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#3621 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:06 pm

Friends sing praises of teacher

Irving: College employee fulfills dream of recording her own CD

By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING, Texas - Sherry Boyd's love of life shines through in all she does. She makes a difference in the classroom and hopes to have a similar impact in the music world.

The North Lake College humanities teacher just released her first CD, Rejoicing His Birth.

After more than a year of badgering by her close friend Andrea Kieta-Cook, Mrs. Boyd finally gave in. As executive producer, Ms. Kieta-Cook did everything for the CD except sing.

The two met at Texas Woman's University in Denton, where Mrs. Boyd studied music and Ms. Kieta-Cook studied dance. Their paths crossed again when Ms. Kieta-Cook moved back to the area after spending 10 years in South Texas.

"She is the most open and giving person I know," Ms. Kieta-Cook said. She wanted to give back to Mrs. Boyd, so she found time between her job as an optician and role as a single mother to help her friend fulfill a dream.

Mrs. Boyd dedicates her CD to her best friend.

"The project would not have happened without her support, love and downright bossiness. I love her and thank God that she is my friend," she wrote on her CD jacket.

Another friend, Cathy Whiteman, said she was thrilled to find out Mrs. Boyd released a CD.

"Someone with a voice like that needs to be heard," said Ms. Whiteman, who hosts the About Towne program on Irving Community Television Network. "She appeared on a recent edition of About Towne and completely blew us away."

Mrs. Boyd is a longtime performer, having sung "God Bless America" at her kindergarten graduation. She became hooked after seeing the group Up with People.

"My piano teacher took me to see them when I was 12," she said. "Five years later they came back, and I interviewed with them."

She received an acceptance letter to Texas Woman's University and the singing group on the same day.

College would have to wait.

At age 17, she traveled throughout Europe with about 170 singers from around the world. She said the experience changed her life. "My view of the world was very limited back in Odessa," she said. "I learned to look outside the box from living overseas."

After the yearlong tour, she married and earned a bachelor's degree in music and a master's degree in theater at Texas Woman's University.

After college, she started her own band named after her daughter, Christal. A couple of years later, she joined the band Custom Made, which opened for performers including Frankie Avalon, the Four Tops, the Beach Boys and the Pointer Sisters.

For a few years, she also dabbled in local theater, appearing in plays such as Into the Woods, Six Women with Brain Death and Nunsense.

Mrs. Boyd gave up performing to become a teacher so she could be around more for her daughter. She taught at Brookhaven College and Hockaday School in Dallas before joining the staff at North Lake College.

Her daughter is now a student at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. She joins her mother on one song on the CD.

"She's an amazing performer and has been singing forever," Christal said of her mom.

Karmen Casey took Mrs. Boyd's humanities class last year and is now her teaching assistant.

"It felt like I was meant to be in her class," Ms. Casey said. "She is the best thing that has ever happened to me."
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#3622 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:42 pm

Pipeline explosion sparks wild fires

By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8

PALO PINTO COUNTY, Texas — Firefighters in Palo Pinto County are working to put out wild fires which continue to burn following a natural gas pipeline explosion early Friday morning.

The Texas Forest Service has sprayed foam on the fires from above, hoping to the protect forests, which are dry from lack of rain.

Palo Pinto County Sheriff Ira Mercer says oil field contractors are preparing to try to plug the burning well with mud.

The pipeline is located near a well on Highway 180 at Highway 16 on the western edge of the county.

There is still no word on what caused the explosion.

Witnesses said they heard a large boom and saw the sky light up around 2 a.m. Closer to the scene, it looked like a volcano was erupting.

"It was a massive explosion, evidently," said Palo Pinto County Sheriff Ira Mercer. "It created a large crater in the ground."

The crater was estimated to be 100 feet wide.

A fire one mile wide burned the area around the eruption. The glow in the sky could be seen more than 50 miles away in Tarrant County, and sheriff's dispatcher Linda Ezell said the flash from the initial explosion was visible for 100 miles.

One field worker suffered flash burns on his face and hands.

"The first priority is to keep our responders safe. We've got a geologist coming... to make sure where we are working is safe," said Tracey Weaver from the Texas Forest Service.

The drilling rig is in a rural portion of Palo Pinto County, about 15 miles from the nearest community. No evacuations were ordered.

Officials were trying to identify the owner of the pipeline that exploded.

Local phone lines have been damaged.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Image
WFAA ABC 8
The blast created a crater.
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#3623 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:33 pm

Gas pocket caused Palo Pinto County fire

By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA ABC 8

PALO PINTO COUNTY, Texas — The massive explosion in Palo Pinto County this morning resulted from a gas pocket igniting, investigators say.

The fire is still burning but firefighters have put out the wild fires which earlier threatened nearby forests.

Oil field contractors are still preparing to try to plug the burning well with mud.

The pipeline is located near a well on Highway 180 at Highway 16 on the western edge of the county.

Witnesses said they heard a large boom and saw the sky light up around 2 a.m. Closer to the scene, it looked like a volcano was erupting.

"It was a massive explosion, evidently," said Palo Pinto County Sheriff Ira Mercer. "It created a large crater in the ground."

The crater was estimated to be 100 feet wide. Rock debris the size of SUVs can be seen nearby.

A fire one mile wide burned the area around the eruption. The glow in the sky could be seen more than 50 miles away in Tarrant County, and sheriff's dispatcher Linda Ezell said the flash from the initial explosion was visible for 100 miles.

One field worker suffered flash burns on his face and hands.

The site of the fire is in a rural portion of Palo Pinto County, about 15 miles from the nearest community. No evacuations were ordered.

Local phone lines have been damaged.

Cynthia Vega contributed to this report.
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#3624 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:34 pm

Denton merchant graduates at age 71

By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8

DENTON, Texas - Virginia NcNeill is not your typical college coed - she's 71 years old.

But back in 1952, that's exactly what she was, when she enrolled at what was then called North Texas State College.

"I ran out of money," she says.

Virginia McNeill went to work. She got married and had children. She and her husband bought a downtown Denton appliance store 43 years ago.

While finishing college was always her goal, she never got the chance to go back.

"I decided in 2002 that as fast as my life was passing, I could accomplish something that I really wanted to do."

So Virginia went back to school, the same school she attended 53 years ago, and the same training school she went to for kindergarten, when it was a teachers' college before that.

"This is an academic portfolio that I made my first semester in college."

The Denton merchant-turned-student will walk across the stage and accept her bachelor's of applied arts and sciences degree and she's graduating near the top of her class, magna cum laude.

"There aren't too many thrills left for people my age. But this is one of them," she adds.

Virginia McNeill says once she decided to go back to college, she made a vow to never quit until she graduates. Saturday, her dream will come true.

"I didn't think it would be that long but I did think it would be down the road."
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#3625 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:35 pm

150 FW homes enter sixth day without heat

By KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8

FORT WORTH, Texas - Some 150 Fort Worth families are without heat for the sixth night in a row, after their gas service was interrupted by a water leak.

In the Fort Worth neighborhood of Ryan Place, about 40 homes remain very chilly. They have no gas heat and no hot water.

Atmos Energy is providing space heaters and hotel rooms, although many families are choosing to tough it out or stay with relatives.

Betty Naughton is watching her son's house. He's working and she's overseeing tedious work in the backyard. Plumbers dug up the old gas line after they discovered leaks.

They replaced about 150 feet of gas line. It's the same story at every home - a custom job to bring old gas lines up to code - to ensure future safety. It requires a city inspection and then, gas service can be restored.

Atmos Energy and the city insist no one's to blame for the gas service shutdown Sunday to 150 homes. A water main break caused water to seep into gas lines. That was vacuumed out but many of these old homes had problems.

"And those problems may have been there, just no one knew about them until now," said Rand LaVonn of Atmos Energy.

As for the temperature, most of the homes are in the 50s.

"We're going above and beyond the call by providing heaters and providing hotel rooms so people can stay warm," added LaVonn.
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#3626 Postby rainstorm » Fri Dec 16, 2005 10:27 pm

TexasStooge wrote:Denton merchant graduates at age 71

By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8

DENTON, Texas - Virginia NcNeill is not your typical college coed - she's 71 years old.

But back in 1952, that's exactly what she was, when she enrolled at what was then called North Texas State College.

"I ran out of money," she says.

Virginia McNeill went to work. She got married and had children. She and her husband bought a downtown Denton appliance store 43 years ago.

While finishing college was always her goal, she never got the chance to go back.

"I decided in 2002 that as fast as my life was passing, I could accomplish something that I really wanted to do."

So Virginia went back to school, the same school she attended 53 years ago, and the same training school she went to for kindergarten, when it was a teachers' college before that.

"This is an academic portfolio that I made my first semester in college."

The Denton merchant-turned-student will walk across the stage and accept her bachelor's of applied arts and sciences degree and she's graduating near the top of her class, magna cum laude.

"There aren't too many thrills left for people my age. But this is one of them," she adds.

Virginia McNeill says once she decided to go back to college, she made a vow to never quit until she graduates. Saturday, her dream will come true.

"I didn't think it would be that long but I did think it would be down the road."



very nice
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#3627 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 16, 2005 11:20 pm

Corpus: no wires, plenty of Net

By April, city could be largest in U.S. with WiFi access

By SCOTT WILLIAMS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The project began as a way to save money by reading utility meters remotely. But it's grown into a proposed 147-square-mile wireless "cloud" that promises to make this South Texas city the largest in the nation with high-speed wireless Internet access.

The network, which could be finished as early as April, uses radio antennas mounted to traffic lights and lampposts throughout the city. Eventually, anyone with a wireless-ready computer would be able to use the signal by signing up with a private provider.

Wireless fidelity, or WiFi, is a method of transmitting data through high-frequency radio signals. It is widely used in airports, hotels and coffee-shops as a way to access the Internet without having to "plug in."

Corpus Christi hit upon the idea two years ago while investigating ways to read utility meters remotely rather than sending employees out to face vicious dogs, wary homeowners and other hazards.

"As we looked at this as a solution, we realized how good it was in terms of its ability to assist us in providing municipal services more efficiently," said George "Skip" Noe, Corpus Christi's city manager. "It operates, and it operates flawlessly."

With 70 percent of city employees working in the field, he said, enabling them to send and receive data from anywhere in the city would definitely reduce travel time – saving both time and money.

Eventually, WiFi could be used to track city vehicles, allow police cars to send and receive streaming video and enable ambulance crews to send video to emergency room physicians, Mr. Noe said.

And it didn't take long for city officials to realize the technology had applications beyond improving municipal government, Mr. Noe said. WiFi appeals to individuals who want to access the Internet using laptops, PDAs or other WiFi-enabled devices and to businesses that – like the city – want to transmit data to and from the field.

Many talking, few doing

In Hermiston, Ore., wireless entrepreneur Fred Ziari paid $5 million of his own money to set up a wireless cloud that is now billed as the world's largest, stretching over 700 miles. Mr. Ziari hopes to recoup his investment through contracts with more than 30 city and county agencies.

And around the world, many other cities, including Philadelphia, San Francisco and Houston, are discussing ways to employ citywide WiFi networks. In August, Addison and RedMoon Inc. formally launched a citywide wireless network, offering residents, workers and visitors an easy way to get onto the Internet anywhere inside the city. Also in August, the Southlake City Council approved a contract to bring wireless Internet networks to key public facilities.

But "there's a big difference between talking about it and doing it," said Costis Toregas, a consultant who is helping Corpus Christi set up and use its WiFi network. "There is no city the size of Corpus Christi, both geographically and population-wise, that has a network like [this]."

'Digital Community'

The City Council recently voted to spend $6 million to expand the city's WiFi network from its original 18.5-square-mile area to the 147 square miles needed to cover the entire city. The network, which could be completed as early as next April, consists of numerous radio antennas mounted on traffic lights and lampposts that communicate with one another and the city's existing fiber-optic lines.

Although many residents still don't understand WiFi and its implications, the high-tech industry does and has taken notice of Corpus Christi.

Earlier this year, high-tech giant Intel Corp. dubbed Corpus Christi a "Digital Community" along with 12 other cities worldwide. The city that some describe as being "halfway between Houston and nowhere" suddenly found itself on a list with Philadelphia, Monaco, Jerusalem and Taipei. Intel officials said the company compiled the list to recognize cities for efforts to help wireless computing technology become safer, more efficient and more attractive to businesses.

Mr. Toregas said he recently attended a U.N. conference in Bilbao, Spain, on what role public officials should play in promoting citywide wireless networks. He and council member Melody Cooper, who also attended the conference, received a lot of attention from people interested in what Corpus Christi is doing, he said.

"Everyone was talking Corpus Christi," he said. "No one was talking Dallas or Houston. Corpus Christi showed foresight two years ago in investing in this new technology and setting up this wireless cloud."

Capitalizing on network

Ms. Cooper said the city will recoup the $6 million it's spending on the WiFi network by making city workers more efficient and programs more cost-effective. The city will recoup its investment "not only in savings but in partnerships with technological firms who want to help capitalize on Corpus Christi having a network here that they can use to test their products," she said.

A company building a device that relies on WiFi would view Corpus Christi as an ideal place to test its product, Mr. Toregas said. That could lead to new businesses either springing up in Corpus Christi or moving to the city. The city is putting together a prospectus calling for businesses that want to use the city's WiFi network.

The city plans to partner with a private business to provide Internet access to customers wanting use the WiFi network, Mr. Noe said. That partnership and others, he said, would generate revenues. But he declined to say how much.

Roland Mower, president and CEO of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp., said the city's plans are helping upgrade its image.

"I don't think people in the past have perceived Corpus Christi as a technology mecca," he said, "but this certainly allows us to move in that direction. It's a great honor for the city of Corpus Christi to be engaged in a partnership with a company the magnitude of Intel."

Intel and other high-tech companies such as IBM, Northrop-Grumman and Dell Computer Corp. have donated equipment and services to the city to help get its network up and running. Mr. Noe said these companies hope to use their experience in Corpus Christi as proof that their product or service works.

The key for Corpus Christi now, Mr. Toregas said, is to maintain the lead it has over other cities.

"If the city continues the process of innovation, they will constantly be about a year ahead of everybody else," he said. "If the city decides to rest on its laurels, in a year's time they will be overtaken [by other cities] and forgotten once again."
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#3628 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 16, 2005 11:22 pm

Cheaters producer disputes assault charges

'Cheaters' creator says indicted workers were just doing their jobs

By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH, Texas – The creator of the syndicated television show Cheaters is standing by four workers indicted on charges they assaulted a woman outside a fitness club.

A Tarrant County grand jury on Thursday issued indictments of the reality show's workers on misdemeanor charges stemming from footage that involved a Fort Worth police captain.

Cheaters uses surveillance cameras to catch philandering partners.

Joey Greco, the show's host, was indicted on a charge of assault with bodily injury and hindering apprehension.

One of the show's directors, Hunter Minor Carson, 29, was indicted on a charge of hindering apprehension.

Security guards Thomas Daniel Gibbons, 19, and Walter Earl Woods, 36, were indicted on charges of unlawful restraint and assault with bodily injury.

Each charge is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Bobby Goldstein, executive producer of the Dallas-based reality show, called the indictments "toilet paper" and a waste of taxpayer money.

He is putting together a team of lawyers to defend his workers, he said.

"These poor fellows have done nothing wrong," Mr. Goldstein said. "My four guys are going to be acquitted. Absolutely."

The workers were taping Maria Gutierrez last May at the Arlington fitness club where she works, officials said.

Ms. Gutierrez had been taped weeks earlier in an unmarked police car with police Capt. Duane Paul. Capt. Paul was demoted to lieutenant in September following an internal police investigation over the officer's public encounters with Ms. Gutierrez.

Mr. Goldstein said the tapes show that no assault occurred.

"It's a terrible thing to be doing a job and charged for it," Mr. Goldstein said. "They don't deserve it. They have the backing of me and this company and all of my resources. I will see that they will not have a glove laid on them."
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#3629 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Dec 16, 2005 11:23 pm

Texas continues job growth

Workforce gains are good sign for economy, expert says

By ANGELA SHAH / The Dallas Morning News

Texas employers continued their steady – if not spectacular – hiring campaign in November, adding 17,300 jobs, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday.

That's the third-biggest gain this year.

"This is all good news," said Lyssa Jenkens, chief economist at the Greater Dallas Chamber. "We're certainly continuing to expand."

All sectors of the state's economy – except manufacturing, which dropped 1,400 jobs – added to payrolls. Most notably, firms in professional and business services added 5,900 jobs last month.

That's proof of a vital economy, Ms. Jenkens said.

"That's where the high-wage jobs are: engineering, accounting, law," she said. "That's important for us."

In the last year, Texas companies have made 136,400 new hires, for an annual growth rate of 1.4 percent. Despite the job gains, the state unemployment rate remained steady at 5.3 percent.

The leisure and hospitality sector added 3,900 positions, while trade, transportation and utilities firms boosted payrolls by 2,100. Construction employment continues to be robust, adding 1,200 jobs in November, for an annual growth rate of 3 percent.

In the Dallas metro area, companies added 7,000 jobs last month, about the same number as in October, bringing annual employment growth to 22,900. The Dallas unemployment rate for November is 5.1 percent, slightly higher than the rate a month before of 4.9 percent.

Even Southeast Texas – which had seen much damage and dislocation from Hurricane Rita in September – showed labor market strength. The unemployment rate for the Beaumont-Port Arthur area dropped to 8.6 percent last month, after shooting up to 11.6 percent in October.
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#3630 Postby TexasStooge » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:41 am

Motorist killed during police pursuit

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

MESQUITE, Texas — An innocent bystander was killed Friday night as Dallas police were chasing a narcotics suspect.

It started when undercover officers tried to serve a warrant on a suspected drug dealer in Southeast Dallas.

The suspect fled—the start of a high-speed pursuit into Mesquite city limits.

The suspect's vehicle struck another car in the 2100 block of Big Town Boulevard; its occupant was gravely injured and died on the way to the hospital.

The suspect was not hurt and was taken into custody.

The names of the victim and the suspect were not available.
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#3631 Postby TexasStooge » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:43 am

Woman sought in four bank holdups

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Investigators said at least three Dallas bank robberies are linked to one that happened Friday at a Wells Fargo bank branch inside a Tom Thumb supermarket in Richardson.

Dallas police today released bank surveillance tape showing the prime suspect: a woman in her early 20s, up to 5'-5" tall and about 150 pounds.

The holdup suspect strikes during the day, and wears sunglasses.

Witnesses said the suspect has threatened to pull out a gun, but never actually displayed a weapon.

Police are asking for the public's help in finding the woman. A reward fund leading to an arrest and conviction in the case was up to $17,000 on Friday.
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#3632 Postby TexasStooge » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:44 am

UT players investigated in assault cases

From KVUE ABC 24 in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - Some members of the University of Texas Longhorn football team are under investigation for their possible role in a pair of robberies and assaults in downtown Austin.

Austin police told KVUE-TV one incident happened on Dec. 10; the other occurred Sept. 4.

Investigators said the individuals under investigation may be involved in the UT athletics program. KVUE-TV confirmed that two individuals who are key persons of interest are UT football players.
Police declined to release the names of those involved pending formal charges.

According to the incident report, a weapon was allegedly involved in the September assault and robbery. The complainant in the December incident claimed to have been hit and kicked.

It was not clear whether the allegations came from a single individual or from more than one person.

The Travis County District Attorney's office was monitoring the case, even though it was not yet formally involved.

UT Athletic Department spokesman Nick Voinis said school officials were evaluating the information. "We can't comment at the moment," he said.

Texas is scheduled to play top-ranked Southern California in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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#3633 Postby TexasStooge » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:46 am

6-year-old Hebron has found winning stride

By JAY PARSONS / The Dallas Morning News

CARROLLTON, Texas – One thing to know about Hebron High School as its football team heads into today's Class 4A Division II title game in Round Rock: No one can accuse its football team of having an unfair advantage.

The success of neighboring Southlake Carroll has some area football coaches complaining that school districts with one high school get an unfair boost. Most of the football players grow up together and have the luxury of learning the high school team's playbook in middle school.

You won't find that at Hebron. The school is only six years old and draws its students from five cities – Carrollton, Frisco, Plano, The Colony and stamp-sized Hebron. The school is in Carrollton but is part of the Lewisville school district.

"We're in no-man's land out here," said Amy Nix, a Hebron mom from Carrollton. "No one knows where we are."

"Even bus drivers always get lost coming to the school," added Beth Christensen, another Hebron mom from Carrollton.

Also know that there's no Christmas controversy at Hebron High School. Plano and other school districts have made news for resisting Christmas-specific messages. Hebron embraces them.

"All I Want For Christmas – State Champs 2005" signs cover the school's hallways. It's the school's mantra heading into its first-ever championship game.

"We don't have that problem here," principal Hugh Jones said. "We're right next door to Plano, but we're not politically correct like Plano."

The football team has put tiny Hebron on the map – even if it's not really located in Hebron.

"We're just tickled the kids are doing so well," said Cara Clem, who along with her husband, Mayor Kelly Clem, has a daughter in her sophomore year at the school.

"I think it's kind of an homage to the town even though it's not very large anymore," Mrs. Clem said.

The town has shrunk to about 50 people, Mrs. Clem said. By comparison, 2,200 students attend the high school bearing Hebron's name.

Despite the unusual zoning, lack of a true community and a small alumni pool, the Hebron team has cobbled together a rabid fan base. About 4,000 Hawks fans are expected to make the trip to Round Rock for the 3 p.m. game against Corpus Christi Calallen, Mr. Jones said.

"The community support has been great," Mrs. Nix said. "Even people without kids have been going to the games. The football team has really brought this area together."

Nothing brings together communities like a good football team. Mr. Jones knows that from experience, having been a one-time football coach in Odessa.

"Hebron, it's just like West Texas," Mr. Jones said. "We have apple-pie-and-football people."

The high school sent its football team off Friday morning with a rousing 30-minute pep rally. A dance contest among five coaches highlighted the show, with assistant coaches doing belly dances, somersaults and other awkward gyrations to hip-hop music.

"Let's go down there and show them that Hebron has the best everything," coach Brian Brazil told the crowd in a packed gymnasium. "The best football, the best cheerleading, the best band, the best drill team, the best school in Texas!"

The school's parking lot on Friday reflected the fervor of an established football powerhouse. Parents drove up with black and blue Hawks flags waving from car windows.

And across the student parking lot, many cars were decked out in paint. Earlier in the week, the school's cheerleaders painted windshields for every student who requested a temporary paint job in the name of school spirit.

"Nothing like high school football in Texas," said Kent Christensen, Beth Christensen's husband. "Gotta love it."
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#3634 Postby TexasStooge » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:47 am

Carroll battles expectations, opponents

By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – For seniors like McKay Jacobson, 18, it just wouldn't be Christmastime without a state championship football game.

"I've played as many football games as you can in high school football," said the star receiver who plans to graduate from Carroll Senior High this month and enter Brigham Young University this spring.

For the last four seasons, Carroll fans have been treated to a full 16-game season, something some schools can only hope to achieve. McKay said Southlake's loyal fan base sometimes expects such longevity from its football team. But he said the players don't take anything for granted.

Each year it's becoming more difficult not to expect Carroll in the state's final match-up. The Dragons are playing in a Class 5A state championship game for a record fourth consecutive time on Saturday. They're seeking their third Class 5A Division II state championship since 2002. The team takes on Katy at noon at Texas Stadium.

Carroll has only lost one game in that time – 2003's state championship went to Katy. Carroll regained the state title last year.

Banners outside the team's field house illustrate just how passionate the school feels about preserving what is quickly becoming a legacy. "Man your battle stations," reads one. Another simply says: "Unstoppable."

The outward signs of playoff fever are the same as in their previous playoff years.

Cars and sports utility vehicles cram the parking lot of Carroll as everyone from young families to grandparents wedge into the gym for a thunderous pep rally.

The players – a bloc of blond locks in green and black jerseys – hold court in front of swirling cheerleaders, dancers and teachers performing cheesy skits. They dye their hair in post-season solidarity. Just like last year.

While other area high schools – Trinity in Euless and Highland Park – recently won their first title or their first in decades, Carroll is on a roll. It's a position that the community relishes. But that expectation comes with pressures for the players and staff. Being the best has become yet one more Dragon tradition and a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Carroll coach Todd Dodge works hard to keep things low-key for his players, saying, "You don't want to go changing things. You don't want to get uptight in the face of a big game."

He said he wants his players "wired but loose."

But coach Dodge knows the spotlight is on his team, and he is keenly aware of the pressure that the players put on themselves.

"These guys have never known anything but this," he said. "It's on our watch to keep that level of excellence up."

Bob Beauvais hasn't missed a Carroll game since 1998. He takes photographs at football games and sells Dragon gear out of his Carroll Avenue photography store.

He says the Dragon frenzy is every bit as crushing this year, as fans rush in for last-minute purchases such as warm hats for today's predicted chilly game.

"It's hard to take it for granted that you're going to be at this level every year," he said. "People do like to win, but every game we play seems like a big game."

Bruce Reece, whose son, Trey, is a linebacker, said Southlake is a unique community whose residents support one another and gear up for big contests, like the one this weekend.

"They're just great kids, year in and year out," he said. "The jerseys may change, but the type of kid doesn't."

Mr. Reece said he and other football parents expect to be up and ready for this season's final game long before the sun comes up.

"It's not that we're nervous," he said, laughing. "We're just ready to see them play."
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#3635 Postby TexasStooge » Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:52 pm

Lancaster man surrenders after fatal shooting

By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8

LANCASTER, Texas — A Lancaster man accused of his girlfriend's murder turned himself in to police in Lewisville on Saturday.

The suspect, identified as Carl Yancy Jr., had been on the run since the fatal shooting late Friday night at the home of Berlinda Jackson on Heather Ridge Drive.

Jackson's family said they had never seen any indication of violence between her and her live-in boyfriend.

"He didn't have to kill her, he didn't have to do that," said Anita Taylor, mourning the loss of her only sister. "She was a sweet person, and he took her away—took her away from her kids."

Jackson's 12-year-old daughter called police after a heated argument over housework ended in violence. She told investigators she heard six gunshots.

"When she heard the gunshots, she came out, and as she was coming out, he was coming out of the room, locking the door, looking at her, and she looked at him—she said—and he went out the back," Taylor said.

Jackson's son found her body in the bedroom. Police said she had been shot in the back in an apparent attempt to flee.

Family members said Jackson, 44, had been trying to end her relationship with Yancy and wanted him out of the house.

"She worked hard—she worked hard to get where she was today," Taylor said.

Jackson worked as a supervisor for the Dallas Independent School District custodial department and had just received a promotion.

She was looking forward to spending Christmas with her family.

"I hope he gets what he deserves," Taylor said. "They need to give him what he deserves and let him think about what he did to her."

Yancy, 43, was being held by Lancaster police Saturday night after being arraigned in Lewisville with a bond of $500,000.
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#3636 Postby TexasStooge » Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:53 pm

Boy, mom seek more blankets for needy

A North Texas boy and his mother continue on their mission to make sure everyone has a warm blanket as winter approaches and temperatures drop.

Cyndi Bunch and her 8-year-old son Phillip began collecting blankets for the homeless last month. They've already distributed more than 3,500 blankets, hats and mittens to shelters around the mid-cities.

They were back at work on Saturday.

The Bunches are hoping to collect about 1,000 additional blankets for the Arlington Night Shelter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blanket Drop-Off Locations

• Market Street, 5605 Colleyville Blvd., Colleyville
• Century 21 Mike Bowman Inc., 150 Westpark Way, Suite 120, Euless
• Abra Cadabra, 234 S. Main St., Keller
• Judge Bean's, 314 N. Main St., Keller
• Kelly Roach insurance, 5200 Colleyville Blvd., Suite D, Colleyville
• Atlantic Relocation, Atlas, 1624 Diplomat, Carrollton
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#3637 Postby TexasStooge » Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:56 pm

Ties to developer don't hurt Miller

Exclusive: Mayor's dogged support key to Potashnik's success

By GROMER JEFFERS JR. and REESE DUNKLIN / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Southwest Housing Development Co. had no lock on victory at City Hall that January morning.

Neighbors, the school district and several local leaders opposed a zoning change that would let the company build low-income apartments in the city's already downtrodden south side. Facing a contentious city council debate, Southwest Housing president Brian Potashnik turned to his biggest political ally for support.

Although the scene was San Antonio, that ally was Dallas Mayor Laura Miller.

"I'm writing at the request of affordable housing developers Southwest Housing and their principals, Brian and Cheryl Potashnik," Ms. Miller wrote to the San Antonio mayor in a letter read aloud during the debate. "I've been most impressed by the caliber of their company's work and their unimpeachable track record."

The note typified the cordial and lucrative relationship between the mayor and the developer, one of the state's leading affordable housing builders whose projects are now a focus of an FBI bribery and corruption investigation at Dallas City Hall.

A review of the Miller-Potashnik alliance – from campaign contributions and council votes to public subsidies and behind-the-scenes aid – provides the most comprehensive picture yet of their seven-year association. What that picture reveals, though, is a subject of great debate.

Ms. Miller says she has done nothing improper and supported Mr. Potashnik only because of the great work he's done for the city. Black leaders have complained that the FBI's City Hall investigation smacks of racism because only blacks with ties to Mr. Potashnik have been named in search warrants and subpoenas.

Others see the Miller-Potashnik relationship as pure politics.

"You look out for that big donor," said Council member Bill Blaydes, "and that's what she did."

The Potashniks contributed $66,000 to Ms. Miller's political campaign and causes over the last four years, more than they gave to any other Dallas politician, a Dallas Morning News examination found. At least two of their contributions appear to be questionable under state or local laws.

Ms. Miller, meanwhile, backed virtually every project the Potashniks wanted to build in Dallas, even when neighborhood groups and other public officials fought the plans. She helped their company win nearly $150 million in government financing for its low-rent apartments, and she appointed Mr. Potashnik to a city task force whose recommendations – largely at his own insistence – made it easier for him to collect taxpayer subsidies. Some of her actions came within days or weeks of receiving their contributions.

Ms. Miller also strongly opposed every project associated with a former employee-turned-rival of the Potashniks and encouraged her colleagues to do likewise.

"I have no bad experiences working with them [the Potashniks]," the mayor said in an interview last week. "I've never seen them do anything – never seen first-hand them do anything – I thought was inappropriate."

Mr. Potashnik's lawyer, Tom Melsheimer, said that "no one has questioned his support of Laura Miller or suggested she did some favor that was improper."

Ms. Miller also strongly rejected any suggestion that there were problems with the Potashniks' campaign contributions.

"All I know is that I never took more than the maximum allowed in my campaigns," she said.

The mayor told The News that she had not been questioned or subpoenaed by the FBI.

The public officials named in the ongoing investigation include four Dallas City Council members, three city plan commissioners, a state senator and a state representative. Several of the officials and their associates have received jobs, contracts or other financial benefits from Southwest Housing while giving their public support for its developments.

All those officials are black, but FBI Special Agent Lori Bailey called that a coincidence.

"If we have probable cause to initiate an investigation, we do so," she said. "Race is never a factor."

Great success story

Laura Miller sat at the table, speaking easily in front of the television cameras.

It was Feb. 13, 2002, the second in a series of mayoral debates between Ms. Miller and her opponent, insurance executive Tom Dunning. The two had advanced to a runoff after winning the most votes in an initial three-person race.

During the debate, the moderator asked Ms. Miller what words she had for Dallas' older voters. She flashed a smile and chuckled.

"You know, one of the greatest success stories that I've seen on the Dallas City Council is a developer named Brian Potashnik and his wife, Cheryl," she said.

"They come in and they get state credits from Austin with very little help from City Hall, which I'd like to change. And they go in and they develop senior housing, restricted, age-restricted 55 and older with state tax credits. And they develop the most beautiful multi-family centers."

The two had met years earlier, when Ms. Miller was a City Council member, representing parts of Oak Cliff. Mr. Potashnik, whose company had been a small outfit fixing slum properties in Dallas, had started to expand and wanted to build a new low-income apartment complex for families and senior citizens in her district.

When neighbors learned of the plans to build on a leafy 159-acre tract that the Boy Scouts of America had long owned and kept undeveloped, they revolted. Ms. Miller sought to reassure them the day before a community meeting on the proposed project.

"She called me and said there was this great guy I should meet," said David Marquis, one of the community leaders.

Ms. Miller said she had been impressed with Mr. Potashnik because "he had a really nice product," with swimming pools, libraries and services for residents like tutoring for their children – the kind of touches not normally associated with a low-income housing complex.

Ms. Miller urged skeptical residents to work with Mr. Potashnik on a compromise and suggested that another company might build a less desirable project.

The sides ultimately agreed that Mr. Potashnik would keep developing the land already prepared for construction but build only apartments for seniors. Another 110 acres would be set aside for a nature preserve and library, and Southwest Housing in exchange would receive a $1.5 million federally funded loan awarded through the city.

"It was just a textbook, classic, perfect example of how a neighborhood and a developer come up with something in total harmony for each other," Ms. Miller said in the interview.

After that, Southwest Housing went on a building boom in Dallas, launching about a dozen apartment complexes for families and senior citizens. The company also branched into major cities across Texas and now has about 20 properties completed or planned, making it one of the state's leading low-income housing developers.

The growth was largely fueled by public financial aid, such as tax-free and low-interest bonds and federal tax credits. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs awards the credits, which can be sold for millions of dollars. That can pay $60,000 of the cost to build each apartment unit, according to industry estimates, giving subsidized developers an edge over those using conventional financing.

With Ms. Miller repeatedly voting in support, Southwest Housing has received just under $100 million in mostly tax-free bonds and loans from the city and state. She also endorsed the company's applications for $51 million in federal tax credits through council votes or by writing letters that the company used to obtain the money.

"Laura was his biggest champion at City Hall," said Mr. Marquis, who did some consulting work for Mr. Potashnik after the Boy Scout property deal, but who later opposed Ms. Miller's first mayoral campaign. "It's hard to imagine him rising so fast without her."

Campaign finances

The Potashniks also championed Ms. Miller. She received her first campaign contributions from them and their business interests in the month before the Jan. 19, 2002, mayoral election – six separate checks totaling $21,000, according to her campaign finance reports.

The money continued to flow after Ms. Miller advanced to the runoff, according to records. The day after her public support for the Potashniks in the televised debate, they made two more $5,000 contributions.

That put the Potashniks among her upper echelon of her donors – alongside some of the area's wealthiest people, such as oilman Albert Huddleston and Eagles rocker Don Henley.

But at least two Potashnik donations appear to be questionable under campaign finance laws, according to city and state regulations:

•On Jan. 18, Ms. Miller's campaign records show that she received $5,000 from Denton Village East Apartments. State records show an entity with the same name registered as a limited partnership, with a corporation as a general partner. Mr. Potashnik is listed as president of that corporation.

State law prohibits corporations from making political donations, and that ban extends to limited partnerships with a corporation as a partner, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.

Tim Sorrells, the commission's deputy general counsel, said recipients are penalized only if they knowingly accepted an illegal contribution.

Ms. Miller, who said she researched the question after The News inquired about the contribution, said "it never occurred to me" that donations from some kinds of limited partnerships were problematic.

"Because I tell you," she said, "that opens up a whole world of checking for every candidate in America. That's a huge issue."

Mr. Melsheimer, the Potashnik lawyer, said he was not ready to comment on the Denton Village East Apartments contribution.

•At issue under Dallas city election code is whether contributions made by Mrs. Potashnik exceeded limits on individual donors.

She made two donations totaling $5,000 under her maiden name, Cheryl Geiser. She sometimes uses her maiden name professionally, though Dallas County voter registration records list her name as Cheryl Potashnik.

Ms. Miller's campaign finance reports then list a $5,000 contribution from Brian and Cheryl Potashnik. All were made in the same period leading up to the mayoral election.

The city caps donations by individuals at $5,000 per election or runoff. The city secretary's office told The News that its past practice has been to count contributions from couples as though one-half of the total came from each spouse. Under that standard, Mrs. Potashnik's half of the couple's check would have put her over the contribution limit by $2,500.

Ms. Miller said that she did not have copies of the checks but theorized that the contribution attributed to the couple must have been only from Mr. Potashnik because her big donors knew the spending limits, and her campaign was "meticulous" and "fastidious about the limits."

Both of the Potashniks' names appear on the donor entry, Ms. Miller said, because the money came from their joint checking account.

"Legally, as long as I don't get more than $10,000 from that couple, then I am within the law," she added.

The Potashniks' lawyer, Mr. Melsheimer, said there was nothing improper about those contributions, adding, "There's no concealment."

After the mayor questioned the city secretary's office about what it had told The News, the office issued a statement noting that city code does not specifically address how contributions from a joint checking account are treated, but that donors can give only under the name by which they are "identified for legal purposes."

The secretary's office referred further questions to City Attorney Tom Perkins, who declined to comment, other than to say "you guys can look at 15A [the city election code] as well as I can."

Mr. Sorrells said it is the responsibility of candidates to specify whether a contribution from a joint checking account is from a couple or an individual.

"If you get a check, you have to know who the real contributor is," he said. "That is just a general reporting practice."

Ms. Miller was asked whether in retrospect she had concerns about any of the Potashniks' contributions.

"I'm not troubled by their support because I have a lot of people who helped get me elected who gave as much as they did," she said. "The only thing that would trouble me is if any contribution I got from an LP or an LLC, which is allowed, was owned by or had a partner that was a corporation because then that contribution is not allowed."

Government 'black hole'

In May 2002, in one of Ms. Miller's first major moves as mayor, she created a task force to recommend ways to retool the housing department, which she described at the time as the "deep, black hole of city government." She named 17 business leaders, community members and housing experts to the panel, including Mr. Potashnik.

Two members of the task force said Mr. Potashnik did not attend any of the meetings, but participated by conference call in one. There, he pushed for a change in Dallas Housing Finance Corporation policy so that it could award developers municipal bonds that were tax free up to a limit to finance new apartments for families.

Southwest Housing was increasingly building such apartments. Previously, the housing corporation could grant bonds only if a developer received a special waiver from the City Council or planned to construct senior citizens' housing or renovate existing properties.

"He attacked – and I remember this because it was me – anyone who would make a comment who had an opposing opinion about it," said Jon Edmonds, chief executive and founder of Higher Level Development, a company that builds housing primarily in Dallas' southern sector. "It was like, 'You don't know what you're talking about anyway.' "

Mr. Edmonds said he thought the city should focus on single-family home construction in southern Dallas. Multifamily dwellings are controversial and often opposed by residents who fear that large rental properties nearby may devalue their own homes and neighborhoods.

Mr. Edmonds said he came away with the feeling that Mr. Potashnik had a "sole purpose," and that was "he wanted to get help for the deals he was doing."

Task force chairman J. McDonald "Don" Williams, the chairman emeritus of Trammell Crow Co. and now head of the Foundation for Community Empowerment, had a similar recollection of Mr. Potashnik's focus.

"All he ever wanted to talk about was apartments and multifamily housing," said Mr. Williams, whose group works to help others develop affordable homes.

The task force ultimately agreed to recommend the new funding that Mr. Potashnik sought because, Mr. Williams said, he persuaded members that the city could use additional low-cost apartments. In a report the council approved that September, the task force concluded that Dallas had a demand for affordable homes but a supply shortage of 20,000 to 30,000 units, including apartments.

The City Council formally enacted the new subsidies in October 2003, and since then Dallas has awarded Southwest Housing $50 million in mostly tax-free bonds for three family apartment complexes. That is more than all other developers who received bonds from the same program combined, according to city records.

Ms. Miller said she attended only one of the task force's meetings and did not know whether a particular member had pushed for a specific recommendation.

"All of the task force members, when they were put on, said they cared about the issue and said they wanted Dallas to do more affordable housing," she said. "That's why they were on the task force."

'Huge benefit'

Ms. Miller's assistance also extended to Austin, where the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs board took up a controversial Southwest Housing project in southwest Dallas at an Aug. 8, 2002, hearing.

Key public officials had written letters opposing the apartment plan: the local Dallas councilman, a county commissioner and a state senator. All cited concerns among nearby residents and the Duncanville school district, which served the area, that the deal would crowd classrooms with more students.

When Mrs. Potashnik took her turn at the microphone, she read aloud a letter that was more favorable. Its author was Ms. Miller.

"While I understand and fully appreciate that there is some neighborhood opposition to their development, I wish you to know that the Potashniks have a solid reputation for building, maintaining and keeping very high-quality affordable housing," Ms. Miller wrote.

"Since this land is zoned for affordable multifamily housing," she added, "I have to wonder if a lower-quality development with less well-intentioned owners will be built if the Potashniks' project is not approved by you."

The state panel sided with Southwest Housing and granted nearly $15 million in bonds and $7 million in tax credits for the Rosemont at Bluff Ridge complex on Clark Road.

A Southwest Housing vice president who spoke during the hearing, James R. "Bill" Fisher, recalled recently that Ms. Miller support was a "huge benefit. No question about it."

One month later, on Sept. 9, the Potashniks gave $5,000 to Ms. Miller's campaign, records show.

The same summer, Southwest Housing won a similar endorsement from the state to build in San Antonio's depressed south side. The company had also convinced the Housing Authority of Bexar County to join the Heatherwilde Estates project as a partner, giving the complex an exemption from paying property taxes.

The path to construction seemed safe until August. That's when neighbors and the local Southwest Independent School District said they first discovered the plans, and another political battle ensued.

Some residents collected about 1,500 signatures against the zoning change and staged a peaceful protest at the Heatherwilde site to reinforce their opposition. School officials said their campuses were already full and their budget would suffer because of the project's tax exemption.

Heading into an important Jan. 23, 2003, council meeting on the zoning issue, Southwest Housing managed to gain support from other residents, the zoning commission and the local councilman.

Mayor Ed Garza remained skeptical. He had touted a sweeping revitalization plan for south San Antonio that stressed new houses, restaurants and shops. He also felt residents and the school district had legitimate concerns about Heatherwilde and should have been involved in the planning sooner.

"I was not thrilled about the project," said Mr. Garza, who has left office and now works as a consultant for a California-based development company.

Worried that Mr. Garza could persuade his colleagues, the Potashniks turned to Ms. Miller, Mr. Fisher said.

Southwest Housing's local lobbyist, former Bexar County Housing Authority commissioner Ken Brown, played a promotional video the company had produced that included Ms. Miller's glowing remarks from the 2002 mayoral debate.

Then Mr. Fisher read Ms. Miller's letter aloud. She wrote to Mr. Garza that she had known the Potashniks for five years and that they were working closely with the city of Dallas on projects. She also called Mr. Potashnik a "valuable member" of her housing task force.

Leilah Powell, who was a policy assistant to Mr. Garza, said in a recent interview that "it was unusual" for the mayor's office to get such unsolicited letters from another elected official vouching for a private developer trying to do business in his city. Local opponents of the project wondered similarly.

"I'm sure everyone felt it was basically none of her [Ms. Miller's] business," said Carole Abitz, president of the Southwest Community Association, one of the leading neighborhood groups that opposed the apartments.

Ms. Miller said she didn't know anything about the San Antonio project when she agreed to help Mr. Potashnik.

"All I know is a developer said I'm trying to get something done in another city, would you say that I'm a good guy and that I do good work," she said. "I said sure, and I wrote a letter."

She said she would have written a similar letter for 20 other developers in Dallas. When asked if she had done so, she said she couldn't recall.

She added that she routinely gets letters from other elected officials on various issues.

"Had Mr. Potashnik not come under FBI scrutiny," she said, "you wouldn't be asking me this question because it is an innocuous letter written under innocuous circumstances."

Ultimately, the City Council approved the zoning change. But the controversy had a lasting impact.

Ken Mercer, then a state representative for the area, took up the neighbors' cause.

He and the 2003 Legislature pushed through a law that required developers wanting to build in cities with twice the state average of subsidized housing units, like San Antonio and Dallas, to obtain backing from local city councils and residents before their projects could get tax credits.

The change also banned the approval of two or more tax-credit projects that were within one mile of each other during any given year, as a way to address complaints that some neighborhoods were saturated with such complexes.

Rival emerges

That set the stage for Ms. Miller's next major role, as a defender of Mr. Potashnik in his bitter rivalry with his former colleague, Bill Fisher.

Mr. Fisher remembers that when he was one of Southwest Housing's most visible executives, he would "get the royal treatment" at Dallas City Hall.

That all changed starting in February 2003, Mr. Fisher said. He left Southwest Housing after seven years to team with new partners, including Dallas-based Provident Realty Advisors, at a new venture called Provident Odyssey.

Mr. Potashnik's representatives and some former employees have said that he suspected Mr. Fisher had been lining up partners and scouting for land while working for Southwest Housing. Mr. Fisher said he didn't do that.

The parting was a serious threat to Mr. Potashnik's business. The technical know-how Mr. Fisher had accrued during Southwest Housing's rise was suddenly competing against the company in its own back yard. Furthermore, Mr. Fisher had established financial backers like Provident Realty.

One thing Mr. Fisher didn't have – and wouldn't get – was Ms. Miller's support. As the two former colleagues vied for the same kinds of economic incentives on the same kinds of developments, often even on the same street, she consistently favored Mr. Potashnik.

The first development that Mr. Fisher brought to the City Council in his new role was called Rose Court at Thorntree, located near one of Southwest Housing's apartment complexes on Old Hickory Trail. Rose Court had won endorsements from nearby neighborhood organizations and a recommendation from the city's housing staff before a Sept. 10, 2003, council meeting.

Mr. Potashnik and Ms. Miller opposed Mr. Fisher's request for $16 million in bonds, according to interviews with council members.

Days before the meeting, Mr. Potashnik asked to speak to council member James Fantroy, whose company had once provided security for Southwest Housing complexes. The talk began cordially, Mr. Fantroy said, but turned acrimonious when Mr. Potashnik pressed him to vote against Mr. Fisher.

Their exchange became so heated that council aides and city staffers overheard it. Mr. Fantroy said he ultimately ordered Mr. Potashnik out of his office.

"He said, 'I don't want you approving anybody else's low-income housing projects,' " Mr. Fantroy recalled. "I don't know who he thought I was, but I told him you don't tell me what to do."

During the council meeting, Mr. Fantroy recused himself from the debate. Ms. Miller said she asked colleague Don Hill why, and he told her that Mr. Fantroy's family security business stood to gain a contract with Mr. Fisher's company if the project passed.

Both Mr. Fantroy and Mr. Fisher deny that, though they acknowledge having worked together elsewhere on unrelated projects. Mr. Hill would not return calls seeking comment.

Mr. Fisher said he told the mayor that Southwest Housing had also employed Mr. Fantroy's business for several months in early 2003. "She never batted an eye and did not appear the least bit surprised or concerned," he said in an e-mail.

The mayor denied, in her recent interview, knowing about the Potashnik-Fantroy contract at the time. The Potashniks' attorney said Southwest Housing severed that contract.

The city attorney's office had already told Mr. Fantroy that his family business could work with Mr. Fisher, as long as he didn't vote on matters involving the developer.

Ms. Miller called for a closed session that day to discuss the Fisher-Fantroy contract and persuaded her colleagues to table the vote, so that the city attorney could research further the state's conflict-of-interest laws.

"I made myself a promise when I ran for mayor," Ms. Miller said in the interview, "that if I saw what looked to me to be unethical behavior on the part of anybody, that I would do something about it and that I wouldn't just sit and ignore it."

Mr. Blaydes said he did not believe Ms. Miller was motivated by outrage over the security contract. "She was working to promote the welfare of the Potashnik operation at that point in time."

Council member Ed Oakley added that Mr. Potashnik and Ms. Miller "got way out front in trying to oppose Bill Fisher's projects."

Ms. Miller and Mr. Potashnik kept opposing Mr. Fisher, according to several council members, but Rose Court at Thorntree was approved in a 12-2 vote the following council meeting. Voting against it were Ms. Miller and former council member Sandy Greyson, who generally rejected all apartment proposals.

The Provident Odyssey partnership split after the controversy, and Mr. Fisher created a new business with other associates called Odyssey Residential Holdings.

When the FBI investigation became public last June, three of Odyssey Residential's developments were named in federal subpoenas, along with four of Mr. Potashnik's. One Dallas businessman previously told The News that FBI agents informed him Mr. Fisher was cooperating with the investigation by wearing a recording device. Mr. Fisher declined to comment on that.

Continued support

The mayor's support of Mr. Potashnik and opposition to Mr. Fisher continued throughout 2004.

On Feb. 25, the mayor voted to approve a City Council resolution supporting the award of tax credits to a Southwest Housing apartment complex for seniors. The day before, the Potashniks had donated a total of $10,000 to the Friends of Laura Miller fund, her campaign finance records show. She said there was no connection between the contribution and her vote.

Then in September, she challenged Mr. Fisher's request to change zoning for a project. A week later, during a state hearing at a Dallas city library, she noted that he faced a federal tax lien of more than $400,000 and asked the state not to give tax credits to such developers who owed the government money.

Mr. Fisher told The News that the tax lien was filed in 1992 and stemmed primarily from a failed investment. He said he was working to resolve the lien and insisted it did not affect Odyssey Residential because, as vice president of development, he has no company ownership stake. (The News uncovered a 1995 Potashnik tax lien of $19,000, which has since been resolved. The mayor said she did not know about that.)

Ms. Miller went on to say during the state hearing that if she had to vote on several proposed tax-credit complexes that were facing an Oct. 27 City Hall decision, "I'd vote against all the projects just because I feel like we have too many that are marching toward Dallas that we can't absorb."

Yet at that October meeting she voted for three Southwest Housing's apartment developments – two of which were for families, competed directly with Mr. Fisher and had been opposed by the city's housing staff, which feared a glut in the market. Because of the new state laws limiting tax-credit projects to one per one-mile radius, the council vote meant Mr. Fisher's projects were effectively dead.

Ms. Miller told colleagues that Mr. Hill, whose district included the two family apartments, had changed her mind because he described them as townhomes and wanted them built. Southwest Housing said it scaled back plans and built only 250 units.

Additionally, the mayor persuaded the council to delay a vote on another Fisher complex, saying his company was "way overextended" and she "just cannot support their work." Mr. Fisher said Odyssey Residential had established its liquidity and net worth with the city's staff, and the project was approved in a subsequent meeting over the mayor's opposition.

When questioned about her voting pattern of endorsing Mr. Potashnik and opposing Mr. Fisher, Ms. Miller seemed surprised and asked, "Can that be?"

She has continued to criticize the tax-credit system and some of the public officials targeted by the FBI corruption probe, but not Mr. Potashnik. She said she's awaiting the investigation's outcome.

"I've been so grateful to have people who would help me get elected, and if any of them are doing things with other people that is inappropriate, and they should be held accountable for that," she said. "But nobody does anything inappropriate with me. Ever."
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#3638 Postby TexasStooge » Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:01 pm

City manager search expands

Irving: 20 people have applied; council wants wider applicant pool

By ERIC AASEN / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING, Texas – Irving hasn't exactly been flooded with applicants for its most prominent job – city manager.

Twenty people have applied for the position, a number that some City Council members say is too low.

The council this week instructed the company overseeing the search to keep looking for contenders. While the next city manager may already be on the applicant list, which includes an assistant Irving manager and a deputy Arlington manager, the council wants to choose from as large a group as possible.

Irving Mayor Herbert Gears says the applicant pool is small for such a significant job.

"I was a little bit disappointed that we had so few applicants," he said.

Council members received a closed-door update Wednesday from the search firm, Waters-Oldani Executive Recruitment. The council could get another update in mid-January.

The company is receiving and reviewing résumés and will continue to generate a pool of qualified candidates, said Chris Hartung, the company's director of public sector executive search services.

"We're still in the very early stages of the search," he said.

The firm plans to identify four to six candidates for the council to interview, perhaps in late January, Mr. Hartung said. Council members say there's no need to rush the search.

In Irving, the city manager functions as the city's chief executive, overseeing a general fund budget of about $145 million and a staff of about 2,000 employees. Marketing materials for the position say the city has established a starting salary range "from the high $100's" and a car allowance.

Council member Sam Smith said that while all current applicants "may be wonderful," he's not satisfied with the number of responses.

"We felt that the universe needed to be broadened," he said. "As you broaden the universe, you increase your chances of finding as many qualified candidates."

Mr. Gears wants the firm to be more aggressive in looking for certain types of candidates, such as assistant city managers in cities much larger than Irving, home to about 200,000 residents.

City staff on Friday released the applicant list, which didn't include the name of acting city manager Sandy Cash. He has said he hasn't decided whether he'll apply.

Dallas-area applicants include Gilbert Perales, an Irving assistant manager, and Ronald Olson, an Arlington deputy manager.
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#3639 Postby TexasStooge » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:48 am

Officers fired upon in Deep Ellum

By Brandon Formby / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police arrested two men early Sunday after officers were shot at and led on a car chase through Deep Ellum. Officers approached some people who had shot into the air in Deep Ellum about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. The officers were fired upon, police said, but not hit. Police returned fire but did not strike anyone.

Two men then got in a car and led police on a chase before they wrecked near Malcolm X Boulevard and Logan Street. Thuy Dang, 20, and Minh Nguyen, 18, were arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and evading arrest.
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#3640 Postby TexasStooge » Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:23 am

Librarians fight limits on book about sexual abuse

Irving: School board to decide if parental consent rule stands

By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING, Texas - In the opening pages of the book When Jeff Comes Home, a 16-year-old boy is freed after 21/2 years of being sexually abused by a man who kidnapped him from a rest stop.

Now the Irving school board must decide whether the emotional story of the youth's recovery is appropriate for middle school students to check out of a school library on their own – as school librarians argue – or whether students must get their parents' written permission, as the superintendent recently ruled in response to a parent's complaint.

Book challenges are nothing new in Texas, and sexual content is often the top concern.

While some say the award-winning book by Catherine Atkins is too mature for middle schoolers, others argue that it might help them come forward about sexual abuse or be more aware of the dangers around them.

The debate in Irving began after a parent of a middle school student complained. A committee of librarians and administrators decided to keep the book on library shelves, so the parent appealed.

That's when Superintendent Jack Singley ruled that middle school students must have parental permission in writing. The policy didn't affect high schoolers.

"This is not censorship," said Mr. Singley, who read the book. "I did not remove the book, but I did render that this book is a pretty rough read for this age student. ... I think it is best read with the supervision of an adult, primarily a parent."

School librarians have appealed his decision. School board members are reading the book and have scheduled a public hearing for Jan. 23.

"We are appealing the decision of having the written [parental] record," said Heather Lamb, a media specialist at de Zavala Middle School. "We support Mr. Singley's decision in keeping the book."

An open records request submitted last week by The Dallas Morning News to obtain a copy of the parent's complaint is pending with the district.

According to the district's online library catalog, de Zavala, Austin, Crockett and Travis middle schools have copies of the book.

An 'edgy' book

Ms. Atkins said she was surprised her 1999 book – which she calls "edgy" – hadn't been challenged before.

An alternative high school education teacher in California, Ms. Atkins said it is not for her to decide the appropriate age of readers. She said the story is about having the courage to talk after suffering sexual abuse and could inspire young people to come forward. Several abuse victims have contacted her, she said.

"It's ironic that a student may have something like this going on, and they may not have access to read a book about something that may affect them," she said. "It's healthy for students to have access to information. They can accept it or reject it – self-censorship in a way. You pick up a book, and if you're ready for it, you're ready for it. If you're not, you set it down."

Her publisher recommends the book for ages 13 and up. But the School Library Journal, which uses professional librarians as reviewers, gave it one of its highest age designations – for 10th grade and up.

In the book, Jeff returns to his family after 21/2 years of abuse. "The protagonist is 16, and given what he has been through, our reviewer thought it would be best for a high school student," said Luann Toth, managing editor of the book review. "We felt it was pretty heavy-duty stuff."

According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas' 2005 banned books report, there were 88 challenges in 49 school districts last year, and 39 books were removed. According to the report, 39 of the challenges were for sexual content, and most of the rest were for profanity, violence or paganism.

The report says the Irving school district removed the book City Lights, a Pocket Poets anthology of leftist poets, from de Zavala Middle School last year.

When Jeff Comes Home is based on the case of Steven Stayner of Merced, Calif., who was kidnapped by Ken Parnell in 1972 at age 7 and escaped at age 14. Ms. Atkins grew up near Merced.

She submitted a statement at the request of Irving librarians for January's public hearing, saying she was moved by the Stayner case – and how the district attorney chose not to prosecute Mr. Parnell for sex offenses because Steven initially denied the abuse.

A hidden problem

"I thought it was terribly unfair that the boy felt too embarrassed to talk about what had happened to him," she wrote. "It was out of these feelings – wanting fairness and justice for the boy – that I wrote When Jeff Comes Home. Boys are at risk for sexual abuse just as girls are. ... It certainly wasn't discussed in literature for children and teens."

Nancy Paulsen, publisher of Putnam Children's Books, said she recalled interest in the book increasing after the case of Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted from her Utah home at 14 and returned months later. Kids wanted to know what it would be like to return home after such an ordeal, she said.

Ms. Atkins' book focuses on such a recovery. Most of the story, told from Jeff's point of view, is about his coming to terms with what happened to him. It includes flashbacks to the abuse and some foul language.

The American Library Association has named When Jeff Comes Home a best book for young adults, a category it says is for 12- to 18-year-olds.

But Teri Lesesne, a professor of library science at Sam Houston State University and a member of the ALA's Quick Picks awards committee, said the appropriate age depends on each student's emotional readiness. She said parents have the right to decide what's not for their child but not to do so for every child at a school.

"Here's a book that tells a kid who's had that experience, 'Go get help; it's not your fault,' " she said. "All those messages we want them to get. It tells a kid who's not been abused, 'You have to be careful.' "

De Zavala's PTA president, Tina Camunas, has not read the book but agrees that children need to learn about such risks.

"I've always been frank about inappropriate touching and things – as adults, we understand the dangers that are out there, and we may have experienced them," she said. "They've got to know not everybody is aboveboard."

But Travis PTA president Valerie Jones is thankful for the superintendent's decision.

"Eleven-year-olds are awfully young and innocent. They're just coming out of elementary school," she said. "The longer we can preserve that, the better."
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