News from the Lone Star State

[TexasStooge]

Firefighters Rescue Man Who Fell Off Cliff Man Falls 30-Feet In Arlington Park

FORT WORTH, Texas (National Incident Notification Network) -- A man is expected to be OK after he fell down a 30-foot cliff in Arlington.

Witnesses called for help when they saw the man go down at River Legacy Park on Wednesday night.

Chopper 5 helped firefighters locate the man by lighting up the embankment with a spotlight. Firefighters then rappelled down the cliff to rescue the man.

Rescuers put the man in a harness and pulled him to safety.

Firefighters said the man wandered off a park trail and accidentally went over the cliff.

[TexasStooge]

Teen sentenced to 180 days in boot camp

By Martha Deller, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

CLEBURNE, Texas - An 18-year-old man was sentenced today to 180 days in boot camp after admitting he kicked another teen in the face because of bias against the young's man's sexual orientation.

Christopher Paul Lathers, who turns 19 Tuesday, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with serious bodily injury in the Oct. 3 attack on a 17-year-old Cleburne High School senior.

Lathers also pleaded guilty to committing the assault because of bias or prejudice. Elevating the assault to a hate crime makes it a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison.

However, under a plea-bargain agreement between District Attorney Dale Hanna and defense attorney Michael Rogers, state District Judge William Bosworth deferred a finding of guilty for 10 years.

In addition to the 180-day sentence in a Bexar County boot camp, Lathers will be required to undergo alcohol counseling and sensitivity training, pay a $1,000 fine and pay part of the $3,626 in medical bills to the victim. Bosworth also ordered him to stay away from the victim and the victim's family.

The misdemeanor cases against the other teens accused in the assault are pending in County Court at Law.

[TexasStooge]

BREAKING NEWS: Teacher arrested in teen-sex sting found dead

WEATHERFORD, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Weatherford police say that investigators found Zane Roy Vaughan dead inside a hotel room at the Budget Suites Hotel in Weatherford. Mr. Vaughn, 48, was arrested Thursday afternoon after authorities accused him of trying to solicit sex from an officer posing as a 14-year-old girl.

More details to come.

[TexasStooge]

CLEANUP OF ASBESTOS AT MOTEL BEGINS

FORT WORTH, Texas (Star-Telegram) - After years of neighborhood anticipation, special environmental crews began removing asbestos Thursday from the Cowtown Inn, a long-boarded-up building at 6855 E. Lancaster Ave., a city environmental official said. Asbestos can cause cancer and respiratory illnesses. After it is removed, the buildings can be demolished. That should be complete by mid-May. The pool will then be removed and filled in, and grass seed planted throughout the site.


From Star-Telegram Archives.

[TexasStooge]

Public Scoping Meeting for DART Light Rail Expansion through North Irving into DFW

IRVING, Texas (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) - The Northwest Corridor LRT Line to Irving/DFW is set to move forward into Preliminary Engineering and continue with its Environmental Analysis. DART staff plans to hold a Public Scoping Meeting to provide updated information about the project’s alignment, station locations, operations, and the environmental impacts associated with the entire project.

Corridor Background:
• 1983 - NW Corridor identified in DART Final Service Plan.
• 1989 - DART Transit System Plan includes rail to North Irving.
• 2000 - Northwest Corridor MIS (Major Investment Study) approved by DART Board, including an LRT line to serve N. Irving and DFW Airport in response to significant new development in area.
• 2002/2003 - Alternative LRT alignments identified through city of Irving and into DFW airport, varying from MIS alignment.
• 2004 - Initiate Environmental Analysis/conceptual engineering process.
- Public Meeting # 1, January 21, 2004
- Public Meeting # 2, April 28, 2004
- Public Meeting # 3, November 10, 2004
• 2005 - Advance into Preliminary Engineering.
- Public Scoping Meeting, March 10, 2005

A Public Scoping Meeting is scheduled for March 10, 2005 and will focus primarily on informing all groups of any proposed action, alternatives and issues associated with the project. As usual, anyone attending will have an opportunity for official public input to help better define any early issues and concerns that may be addressed during the Environmental Process.

IMPORTANT MEETING NOTICE
Thursday, March 10, 2005, 6:30 p.m.
Irving Arts Center (Suite 200)
3333 North MacArthur Blvd.
Irving, Texas 75062
MAPSCO 31B-A
For more information, contact DART Community Affairs at 214.749.2543 or visit www.DART.org

[TexasStooge]

Neuter Scooter offered at SPCA

By KRYSTAL DE LOS SANTOS McKinney Courier-Gazette

McKINNEY, Texas - The SPCA of Texas in McKinney is offering five-cent cat neutering Tuesday during its annual "Neuter Scooter for a Nickel" campaign.

Nickel neutering will be available at both the McKinney and Dallas SPCA shelters. The organization plans to neuter 200 cats in McKinney and another 200 in Dallas. Cat owners must make an appointment before those slots are filled.

The SPCA of Texas provides the service to help control the local pet population by preventing the birth of unwanted litters.

"If you fix that many cats, that's a great number of unwanted litters you prevent," said Anita Edson, a spokeswoman for the SPCA in McKinney.

According to statistics from the SPCA, two unaltered cats can produce more than 80 million cats over 10 years. The SPCA participates in the campaign to raise awareness about the importance of neutering.

"It's a great deal, and your cat will benefit, too," Edson said. "This really isn't something that's designed to cover our costs. It's designed to raise awareness and provide an incentive for people who otherwise wouldn't get it done."

She added that neutering pets reduces the number of animals that need to be euthanized.

According to the SPCA, for every person born in the United States, 45 cats are born. Shelters in the United States euthanize at least six million dogs and cats every year.

"That's really an astonishing figure," Edson said. "It really illustrates that there's not enough homes for all that are being born."

But Edson said neutering also makes a male cat a better pet, reducing its risk of developing testicular cancer, diminishing roaming tendencies and decreasing its urge to spray.

"If your cat has a tendency to go out and seek a mate, he's more likely to get hit by a car, get stolen or get killed," Edson said. "If he's neutered, your pet will live longer, be happier and be healthier."

Edson added that one common misconception is that neutering makes animals overweight.

"Lack of exercise and eating too much is what makes your cat fat," she said

To make an appointment in McKinney, call 972-562-7297, ext. 105. The McKinney SPCA is located at 8411 FM 720 in McKinney.

To schedule an appointment in Dallas, call 214-651-9611, ext. 116 or 133. The shelter is located at 362 S. Industrial Blvd.

[TexasStooge]

Principal in TAKS flap back at work

By Amie Streater, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas - Westpark Elementary Principal Lynn Allen returned to work Friday, but school officials say she is still being investigated for attempting to have a child withdrawn from school before TAKS testing.

"I am just happy to be back," Allen said.

She declined to comment on a teacher's claims that she told the teacher to ask a parent to withdraw a child expected to fail the reading portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills next week.

School district officials have said that it appears that Allen may have been acting out of concern for the child, who, according to district records, has severe test anxiety and was reduced to tears last time the child had to take the TAKS reading test.

The matter has been referred to the Texas Education Agency to see whether Allen's actions violate any state testing rules.

Bobby Whiteside of the district's office of special investigations, said the TEA "could not readily identify any testing irregularity. The TEA advised me they would refer the incident to the State Board of Educator Certification. However, to my knowledge, that notification has not been made in the past 10 working days.

"Due to the opinion of the TEA at this time, no state regulatory violation has been identified, so Ms. Allen was returned to her duties pending the conclusion of the investigation."

Allen had been on paid administrative leave since Feb. 4.

Whiteside said "appropriate disciplinary action" will be forthcoming, but not until after the district hears back from TEA and the certification board.

Allen's return to the school while the investigation is still pending was upsetting to some.

"I would like to know why she is there," said Ann Stemple, mother of two Westpark students and a vice president of the PTA. "To me it is a no-brainer. It is obvious what she was trying to do. Why is she at our school?"

Stemple said she is so distressed about the situation that she is considering putting her children in private school.

Larry Shaw, executive director of the United Educators Association, said of Allen, "It surprises me she is back this fast.

"It does make an uncomfortable situation at this point," Shaw said.

The teacher who initially reported the incident, Jennifer McMillan, is still at the school, Shaw said.

"I talked to her and she realizes she did what she had to do. Of course, it is uncomfortable, but she is okay," Shaw said of McMillan. "If she hadn't done what she had to do, her certificate could have been on the line."

Under TEA rules, any educators who fail to report violations of test security could lose their teaching certificates.

On Friday, Allen sent a memo to Westpark parents that read in part, "Your child's educational success is of paramount importance to me. I am delighted to continue to serve as principal of Westpark Elementary School, and please feel free to come in and talk with me as my door is always open."

The memo did not address the investigation, but suggested that parents "make sure your child has plenty of rest, is well versed in the TAKS strategies and comes to school ready to showcase their knowledge."

[TexasStooge]

School voucher bill filed in House

AUSTIN, Texas (KVIA ABC 7) - Students in urban parts of Texas would be eligible to use taxpayer money to attend private schools under voucher legislation filed in Austin.

The sponsor is Representative Linda Harper-Brown of Irving.

Supporters say the bill is an important step in understanding how to better meet the needs of students currently not being serving.

Critics say the bill appears to be a distraction from the legislative debate on how to improve the Texas school finance system.

The bill applies to school districts in counties with 800-thousand people or more, such as Harris or Dallas counties.

A district would be eligible to participate if:

-- it's the largest in the county in which a majority of the students are educationally disadvantaged

-- or if at least 90 percent of the students in the district were educationally disadvantaged during the previous school year.

-- Students are eligible to participate if they meet certain criteria, such as being at risk of dropping out, having been the victim of violent crime or having limited English proficiency.

Participating students could either attend another public school or a private school.

[TexasStooge]

Teens, cars and cell phones: a dangerous combination

Research on how teens react while driving, talking may affect laws, education

By BRAD HAWKINS / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - For most Texas teens, getting wheels is a rite of passage. And getting behind the wheel can be overwhelming.

Obey all the speed limits and drive normally, and if the cell phone rings, pick it up. In record numbers, they're going mobile.

Researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute in College Station are looking at what happens and what doesn't when teens on telephones climb into the driver's seat of a sophisticated simulator.

An initial study shows 'connected' young people in changing bodies don't watch their changing environment while driving and instead fixate on the hood.

This study will compare distraction levels of talking on the phone vs. talking with other people in the car.

"It's like little kids trying to learn how to ride a bicycle," says researcher Sue Chrysler. "They can't talk while they're learning how to ride a bike. They have to concentrate on that."

It's still hard to measure but the divided attention is costing lives. This new research will likely reshape drivers education in Texas.

And the state Senate is hearing a fresh call to restrict cell phone use by less-experienced drivers in Texas.

It's already law in New Jersey, New York, Maine and the District of Columbia.

"Parents want their kids to be able to get in touch with them, so a cell phone ought to be in the car," says senior researcher Dave Willis. "But the kids should not be talking on it while they're driving."

Using a headset or speakerphone appears to make little difference.

"It's your brain that is occupied, not your hands," sqays Chrysler. "So, having hands-free doesn't really change the performance as much as you would think it would."

So parents may face another difficult journey -- disconnecting one liberty from another.

[TexasStooge]

Downtown renovations keep attracting residents

By JEFF BRADY / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - At one time, it was the biggest building in the state housing Fidelity Union Life Insurance. Now it's a renovation project to help draw more Dallas residents downtown.

"Location is vital, this property is right near ground zero of downtown Dallas," says developer Larry Hamilton.

After a $100 million transformation, the Fidelity Union building will become "Mosaic," with 433 up-scale condos for rent. to the urban dweller who's finally reaching critical mass in Dallas.

Who is that person? The typical downtown resident is single, 36 years old, with an annual income of $ 54,000, who works downtown or in uptown.

That person is much like Chad Davenport. He's a bartender who doesn't fit the profile exactly, but who's lived downtown for the last three years.

"So I've got a little bit of pride, you know, when I say I live downtown, because I know it's growing and it's booming, and ulitmately, a lot more people will be living done here, and I'll be able to say I was one of the first," Davenport says.

The numbers really speak for themselves. So far, developers have about 1,200 residential units here in the Main Street Historic District of downtown Dallas, 450 more units under construction, and 950 more are expected to start before the end of the year.

Owners consider the Davis Building the model, with its rustic urban finish to the walls, but slick countertops and appliances. It started leasing 17 months ago and is now 95-percent occupied.

"Retail is our missing link," says developer Ted Hamilton. "And retail traditionally follows rooftops, and we're finally getting enough rooftops down here that the retailers are starting to get some interest."

Here, too, the Davis building is at work. New Orleans resturanteur Jason Doyle has plans for a Russian vodka bar and restaurant in the old building's vault.

A community growing and going downtown.

[TexasStooge]

Loose change at D/FW piles up

TSA policy failure lets coins from checkpoints reach almost $15,000

By MICHAEL GRABELL / The Dallas Morning News

DFW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Texas - For 19 months, loose change left at security checkpoints at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport sat unchecked in a file cabinet, piling up to nearly $15,000, an internal investigation has found.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration's loose-change policy outlines a step-by-step process from X-ray conveyor belt to the U.S. Treasury. But from October 2002 to April 2004, the TSA at D/FW failed to follow the policy nearly every step of the way, according to a senior TSA employee familiar with the investigation.

The audit found a lack of oversight and internal controls from checkpoint to checkpoint.

Claude B. Shaw, TSA's deputy security director at D/FW, said officials have resolved the cash-handling problems.

Before the issue came to their attention, local TSA officials had assumed the process was sound, he said. But the D/FW office had been understaffed and intently focused on security.

"You need to remember this was still when TSA was trying to get on its feet," he said. "As soon as it was recognized, we were very, very diligent and aggressive" in tightening controls, he added.

The haphazard cash-handling at D/FW is the latest investigation to find a lack of checks and balances within the 3-year-old agency that took over airport security after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Government reports this fall concluded that the TSA overpaid a contractor by $50 million and held a lavish awards banquet that included $500 cheese displays.

"I don't think this is any widespread conspiracy or failure on the part of the administration," said Mark Arsenault, who runs a Web site for screeners. "But again, I think it points to a lack of accountability and problems with the upper management at the airports."

Mr. Arsenault said that he frequently hears from screeners who say they receive inconsistent directions. Procedures change frequently and are often communicated orally instead of in writing, he said.

TSA officials began investigating cash-handling at D/FW in March 2004 after a screener complained that supervisors gave inconsistent direction regarding what to do with lost change, said the senior employee who asked to go unnamed for fear of retaliation.

The complaint led administrators to two file cabinet drawers overflowing with white envelopes packed with dollar bills and coins.

The local TSA office immediately notified its Washington headquarters and put in place temporary measures to ensure that all newly found money was accounted for, Mr. Shaw said.

While there was no conclusive evidence of theft, the audit found that imprecise record-keeping left the TSA open to waste and abuse.

•Checkpoint supervisors rarely followed a requirement that anything more than $5 be put in an envelope before going into lock boxes.

•Receipts given to screeners for found money often weren't used or were missing required information. Daily totals were not consistently logged.

•A financial specialist at the regional office in Coppell made only 10 deposits into the U.S. Treasury general fund in 19 months. She was supposed to make them every two weeks.

•She was given a safe, but instead used a locking file cabinet. Mr. Shaw said the office did not have a safe at first and by the time it received one, using the cabinet had become practice.

•And when cashier's checks and deposit reports didn't show up at TSA headquarters, officials failed to notice.

But TSA officials doubt any money was stolen because the average amount of loose change collected each month now is about the same as what was taken in during the investigated period.

Mr. Shaw said TSA employees are held to a high ethical standard.

"I have spoken to every one of our 1500-plus employees, and our policy is a zero-tolerance policy," Mr. Shaw said. "If a screener is taking loose change out of a dog food bowl at one of the checkpoints, in my mind, it's no different than a screener taking diamond earrings out of a checked bag."

TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said a screener recently turned in a $6,600 wad of $100 bills left at a checkpoint.

Mr. Shaw said staff shortages factored in as the supervisor position for the financial specialist went vacant for 13 of the 19 months.

The mid-level employee – responsible for all of TSA's budgeting at D/FW – told officials that counting the change was too time-consuming given her other duties.

[TexasStooge]

Partnership aims to give ex-cons chance at housing

By DON WALL / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Betty Culbreath believes parolled felons, who want to live a crime-free life, deserve that chance. So her Ex-con Foundation is teaming up with Amerisouth Realty to place ex-offenders in apartments, to start over.

"We thoroughly check our people and we monitor them, we don't just put them in a unit and leave them," says Culbreath.

According to the parole board, more than 600 ex-cons are moving into North Texas every month. Many of them have no place to stay, and many apartment complexes don't want them.

Many ex-offenders become homeless, which is why Dallas homeless czar Tom Dunning supports the housing effort.

"The good news is you know who the ex-offenders are, and you know who your neighbors are. And I think this is a great step forward," said Dunning.

Kirk Myers spent 2 1/2 years in prison for credit card fraud. Now successful and a homeowner, he knows how hard it was to overcome the stigma.

"Having been an ex-con myself, i think it's really essential for the community to have this resource," Myers said.

Oscar holmes, who says he spent some time in jail in his youth, will accept most ex-offenders in his apartment complex, but not all.

"I mean everybody makes mistakes in life... Now, when you got child molesters and that, now that's a different story," Holmes said.

For Betty Culbreath, the former director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, helping former inmates is personal.

Her own son is in jail on drug charges.

"I know ex-offenders are wonderful people, like i said, I got one. I married one."

[TexasStooge]

War through Dad's eyes

60 years after Iwo Jima, Marine relives role in pivotal battle

By ROY APPLETON / The Dallas Morning News

DENTON, Texas – Like many a World War II veteran, my father has never talked much about his military service. He has shared a few memories and stories at public gatherings and is always willing to speak with school kids.

But he knows the real heroes of any war are the ones who don't come home. Growing up, my two brothers and I knew the big guy at the dinner table had been a Marine fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. We were impressed by the enemy rifle he had brought home and bragging proud as we played war with plastic guns and toy soldiers across our Denton neighborhood.

And when we asked about battles, he would sometimes name but not dwell on places called Tarawa, Guam, Saipan and Iwo Jima.

But this week, with a tape recorder before him, former Cpl. Roy Appleton Jr. began dredging up his days on Iwo Jima, wanting to make sure this much is clear: He was just one of those on the job that began 60 years ago today.

Relaxing at his Denton home, he recalls the explosions near his foxhole at night that left him shaking uncontrollably. He talks about setting up a communications post and sees Speed, his runner, carrying messages to the field.

He wishes he could find and reminisce with Chief, the young Navajo who worked at his side, communicating with his people and befuddling the Japanese with his native tongue.

Ask him what surfaces from that time and place, when the idea was to stay alive, not take notes.

"If I see a picture of Iwo Jima, I can smell the sulfur" from the island's mines, he says.

Dad was one of more than 70,000 Marines involved in the invasion of the Japanese island fortress that would yield a costly, strategically important and, with the flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi, emotionally powerful victory for America.

He had joined the corps at age 17 after seeing the movie Wake Island and spending two weeks persuading his mother to sign the necessary papers. And in the Pacific, on Tarawa, he got a full dose of war, during and after a third-wave landing.

For him, the action on that 300-acre island was far more turbulent than what he would face on Iwo Jima. Yet his days and nights on Iwo were an adult portion for a teenager 2 1/2 years out of Dallas' Sunset High School, who would return after 30 months in the Pacific to Austin and the University of Texas, marry a beautiful girl and land in Denton with a career managing the local newspaper.

He didn't fight hand to hand or fire flames into caves. He was a radio operator, a member of Headquarters Co., Signal Battalion, 5th Amphibious Corps. And at age 80, he, like many of the 3.9 million surviving World War II veterans, can still bear witness to a time and war.

You just have to ask.

Drifting back, the older boy hears the shells relentlessly pounding Iwo Jima for days before the assault. Standing aboard a landing ship tank offshore, he sees and hears the attack begin in the early light and watches landing craft filled with hunkered-down Marines rumbling through the water into enemy fire.

"We had been told we were going to bomb them and there wouldn't be anyone left alive," he recalled. "No one believed it anymore."

Indeed, initial reports told of heavy casualties, efficient firepower from Mount Suribachi and problems getting off the beach and over a steep incline of loose black sand. This last bit of news was particularly troubling to Dad, who was supposed to drive a truck containing radios inland to link offshore commanders with their field officers.

"That kind of kept my mind off the gun fighting," he said.

But after being taught how to shift the truck's gears, he "put the sucker in low and hit the gas," rolling alone out of a floating transport craft onto the beach. Making the incline, he found a suitable low spot between a landing strip and Suribachi, where the flag had been raised hours before on this fifth day of fighting.

My father still sees the greenish-brown Suburban-size truck that pulled a generator atop a trailer to power its radios. He hears the artillery shells whistling back and forth overhead and the thud and boom of mortar rounds landing all around his operation.

At the message center, Dad would receive and relay information, and he could hear the fighting unfold real-time, the calls for reinforcements and fuel and flame-throwers and satchel charges to blast the enemy in their holes.

Armed with a carbine, he would drive a jeep between island command posts, carrying a radio to officers, sleeping wherever he could. At one stop, he went looking for his best friend, Jimmy Hollingsworth, only to learn his enlistment buddy had died earlier that day in the shelling of his field ambulance.

Press him for more and hear how the island with all its death was one bare, "eerie moonscape kind of place. I didn't see a thing growing. There was just rubble and ravines and gullies and rocks and black sand."

And he won't forget the day he stood near a runway, watching the first wounded B-29 land safely on the island. The mission's primary goal had been to secure an emergency-landing site for bombers returning from Japan. Here was a taste of victory.

"Those boys tumbled out of that thing and fell on the ground and started kissing it," he said.

Dad was among the U.S. occupation troops in Japan. There he helped take control of a radio station whose operators were still puzzled by the work of Chief and his people. "They said what in the world was that secret code we kept picking up."

His 30 months overseas and battle record qualified him for a quick return home. But in San Diego, he was too young at age 20 to enter the club where his outfit was celebrating.

Over the years, my brothers and I have heard the underage veteran story and about how a Marine colonel tracked our father down atop a hill in Hawaii and wanted to know why he hadn't been writing his mother. His mother, after all, had written the commandant of the Marine Corps, asking the same question.

He still has the souvenir rifle, and one of his prized keepsakes is a framed drawing of the Suribachi flag-raising with a photograph of himself and his late friend Jimmy tucked into a corner.

A transcript of a talk he gave several years back at the University of North Texas will be included in a book later this year by the university's press called Warriors and Scholars.

Dad will claim to be neither. But maybe now that he has sons and grandchildren old enough to listen, the war stories will keep coming. Maybe not.

"Why bore people with a bunch of stuff," he said.

At Iwo Jima and the other battles, he said, "I was just doing what I was supposed to do, and I volunteered and I wanted to be there and I was proud of the Marine Corps."

He was far from alone, and those ranks are dwindling fast.

The Department of Veterans Affairs projects that in the next 7 1/2 years, 950 World War II veterans will die per day.

They all have stories. You just have to ask.

[TexasStooge]

One church, three worship styles

DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) -- In the main church, the organ booms as the 160-voice choir sings "Christ is Made the Sure Foundation."

In the smaller chapel, worshippers receive Communion to the solemn strains of "Adoramus Te, Christe."

In the auditorium, the congregation is on its feet, clapping to a jazzy version of "Blessed Assurance."

And it's all happening during the same worship hour and in the same church -- Dallas' Highland Park United Methodist Church.

Many churches have added contemporary services to their Sunday morning menu. Highland Park, however, is setting out a worship buffet. In addition to the traditional service in the sanctuary, worshippers can opt for an Anglican-style "high church" or a contemporary worship called "Cornerstone."

"It's not unlike a Cineplex. You have all these choices in one place, and you can pick the one you want," said Paul Rasmussen, an associate minister who heads up the Cornerstone service.

Necessity was the mother of this three-part invention. With a membership of 12,000 and a sanctuary that holds about 900 -- and that's with folding chairs in the aisles -- Highland Park was bursting at the seams. Overflow services with video screens quickly filled each week at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

And the problem was only likely to worsen. The church is growing at a rate of about 700 members a year, despite being in an older neighborhood with a relatively static population. (The church is at the corner of Mockingbird and Hillcrest, next to Southern Methodist University.)

It's a problem that a building campaign couldn't solve -- even with this church's well-heeled congregation.

Expanding the sanctuary wasn't an option, said the Rev. Mark Craig, Highland Park's senior minister. Completed in 1927, the church was designated as a Texas historic landmark in 1995, and it can't be altered. (Architects Roscoe DeWitt and Mark Lemmon designed the building, considered an exquisite example of the 12th century French Gothic style.)

So staff members decided to try offering alternative worship services -- not just to accommodate more bodies, but also to meet the needs of people who wanted different worship styles. Highland Park added Cornerstone about four years ago and the Anglican service last September.

Said Craig: "Our goal is to have as many people outside of the sanctuary in these services as we have in the sanctuary."

Step into the 800-seat Wesley Auditorium on a Sunday morning, and it's hard to believe you're at Highland Park United Methodist Church.

The room, with its theater-style seats and giant video screens, looks like a scaled-down version of a Fellowship Church or a Prestonwood Baptist. There's a state-of-the-art audio board, stage lights on the ceiling and a sound system worthy of a rock concert hall. A professional jazz band plays from the stage.

"We've got all the latest and greatest," said Rasmussen. "You could run a full-blown motion picture or concert in here."

But for all the modern equipment, Rasmussen said, worshippers won't find "religion lite" here.

"Most mainline churches that have tried to adopt a contemporary service have used it as a seeker service," he said. "It's the exact opposite at our place. I think that most people would tell you that Cornerstone is the `going deeper' service. Mark's sermons run 15 to 18 minutes, whereas I might preach for 25 minutes or longer. "

The service attracts about 600 people combined at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Many come for Rasmussen's sermons, which relate the Gospel to current concerns. Tomorrow's, for example, will ask: "Is There Room for Scott Peterson and O.J. in Heaven?"

"He's so gifted, so right on," said Steve Manchester, a committed Cornerstoner. "You come out better than when you went in."

From the outside, "Highland Park can seem intimidating," said Ken Reiser, who joined the church a year ago. "But Cornerstone feels like a small community. It's a great atmosphere."

Dallas' Cox Chapel is 200 yards and three centuries away from Cornerstone. Each Sunday at 11 a.m., about 70 worshippers come to the hushed, intimate space for an Anglican-style "Service of Word and Table."

There's no keyboard or hand-clapping here. Liturgists in white, classic vestments (called albs) process solemnly, with almost a military bearing. Associate Minister Jeff Hall even speaks with a slight hint of an English accent (he's from San Antonio, but studied abroad) and wears a cassock and surplice.

Hall believes the service attracts people who want "a weekly experience of the sacrament tied in powerfully with the preaching of the word." Many of the regulars are converts from more liturgical traditions, like Catholicism or Lutheranism.

Andrew-John Fox, a former altar boy who grew up in the Greek Orthodox Church, feels right at home. "It's in keeping with what I grew up with, the formal Mass and Communion every week," he said. It's not unusual to see a worshipper genuflect in the aisle or cross himself at the Communion rail.

Hall acknowledges that "an old school Methodist would probably raise an eyebrow" at the Anglican service -- while Methodist doctrine doesn't prohibit the "high church" conventions, they aren't common practice. But, he points out, Methodism's founder, John Wesley, likely presided over many services much like this one. (Wesley never became a Methodist -- he was an Anglican priest until his death.)

When Maria Dixon moved to Dallas a few months ago, she was looking for a predominantly African-American church. An assistant professor at Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts, she didn't think Highland Park would be where she'd wind up. But after one visit to the Anglican service, she was sold.

"I don't want the crowds, and I don't want the hoopla," she said. "I want the silence and the intimacy of the setting."

While the music varies -- a single service might incorporate a black spiritual, a 13th century plainchant and a hymn by Samuel Wesley -- "we're not going do Van Halen," Hall said. "You probably won't hear `Stairway to Heaven' here. There's a conscious attempt to recover the European tradition of great sacred music."

The Anglican-style service and Cornerstone may each have a growing core of enthusiasts, but the sanctuary service is still the main event at Highland Park. It's the big service where you can hear Craig, the preacher who counts President Bush among his parishioners. He's the draw who brings overflow crowds every Sunday.

"It's not as `high church' as the Cox Chapel service, but it's still a formal service," said Susie Adams, who always goes to the sanctuary. "I'd feel I'd be missing the traditional stuff if I went to any other service."

Arrive at the last minute for the 9:30 a.m. or 11 a.m. sanctuary services, and chances are you'll end up in a folding chair behind a pillar -- if you're lucky. As many as 150 worshippers may have to head to Fellowship Hall, the "overflow" space equipped with a video screen (though some worshippers say they prefer the overflow space even if there is room in the sanctuary -- you can drink coffee, and restless kids aren't disruptive).

The three services don't seem to divide along demographic lines. All three report a mix of ages, singles and families. Rasmussen thought Cornerstone, for example, would bring in Gen-Xers; instead, he gets more families and older folks.

He said worshipping groups may divide along "psycho-graphic" rather than demographic lines: Cornerstoners like the participatory, casual feel; Anglican worshippers like the reverence; sanctuary regulars, the tradition.

Many hardcore devotees of a particular service say it's mostly about the preacher. Each considers his or her preacher "one of the finest around." Michelle Goolsby calls Craig's sermons "food for the soul." Fox swears by Hall: "He's not rah-rah, move over Tony Robbins. He gets fewer laughs, but what he says resonates and it's deep." Reiser says Rasmussen's "down to earth and meaningful sermons" are why he chose Highland Park.

When the three-way plan was launched, Craig urged church leaders not to let the worshippers drift into separate congregations. There's no separate Cornerstone Sunday school or Anglican Bible study, for example.

"That would have tripled our expense structure, but more importantly, we wanted to keep all three groups within the identity of HPUMC," the senior minister said.

Some churches have failed to preserve that unity when adding alternative worship services, Rasmussen said. He gets calls every week from churches considering a contemporary worship. His advice: Don't try it unless the senior minister is behind the idea. He thinks Cornerstone has flourished in part because Craig regularly pitches the contemporary option in the sanctuary "like it's the best thing going."

And while this experiment may seem new, there's a historic precedent in the Methodist tradition. Methodism took off, Rasmussen said, because the early leaders were able to reach people "where they were."

[TexasStooge]

6-Alarm Fire Breaks Out Downtown

DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- A 6-alarm fire has broken out at the Visiting Nurses Association in the Wells Fargo building in downtown Dallas, authorities said.

The blaze broke out at the 6-story high rise at Mockingbird Lane and Elmbrook Drive at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The fire was first noticed by workers who were performing remodeling work on the building. Authorities quickly evacuated the building when they realized the fire was already out of control.

The building suffered fire, water, and smoke damage on five floors before the fire was brought under control two hours later. The building was not equipped with a sprinkler system as it was not required to have one installed at the time it was built in 1982.

There were no injuries reported.

[TexasStooge]

The Dallas Morning News Exclusive

DALLAS, Texas - A team of rogue Mexican commandos blamed for dozens of killings along the U.S.-Mexico border has carried out at least three drug-related slayings in Dallas, a sign that the group is extending its deadly operations into U.S. cities, two American law enforcement officials say. The men are known as the Zetas, former members of the Mexican army.

More details to come.

[TexasStooge]

Man, 19, gets life in prison

By Deanna Boyd, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas - A 19-year-old man who had insisted to police that other teens fatally shot a Fort Worth couple in their Candleridge home was convicted Friday of capital murder.

Lance Kirk showed little emotion and was automatically sentenced to life in prison by state District Judge Scott Wisch because prosecutors had waived the death penalty.

Kirk was accused of robbing and killing Joan and Robert Griswold, both longtime executives at Lockheed Martin, on May 24, 2003, in their home in the 7100 block of Francisco Drive. Their bodies were found three days later.

[TexasStooge]

Police to ticket for leaving keys in car

By Mitch Mitchell, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas - People who leave their keys in unattended vehicles could get a $100 traffic ticket.

In about a week, Fort Worth police officers will begin enforcing laws already on the books that prohibit people from leaving their keys in unattended vehicles.

Last week, an Amber Alert was issued in connection with the disappearance of a 4-year-old boy who was left sleeping in an extended-cab pickup with the engine running in southwest Fort Worth.

The pickup and the uninjured child were found about six miles away.

Nationally, about 20 percent of stolen vehicles had keys left in their trunks, door locks or ignitions.

[TexasStooge]

Plea bargain in hate crime puts teen on probation

By Martha Deller, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

CLEBURNE, Texas -- An 18-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 180 days in boot camp and 10 years' probation after admitting that he kicked another teen in the face because he was biased against the victim's sexual orientation.

Christopher Paul Lathers, who will turn 19 Tuesday, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with serious bodily injury in the Oct. 3 attack on a 17-year-old Cleburne High School senior.

Lathers also pleaded guilty to committing the assault because of bias or prejudice. Elevating the assault to a hate crime makes it a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison.

[TexasStooge]

Westpark principal back at work

By Amie Streater, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas - Westpark Elementary School Principal Lynn Allen returned to work Friday, but school officials say she is still under investigation for attempting to have a child withdrawn from school before TAKS testing.

"I am just happy to be back," Allen said.

She declined to comment on a teacher's allegations that Allen told the teacher to ask a parent to withdraw a child expected to fail the reading portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills next week.