News from the Lone Star State

[TexasStooge]

121 frontage lanes in Collin Co. now open

PLANO, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Two frontage lanes in both directions will open Friday on State Highway 121 from Custer Road to U.S. Highway 75.

Another completed lane will remain closed for construction purposes, said Collin County Judge Ron Harris.

It has taken about 2 1/2 years for the completion of this phase, Judge Harris said, adding that the project is expected to be completed in 2010 or 2011.

Collin County public information officer Leigh Hornsby said the overall project will provide frontage roads and lane expansion of the highway from the Dallas North Tollway to Highway 75.

Ms. Hornsby said this section of the work has cost $46 million. The portion from Hillcrest west to the Dallas North Tollway will cost about $86 million, which includes the interchange at Preston Road, she said.

A third phase will build three grade separations, which would run between $8 and $10 million apiece, Judge Harris said. He said the fourth phase, which has yet to begin, would finish main lanes from Hillcrest to 75; however, its design depends on whether or not the road is tolled.

[TexasStooge]

Irving officers involved in fatal shooting

IRVING, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Irving police say a man who tried run over two off-duty officers with a car on Thursday night and then was shot by the officers has died.

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.

Officer Tull said the officers' names not being released pending completion of the investigation. Both officers work out of the Patrol Division. One of the officers is 35 and has been with the department for about five years; the other is 26 and has been with the department for three years.

The name of the 41-year-old man who died is not being identified because relatives have not yet been located, Officer Tull said.

[TexasStooge]

Perry announces drug-fighting grants

AUSTIN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) -- Federal drug-fighting grants are going to 31 programs in Texas.

Governor Rick Perry today announced $7.1 million will be shared by projects meant to prevent and reduce drug abuse.

Perry's office says the funding also will be used to break up drug trafficking organizations, wipe out drug labs and reduce drug-related violent crime.

The money from the Byrne Formula Grant Program is distributed by the governor's Criminal Justice Division.

[TexasStooge]

Man gets life for pizza delivery driver assault

By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News

GLENN HEIGHTS, Texas - A 20-year-old Glenn Heights man was sentenced to life in prison Friday for sexually assaulting a pizza delivery driver after luring her to an abandoned home in April 2005.

Jamison Jerrod Lewis had been out of prison less than two months when he sexually assaulted the woman. After his arrest, investigators matched his DNA to an unsolved 2001 sexual assault of a girl who had the mental capacity of a 5-year-old.

Mr. Lewis slumped back in his chair and rolled his eyes as the mother of the victim in the April case addressed him after his conviction.

“You deserve to never see the light of day and I will do everything in my power to make sure that never happens,” the victim’s mother said as she grew angry while watching Mr. Lewis’s facial expressions. “This man has no remorse. You deserve to be locked up like a wild animal.”

According to police reports, Mr. Lewis tricked the delivery driver into showing up at an abandoned home two houses away from where he was living with relatives after he was released from prison after serving two years of a five-year term for burglary.

According to court testimony, he threatened the woman with a gun and sexually assaulted her in the backyard of the home. The woman was also robbed during the daylight attack.

Police arrested Mr. Lewis hours after the attack when a relative alerted investigators that he matched the description given by the victim.

After his arrest, police entered his DNA into a database, which linked him to an unsolved 2001 sexual assault of a mentally retarded woman. By law, Mr. Lewis must serve at least 30 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

[TexasStooge]

Far North Dallas restaurant fire investigated

DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Authorities are trying to determine the cause of a two-alarm fire that damaged a Mi Cocina restaurant in Far North Dallas early Thursday.

About 4:20 a.m., police officers patrolling the area noticed smoke coming from the restaurant, located in a shopping center at the Dallas North Tollway and Frankford Road. Fifty-six firefighters battled the blaze, Dallas Fire-Rescue Lt. Joel Lavender said.

The fire did not spread to nearby businesses, Lavender said. No injuries were reported, and initial reports indicated moderate damage to the restaurant, primarily from smoke.

A spokesman for MCrowd, the parent company of Mi Cocina, said company officials were not yet able to publicly comment on the fire.

Holly Yan of The Dallas Morning News and Alan Melson of DallasNews.com contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Fort Worth heart hospital saving lives

By JANET ST. JAMES / WFAA ABC 8

FORT WORTH, Texas - Walter Black is the perfect example of why Fort Worth now has a specialty hospital, just for hearts.

"I'm 87 years old July 14th, and I've had heart problems now for 32 or 33 years," he says.

An aging and growing population in Tarrant County has created a tremendous demand for cardiac care.

"Things that we couldn't do two, three decades ago to patients who were in their 70s even, now are available to people in their upper 80s or even in their early 90s and are effective," said Dr. Robert Meidell.

The Harris Methodist Heart Center has been equipped with state of the art surgical suites, the latest tiny innovations, including automatic sink timers to make sure doctors wash long enough before surgery.

And a hundred patient rooms, all within sight and sound of the nurses station.

"We can walk out of the room, a little more comfortably, and I think they can see us and I think that will make them feel more comfortable," said Mary Jo Brock, nursing director.

Experts say heart disease is becoming far more common and more survivable with proper care.

But after this latest health scare, Walter Black hopes he never needs to try out the new heart hospital.

[TexasStooge]

Shot police officer 'thought of wife'

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - A Dallas police officer shot in the line of duty has told WFAA all he could think of at the time was his wife.

"I kept thinking she is going to be really mad at me if she finds out about this. I was more worried about my wife being mad at me than my injuries," Officer Mark Rickerman said.

Officer Rickerman was shot three times last Sunday while working an undercover sting operation.

He continues to recover at Methodist Medical Center, Dallas.

"It was apparent I was being robbed. He made it clear I was being robbed."

Officer Rickerman says the gunman found his badge and as soon as the suspect realized he was robbing a cop, he started shooting.

"Right as I drew my gun. He shot me in the right arm and that's what broke my right arm."

He says it all happened quickly.

"As I turned away he shot me on the side and the one on the side exited the small of my back."

He was also shot in the foot - doctors had to remove the bones in his big toe and may still have to amputate it.

The four-year veteran says he is overwhelmed by the support he's received from his DPD family, and he's was touched by a call he got from the widow of officer Brian Jackson - the officer killed last month.

"That she would take the time out of everything else going on to call me just to see if I was OK, that just blew me away."

[TexasStooge]

Woes of a missing high school diploma

By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - If you needed to prove you finished high school, could you find your diploma?

Most who can't, can count on their local school administration for documentation.

But what if they can't find it either?

As a remodeling contractor, Bobby Hodge never needed to prove that in 1972, he graduated from Dallas Vocational School. Now, he can't find his papers, and neither can DISD.

"I know I went to school there, I know I graduated," he says.

Needing proof to get a job in the sheriff's office, Hodge's hunt for help began at school headquarters.

They found Hodge's history on microfilm, but it ends at 8th grade.

"These are records of my elementary school records. It goes to 1970, and that's where it stops," he says.

District officials say the vocational schools usually kept records on their own campuses, so Hodge came down Ross Avenue looking for Dallas Vocational and found it has long gone.

Dallas Vocational was part of Crozier Tech; it's now a boarded up hulk.

The only evidence we could find to back up Hodge was childhood buddy Casey Champion.

"I remember all 'em graduating, had a big party over at his sister's house, we went over there and got in a fight," he says.

An interesting story, but no substitute for a diploma.

A frustrated Hodge says he won't give up. Monday he'll start working on his GED.

[TexasStooge]

Chief's goal for crime drop in sight

But city likely to fall short of police chief's goal for overall crime

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - If the pace holds steady, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle could preside over a 20 percent reduction in homicides by year's end – a goal that few believed he could achieve when he publicly announced it in January.

As of Friday, preliminary crime figures showed that homicides are down about 17 percent compared with 2004.

"It will require a very good end of the year, but it's an achievable goal," Chief Kunkle said Friday after reporting the figures to Mayor Laura Miller during one of their City Hall crime meetings.

The chief is likely to fall short of his overall crime-reduction goal, which was 10 percent for the year. Through Thursday, overall violent and property crime is down about 5 percent, according to preliminary figures.

"When he announced last year that he wanted to get murder down 20 percent, I was pretty shocked that he'd be that bold," Ms. Miller said Friday. "While we didn't make our goal in overall crime, I think we've pretty much made our goal in murders, which is very impressive."

This year, Chief Kunkle launched a number of programs to beat back crime. They include Operation Kitchen Sink, aimed at rampant drug dealing in apartment complexes in far northeast Dallas, and Operation Disruption, a roving band of officers that descends on blighted neighborhoods to make arrests and disrupt criminal activity.

There have been 195 killings through Thursday, according to preliminary statistics. That includes at least three killings that may be ruled justified by grand jurors. If that's the case, they come off the homicide tally.

Last year, Dallas logged 244 murders.

Friday's daily crime numbers are less reliable than the official statistics tallied and released at the end of each month. The November figures show homicides are down about 12 percent and overall crime is down 5 percent.

The chief said Friday that even he had doubts this year that he could meet his goal. In March, April and May, homicides soared more than 20 percent. By the end of July, however, slayings were flat. Homicides have declined each month since then.

"Frankly, I didn't know how much we could do," the chief said Friday. "I set that goal to challenge the officers and the community. We started the year really badly. [However], we had probably the lowest summer we've ever had."

Ms. Miller said she is pleased with Chief Kunkle's performance so far.

"I can't really fault the chief [if the overall crime goal isn't met] because he tried so hard," she said. "He sits up every night and stares at the ceiling in his bedroom trying to think of new ways to fight crime with the limited resources that he has."

She said the lower crime is a product of a better-run police department.

"We've seen a lot of progress," she said. "The morale in the department is good. It's a very professional group now running that department. I just don't have any complaints."

To continue the good work, she said, the City Council should reward the chief with more resources. She said that funding an additional 100 officers over the past two years is a good start, but it's not enough.

"I think that the City Council is very aware that our No. 1 public safety goal is to have a lot more officers," she said.

"That takes more money. We need to see an uptick in sales tax revenue, in property tax revenue. The building boom that we have going on in downtown and with the Trinity River, that's going to help in that regard."

Department officials said that the Hurricane Katrina evacuees, who began streaming into Dallas this summer from New Orleans, did not have any significant impact on local crime statistics.

But no one can be sure. Lt. Rick Watson, a department spokesman, said that when evacuees were housed at the city's convention center and Reunion Arena, the department flagged offenses they committed. But such crimes are no longer tracked.

"While they were at the convention center and at Reunion, we had a handful of offenses," Lt. Watson said. "To say that overall crime was impacted, I don't think that can be a true statement."

[TexasStooge]

Houston's Bell jumps into governor's race

Bell wants to broaden business tax to raise more school funds

By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN, Texas – Former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell of Houston became the first Democrat to throw his hat in the ring for governor Friday, pledging to broaden the state's business tax to raise "several billion" new dollars for public schools.

Mr. Bell said Gov. Rick Perry or any other Republican nominated for governor would accuse him of planning to raise taxes – accurately or not – so he thought he would beat them to the punch and tell Texans plainly that their schools need more money.

"Rick Perry has basically tried to tell people that state government can meet all their needs and do everything that they want state government to do, and they don't have to pay a penny more," Mr. Bell said after filing his candidacy papers at state Democratic Party headquarters. "People are waking up to the fact that that is completely false."

Perry campaign spokesman Robert Black said the governor believes the state "should perform its limited role very efficiently. If Chris Bell wants to run on a platform of raising taxes, that's his prerogative."

Mr. Bell, 46, who grew up in Highland Park, is a former Houston radio reporter who went into politics there, serving five years on the City Council and one term in the U.S. House.

At least two other Democrats may jump into the party's March 7 gubernatorial primary. Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Bob Gammage of Llano said Friday he's "probably" going to jump into the race. "I've just got a few more traps to run" before deciding on the race. Also, Fort Worth educator Felix Alvarado has said he plans to file.

Mr. Bell said his big issue would be education. As governor, he pledged, he would work with Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, to fashion a replacement for the state's main business tax, the franchise tax. Currently, professional and investment partnerships are exempt, and many corporations have restructured to avoid paying the tax.

"A lot of the business leaders that I've talked to know that we've reached a point that we're going to have to be willing to spend more to improve public school education," Mr. Bell said. "They're willing to do that if that's where the money's going to go – and certainly that is going to be where it's going to go."

Mr. Bell said he opposes state-paid vouchers to help parents enroll their children in private schools, and he questions whether Texas gives too much weight to standardized tests in evaluating public schools.

He called for smaller classes and increased pay for teachers, and he promised to offer details on how to pay for improvements.

[TexasStooge]

Heroin use on upswing in Collin County

By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8

PLANO, Texas - A Collin County grand jury has indicted a 25-year-old Carrollton man for manslaughter. Jesse Austin is accused of injecting a Frisco teenager with a fatal dose of heroin.

Michael Auten's death is Frisco's first heroin overdose fatality, and the latest in a disturbing trend that drug counselors say proves that heroin is making a comeback.

Jan Killian still watches the video reminiscing about her son's life. It's the same video shown at his funeral. "You wouldn't wish something like this on your worst enemy," she said.

Michael Auten, 19, died of a heroin overdose in April. "We found out that he was actually injected by another person, Jesse Austin," said Frisco police Sgt. Gina McFarlin. "He injected a lethal dose of heroin into this young man's arm, and it caused the death."

Austin shared his story with News 8 from the Collin County Jail. "I really wish this didn't happen... I mean, really," he said.

Austin claims that on April 24, he and Auten were taking the prescription sedative Xanax all day long at a Frisco apartment. Austin said he did not inject Autin with heroin.

"I didn't know he had dope. I had no clue," Austin said. "I had no idea that he was in the restroom, even shooting dope."

That account was disputed by Auten's mother, Jan Killian. "Michael had no fine motor skills, so he couldn't have done that to himself," she said, adding that her son was a good kid who was unhappy and struggling with his addiction.

Killian praised the Collin County grand jury that indicted Austin for manslaughter for allegedly injecting her son with heroin. "Jesse is no longer on the streets, so that Collin County and Frisco are a safer place for the young folks and children now," she said.

Austin told News 8 has a long history with illegal drugs, including a 10 year addiction to heroin.

The accused man admitted to News 8 that he has injected others with heroin, but declined to offer any details. "I'm not running around trying to inject people with heroin," he said. "I mean, that's how they got high."

Auten's mother said she wants parents to realize that what happened to her son can rip apart any family. She wants his overdose death to help prevent others from experiencing the same agonizing pain and loss.

"Healing comes," Killian said, "but it's a long road."

[TexasStooge]

Paint store burns in Lewisville

LEWISVILLE, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A three-alarm fire at a paint store in Lewisville was under investigation Saturday morning.

The blaze broke out around 1:30 a.m. at the Valley Square Shopping Center in the 700 block of West Main Street.

Lewisville firefighters—with the help of colleagues from Coppell, Grapevine and Flower Mound—took about 30 minutes to bring the flames under control.

The fire originated at the Sherwin-Williams paint store in the shopping center. Some other adjacent businesses suffered smoke damage.

No one was hurt.

[TexasStooge]

Pol seeks change to stadium choice

After HP fans left out of tiny title-game venue, Branch plans hearings

By KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN, Texas – Just when fans thought the dustup over today's Highland Park-Marshall state high school football championship couldn't get any messier: Here come the politicians.

After being slammed with phone calls and e-mails from brokenhearted Highland Park fans, state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, said Friday that he would hold public hearings on the "broken system" that allowed the Marshall coach to pick a tiny stadium that holds a fraction of the fans who would pay to see the game.

It's especially trouble, he said, "in a state that's famous for its 'Friday Night Lights' " and struggling to find money for its public schools.

"It's outrageous that a state final game is being played in a stadium so small that it denies access to thousands of fans, families and friends," said Mr. Branch, who leads a House subcommittee charged with finding revenue sources for schools and whose district includes Highland Park High School.

His counterpart in Marshall, GOP Rep. Bryan Hughes, doesn't agree, saying the system is fair because it doesn't force rural schools to travel for every championship. Mr. Hughes, incidentally, has a ticket to today's game. Mr. Branch won't attend.

Highland Park hasn't won a championship in 48 years, and the school wanted to play at Texas Stadium but lost a coin toss to Marshall, which chose Rose Stadium in Tyler, closer to home. It accommodates 14,000 fans at most.

Each school sold all of its 5,500 tickets in a couple of days – leaving an estimated 20,000 or more fans without tickets.

Some wound up paying scalpers hundreds of dollars. Others paid Marshall residents to buy up some of that town's allotment – prompting a Marshall newspaper columnist to declare that a Scots fan would have to "pry my cold, dead fingers from the stub" before he would let it go to someone other than a "red-blooded Marshall Maverick."

Dallas resident Greg McCoy, a Scots football player in the 1970s, sent a friend to stand in line at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, and still didn't get a ticket because the booster club had sold them all the night before. He'll have to settle for a watch party at his house.

"I was denied," he said with a chuckle. "What I would do is designate a stadium in August and let the teams shoot for a trip to that city. You're losing a lot of revenue the way they're doing it now."

Mr. Branch said he would make a recommendation for changes to the full House education committee next summer. One idea, he said, is for the University Interscholastic League to limit coaches' choices to major stadiums – such as the Astrodome, Texas Stadium or the Alamodome.

UIL officials won't comment on pending legislation, but they noted that schools had resisted changes in the past.

Mr. Branch said the time has come for changes.

"This is a big deal," he said. "My phone has been ringing off the wall. This makes school finance look like a minor issue."

[TexasStooge]

Hit-and-run driver kills Good Samaritan

BURLESON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Police were looking for the hit-and-run-driver who killed a pedestrian on Interstate 30 in Fort Worth early Saturday.

Investigators said it appeared the victim—identified as 20-year-old Donald Bell of Burleson—was a Good Samaritan who stopped to check on another accident in the same area near Bridgewood Drive around 4 a.m.

That crash involved an overturned car, but the two occupants of that vehicle apparently fled after the wreck.

[TexasStooge]

BREAKING NEWS

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/Traffic Pulse Networks) - Dallas firefighters are on the scene of a tanker fire near Preston Road and the President George Bush Turnpike. Some nearby homes and businesses are being evacuated.

Live Traffic Reports from Traffic Pulse

[TexasStooge]

Bush Turnpike reopens after fire

By JAY PARSONS / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - A portion of the President George Bush Turnpike in North Dallas was shut down in both directions Saturday, and nearby homes and businesses were evacuated, after a tanker truck carrying between 7,500 and 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel caught fire.

The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. when the driver of the truck, 44-year-old Lincoln Porter of Dallas, noticed that one his back tires had blown out and was on fire. Mr. Porter told authorities he pulled the truck over to the shoulder of the highway and got out and then the entire truck erupted in flames. Mr. Porter, who was driving for Dupre Transport of Dallas, was not hurt.

Dallas Fire and Rescue officials extinguished the blaze about 11 a.m., but traffic on the highway remained closed in both the east and west directions. Fire officials said it may be days before some parts of the road are re-opened.

"The road was exposed to an enormous amount of heat," said Dallas Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Annette Ponce. "It got brittle and some pieces broke. You can't let anyone drive on it or it will continue to break."

Live Traffic Reports from Traffic Pulse

[TexasStooge]

Planners advised to OK homes near lake

Dallas, Coppell, Irving try to settle differences on controversial project

By ERIC AASEN and EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING, Texas - Dallas planning staffers recommended Friday that the Dallas Plan Commission endorse a controversial residential development near North Lake.

The recommendation follows discussions held the same day among Dallas, Irving and Coppell officials about Billingsley Co.'s Cypress Waters project, which officials in the suburbs fear will crowd schools and congest streets.

Another meeting is scheduled Tuesday among officials from the three cities, some of whom hope to hammer out a compromise over the northwest Dallas development. The Dallas Plan Commission plans to take up Billingsley's zoning request Thursday.

Dallas Mayor Laura Miller met Friday with Coppell Mayor Doug Stover and Irving Mayor Herbert Gears. Separately, Coppell city and school officials huddled with Dallas and Irving officials. Developer Lucy Billingsley also talked with Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm.

City officials from all three cities found Friday's talks encouraging.

"We concluded we'd like to resolve this and not go to court," Ms. Miller said.

Said Mr. Gears: "We made a lot of progress in just laying out and detailing our positions."

Mr. Stover hopes Tuesday's discussion allows officials to "talk honestly and openly without the legal cloud above all of us."

The meeting is scheduled to include the three cities' mayors and city managers. Ms. Billingsley and the Coppell school superintendent are expected to be invited, Mr. Stover said.

While city officials hope to reach a compromise, how that would happen is unclear.

Coppell and Irving would like Billingsley to at least downsize Cypress Waters, a 355-acre site that's connected to the rest of Dallas by a narrow strip of land. It's bordered by Coppell and Irving, and most of the land is in the Coppell Independent School District. Coppell and Irving officials both say they'll withhold basic services – like water and police protection – from the development unless a compromise is reached.

Dallas officials, however, support Cypress Waters because it will boost their city's tax base.

Billingsley has amended its zoning request to allow it to double the project's density. The city has given Billingsley the go-ahead to request denser zoning so that Dallas can generate enough tax revenue to provide the area with services on its own.

"It could be anticipated," a Dallas planning staff report stated, "that a higher intensity and density of development than previously contemplated by the applicant is necessary in order to support the cost of infrastructure and service delivery."

[TexasStooge]

University of Dallas marks 50th year, city ties

'The Salute to Irving' is highlighted by major donation from couple

By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING, Texas - Decked out in holiday lights, the University of Dallas threw a party Thursday night. But the liberal arts college celebrated more than the season.

The shining star of the festivities was the university's home, Irving.

Fifty years ago, nuns from the Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur helped the university open its doors among the rolling hills on the eastern edge of the city.

Ever since, the Catholic institution has enriched Irving in large and small ways.

In return, many residents have pitched in to help the university.

"We have had such support from the community over the years," associate provost and university historian Sybil Novinski said. She organized "The Salute to Irving" with the help of a 19-member committee to show the university's appreciation of its many friends throughout the city.

The highlight of the evening was the announcement by Robert Galecke, senior vice president for finance and administration, of a gift from a beloved Irving family. The late Catherine and Charles Schulze, relatives of Irving's founders, have left the bulk of their estate to the university. An exact figure is still being determined, but the estate is expected to top $1 million in value.

The donation will be used to establish the Schulze Scholars endowment to benefit graduates of Irving public and private high schools.

"The university decided their gift should also serve as a gift to the city they loved," Mr. Galecke said.

Honorary chairs of the event were Dr. Cherie Clodfelter, professor of education, and Mary Louise Wadsworth, an alumna and former Irving school district teacher.

Among those on the planning committee for the event was Carol Little, an alumna of the university's highly ranked Graduate School of Management and now its special events coordinator.

Committee member Joy Ellis, along with her husband, Ralph, attends Mass at the university's intimate chapel.

"I went to a small Catholic college in Oklahoma, and the University of Dallas has always reminded me of my college," said Mrs. Ellis. Another alumnus, John McCaa of WFAA ABC 8, was the master of ceremonies.

Mr. McCaa earned a master's degree in politics from the university in 2002.

"It is an exceptional school because the texts we read, such as Machiavelli, Montesquieu and Plato, are timeless," he said.

Frank Lazarus, university president, presented 50th anniversary medallions to three Irving residents – former mayors Dan Matkin and Marvin Randle and current Mayor Herbert Gears.

The medallions were designed by Lyle Novinski of the art department, Mrs. Novinski's husband.

Mrs. Novinski said more anniversary celebrations will continue next year, starting with a program by Dr. Jonathan Miller in January and continuing through September with "The Golden Gala."

"The gala, which will be almost 50 years from the date the university opened in 1956, will benefit the scholarship endowments and celebrate the courage and vision of those who started and sustain the university," she said.

[TexasStooge]

Two dead in Fort Worth stabbing rampage

FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Two people—including a one-year-old child—were stabbed to death Saturday evening during a rampage inside a Fort Worth home.

Police said a total of three people were cut during the attack in the 4100 block of South Edgewood Terrace. The child and a 50-year-old woman died later at a local hospital; the dead woman's sister—who was also stabbed—survived and called police around 6:30 p.m.

She was expected to survive.

Police arrested a 21-year old man in the attack who was walking down the street near the scene of the attack. He was believed to be the son of the woman who was killed.

The names of the victims and the suspect were not released.

[TexasStooge]

Tanker fire damages Turnpike

By JAY PARSONS / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Concrete chips jumped off the surface like popcorn Saturday morning as 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel scorched the Bush Turnpike, badly damaging eastbound lanes and turning the Far North Dallas sky black with smoke.

Turnpike officials say the damage – caused by a tanker truck that caught fire shortly after 9 a.m. – is so extensive that motorists can expect delays for several days as crews try to repair a 75-foot stretch of two lanes that now resembles a gravel road.

"There is significant damage to the highway," said J.C. Wood, maintenance director of the North Texas Tollway Authority. "It's the first time we've ever had this kind of damage from a tanker truck."

The fire was contained to the tanker, but the highway was closed in both directions for at least two hours and authorities evacuated homes and businesses within 1,000 feet as a precaution. No one was injured.

Crews patched up the roadway damage with temporary asphalt in the three left eastbound lanes, but the right lane and shoulder will be closed at least until Wednesday, said North Texas Tollway Authority spokeswoman Donna Huerta.

One lane doesn't sound bad, but commuters should expect problems. That section of the highway, between Preston and Coit roads, is the busiest on the turnpike, with 350,000 vehicles every weekday, Ms. Huerta said.

"It's really bad and it will cause delays," Ms. Huerta said. "We're going to have to do concrete replacement. It will be an inconvenience for a while."

The blaze rushed a large black cloud into the sky, visible 20 miles away in downtown Dallas.

The truck driver, 44-year-old Lincoln Porter of Dallas, told investigators he was driving eastbound when he heard a back tire blow. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw the tire in flames.

Mr. Porter pulled the truck onto the right shoulder and jumped out of the cab just before the fire engulfed the entire truck, he told investigators. No other vehicles were involved.

"It doesn't look like something the driver did to cause this accident," said Sgt. Robert Bernard, with the Texas Highway Patrol, a division of the Department of Public Safety. "It looks like a mechanical problem."

Mr. Porter was driving for Dupre' Transport of Lafayette, La., Sgt. Bernard said.

Firefighters let all 9,000 gallons burn off before pouring foam onto the blaze at 11 a.m. That allowed firefighters to prevent oil from flowing into storm drains and residential streets only about 30 feet away.

But some fuel found its way through, sparking fires on both sides of a 12-foot wall separating the turnpike from a residential area.

Chris Gamell was driving his 10-year-old son Trevor home from a youth basketball game when he saw flames over the wall. Assuming it was a car fire, they parked and walked toward the wall.

"Within seconds it was like lighting a gas grill, 'Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!'" said Mr. Gamell, a software salesman. "It pushed me back and my face broke out in sweat. My kid grabbed me and said, 'Dad, let's get out of here!' "

Firefighters and police officers evacuated the Gamells' neighborhood at 9:30 a.m.

"Everyone started running," Mr. Gamell said. "The heat was so hot.

"Even the police got scared. They said, 'Get out of here! Get out of here now or I'll write you a ticket!' "

The fuel and fire did not spread to any buildings. Mr. Gamell and other residents began returning around noon. By then, all that remained of the truck was a short skeleton, with two tires lying in strands in the two middle lanes. Turnpike traffic had been emptied and redirected to bordering exits by the time the fire was put out.

But it returned a little too soon.

At 11:30, a police officer abandoned his post early and allowed traffic to go through in the westbound lanes, where several fire trucks were parked. That enraged highway patrol officers, who ran across the highway to stop traffic. Beth Sunshine of Plano was the first one stopped in her Volvo sport utility vehicle.

"I was following my husband and kids, and then this state trooper came running over and flagged me down," Mrs. Sunshine said. "And I said, 'But that's my husband and kids!' "

Mrs. Sunshine and at least 100 other vehicles were forced to wait a half-hour. The westbound lanes fully reopened at 12:30 p.m. The left three eastbound lanes opened about four hours later, after crews patched a pothole and cordoned the right lane and shoulder. But officials say they must exercise caution before allowing the highway to completely reopen.

"The road was exposed to an enormous amount of heat," said Dallas Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Annette Ponce. "It got brittle and some pieces broke. You can't let anyone drive on it or it will continue to break."