News from the Lone Star State

[TexasStooge]

Man killed after bar argument

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - One person was killed after an overnight shooting in East Dallas.

Police said the victim apparently got into an argument with two men at a sports bar in the 7300 block of Gaston Ave. just after 2 a.m. Tuesday.

The men allegedly followed the victim as he drove away and opened fire.

The unidentified victim was found dead inside his black Cadillac sport utility vehicle that crashed into a tree in the 6900 block of East Grand Ave.

The crime scene is a few blocks away from last week's fatal carjacking in which a woman was shot in the head.

Police were looking for the suspects, who were last seen in a white Cadiillac Escalade.

WFAA-TV photojournalist Robert Flagg contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

North Texas residents protest super tollway

By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8

GAINESVILLE, Texas — The state heard an earful at public hearings on the Trans-Texas Corridor after residents learned of plans to build through Cooke County.

Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Department of Public Transportation expressed beliefs the highway and rail corridor from Laredo to the Red River will meet the state's transit needs in the decades ahead. However, some landowners along the way are fighting it.

TxDOT prefers the corridor of superhighways and rail lines to run east of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and then veer northwest through Collin County, Grayson and Cooke counties.

Hundreds of residents spoke before a public hearing saying they oppose the corridor.

"It will hit the hardest when it hits their wallet," said Mark Whitfield, a Cooke County resident. "So it's my income, so of course I'm going to fight for it."

Both Whitfield and Cooke County resident Jerry Ware own Lavender Ridge Farms, where visitors can cut their own flowers. The property is in the middle of the 10-mile-wide path where the state could build the quarter-mile-wide corridor.

"We're going to lose that peaceful country atmosphere...that we love," Ware said.

TxDOT can't say exactly how many thousands of acres of Cooke County land would be gobbled up in the highway plan. However, along with rural land, homes are potentially in the way.

About 1,000 homes surround Lake Kiowa where Fred Bradley retired to get away from traffic.

"It would be like living in downtown Dallas because you'll have railroads and highways and everything in one corridor," Bradley said.

TxDOT said construction won't start for three to five years.

[TexasStooge]

Dallas police probe home invasion holdups

By KIMBERLY DURNAN / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police are searching for three suspects who are possibly linked to two overnight home invasions.

The first break-in occurred around 12:30 a.m. in the 7900 block of Greengate Drive. Three men wearing black clothes and wielding handguns kicked in the door of the residence and demanded money, Lt. Victor Woodberry said.

A woman inside the home told the men she had $3,000 hidden in the kitchen. The men took the money, a watch and then tied the woman with duct tape, Woodberry said.

Around 4:45 a.m., three men also wearing black clothes and carrying handguns broke into a home across town in the 6400 block of Fisher Road. The men took a black Lincoln Navigator, Woodberry said.

Police are still investigating the crimes and whether they are linked.

[TexasStooge]

Project takes dangers out of burglar bars for free

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - While burglar bars usually serve as peace of mind to residents in high crime areas, for some they can turn into death traps.

As part of a new project, Dallas Fire-Rescue is retro-fitting burglar bars on 40 homes. The work is being done free of charge because the fire department received a grant to fix burglar bars so they could be easily opened from the inside.

"There is no way to escape," said homeowner Juanetta Silas, whose home is fitted with the bars. "No way to escape at all. It's very dangerous."

Just how dangerous the bars could be in a fire was seen after five people died in a 1988 fire when they became trapped inside their burning home by burglar bars.

"They couldn't open the bars," said Capt. Chris Martinez. "Firefighters fought to get in but lost."

Almost 20 years later, officials said they can still be a problem.

"A lot of homes unfortunately have these types of bars that are basically bolted to the home and it's impossible to get out in a fire," Capt. Martinez said.

Silas' was among the 40 who had her bars in her home fitted with a simple knob twist.

"If a fire was to break out, it's easy to access," said Silas as she tested the knob.

The grandmother of eight said she and her grandchildren will sleep easier and more secure knowing they wouldn't be stuck behind the bars in case of an emergency.

"I have the world of safety, and the world of easy escaping a serious fire," she said.

[TexasStooge]

3 men sought in 2 home invasions

By KIMBERLY DURNAN / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police are searching for three men who may have committed two overnight home invasions.

The first break-in occurred around 12:30 a.m. in the 7900 block of Greengate Drive. Three men wearing black clothes and wielding handguns kicked in the door of the residence and demanded money, Lt. Victor Woodberry said.

A woman inside the home told the men she had $3,000 hidden in the kitchen. The men took the money, a watch and then tied the woman with duct tape, Lt. Woodberry said.

Around 4:45 a.m., three men also wearing black clothes and carrying handguns broke into a home across town in the 6400 block of Fisher Road. The men took a black Lincoln Navigator, Lt. Woodberry said.

Police are still investigating the crimes and whether they are linked.

[TexasStooge]

Man chased, shot to death on Dallas street

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A man was shot and killed in the 6900 block of East Grand Avenue in East Dallas early this morning.

Police said the victim apparently got into an argument with two men in a sports bar on Gaston. The men followed the victim and began shooting. A bullet struck the victim, causing his SUV to crash into a tree.

The shooting occurred around 2 a.m.

[TexasStooge]

Political winds favor coal, not N. Texas air

State hastening permits for plants, relaxing oversight for pollution

By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News

As Texas power companies lead the nation's biggest shift to burning cheaper coal instead of cleaner natural gas, holes have opened in the system intended to protect Texans from dirty air.

Sixteen new coal-burning units – all upwind of the already-smoggy Dallas-Fort Worth area during the summer – are either permitted or awaiting approval by state regulators working under Gov. Rick Perry's order to put the permits on the fast track.

Final rulings on the permits are months away. Already, however, state officials have made decisions that are likely to allow more pollution from coal, the dirtiest fuel for generating power.

They have also decided, at least for now, not to include the new coal plants in a federally ordered clean-air plan to protect urban North Texas' 5.9 million people.

Critics say that means the new coal plants are probably headed to state approval with high-level political support but minimal public oversight.

"I think it should be considered criminal," said state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, the only legislator who attended a public meeting on smog that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state environmental agency, held last month in Irving.

"I have watched this agency and its predecessors for 25 years, and I have yet to see it work for the people instead of the polluters," said Mr. Burnam, a five-term representative who's one of the House's few liberal members and a longtime supporter of tougher environmental protection.

The environmental commission didn't respond directly to Mr. Burnam's statement. Spokeswoman Lisa Wheeler said the agency will give an update on its efforts Thursday in testimony before the state Senate Natural Resources Committee. The public hearing is set for 10 a.m. in Room 6ES of Dallas City Hall.

It's apparent, though, that the biggest expansion of coal plants in Texas history is moving faster than the state's air quality rules, its still-unwritten smog plan or even public awareness can catch up.

With that in mind, environmental groups urged the governor to declare a moratorium on new power plant permits. When they launched that campaign in January, seven new coal-burning units were proposed upwind of Dallas-Fort Worth. Since then, the number has more than doubled.

Instead of applying the brakes, Mr. Perry has kept the new permits on a fast track under an Oct. 31 executive order that cuts the public review period for the permits from about a year to six months.

Easing off

Four policy decisions by the state environmental agency, whose commissioners are Perry appointees, have reduced pressure on power companies to cut emissions. Some are new, while others reflect long-standing practice:

• Power companies will not be required to prove that pollution from each new coal plant would not make the Dallas-Fort Worth area's smog worse. Federal law requires such proof, but Texas rules do not. One commission member has questioned whether the Texas rules are legal.

• State officials won't calculate total emissions from the new plants before deciding how much each may emit. Instead, they will treat each as if it were the only one being built. That prevents the state from using permits to control the coal boom's cumulative effect on North Texas smog.

• The state will not make power companies consider new technology that might slash emissions of smog-causing pollution and global-warming gases. That decision was based on a controversial policy memo from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that environmental groups have blasted as illegal and are suing to stop.

• The state has decided, at least for now, that new and existing power plants outside the nine-county Dallas-Fort Worth area will not have to reduce their pollution as part of a new plan to clean up the urban area's smog. The environmental commission's own staff has said a strictly local smog plan won't work because they can't identify enough local emissions to cut.

Even before the proposed new plants, urban North Texas' air had too much ozone – a chemical that gives smog its lung-scarring, eye-burning quality – for children, asthmatics and the sick or elderly to breathe safely, especially during the summer.

16 units planned

In the past two years, six energy companies have filed permit applications for 16 new coal-burning units. Nearly all are in Texas' eastern half, home to big deposits of Texas lignite, the dirtiest-burning coal. Many of the new units would burn cleaner coal from Wyoming.

Dallas-based TXU, already the state's biggest electricity generator, had proposed three new coal units when it announced eight more on April 20, for a total of 11 new units – more than any other utility. TXU says it's a good deal for customers and shareholders because burning coal is relatively cheap – dragging down overall Texas electricity prices – and produces big profits.

In the first quarter of 2006, TXU earned $576 million, in part because of those strong margins.

All but two of the 16 new units from all the companies would be upwind of Dallas-Fort Worth during the summer smog season, boosting worries about pollution.

However, TXU also voluntarily promised to cut its overall pollution from coal by 20 percent, even after adding its new plants. The company hasn't specified how it would do that. According to an analysis by The Dallas Morning News, about one-third of the reduction is already mandated by a new federal clean-air rule starting in 2009.

Other companies with coal plans haven't made that pledge.

The coal boom in general, and TXU's $10 billion strategy in particular, has high-level support. Mr. Perry came to Dallas to stand beside TXU executives when they announced their new plants.

That appearance by the governor didn't translate as a direct order to approve the permits, said one state regulator, but it was clear that the coal plants were a high priority.

"The governor's office is not calling every day asking, 'Where are the permits?' " said Erik Hendrickson, who heads the team reviewing the permits at the environmental commission. "You don't have to tell seasoned staff that this is important."

TXU also has heard encouraging words from Richard Greene, regional administrator for the EPA. At a June 23 seminar organized by the Press Club of Dallas, Mr. Greene praised TXU's emissions pledge.

"That's a pretty compelling case of industry saying, 'We understand,' " Mr. Greene said at the seminar on North Texas transportation and clean air. "We will hold them to that standard. If all pans out as expected, they'll get their permits."

There's no direct link between the emissions pledge and the permits, since the cuts are a voluntary move by TXU. A review of the company's permit applications shows, and state officials confirm, that the applications don't mention the 20 percent cut and don't have to in order to win approval.

The state, not the EPA, decides whether to grant the permits. All the federal agency can do is to object if it finds a problem.

TXU welcomed Mr. Greene's praise. "We are very proud of that 20 percent commitment," spokeswoman Kimberly Morgan said. "We're drawing a line in the sand for other companies in Texas."

One prominent Texas environmental organizer said the EPA shouldn't prejudge a permit fight.

"It's sounding to me like the deal's already done," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, head of the Texas office of Public Citizen.

No smog studies needed

To understand how the Texas environmental commission might handle the new coal plant permits, it's helpful to see how it's handled other recent ones.

The state has forced some lower emissions than a company requested. Other decisions, however, benefited power companies and blocked their opponents.

In the case of New Jersey-based LS Power's Sandy Creek plant near Waco, the commission decided that it would not require power companies to assess a new plant's potential effect on a nearby smoggy area – in this instance, Dallas-Fort Worth.

Lawyers for plant opponents said the state ignored the federal Clean Air Act. The act requires a demonstration, backed by scientific evidence, that a new plant won't cause or worsen an urban clean-air violation.

The state-federal discrepancy bothered Larry Soward, one of two Perry appointees now on the commission. The third seat is vacant.

Mr. Soward agreed at a May 17 commission meeting that Texas rules don't require the smog study. But he said he was worried that the state wasn't following federal law.

"I don't think that our rules require the demonstration that the Clean Air Act says is supposed to be done," he said. "To me, the Clean Air Act is clear that it says that each new source has to do this demonstration and that our rules don't require that."

Still, Mr. Soward voted with commission Chairwoman Kathleen Hartnett White to grant LS Power's permit since the company followed state rules.

The commission's executive director, Glenn Shankle, told people at the public meeting in Irving that the agency would apply to the other new coal plants now awaiting permits the same standard that bothered Mr. Soward. They won't be required to demonstrate that their pollution wouldn't harm Dallas-Fort Worth's air.

Despite the lack of a requirement, TXU did such a smog study anyway to defend the permits for its proposed two-unit Oak Grove coal plant in Robertson County. TXU says it doesn't plan to do similar smog studies for its other pending permits.

A consultant for TXU testified in a hearing that the Oak Grove plant wouldn't affect Dallas-Fort Worth's air quality. But Dr. David Allen, a leading air pollution expert at the University of Texas at Austin, testified that it would.

TXU's consultant, Environ Corp., is also the environmental commission's consultant on regional smog studies. Environmentalists say the dual role is a conflict of interest.

Environ spokesman Dave Souter said there was no conflict. He said Environ's work for public and private clients in Texas depends on its scientific integrity.

Individual assessment

Although the coal boom represents the biggest package of major new permits in Texas in more than a decade, the environmental commission doesn't plan to assess its total effect on Dallas-Fort Worth before it issues permits for the individual plants.

Instead, it is evaluating each permit on its own, as if it were the only one up for approval. The agency is sticking to that position despite pointed questions from members of the public.

"I'm not telling you that we've closed the door" to a more comprehensive approach, Mr. Shankle told North Texas residents at the meeting in Irving. But for now, he said, "they are being handled as individual units."

Critics say that defies reason. The state could easily add up all the pollution the companies are requesting, they say, to get a worst-case scenario.

"It's not about achieving clean air," said Mr. Burnam, the Fort Worth legislator. "The whole permitting process is about allowing pollution in the air for economic gain."

The LS Power case also showed that the environmental commission was unwilling to force new technology into the giant Texas power market.

Environmentalists wanted the state to make LS Power consider using a new technology, integrated gasification combined cycle, at its new plant near Waco.

Utilities say the technology is unproven. If it works, however, it would yield much lower emissions and would open the door to keeping greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere.

The state environmental commission ruled in December that it wouldn't make LS Power – or, by extension, any other utility – consider the new technology for new plants. The commission cited a Dec. 13 letter from an EPA official to a coal industry consultant that said the federal agency would not require gasification studies in coal plants' permits.

Since states can go beyond the EPA's requirements, Texas could have decided on its own to require plants to study the newer pollution control for Texas permits.

Meanwhile, national and Midwestern environmental groups call the EPA position an illegal regulatory decision made with no public notice. They're suing to overturn it.

The smog control plan

The last backstop for cleaning up coal is the new Dallas-Fort Worth smog plan that's in the works.

It's a more comprehensive approach than individual permitting, since it can result in orders for whole industries to cut emissions. It also involves regionwide controls, since pollution drifts in from other areas.

For the new North Texas smog plan, however, the state is examining only sources within the Dallas-Fort Worth area for possible emissions cuts.

The agency says that's the best policy because local vehicles are a big part of the problem. It's also true that a local emissions cut does more good than a distant one.

"First we have to challenge the nine-county [Dallas-Fort Worth] area," Mr. Shankle said at the public meeting in Irving. "I think that's only practical."

But state studies show that distant power plant emissions are adding to Dallas-Fort Worth's smog and that strictly local measures won't be enough.

So far, the state's studies don't account for the new plants. That means the new plants' total effect on North Texas smog is unknown.

Environmental groups think that's a recipe for failure. "When do these emissions get included?" said Ramon Alvarez, staff scientist in the Austin office of Environmental Defense.

State drafts on many of the new plants' permits might be out in September. Under Mr. Perry's fast-track order, that could set final commission votes on them as early as March – a month before the commission could vote on the new smog plan.

Staff writer Elizabeth Souder contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Dallas to test resuscitation techniques

Cardiac, trauma patients in city may get new treatment as part of large clinical trial

By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas is one of 10 North American cities chosen to participate in the largest-ever clinical trial of resuscitation methods, a designation local doctors and researchers say will make North Texas one of the "safest places in the country to have a heart attack or a car wreck."

The $50 million federally funded study, which kicks off this summer and will involve about 15,000 cardiac arrest patients and 5,000 severe-trauma victims over the next three years, will compare traditional life-saving techniques with two new resuscitation treatments – a unique airway valve and a highly concentrated saline solution.

UT Southwestern Medical Center is coordinating Dallas' resuscitation research center, which will train paramedics and collect data from more than 30 Dallas-area hospitals and 11 emergency-response agencies participating in the National Institutes of Health-sponsored study.

"The implications of this thing are tremendous," said Dr. Paul Pepe, chief of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern. "We're a center of excellence, and that's why they chose us."

The study means Dallas heart attack and trauma victims being treated by paramedics at the scene or in ambulances will be randomly assigned to the traditional treatment or to a trial treatment.

Starting in August, local trauma victims who lose significant amounts of blood or have severe brain injuries will receive a standard saline solution or one of two high-concentrate solutions, which experts believe more quickly restore circulation in bleeding patients.

By November, heart attack victims will be treated with a traditional ventilator or one fitted with an "inspiratory threshold device." The device is an airway valve that creates a vacuum to return blood to the chest during CPR, improving flow to the brain and heart.

The study is double blind, meaning the thousands of North Texas paramedics being trained for the trial won't know which kind of saline they're using or whether a ventilator is fitted with an active or inactive airway valve. The equipment will be specially coded for researchers.

In the U.S., about 1,000 people a day die prematurely because of heart attacks; in Dallas, more than 1,000 people suffer cardiac arrest each year.

Trauma is the leading cause of death for children and people younger than 45. In Dallas County, about 3,500 people die of severe injuries every year.

Traditionally, it's been difficult to conduct clinical trials on patients who are severely injured because they are too sick or incapacitated to give informed consent, said Dr. Joseph Minei, vice chairman of surgery at UT Southwestern and an investigator in the study.

In this trial, each patient will receive, at a minimum, the current standard of care. But residents concerned about being subject to a trial without their consent can call to receive a special wristband.

"What we're doing now is letting the community know we're doing this trail," Dr. Minei said. "This is an opportunity for Dallas, and for the whole trauma system, to really deliver a potentially lifesaving technique."

Both trial techniques have proved to be safe and have some lifesaving effects in smaller-scale studies in the U.S. and Europe, Dr. Pepe said.

The concentrated saline is equivalent to two bags of normal saline and can be administered faster, potentially reducing brain swelling and preventing organ failure in trauma victims, said Dr. Ahamed Idris, principal investigator for Dallas' resuscitation research center.

In North Texas, Dr. Idris estimates about 500 patients per year will receive the "hypersaline."

The airway valve has been shown to double blood flow during cardiopulmonary resuscitation by drawing blood up from the legs and abdomen, he said. It will probably be used on 1,000 North Texas cardiac arrest patients per year.

Permanent brain damage can occur within four minutes after a person stops breathing.

"We hope to be able to answer the most important question," Dr. Idris said. "Will these treatments return people to a normal life?"

The trial will be the first of several NIH resuscitation studies over the next five years to determine whether particular treatments improve survival and hospital discharge rates. Whether they prove effective, Dr. Pepe said, the mere attention and focus of a trial this size will seriously benefit Dallas heart attack patients and accident victims.

"Experience has shown us that survival rates go up significantly in cities that provide this kind of research initiative for their citizens," he said.

UT Southwestern was one of more than 100 city-university partnerships to apply for the resuscitation study.

Other U.S. regions chosen include Birmingham, Ala.; Iowa City, Iowa; Milwaukee; Portland, Ore.; Seattle and King County, Wash.; Pittsburgh; and San Diego. In Canada, Toronto and Ottawa were selected for the trial.

Dallas-area residents who don't want to be included in the trial without their consent can opt out by calling 214-648-6726.

[TexasStooge]

Dallas ISD cancels credit card program

By KENT FISCHER and TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas school superintendent Michael Hinojosa terminated the DISD’s credit card program Tuesday, and said that employees who abused their cards will be forced to repay the district and will face criminal prosecution.

Dr. Hinojosa also said that he expects to suspend “more than a handful” of employees for their credit card use when they return to work next week. District offices have been closed since July 3.

Flanked by four members of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Hinojosa also announced that he will hire an outside company to scour district purchases for credit card abuse. The company, which he did not name, will have experience investigating white-collar crime, Dr. Hinojosa said.

The action comes in response to a Dallas Morning News investigation into district credit card spending. Using district records, The News examined more than 155,000 credit card transactions over two years and found more than $6 million in purchases that either violated state procurement laws or district policy.

The News also found hundreds of purchases that seemed to have little to do with educating children, such as the purchase of iPods, lawn ornaments, gift cards and a subscription to an online dating service.

There were more than 1,200 district MasterCards in circulation, and their users charge, on average, $20 million a year.

Trustees and the superintendent said repeatedly at a news conference Tuesday that no employee will escape scrutiny, no matter their rank within the district.

"There are no sacred cows," said Jerome Garza, the board’s vice-president. "Every individual will be held accountable. … I would be surprised if there were not terminations."

Going forward, teachers and district workers who need supplies and materials will have to get them through DISD’s purchasing office, using the district’s standard requisition process. Or, they can buy the supplies with their own money and seek reimbursement later.

[TexasStooge]

Plane lands in Austin backyard

AUSTIN, Texas (KVUE ABC 24) - Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration are in Georgetown trying to figure out what caused a single engine plane to crash into the backyard of a house Sunday.

The plane came to rest in a tree in Gerald Fay's backyard. The tree is about 100 feet from Georgetown Airport.

This is the third plane crash near the Georgetown Airport in the last year.

The Georgetown Airport is constructing a new tower, but the city and the airport director said a tower may not have helped in this latest accident.

"All of the ones that we've had this year have been the results of mechanical failures and so those are the types of accidents that having a control tower really can't effect," said Tom Yantis, the Georgetown Assistant City Manager.

Both of the men in the plane at the time it crashed were able to walk away from the scene.

On board were the 20-year-old pilot, an employee of Pilot's Choice Aviation Inc., and a 58-year-old flight student.

[TexasStooge]

Convicted killer of teenage Houston girls executed

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - Condemned murderer Derrick Sean O'Brien apologized profusely before being executed Tuesday evening for the torture, rape and strangling of two teenage Houston girls 13 years ago.

"I am sorry. I have always been sorry," O'Brien said, holding his head up and looking straight at relatives of his victims. "It is the worst mistake that I ever made in my whole life. Not because I am here but because of what I did and I hurt a lot of people, you and my family."

He repeated again and again that he was sorry.

O'Brien was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., seven minutes after the lethal drugs began. O'Brien was one of six members of a fledgling street gang arrested in the slayings of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14. Their bodies were found four days after they failed to return from a friend's house. The girls had been attacked as they took a shortcut along some railroad tracks and stumbled on the group drinking beer after initiating a new gang member.

Ertman's father and Pena's parents were among the witnesses to the lethal injection, the 14th this year in Texas, the nation's most active death penalty state.

O'Brien, 31, was spared a trip to the death house May 15 when his lawyers won a reprieve from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals the day before he was to be executed. Days later, however, the same court lifted its order, clearing the way for Tuesday's execution.

The prisoner's attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution so justices could review his case. They argued there's no legal procedure allowing condemned Texas prisoners to raise challenges that drugs used in lethal injections "will cause O'Brien to endure unnecessary, excessive, and excruciating pain during the course of this execution."

About 20 minutes before O'Brien was scheduled to die, the high court rejected his appeal.

Evidence showed the girls were gang raped for more than an hour, then were kicked and beaten before being strangled. A red nylon belt was pulled so tight around Jennifer Ertman's neck that the belt snapped. When the bodies were discovered, they were decomposing and mummifying in 100-degree heat.

A smiling O'Brien, then 18, was seen on a videotape of the crowd that gathered as investigators worked the scene of the grisly discovery. A tip from the brother of one of the gang members led police to the arrests in the killings that shocked even crime-hardened Houston.

"I'm no fan of the death penalty, but that guy brought it on himself," said Steve Baldassano, who prosecuted O'Brien. "It was horrible."

O'Brien, who confessed to police, was one of six gang members convicted in the case and the first to be executed. The ninth-grade dropout, who had previous arrests for shoplifting a pistol, assault and auto theft, also was a suspect in a murder six months before the girls were killed but never was charged. Evidence put him at a Houston park where the body of Patricia Lopez, 27, was found. A beer can carrying his fingerprints was found under the remains of the woman. She had been raped, eviscerated and had her throat cut.

Two of the gang members, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal, had their death sentences commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court last year barred executions for those who were 17 at the time of their crimes.

Peter Cantu, described by authorities as ringleader of the gang, remains on death row without an execution date.

Jose Medellin, who was condemned and who O'Brien said was at one end of the belt being pulled around Ertman's neck as he yanked on the other, had his case returned to the state courts under an order from President Bush. Medellin is among some 50 Mexican-born offenders who argue that under international law they should have been allowed assistance from the Mexican Consulate before trial.

A sixth person convicted, Medellin's brother, Vernancio, was 14 at the time and received a 40-year prison term.

Two more Texas inmates are scheduled to die next week.

[TexasStooge]

Parents of teen beaten at party say son won't fully recover

HOUSTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - The parents of a severely beaten teenager said nearly three months after the attack that their son would never fully recover from the assault that he has yet to comprehend.

The 17-year-old Spring teen asks "Why? Who are these people? And why (me)?" said his mother, speaking publicly for the first time Monday.

She and her husband, who asked only to be identified as the Galvans, said they believed the crime was racially motivated by their son's Hispanic heritage.

The boy was beaten nearly beyond recognition at an April 22 party by two new acquaintances. He was punched, kicked, burned with cigarettes, doused with bleach and sodomized with a plastic pipe before being left for hours in the backyard of a classmate's home. He remains hospitalized.

Justin Tuck, 18, and Keith Turner, 17, have pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated assault. The Galvans' lawyer is investigating possible ties with hate groups because the teenagers allegedly uttered racial slurs while attacking the victim. They also cut his chest with a knife, and the victim's mother said she believed they were trying to carve a swastika.

"I didn't know people wanted to still believe in such hate, that being a different color was wrong," the teen's mother said.

The Galvans said their son regained consciousness after several weeks at Memorial Hermann Hospital and is now undergoing surgeries to repair damage to internal organs and other injuries. He remains bedridden and cannot speak because of the tracheotomy tube in his throat.

"We read his lips, hand gestures. He writes on a tablet," his father said. "He's real bored. He wants to come home."

But the Galvans said his condition has improved.

"We were told that he wasn't going to make it, that his chances were slim," the victim's father said.

The Galvans said their son had no memory of the attack and found it difficult to handle what had been done to him.

"He's never going to be the same, not physically or mentally," his father said.

The attack has fueled support for changing the state hate crime law to allow additional prison time for people convicted of an offense such as assault if the incident also was a hate crime. FBI officials have said Tuck and Turner can't be charged under federal hate crime laws because the attack was on private property.

The Galvans and their lawyers said they also support a state registry for hate crime offenders proposed by state Sen. Rodney Ellis.

[TexasStooge]

Hybrid wolf breeder denies abuse accusations

By BRAD HAWKINS / WFAA ABC 8

KAUFMAN, Texas - A Kaufman County breeder of hybrid wolves, which are part wolf and part dog, says PETA is out to get him and he's done nothing wrong.

Bill Lambert said he has loved wolves since he was 18. However, it is a love he said his neighbors do not share.

Nearby residents have called the sheriff out to his breeding facility several times over the last three years. Now he said hate male has recently poured in through his computer from all over the world after a video his neighbor taped was placed on PETA.org.

The neighbor, Darlene Murphy, said the video that shows the wolves fighting with one another proves animal abuse.

"Isn't it thw owner's responsibility to keep the dogs from fighting each other?" she said. "I mean, it's no different from putting two pit bulls together?"

However, Lambert disagrees.

"They have never found anything that's been alleged," Lambert said.

Sheriff Bill Baynes said he met with concerned neighbors Friday and could find nothing being done illegal by Lambert. Therefore, he said there was no action he said he caould take against him. One day later was when not only Lambert, but Sherriff Baynes said the e-mails started coming in.

"Not only [about] him, but against me too," Sheriff Baynes said.

Despite the complaints, dozens of police reports show only one violation, which Lambert fixed.

"He has certain rights as a property owner and I'm not going to be in a position where he can accuse us of harassing him," Sherriff Baynes said.

One of the edited video clips shown on the PETA site claim a dead dog was somehow tied to the wolves. Lambert said the clips were edited in a way to take the situation out of context.

"[They are] put together to infuriate people, to bring them to action [and] to harm me," he said.

At a protest in downtown Dallas, PETA stood by their fight.

"These people are breeding animals in order to make a profit, and often times the profit is at the expense of these animals welfare," said Matt Rice, PETA.

But Lambert said PETA can also act harmfully.

"PETA has burned places down, research facilities, [and] thrown things on people," he said. "They have people who don't mind going to jail. Somebody comes out and tries to do that to my family, they ain't going to be any jail."

[TexasStooge]

Criminals use fake license plates to cover crime

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8

Police said thieves, drug dealers and killers are using fake paper license plates to cover-up their crimes in North Texas.

In the most recent incident, a gunman, who killed 34-year-old Luis Guerrera early Monday morning and then fled the scene, was driving a Cadillac Escalade with paper dealer plates. They said that has made it harder for them to track a suspect down.

During an undercover police bust, News 8 found that people who don't want police to know their license tags can easily buy them illegally for about $25.

Within an hour of searching, undercover officers found several places willing to sell counterfeit tags.

For the $25 fee, one man offered to sell tags and then showed the officers how to fill it out.

"Right here you put the month and the date that the plate expires," he told the officers. "But be sure not to get confused."

Police said they are seeing fake paper tags more often.

"That is exactly why counterfeit tags are used, to conceal the I.D. of the vehicle," said Det. Paul Figueroa, Dallas Police Department. "And it can be for whatever vehicle."

Police said it's become such a problem that state regulators have come up with new dealer tags that are harder to counterfeit and easier for police to spot. All paper tags must now have control numbers.

"This allows us to call the new or used car dealer and give them the control number, and they should be able to provide us with date of sale and who they sold it to," Det. Figueroa said.

The state is also working on other anti-counterfeit measures in the hope to stay one step ahead of the criminals, police said.

Police say it is a misdemeanor crime to buy or have fake license tags. It's a felony to make and sell them.

[TexasStooge]

Slaying victim's family speaks out

McKinney: Police praised; woman's online-dating postings discussed

By KAREN AYRES and TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News

MCKINNEY, Texas - The family of a house saleswoman killed over the weekend in McKinney said Tuesday that they were confident that police would solve the horrific crime.

Family members spoke out as police continued to follow leads involving Sarah Anne Walker's life, including postings she made on several online dating Web sites.

Walker, 40, who was killed Saturday in a model home in McKinney, posted a profile on MillionaireMatch.com shortly before her death, her sister confirmed Tuesday. The site showed that 58 people had viewed her profile.

McKinney police spokesman Randy Roland confirmed that police also are looking into postings on other dating Web sites.

Jackie Mull, Walker's sister, said Tuesday that she told police about the online postings. Family members said Walker was "tight lipped" about her personal life, but Mull said she doesn't believe her sister was dating anyone.

"If she was dating someone, I would have known," Mull said Tuesday at her Dallas home.

The reward in the case jumped to $30,000 on Tuesday after D.R. Horton Inc. and Craig Ranch developers each matched the original $10,000 reward offered by Schepps Dairy.

Walker had been selling homes for D.R. Horton in the Craig Ranch community on Saturday when a couple on a house-hunting trip discovered her body. She had 27 stab wounds in her upper body.

Mull and her family criticized D.R. Horton for failing to contact them or offer funds to help pay for Walker's funeral.

D.R. Horton chief executive Don Tomnitz said the company has cooperated with police and would give all of Walker's pay to her designated beneficiary, whom he declined to identify. Tomnitz said the company has provided grief counseling for Walker's 3-year-old son and has established a memorial fund to help cover funeral costs and expenses for the child.

"She was a first-class person and a top sales agent," said, Tomnitz, who added that he knew Walker personally during her more than three years with the company.

Tomnitz said the model home had a security system with a panic button, but he declined to say whether it had been pushed, citing the ongoing police investigation.

Family members said they don't believe Walker was robbed during the attack.

Stephen Mull, Walker's brother-in-law, said Walker had left behind little to no money in her estate. On her MillionaireMatch.com profile, Walker said she made more than $200,000 a year.

Mull confirmed that her sister earned a lot of money but said she spent a lot, too. Divorce records show Walker carried debt on several credit cards, including some from high-end stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks.

"She made a lot of money, and she enjoyed a lot of things," Mull said.

The MillionaireMatch.com site caters to people who want to meet millionaires. Mull said her sister posted a profile recently after her divorce in November from Randy Tate, her second husband and the father of Josh, 3.

"She was looking forward to moving on," she said.

Walker's profile on the site lists travel and water sports as her hobbies. The profile said she was looking for a Christian man with character and integrity.

Family members said Walker was quite focused and had earned several awards during her 20-year career selling homes. A graduate of Berkner High School in Richardson, Walker took online courses to earn her undergraduate degree and a master's degree in business administration.

"Right now we're still kind of dazed," said Joe Walker, Walker's brother. "She wanted nothing but the best for everyone."

Mull and other family members said the news of Walker's death has devastated the family. In addition to her son Josh, Walker leaves behind a 15-year-old son from her first marriage.

"This has been horrible," Mull said. "My mother is very ill. To have this happen, I don't know what her outcome is going to be. ... I was completely shocked when I got the news, so shocked I was screaming. My husband thought I had dropped our newborn."

Family members said Walker had not mentioned being afraid for her safety. They said they had no idea who killed her but noted that she had called police to report two incidents at her Frisco home.

The first call came on Oct. 31 when Walker reported that a friend had stolen some property. When police arrived, nothing was missing and it appeared that Walker was intoxicated, according to police. She had a bump on her head, and paramedics took her to Centennial Medical Center in Frisco.

Family members said the second call came in November when Walker told them that she was attacked in her home so severely that she was taken to the hospital. She told her family that someone had broken in, but she could not identify her attacker.

Police say they have no record of that attack, and a spokeswoman at Centennial said she was admitted after the October incident only.

Mull said Tuesday that he believes there is a connection between those attacks and Walker's death.

"It's an incredible coincidence, let's put it that way," he said.

Capt. Roland said Tuesday that McKinney police are encouraged by the amount of information they've gathered.

"Investigators are conducting lots of interviews of witnesses, people of interest, friends, family, business co-workers and trying to understand all the tons of information that we have gathered about the victim, then create a motive for some type of reason for her death," Capt. Roland said.

Tate was one of those interviewed Tuesday. He voluntarily went to McKinney police headquarters to provide a statement and answer questions, Capt. Roland said.

Police completed forensic mapping of the crime scene earlier this week. That information will provide investigators with details about the last moments of Walker's life.

"It tells a story of where the attack happened, where the killer walked and where the victim walked and laid," Capt. Roland said.

Mull said the little she has heard about the police investigation leads her to be optimistic that her sister's killer would be found.

"I'm confident there is going to be a resolution, some way, somehow, from the promise I was given by the McKinney Police Department that they will not stop."

A funeral Mass for Walker will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Monica's Catholic Church, 9933 Midway Road in Dallas.

[TexasStooge]

Fort Worth police seek theater holdup suspects

FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) — Fort Worth police have asked for the public's help in identifying suspects connected with the robbery and beating of a movie theater employee.

The crime happened early Tuesday morning at the UA Theaters in the 8300 block of Ederville Road.

Police said four men hid inside the building until closing time, then grabbed the worker, forcing her to open the safe.

They beat her in the head and face before escaping with the cash.

Detectives said the suspects were apparently aware of surveillance cameras in the theater, because they attempted to point some of the cameras in another direction.

Police released photos of the two men exiting the building.

The victim was treated for minor injuries at a hospital and released.

Anyone with information about the crime should contact Fort Worth police at 817-392-4370.

[TexasStooge]

Woman speaks out after car illegally towed in Dallas

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - A women said her car was recklessly and wrongfully towed last Wednesday after she made a brief stop in uptown Dallas in an area with no towing signs posted.

Heather Blankenship said friends recorded the towing incident with a cell phone camera as they made an unsuccessful attempt to stop the tow truck driver.

A wrecker from Dallas' A.J. Towing pried the door of the 1996 Lexus with a screw driver, Blankenship said. Now she said her door doesn't close properly, her bumper was scratched and her alarm doesn't work.

She also said she had to pay $200 to retrieve the car.

"[They were] bound and determined to tow my car from a place that doesn't even say towing zone," she said.

Video showed the wrecker backup four times before he successfully hooked the front wheels and then shows him pry open the door with a screw driver when he realized the emergency brake on the car was on.

During the process, the alarm was set off and the video showed the tow truck driver disable the alarm by crawling under the front of the car and tearing out the wiring before driving away.

"He constantly was cussing at us saying, 'It's none of your business...,'" said Darren Price, a witness. "He was going to make this tow."

The city said the tow truck driver didn't have the legal right to remove the car because without any warning signs, cars cannot be towed.

The city of Dallas also said the towing company is operating illegally because its business license expired in June.

Authorities said it's possible anyone who was towed involuntarily in July by A.J.'s Towing may be able to get a refund and the city is investigating why Blankenship's car was damaged and taken.

[TexasStooge]

Districts to pay well for teachers

Salaries up to $44K make new area educators among state's best paid

By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News

When Northwest ISD leaders set their starting teacher salary at $44,159, they touched off a statewide bidding war for new teachers.

The district north of Fort Worth set the bar high for the upcoming school year with what may be the state's highest salary for new teachers.

And before summer's end that bar could rise even higher.

"This type of salary allows us to get people's attention," said Karen Rue, Northwest's superintendent. "This makes teaching and the education field a viable career option for people now."

The jockeying for new Texas teachers – and the race for how much to pay them – is fiercest in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to teacher compensation officials statewide.

Brittany Bell, 22, an education major at the University of North Texas in Denton, was encouraged to hear that local districts are rushing to pay new teachers well.

"My friends went into marketing and other things that pay more than teaching," she said. "They give me a hard time, telling me that I'll have to marry rich if I'm going to be a teacher."

Trying to keep up

Neighboring Birdville and Hurst-Euless-Bedford school districts, which broke the $40,000 barrier for starting teachers last year, haven't approved their salaries yet.

"Will we stay competitive? Absolutely," said Mark Thomas, a spokesman for Birdville. He declined to tip his hand about how high his district will go.

In a year when the state Legislature added $2,000 raises for all teachers, the starting salaries in North Texas are inching toward $45,000 and beyond.

It's an exercise in one-upmanship that puts area districts well above most of Texas.

The state's average starting teacher salary in districts with more than 10,000 students – where about 70 percent of educators are employed – was $36,352 last school year.

It's not clear how this aggressive push affects Texas' standing among other states. The most recent national numbers are from the 2003-04 school year and ranked Texas 30th on teacher salaries.

Larry Shaw of the United Educators Association, a local teachers union, said districts closely watch one another this time of year.

"They're pulling out our salary comparison and saying, 'We have to do this to stay competitive,' " he said. "You really have to look at the area you compete in. The freeways run everywhere."

But the push for higher pay is about more than bragging rights.

Local and national educators say they also have to keep an eye on what private industries are paying.

"Our competition is the private sector as well as other districts," Dallas school trustee Jerome Garza said. "It's challenging to pay a good salary, and we have to be vigilant with our money."

Dallas ISD recently approved a $42,000 starting teacher salary, as did Highland Park, Grapevine-Colleyville and Carroll. Many other districts are hovering near that mark.

Some will wait until August to approve their salaries.

'Shock waves'

When Northwest approved its salary last month, its neighbors took notice.

"That sent shock waves through our industry," said Derek Citty, personnel director for the Carroll school district, which has struggled to keep up with increasingly competitive salaries over the years.

Observers say even districts in and around San Antonio and Houston don't appear to be going above $42,000 yet.

Mary Barrett, who studies teacher compensation for the Texas Association of School Boards, said districts must weigh how much they're willing to pay with other concerns.

"The districts have different needs and different resources," she said. "For districts in high growth areas, if you were a bit behind on salaries, you have to spend a little extra to be able to stay in there. They have to be able to hire their teachers."

Dr. Citty said school districts, many of which are working through their budgets this summer, are asking themselves how aggressive they can afford to be in the long run.

Chasing private sector

But, she said, increasing salaries for teachers is a trend that could make school districts competitive with the private sector.

Mr. Garza of Dallas ISD said he's heartened that raising salaries for teachers means that those who want to get into education can finally afford to.

"I don't think teachers get into teaching to be millionaires," he said. "There is a cause there. But they don't want to be poor while they're doing it."

Jennifer Schmidt, 30, is studying education at UNT and hopes to become a teacher like her husband, who works for the Denton school district.

She said more money would help support her family.

"I would look at a different school district if they were paying more," she said. "They have to make salaries more competitive to keep their teachers."

Richard Kouri, a spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association, applauded the increasing salaries because it helps meet the demand for new teachers.

But he cautions that districts also should work to pay veterans more and find ways to retain good teachers.

"We can crank up the folks coming in the front door, but if we can't hang on to them, that's a problem," he said.

[TexasStooge]

Parkland proposes dividing jail health budget, tax rate

Dallas County: Plan includes separate board, would shield hospital

By KEVIN KRAUSE / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - The troubled Dallas County Jail is getting its own budget for health care and its own governing board.

The changes were discussed Tuesday during a presentation made by Parkland Memorial Hospital officials to county commissioners.

The Dallas County hospital district's 25.4-cent tax rate will be split between hospital expenses and jail health expenses. The proposed hospital tax rate is 23.5 cents per $100 assessed value, and the proposed jail health tax rate is 1.9 cents.

Parkland Memorial Hospital took over health care at the jail in March after the University of Texas Medical Branch decided not to renew its three-year jail health contract with the county.

Parkland will transfer $28.3 million to the jail health budget for the 2007 fiscal year based on its tax rate. That's 56 percent more than what was allocated for the jail this year and more than double what was spent last year.

County commissioners will vote on the new budgets in September.

In addition, a five-member Dallas County Jail Health board of directors will be formed to manage day-to-day business. John Gates, Parkland's chief financial officer, said Parkland hopes to have the board in place by the September budget hearings.

The changes are designed to shield Parkland's budget from the challenging needs of the jail, County Judge Margaret Keliher said.

"We're keeping them separate so each has to live within their own budget," she said. "It's a way of being sure you don't drain Parkland's budget by operating the jail."

The changes also will give Parkland's board less liability for problems at the jail, Mr. Gates said.

The jail has failed three state inspections in a row and attracted scrutiny from the federal government. It also has landed the county in a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit over the near-death of a mentally ill inmate who didn't receive his medications.

Ms. Keliher expressed interest in seeking state legislation to make jail health a separate taxing authority. But Dr. Ron Anderson, Parkland's chief executive officer, said that would be difficult to accomplish and would probably require a referendum.

Parkland board members would like Dallas County to pay for major capital expenses next fiscal year, but county commissioners have not agreed to do so. Discussions about who should pay for medical equipment and new facilities will continue between the county and hospital.

Jail health needs include $3 million worth of drugs, three jail pharmacy employees and medication-dispensing machines. Parkland also needs a new computerized medical records system, as well as a total of 203 full-time health-care employees to meet U.S. Justice Department staffing recommendations.

Parkland officials are predicting a record $133 million budget surplus for the hospital this year. About $95 million of that includes one-time windfalls, such as a $73 million settlement in a lawsuit the hospital filed against the state over three years of underpayments for the hospital's Graduate Medical Education program.

Commissioner Mike Cantrell said that given the hospital's projected surplus, he isn't sure why the county should continue to pay for expensive jail equipment and improvements.

Mr. Gates said much of the jail health budget would be spent on medication and staffing.

"We're trying to envision things that ... [the Justice Department] will recommend," he said.

The Justice Department is expected to issue its findings soon based on several jail inspections it performed in recent months.

Parkland will appoint two of its own board members to the jail health board: Dr. Allan Shulkin and Dr. Lauren McDonald, both of whom volunteered.

County commissioners will appoint the three other members, one of whom will need to have "significant mental health service experience," according to Tuesday's presentation.

Members will serve three-year terms.

Dr. Anderson will serve as a liaison to the jail health board and will attend board meetings but will not be able to vote.

Jail health board members will appoint a chairman and vice chairman. Other officers will include a president, chief financial officer and secretary.

[TexasStooge]

Addison lights fuse on Sept. 3 fireworks reprise

By ELIZABETH LANGTON / The Dallas Morning News

ADDISON, Texas - For thousands of onlookers, last week's Kaboom Town was a bust.

But Addison officials will try to dazzle them again by repeating the fireworks show Sept. 3.

"Since this is an Addison icon, it's a travesty we haven't had the best show on earth," council member Dennis Kraft said.

The town will spend up to $154,000 to repeat the fireworks show and some of the associated activities. The event will be coordinated in part with Pepsi Kid Around, planned for Sept. 2 and 3 in Addison Circle Park.

Kaboom Town has been a tradition in Addison for 21 years. This year's July 3 celebration, which included warplane flyovers and live music, started without incident. But a surprise rain shower hit just before 9:30 p.m., when the fireworks were to start. Tarps had been removed from the pyrotechnics, so officials launched ahead of schedule.

About 20 minutes into the 30-minute show, the remaining explosives got too wet to fire. The colorful display fizzled abruptly instead of ending with its usual explosive finale. The post-fireworks outdoor movie was canceled.

Repeating the show is a way for the town to thank the loyal visitors who come year after year, said City Manager Ron Whitehead.

"We had people who sat out there in the rain through the entire thing," he said. "We appreciate them immensely."

More than 100,000 typically people attend the annual Independence Day eve celebration. Crowds pack Addison Circle Park, and vehicles fill parking lots and fields all over town. Restaurants and hotels hold watching parties and see business increase fourfold over regular nights.

"If they had their way, we'd do it every month," said Deputy City Manager Lea Dunn.

The council approved spending $154,000 to repeat the event, which includes the fireworks, extra police and cleanup. Town officials hope to secure corporate sponsors for the event.

Costs will be paid from the hotel-motel fund.

Kaboom Town has been recognized as one of the nation's best fireworks displays.