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#3501 Postby TexasStooge » Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:50 pm

Educator held over 'inappropriate relationship'

GARLAND, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Garland police have arrested a 29-year-old educator who is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Hernando Guerrero, of Garland, is accused of having the relationship with a 17-year-old student, police say.

The student said her relationship with Guerrero was consensual and had been going on for some time.

Detectives with the Garland Police Department obtained a warrant for Guerrero and placed him in custody.

Bond has been set at $50,000.
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#3502 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:08 am

Highland Park's playoff game will be televised

By MATT JACOB / The Dallas Morning News

HIGHLAND PARK, Texas - Highland Park’s Class 4A Division I football championship game against Marshall will be televised live locally on KDFI-TV (Ch. 27) beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday. Kickoff is one hour later the previously scheduled starting time.

Wachovia is sponsoring the broadcast. Corporate communications director Joe Stroop said the company was first approached about possible sponsorship plans earlier this week when it was feared not many fans could attend the game at Tyler’s Rose stadium, capacity 12,000.

Highland Park’s allotment of 5,500 tickets quickly sold out Monday night. The game is Highland Park’s first state-championship appearance since the school won its last title in 1957.
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#3503 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:08 am

18-wheeler on fire on I-20

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - An 18-wheeler wreck is on fire on the eastbound I-20 at Bonnieview in Southern Dallas

At least a dozen firemen are on the scene. There was reportedly no one in the vehicle at the time of the fire.

Smoke and flames can be seen billowing from the vehicle which appears to have crashed into a barrier.

Police are warning drivers to take their journey slowly today because of the winter weather conditions. More soon.

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#3504 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:09 am

Fires damage Fort Worth homes; 2 hurt

FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Two people were hospitalized after fire swept through two neighboring homes in East Fort Worth early Thursday.

The fire started at one house in the 3400 block of Avenue C, near Texas Wesleyan University.

Investigators said strong winds blew the flames to the property next door. Both houses suffered damage.

The two injured people were taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for treatment. Their names and conditions were not available.
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#3505 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:45 pm

18-wheeler fire blocks I-20

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - An 18-wheeler wreck burst into flames on the I-20 at Bonnieview in Southern Dallas at about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, blocking the whole eastbound highway.

The vehicle reportedly crashed into a news organization's truck. The crew of the truck was absent at the time, but the driver of the 18 wheeler has been taken to hospital.

At least a dozen firemen are on the scene.

Smoke and flames could be seen billowing from the vehicle earlier, but now the fire seems to have been put out.

Police are warning drivers to take their journey slowly today because of the winter weather conditions. More soon.

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#3506 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 4:55 pm

Man, 19, gets life for Dallas clerk's murder

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A Dallas County jury reached a guilty verdict Thursday morning in the murder of a convenience store employee last year.

Jonathan Derrell Carey, 19, was convicted of capital murder in the death of Imran Lakhani, said Rachel Horton, a spokesperson for the Dallas County District Attorney’s office.

Lakhani, a 27-year-old clerk at the Mr. K Food Mart on Alpha Road near Montfort Place in Dallas, was shot execution-style during a robbery on August 28, 2004.

Carey received an automatic life sentence, Horton said.
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#3507 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:01 pm

Perry wants private support for I-69 corridor

HOUSTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) -- Governor Rick Perry made a pitch Thursday for the private sector to help fund a proposed superhighway leading north from the Texas-Mexico border.

Perry, during a stop in Houston, said the Trans Texas Corridor-69 plan would connect industrial hubs in South Texas and the Midwest.

The governor unveiled his Trans Texas Corridor project in 2002, outlining proposed improvements over 50 years. Perry said the interstate-quality highway corridor, which would also include capacity for rail freight, would connect the Lower Rio Grande River Valley to Interstate 37 in Corpus Christi.

The transportation route would continue from Corpus Christi through Houston and East Texas, and then northeast through Shreveport and Memphis before connecting with the existing portion of I-69 already open in Indiana and Michigan, where it ends at the Canadian border.

Perry appeared at the annual meeting of the I-69 Alliance, which is pushing for development of the corridor.
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#3508 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:14 pm

Winning lottery ticket in limbo

By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN, Texas – Mike Sargent is a lucky guy. Or not.

Mr. Sargent, 51, of Alvarado won $25,000 on a Wheel of Fortune lottery scratch-off three weeks ago. He has yet to see a penny, but he has lost several days' work, is taking "nervous pills" and has spent $2,500 of money he doesn't really have to try to redeem it.

"I wish I hadn't won it," he lamented Wednesday.

Now, he said, he sees the ordeal as a religious message about casting aside false hopes and depending on the Lord. That said, he still wouldn't mind the money.

The first turn of the wheel – of fortune or otherwise – was at 9 o'clock on a blustery Tuesday night. Mr. Sargent scratched off the ticket while still standing in a convenience store where he stops regularly. "I about lost it," he said. "I just yelled, 'I won $25,000!' I was almost hyperventilating."

And then, he did lose it. Not his calm, but the ticket.

He remembered that the store owner had told him to write his name and address on the back of the ticket and sign it immediately. Then, on the way home, he called his wife, Bonnie, to tell her that "I had the best Christmas gift for her."

It seemed to be a miracle at the end of a trying year. Debilitating migraines had forced him to leave his job as a facility specialist for SBC for five months. His van was repossessed and his wife was working overtime. They were barely hanging on, but had started to get life back on track, going back to work last spring.

When he won the scratch-off game, he thought on the drive home, "God not only provided while I was panicking and out of work; he not only took care of me, but he gave me back even what I had lost."

Five minutes later, he no longer had the ticket.

People will do strange and extreme things when they think they've lost $25,000, Mr. Sargent said.

He called the store. He called police. He, his wife and son, and congregants at their church searched the convenience store parking lot. He went through every crushed Slurpee cup in the store's trash bins. He had the seats pulled from his car. He put up posters on a forest's worth of telephone poles. He went on a radio trade show, offering a $2,000 reward.

He had, of course, also called the Texas Lottery Commission to report his claim and give the serial number of the scratch-off card, in case anyone else tried to redeem it.

Then, on Nov. 19, he received a call from a meter reader who had found the ticket about five houses down from the convenience store. The finder asked for $2,500 for its return, and Mr. Sargent agreed. But it meant borrowing the money.

"He told me he was going to have such a great Christmas with the $2,500. It hurt me that he was going to have a better Christmas than us," Mr. Sargent said.

When Mr. Sargent tried to redeem the ticket in Dallas, lottery officials noted that someone had tried to erase his signature on the back. Because it was altered, the ticket would have to be sent to Lottery Commission headquarters in Austin.

Unwilling to part with the ticket again, Mr. Sargent drove it down himself. Lottery officials there told him the ticket would have to go through forensics, to make sure no other signature had been covered over, and then enforcement would try and verify his story.

Two weeks passed, and he heard nothing. No one was returning his call. And so he turned to lottery watchdog Dawn Nettles, who knows how to get answers from the commission and who helped expose problems with guaranteed jackpots this year.

"The forensics guy it was assigned to was on vacation. It was his case. Had it not been for our call, it would have sat there until he returned," Ms. Nettles said.

Ms. Nettles pointed out that because the ticket was scanned, the lottery officials already knew where and when it had been sold. And Mr. Sargent had presented all the relevant information, plus witnesses to his win.

"When he arrived there, they had everything they needed," Ms. Nettles said.

Lottery spokesman Bobby Heith confirmed that his agency had received the ticket from Mr. Sargent. He said that the case is being assigned to an enforcement officer to verify the facts.

"We have compassion for Mr. Sargent and his needs. We want to move along, but we want to move along in a manner where we know the correct person is getting the money," Mr. Heith said.

He said lottery officials have a duty to winners but also to taxpayers to ensure the "honesty, security and integrity of the games." It could take another six to eight weeks, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sargent is weighted by heavier concerns. He is trying to get to California to visit his father, who is dying of lung cancer. He said his sister is helping him get a plane ticket.

"I had accepted that I wasn't going to ever see it," Mr. Sargent said of the prize. "Then when I got it, I thought I could cash it. And now I'm not sure. Whether I get the money or not, I feel blessed that God is still talking to me and taking care of me."

But he is human.

"Of course," he said, "it would help to have the money."
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#3509 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:15 pm

Southeast Texas town without gas heat

CROCKETT, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - About 2,200 natural gas customers in the East Texas town of Crockett were left without heat Thursday morning.

Houston-based CenterPoint Energy said it shut down service early Thursday after a pressure drop was detected at a valve stand that transfers gas from a main pipeline to the system serving Crockett customers.

CenterPoint spokeswoman Leticia Lowe said about 100 technicians are working to purge the gas line of any air to restore the Crockett gas line network to safe operations. She said she has no estimate of how long that might take.

Temperatures were at or just below freezing in Crockett about the time the outage happened. Temperatures were expected to reach the upper 30s today before dropping into the low 20s Thursday night.

Crockett is 43 miles west of Lufkin.
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#3510 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:16 pm

El Paso television anchor accepts proposal on air

EL PASO, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - KDBC anchorwoman Nichole Ayoub got a surprise at the end of the 6 p.m. television newscast Wednesday -- a wedding proposal.

As Ayoub was ready to close the show, Travis Hughes suddenly appeared at the news desk, holding a ring box.

Choking on emotion, Hughes said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Ayoub before asking, "Will you marry me?"

Breathless and fighting back tears, Ayoub accepted and hugged her fiance.

Bram Watkins, the station's general manager, said Hughes came to him about a week ago and asked if he could pop the question on air.

"Now he knows how hard live TV is," Watkins joked. "He had a 20- or 30-second proposal planned, but he got choked up."

Watkins said Ayoub, an El Paso native, and Hughes, a local financial planner, have dated for several years.

Following the emotional proposal, the couple was greeted in the station's parking lot by an El Paso trolley, jammed with friends and family, Watkins said.

A mariachi band also was waiting to serenade the couple, Watkins said.
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#3511 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:15 pm

Mom, son die after wood-burning stove fire

LUBBOCK, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - Two people died in a fire sparked by an improperly installed wood-burning stove during the subfreezing temperatures of Texas' first winter blast, which also knocked out power, closed schools, caused hundreds of wrecks and stranded travelers.

The blaze swept through the Lubbock house Wednesday night, killing Brittany Lilly, 21, and Devin Lilly, her 3-year-old son, Lubbock Fire Department Capt. Marlin Hamilton said Thursday. They were among seven people trying to keep their home warm with the stove sitting in the middle of the living room, authorities said.

Fire or sparks from the stove - one designed to be installed flush to a wall - ignited a couch and spread, and some of the victims' relatives were able to get out through a bedroom window, Hamilton said. Dense smoke kept neighbors from being able to help.

Brittany Lilly helped her other son, 6, escape through a window in their bedroom, Hamilton said. Devin's body was found underneath a bed, he said. There were no smoke detectors in the house, fire officials said.
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#3512 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:19 pm

7-year-old twins save neighbor's home from fire

By BETHANY ANDERSON / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - It was a tiny, heroic effort that almost didn’t happen.

Last Tuesday, Marguerite Knowles was excited — she and her twin brother, Mark, were allowed to stay up past their bedtime on a school night. Marguerite jumped from one leopard print beanbag to another in the playroom when the sharp-eyed 7-year-old suddenly spied flames shooting from her neighbor’s chimney — and stopped jumping.

“I saw it from the corner of my eye, out the window,” she said. “I could see the flames, and I looked and then I turned around to tell Mark.”

“Mark, tell what you thought I was gonna say,” she prompted her brother as they sat with their mother, Melinda, in their University Park home a week later.

“I thought she was gonna tell me she saw a shooting star,” Mark said.

The sight of the flames moved Marguerite to action. “I was screaming for my mom and yelling, ‘There’s a fire, there’s a fire!” she said. “Then Mommy called the police and said to ‘Send everything!’”

And after seeing the flames, “I did,” said Mrs. Knowles, who called 911 from their home on Bryn Mawr. “I told them to send every truck they had.”

The twins usually are upstairs, getting ready for bed at 7 p.m. — when Marguerite saw the fire from the playroom. Mrs. Knowles and her husband, Mark Sr., had allowed the twins to stay up a little late to watch Felicity: An American Girl on TV. The two attend Greenhill School in Dallas.

“Mommy called 911, and told us to go warn them,” Marguerite said. “I didn’t want to go, I was too scared. But Mark went over there in his pajamas.”

“Did you just have to say that?” Mark, embarrassed, questioned his sister.

Mark ran next door to their neighbors — Rich and Shelby Flaten.

“Lila, their dog, was howling, and I just knew she wanted me to go faster, so I did,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Flaten — and children Clay, Shannon and Annie — had no idea their home was in peril as they sat in their kitchen, eating beef stroganoff. Mark rang the doorbell. Ten-year-old Clay answered.

“And I said, ‘You have to get out of your house, there’s a fire on your house,” Mark said. “It only took me five minutes to get them all out. In 10 more minutes, the whole thing would’ve been ashes.”

After receiving the warning, the Flatens’ response was admittedly chaotic.

“We panicked,” Mrs. Flaten said. “We did everything you shouldn’t do. I went back in for my laptop. We were looking for the animals.”

The fire started in the chimney flue in the den. The University Park Fire Department spent about two hours putting out the blaze — which was contained to the home’s exterior and resulted in just some minor repair work.

Mrs. Flaten said fire department officials said the timing of Mrs. Knowles’ 911 call and Mark’s warning were critical. A few more minutes and the fire would have breached the attic. The second story of the home would have quickly followed. Afterwards, the Flatens sat down to count their blessings, including their two tiny neighbors.

“All Rich and I did the next day was talk about the ‘could-have-beens,’” Mrs. Flaten said. “We feel extremely blessed. We had angels watching over us.”
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#3513 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:34 pm

Firefighter hurt as Fort Worth, Dallas blazes damage homes

DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - One Dallas firefighter was injured Wednesday night when the porch of a house on fire collapsed on him and two other firefighters.

Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesperson Annette Ponce said the firefighter, whose name was not released, was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center with an injured knee, and was kept overnight for observation. The other firefighters were not injured.

The two-story frame home in the 1100 block of East 10th St. suffered major damage from the one-alarm fire, which broke out shortly before 9 p.m. The cause is still under investigation.

Two people were hospitalized after fire swept through two neighboring homes in southeast Fort Worth early Thursday.

The fire started at one house in the 3400 block of Avenue C, near Texas Wesleyan University.

Investigators said strong winds blew the flames to the property next door. Both houses suffered damage.

The two injured people were taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for treatment. Their names and conditions were not available.

WFAA ABC 8 contributed to this report.
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#3514 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:53 am

Elderly man found dead in blazing home

By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - An elderly man was found dead in his home after a one-alarm fire at the corner of Gaston Avenue and Annex Avenue.

Dallas Fire-Rescue were wrapping up their investigation around 10:00 p.m. after they were called around 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

Once the firefighters arrived, they entered through the front door and discovered the body of an elderly man at the doorway.

Firefighters fought the flames that had engulfed the back of the home and removed the man's body.

Investigators were still searching for the cause of the fire.

Officials said they believe the man was attempting to escape the house, but had not discovered the exact cause of his death yet.
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#3515 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:53 am

Mom charged in cocaine-tainted breast feeding

ALVIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - An Alvin mother faces injury to a child charges after the death of her 5-week-old baby in May.

Police said Katherine James did so much cocaine she passed a lethal amount of the drug to her baby through her breast milk.

Despite the death occurring months ago, the autopsy results only recently determined the baby ingested cocaine.
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#3516 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:04 pm

Executives turn to Dallas clinic for luxury check-ups

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) -- When he turned 50, Steven Jackson decided it was time for a complete physical. But instead of going to his usual doctor, he spent $2,000 for a daylong assessment at a cushy health center loaded with amenities.

Jackson said that despite the cost, the concept offered at the Baylor Tom Landry Health & Wellness Center in Dallas appealed to him: having the tests done while spending a day in a luxurious setting.

"They did everything -- started at 7 a.m., ended at 4 p.m.," said Jackson, an Albuquerque, N.M., real estate developer who is waiting to find out if his insurance will pay for part of the September exam. "I could sit and watch the TV while they came in and prodded me. I thought it was well worth it for me."

Those in charge of such programs say patients are drawn to them because they can spend an extended amount of time with a doctor, want to focus on preventive medicine and enjoy the convenience.

But some experts question spending a lot of money for the workup, which is generally not covered by insurance.

Baylor's program, which opened in August, joined similar programs nationwide offering daylong fitness and health assessments to those willing to pay upward of $2,000 for the service.

The Baylor assessment, called Personal Edge, includes body fat analysis, a fitness consultation, a treadmill test, a chest X-ray, a bone density exam, a cholesterol profile, and hearing and vision tests. Participants can also indulge in extras like a massage, personal training session or golf swing analysis.

Dr. Larry Gibbons, medical director and president of the Dallas' Cooper Clinic, which focuses on preventive medicine, said he's seen such offerings increase over the years.

"Most of our patients are people who really have a desire to get a careful physical," Gibbons said. "They want the comprehensive exam which they feel they can't get in today's medical system, and they want someone to talk to them."

But some experts say routine physicals by primary-care physicians should suffice.

"More is not always better when it comes to health-care technologies," said Dr. Ann O'Malley, a researcher in preventive medicine at the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Edward Hill, president of the American Medical Association, agreed.

"Most physicians follow recommendations that give you what should be done for every sex and age; they're all evidence-based," he said.

Most insurance plans allow for an annual physical with your regular doctor, said Mohit Ghose, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group whose members insure more than 200 million people.

"If your treating physician recommends other testing off your physical, that's going to be covered," Ghose said. "That's why working with your physician is key to having the right tests done at the right time."

Nevertheless, patients say the extended one-on-one time with a doctor is worth it.

"I bet I spent at least an hour with the doctor or more," Jackson said.

Richard Buckley, 47, of the Dallas suburb Flower Mound, also was impressed with the time he got to spend with a doctor at Baylor.

"She's asking you, 'Anything else?' and you start to realize, this is great. A doctor is talking to me," said Buckley, who, like many who undergo such assessments, was sent as a perk from his company.

Patients praise the efficiency of getting a variety of exams in a day. Jackson figures it would've taken at least a month to get all of the tests done.

"In the managed-care model that most of us live in, you're lucky to spend 20 minutes with your doctor," said Dr. Paul Sokal, medical director of Personal Edge.

At the University of Chicago Hospitals, the impetus for an executive health program started six years ago came from a doctor and board members who were interested in preventive medicine, said program director Shara Storandt.

"We do it all for you," Storandt said. "Instead of it taking you weeks to do all of these things separately, you're doing it all in one day and people are paying for that convenience."
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#3517 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:06 pm

Oil company issues report on Texas City blast

TEXAS CITY, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - Management system failures were to blame for the Texas City oil refinery blast that killed 15 employees and injured more than 170, plant owner BP PLC said Friday in its final report on the explosion.

BP, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, said in a news release that its investigation team "found no evidence of anyone consciously or intentionally taking actions or decisions that put others at risk" in the March 23 blast.

BP also said it plans to invest about $1 billion over the next five years to improve and maintain the site.

"We accept the findings and we are working to make Texas City a complex that attains the highest levels of safety, reliability and environmental performance," said Ross Pillari, president of BP Products North America Inc.

Still, "the team found many areas where procedures, policies and expected behaviors were not met."

At its full capacity, the Southeast Texas refinery processes 433,000 barrels of crude oil a day and 3 percent of the nation's gasoline. But the plant has been shut down for repairs since Hurricane Rita hit the Gulf Coast in late September.

Last month, BP released an anonymous survey of Texas City BP workers that found the refinery's top priority was making money and managers neglected safety in the months before the explosion.
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#3518 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:46 pm

Where three cities meet, a land fight is brewing

Proposal is on Dallas land, but Coppell and Irving want it stopped

By ERIC AASEN and EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

A multicity melee over a controversial residential development near North Lake in Dallas just got uglier.

Neighboring Coppell has made no secret of its distaste for Billingsley Co.'s plans to build apartments, homes and shops near the water's edge. Now the suburb has launched condemnation proceedings to seize some of the land in Dallas – a move that has Dallas officials hopping mad.

While Dallas considers legal action, the developer is fighting fire with fire, amending its zoning request to allow it to double the density of the Cypress Waters project.

Meanwhile, Coppell and Irving officials say they will withhold basic services – such as water and police protection – from the project unless a compromise is reached.

The Dallas City Plan Commission is scheduled to take up the zoning change Thursday. But negotiations will resume today, when Dallas Mayor Laura Miller meets with Coppell Mayor Doug Stover and Irving Mayor Herbert Gears.

Coppell officials say they also plan to meet with Dallas officials and Billingsley representatives today; Billingsley says it has no plans to attend that meeting.

Cypress Waters is contentious in part because of its location. It's in northwest Dallas, connected to the city by a narrow strip of land.

But it's bordered by Coppell and Irving, and most of the land is in the Coppell Independent School District.

"For all intents and purposes, it's a part of Coppell," Mr. Stover said.

Coppell fears Cypress Waters will diminish the city's quality of life, overcrowding the suburb's prized schools and choking streets with traffic. Irving thinks the development would be too dense. But Dallas officials say that the suburbs are overreacting and that the project will boost their city's tax base.

Coppell's condemnation petitions, which the city filed last month, are – simply put – nuts, Ms. Miller said.

"It would be like us saying, 'There's a big green space in Highland Park, and we're going to eminent-domain it,' " she said.

Said Dallas City Council member Ed Oakley: "Dallas has no alternative but to fight back and fight back hard."

Developer Lucy Billingsley, whose company is building 7-Eleven's headquarters in downtown Dallas, said the approximately 350-acre Cypress Waters site is ideal for mixed-use development; it's near North Lake and has easy access to LBJ Freeway.

She says the attractive, upscale community – which she has said could include about 3,900 multifamily units – will provide an enormous tax boost to Coppell schools and Dallas.

But Coppell city and school officials say the project is just too big. They filed separate condemnation petitions last month to seize parts of the property. The city wants to use the land for housing and parks; the school district, to build schools on.

Coppell says state statute gives it authority to condemn land outside city limits.

A Billingsley attorney, Tod Edel, calls the petitions ill-advised and says the city has no real need for the property. "They've decided to litigate, not negotiate," he said. "This condemnation is nothing more than an expensive stall tactic by Coppell."

Dallas Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans said his city will take legal action if necessary to "protect our tax base."

Dallas City Plan Commissioner Neil Emmons said it's too early to tell how the zoning board will handle the case next week.

Once the board has made a recommendation, the project will go to the Dallas City Council.

"We're taking a keen interest in it," Mr. Emmons said. "I would hope that the decision of the Plan Commission is based on thoughtful land use ... and not relative to any pending litigation," he said.

Even if Dallas approves Cypress Waters, a key sticking point remains: Irving and Coppell aren't willing to provide the project – at least in its current form – with utilities and fire and police protection.

Dallas officials say the suburbs' decisions to withhold such services are, at best, not neighborly. And while it would be more economical for Irving or Coppell to offer the services, Ms. Miller said, Dallas is prepared to do it.

The city has given Billingsley the go-ahead to request even denser zoning so that Dallas can generate enough tax revenue to provide the services itself. But company attorneys say that doesn't mean Billingsley has plans to add more housing units.

While all parties stew over Cypress Waters, Mr. Stover remains confident that Coppell can reach a compromise on its scope. He hopes today's meetings give Dallas and Billingsley officials a more accurate view of how the development will affect his city.

Ms. Miller understands the high drama over the North Lake land, she says, but she hopes the mayors can find a solution that's fair to all sides.

No one wants a nasty legal battle, Mr. Gears said.

"If there's any way to avoid that," he said, "you'd think reasonable people would make the effort."
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#3519 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:47 pm

Irving officers involved in shooting

IRVING, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Irving police shot a man who they say tried to run them over with a car Thursday night outside a restaurant.

The man was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital. His condition was unknown as of midnight.

Two off-duty Irving officers were leaving a restaurant in the 1900 block of West Irving Boulevard about 8 p.m. when the driver of a white car attempted to run them over, police spokesman David Tull said.

The officers jumped out of the way, then both fired at the vehicle as it fled eastbound on Irving Boulevard. The car struck a building in the 1700 block of West Irving Boulevard, police report.

Earlier in the evening, the two officers said they observed two men causing a disturbance at the restaurant where they were dining.

The officers called their dispatch department and several on-duty officers arrived, taking the two men to the Irving jail for public intoxication.

Police said they're investigating to determine whether there was any connection between the man in the white car and the two men arrested earlier.
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#3520 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:26 pm

'Optimal' weather outlook for marathon

By LINDA LEAVELL / DallasNews.com

DALLAS, Texas - Chuck Dannis acknowledges that he's more than just mildly interested in the weather these days.

"Accuweather has been my home page. I've been checking it for the last 15 days," said Dannis, chairman of the White Rock Marathon Board of Trustees.

Nothing spoils a marathon like bad weather. Luckily for the approximately 10,000 runners who will participate in Sunday's annual White Rock Marathon benefiting Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, the outlook is "optimal," in Dannis' opinion. (Although it might be a bit chilly for the estimated 100,000 spectators.)

"We call it Scottish Rite weather," Dannis said. "The hospital's on our side, looking over our shoulder."

Then he added: "If the race would have been (Wednesday), we would have been in big trouble."

This week's brutal arctic front will give way to the type of weather that runners love: about 32 degrees when the race begins at 8 a.m., warming to 55 or 56 degrees. There will be a northwest wind of 5 to 10 mph, but it will not be brisk, according to the National Weather Service.

Dannis recommends that runners start with a long-sleeve wicking layer, but said the first five miles of the course usually is littered with clothes that runners have decided to toss.

Barry Mirtsching, an oncologist at Medical City Hospital, acknowledges he's been keeping a close eye on weather.com as he counts down the days to his eighth White Rock Marathon.

"I think all the runners look ahead," said Mirtsching, 44, of Dallas.

His preference is for the temperature to start in the mid-30s, with light wind, and then warm to the low 50s. Anything warmer leads to dehydration, particularly in the last six or seven miles, and "affects your performance in a big way," he said.

Mirtsching, who has completed 22 marathons and has a four-hour goal time, said his philosophy is to take the climate into account. A drizzly, 20-degree day or a scorcher may mean he'll have to slow down and decide that finishing and having fun will be his aims.

"There's always another race. You don't have to hurt yourself on a day when nature didn't favor you," he said.

The doctor said he'll probably wear a tank top and shorts to start the race – "and I'll be cold" – but he's cautious about overdressing. He sometimes cuts a hole in a trash bag that he wears at the starting line, and then throws it in the trash as he gets under way.

After about 20 White Rock marathons, and 44 races overall, Michael Van Amburgh of Midlothian believes he's got his system down.

He'll start with gloves, but no hat, and a singlet over a long-sleeve, nylon shirt. When he warms up, he hands off the shirt to his wife, Beth, on the sidelines. So, how does he get the shirt off?

"It's really quite ingenious," Van Amburgh joked. "I take both of them off and then put the other back on. ... It just takes a couple of seconds. I practice it beforehand."

The 47-year-old business appraiser's system also involves his 12- and 16-year-old daughters, who hand him bananas and cheer him on with signs. His in-laws know all the back routes for helping the family turn up about every four miles.

He said his secret to staying healthy is running with three different pairs of shoes that he alternates every day to avoid repetitive-stress injuries. He's shooting for a four-hour time Sunday, but he used to run marathons in the 2:40s.

His pre-race routine is always the same: "I say a prayer always at the first ... for me and everybody else," he said. "And then it seems like I always see someone I know and love at various points when I'm weakest."

Nancy Bernacki of Fort Worth will complete her 51st marathon Sunday. The 49-year-old averages four to five races a year.

"It'll be nice as long as there's no rain. I hate rain. It makes it miserable when it's raining and windy," said Bernacki, an ICU nurse who works at two hospitals. "I just hope that there's not much wind around the lake."

Bernacki plans to wear shorts and a jog bra, with a short-sleeve shirt over it and topped by a long-sleeve shirt. After she has warmed up, about three miles in, she'll toss the long-sleeve shirt. Then she'll dump the other shirt, sometime toward the last 10 miles and after she's looped the lake.

Her secret weapon is Vaseline, which she smears over her arms and legs. She said the thick, oily coating seems to keep her warm and protect her skin, although she acknowledges that she looks horrible by the time she completes 26.2 miles.

"It's a good feeling to cross the finish line," said Bernacki, whose goal time is within 15 minutes of four hours. "That's the reward."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SATURDAY FORECAST FOR DALLAS, TX via NWS:

<IMG alt="Mostly Sunny" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/52/34.gif" border=0> High: 54°F
Last edited by TexasStooge on Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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