Here’s a demographic snapshot of the mostly Latino community in 2005:

49 percent of households had incomes under $34,999

63 percent of households had incomes under $49,999

$34,000 was about the average household income

$64,000 was the average household income for the city of Dallas

80 percent were family households.

58 percent were family households in the city of Dallas

18 percent of households were headed by a single mother with children

8 percent of households were headed by a single mother with children in the city of Dallas

SOURCES: Claritas; U.S. Census Bureau; World Bank

[TexasStooge]

One dead, three hurt in birthday party shooting

ADDISON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) — Addison police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred early Sunday morning during a birthday party at a hotel.

Police said one man died at the scene and three others were hospitalized after unknown suspects fired shots at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in the 4400 block of Belt Line Road about 12:45 a.m.

The dead man was identified by the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office as Forrest Carter, 18, of Carrollton.

Two of the injured partygoers were taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas for treatment. A third was taken by privat car to Trinity Medical Center in Carrollton.

Police had made no arrests, but were questioning several witnesses.

WFAA-TV photojournalist Bryan Titsworth and Dallas Morning News writer Brandon Formby contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Parent furor simmers over cheerleader selection

Carroll ISD: Trustees to meet tonight on dispute over its ruling on squad

By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – For the second time in two weeks, Carroll school board members will tackle the increasingly thorny issue of how the high school varsity cheerleading squad should be formed.

Monday night, trustees will consider a grievance that arose from their March 6 decision to cut the squad by more than half and order new tryouts.

This time, parents are saying that the December tryout process for the Carroll Senior High School squad was flawed. They contend the process involved questionable decisions by several district employees.

Amid charges of unfair judging and favoritism, the issue continues to plague the district and distract the community as students and staff return today from spring break.

The board will meet in closed session tonight to consider arguments by parents of cheerleaders who did not initially make the squad.

The parents want the school board to essentially reverse itself and allow all the girls to be on the squad or to hold tryouts again.

Most local school districts say they've never had such complaints reach the school board level. Plano, in fact, does not allow tryout complaints to proceed past the campus level.

Carroll parents involved in the grievance declined to comment.

According to the complaint, the scores of the 32 girls who tried out are suspect because of "statistical anomalies in the scores and presence of at least two girls on the squad who did not make the required 86 score."

Changes in standards of participation each year, judging criteria and the cheerleader constitution have further confused the process, the grievance states.

"All the cheerleader candidates have been harmed by the manner in which these tryouts were conducted," according to the grievance.

The complaint also calls for an independent investigation of personnel and procedures in the varsity cheerleader process from September to present.

It also asks that the school board review and adopt a cheerleader constitution and have oversight on any future changes.

The problems began in December, when only 14 girls posted scores high enough to make the 2006-07 squad. Interim Superintendent Diane Frost decided to add four incoming seniors even though they hadn't qualified at the tryout.

Records and e-mails obtained by The Dallas Morning News show that two Carroll Senior High School administrators were not in favor of that move.

Documents show that Dr. Frost also met with several cheerleaders at her house to discuss her proposal.

The school's cheerleading constitution does not specifically address whether incoming seniors should try out again. Most local school districts said they require all cheerleaders to try out each year.

After the four were added, the firestorm began.

Parents of others who didn't qualify protested, prompting school officials to allow everyone who tried out to be on the squad.

The parents of the original 14 qualifiers also balked, saying that their daughters demonstrated the skills required.

They filed a grievance that was appealed past the campus and administration to the school board two weeks ago. That's when the board voted to hold new tryouts for all but the original 14.

Parents are still seeking answers about the tryout process: Who qualified the first time? Was anyone else added after the judges' final tally? What was the judges' final tally?

The judges could not be reached for comment. At least two of the judges are believed to be from Amarillo and associated with Universal Cheerleaders Association.

The arduous process, which began with tryouts Dec. 15, already has been too much for some. Two girls who did not make the initial cut but were reinstated have since quit.

Some say the eventual selection of the squad could make things worse, leading even more girls to quit.